The Secrets We Keep

Chapter 9

Zeric

My sister and Mathias have been hanging out every day since he took her to the movies, and almost got her killed by the mutated-looking wolves hiding out in the woods two weeks ago. I thought it was weird he was trying so hard to get to know her, and he was dead set on getting her to love him. I feel like my sister is too desperate for some type of acceptance, no matter where it's from. I waited in the car for Bubba and Lana, and saw Ricky make her way to the midnight blue, lifted truck parked in front of the house. I sat in the Audi and honked in hopes it would rush my annoying siblings to get in gear and get out here.

They both walked out and looked at me like I was ruining their morning. Alana was in first.

"Dude, we aren't even running late! What is the deal? My hair is curly because I didn't get to dry it!" She yelled.

"Yeah brother, whats the deal?" I heard Bubba finally question.

"Ricky," I answered instantly.

"Do you think she's in trouble?"

"I don't know Lana, this Mathias guy, doesn't sit well with me." I said, making sure I kept up with the truck my sister was in. "Why is she so important to this guy?"

"Come on Zeric! Erika is a great person! Maybe he really likes her!" Bubba yelled at me. I scoffed at him. The truck pulled onto the street that leads to the school. I hurried to the junior high so I could make it back to keep an eye on them. I dont think I've ever seen Alana get out of a car as fast as she did when we reached the parking lot of the school.

"You are nuts!" She yelled as I got out.

"Stop being a chicken!" I yelled back. I kept trying to get her to stop seeing him but for some reason she wouldn't. I heard a voice yell from down the hall.

"Zeric!" I turned to see the source and it was my cousin.

"Lauren?"

"Yeah, my auntie brought me since I missed you this morning." I had forgotten my cousin was coming to live with us for a couple of months. It was creepy how much she resembled Erika and Lana. If I didn't know any better, I would think she was one of my sisters and not a cousin.

"Can you take me around town after school? I really want to get to know this place since I'll be here for a bit." She said bubbly.

She moved here after her dad was never home because of work. She didn't have a choice, so my mom went and brought her up here with us. She's a couple of months younger than me and Erika, so she wasn't as annoying as Alana or Uriah. I just really didn't look forward to having to chauffeur her around now that Erika was so concentrated on Mathias.

She went to the hall where her class was and ran straight into Mathias. I got really bothered by this. I rushed to pull her up from the ground.

"I'm sorry," Lauren started, "I didn't see you."

"Dont worry about it, beautiful!" Mathias laughed as he handed her her books. "Why were you in such a rush?"

"I'm late for class." She blushed, trying to move around him.

"Oh I'm sorry. I thought you were Erika."

"No," she giggled, "I'm Lauren. I'm the cousin. We just look a lot alike. And who are you?"

"Mathias, Erika's boyfriend." He answered and I felt my anger build.

"Time to go," I pulled her by the shirt away from him. "You, class, now."

"Fun sucker!" She yelled as she walked into the door of her first class.

"She seems sweet," Mathias said to me. I scoffed at him.

"Back off, man. Look, you may have my sister fooled by this good guy front, but I don't buy it." I told him. He gave me his stupid smirk he gets when someone talks to him anything less than polite.

"Did you ever think maybe I actually care about her?"

"Guys like you always end up breaking girls'hearts. It has already happened to her once! She doesn't need it from you now!" I said, trying to hold back my anger I felt as it flowed through my veins.

"Anthony is trash, and I am nothing like him." I was surprised he knew his name. I was more surprised she told him.

"Until you find the right one for you and leave her, right?"

"What are you talking about, man? Do you hear yourself?" He asked like I was crazy. "I love her man and, honestly, all I want is for her to be happy! If I don't fit into the picture I won't try to, but as of right now, she's happy with me." I was ready to swing but before I could, I felt a soft touch on my shoulder.

"Brother, please?" My sister's voice sounded hurt and I knew it was my doing. "Stop, Zeric. If I get hurt, it's my fault, not his." Hearing her try to protect him hurt my heart. She was always the defender but never defended.

"Sissy, he isn't good for you! You've already gone through this with Anthony and look where it left you!" My sister looked at the floor.

"Right now Zeric, the only person hurting her is you." I heard from the i***t standing behind her.

"You know what, Mathias, you don't speak for her! You don't know anything about her! You don't know what pain she went through being with him! I do though, I'm the one who held her up and put back the pieces he left her in!"

"Zeric!" She said a little more stern this time. I looked at her and shook my head.

"You're going down a bad road Ricky, I hope you know what you're doing because all that is going to happen is you getting hurt." I turned on my heel and walked away from my twin, the one person that had been with me my entire life was leaving me in her rear view for some jerk she barley knew that would leave her as soon as he found someone he wanted more than her. I felt my sister hurt, I hated that I could feel what she felt. I had to learn to control my feelings because the more out of control mine were, the more out of control she was. I had to learn how to always be calm so she wouldn't have to deal with her emotions and mine. Our bond was unique, I always knew when she was in trouble, and I always knew when she needed me to be her brother, her back bone whenever she couldn't stand by herself. Now she was growing distant, she didn't trust my judgment anymore like she usually did, and if I was being honest to myself, it hurt. I got into the car and sat alone in the silence. All I could think about was all the possibilities that could go wrong in this case. All I wanted was for her to be careful. Suddenly, my train of thought was interrupted by the door being ripped off my sisters car, followed by a growl, a painful tear, then darkness.

Erika

"I'm sorry Mat," I started to say as my brother walked away, "he is just being protective." I turned to face him. I felt his hand touch my face and wiped away my tears. I didn't even realize how hurt I was, but I knew it couldn't just be my hurt. It was Zeric's too. I was shocked. I hadn't been able to connect with my brother for a long time and I was sad that this was the reason he finally let me in. Mathias put his arm around me and we started walking down the hall when I felt it. I felt a wave of fear take over every inch of me. I stopped and Mat could tell something started bothering me.

" What's wrong, beautiful?"

"Zeric!" I said and turned back, running as fast as I could with Mathias following close behind me.

"Erika! Stop, something isn't right!" he yelled.

"I don't care, I have to find my brother!" I yelled as my panic rose and became apparent in my voice. I made it out to the parking lot and I smelt the foul rotting meat smell and it made me stop and look around. All I could hear was the deafening sounds of silence.

"No, no, no! Where is he?!" I looked toward the parking space we always park and there was my car. The door was pulled off and thrown across the lot. "Zeric?!"

There was some blood and I crouched down to where it was. I looked around and suddenly Mathias was closely searching around in his own way. I touched it hoping that it was just a dream, and stood so I could face Mathias. I looked up at him with the blood I touched on my hands.

"Mat?!" I tried to fight the ball building in the back of my throat. "Where is my brother?"

Mathias

When I reached the car she was crouched down touching something. I was looking around trying to get a smell to see which way they took him. But all I could smell was rogue and even that was starting to be faint for some reason. I walked towards the back of the car and I saw it, a small broken bottle.

"Mat?!" I heard Erika's voice cracking and I looked to see her with blood on her hands. "Where is my brother?" I walked to her and got her hand and looked to see where she found it.

"Erika, I need you to get my truck and get your sister and your brother and take them to my house."

"Your house? Mat I don't even know where you live!" She yelled at me. "I have to find my brother." She pushed past me and when she did I grabbed my phone. I dialed my uncle, our Gamma and head warrior, but before I called I noticed some of the blood trailed. I followed it and I noticed it had a scent but just barley. The mask spray, he had some too and it was good. But I was better and I smelt him still. I was great at what I did. The more I followed it, the stronger it got as it headed to the back of the football field house, which was actually smart considering it reeked like sweat, blood and teenage boys. I rounded the corner and saw Zeric pretty badly off.

"Zeric!" I didn't think I was going to be as relieved as I was to find him. "Come on buddy," I said as I pulled him to his feet, "your sister needs you." I told him as I helped him try to walk.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked.

"Man, your sister loves you, and she is important to me...... and regardless of how I feel about you, no one deserves whatever happened to you." I said with all the sincerity I had for him. We got to my truck and I helped him into the back seat. When I turned around, I saw Erika, Lana and their cousin from earlier, Lauren.

"Erika! I found him!" I said as she ran into my arms, then past me when it registered to her, what I had said.

"Where was he?" She asked, opening the door climbing in. "Zeric, look at me brother!" She sobbed. "I'm here, I'm so sorry." She laid her head on his chest holding his hand.

"I'm okay Sissy, I promise." He said, wincing as he forced the words out.

"Get in so we can get him to a doctor." I told his sister and cousin.

"No!" they both said in unison.

"He needs to be checked out, Erika! If not, he might not make it!" I said as seriously as I could.

"Fine, let's go."

"Ricky, no we don't have---" I interrupted Lana before she finished.

"Don't worry about it. Whatever they need I'll pay for. You guys go with Ty." I started for Wolf Land. The pack doctor would be able to help him, he would know how to fix the injuries that could cause infections and possibly kill Zeric. I just didn't know if I really wanted to explain humans on home grounds. As we pulled up I could hear Erika comforting her twin, whispering to him memories they shared from childhood. I could see Zeric smiling at his sister's kind words in appreciation.

"We're here." I told them as we pulled up to the pack hospital. Once I was out of my truck, James was waiting to help me get Zeric out of my truck.

"Mat is this a good idea?" Erika asked me.

"Yes beautiful, why wouldn't it be?"

"It looks like a private hospital." She noticed that it was very quiet.

"It's fine, he's my uncle." I let her know as James looked him over.

"Looks like an animal attack. See these gashes in his chest? I'm pretty sure it was going for his throat." James stated.

"It was a wolf," Zeric said.

"Rogues" James linked me when he heard what Zeric said.

"I agree." I nodded at him.

"Why don't you go wait and get cleaned up. You need to leave him here. He needs rest and lots of stitching up." James smiled at Erika. She looked up at me with concern.

"He will be fine beautiful. You have my word." I assured her.

"Then I'm staying with him." She said. As I was about to speak, I heard the loud boom of Alpha's voice.

"Why are these people here?!" Erika and I both turned to face him at the same time. Lana and Laura looked down in hopes of him not paying them any mind.

"Erika, why don't you three go back to your brother's room?" James imputed. Alpha looked them, his eyes filled with anger and waited until they were out of hearing range to speak.

"Who brought these humans here?"

"I did Alpha, the boy was attacked by rogues and needed tending to. I brought him here so we didn't have to deal with the human doctors and all the questions that come with a human establishment." I said to him, not backing down from the decision I made. I looked behind him and saw Danae with the soon to be alpha that knew Erika, Anthony.

"You get him fixed up and send them on their way." He pointed at James, who nodded in response.

"Daddy, these humans are good people. Erika is my human friend. Please don't rush them out before Zeric is OK." Danae spoke softly.

He whipped his head back at her. He sighed, "Fine, make sure the boy is healthy enough. Then you send them on their way."

"Thank you Alpha." I bowed my head in respect.

"This never happens again, are we clear?" He looks at me with hate.

"Understood." I agreed.

Erika

I could hear Danny and Mathias' voices going back and forth with her dad, in hopes of keeping my brother here until he was strong enough to go. I couldn't make out very much of what was said. I peaked around the door and saw my best friend. She saw me and winked, letting me know all was settled. I pulled out my spray and noticed it was leaking all over my bag. I got frustrated and placed my bag by the door close to a chair I was about to sit on.

"Sissy," he said, his voice scratchy, as he reached for my hand, "are you OK?"

"Shhh brother, sleep, I'm fine and I'll take care of everything."

"Ricky, what happened?" Alana asked me quietly.

"I don't know! I'm just as lost as you!" I scowled at her.

"Why did he bring us here instead of the hospital in town?" Lauren asked.

"I don't know! And when did you get here?"

"According to your brother, she got here this morning." Mathias' voice said from the doorway. "He told me before you found us in the hall."

"Mat can you take them home and pick up bubba?" I asked. He nodded and looked at them, gesturing out the door. I looked back at my brother lying in the bed sleeping. I went and held his hand. I couldn't help but feel my veins fill with rage, and all I wanted was to do was find whatever did this to him and put it down before they could do this to anyone else! I felt him squeeze my hand.

"I can still feel you, you know?" I laughed hearing him.

"I thought that was gone? I can never feel you anymore." I felt hurt at that thought.

"I'm sorry sissy. I didn't want you to have to deal with all of your emotional mess and mine, so I had to learn to let everything go. The anger, the hurt, all of it." I felt the frustration he had with himself.

"I felt how scared you were, Zeric. I didn't mean to push you away." I started to cry.

"I pushed you away, Erika. I cut off whatever bond we have, so you couldn't feel anything having to do with me." We talked until he finally fell asleep, and I felt eyes on me. I turned and saw Danny. I couldn't help but start crying as I walked to her, in appreciation of her helping my brother get the help we needed for him to get better.

"Thank you!"

"No problem, my beautiful friend." She said to me "Your brother will be fine. James is the best at what he does." She might have been a spoiled princess, but she had the biggest heart in the world. I looked up and saw Mathias smiling at me. Danny released me from her embrace, to let him hold me.

"Come on beautiful, let's get you showered and cleaned up." He told me. I shook my head.

"I don't want to leave him alone."

"Me and Anthony will stay with him. Maybe he will appreciate more support." Danny insisted, with a wink. She smiled at us and with that Mathias threw me over his shoulder and took me to the big building that reminded me of the one abandoned on the other side of the river. I'd never been inside before so I was amazed at how similar the set-up was. I looked at every detail as Mathias took me upstairs somewhere. I assumed it was his room.

"Here," he said, handing me some basketball shorts and a t-shirt. "Go on." I stood on my tip toe and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you Mat." He beamed with confidence and it made me feel good that I made him feel that way. After my shower, I spritzed some of my perfume and hoped I could save it before all of it leaked out. I walked out with my hair in its natural state of curls, and zero make-up. He stood up from his bed fast and left his phone. He walked to me and for some reason his eyes looked like they darkened a little. He pulled me close to him and gently placed a kiss on my forehead. All I felt at that moment was his love and security. His kisses made their way from my forehead, then to my lips.

He slowly took a few steps back, pulling me on him as he laid back on his bed. I started to feel flushed and warmth flowed throughout me. His excitement was apparent and again he stopped before it got too far. And as much as I was disappointed, I didn't get upset this time. He sat up and stayed focused on my face and playfully started to kiss all over my face. I giggled as I tried to escape his attack but he flipped me over and pinned me, continuing his silly assault. He finally stopped when I reminded him about my brother and how much I wanted to get back to him. He agreed with no argument, he needed to shower first and changed. He was covered in just as much blood as I was earlier. I dont think he will ever understand how much it meant to me that he helped us out the way he did. He kissed my cheek and made his way to the bathroom to clean up.

While he was showering, I decided to tour his room. It was huge, and looked more like its own miniature apartment. I was amazed, to say the least. As I walked around the room, images of the blood-stained rooms of the abandoned building kept flashing in my mind. I shook it off when I heard the water stop in the bathroom shower. I waited for Mathias to come out so we could head for the hospital. The door opened and he emerged out of the bathroom. Gave me a wink and gestured towards the door. He grabbed my hand and as we walked out Danny's dad was standing at the door looking like he was about to knock. I looked up at the large man in front of me, and he looked right back down at me. I didn't allow him to scare me. He knew I wasn't afraid of him and it infuriated him.

"Why is this..... girl, up here?" He questioned.

"She needed to shower sir. She had her brother's blood on her and I figured manners matter, so I offered her a shower to clean off."

I looked up at Mathias and smiled slightly, then I looked back at him.

"What's your name girl?" He asked me in a serious tone.

"Erika," I said quietly.

"Speak up girl!" I looked at him more sure of myself.

"Erika Nicole Martinez."

"Where are you from?"

"Just north of the Mexican border, I think."

"You think? He questioned suspiciously.

"My family moves a lot because of my dad's job." He looked at me, then Mathias, and then he walked away. And we made our way back to my brother. On our way down we saw so many people and I felt panicked as they all stared at me walking with Mathias as he held my hand. Mathias could tell because he squeezed my hand and pulled me closer to him.

We reached my brother's hospital room and, as promised, Danny was sitting there with Anthony beside her. Anthony actually looked worried about his friend. Danny had looked concerned about something. When she saw me, she got up and grabbed my arm to pull me out of the room.

"I need to talk to you."

"Like now? I just got back here." I looked at her disappointed.

"Yes now." She said sternly "I have questions for you!" I followed her out of the room. I wanted to get whatever this was over with and get back to my brother.

"How does he know you guys?" I felt my heart skip a beat. I look at the floor with my head hanging low.

"I went to school with him in the last town we were in. He and Zeric ended up being friends."

" That's all?" She questioned.

"Yes, why?" She shrugged her shoulders and pulled me in for a hug. She peaked into the room and gestured to Anthony to follow her out. I looked at Mathias and couldn't help but feel lucky, that he wanted to be with me. I walked over to him and hugged him and rested my head against his chest.

"Thank you for everything. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't brought him here."

"Shh." He placed the tips of his fingers on my lips to stop my talking. "You don't ever have to thank me." He leaned in to kiss me when we were interrupted.

"Gag! Please just because I'm banged up doesn't mean I can't hear you two." Zeric said from his bed. I couldn't help but giggle, knowing my brother was going to be alright. The only thing left in my mind, was to figure out what to tell my parents about the wolf attack, or how. I gave Mat one more kiss good night and watched him leave. James, with the help of a nurse, came pushing in a cot for me to sleep on for the night. I thanked them for their trouble and climbed in and got ready for bed. I looked over at my brother and noticed he wasn't asleep.

" What's going on in your head?" I asked him. He looked at me and didn't say anything for a couple of minutes.

"I was so scared, sissy. All I could think was how much I wished you were there." I stayed quiet, as the guilt settled in my heart. I wasn't there to protect him. He was in danger and I wasn't there to save him. This made more memories of the abandoned village enter my mind. I slowly drifted off when I started having nightmares of possibilities of what occurred in the rooms of the huge building and hospital.

There was screaming, men, women and children. I imagined a million different images, when the image of a large grey wolf jumping at me jolted me awake. I felt myself drenched in sweat, realizing where I was. I looked over to my brother in a slight panic. Being twins has always given us a little more comfort knowing that we would always have each other.

"Bad dream?" He asked me and I nodded.

"Home tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Please!" He said loudly.

Mathias

"You brought humans into our home! Do you realize the damage you could have caused?" Beta Leon scolded.

"Yes I am aware, but he was hurt! If I took him to a regular hospital, the second word of an animal attack started to spread. We would have a hunter problem on top of a rogue problem." My response wasn't just a defense, it was the truth. Humans always feel the need to hunt anything they get the chance to. Tyler nodded in agreement with what I said. Tyler wasn't just my best friend but, beat Leon's son, and he always had my back.

"Alpha," Anthony started, and I cringed at the sound of his voice, "perhaps we can fix this. Mathias does have a point about this and humans would be in every corner of the forest on this side of the mountains...... Let me take them. These humans that were brought to your hospital. I'm sure I could assure that they won't be of any harm to our kind."

"That won't be necessary, Alpha Anthony." I gritted through my teeth trying not to let anyone hear the irritation in my words. "Alpha, these humans are good people. The girl is... special to me. She doesn't believe in the supernatural. She believed it was just a random wolf attack. Danny had even let her know there were some wolf sightings in the area, so I'm sure this confirmed the information she was given." I could feel Anthony glaring at me.

"Mathias, these rogues seem interested in this girl, or her family at least. This is the third time a rogue issue occurred and she was around for the events that unfolded." Alpha Raymond stated.

"I think it's time we found out why." He made his way out of the conference room we met in. Beta Leon followed suit. Not long after, Anthony broke the silence.

"Do you even know what you've just done?" He asked, his tone filled with frustration as he grabbed me by the shirt and turned me to face him. Tyler let out a loud growl, letting him know he was overstepping boundaries.

"With all due respect, Anthony, I don't care what you think I've done." My frustration matched his, as I pulled his hands off my shirt.

"You put her in danger, Mathias!" He boomed at me.

"What does it matter to you, Anthony? Huh? You stopped answering her," I threw what she let me know about their relationship in his face, "yeah I know about you and her. About how you found your mate, how you showed up here around the same time she did. I think its funny how you got here right when she did.... when the rogues did." My insinuation was clear in my words.

"You really think I had something to do with the rogues?"

"Honestly? Yeah I really do. Because they seem to have a thing for her, and for some reason it always happens right after you pay her a visit."

"So I go and visit her. So what? I am somehow getting rogues to go after her?" He glared at me.

"All I know is this problem didn't happen until you got here."

"Or.... maybe it was just after she got here. You ever think of that Mat? Maybe she's not everything she says." With that, he excused himself and walked out the door.