39. Bram
Bram
I write about séances and Ouija boards. I don’t attend them. After what Jack saw at the barbecue a few days ago Clara suggested it. It seems like the best option after what we’ve all experienced.
I didn’t warn Victor. I didn’t need him finding a convenient excuse to leave before we started. None of us really understand what we’re dealing with, and I wanted the full pack here to protect Clara. It’s fucked that I even have to trick Victor into being present for his own omega.
Which is why he looks so damn surprised when he steps out of his room at quarter to midnight—his usual wake-up time lately—and finds me waiting for him. His gaze sweeps the hall, searching for the others, and when he doesn’t see them, he tries to shut the door in my face.
“Stop.” The bark rips out of me before I can soften it, and it guts me.
I hate barking, especially at my packmate, my friend.
We used to be as close as brothers. After everything that happened with him last year…
nothing’s been the same. I know he’d never split from the pack while his twin’s still here, but there are times it feels like that’s exactly what he’s thinking about.
“What?” he snarls, turning back to me. My own growl rolls up from deep in my chest. We glare each other down.
“We need you downstairs.”
For a flicker of a second, his expression softens.
Then the walls slam back into place. “Why?”
“ We’re gonna try to communicate with this ghost alpha.” The words sound ridiculous even to myself.
He snorts, full of derision. “Why are we trying to talk to the damn thing? We should get a priest and exorcise it.”
“Clara’s scent-sensitive to the ghost. To Finian.” I say flatly, watching his reaction. He gapes. “Exorcising him might hurt her, besides the fact that he hasn’t done anything malicious.”
Victor sputters, but I cut him off with a raised hand. “To the rest of us. And you know exactly why he’s doing it to you.”
I’ve suspected for a while now that Finian is targeting Victor. Every other encounter has been harmless, aside from the shock of seeing a damn ghost. Even that time on the bluff, Finian just looked at me. Creepy, sure, but not harmful. Victor, though? He’s the only one actively rejecting our omega.
“I’m going back to bed,” Victor drawls, turning to close the door again.
I shove it open, pushing him back until his shoulders hit the opposite wall.
“What the fuck is your problem?” The snarl rips out before I can stop it. I’ve been holding my alpha in check for the pack, for Clara, for Victor himself. But him turning from us, turning from me, in this moment pushes every restraint past breaking.
A slow, taunting grin curves his mouth. “We all know what my problem is.” He laughs.
In.
My.
Face.
I slam my fist into the wall beside his head and let a wave of dominance roll out of me. I see the moment it hits. His head tips back, throat bared, his alpha submitting to mine even as hot fire burns in his eyes.
We don’t do this to each other. But I’m done. I’ve tried everything else to get my friend back.
“ This shit is over, Victor. I don’t give a single fuck if you don’t want an omega—you don’t have to.
But I see how she affects you. I see the way you avoid her yet track her every move when you’re in the same room.
What your mom and dad did is not Clara’s fault.
” He flinches hard, like I just landed a physical blow.
“What your mother did is not Clara’s fault. ”
He roars in my face, and I roar right back, forcing him under again.
“You don’t have to love her,” I say, “but you will respect her. And you will be there when she needs you, and when we need you.”
His gaze drops. “What if I can’t?” The whisper is raw.
“You know the answer to that.” My voice stays firm, though my gut sinks like a stone.
We’ve been together since we were in college.
I can’t imagine pack life without Victor.
But I can’t keep living with the man he’s choosing to be, either.
Not with the way he treats Clara. Not with the self-destructive, angry spiral he’s been riding.
His eyes go wide at what he sees in mine.
I turn and walk away without another word. My chest feels tight, my heartbeat stalled, as I wait.
Then, footsteps. Falling into step behind me.
I mask the exhale of relief as Victor follows me downstairs.