Chapter 2 Bryden
brYDEN
Sitting on the edge of a stream with my feet dangling in the water was a favorite pastime when I was a kid.
My brother, Emerson, was usually beside me and one of us would start a water fight.
In the summer, we’d play in the stream all day, while during the winter months, each of us would try and topple the other into the cold water.
But those days were long gone and so was Emerson. Not that he was dead. He was living what I hoped was his best life with his mate. But to our den, he was as good as dead because he’d been banished and his name removed from our den records as if he never existed.
And he was persona non grata because his fated mate was supposed to mate with our Alpha.
My brother had been away working when the mating was arranged between our den and another, the way such matings had been done for thousands of years.
It wasn’t a love match, nor were they fated mates.
It was necessary to ensure good relations between the two dens.
Our Alpha poo-pooed the concept of love and expected everyone in the den to feel the same. But when Emerson returned for a visit, he recognized the Alpha’s omega as the one fate had put on the earth for him.
The ceremony was the following week, and my brother wrestled with what the universe had given him.
He and Dex, the Alpha’s intended, avoided one another until they couldn’t.
They met near the stream where Emerson and I played as children, knowing the consequences of mating without the blessing of either den.
My brother woke me in the middle of the night to say goodbye.
It was unlikely we’d meet again, and the possibility broke my heart.
Alpha would look to me on discovering Dex had vanished, and he and his tech guys—our den was in the IT business—would go through my phone and likely find my brother and Dex.
So, at three a.m., we destroyed our phones, the one link I had with him. Our emails and social media accounts would go dark, and he told me in a decade or two, to look for him in the mountains. That was a lot of territory and would take more than a lifetime, but I vowed never to give up the search.
He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Be happy, Bryden. I love you and always will. You could have informed on me to Alpha or the council.”
“Are you kidding? I’m your brother. I would never. You deserve to be with your mate and so does Dex.”
“It’s not the life either of us would have chosen if we had a choice.”
One last hug and he vanished with Dex into the shadows.
I was woken at five, along with the rest of the den, asking if we’d seen Dex. His scent mingled with Emerson’s, and they dragged me out of the cabin I’d shared with my brother as the den looked on.
Alpha demanded to know what had happened, but he was posturing because he could scent the two had mated before they left. He wanted me to say out loud that my brother had stolen his mate so all the focus was on me and Emerson.
They’d go after him, and if they found him, which they probably would, they’d kill him and Dex too. I couldn’t allow it, so I'd told Alpha and the den it was my idea the pair should mate. I figured I’d take whatever punishment the den deemed fit.
“I refused to see them in pain for the rest of their lives, so as the elder brother, I gave them our family’s permission to mate. I bestowed my blessing on them.”
“That wasn’t your choice to make,” he raged, and people around us shook. “When an Alpha chooses a mate, no one has the right to break the bond.”
“You forget, Alpha, you were not yet mated, and as Dex wasn’t your fated mate, there was nothing keeping you together, only a handshake or a scribbled signature.”
Alpha was enraged as expected, and he lashed out at me, raking his claws over my chest. Blood spurted out, and I fell to my knees.
He’s going to kill us. My beast’s instinct was to fight back, but this was Alpha, not a random bear we’d hurt.
He won’t.
But Alpha pinned me to the ground, his teeth less than an inch from my throat. His saliva dripped on my skin as his heated breath, heavy with anger and loathing, washed over me.
“You are no longer part of this den, just like your brother. Both of you will spend the rest of your days without a den’s protection.” He slashed my arm, and the smell of blood filled my nostrils and splattered on the red earth. “You are rogue. No den will ever take you in. Get out.”
Everyone stared at me, groveling in the dirt, but refusing to cry. They turned their backs on me and when my bear helped me stand, I staggered to my cabin and grabbed the possessions that fit in my pack.
When I walked out, the den members were inside their homes.
I could sense their gazes on me as I hobbled out of the village and into the woods.
Though Emerson only had a head start of a few hours, I couldn’t chase him because Alpha would not give up on finding him, and I refused to lead him to my brother.
That night I curled up in the forest, and though most of my injuries had healed thanks to my beast, nothing could fix or erase the sadness at losing my brother or my home.
Emerson’s scent was on every blade of grass, flower, and leaf, but I deliberately chose a different direction.
Thanks to my ability to survive in the wilderness, I lived off fish, fruit, and scraps of food humans tossed in the garbage.
I found jobs with humans far from the den but lived in the woods, fearing if I rented a room, Alpha’s guys would harass me.
One day as I was hitchhiking, I caught Emerson’s scent. I was at the base of a mountain range, and my bear told me to find our brother. But after gazing at the top of peaks, I set off in the opposite direction, wondering if I'd ever feel safe enough to be with him again.
But that decision led me close to a den. Not mine and not Dex’s, but my scent had been passed to all the dens, and one of the betas found me as I was fishing. He lashed out, telling me I was trespassing, and his claws ripped tendons in my leg and knee.
I was on his land and I was rogue, so I didn’t fight back. If I had, his den could have sentenced me to death because I had no rights, not to fight, or fish, or ask for assistance.
Instead, I lay on the trampled grass after he left, fighting for breath. Day passed into night and another day, and I crawled over the forest floor to the river, dunking myself in and removing the crusted blood from my skin.
I didn’t have the energy to take my fur, and my beast couldn’t perform the shift without my help because the fight and injury had sapped our strength.
Sipping water from the river, I propped myself against a tree.
With only liquid and no food, I became weaker still, and when I examined my injuries that I expected to heal, they were festering.
Blisters of pus dotted my skin, surrounded by red angry flesh. My legs ached, and I drifted in and out of consciousness. With enough energy to crawl to the river, I bent over and lapped at the cool water. But I couldn’t return to the shade and lay beside the water in the midday sun.
Images of me and Emerson frolicking in the water, taking our first shift together, streamed into my head like a movie reel. If one of us had to die because of our actions, I was glad it was me. I didn’t have a mate and was alone in the world with no friends or family to mourn my death.
Be safe, my brother.
At least now I wouldn’t lead Alpha to Emerson. I’d kept him safe. Would he sense my life fading? I wasn’t sure. We weren’t twins. I hoped he wouldn’t because I wanted him to imagine me still alive, maybe mated and happy as I hoped he was.
My eyes closed, maybe for the last time as my bear beseeched me to try and shift.
I need you, he begged.
We’re going to sit by the goddess and we won’t be in agony any longer.
Even with my eyes closed, the setting sun created shadows on my lids. I wouldn’t be here to see another sunrise and would pass from the earth in darkness.