Chapter Three
“For fuck’s sake , will you stop pacing already? You’re making me dizzy.”
Raek Barra heard his brother’s complaint but simply chose to ignore him. Pacing was something he did whenever he was nervous, angry, or busy thinking through a problem, and he had never been able to break himself of the habit.
Most people would have been smart enough to leave a wild beast like him alone when he was this agitated, but Fenris was a different breed. His brother got snarky whenever he was nervous or feeling out of sorts, but Raek had become an expert at ignoring him whenever he started running his mouth.
It was either that or punch him.
He didn’t want to do that, though. Not when the shuttle carrying the female they both loved was only minutes away from landing in the transport center. She would definitely be distressed if she saw them fighting when she arrived, and the last thing he ever wanted to do was upset her.
Especially after everything she’d been through lately.
Juliet Langdon might be a petite human female, but she had the power to wrap both of them around her little finger. It had been that way since they had met her, but a lot had changed since those days when they had all lived together in the group home.
Growing up on Earth hadn’t been easy for Raek, Charm, and Fenris, but the three Krytos had made a blood oath to become siblings after their parents had been killed in the same accident. As the eldest of the trio and the only son of the former alphas of their pack, they had taken Raek’s last name. That had made him their de facto leader, though it had taken him a lot longer to actually feel like he deserved the title.
After their home world had been destroyed, many Krytos had moved to Earth to find work and settle down. Due to their sheer size and strength, a lot of them had gone into building and construction. After their parents had died in a horrible accident that had occurred on a work site, Raek, Charm, and Fenris had moved into a group home since they had been too young to live on their own.
There were other Krytos who had offered to give Raek a home in honor of his parents, but he had made the decision to remain with Charm and Fenris. Even young, he had been far too independent to be indebted to anyone when he could make do himself. They had each been given a sizable settlement after the accident since it had ended up being the company’s fault, but no amount of credits could make up for the loss of their parents.
Living in a home that was primarily filled with human children hadn’t been fun. In fact, it had been annoying as hell. Humans could be pretty judgmental, but none of them had been a threat to the trio. It was easy to ignore the insults, and the Krytos were strong enough that no one wanted to mess with them physically.
Raek had always been bigger than most of his peers, but as he’d gotten older, he had grown even more intimidating. Instead of toning it down, he continued to work out, molding himself into someone who could intimidate a potential threat just by breathing. He took pride in being the protector of the trio since Charm was the smart one and Fenris was the creative genius.
Over the years, more kids had come and gone, but only a few others had gotten close enough to be considered family. Juliet had been one of them. The moment Raek saw the little blonde girl being picked on by two older boys, he felt an overwhelming urge to protect her.
When he’d heard a new girl had been left on the group home’s doorstep, he hadn’t thought much of it. New kids arrived at the home all the time, so it wasn’t that unusual. But he’d never had such an intense reaction to a girl’s tears. Since he couldn’t stand bullies, he’d beaten the shit out of the boys. He’d worried his violent behavior had terrified Juliet, but she had clung to him like he was her lifeline instead of running away.
She had always been a quiet, shy little thing, but it was simple enough to integrate her into their group since Charm and Fenris had felt just as protective of her as he was. Raek had always been her protector and friend, but his feelings had started to change as she’d gotten older.
When he had aged out of the group home, he had stayed close in case the others needed him. While he did, he focused on building a career for himself that could provide for everyone under his protection. He’d never been good in school, but he had always been pretty spectacular in the kitchen.
Because his senses of smell and taste were much more acute than others, he was able to create new flavor profiles that helped make him a rising star in the culinary world. Some people thought it was a waste since he was a skilled fighter. That had been proven when he’d won the Baxxtora Tournament, but once had been enough for him.
Friends had urged him to open a restaurant, but he hadn’t wanted to bother with the details of running his own place. Instead, he became the head chef at a highly successful restaurant that had given him free rein in the kitchen.
When Charm had left the group home, she had gone to work at Haven, the female-run sanctuary located in Jade City. Fenris had always had a talent for drawing and painting, but everyone had been surprised when he had chosen to become a tattoo artist. His creations had made him quite famous, but he’d spent time at a couple of different shops rather than opening his own tattoo parlor.
They had worried about Juliet being left behind, but that quickly turned into relief when she was accepted into a prestigious dance academy. Raek had always known she would one day become a celebrated dancer and watching her dreams come true in real time had been thrilling. He wasn’t sure exactly when his feelings for her had shifted from friend to something more, but he’d realized he was in love with her the first time he had gone to the theater and watched her dancing on the stage.
Fenris had realized he loved her much sooner but hadn’t admitted it until Raek had brought it up. They hadn’t been in a competition for her affection. In anything, Raek was grateful his brother felt the same way about her. She was their tiny dancer, their precious baby girl who deserved to be cherished by the two males who loved her above all else.
Although they had gone their separate ways to fulfill their own personal dreams, Raek had never doubted they would end up together. But that had changed the moment he’d received a reply to one of his messages saying that she wanted to cut ties with them because she was already bonded.
At first, he hadn’t believed it. He had traveled to Zion in hopes he could talk her out of her decision, but she had refused to see him and Fenris. It had been even more shocking when he’d heard she had also decided to cut Charm out of her life.
The Borov family was well known in the dance community so it had made sense that Juliet had bonded with James. At least, on the surface. Raek had been filled with regret and anguish seeing her with another male. He knew he should have told her that he loved her when he’d had the chance and cursed himself for waiting so long.
In order to escape his pain over losing her, Raek had accepted the Artanes’ offer to move to Evo. When they had told him they bought a planetoid, he hadn’t been surprised. The three Artane brothers were visionaries, so they were always coming up with some outrageous new idea. However, when they decided to turn the planetoid into a live-action version of their new video game, that had been a whole new level of crazy.
Their video game Evolution was an advanced multi-layered survival game that combined several different types of games into one complex universe. Inside the game, players could essentially do whatever they wanted. They could live out their wildest fantasies or create a whole new exciting reality for themselves.
Raek wasn’t much of a gamer, but he had been intrigued by the whole concept. When the Artanes had spoken to him about running a new sanctuary on Evo, he’d immediately loved the idea. But before he had agreed, he’d had to clear it with Fenris and Charm. Their sister had been just as excited as he was to start their own sanctuary, but it had taken a little longer to convince Fenris.
Although he had been all for moving to Evo for the same reason as Raek, Fenris hadn’t been completely thrilled about all the responsibilities that came with owning and operating their own business. Once they came up with a concept and had agreed to hire a shit-ton of managers to help them run things, he had finally approved.
And so, Wonderland had been created.
Raek had just started feeling like he was acclimating to living on Evo when he’d been notified about what James Borov had done to Juliet. Since they had started beta testing on the planetoid, it was the first time they had really gotten information about what was happening back on Earth.
He had gone on a rampage, destroying furniture and tearing through the damn walls in his suite after he’d scoured through all of the information that had been collected during the trial. He’d been so enraged and out of control, they’d had to sedate him to stop him from breaking things.
In contrast, Fenris had almost drowned himself in guilt, literally and figuratively. After he’d gotten rip-roaring drunk, he had almost flung himself off the damn balcony of his own suite. Luckily, one of the Artane brothers and a few of their other friends had been with him at the time, so they had been able to stop him from doing anything stupid.
Thankfully, Charm had more sense than they did. She had contacted a few people at Exodus to find out exactly what had been going on. Raek and Fenris had wanted to hop on a shuttle and head straight back to Earth, but Charm had talked them out of it after speaking to Jade Vyper.
Raek, Charm, and Fenris had been friends with Rogan and Lucian Adaro for a long time, and Jade had gotten to know them through the memory exchange with her mates. Because of that, she also learned about the deep, abiding love Raek and Fenris felt for Juliet.
While she was all for helping to bring them together, the Dragon Warrior had expressed some concerns after she had consulted with the counselor treating Juliet. While it was clear Juliet would have found comfort having Raek and Fenris with her at the sanctuary, the counselor thought it was more important for her to re-establish her own sense of power to help her heal.
Because of that, Charm convinced Raek and Fenris to wait for Juliet to come to them.
Waiting was probably the hardest thing he’d ever done, but Raek had been willing to do whatever was best for her. It had helped ease some of the strain when Jade told them she would give Juliet a nudge in their direction once she was ready.
And now, she was finally on her way to them.
Raek wanted to hunt James, Willard, and Beatrice down and kill them with his bare hands for what they had done to her. He’d even considered paying someone inside the Mars Penal Colony to take care of the deed, but after hearing that Juliet enjoyed knowing they were the ones who were locked away in a cage now had made him rethink his plans.
“Calm down,” Fenris demanded from where he was casually leaning against the wall. “You’re scaring the natives.”
Realizing he was growling, Raek forced himself to stop. Just thinking about the fuckers who had hurt Juliet never failed to make him furious. Glancing around, he saw everyone inside the transport center was casting wary looks his way, but he couldn’t really blame them. When the lights on the landing platform designated for their special arrival changed color, Fenris pushed away from the wall and came to stand next to him.
As they watched the shuttle land, Fenris said, “I’m nervous. Are you nervous?”
Raek grunted in reply.
Of course, he was, but he wasn’t about to admit that out loud. He suddenly wished he had dressed up a little instead of wearing his standard uniform of black cargo pants, a basic T-shirt, and black boots. He sighed. It was stupid to worry about now. The short sleeves strained around his muscular arm as he rubbed a hand over his shorn head. Unlike the colorful images covering his brother’s body, the tattoos on Raek’s arms were strictly done in black and gray.
Fenris was wearing old-fashioned jeans that were worn white at the knees and a dark blue tank that was frayed at the hem and showed off his colorful arms. He had his shoulder-length black hair pulled back in a messy bun and was wearing a pair of tinted gray glasses to combat the strong blue sunlight. He looked more like a rock star than someone who was in charge of a sanctuary and casino. Then again, Raek looked more like a warrior than a chef or businessman, so who was he to judge?
It wasn’t long before people started to depart the large vessel. The Dragon Warriors had arranged for Juliet and her friend to hitch a ride on a shuttle that had already been scheduled to travel to Evo. The passengers were all individuals who lived or worked at the various sanctuaries that were on Earth, so it had been a safe flight for them to take.
When he caught sight of her in the crowd, he started forward before he could stop himself. Fenris’ hand on his arm reminded him to let her come to them. She hadn’t noticed them yet, so he stopped moving and just admired her. It was as if everything else around him faded away until only she remained.
His world.
His everything.
Juliet’s long blonde hair had been pulled back in a ponytail, giving him an unobstructed view of her beautiful face. A small smile curved her lush lips as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. The strong blue sunlight made her pale skin look luminous, but he worried about the damage the unfamiliar light could do to her.
Even though she was wearing a long-sleeved pink jumpsuit with a puffy white vest over it and white boots, he could tell she had lost a lot of weight since the last time he saw her. She had always been delicate despite the lean muscles she’d honed from countless hours of training, but now she just seemed frail.
She turned to speak to a female with flaming red hair, then they both shuffled forward as more people exited the shuttle. He wanted to shove all the other people crowding around her off the damn platform, especially the male staff members sending her admiring glances.
His muscles tensed the moment her head turned, and she caught sight of him and his brother. He saw several emotions flicker over her expressive face in rapid succession. The fear and worry made his heart ache, but the joy made his own lips curve into a welcoming smile.
Going on instinct, he spread his arms wide just like he used to back when they were young. His stance told her that he was there for her if she needed him, offering protection and support. He felt a twinge of disappointment when she stood frozen in place for several heartbeats, but he refused to let it show.
She had trusted him before, and he believed she would again.
His smile widened when she rushed toward him, and he let out a triumphant laugh when she flung herself into his arms. When she started to sob against his chest, his own eyes stung with unshed tears. He met his brother’s gaze over her shoulder, and he saw a fierce determination in his dark gaze that matched his own.
They would never let anyone hurt her ever again. That was a promise they would kill to keep. It would take time for her to heal, but they were willing to do whatever they could to help her.
But for now, at least she was back with them, right where she belonged.