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Reid’s expression softens. “My wife.”

Wife?

I glance at his left hand and notice the gold band for the first time. “You’re married.”

Reid rubs his thumb over the band. “Scarlett’s why I’m here today. Karloff wanted to see her.”

The warmth in his voice makes me look at him. “Why?”

A smile breaks across his face, so completely unguarded that for a second, he looks like the brother I remember. “She’s pregnant.”

I stare at him. “You’re having a baby?”

“Yeah.”

I realize I have no idea what my brother’s life looks like now. Marriage. A child. A whole life I knew nothing about because I made damn sure of it.

I look away before he can see what that does to me. “You said you smelled me. But you haven’t before?”

“No. Not until today.” Reid studies me. “Your wolf’s riding close to the surface.”

“He’s always close.”

“Maybe.” His gaze stays on mine. “But today, your scent was strong enough for me to recognize. After I dropped Scarlett off, I followed your scent back here.” His voice softens. “I’d have followed it anywhere.”

For a second, he looks like my brother before Halloween. The one who complained when I dragged him anywhere social, who stood in my kitchen and ate directly out of whatever pan I was cooking from until I threatened him with a wooden spoon.

“So many things I wanted to tell you,” Reid murmurs almost to himself. “When I found Scarlett. When I realized what she was to me. When we got married.” He lets out a breath and rubs his thumb over his wedding band. “When she told me about the baby.”

All the things a man tells his brother when they still have each other.

I look down at the table because I don’t know what to do with the fact that while I was making sure Reid couldn’t reach me, he was still trying to include me in a life I’d chosen not to see.

I wrap both hands around my cold mug. “You look—” I almost say “whole,” but that’s a stupid word. He has scars too. I can see one crossing the back of his hand, and another disappearing beneath his sleeve.

He’s not the man he was.

Neither am I.

“You look happy,” I say instead.

His eyes flicker. “I am. Scarlett saved my life. In more ways than one.” His mouth softens briefly, then his expression turns more serious. “And I nearly lost her.”

“What happened?”

Reid looks down at his coffee. “She was attacked. Dying. I didn’t know what else to do.” He rubs a hand over his jaw. “So I bit her.”

I stare at him. “You bit her?”

“To save her.”

“And it worked?”

Reid gives a short, humorless laugh. “Depends what you mean by worked.” His gaze meets mine. “She lived. And then she changed.”

Yesterday crashes back into me—Nora’s throat, my teeth aching.

Reid’s nostrils flare. Apparently, thinking about her is enough to change my scent.