Page 184 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

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Iwoke slowly from a dreamless place. My vision was blurry as I looked around the white room…until I found Lance sitting in the chair next to my bed. When I saw him, my vision cleared, and I remembered the feral attack. And I remembered him saying that he was my brother.

His dark auburn hair was a mess, and he was nodding off in his chair with his arms crossed. It was strange to think that this man who’d spoken in riddles and generally been strange around me was not only my blood relative but my sibling. I had so many things I wanted to say to him.

When I moved my hand to scratch my other arm, Lance snapped to attention.

“You’re awake?” He started to stand. “I’ll get Night.”

“No.” My voice was a croak, but clearing my throat didn’t help. “Not yet. I have some things I want to say to you.”

“Oh. Um, sure. How are you? Can I get you anything?”

“Water.”

He nodded. There was a pitcher of water and cups on a table across the room.

He filled one of the cups and brought it toward me.

I tried to push myself into a seated position, but it was difficult.

He set the cup down on the bedside table and rushed to help me.

His palms were rough on my back and shoulders, scarred like Night’s.

When he handed me my water, I noticed the callouses on his knuckles.

He was a fighter, like all the men I knew.

And in that way, he was familiar, but he was still such a stranger to me.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“Two days.”

I winced. “Jeez.”

“Yeah.”

I sipped the water and watched him sit back down. He ran his palms over the knees of his jeans, and then his knee started bouncing. I glanced at his face, and he quickly looked away from me.

“You seem nervous,” I said. Thanks to the water, my throat was less scratchy.

He forced a laugh. “Ah, maybe a little. Night will probably kill me if he finds out you’re awake and I didn’t tell him immediately.”

“That’s funny.”

He blinked. “It is?”

“Yeah. You should be worried about the threat sitting right next to you.” I leveled a glare at him, and he had the decency to duck his head.

“I’ll probably kill you both the minute I can get up from this bed.

You lied to me.” I sighed and leaned back against my pillow.

“And so did Night. But what else is new?”

“Hold on.” He leaned toward me. “You shouldn’t blame Night. He was innocent in this.”

I raised a brow. Lance defending my mate was the last thing I’d expected, given their history. “How exactly is he innocent? He helped you keep the secret, didn’t he?”

He paused, but only for about a second. “Okay—yes, he did. But he did that because I made him. He asked me multiple times to tell you the truth, but I refused because I was sure it would keep you safer if you didn’t know. But now, I know it was because I was too much of a coward to tell you.”

I stared at him, waiting for more.

“He sent Tavi and Dom home to take care of your packs and stayed by your side the entire time you were out. He only left about an hour ago, and that was because I forced him to get some rest.”

My wolf yipped happily at that, and I almost smiled. Almost.

“That sounds like my mate, but I don’t want to talk about him. I want to talk about you,” I said. “Specifically, why you thought that keeping the truth from me was the best thing to keep me safe.”

Lance didn’t answer right away, but I didn’t mind.

I knew he’d tell me everything. Unlike Dom, who I’d known for months before I found out the truth, Lance was an unknown.

And yet, something in me told me that he really was my brother.

The feeling in my gut was so strong, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t known it earlier.

“Our mother gave me up right after she had me,” he finally said. “She left me with a human family. But when I was four, she came to me. Honestly, I’m not sure if she came to me in a dream or in person. All I know is that when she appeared, she was so beautiful, I thought she was an angel.”

He knew what our mother looked like. That sent a painful pang through my chest.

“Right after she told me I was a shifter, she told me I was meant to protect you because your destiny is very important, and that when I was a teenager, I’d know what to do to get to you.

I went through the human school system, and I was lucky that I took to their teaching easily.

I graduated from high school when I was sixteen and left home because I felt the ‘pull’ to.

” He tilted his head at me. “You know what I mean by that, don’t you? You’ve felt that pull before?”

I started to shake my head, but I was immediately reminded of the time I saw my mother’s wolf for the first time. I had felt that “pull” to follow her, and it had resulted in me finding Vince.

“Yeah, I do. I’ve felt that pull a handful of times.”

He smiled. “It’s probably a little selfish of me to say, but it’s so refreshing to find someone else who knows what I mean.”

It was hard not to smile back. “I think I get what you mean. My mom and Violet talk a lot about spirits and having a connection to the land, but I don’t think either of them have felt what you and I have.

” I had more that I could say, but I knew it would be easy to get sidetracked, and I had too many questions for him.

“So what did the ‘pull’ tell you to do?”

“It led me downtown and into an alley to Troy and his lackeys. I had the sense to follow them, so for the rest of the night, I did that. He and those idiots were awful—cat-calling, causing trouble, and generally being assholes to everyone they met.”

Disgust flared through me. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

He nodded. “I followed them to a club. I waited for a bit, then a bouncer tossed him out. Troy’s fake ID didn’t pass muster at the bar.

The bouncer was going to call the police, but I convinced the bouncer not to, telling him they were kids I tutored.

The bouncer knew the people who raised me, so he believed me.

He let them go, and helping them out was enough to convince Troy that I was trustworthy. ”

I snorted. “Wow, that’s all it took?”

He smirked. “Yeah, that was it. He knew I was a wolf, and he was fascinated by the fact that I had been raised among humans. He wanted me to join his pack. At the time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

I wanted to look for you, but I didn’t even know your name.

But when Troy told me there was a human in his pack, I knew it had to be you. ”

“You joined the Kings after that.”

He nodded. “And I found you. I wanted to tell you everything, but when I saw how they treated you, I was terrified it would make things even worse for you. I saw so many people die at the hands of Troy and his father…I could never risk that happening to you. You were my only family left.”

What remained of my anger evaporated at the tears shining in his eyes. I felt the concern, the fear, wafting from him.

“I’m sorry things were hard for you,” I said. “I can relate to your story a little. I grew up lonely, unlike everyone else. I was lucky my mom loved me, but you saw how the pack ostracized me.”

He nodded. “That was why I was worried one of them would try to kill you when you were alpha.”

“But they didn’t. And that was because they weren’t inherently bad people. The Redwolfs made them awful, angry people. The environment ruined them.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I scared you. And I’m sorry I was so cryptic. I…to be honest, it had been such a long time, and the first chance I had to talk to you was at the market. I wanted to help you, to show you I wasn’t a bad guy, but I feel like all I did was creep you out.”

I remembered how he’d haggled down the price of the bracelets I’d bought for Tavi and Night. I laughed.

“You definitely confused me, to say the least.”

Chuckling, he rubbed the back of his head.

“When you became alpha, I thought, ‘Shit, this is what our mom was talking about. I need to protect Bryn from the whole pack.’ It was so important to protect you because you were in the spotlight as alpha, and I thought you’d just painted a huge target on your back.

But you had Night and Tavi and Dom…I was stressed out, but you were in good hands. ”

I smiled.

“He cares a lot about you,” he said. “Night, I mean. It was a mistake for me to think he didn’t just because he’s related to Gregor and Troy.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “But it’s not your fault for being worried. He saved me from Troy, but he did kidnap me in the process.”

“I was about ready to cause an inter-pack incident when that happened,” he admitted. “I was worried out of my mind. But I wasn’t nearly as concerned as when I learned that Troy had taken you back. He wouldn’t tell me where you were, just kept sending me on away missions.”

“You know, even Night worries that he’s like the Redwolfs. I’ve told him that he doesn’t need to worry because he’s nothing like them, but I don’t know if he believes me.”

“I didn’t know he thought that. I might owe him another apology.”

There were a few beats of silence.

“What’s your human family like?” I asked.

The soft smile that took over his face melted my heart.

“Our mother chose well. They’re very nice.

They’re an older couple whose children had all grown up and had their own lives.

They had been fostering orphan kids for a couple of years, but they decided to keep me.

They don’t know I’m a wolf, and they have no idea what I do, but they accept that. ”

“But you go for months without seeing them, right? What do you tell them?”

He chuckled to himself. “I tell them I build zip-line parks.”

I laughed. “What are their names?”

“My mom’s—er, foster mom’s name is—”

“Sorry, I hate to interrupt you, but you don’t have to self-edit.” I put my hand on his. “If you consider the woman who raised you your mother, there’s nothing wrong with that. I think of my mom as my mom even though she didn’t give birth to me.”

He searched my face as if looking for permission, and then the smile was back on his face. “Thanks.”

I nodded. “Don’t mention it.”

“Their names are Bridgit and Horace Wolfe.”

That surprised me into a small fit of giggles. “You’re messing with me.”

Lance was smiling, too. “No, it’s true. I think our mother had a strange sense of humor.”

“Maybe she did. That would definitely explain yours.”

He paused, then burst out with a long, loud laugh. “That’s fair. My parents are in their eighties and live in a nursing home that their biological daughter pays for. I try to get up to Colville as often as I can to visit them. Lately, that’s been once a month.”

“You can visit them as often as you want, now that the secret’s out.”

He grinned. “I think I’ll keep it to once a month for now, at least until I’m sure that any potential threat to them is gone.”

I nodded. “That’s reasonable.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring down the mood.”

“No, no, it’s okay. I should probably talk to Night, huh?”

He nodded. “I’ll get him for you.”

“Thanks.”

He got up to leave. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. After everything Lance had told me, I had so much to think about, to unpack. But I was too exhausted. All I wanted was to see my mate.

As if thinking about him summoned him, the door opened, and Night walked in. I opened my eyes and saw the emotions wash over him: relief, love, trepidation…and guilt. I wanted to be angry, or just miffed at him for yet again keeping secrets from me. But I couldn’t muster up the energy.

“Night, I’m tired.”

“Oh, Bryn.” He came to my side, sitting in the chair Lance had occupied a few moments ago. “If you’re too injured, I’ll—”

I raised my hand, and his mouth immediately shut. “No. It’s got nothing to do with my injuries. I am tired of being lied to.”

He tensed, every muscle in his body locking up. Good. I wanted him to feel how serious I was in every part of his being.

“Lance explained everything to me,” I continued.” He was insistent that it wasn’t your fault, and in many ways, I kind of agree. You were told to keep his secret, so for him, you did it. You probably felt that it wasn’t your secret to tell, right?”

Stiffly, he nodded.

“But Night, we swore we wouldn’t lie to each other.

There were so many times that I felt you weren’t telling me something.

I couldn’t tell if it was real or if I was imagining it.

You could have told me that you were sworn to secrecy about something.

Yes, I would have had follow-up questions, but I’d at least have known what was going on.

I would have the information I needed to trust you. Instead, you kept me in the dark.

“This was your last chance to prove that you could keep that promise, and you failed.” Tears burned my eyes, but for the first time since I’d found out I was pregnant, I kept them from falling.

“I don’t want your apologies, Night. I need to see action.

You are never to lie to me for the sake of my ‘protection’ or at the expense of my autonomy. Do you understand?”

Night moved from the chair down to his knees in front of me. He lowered his head, and his answering “yes” was a whisper, a promise that only he, I, and our wolves knew.

It was awful having to say all those things and mean them, and I couldn’t bear seeing him like this even a second more. It took effort, but I went to him and pressed my lips to his forehead. When he looked up at me, I kissed him.

The kiss was gentle, and I tasted sweet relief on his tongue. I could have stayed there kissing him forever, but he pulled away.

“There’s something else,” he said. “When we leave here, we’re taking Oakley’s daughter with us.”

I blinked. I didn’t know the Camas alpha had a daughter. “Why?”

Night explained that Oakley’s daughter had saved the Camas children, but her efforts had cost the lives of several women. Listening to Night, I found myself becoming just as heated as he had been when he spoke to Oakley about it.

“There’s no way we can let her stay here,” I said. “The last thing that poor girl needs is to be imprisoned.”

He smiled. “I knew you would understand.”

“If I didn’t know better, Night, I’d assume you were making a habit of saving women and having them join your pack.”

He scoffed. “Hardly.”

He sounded normal, but something about the way his eyes looked down as he said it made my chest tighten. Maybe he didn’t like my joke? Or maybe there was something else he needed to tell me about where we stood.

"Night, what is the status here?” I asked. “Is there still an active threat?”

“Not at this moment,” he replied, his face darkening. “But it’s clear that this war with Troy is much, much bigger than we thought.”

My stomach dropped, but my hands curled into fists. War meant more death, more injury, but I was ready to fight him to the end. Troy needed to be stopped, by any means necessary.