by Celeste Raye
“Do you know where he is?”
Evelyn told Jake that she had a good idea, and Jake asked how old the person was. He was most likely trying to figure out if it was before or after his mother. Or, worst-case scenario, in the midst of.
“He is a bit older than you, which would make him the leader of the Rebel Bears. You should take that into account before you run off to find him.”
If they did go find the fifth brother and bring him into the fold, he would learn his proper place and might want to take the Alpha position from Jake. That was certainly something that needed to be thought through before they jumped into anything.
Jake did not say anything for a while, and Celeste finally asked a few more questions about the when and where. She knew that it needed to be asked, and since Jake wasn't going to do it, she had to. Her aunt gave them the information needed to find their other sibling, and everyone was quiet as they left. That certainly didn't happen very often, considering who was along for the visit.
Jake was the first to speak, and it was to ask Celeste if she was just messing with him.
Celeste shrugged her shoulders but tried her best to convey what she really felt. She wasn’t sure. Evelyn was hard to figure out, but Celeste thought this was different.
“I think that she might delight in messing with you a little bit, but yes, I do believe her when she says you have another brother. My aunt can see things that nobody else can. I don't know how, but I believe her. If there is a curse on your family and the clan, it will only continue to get worse. More accidents, more sickness, and just bad luck all the way around.”
“Well, I guess we all need to take a trip and meet the mysterious brother.”
No one disagreed with Jake, and even though she was not the only one nervous about it, nobody said a word. Even Charlie was unusually quiet, but he did hold her hand just a little bit harder. She didn't have to ask to know it was on his mind. They were all probably having flashbacks.
Celeste also wondered what else would be asked of them. She still did not believe her aunt would do so much for free. Family or not. There had to be an angle that nobody was paying attention to. Evelyn would be paying attention. She always was.
Chapter Three
Since none of the brothers were able to stay behind, their wives were left to take care of the everyday chores of the Rebel Bear. Jake was nervous to leave it all in the hands of the women, but it wasn't because he didn't think they would do a good job. He was more worried about bigger problems coming into their laps before he got back.
He was no longer under the assumption that what had happened between the ancients was over. The ancients were probably the only ones that could have put such a spell on them. Curses that powerful were not easy to come by. The only enemies that they had with that level of power were what was left of the ancients. He saw it now for what it was, although it did not stop him from hoping for some kind of miracle. Could it really be just as easy as getting a witch to help them?
Jake tried not to think about what could happen. He could be overthrown by a brother he had never met before. The brother could be like his father, and there would be no getting to him. If he did not have the same sort of morality that they did, they very well could be worse off than a few dying from sickness and accidents. What if he were to lose everything?
His youngest brother was watching him, and he tried to ignore the sudden interest that Fred was giving him. When he started walking towards him, Jake literally thought of running. There was something in Fred’s eyes that made him nervous. Fred had a tendency to drop truth bombs, and Jake wasn’t ready for one.
“Spit it out. I am not in the mood for this today.”
“You say that you're not worried about it, but you are, Jake.”
Jake groaned. Of course, his brother would see right through him. He knew that once his brother said what was on his mind, it wouldn’t be able to be unsaid. It was comforting to know that they were at least alone.
“Why do I get a feeling that I’m not going to like what you have to say?”
“I just don't like the fact that once again, we're chasing after some witch’s tale.”
“They have been right so far.”
“Yes, they have, but they have also been a lot of trouble. What does Celeste think about all of this? Has she said?”
Jake was a little bothered that his brother was wondering about someone else's opinion. He felt a lot more defensive than he usually did. And it was the first time that his place in the gang was being questioned. He had, of course, dethroned his own father, so Jake knew it could happen.
“She thinks that her aunt is truthful. I don't think she's being straightforward, but that's what we have to go off of. Once again, we're at her mercy.”
Fred agreed. “That's what I'm worried about, Jake. Why don't we go see Uncle Thomas and figure out if he knows what's going on? Maybe he would be able to put us in a better position than Evelyn has. She gave us a very general place. There are thousands, tens of thousands, of people there, and it's not going to be as easy as it sounds to find him. We need to find him fast.”
Jake had always been amazed at how much his brother could see. It was like he was seeing right through everything else.
“I think that's a good idea, Fred. Maybe Thomas will have some more answers for us. He might even know who this kid is.”
“You're worried about going to him?”
“Dean and Thomas never got along, but he's not going to be happy that we killed his brother.”
Fred shrugged. “I think that it will be fine. Thomas really didn't like Dad. Dad used to torture him when they were little.”
Jake didn't know that, but of course, his brother would. Fred was the one that actually listened.
“What do you think of this?”
“It is possible that Dad had another mate before Mother. He was quite old when they got together, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility. That he would keep it from us is also nothing new, so yeah, I think this is possible.”
“Why don't you seem worried about it?”
“Why are you worried about it? Your people are not going to turn you away like they did Dean. You have to know that, right?”
Jake was surprised that Fred seemed to know exactly what was on his mind, though he shouldn’t have been. He hadn't even admitted it to himself, but Fred had spoken his feelings so eloquently, like they were his own.
Jake nodded; he was going to focus on meeting with their uncle, then finding out what happened next. Jake was hopeful that Thomas would have some answers because he was short of them himself.
He told the rest of them that they were going to make a detour, and he heard a couple groans in the back, but he just gave them a fierce look. Jake wasn't going to take any flack.
They got to Thomas’ house a little after dark, and Jake was a little nervous when he knocked on the door. He didn't want to have to tell his uncle that he had given the orders to kill Dean. Or that any of them had gone through with it. Did he even know?
Uncle Thomas opened the door and had a big smile on his face. Jake decided almost immediately that he didn't know about his brother, and he was still fighting with the decision of saying anything to him or not. It might take away from any information that they were about to get out of Thomas. Maybe they should get the information first.
“Hey, nephew. What are you guys doing here?”
After the initial hellos and pleasantries, Jake just got right into it and told him that he had to ask him a question.
“Sure, what's going on?”
“Do we have another brother?”
The jovial look on his uncle's face was completely gone. There was obviously something to it, and he didn't want to say it out loud.
“I think that's something you should talk to your father about.”
Donovan started to say something, and Jake shot him a dirty look. It wasn't the time for that, and it should come from him.
“I don't t
hink that's possible.”
“Well, this is something you should ask him.”
“I am telling you, Thomas, I would if I could, but it’s not a good idea.”
“Really? Why do you not think it's a good idea?” Thomas looked suspicious.
“You know how Dad is. I just heard a rumor about him having another son, older than me, Uncle Tommy, and I was wondering if it was true or not. I figured that I could get the truth out of you. Dad never wants to tell the truth.”
“Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt for you guys to know. It was so long ago, long before your dad met your mom.”
Jake had this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to believe that there was somebody out there that could overthrow him. Now he wasn't as safe and secure in his situation as he thought.
There was a part of him that didn't even want to go find him because when he did, Jake would have to admit to the truth, and he wasn't ready to. He wasn't ready to give up everything he had worked so hard for her. How much had he sacrificed to get the Alpha position to begin with? To make it all for nothing was heartbreaking, at the very least.
“Do you know anything about him, Uncle Tommy? I mean, did Dad ever say anything about him. We never heard a word about him.”
Uncle Tommy didn't have much more to say. He gave the brothers the name of the woman their father had the child with. He didn't have an address, but he did give them the name of a town, and it happened to be the same one that Evelyn gave them. It appeared that Evelyn was pointing them in the right direction again.
They made the decision to stay at their uncle’s for the night. They drank and told stories. As soon as they couldn't ignore the truth about Dean anymore, they told Thomas about his brother. Their Uncle Thomas was upset, but he did seem to be happy to know that they were the ones that did it.
“I always will love my brother, don't get me wrong. But he was a hell of a man to get along with, wasn't he?”
No one at the table agreed more than Jake. He was glad that his uncle didn't hate him for what happened, but there was still a touch of fear of what was going to come next.
Chapter Four
“Hey, Scott, bring me one of those kegs, will ya?”
“Just one?”
The owner of the Shadow Bane laughed. “I forgot you’re a beast. Why don’t you bring me up two? I know that we’re going to need them tonight.”
Scott agreed, but he was still in his own world. There was something nagging at him. Something felt different, and not even bouncing a few guys out of the club earlier had made him feel any better. That usually did the trick.
He was on edge, and he had no idea why he was feeling that way. It was like something horrible was hanging over his head the last few days, and he had no idea what the problem was.
He took the kegs back up to the front and handed one to the boss. He was about collapse from the weight of it. His boss asked Scott how he did it. Scott just shrugged because he didn’t have an answer. He’d always been stronger and faster than the rest of the kids in school. He was physically better than all of them, and even as an adult, he’d found very few people with his strength. He didn’t work out or do anything that made him that way. Scott’s mom just said he was from good stock. He’d never met his father, but that’s what he’d been told. He was going to have to take her word for it.
Scott sensed trouble at the front, and he made his way to two guys that were shoving each other. Scott had been a bouncer for many years, but it never got old. He knew that shoving would turn into punching in no time at all, and then there would be a fight.
When he got to the two men, they looked at him a little funny and then stopped fussing at each other. Most went docile when Scott stepped in.
“Are we going to have a problem?”
The tall guy smiled and insisted that they wouldn’t. “Name’s Jake. What’s yours?”
Scott wasn’t paying him any mind. If they weren’t going to fight and he didn’t need to knock their heads together, then there was nothing else he needed to do there. He could go finish his drink and chores and get out of there.
The two guys that were fighting before were back at it again, and he moved to intervene, but the guy that had introduced himself before asked him a strange question.
“Scott, right?”
He agreed and told them that they were going to have to move along.
“Do you ever get a feeling that something is missing? Something you don’t know about?”
Scott didn’t know what to think of the guy. He was big like him, and maybe he saw some kind of similarity between the two of them, but he wasn’t used to the weirdness involved.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to leave. This isn’t the kind of place you can cause trouble.”
Jake smiled at him, and it was strange, because he was right. Scott did feel like something was off. The last few days, he’d been waiting for something to happen.
The two men left without a fight, and he was thankful for that. It wasn’t like he didn’t think he couldn’t take them, but it wouldn’t have been fun. The one guy really was big, and it wouldn’t have been easy.
Scott forgot about the weird guys and the strange questions that he’d asked. He had forgotten about all of it, by the time he was leaving the bar that night. He was in his mind, thinking about what he was going to do when he got home. He wasn’t paying attention, and he didn’t see the two guys in the darkness until he was almost to his car.
Jake came out of the shadows and said something about having to talk to him.
“I don’t know who the hell you are, Jake, but you’re being weird.”
Then he noticed that Jake had another two guys with him. That made four, and it was odds that Scott wasn’t liking at all. That bad feeling was increasing by the second. Scott thought he’d found the source.
“Look, Scott, I just want to talk to you for a minute. I tried to talk to you earlier, and you wouldn’t listen.”
“You and your bone-headed friend were starting a fight.”
“That was just to get your attention. Do I have it now?”
They were still several feet from his car, so Scott didn’t really have a choice but to listen to what was said. He didn’t think that it would matter, and while the other three inched closer, Scott was unable to let his guard down, even for a minute.
“Is there somewhere we can talk? This is going to be a lot to do on a sidewalk in the middle of the night.”
“Whatever you have to say, you can just say it now. Just say it and get out of my damn face.”
Jake smiled at him like he was reminding himself that he was trying to be calm. Scott knew what it was because he recognized it in himself.
“I am your brother, Scott. We are all your brothers, and we wanted to meet you. We just found out about you. Our father just recently died, and let’s just say that some of the skeletons in his closet started roaming free.”
“And I am one of them?”
He agreed, and Scott frowned. He had always had a blurry picture of his father, but he would have been dead years ago. That was always the story that he got. Scott’s father, Rex, was dead.
“I think you have the wrong person. I don’t have any brothers, and my father has been dead since I was little.”
Jake nodded but wasn’t sidetracked from his point. He was right back into restating what he knew to be true, or so he said, when Scott stopped him.
“I don’t see how this has anything to do with much of anything. If we are siblings, it’s half-blood only, and it’s not like I know any of you. We could meet for coffee, get to know each other, but what do you think that is going to lead to? What’s the point?”
Chapter Five
Jake pressed his lips together; he could see a lot of his own rebellious attitude in his new brother’s face. It was very much his father’s face. As much as Jake had been slow to believe any of the gossip about them having another brother, he knew as s
oon as he saw him that they did. Now, he had to convince Scott to go with them. They had a curse to deal with before more people died because of it.
“I think if you stopped being a prick, Scott, you would see that we are trying to help you. There is a lot that you don’t know. We need to go somewhere and talk. You have a whole shifter family that would like to meet you. We’re rare, you know.”
“Shifter?”
Jake just looked at the open expression on his face for a moment. Not only did Scott not know about all of them, but he didn’t seem to know what he was either. He had gone through this before, the not knowing and believing himself to be human. He knew what he had to do this time, though he wouldn’t gain memories with a change. He would be just as scared, but more deadly than ever before. They had to really think it through.
“Okay, look, Scott, let’s go somewhere with a little privacy and I will tell you everything you need to know. I know that this sounds strange, but it really is a matter of life or death.”
Scott looked incredulous, and Jake was losing his patience. Charlie was murmuring something about how they should have brought Celeste, but he’d said no. Jake was second-guessing that particular idea. She could have immobilized him, and then they could have just taken him away.
Before they could say or do anything else, Scott ran. It was in his eyes. Jake had seen it, but he didn’t think that he would be able to get the jump on all of them.
He ran to his car that wasn’t far away, started it up, and took off down the street, wheels squealing. Jake watched him go.
“Well, that went well.”
“I know, I know, Charlie: we should have brought Celeste. Have you ever wondered how we dealt with anything before her and Evelyn came into our lives?”
Charlie shrugged. “I know that she isn’t going anywhere now.”
