Page 137
Story: Reclaimed
“I do,” I said. “Wait here, okay?”
I went upstairs. Dylan was in his room, and just as Mia had said, he was fast asleep. He was frowning and twitching under the covers. I brushed my hand over his hair, and he sighed and settled. Hopefully, my dragon’s presence had scared away the nightmare.
Once my dragon and I were assured Dylan was safe, I gave Mia a brisk hug, then went outside and hopped back on my motorcycle.
If I knew my brother, I knew exactly where he’d be. There was only one place he’d feel like he could mourn Sean and feel close to him at the same time. Ever since he was a kid, Hawk had always found peace in the same place.
The small park was behind the grocery store, just off the main strip of Lakeview proper. There wasn’t much to it: a swing set, a wooden climbing structure, and a clean sandbox. In the distance, the sun rose over the beautiful, snow-capped mountains. In the dawn light, the park was so quiet it looked like a painting. I rolled up slowly. There was no way Hawk hadn’t heard me, but he didn’t turn to face me. He remained seated on the park bench facing the swing set, watching the chains move slightly in the morning breeze.
I sat down on the bench next to him.
Sean, Hawk, and I used to play here as back when we were still young pups, eager and excited to face the world—before it became clear that I was the stronger one, the destined leader of the clan. Back when Sean was just my brother.
I knew we were both remembering those moments.
“You really think you can do this?” Hawk asked.
“I don’t have a choice.”
“He’s not some random rival coming in for the territory,” Hawk said. “He’s still our brother.”
I took a slow breath. “I don’t know what to do instead. This was his choice. He chose to kidnap Harley. He tried to take my son, too.”
“I’m not going to convince you not to challenge him,” Hawk said.
That surprised me. I looked over at him, but he didn’t meet my gaze. His eyes were fixed on the swing set, but distantly, like he wasn’t seeing it at all.
“What’s this going to do to you, Ace? You can’t kill your brother and come out the other side completely normal, like nothing ever happened. It’s going to change something inside you.” Hawk turned suddenly and jabbed his finger forcefully into my chest. “In here.” Then my forehead. “Here, too. You won’t be the same.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“And what if the same thing happens to you?” There was an edge of furious desperation in his voice. “What if you snap? If your alpha goes crazy? Drags you down into the same darkness Sean went down?”
It hit me like a slap to the face. Hawk wasn’t only worried about losing Sean—he was worried about losingme, too.
I couldn’t fault him for it. Sean was my twin. Another alpha. Once upon a time, he had been my other half. If he was at the mercy of his alpha, it made sense that Hawk worried I might be, too.
“I’m not going to sit here and say it won’t change me. We both know it will. And we both know that’s why I’ve been trying to find any other way to handle this. But I’m not Sean. When things get hard—and I know they will—I’m not going to run away and turn my back on the clan. I’m not going to build my own clan of criminals and madmen. I’m not going to break, Hawk, because I have you to watch my back.” I squeezed his shoulder.
“Fuck.” He slumped forward until his elbows hit his knees and buried his face in his hands. “Fuck. I wish it hadn’t come to this.”
“I know.” I kept my hand on his shoulder and squeezed again. “I wish that, too.”
Something in Hawk cracked, and he began to cry.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my brother cry. Maybe not since Bella was born. His shoulders shook under my hand as he cried, and I steadied him as I gazed out toward the mountains. Finally, the sun crested over them fully, and Hawk’s tears slowed and stopped.
“We’ll get through this,” I promised.
He leaned back against the bench, inhaling deeply, then exhaled. He tipped his head back, eyes closed. “I know.” Then he opened his eyes, and when I looked over, he looked newly determined. “Let’s get your girl back.”
30
HARLEY
“Let me go, you fucking shit-eating asshole!”
I’d sworn more in the past forty-five minutes than I had in the last nine years. My fear had given way to rage, and I thrashed and fought as Sean’s lackeys dragged me over the threshold of the rat trap, they called a clubhouse. At least, I assumed it was their clubhouse. Not like they had a lot of clan members to house, anyway.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263