Chapter 25 – THANE
Chapter
Twenty-Five
THANE
Seven fucking hours of damage control, circular conversations with management, and outright lying to protect my brother. My shoulders ache from the tension of sitting through meeting after meeting, explaining things away without ever giving a straight answer.
The underground parking garage is mercifully empty when I finally make my way down. My head is killing me and the last thing I need is to run into someone who wants to talk to me. And the one person I actually want to talk to is still AWOL.
The pack bond between Wraith and me is usually a steady, reassuring presence in my chest. Lately, it feels… stretched. Dangerously thin. And it’s draining what little energy I have left. It's happened before when he withdraws, but never like this.
Never like he’s pulling away for good.
I need to talk to Valek at some point. Need to ask him what the fuck really happened down there in the tunnels.
But first, I need to get home and have a stiff drink.
Just when I reach my car, I catch a glimpse of a shadow moving through the garage up ahead.
Normally, I wouldn’t pay any attention to something like that, but my instincts prick up before I can even register why.
There’s only one alpha that size who can move so silently through a space that echoes with every sound.
Wraith.
Wraith is here in the fucking parking garage after ghosting me all day while I've been cleaning up his mess, heading for his blacked-out SUV.
“I’ve been covering for you all day, brother,” I call out, my voice bouncing off the concrete walls as I stalk toward him. “You can't even answer a goddamn text?”
He turns to face me, and there's something different about him. A new tension in his massive frame, a dangerous wildness lurking behind his gaze that I haven't seen in years. Not since the early days when he first came to live with us. When he was still feral with rage and grief.
“What the fuck is going on with you?” I continue, closing the distance between us. “First you disappear without a word, then you show up with Valek looking like he went three rounds with a cement mixer?”
Wraith's eyes narrow, a low growl rumbling in his chest. Nothing, he signs with sharp hand movements.
“Bullshit. You think I don't know when you're lying? You're my brother, Wraith.”
His jaw clenches beneath his mask, the muscles in his neck standing out like cords even against the fabric clinging to every inch of skin below his eyes.
Later.
"No," I say, planting myself directly between him and his SUV. "Not later. Now. Tell me what happened with Valek. And don't give me that 'he was sneaking around' shit. He's hiding something, and so are you."
Wraith's eyes flick past me to his vehicle, then back to my face. He seems distracted, on edge. Like he needs to be somewhere.
Move.
“What are you hiding?” I press, not budging from my position. “I’ve been feeding everyone bullshit all day, wondering when the fuck you're going to be honest with me. It ends now.”
Wraith's eyes narrow, his pupils dilating briefly before shrinking to pinpricks. I know my brother. And I know that icy flint in his eyes comes from his feral nature simmering just beneath the surface. I recognize him slipping into that state even before his posture loosens and settles into that stance that means he’s about to cave someone’s head in.
This time, it’ll be me.
Move, he signs again. Now.
“No.”
The first blow comes faster than I expect, even knowing Wraith as well as I do. His fist connects with my jaw, snapping my head to the side. Pain explodes hot and bright across my face. I stagger back, tasting blood.
But I've never been one to stay down.
I lunge forward, driving my shoulder into his chest. It's like hitting a brick wall, but I've got enough momentum to slam him back into a pillar hard enough to chip the cement.
A normal alpha would be stunned, winded at the very least. Wraith just growls, the sound echoing through the garage like a predator's warning. His massive hands grip my shoulders and he flings me away from him as if I weigh nothing.
My fall is broken by a parked bike. Hogzilla, Whiskey's prized Harley Davidson. Judging from the sickening crunch of fiberglass and metal, Wraith threw me hard enough to destroy it.
Fuck. We're never going to hear the end of this.
But Wraith is already advancing on me with the purposeful stride of an alpha out for blood. I don’t have time to worry about Whiskey’s bike.
I barely have time to haul myself back to my feet before he lunges.
I grab Hogzilla’s bent rear tire and swing the bike at him, catching him in the ribs.
He staggers, but only for one or two steps before he barrels at me and counters with a brutal swing.
I duck just in time and his fist connects with the side mirror of a nearby car instead, shattering it in a spray of glass.
We're going to destroy the entire garage at this rate.
I throw Hogzilla aside and lunge again, getting inside his reach. It's the only way to fight someone Wraith's size. Stay close, don't give him room to utilize his reach. I drive a few quick jabs into his stomach and ribs, each one connecting with solid muscle. Like punching a steel wall.
Wraith snarls and throws his massive arms round me in a bear hug that crushes the air out of my lungs. My vision swims and goes gray at the edges so quickly, I don’t have time to think about my next move before I react on pure instinct.
I drive my elbow into his throat—his one vulnerable spot.
Wraith's grip falters, his hands flying to his damaged throat. I drop to the ground, rolling away to catch my breath as he doubles over, a wet, choking sound escaping him.
I feel like shit.
When he straightens up, the look in his eyes makes my blood run cold. Fury—pure, primal fury—darkens his gaze to midnight blue, almost black. Any trace of my brother is gone, replaced entirely by the feral beast that lurks just beneath his skin.
"Wraith—" I start, hoping to dial this back before it goes too far. But it's already too late.
He moves like lightning, covering the distance between us in a single bound. His fist connects with my sternum, driving the air from my lungs in a painful whoosh before his other catches me under the chin and snaps my head back.
Stars burst across my vision. I stagger backward, trying to regain my balance, but Wraith gives me no time. His next blow catches me in the side, cracking a rib.
Pain lances through me, hot and sharp. But physical pain I can work with. I understand that kind. It’s nothing compared to the pain of fighting my brother like this.
I launch myself at him, tackling him around the midsection and driving him backward into another concrete pillar.
The impact is jarring, sending shockwaves up my spine, but I don't let go.
I rain blows on his ribs, his stomach, anywhere I can reach with the exception of his face, trying to wear him down through sheer persistence.
His massive hands come up and lock around my neck in a crushing grip, cutting off my air. More spots dance at the edges of my vision as I claw at his wrists, struggling to pry him off. It’s like trying to pry off a fucking bear trap. His eyes bore into mine, no longer wild with rage but cold.
At the same time, even though I can hardly breathe, I catch a vague honeysuckle scent clinging to his clothes. A scent that shoots straight to our strained pack bond in my chest, making the cords sing like fucking harp strings.
My brother smells like… omega.
“Who is she?” I manage to grit out, my voice strained from the pressure of his hands crushing my throat. “Who, Wraith?”
A flash of vulnerability bleeds through the feral blankness in his gaze. He releases me so abruptly, I almost collapse onto him. He shoves me off him and I roll onto my back, wheezing as air fills my burning lungs again.
My brother rises to his feet and backs away from me. There's no triumph in his posture, no satisfaction at having won our fight. Just grim determination as he heads toward his SUV like none of this even happened.
“Would you at least tell me where you're fucking going?” I grit out, bracing myself against a pillar as I haul myself back to my feet.
Wraith pauses by his SUV, his massive shoulders tensing again. Then he glances back at me and fingerspells three letters.
P-H-O.
Wait… what?
Wraith doesn't elaborate. He just turns away and slides into his SUV that's somehow too small for him even though it's the biggest damn model they had. The engine roars to life, headlights cutting through the dimness of the garage.
I lurch forward, one hand pressed against my throbbing ribs. "Wait!"
But he's already backing out, tires squealing against concrete as he accelerates toward the exit. The SUV disappears around the corner, leaving me alone in the debris of our confrontation.
"Pho," I repeat to the empty garage, my voice echoing off the busted concrete and twisted metal.
We almost killed each other over… soup?