Chapter 31 #2
There’s a separation of sorts that happens when one kid has a lot of health issues.
I didn’t mean to monopolise Mum’s time, but being a latent, it just happened.
It took me some time to realise that for her to take me to every appointment, be there as I tried to shift, it meant she had to miss out on other things.
Rest, time to herself, definitely, but also Noah’s footy matches, Geoff’s parent-teacher nights.
Maybe that’s why my baby brother went to live with our father for a while, after Mum and Dad got divorced.
Sucking in a breath, my mind raced, trying to think of something suitable to say, when the backyard gate opened.
Geoff came walking in, then stopped, eyeing the lot of us.
“Well, well, look at who we have here.” I’ve always hated my brother’s smug smile. “Our very own alpha bro.”
When he thrust out a hand, I didn’t want to take it.
Who shook their own brother’s hand? Geoff did, because as I clasped it, his fingers clamped down tight.
Muscle popped under his work shirt as he tried to force my hand into an uncomfortable position.
My biceps barely moved as I stared him down.
The wolf moved inside me, snarling as we noted the way the muscles tightened around his mouth, right before we showed him why this was a mistake.
“Fuck…”
Geoff snatched his hand back, forced to flick his fingers to get the blood pumping to his extremities again.
“Don’t swear in front of the kids,” Noah said with a shake of his head, as if he hadn’t done the exact same thing.
“Wouldn’t need to if Golden Boy here wasn’t trying to be all dominant,” Geoff shot back.
“Yeah,” I said, crossing my arms. “Because I’m the one trying to literally get the upper hand.”
“Because you think you’re something special.” Geoff’s narrowed gaze, the way his lip curled as he said the words was why I avoided coming home most of the time. “Mum—”
“Boys!” Our mother’s voice floated out the back door. “Dinner’s ready!”
“Good,” Geoff said in a gruff voice. “I could eat the crutch out of a low flying duck. Tonight’s steak—”
“Shepherd’s pie night,” I said with a grin. “Made with extra pumpkin, just the way I like it.”
This was the kind of petty bullshit that in any other context would have me heading for the door, but not here. I couldn’t help but get a sick thrill from Geoff’s deep scowl.
“C’mon, kids,” Noah said with a sigh. “You heard Nanna. Pack away the balls and then let’s go and grab something to eat.”
“I’m not eating that,” Geoff announced, standing at the head of the table and staring at the big spread of food. Pushing himself away from his chair, he started to head for the door. “I’ll go down the local takeaway and grab some fish and chips or something.”
“Fish and chips!” the kids cried. “We like fish and chips.” Charlie poked his food with a fork. “This is orange. I don’t like orange.”
“Everyone is going to sit down right now.” Mum was left to raise three boys on her own, up until the point when Noah decided to live with Dad. She wouldn’t have gotten through that without being able to flex her own muscles at time. “Charlie, you love pumpkin.”
“You had two whole bowls of Nanna’s pumpkin soup,” Kelly reminded him, sitting down beside her son. “And asked for more.”
“Oh, OK.” Charlie instantly brightened. “Thanks, Nanna. This looks yum!”
Everyone else took a seat except for me and Geoff. I stared my brother down, willing him to just hold his tongue for Mum’s sake this once.
“Fine.”
He sat down heavily, then piled his plate high with slices of bread. Never saw someone butter bread sulkily, but Geoff managed it. I took a seat across from Mum and beside Noah, passing dishes up and down the table as everyone started to serve themselves.
“My family all together.” Mum’s smile as she surveyed the lot of us reminded me why I was here. “Doesn’t happen often enough.”
“To family.”
Noah raised a glass, but it was clear to me there was an ironic twist to his smile. Didn’t stop me from lifting my glass, the kids doing the same so quickly water threatened to slop over the rims.
“To family,” I said, feeling my fangs ache as I forced myself to smile.
Dinner went fairly smoothly. Geoff relented and had some of the pie, even if he scraped the pumpkin off the top. I felt like a stone thrown into the middle of a rushing river current. The many conversations washed over me, having a momentum all of their own.
“So Tex and Grey have found their mate,” Mum announced and that got everyone looking my way. I barely suppressed the desire to press my back against my chair. “And their mate is a latent?”
“Apparently,” I replied, setting my utensils down. “Not sure if Nadia’s going to take suppressants or decide to try and shift.”
“Nadia, huh,” Noah said, looking me over carefully.
“So what’re you doing here then?” Geoff’s sly smile made clear I wasn’t going to like what came next. “She’s not a real omega. You’re not a real alpha. The two of you would have to be a perfect match.”
Everyone started to talk at once, but Mum cut them all off.
“Geoff!” She turned to face my brother. “Pull your bloody head in.”
“Well, he’s not, Mum. If the dickhead—”
“Don’t say dickhead…” Kelly muttered, then face palmed when she realised she’d said the same thing.
“Was a real alpha, he’d just shift like the ones in the country do. Not…” His eyes glittered as he stared at me. “Need to spend hours and hours in a laboratory to learn how to turn into an oversized dog.”
“If anyone’s a bloody dickhead, it’s you,” Noah told Geoff in a low growl.
“Uncle Geoff is a dickhead!” Charlie crowed.
Kelly’s fingers pressed into her eyes. I watched her shoulders sag, Noah’s tense, and then Geoff half rise to his feet. My oldest brother had a hair trigger temper, just like my dad.
Which meant I knew exactly how this was going to go if I didn’t do something.
“I’m sorry.” I did stand up and for just a second, enjoyed the sight of Geoff having to crane his neck to stare up at me. “I’m sorry I took up so much of Mum’s time when I was a kid. Trust me when I say, I would’ve rather been born literally anything other than a latent alpha.”
“You’re not to blame,” Mum said. “The doctors said it was a freak genetic mutation—”
“Freak is about right,” Geoff grumbled.
“But I can’t be too sorry.” I stared into the idiot’s eyes. “I mean you’ve made sure to extract everything you can from Mum since.”
“Ethan—” she said, shooting me a worried look.
“She does your washing, cooks you food. Does she wipe your bum for you too?”
“Bum…” Will snickered, shooting delighted looks at his brother.
“Mum—” Geoff spluttered.
“Feels guilty about how things went down and keeps indulging you as a result.” Noah’s calm statement of the facts had the whole table going quiet.
“Kids, you look like you’re done with dinner.
Take your plates into the kitchen and scrape them into the compost bin before heading into the lounge room.
You can watch TV until we’re ready to go. ”
“I’ll make a start on the dishes,” Kelly said and that had my face burning in shame.
“No, you… I was going to say relax, but maybe just have another glass of wine until this shitshow is over,” I told her. “I’ll sort the dishes as I’ve lost my appetite.”
“Ethan…”