Chapter 28: Chapter 27

Clive

I tapped my knuckles against the marble top counter, impatient. To spend the time, I swiveled my head around, surveying the familiarly painful setting around me. It was our family’s house, where we lived when I was young, together with Reily and our two parents. I spent my childhood here, remembering all the beautiful times of peace and happiness I spent with my family. It still looked the same, which sent a pang of longing through my heart.

At the same time, it looked cold and empty except for ghosts. Some places were carrying some dust, but it was still spotless. It seemed that Reily barely touched some places. With a large house in which only one person lived, that was inevitable. I sat on one of the tall stools lining the kitchen counter. Through the doorway into the sitting room, I saw the shelf that was filled with many framed pictures of our family. My father liked to take them whenever he could, and I’m glad he did. Did it surprise me that Reily never put them away? No, he was never like me: someone who ran away to avoid difficult memories. He let them drive him, haunting his daily life.

I looked around the kitchen, finding more pictures on the fridge held by magnets. Reily was young in one of them, grinning widely with only a couple of teeth. He had hair that was closer to red, like a strawberry blonde, that had gotten darker with age. He had the cutest freckles too, and his brown eyes were bright and honey-sweet. The sight warmed my tense, standoffish form.

I had come to our house - well, it was less mine now considering I slept in my personal room at the barracks - to confront Reily. I was ready for conflict; none of our conversations seemed to go smoothly these days. Especially not with the recent news of his and Vera’s apparent bond. The new development turned everything I thought about either of them on its head. Reily was essentially Vera’s abuser and it was hard to believe that he could change instantly. Moreover, Vera had come to be very near and dear to me…mostly in a sisterly kind of way. I felt obligated to her at first, but now she was one of my closest friends, and sometimes, very rarely, when the sun hit her eyes and she smiled her vibrant smile, I could see myself….

No, I couldn’t think about this right now. It was not the time nor the place, and this wasn’t about me anyway.

I was waiting for Reily to come back home from wherever he was to get clarity on what he was thinking. His personality towards Vera had completely transformed, and I didn’t know what to make of it. Much like Vera at the beginning, it was nearly impossible to accept. It seemed like a hoax, part of a practical joke. But as Vera seemed less and less confused, and more and more inclined towards Reily, I had to see him. I had to see for myself what he was really thinking, and what about him, other than the bond was convincing Vera gradually to lean towards him.

Finally, the squeak of the back door into the kitchen filled the air. With the click, the door closed, Reily standing inside eyes instantly on me. He looked like he’d been on a run, sweat dripping down his neck into his black hoodie.

“Hello there, lil bro,” I greeted cautiously, wondering how he’d react to my presence. He eyed me, looking defensive; he must’ve sensed the serious tang in the air and was preparing himself for another distasteful conversation.

“Long time no see,” he mocked, walking over to the fridge, ignoring the pictures on it. He saw them every day so I supposed it was like nothing. “Oh wait, I forgot you’ve been here the whole time. I guess I’m so used to you being gone.”

I ignored the low dig. “Reily, we need to talk.”

“Oh, not this again. I thought this argument would be completely unnecessary considering I no longer have reason to hurt Vera. All I want is for her to be happy.”

“Happy…with you, is what you’re saying.”

“Well, that’s what I hope for; I don’t think I’d survive if Vera rejected the mate bond.”

I eyed him carefully, unsure where to proceed. Finally, I decided to just be upfront rather than beat around the bush.

“Reily, are you actually mated to Vera?”

“Do you think I would lie about that? The pull is undeniable. Ask her, she feels it too.”

I grit my teeth, annoyed. “Right, but I know how mate bonds work, Reily. They make you feel inexplicable urges to love and make love with someone, but they can’t change you and everything you’ve ever believed in.”

Reily stopped pouring the orange juice, looking at me with a dead look in his eyes. “You don’t believe me.”

“No, frankly, I don’t. Just a while back you were absolutely unwilling to back down from being a downright bully despite what I told you, and now you’re willing to put all that past you?”

“Brother, you should really make up your mind. First, you want me to leave her alone and now you’re saying I changed too fast? Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“No, this isn’t--” I sighed gruffly, smoothing a hand down my face in frustration. “Look, Reily, I’m just concerned that this is a fraud, that you’re planning something and using your mate bond as a tool to get back at Vera. Especially after she humiliated you last time.”

Reily’s jaw was visibly clenched, his teeth gritting at the reminder. So he still wasn’t over it. “You know, Clive, the fact that disbelief is your first reaction to my words isn’t surprising. How could you trust me, it’s not like you’ve been around the past five years to get to know your little brother! No, you were off traipsing around like a good soldier, but really you just were too afraid to come back! You don’t know me at all, and you wouldn’t know if maybe I secretly liked Vera this whole time but I hated myself for having feelings for the person responsible for my family’s destruction. Maybe I kept it in this whole time out of shame and guilt, and now that I have my wolf, I can’t keep it in anymore. How the fuck would you know?”

I froze, clenching my fist because I could argue against that. I didn’t think I really knew my little brother at all. And it was my fault. Shaking my head, I decided that was a topic for another day. I had to get back on track.

“Whether that be the case or not, Reily,” I started off calmly. “You’ve hurt Vera a lot, more than anyone can atone for. I know you were alone and probably hurting yourself, and didn’t have any way to direct the pain except at her… but I highly doubt that after all that, she’d actually come around.”

Reily threw back the orange juice like a shot and wiped his lips, which were curved in a knife-sharp grin. “Oh, brother, you don’t know anything at all. I think I have quite a good chance with my dear Vera.”

My body went rigid. “What makes you say that?”

“Just the other night when my wolf followed the call of the bond and found Vera, we actually had a lot of chemistry. I initiated the kiss but she kept it going.”

I realized he was talking about the day Vera ran into Archer and me, trembling like a leaf. Fury filled my vision, but I held myself back from lashing out. If I did, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to control myself…imagining Vera with my brother, created an unpleasant, sickening feeling that whirled in the pit of my stomach.

Reily laughed a little. “And just yesterday, actually, Vera and I got extremely hot and heavy… she’s so beautiful, I’m sure you know. Irresistible. Her moaning and writhing in my hands… was the most amazing thing. I couldn’t wait to experience it fully once we completed the mating ritual.”

At this point, my entire body had tensed like a lion readying itself to pounce. Although he was my brother, I couldn’t stand to hear him say such intimate, inappropriate things about sweet Vera. But he wasn’t done.

Running a hand smoothly through his locks, Reily continued, “Then, I thought to myself: ’Why did I have to wait until the ritual? Why not just go for it now? Vera definitely seemed willing.”

My knuckles wanted to rip through my skin with the force that I tighten them into fists. No, he better not have….I swear if he did…

“Well, we got far enough, I was incredibly close to bedding her, but we didn’t end up doing it. But it’s only a matter of time. Since she’s my fated partner, I have all --”

His words were cut off by the right hook I flung at him at breakneck speed, hitting him right on the jaw. I’d launched over the counter in a rage-filled haze, unable to control myself any longer at my brother’s careless words. Reily stumbled back, hitting the sink behind him. One of his hands held his jaw, which bloomed beneath his fingers. Blood welled from a cut on the corner of his lip, probably from his teeth sinking into the flesh during the movement.

“What, does it bother you that I’ll sleep with Vera, brother?” he spat, before he pounced at me, head barreling right into my gut, arms winding around me in a tight grip. We careened a meter back, leaving the kitchen through the opening around the corner. I slammed my back into a wall that shook, the hanging clock threatening to fall. “Guess what!” he snarled in my face, teeth bloody. “Vera is mine to do as I please! And I will do as I please.”

“Reily,” I grunted, pushed him off me. “She’s supposedly your mate, not a toy. And you’re not a kid anymore, so stop acting like a spoiled brat with a tantrum.” Although Reily stepped back, he ran at me again, driving a fist at my side. I grabbed his wrist, noticing the veins popping out. He really had anger issues. More importantly, I was concerned if this side of him would remain once he mated with Vera....if, if he mated with Vera.

“I stopped being a kid long ago. I’m a man, now, you hear me!”

“And what about your girlfriend? Aren’t you still with her?” I blocked his continued punches.

“It’s none of your business what I do in my life!” he grunted out each word with a hit, and managed to intercept all of them, except one that knocking the air out of my lungs. “If a have a girlfriend, if I want to fuck Vera, it’s not your concern!”

Sick of being his punching bag, I pulled a knee up and kicked him back. He staggered against the counter behind him, brown eyes completely dark with rage. It looked like the mate bond that had changed him overnight didn’t affect his anger issues.

I whirled around in a roundhouse kick, landing right on his chest, and he fell to the floor. I got down, pinning him immediately, knee on his stomach and hands crumpling up his shirt. “Reily, I want to trust you. I want to fix things between us. But I have to know that Vera will be safe, that you’re not messing with her. Please tell me, do you actually love her or is this all a joke?”

“You’ve always chosen other things before me,” he choked out with a maniacal grin. “If you don’t even trust me, why should I bother telling you? Wanting to trust isn’t enough. See, when I want something, bro, I get it. I have it. It’s mine. Just like Vera. And if you’re left in the dust with nothing; not me nor that girl you follow around with heart eyes, then that’s your problem.”

His words managed to slice at a part of myself in the depths of my subconsciousness, one that I didn’t want to think about. It made me reevaluate all my choices and at the same time want to run far away. Just like I always did. A cold sort of anger settled over me, and before I knew it, my hands had hoisted him up slightly from the floor, about to slam him down again for daring to speak of matters he had knew nothing about. He didn’t understand. Just like I didn’t understand why he blamed Vera for our parent’s deaths, he had no idea what I felt five years ago, why I couldn’t stand to stay here, why I didn’t go after things I wanted, be it family or love....he didn’t get it.

Stopping myself, I knew I couldn’t go too far. Reily was family no matter what I thought about his actions….for now. I had to stop him from going too far, but beating him to a useless scattering of flesh and bone wouldn’t help matters. I’d be just like him.

I stared down at him, the tall lean body of my little brother who had been dear to me once and could be again. Swallowing, I thought about how if I’d done better, he never would be like this. I was to blame for his current state, for Vera’s torment. Had I been here, he never would have lowered himself to be so vengeful.

“Reily, this is the last time I’ll warn you. Believe it or not, but I still love you. Of course, I do, I’m your brother. Whatever you’re planning, stop this all now.”

Reily spat out red, a bloodstained smirk spread on his bruised face. “Just like you love me, I love Vera, and that I’ll never stop.”

Clenching my jaw, I shook my head and marched out of our old family house. I had to look out for Vera and make sure she knew what she was getting into, whether she succumbed to her mate bond or not.