Alpha's Legacy (Black Moon Saga Book 3)

2. My Brother, The Stranger

In the morning, I trudge my way back over to the pack hospital feeling discouraged. I know that the man I was talking to the previous evening will either be gone or unwilling to speak with me again. It’s the way it always goes.

What I can’t figure out is why I’m the only one asking these questions. Are the doctors not curious why these warriors keep coming to us in such critical shape, despite there being no active conflicts to explain it? Their injuries are well beyond what is expected from daily training and workouts. These men have been fighting. They’ve been beaten. Their injuries are deliberate. And yet, I’m the only one who seems concerned.

And somehow, my brother found out that I’ve asked a few of these warriors about their injuries. It’s been just me in the room with them other than yesterday, when there was also a doctor in the room with us. Could he be involved somehow? I should make a point of finding out his name when I’m over there today. He’s kind of new, and I don’t know him very well yet. And then I need to find some way to get this information to my mother without Emerick finding out about it.

I wish my birthday would hurry up and get here so I’d have my wolf and access to the pack mind-link. That would make all this so much easier.

Being so lost in thought as I’m walking, I don’t notice Emerick on a direct collision course with me until it’s too late, and I’m on the ground with his hulking form pinning me down. He knocks the wind out of me, and I just lie there senseless for a moment.

“I thought I told you to leave it alone,” he growls at me threateningly.

Wait, growls? He did the same thing last night, but I thought I heard it wrong. He shouldn’t even be able to do that with his voice while his wolf is still dormant. But I don’t have a chance to think much about it with him on top of me, waiting for my response.

“I’m just reporting for my scheduled shift,” I force out with some effort, still struggling to catch my breath. He may even have cracked a rib or something. My chest is really starting to hurt.

“That won’t be necessary. Find some other hobby or maybe get yourself a boyfriend to pass the time,” he insists, deliberately leaning into me to make sure that I feel every ounce of his weight on my sore ribs.

“Can’t. Breathe.”

“Good. Remember this moment whenever you’re thinking about getting involved in things that aren’t your business. It could get much worse if you force it.”

He shifts his weight, applying even more pressure on my ribs until I’m seeing black and red flashes behind my eyes, and then he suddenly backs off and stands up. As soon as he moves away, I lie there gasping for air, panting until my vision clears and I notice him holding out a hand to help me up. I don’t want to take the hand he’s offering, but I don’t see any other choice.

Once I’m back on my feet, I’m certain that my ribs are injured. But since Emerick seems determined to keep me away from the hospital, I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it. My wolf may be dormant, but my injuries will still heal on their own. Eventually.

“Fine, you win. I’ll find something else to do today. But if you wouldn’t mind letting my supervisor know that I’m not feeling well, dear brother, it would be much appreciated.”

“Don’t get sassy with me,” he threatens, that strange growl returning to his tone. “Be a good girl and run along now, Annie.”

I hate when he calls me that, but I know better than to say anything more to him. We’ve been drifting apart for years, but he’s never been this bad before. Annoying, lazy, a playboy, even a prankster, but he has never hurt or threatened me before now. I don’t understand what has suddenly changed, or what dark scheme he has gotten himself involved in, and I don’t want to push my luck not being able to predict how he will react.

Could it be that he’s coming after me so intently because there is someone bigger and scarier applying the pressure on him? Is my insistence on interrogating the injured warriors somehow putting him in danger? It’s the only thing that makes sense. And yet, I still don’t know what to do about it.

I turn around and start heading back toward the packhouse, struggling to walk, breathe, and make it seem like there’s nothing wrong with me. The last thing I need is someone taking an interest and asking questions.

With that in mind, I change my mind and divert course part of the way there, deciding instead to head out of town to Uncle Pete’s cottage. He hasn’t been back there in years, but I go there regularly to take care of his garden and tend to the house. It’s still his, and he’ll be back for it eventually.

After I healed him of the illness that had plagued him since he was attacked by poisoned, feral vampires during the war that led to my mother becoming Alpha here, his inner wanderlust got the better of him. Before he got sick, he was a mercenary and rarely stayed in one place for long. It seems that his old ways came back to him full force once he was well again, but before he left, he promised me he would come back.

And I have no reason to doubt him. When he does return, he’ll find his home exactly the same as he left it. I’ll make sure of it.

It takes me just over an hour to walk there in my condition, but once I get there, I know I made the right choice. Despite my injured ribs, it feels like I can breathe better already just from setting foot here. This place has always been special to me, and it’s oddly reassuring seeing the cozy little house beckoning to me and promising me comfort, even if it does mean being alone.

Once I make it inside and secure the door behind me, I finally have a chance to try something I’ve been wondering about for years. Can I use my power to heal myself? I figured I should be somewhere safely away from others before trying it, just in case it makes me sleepy, which would leave me vulnerable should anyone else decide they want to beat on me today. If I wasn’t worried about who might be out to get me, I would have done it after I got away from Emerick, saving myself the pain of walking around with sore ribs.

Lying back on Uncle Pete’s soft mattress to be sure I won’t fall if I lose consciousness, I lay a hand on my chest where the pain is the worst and try to focus on healing my injury. Oddly enough, nothing happens.

Normally when I lay my hands on someone, it creates a kind of connection between us. As I focus, I start to be able to peel back the layers and find the source of the injury. A sort of mental map guides me through their body until I find the spot where I need to use my magic. And then my power flows through me, heating my hands as they direct the energy where it needs to go.

Maybe I can’t connect with myself the way I do with others. Maybe there’s nowhere for the energy to flow to. But then why isn’t my magic healing this injury on its own? Shouldn’t it be able to sense things amiss in my own body?

I’m going to have to bring this up with my mentor, Anya, the next time she comes to visit. She’s an incredibly powerful and experienced healer, and I’m sure she’ll know why this isn’t working or if it’s even possible for a healer to heal herself. Maybe there’s some trick to it that’s different from healing others.

But unfortunately, the only way I can get in touch with her is through Tian, and if I go to him now, then I’ll have to tell him about Emerick. I don’t know why, but something in me is too scared to touch that whole issue now. What I can’t tell is whether I’m more afraid of him or for him. I wish I knew more about whatever he’s been up to.

It’s disappointing that healing myself didn’t work, but since I’m already in a bed, maybe it’s time for a good old-fashioned remedy. Rest. I turn and fluff up the pillows, allowing myself an extra moment to breathe in the familiar and comforting scent of Uncle Pete that still lingers faintly on his bedding, and then I pull the blankets over me and close my eyes.

It must not take long for me to drift off and sleep the day away because when I open my eyes again, it’s dark in the house. But far more concerning is the fact that I can sense that I’m no longer alone.

I lie as still and quiet as I can manage, pulling the blanket over me in hopes that whoever it is will ignore me as they do whatever it is they’ve come to do. I wish I was strong enough to get up and defend Uncle Pete’s house from the intruder, but I’m just not. And I know it.

“Do not be afraid, Anna Jade. It’s only us, Tian and your father,” I hear Tian’s voice call out to me soothingly.

Either he knows me that well, which is a real possibility considering how close we’ve always been, or he can hear the way my heart is pounding right out of my chest and smell the fear coursing through me, which is equally possible, considering that he’s a vampire.

“Oh, thank the Goddess,” I cry out, pulling the blankets away from my face.

I may be part-werewolf, but I’ve always been far more witch than werewolf. I’ve never had the highly tuned senses of most other wolves. I wish I did, though, so I could have known just from their scents that it was only my dads here in the house with me.

“You were late for dinner again for the second night in a row, which was odd enough, but then when you never showed at all, we knew something must be going on. No one has seen you since breakfast that we could tell,” my father explains their sudden appearance here at Uncle Pete’s house, a place neither of them comes often.

“I wasn’t feeling well,” I explain, knowing even as I say it that it’s not an explanation that will get me far. The werewolf in me prevents illnesses from affecting me, and I’ve never been sick before.

A light turns on in the room, allowing me to see them both hovering just inside the doorway between the bedroom and the living area. It also makes it so that I can’t miss the matching expressions of concern on both their faces.

“I would wager a guess that it has something to do with Emerick,” Tian surmises, frowning.

My father looks startled by that, ever the blind one, the last to see what his precious son has become.

“Wherever did you come up with that notion?” he questions Tian, sounding offended and outraged.

“I know he’s your son, Eramund, but at some point, you’re going to have to open your eyes to the fact that he’s no longer a sweet, innocent little boy. He’s a young man, nearly of age, and not the most pleasant person to be around.” He turns his head, his piercing gaze leaving my father’s face and turning on me. “Especially not when your name is Anna Jade, I suspect. Despite your silence, I have noticed the way he’s been with you lately, and I’m not happy about it. I wish you would speak up and tell us what’s been going on with you two.”

“How has he been?” my father demands, as much from me as from Tian. “Why have I not heard of this?”

“As I said, open your eyes, Eramund,” Tian retorts. “If not the two on your face, then surely your third eye has seen something. I refuse to accept that with abilities like yours, you’re completely ignorant of the situation.”

As a powerful caster, the most powerful warlock who has ever lived according to Tian, who has lived nearly a millennium himself, my father has gained precognitive senses and has the ability to catch glimpses into the future as he dreams. Like Tian, I’ve often wondered how he still manages to be so blind to who his own son really is, but I’ve also always maintained this weird sense of loyalty to Emerick. He is still my twin brother, and I find myself acting oddly protective of him sometimes, even when it isn’t in my own best interest.

“I know he can be a bit of a troublemaker,” my father snaps at Tian, “but he would never hurt Anna Jade. They may not always get along, but he wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s been far beyond ‘not getting along’ lately. I suspect I caught the tail-end of him hurting her just last night. Isn’t that right?”

He looks to me again for the answer, but I’m not sure if I should tell him anything. If he goes after Emerick, it will be me Emerick blames for it. And even if he can’t get to me himself, I suspect he has friends who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt me on his behalf.

“I don’t want to talk about Emerick,” I manage to grumble out in response. “Just forget it, Tian. Emerick is a jerk, and he doesn’t deserve any more of my energy spent worrying over him.”

My father gives me an expression I can’t quite read, seeming to look me over and take in the state of me, probably fretting over both what Tian has been saying and whatever I’m refusing to say.

“Then tell us what has been going on,” he says at last. “It must be something. It’s not like you to skip out on volunteering at the hospital or to miss dinner.”

I sigh heavily, feeling trapped. If only they had come to me before Emerick did last night, or even this morning before he got to me again. I was quite ready to confess everything then.

But then it occurs to me that this isn’t just about me and my safety. There are other people getting hurt, and no one seems compelled to do or say anything about it. I can’t allow myself to behave so cowardly when so many others are at stake.

“Emerick is involved in something I can’t quite figure out yet. There’s been something going on recently that has dozens of warriors turning up at the pack hospital bloodied and beaten nearly to death, but none of them will say what happened or who is responsible,” I blurt out finally.

Tian comes and joins me in the bed, draping an arm around me and pulling me against his side protectively, which I have to admit does make me feel better about what I have to do. Safe. Untouchable. My father joins us as well, sitting at the end of the bed near my feet and watching me expectantly, waiting for me to go on.

“Until last night,” I continue. “Finally, one of the injured warriors told me that the beatings are tied to some secret club that can only be joined by invitation, though he didn’t say how one goes about getting an invitation. I didn’t get any more than that out of him before a doctor stepped in. That was just before dinner last night, and Emerick cornered me on the way home.”

I glance at Tian and see that his jaw is tense and he appears to be fighting back his anger, though I know it’s not me he’s angry with. Most likely, it’s Emerick.

“He made it quite apparent that if I kept asking questions or told anyone about it, he would hurt me,” I go on. “And then this morning on my way to the hospital, he tackled me, injuring my ribs, and making more threats to get me to turn back and stay away from the hospital. So, I came here for some rest, and apparently slept the remainder of the day away. Missing dinner was completely unintentional and I’m sorry for that, though I’m not sorry to have avoided Emerick.”

And then after a slight pause, I add hurriedly, “He can’t know that I told you any of this.”

Neither Tian or my father say anything for a few moments, and their silence is deafening. I can’t tell what they’re thinking or how upset they are. And then it clicks what they might be up to, and I glance up at my father so I can see his eyes. Sure enough, they’re glazed over, a sign that they’re mind-linking, having a silent conversation with me still in the room.

“Please tell me what’s going on,” I beg, unable to stand it even a second more. I need to know whether they plan to do something that will tip Emerick off to me ratting him out.

“We had to update your mother. This pack and its people are her responsibility, and by extension, our responsibility,” Tian explains gently, maintaining that soothing tone to his voice. “If there’s some secret club putting our packmates at risk, she needs to know. You did good, Anna Jade. Don’t let your brother convince you otherwise.”

“And speaking of your brother, he will be dealt with,” my father adds, his voice sounding a bit strained. “But in the meantime, you and I will be staying here just as an extra precaution to keep the two of you separate. No one will get to you here, not with me on watch. I promise you that.”

“And trust your mother to get to the bottom of this all,” Tian adds in his assurances. “This is no longer your burden to bear, Anna Jade. Allow us to take it from you.”

That sounds nice. Being snuggled so close to Tian and surrounded by the comforting warmth of Uncle Pete’s bed, I almost feel like a kid again. Almost.

But I’m not a kid, so I know it’s never as easy as what Tian is saying. I can’t just let it go. The events of the past couple days are going to haunt me for some time, especially where my own brother was involved. That is my burden to bear.

Somewhere along the way, I lost him. He was once my best friend, the person that I knew almost better than myself, and now he’s become my tormentor and like a stranger to me. No amount of comforting words and reassurances can fix that.