Chapter 5- Sage and Landon

Beta Sage pressed his body against the unyielding door that led to a rooftop deck. It gave suddenly, bringing a pleasant wind into the heated chamber. The vista was as striking as the plumbing was unique. His shower had started off chilly and then almost scalded him. Oh well, maybe it was time he learned how the other half lived, even if that half didn't have a lineage as renowned as his own.

His lip curled into a sardonic grin for a split second. Sage had never been able to take his heritage seriously for obvious reasons, given that his reputation at school had been that of a regal bastard.

A rap on the door prompted him to turn, but before he could reply, Alpha Landon entered the room, his usual smile missing.

"Reading your body language, brother, I'd say you were just informed you've got weeks to live, or you've just had a head-to-head with our dear daddy."

"Shut up, Sage! I'm exhausted," Landon rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth.

"You are always tired, anyway."

"Not surprising," Landon replied.

"How is His Royal Alphaness doing?"

"Cruel as ever."

Sage would ordinarily have responded sympathetically to Landon's heavy sigh and depressed demeanor, but today all he felt was annoyance. Didn't Landon realize that unless he showed some backbone, the Master Alpha would never stop attempting to regulate his life? Sage, a realist, admitted that perhaps not even then. If he were in his brother's position.

But you're not, are you, Sage? He asked himself.

Besides, Landon gets the crown for being the master alpha and the girl.

"I didn't think you'd come; neither did anyone else." Landon muttered.

Actually, his father had ordered, which under normal circumstances would have guaranteed Sage's nonappearance, and yet he was here. So why? Sage rubbed the towel across his dripping hair and veered away from the question in his head before it formed.

"And so you are."

"Duty call, the council needs my appearance the last three times I came to visit Savannah's pack," Landon sighed and pursed his lips.

"Yeah, right." Sage smirked as he gave a fake smile.

"You know I have alpha duty, brother."

"So you keep telling everyone. Seriously—" Sage groaned.

"It is a very serious duty, Sage, and you know that." Landon closed his eyes for a moment, then gave a deep sigh and said, "Anyway, I wanted you to get to know Sophie."

Sage threw his hands in the air dismissively and said, "Come on, Landon. Are you out of your mind? It's you she's marrying, not me."

And me she's kissing, Sage thought, the sharp twinge of guilt he felt drowned out by the stronger slug of lusty heat that accompanied the memory of those soft, sweet-sinful lips. If Landon had kissed her more often, maybe she wouldn't have melted in his arms, right?

That's right, Sage, because it's never your fault, is it?

Sage waited for the customary impact of combined annoyance, compassion, and admiration as he watched Landon move across the room, shoulders bowed in defeat. Instead, Sage felt rage and something he would have termed jealousy if the circumstances had been different.

Of course, it wasn't.

Envy would imply that Sage's brother has something that he lacks.

Landon was warmly welcomed to the throne. Landon had it from the beginning. There were no arguments there.

Sage had gotten used to being pushed to the sidelines and referred to as the spare when they were younger, but that was before he realized how much worse it was for Landon, who was carrying the demands of a pack on his young shoulders. Landon had no option; even his wife, Luna, had been chosen for him.

Sage had his independence, while Landon was welcomed by his bride. His father had informed both of his boys that privilege had a cost; so far, he'd proven his father incorrect. Sage relished the perks that came with his rank, but not the obligations.

And Sage didn't want to marry Sophie—in fact, he didn't want to marry anyone—he simply wanted to take her to bed. Not that it was surprising. But then, even thinking about the pretty doctor and her miraculous lips sent smoky desire slithering fiercely through him.

Sage, however, chose to disregard it. He'd touched and kissed Sophie, and he wasn't going to do it again, ever, even if the primordial urge that drew him to this woman was greater than anything he could ever remember feeling. It was something that he didn't recognize or was unwilling to acknowledge. He knew enough about himself to know that it would pass—it usually did.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of other women to kiss who weren't set to marry his brother and weren't prepared to throw away their lives. It was her decision, he told himself.

Fortunately, he had seen the true risk of exaggerating the kiss encounter in the car before it became something it was not. Sophie had a fantastic mouth and gorgeous lips, which made him desperate. Her wolf was gorgeous and powerful, and he swore something in her screamed power and enchantment. Lust and sweet darkness.

Every other thought had been washed away by the desire to taste, yet it was what it was: a "perfect storm" moment. Or perhaps it was a perfect fit of insanity, fueled by the drink he'd consumed much earlier in the morning at the bar, when he'd been even more bored than usual.

Sage had a good chance of regaining his usual perspective after seeing Sophie in her natural setting, as a woman who symbolized everything he had been revolting against and opposing his whole life.

"I didn't expect you to come, but I'm glad you did. I do appreciate the support." Landon grumbled.

"Seriously? Support?" Sage asked with a frown.

"I'm not sure I'm looking forward to tonight, beta."

"Nervousness or... don't tell me you're second-guessing yourself?" Sage made fun of his brother.

Landon looked aside, but not soon enough to conceal his irritation at the joke, which had obviously hurt his better-evolved sense of responsibility. If it was a bother?

Guilt? Could he have struck a nerve? Was his brother second-guessing himself? Sage discarded the concept almost immediately, regardless of his emotional sentiments. Duty, in whatever shape it manifested, came first for Landon.

"How is the blushing bride doing?" Sage inquired.

"Doing okay, I think."

"You think?" exclaimed Sage. "Do you mean you didn't spend the night greeting her?" Sage immediately imagined himself saying a very long greeting.

"I've just come, and she... we... Sophie doesn't blush by the way."

Sage's brows furrowed. "Oh? " He recalled the delectable rosy tinge that had swept across the charming little doctor's pale complexion.

"That's not always a bad thing," Landon added.

Sage's pupils constricted under his brother's gaze. "Which indicates you believe it is."

Landon appeared to be guilty. "She's not necessarily what you'd call impulsive, unlike her younger sister, Cherryl."

Woah! What in the world was that? Sage raised his brows at his brother. That was unexpected. He thought to himself as he cloaked his expression. He heard the echo of that soft, little mewling cry as she opened her mouth to him. Kissed him back. His body hardened helplessly at the memory of her soft breasts pushing into his ribcage.

The effort of fighting his way free of those intrusive memories delayed his response. "Impulsiveness can be overrated," Sage murmured.

It could also be great. She would be great in bed. Very great.

Never going to find out, Seb.

He was a bastard, but not that much of a bastard.

Landon sighed and continued, "Yes, particularly when your every move is being watched. Though Sophie possesses all the traits necessary to be the ideal master luna."

Sage's dark brows furrowed in thought as he listened to his brother speak; he appeared to be struggling mightily to convince himself that he believed what Landon was saying.

"I'm sold," Landon said glumly.

Sage smirked and said, "Yeah, what do you think?"

Before responding, Landon sidestepped his brother's curious gaze and the kind query, saying, "Marriage is all about teamwork, but of course, the pack's well-being comes first; our kingdom needs a king, a master when dad retires."

Sage ignored Landon's last sentence; he had never thought much about marriage other than to decide very early on that it was not for him, about the same time that he had almost made a catastrophic mistake. A rueful smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he tried and failed to picture the face of the woman he had determined, at the age of 19, was the love of his life. "I nearly proposed once," he remembered.

"You! " Before he could recover, Landon's jaw hit his chest. "Woah! You've found true love? Landon gave a head shake. "Who? When? What took place?"

Sage shook his head in annoyance. "Hell, it's not true love—the spark constantly rubs off; that's what happens. For a while, I thought she was wonderful, even though I later discovered that she snored like a boat engine and had an irritating chuckle. But her wolf is strange and weak. Since then, I've actually thought a lot of things were wonderful and perfect, but this time I don't expect it to stay."

Sage believed that committing oneself to one person for the rest of your life based on a transitory chemical high would be the hardest way to guarantee sadness. The Moon Goddess has a say in that. The fate of a werewolf was predetermined.

Landon stared at him before saying, "That was almost perfect."

"Perfect? Compare to you, you mean?" Sage's nose crinkled before he winced and grinned, watching as Landon, his expression growing distracted, moved to one of the two chairs arranged at the foot of the bed. Sage held up a warning hand.

"Woah! Alphaness, I wouldn't do that. I made the same mistake. The leg dropped off. I've propped it."

Landon made a detour to the other chair.

Sage looked about the fadingly luxurious chamber before saying, "It's not what I anticipated. Savannah packs genuinely do have financial problems. They are so prepared to sell their daughter to the highest bidder; therefore, that makes sense," he said sarcastically.

"They're not trying to sell her!" Landon objected. "Sophie is aware. She understands. She values—"

Sage stepped in to say, "Our mother understood; she also values—," pondering if his rage would subside, anger at the werewolf system that kept his mother in a relationship that ultimately led to her demise. "And it didn't go so well, either."

"It's not the same, Sage!" His brother protested, flushing as he surged to his feet.

Sage arched a brow as he scratched his jaw and tried to bite his tongue. "Landon, from where I'm standing, it looks like a classic case of history repeating itself."

Landon responded right after with a startled denial. "I'm not like... our father."

Then break the freaking cycle!

Sage kept his thoughts to himself. What good would it do? If the roles were reversed, was he really so certain that he would question their father, the king, the master of all alphas? He knew Landon would never do so. From where Sage was standing, criticism was simple but hard to do, especially towards their despicable, cruel father.