Page 258 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

Though it was early morning, I grabbed a beer from the fridge—I needed something to fortify myself—and got some water for Bryn. I moved some throw pillows to the armchair and sat on one side of the couch. Bryn finished her water and settled in beside me. She grabbed a book off the table and thumbedthrough the pages. The sight of it reminded me of when she and Dom first met. He had been able to do what I couldn’t: get her comfortable enough to talk. They’d spoken about books all the way back to the Warg compound. At the time, I’d been jealous, but now it made me wonder if their connection as siblings had made it easier for them to bond.

Eventually, Bryn lay down with her head in my lap. I stroked her hair. It was lucky that the men Dom shared the cabin with were either back on Warg territory or searching and hunting for Troy. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have this privacy.

Dom returned fifteen minutes later. He was still breathing hard, and his light brown hair was windblown. Bryn sat up, pushing her hair over her shoulder. She’d been on the verge of falling asleep.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get my thoughts in order,” he said. “It was like I had to dust off the cobwebs in my brain or something.”

Bryn and I shook our heads. “There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said. “You needed time, and we were happy to give that to you.”

“I appreciate it.” He ran his hands through his hair. “So, then, you’re my little sister, Bryn?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes shone with tears, and she tried to smile. “It turns out you’re my big brother after all.”

Dom went quiet again. We waited while he ordered his thoughts. “My mom…” he said finally. “She told me the baby who was supposed to be my little sister had died with her mother. She said my dad had died, too.”

“That’s what everyone thought,” I replied. “Glenda found Bryn in the woods near the outskirts of the Kings’ territory. I think Lucian was trying to bring Bryn back, but that was as close as he could get her to Warg territory.”

That last bit hurt to say. I was an adult man who had seen more than my fair share of tragedy. It shouldn’t have been difficult for me to accept that someone as powerful as Lucian had died in battle, trying to protect his family as best he could. But there was a large lump at the back of my throat, like the pup who’d known Lucian was still in me somewhere, missing him. I hadn’t let myself think about him for a long, long time, that even the man I’d viewed as a hero could fail.

Dom briefly closed his eyes and opened them again. “This is a lot to take in,” he murmured. “But I believe what you’ve told me.” He looked at Bryn. “I want to tell you about the people who raised me.”

She nodded, sniffling. “I have so many questions, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you.”

He smiled. “I appreciate that, Bryn. You’re just as kind as Blossom was to me.”

She went to him and touched his shoulder. “So, then, you knew that the child Blossom was carrying was your father’s?”

“Yeah, I knew. Things between my dad and my mom were complicated,” he said. “She always loved him, and he, in the beginning, loved her, too. They had me, and they were happy, but when Blossom was accepted into the pack, he and my mom separated. Blossom was his soulmate, and my mother wouldn’t stand in the way of that. It broke her heart, but there was nothing she could do. I remember there was a lingering sense ofhurt when she and Blossom were in the room together, but she wasn’t mean or cruel to your mother, Bryn. My mom wasn’t like that.”

“Of course she wasn’t,” she said, tears tracking down her cheeks. She wasn’t trying to hold in her emotions like Dom and I were, and that made her stronger than either of us. “I’m sure your mom was a very kind person. I can’t even imagine the heartache she endured.”

“Thank you for saying that. She and Dad remained friends even after they stopped living together, and they shared the responsibility of raising me. By the time Blossom got pregnant, Mom was even excited about me having a younger sister. She wouldn’t stop gushing about how beautiful you were going to be.”

Bryn laughed and wiped under her eyes with her sleeves.

“I’d always wanted a sibling, but Mom was never able to give me one because she never fell in love with another man.” He took a deep breath. “When we heard that the three of you had died, we were devastated. I think the shock of losing you all hurt her so much that she couldn’t fight off the sickness that took her life. I wish she’d lived long enough to meet you, Bryn. She probably wouldn’t have known you were Blossom’s daughter, but I’m sure she would’ve loved you.”

He paused, pushing his hands through his hair again. “I never thought you survived, Bryn. And to learn that you were alive this whole time, that I could have come and helped you at any time…I’m sorry the Kings were so awful to you and Glenda.”

“Dom, no.” She wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace.

I watched them, waiting to feel some pushback from my wolf, but the jealousy I might have felt under normal circumstances wasn’t there. I mean, what was there to be jealous of? A sister and brother hugging?

“You didn’t know,” she whispered. “You couldn’t possibly have known. What my mom and I went through is not your fault, Dom.”

He tentatively hugged her back, letting out a sound that wasn’t a sob and wasn’t a laugh. “I never thought I’d get to do this with my little sister.”

She laughed and hugged him harder. It was so rare to see my beta so emotional. It felt like I was intruding on a private moment.

“I’m sorry for the way things ended,” she said. “I’m sorry about what happened to your—no,ourfather. I wish I could tell you more about what happened to him, but the vision stopped when my mother passed away.”

“You’ve told me more than I ever thought I’d get to hear.” He pulled back but kept hold of her hands. “I made peace with my dad’s death a long time ago. I’ve always been proud that he went down swinging. But I am sorry you didn’t get to know him. He was an amazing man and an incredible father to me. And to Night.”

I tried to clear the lump in my throat, but it touched me that Dom had mentioned Lucian being like my father. It meant a hell of a lot that Dom viewed me as his brother as much as I viewed him as mine.

Bryn smiled. “What little I saw of him told me as much. He cared so much about you and Night, and my mother did, too.”

“Blossom was the sweetest woman I knew, next to my mother. There are so many stories about our childhood that I could tell you.”