Five: The Prodigal Son Returns

BANE POV

Music vibrates through the trees, shouts and cheers from the party goers grate on my nerves. There is nothing worth celebrating when your mate rejects you and runs off without an explanation. Aaron, Corey, and Sadie flank my sides, none of them talking, but they’re alert. Every wolf in the damn pack is littered around the packhouse. No wonder there are no fucking warriors on the goddamn border, they’re all here getting drunk.

Members overrun the yard, red solo cups in hand, smoke rolls through the tress, from the stoner circles scattered around. Some are playing corn hole, others are on the volleyball court. The Olympic pool is full of people swimming around, acting without a care in the world. Members are laughing, enjoying the celebration of my return. And I have no interest in any of it. Or them.

Fuck, it’s not supposed to be like this. I should be happy, celebrating with my pack, my luna tucked safely at my side. Peyton is supposed to be here, with me, preferably with my mark already on her neck. My wolf is prowling under the surface, ready to attack the first person who crosses his path.

“Alpha Bane!” The little twit dating my brother squawks, cutting in front of me. What’s her name again? Torey? Carrie? Shit, she’s a pack member, I should know this but I don’t trust her. Better not to give her hope of there being more between us. A rank chaser will take a simple kindness and run with it. “Welcome home!”

“Go away.” Corey and Aaron growl, glaring, neither trusting her nor her gaggle of friends. Her hopeful demeanor deflates quickly as we step around her. Her hand reaches out, her fingers wrapping around my arm to hold me in place. Is this bitch really that dumb, or does she have a death wish?

Her touch repulses my being, like acid, my wolf pushes himself forward, meeting her gaze. A low snarl escapes my lips, informing her and everyone around that she has royally fucked up.

“Get your fucking hand off of me.” My alpha aura is swirling around me like a whip, lashing out at anyone near.

Her gaze drops, her grip slips away her arms falling to her sides. Finally, using the brain the Goddess gave her, she steps backward, as if that’s enough to stop my pissed off wolf.

"If you ever touch me again.” My voice is deadly, an animalistic rumble, my steps quick while prowling toward her. “I’ll view it as a threat and rip your heart from your chest. Got it?”

“Yes alpha.” She mumbles, moving away, doing her best to put distance between herself and my wolf. “I apologize.”

“Warn your friends. The only person who has permission to touch me is my luna.” I growl, a final warning, before twisting on my heel and heading toward the house.

“We told you to go away.” Aaron sneers behind me, but I don’t wait around for him. I’m a man on a mission, one who’s growing more anxious the longer I go without hearing from the scouts. How far could Peyton have ran before needing a break? They should have found something by now. Found her by now.

The packhouse isn’t far, yet feels miles away after the day I’ve had. Members murmur their congratulations and welcome backs, but none of us stop to mingle, we’re on a mission. Foremost on the list is finding Peyton’s mom and letting her know what happened. I won’t feel settled until that happens. This party and these people can go to hell for all I care. It’s frivolous bullshit that won’t matter until my mate is home.

We approach the porch to find my younger brother, drinking and joking with his friends. My gut swirls with uncertainty, the closer we get to them. My wolf on edge, but he always is when Braddock is near. He may be my brother, but we are as different as two people can be.

“Oh, if it isn’t the prodigal son! He’s finally returned!” Brad calls, his words slurring from the moonshine in his drink. He stands from the rail he’s leaning against, to stumble along with a raised cup. “The future alpha of Blackstone.”

His toast is devoid of happiness, his gaze dead, as he rolls his eyes, chugging down the rest of his drink. His friends, Aaron and Corey’s younger brothers shuffle their feet uncomfortably.

There’s always been this unspoken rivalry between us, not because of our parents, but he’s jealous. He wants everything I have. Have you ever caught someone staring and you know they are plotting your murder? That’s the way I feel anytime I catch the creepy fucker staring at me, like he’s plotting the ways he’ll end my life.

Unfortunately, without proof, and only my hunch to rely on, I’ve kept my mouth shut. What good would it do? It’ll only paint me as a paranoid, power hungry alpha. Which doesn’t instill loyalty or trust among my people. So, I’ve been forced to hold my tongue, and keep my suspicions to myself, but I don’t trust the little weasel.

“Go sober up, Braddock.” I growl, growing annoyed by his childish antics, not having the time to deal with him. Now, or ever, really. “I’m not in the mood—”

The wind shifts, whooshing past him and his friends, carrying a scent I’ll recognize anywhere, even when I’m old and gray. Jasmine with fresh berries dance on the breeze, tingling my nostrils. My nose lifts to inhale every drop, hoping to consume it all before it’s gone.

“Something wrong, Bane?” Brad’s words sound innocent enough, but his face is smug. Too smug. What the hell did he do? He comes closer, looking like the psychopath I know him to be. Peyton is all over him, their fragrances comingling to create a horrid concoction. He lowers his voice to an octave those around can’t hear. Not over the noise and their own conversations, even with enhanced abilities.

“She’s a feisty one you know?" Brad gloats, finding a nerve he can exploit and is succeeding at it. “Peyton. She’s a real scream—”

And just like that, my world goes black for the second time today. My limbs move on muscle memory and rage, with no assistance from me. Guests scream in the background, scattering away as I tackle him, throwing him against one of our patio tables. Brad’s cackle stings my ears, my wolf's fury brings him forward, taking control and adding power to my hits.

“How’s it feel to know I had her first, big brother?” His gaze meets mine, and he might be blood, but it won’t stop me from removing his bowels from his body.

“I. Told. You.” Each word is emphasized by a strike, reiterating the conversation we had all those years ago. Every hit more forceful than the last, driving the point home. “Peyton. Is. Off. Limits.!”

Hands grab at me, trying to pull me away from Brad, but it’s useless I’m feral, my wolf in full control. He’s ready to rip the douche’s throat out with our claws, and I’m more than willing to comply. Braddock’s failure to react or fight incites more of my rage, my movements more frantic. “You sick, delusional, fuck!”

“What the fuck?” My father, current alpha of Blackstone, Bart Black, booms across the field. My mother, Beatrice, is at his side, weaving through the crowd. His alpha aura pushing down on all of us. But it doesn’t stop me from beating the life out of my brother. “BANE! ENOUGH!”

My fist stops midair, Brad’s bruised face a welcome sight, but not enough to satiate my wolf. I push against my father’s command, but it’s useless, he’s the alpha, and I’m only the heir. For now. Aaron and Corey pull me off of my pathetic excuse for a brother, who's whimpering on the ground, playing up the victim angle for my mother. She’s always coddled him more than necessary.

“Bane Bartholemew Black!” She scolds, looking upon me with disappointment, and disapproval, while she kneels next to my brother’s body. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Before I answer, my fathers stops me, his attention on the gathering crowd of nosey pack members. “All of you, go back to the party.” His gaze flicks between Brad and I, and I swear if looks could kill we’d be dead on the spot. “You idiots, my office. Now. You too, Aaron and Corey. Sadie, honey, go enjoy the celebration.”

“Yes, alpha.” She nods, she kisses Corey, and then winds through the crowd of people. Who are trying not to be obvious about their eavesdropping, but it’s apparent in the ways their glances flick toward us. Hungry for any morsel they can scrounge up of the latest drama. By the time we get to the office, the entire pack will know what happened.

My father leads the rest of us through through the crowd, in an eerie silence. My mother is cooing, and whispering to Braddock, like he’s an injured, fragile bird. Aaron meets my gaze, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, while Corey shoots daggers at him. People part like the Red Sea, letting us pass through without having to ask.

“Someone better talk.” We are tucked safely inside the office, with the door shut, and locked, my father’s face sour. His tipsiness and relaxation from earlier gone. “Right the fuck now! I want an explanation why my idiot sons are ruining a perfect party!”

“Bane’s jealous the girl he likes prefers me.” Brad’s lips twitch, like he has a secret, slipping into a frown before anyone else recognizes it.

“Not any girl.” I snarl, Aaron and Corey, holding me back, preventing me from tossing him out the window. “My luna.”

The smug expression immediately falls, his brain racing to process what I’ve said. And it feels good. Really fucking good to witness him falter, and with it his cocky attitude. But like all good things today, it ends way too soon.

“If she’s your luna, then where is she?” Brad asks, his brow raised, and chin out in silent challenge. His interest in her whereabouts sets me on edge, and that’s when it all clicks together. Him.

He’s the only one besides myself and my father who Peyton would fear enough to run from. No one else would have the power to go against me, but him. It has to be him. I’m as sure as I my name is Bane Black, or that the sky is blue.

“Probably still running from you.” I snarl, pacing in front of the desk, growing more agitated by this ordeal. I have more important matters to deal with, like finding Peyton’s mother and then her.

“You’re speaking in riddles.” My father grumbles, pinching the bridge of the nose, a habit that formed during moments of stress. “Tell us exactly what happened.”

“My luna rejected me and ran.” The confession stings, biting my tongue like acid, but I power through. “Because of whatever that psychopath did to her!”

“See!” Brad exclaims, waving his hand around, doing his best to paint me as a lunatic. And I am, when my luna is involved. He’s one always. He’s more dangerous than me. “He’s fucking crazy!”

My father glances between us, pained to make this decision. He may be a rough man, but he never wanted us to become Eteocles and Polyneices. His pause drawn out, leaving us in suspense, and I settle in for the longest thirty-seconds of my life.