by Amelia Jade
A sigh of contentment slipped from Gwen’s mouth just as the first few bars of music began to play over the speakers. The two of them turned in their chairs—they weren’t in a church, so everyone was seated in folding chairs—to watch the wedding. Down the aisle came Ajax, dressed in a rather dashing gray suit complete with black bowtie. He was paired with Trestin, who wore a simple dark blue off-the-shoulder dress that hung down just past her knees. It was gorgeous without being a centerpiece.
It was a small wedding, as Emma had explained to him, and those were the only people up there to stand with them. He knew that Gwen should have been up there next to Emma, but after not being in contact for months as she dealt with the double blow of losing both her parents, planning for it had been impossible. Next, he watched as Garrett strode down the aisle, long, confident strides bringing him up to Ajax. The two shook hands firmly. Then, before turning around, she noticed Garrett’s shoulders rise and fall rapidly twice.
“You should be up there,” Gwen whispered into his ear, so softly no one else would hear.
“It would help. He’s nervous,” Russell said softly, a chuckle in his voice to disguise the stab of pain. His brother was nervous. He focused on that, and not the other feelings.
His brother.
It was nice to finally begin to think in those terms once again. After having forced himself to live a lie for almost four months, it was going to be so nice to share everything with him again. He knew Garrett might not remember, but at least he would know that he had someone who cared for him close by.
“Spending your life with someone is a big commitment,” she replied.
“Perhaps,” he agreed, then gave her hand a squeeze. “But it sure makes it easier having the right person by your side.”
Squeeze.
She looked up at him sharply, but Russell focused his gaze at the back of the hall, where Emma was just emerging from a set of double doors as her wedding song began to play over the speakers, announcing her arrival to everyone. Although he didn’t recognize it, he thanked Emma for not choosing Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March” that seemed to be played all the time.
Emma looked beautiful, he had to admit. Like the rest of the ceremony, it was a very simple white dress which had lace here and there and hung down to the floor, without having a massive train to it. The lack of over-the-top styling seemed to agree with her, because Russell could have sworn that she was practically glowing as she walked down the aisle. Or, it could have been the fact that awaiting her was Garrett, in a black suit with white dress shirt and a richly colored green tie, representing his crew. The same tie that Russell, Corey, and all the rest of the Ridgebacks were wearing.
Family, he thought. Hell, even Evan was wearing one.
Their ceremony passed quickly. Neither Garrett nor Emma wanted anything big or ostentatious, but they had wanted a formal ceremony to celebrate. Mostly, as Emma had told him at one point during the planning, “they wanted to party with our friends.”
“That was really nice,” Russell said as they stood up to exit the hall where the ceremony was held. The adjoining room would host the reception so that they didn’t have to wait in between ceremony and food.
“It was,” she agreed, still holding his hand in front of everyone, and loving it.
They stood at the doors, allowing others to enter first.
“What?” he asked as Gwen suddenly tugged at his hand.
“Come on,” she said urgently, her black dress swishing as her legs pumped, carrying her away from the reception hall.
“Where are we going?” he asked, confused.
“Emma’s office,” she stated, like he should have known.
“Okay?”
“She said we could, um, use it,” Gwen said, her cheeks blushing red quickly and rather violently.
Russell’s steps lengthened immediately, pulling him alongside her. “You asked your friend if we could fuck in her office?” he hissed in astonishment at her forthrightness. They turned a corner, leaving the wedding guests behind as they descended further into the Mining Consortium offices that were empty and dark on the weekend.
“Well, maybe not in so many words,” Gwen admitted, “But close enough!”
“Holy shit,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re perfect. I love you.”
He had expected her to stop and be astonished, possibly get somewhat emotional while telling him she loved him too, and then kiss him.
Russell could not have been more wrong.
“I love you too, you giant piece of perfection. Now,” she said, looking back over at him with a grin, “Come show me just how much you love me.” She twisted the handle of the door in front of her and led them in to the office labeled Ms. Labelle - Liaison, Emma’s maiden name penciled in white on it.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, closing the door behind him.
He hadn’t even locked it before he felt her hands snake around his broad chest, quickly making their way south, grabbing onto his rapidly hardening cock as best she could through his pants.
“You need to lose these. Now,” she commanded.
He finished turning and looked at her. “Now listen here you minx, if I’m going to be getting naked, so are you,” he told her.
“Too much effort to put it back on, sorry buster,” she laughed, though she hiked up her dress and sat back onto the desk in the room. “Think you can manage me like this?”
Russell growled, his hands swiftly undoing his pants, showing her the evidence that he thought he could.
Stepping forward awkwardly with his pants around his ankles, he grabbed her chin and pulled her close. “You aren’t getting away without kissing me,” he told her firmly.
“Deal,” she said softly and pressed her lips to his with a fiery passion that caught him off guard with the sheer need buried in her movements.
A need that he felt echoed within him as he kissed her back. She answered that need, that echo, filling a void he had never known existed within him, and filling it perfectly, like the missing piece to a puzzle.
Without realizing it, he was pushing inside of her, slowly enough so she could adjust to fit him, but faster than before. Gwen’s hips pushed toward him as she whispered in his ear that she wanted it harder.
“Shhh, someone is going to hear,” he told her as her moans increased in volume as he thrust into her again and again.
“Maybe,” she agreed, grabbing onto his shirt collar and pressing her face to his, smothering any further protests from him.
***
“How does my dress look?” Gwen asked as they gently closed the door behind them.
He looked up and down the hallway guiltily, ensuring that no one was around before he inspected her.
Russell smoothed out a couple of imaginary wrinkles. “You look fine,” he assured her. “Now, what say we go enjoy the rest of this party?”
“Are you telling me you aren’t already enjoying yourself?” Gwen looked at him with mock anger.
“Well, truth be told, no.” He waited just long enough for her to look suitably outraged. “I’ve actually been enjoying you,” he said with a wink before pinching her rear.
“The nerve!” she said, managing to continue pretending to be angry and blushing at the same time. Though he noticed she didn’t fight it when his hand entwined itself with hers.
“I love you,” he told her again.
Gwen looked up, allowing him to once again become enraptured with the beauty of her eyes. The jade coloring was like a sign, a foreshadowing that they were meant to be together.
“I love you too, Russell Warne.”
He smiled. “You make saying my full name sound so naughty. What’s gotten into you today? Not that I mind it,” he rushed to add after she arched an eyebrow at him.
“I guess the idea of spending a lot of time with someone you care for deeply affects me like that,” she told him. They arrived back at the main hall before he could come up with a good reply.
Although the cou
ple had told everyone not to bring gifts, most people had done so anyway. Because it was a small wedding, they had decided to open them throughout the reception and over dinner, much to the delight of the guests as they received hugs and handshakes in person, instead of a handwritten card months later.
“What did you get them?” Gwen asked as they seated themselves at their table, having grabbed their gifts from the car.
She had an envelope, while he had a large bag wrapped around an object.
“What did you get?” he said instead, throwing the question back on her.
“Oh no mister, I’m not sharing,” she told him, smiling joyfully. “Not until you answer my question.”
Russell contemplated how he wanted to answer. His gift was more for Garrett than Emma, but he knew it would help the two of them forge a stronger relationship, which, he thought, was the basis of what a wedding should be about.
“You’ll see,” he said, grabbing the bag next to him and standing up. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. The next few minutes were going to be tough, he knew. So much that had to be said. Hopefully his gift could do much of the talking.
“Hi Russell, you look great!” Emma said happily as he approached their table.
“Not nearly as good as the two of you,” he said, meaning every word. Emma looked happier than ever, and even Garrett seemed to be smiling left and right. He nodded at Trestin and Ajax, who were seated on respective sides of the bride and groom.
“Oh nonsense,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Oh, what’s this?” she asked as he set the bag on the table.
“This is for Garrett, but I think it will help with your marriage,” he said apologetically, pulling his gift out of the bag and setting it down.
“Oh nonsense, I’m sure it’s great,” Emma said, though she gave the unwrapped present a curious look.
The large, brown leather book had one simple word embossed on the front in burnished gold writing.
Brothers.
“What is it?” Garrett asked, looking up at him.
“It’s you,” Russell said through eyes that were suddenly blinking very rapidly as they tried to stay clear.
He watched as Garrett frowned in confusion, opening the first page. Russell’s brother and Alpha stared at that page for a long time. Seconds stretched into moments, and still he said nothing as Russell waited.
Then he turned the page.
And another.
And another.
“Oh my God,” Emma breathed as she realized what she was looking at, the enormity of what Russell had given them sinking in.
“That’s you,” Garrett said thickly after a moment, pointing to something on the page.
Russell nodded.
“And that,” he hesitated. “That’s me?”
Another nod.
Garrett flipped quickly back to the cover. “And this says ‘brothers.’” He looked up at Russell. “Are you telling me that all these photos,” he said, skimming through the album, “are of the two of us?”
Russell didn’t trust his voice, so he simply nodded once more.
“We’re brothers?” he asked. “I have a brother?” Garrett looked over at Emma. “I have a family?”
Emma looked back, speechless.
“Stepbrothers,” Russell managed to get out through the lump in his throat. “Since I was seven. You were nine.”
“Nine?” Garrett asked. “I’ve known you since I was nine?”
“Your mom and my dad got together. We grew up together, best friends,” he managed to get out, before the emotions overwhelmed him. Instead of trying to say more, he simply flipped the pages, showing Garrett their lives together as they grew up. There were images of them playing sports on the same team. They had birthday parties for the two of them. As they got older, they were sitting in Garrett’s first car. There was a photo of Garrett and his prom date, with Russell sitting on a chair behind them making ridiculous faces. Hundreds of photos of a life that that Garrett couldn’t remember.
“And our parents?” Garrett asked hopefully.
Russell was forced to shake his head. “They both passed several years back,” he said sadly. “It’s just you and me now.”
“I love you brother,” he told the man across the table, who had forgotten him and everything else.
Chapter Fourteen
Gwen
Gwen watched as Russell pulled a book from his bag and presented it to them. She wasn’t sure what to do as she noticed the startled reactions of Emma and Garrett.
When Garrett stood up and embraced Russell, fighting back what were obviously heartbreaking emotions, she couldn’t bear it any longer. She stood up and rushed over to the table. Emma had already turned to Trestin, who was by her side crying, the tears ruining her makeup, but she didn’t seem to care.
“What did you—” Gwen began to ask, until she saw the photo album. She looked from Emma, to Garrett, and then to Russell. The depth of emotion she saw evident on their faces told her what the photos must contain.
“You told him,” she said. It was a statement, not a question. “Good.” She wanted to wrap her arms around Russell, but he was having a moment with Garrett, so instead she went over to Emma and gave her a big hug.
“You knew?” Emma asked through the tears.
“Only as of a few days ago. I had no idea this is how he was going to tell you though!” she said, trying not to allow any sympathetic tears to flow down her own face.
“Russell,” she heard Garrett say slowly from beside her. “I need to know something.”
“What is it?”
“Was I a good man? Before, I mean,” he rumbled, his normally strong and confident voice tentative and nervous.
“I came to Genesis Valley because I had to,” Russell explained. “You were only coming to visit. You could have stayed out there because you were a good person. But I liked it here a lot. So I asked you to come and visit, since I couldn’t leave. You were on your way when we lost contact. Then four months ago I show up on the grounds outside the Kedyn mansion, and there you are being introduced as our Alpha, with no prior memory,” he said angrily.
“So that explains your reaction to me that day,” Garrett said with a nod. “But, are you positive about the rest? About me? Do I... do I already have a family?”
Gwen’s heart nearly broke as Garrett finally spoke the words she knew he’d been dying to. He was worried that he may have been betraying someone by getting married, she realized all of a sudden.
“No. Ever since our parents passed, you’ve spent most of your time just drifting around the country. Never getting into trouble, but never interested in settling down. I never thought you would, either. Until you met Emma. But as for the rest? Yes, I’m positive,” Russell stated confidently. “Why?”
“It’s just...” he faltered, and Gwen watched as he turned to Emma for support. She grabbed his hand and nodded, telling him it was okay.
Now that’s love. I wonder if someday Russell and I can be like that.
“I recall growing up in a bad house. My father was not a nice man. I feared that I might have ended up like him.”
Russell shook his head. “You mentioned that to me a time or two. I think that’s why your mother left, to get the two of you away from that. You were never anything like that,” he assured his brother.
“I still don’t understand that,” Gwen said, speaking up at least. “I thought you guys healed fast enough to prevent things like memory loss?”
“We do,” Garrett told her, his normal voice of command returning. “It shouldn’t be possible.”
“Just like there shouldn’t be rogue crews running around Origin,” Emma said, speaking her thoughts aloud.
“There’s something going on that we’re missing, isn’t there?” Russell asked, the mood suddenly changing.
“Whatever it may be, it is eluding me as well,” another, deep voice said, finally joining the conversation.
Gwen looked on as Ajax stood, one
of his huge hands landing on Garrett’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze, before addressing the group. “What I have yet to figure out is if it comes from somewhere higher, or if it’s an outside influence.”
The group nodded. “But this is supposed to be a time of happiness and joy, of family and love,” he continued into the silence. “We can worry about the other things later. For now, let us celebrate the joy of family, both new,” he nodded at Emma, “and old,” he finished with a dip of his head in Russell’s direction.
“Cheers!” Gwen agreed, though she had no drink to raise. Looking around, she realized that none of them were holding drinks. A soft chuckle rolled through the group as they broke apart to find some.
She sidled up next to Russell as Garrett was talking to him again.
“Thank you. I have so many questions, and we have a lot to catch up on.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Now that it’s in the open though, we can spend some time and try to figure out why you lost your memory too. See if we can’t find the rest of your memories somehow,” Russell said with a smile, before embracing his brother again.
“One thing I have to know though. How come you waited, and why now?”
Gwen smiled as Russell squeezed her tight. “You can thank Gwen here for the now. When she finally got me to explain why I was acting so stressed around you, she insisted that I had to tell you now. That I, what was the word?” he said, looking down at her, “I don’t have the right to keep it a secret, I believe?”
“Sounds about right,” she told him.
“As for why not earlier? Well, that’s a bit more complicated.”
“Evan,” Garett said simply.
“How does he do that?” Gwen asked, looking back and forth at them. “He just knows these things!”
“Part of being an Alpha I guess. One of those things they teach at Alpha school,” Russell told her, poking fun at his brother.
Garrett laughed. “There’s not much else complicated going on right now either,” he told her. “Russell, until now, has never openly sided with me. I’ve always wondered why. I’ve noticed that he keeps Evan on track as best he can, and lately has begun fighting him when he can’t. So that seemed the logical route,” he said, explaining his logic.
