Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Heir’s Suite, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld
“ L ion,” I gasp in shock. “What are you doing here?”
The white suit that Lionzio is holding slips out of his numb fingers to pool at his feet.
My brother’s hurt gaze meets mine.
What can I say?
Will he run to Dad because he thinks that I’m abandoning him?
We’ll be executed.
“Delivering a suit for me, it appears.” Harbinger quirks his brow. “Bad luck for you. It appears that no good deed goes unpunished.”
When Harbinger exchanges a significant look with Feral, the Chief Alpha surges off the bed and launches himself across the bedroom.
“Hey, you don’t need to…” River calls, anxiously.
Except, Feral does.
Lionzio has heard too much of our scheme. There’s no going back now.
If my brother walks out of here and snitches on us, everything will fall apart.
I intended to bring my brother with me on this escape. He’s been helping us from the moment of my heat.
I want to mend our relationship.
It was meant to happen at the last moment, however, when our lives wouldn’t be put at risk.
I clutch onto Laurent’s arm, turning to watch.
“Fuck.” Lionzio tries to take a step back but he’s no match for the top fighter in the Underworld.
Feral slams his hand over Lionzio’s mouth, before swinging him away from the door by the scruff of the neck.
Feral towers over my brother. It’s obvious like this how much larger he is.
Feral slams the door shut, before dragging his captive closer to the bed. Then he cracks Lionzio against the wall with his hand still firmly against his mouth.
Lionzio struggles, looking at me to save him.
I wince. “Be gentle, Fer. He’s not a fighter like we are. Ease up your hold on Lion’s throat. Don’t hurt him.”
“You certainly don’t want to hurt him,” Laurent adjusts the rose clips in his hair, “since he’s your brother.”
What the hell does Laurent mean?
Instantly, Lionzio stops trying to escape Feral’s hold.
He slumps against the wall.
River peers at Laurent. “You’re confused, la mia rosa. This is Harley’s adopted brother.”
Something moves sickly in my stomach.
Laurent still isn’t saying anything.
I’ve never discovered what pack either Lionzio or Feral originally came from. All I know is that terrible day, after Mom’s death, when a traumatized kid only a couple of years older than me was suddenly brought into the pack as my new brother.
Did Dad forbid Lionzio from talking about his past?
Acknowledging his own brother?
Yet Feral has been told all his life that he’s an orphan without siblings. He’s been taught to be grateful to Dad for fostering him. He’s in debt because he has to pay Dad back for taking him in.
I can’t believe that Feral is Lionzio’s brother.
That would be too cruel.
One brother raised up to be the adopted son and future heir, while the other was conditioned to become the pack’s caged, feral Alpha.
Except, that’s the type of thing Dad would do.
Feral sniffs Lionzio’s neck like somehow that will give him the answer. He looks lost and bewildered.
“Take your hand away from his mouth, Fer,” I say. “Let him speak.”
Slowly, Feral lets go of Lionzio, taking a step back.
The two men stare searchingly at each other.
Lionzio runs a trembling hand through his short hair.
They don’t look alike, do they?
I study the two men.
Lionzio has similar golden skin to Feral but is a foot shorter. Unlike Feral, he has neat black hair. But then, Feral’s hair is dyed for dramatic effect.
Lionzio has pale blue eyes.
One of Feral’s eyes is icy blue too.
I feel like the world that I thought I knew has turned on its head.
River is staring between the two Alphas with teary eyes.
His voice is small. “Lion…?”
Lionzio clenches his hands.
He turns to glare at River. “What do you want from me? I spend years trying to keep you safe. Then behind my back, you’re part of a plot that could get you killed. I know that you don’t love me. But I hoped that you trusted me.”
River’s expression crumples.
He rests Harbinger back on the pillows, before scrambling off the bed. He rushes to Lionzio to try and grab his hand.
Lionzio pulls away. “Don’t.”
“You’re my best friend,” River persists, snatching Lionzio’s hand. “My student. The man who suffered to allow me to become a medic. You gave me a workshop and with it, my dignity back. My happiness .”
“But I…” Lionzio’s lip trembles. “…was harsh with you.”
“I forgive you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Live with it.”
River pulls my brother into a hug, which startles him. Tentatively, he pats River on the back.
River’s happiness coils around me in the bond.
Lionzio nervously looks over River’s shoulder to meet my gaze. “Is this okay?”
“He’s my Beta,” I reply, pointedly. “But he’s your friend. We both love you. It was Dad and Allegra who worked to break us apart. I remember every time that you protected me from them. I’ll never forget what an amazing brother you are and I’d never abandon you.”
When Lionzio buries his head on River’s shoulder, I’m certain that it’s to hide the tears in his eyes. “I love you too, sis.”
“Shouldn’t you be asking the Alpha in the room, if it’s okay to be cuddling our Beta?” Harbinger grumbles. “Sure, you get the shit beaten out of you and suddenly, no one’s scared of you anymore.”
“Maybe because even I could hand you your ass right now,” Lionzio mutters.
Despite myself, I chuckle.
Harbinger looks outraged, trying to haul himself out of bed, before he settles back with a groan. “When the room stops spinning, I’ll show you who hands who their ass.”
“You do that.” Laurent fixes Lionzio with a piercing stare. “But there are two Alphas in this room. And the Chief Alpha isn’t growling possessively right now because he can sense that I’m right about Lionzio being his brother. Well, my guess would be half-brother.”
Lionzio pulls away from River, backing up to the wall.
His expression is guilty. He doesn’t appear to know what to do with his hands.
“He’s telling the truth, isn’t he?” I’m breathing too fast. “And all these years, you knew .”
Lionzio raises his agonized gaze to meet Feral’s.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers.
My stomach is tied in knots.
Lionzio held the remote control to Feral’s shock collar in his hand. He never used it but he held it . He locked and unlocked Feral’s cage. He watched the fights.
Feral thought that he was alone in the world, and Lionzio allowed him to continue to think that.
It was a lie .
How could Lionzio do that?
“How could you not have told Fer?” Furious, I storm toward Lionzio, but Feral catches me by the arm.
He still hasn’t looked away from Lionzio.
For once, I can’t read Feral’s expression. His emotions are equally conflicted through the bond.
Harbinger quirks his brow at Laurent. “Impressive guess.”
Laurent shakes his head. “I noticed it from the first time that I saw them together.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
Laurent gestures between Lionzio and Feral. “Don’t any of you observe ? Lionzio had no reason to treat Fer differently than your sister did but he went out of his way to protect him. In fact, he’s been helping us in a way that’s risked his own ass over and over. He’s been my queen on the chess board, if you’d only taken the time to notice it. Didn’t you watch how he acted, when he thought that Fer could die in the death matches? He was either in love with our Alpha, or they were family. Perhaps, I saw it because I have such a close relationship to my own brother, Amby. I know what it looks like to do anything to protect your brother. I can only imagine what it would feel like to see Amby every day but have to pretend that he was a stranger. The only question is why …?”
I remember then.
The way that Lionzio would force Allegra not to shock Feral. How often Lionzio would hang around the attic like he wanted to come in but was stopping himself. The long looks that he’d cast Feral, which I never understood.
How he’d defy Dad by allowing River to bring us extra food and medicine, as well as tutor us secretly at night.
Of course Lionzio knew everything that River did to break the rules for Feral’s sake. He could have stopped it. But he didn’t.
It makes sense now.
So does the way that Lionzio dragged Feral into an awkward hug at the NPH, wishing him luck and apologizing.
It was out of character… but not if he was Feral’s brother.
To my shock, Lionzio drops to his knees.
“Sorry.” Tears trail down Lionzio’s cheeks. “Please, brother… Fuck, I’ve wanted to call you that our entire lives. Brother. May I? Can I…?”
My own eyes smart with tears.
I hate seeing Lionzio in such distress.
At the same time, I hate to think what this will do to Feral.
Can Feral forgive his brother?
Why would Lionzio hide their relationship?
Is he ashamed of Feral? Of the fact that Feral is a fighter, while Lionzio had ambition to become the heir?
If that’s the reason he abandoned his own brother, then I won’t be able to forgive Lionzio.
I’ll kick his ass.
When Feral stalks toward Lionzio, I crouch into a fighting stance, in case I need to launch myself in between them and stop Feral from tearing out his own brother’s throat in his shock.
Instead, Feral falls to his knees and pulls Lionzio into his arms.
Feral’s shoulders shake with silent tears, as he comforts Lionzio.
“I’m sorry,” Lionzio sobs.
The moment is so intimate that it feels wrong to be witnessing it.
Feral has spent his life alone, apart from River and me. We created our own found family.
This month has been the hardest and best of my life because we’ve discovered our soulmate male Omega and new lifelong Alpha.
I feel like I’ve finally found the missing parts of my soul.
What must it be like for Feral to have also found his long lost brother?
At last, Feral draws back but only enough to rest his forehead against Lionzio’s. “Brother.”
Lionzio’s breath hitches.
“Brother,” he replies, as if the word is the most precious that he has spoken in his entire life.
He looks like he’s moments from falling apart, until Feral rests his hand on the back of his neck and squeezes. “S-s-stop crying. I am here. We’re t-together. You’re pack.”
Lionzio looks heartbreakingly happy.
I cross my arms. “How did you come to be adopted? Mom died because she didn’t give Dad the Alpha heir that he wanted. He adopted you to become his Alpha son. Why have you never spoken about…?”
“The pack who gave me away?” Lionzio clenches his jaw. “It was one of the first rules from Dad: Not to speak about my past. It was dead to me. I was now only to be the loyal son of Don Battle.”
“Did that mean forgetting your brother as well?” Laurent’s eyes narrow.
Lionzio carefully disentangles himself from Feral but remains on his knees, holding tightly onto Feral’s hand like he’s frightened of losing him as well. “Easy for you to say. It’s not like I didn’t try to break the rule once and tell Feral. I was punished severely for it.”
Feral growls, yanking Lionzio closer again.
My eyes widen. “Was that why you were sent to the Discipline Cells?”
Lionzio shudders, before nodding. “After that, I was…wasn’t the same kid. I was told that if I broke the rule again, then it would be my brother who was sent there. I couldn’t take that risk. Wait, what if Dad…?”
“He isn’t going to do anything,” I say, firmly. “He’s never going to hurt any of us again.”
“Just like he hasn’t every fucking day that we’ve been forced to eat or work with him? Like he hasn’t almost every night before bed?” Lionzio tightens his silk tie with a shaky hand. “This man…”
“Is a total Alphahole? One who deserves to be locked in one of his own octagon cages with a dozen fighters, while the rest of his pack watch him being beaten to a bloody pulp?” Harbinger snarls. “Look, I’m a man with secrets. But yours are even more impressive than mine. Don’t you think that Feral deserves to know where he comes from?”
Lionzio reaches out to touch Feral’s face like he’s always wanted to and is in awe now that he can. “Brother, I… Our pack were poor. A minor mafia pack, who Vinnie sometimes hired for jobs Above. As a kid, of course, I didn’t know that. We both have the same Alpha. I barely saw him because he was always away, working. My mom was the First Omega. I was treated well because of that. I thought that I was loved. Actually, I was just valued property.” He breaks off, nervously licking his lips. “Hierarchy in some Traditional packs is strict about Second Omegas. Your dad was a male Omega. He was seen as a breeder. I cried, hating how he was beaten, locked up, and…”
Feral’s expression has been steadily darkening with rage.
I reach to rest my hand on his shoulder. “We’re all here.”
Feral relaxes.
“Your dad was a good man,” Lionzio continues. “But his status was as the lowest member of the pack. When he gave birth to you, I was excited to have a baby brother to play with. But then, when you were still too young to talk, this strange man turned up and took you away. I was told that it was an honor to sell one of our Alphas to a strong mafia pack. I cried for weeks, and your dad was fucking broken.”
I stare at Lionzio in shock.
When Feral whines in distress, Lionzio wraps his arms around his shoulders. “I would have done anything to get you back.”
“The strange man,” I feel sick, “was Dad, right?”
Lionzio simply nods.
I take a step back. “How can you bear to look at me?”
Lionzio blinks the tears out of my eyes. “Because in the hell of my lonely existence, you were the one person who made my life worth living.” He shoots a watery smile at River. “And you were the light in my darkness.”
“My Sunshine.” Harbinger winks at River.
River throws himself to the floor behind Lionzio, looping his arms around him. “ Lion… ”
Lionzio finally smiles. “See? Aren’t I lucky?”
“Not that lucky,” Laurent touches the top of the queen on the chessboard, “since you must have lost your golden child status in your pack, if they ended up selling you to the Battles as well.”
When Lionzio raises his head, his eyes are steely. “Have you ever had your entire world crash around you, Omega?”
“Firstly, I’m not an Omega, my name is Laurent.” Laurent flashes his teeth. “And yes, several times.”
Lionzio scrutinizes him, before nodding like he believes him. “Then you’ll understand that when Mom dressed me up in my best clothes and told me that times were hard , which was why my dad had agreed to let the same pack adopt me who had taken my little brother, I wanted to die. I fought against her, my Alpha Dad, and Vinnie who collected me. They had to tie me up and blindfold me. I lost my family. I was alone. Terrified. Amongst strangers. But then, I met you, Harley, and I realized that I had a new sis. Focusing on protecting Feral and you as much as I could, is the only thing that’s kept me alive.”
My heart breaks.
I drop to the floor, squirming as close as I can to the Alphas and Beta cuddle pile.
I nuzzle Lionzio and then Feral, before curling my arms around them both.
“As much as I enjoy watching this reunion and snugglefest, Kitten,” Harbinger says, “we’re still under pressure about this whole revolution thing.”
“Are you in?” Laurent arches his brow.
When Lionzio hesitates a moment too long, my pulse races.
What the hell do we do, if Lionzio refuses?
I don’t want to leave him behind. He’s Feral’s biological brother. He’s my adopted brother.
I won’t abandon him. I won’t allow anyone to harm him.
At the same time, it would be a death sentence, if Lionzio told Dad any of this.
Yet Lionzio has as much reason as any of us to want to escape the Underworld and take revenge on Dad.
“Fuck’s sake,” I hiss. “You can’t still be loyal to Dad. He keeps you like a kicked dog, begging for his scraps of approval. Surely…”
“I have a lot of contact with Alphas who go back and forth into the Above,” Lionzio finally replies. “Do you know how dangerous it is up there? I remember it from before I was sent down here as well. Your plan must include escaping from here, huh? What would be waiting for us, even if we rise up? You’re so rebellious that you’d be marked as a Reject. And me? I’d have no one. I’d be alone.”
“Idiot.” Laurent rolls his eyes. “You’re currently being held so tightly that it looks painful by your sister, brother, and best friend. You may have lived alone, painfully hiding the truth of your identity, but right now, you have a family.”
Lionzio’s face lights up with hope. “Will I, if your plan works?”
“Always,” I reply.
“Brother.” Feral raises their joined hands.
Lionzio’s expression becomes determined. “Then I truly will be the queen on your chessboard and end this game. And I’m not a kicked dog or a puppy. I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Dad thought that I wasn’t worth becoming his heir because I couldn’t fight. But I tricked him . So, fuck the knothead. Because I lost my Alphahood Test on purpose to make sure that he’d put me in charge of his books. He willingly gave me access to every shady deal and sensitive piece of information. I’ve been tracking everything and keeping secret records for years. Why do you think I look so exhausted? I have the evidence to take down not only Dad’s cage fighting but also his trafficking across America. We just need to get out of here. Except, Dad won’t let us go without a fight.”
Laurent’s smile becomes dangerous. “Then we’ll give him a fight that he’ll never see coming.”