Chapter 29: Envy is a Brother

“No worries, brother. I won't harm her,” Brandon smirked, still looking at me with maliciousness in his eyes.

He was not staring at my face, but at the slightly bare breasts now, thanks to the branches holding my layers of clothes and for the wind to sweep the final garment covering my chest.

The skin on my neck stood to its tip the moment I met his eyes. He was looking intently at me, his head tilted to the right side as if ready to devour my soul. All the while, Zarion was in his protective stance—quiet and ready to attack whenever he needed to against his brother.

“Hey, nice tits,” Brandon purred and looked at my breast. I was caught off guard and heaved a deep breath, took a step backward, and squeezed Zarion’s hands. I know Brandon’s shameless and he only said that to tease his brother, but I still couldn’t believe he said those insulting words in front of us.

And those words triggered Zarion. “Indeed.” The two brothers started growling at each other. Brandon discarded his clothes and his nakedness pierced my eyesight. Brandon is absolutely naked right now.

I couldn’t help but gasp and shift on my heel away from his bareness.

“Oh, right. Sorry about that. Werewolves are used to this,” he muttered behind my back. “You don't understand because you're a human after all.” Brandon muttered with a tone not apologetic at all. Sarcasm resonated in his voice, and I know he wasn’t here to joke about my existence as a human.

It was to insult my nature—vehemently insult and mock me.

Well, he succeeded at that.

I gathered the courage to turn and ask him. “Why are you here then, Alpha?”

Brandon climbs onto the branch of the tree and dangles his feet over there, now looking down at us. “You know what, brother? I wasn’t joking when I was having dreams about your beloved Cassidy.”

Zarion was ready to attack him. I could feel his rage. The way his breathing becomes uneven when he looks at Brandon, thinking of multiple ways to kill him. “It’s not like I wanted to,” Brandon added, showing his hands to us to prove his point. He clicks his tongue, and once again, his eyes darted behind Zarion—at me. Hungrily.

He swung his arms on the branch and landed on the ground. “I went here for two reasons: killing two birds with one stone.”

Zarion hissed, eventually snarling. “Stop playing around and get to the point.”

“Well, well, well, brother.  I am here to let her know that I will reject her.” He was eyeing me again, the way his eyes slit at the mention of my name is sending my stomach churning. “Cassidy. You, being my mate, are literally fucked up. Ya’ know that, huh?”

I took a step backward because his words slashed through my heart. I shouldn’t feel embarrassed, or hurt or angry. Brandon doesn’t matter to me. He never did. I still don’t believe he’s my mate. It’s impossible to be in love with him, let alone spend the rest of my life with his ass. He’s arrogant, sarcastic, and a wicked shit of a person.

Despite all of these reasons, his words echoed in my ears. The way he uttered those words like he was utterly disgusted made me go feral. “Zarion, let’s just go.”

I squeezed Zarion’s hand and tried to drag him away from this hell of a scene, even resorting to grabbing the edge of his jeans. He was still in his protective mode, and I couldn’t explain the wild beating of my heart. I feel like something’s going to happen if we don't go.

“Please, Zarion…” I pleaded, “let’s just go and get out of here,” I whispered.

Zarion scrambled a step backward, eyes staring straight at my soul. “I don’t want him near me,” my eyes narrowed. Glancing sidelong at his step-brother who was eyeing our moves like a hawk. Is that how protective he is towards me?

“Fascinating,” Brandon smirked at both of us. “Now, my step-brother is acting like he’s your mate. What a huge disrespect to me if anyone sees this!” Brandon gritted his teeth as if ready to tear us into pieces.

“Shut up!” I hissed at Brandon. Though I’m not a werewolf, I’ll show him what he gets when he messes with Cassidy Bentley.

He growled and lunged at me. Or at least tried. But Zarion was quicker to block him. Zarion wounded his arms, making him stumble on his toes. He got up immediately and made parallel motions with his claws. He was yet to shift into his wolf form, but his head was already transformed.

“Go now before I change my mind to kill you,” Zarion's voice was thick and rasp. His stepbrother made no mistake. Brandon chuckled without humor and spat blood and it reached Zarion’s feet. “Father sent me to let you know that he’s dying,” he tilted his head, and for a second, I thought he was just bluffing.  “He wants to talk to you as soon as possible.”

Zarion staggered to his feet. Again. He was ready to attack Brandon but the latter was nowhere to be seen. He vanished in thin air. Zarion tried to find him, desperately searching for him. “Where the freak are you, Brandon?!”  He was fast, running back and forth in the middle of the woods to find his brother. “Come out, you jackass!” Even when Zarion cursed, to no avail, he came back at me with fire burning brightly in his eyes. Anger, yet tainted with confusion and—

He misses his father.

He growled and started punching the trees around us as if it was enough to take out the fury raging inside him.

I left him in his ferocious state, as I, too, want to release my boiling anger. We came back to the cabin an hour later, with beads of sweat adorning our face despite the bitter cold. Elliot looked dumbfounded when he saw us in the living room, panting and holding our fists in place.

I watched as Zarion grabbed a suitcase and put his clothes and other belongings on it.

“What are you doing?” Though I already knew the answer, I still hoped he would reply with a different one. I still couldn’t believe we met my mate—Brandon—in the woods, where we were having the moment of our lives. Our most romantic ‘date’ ever occurred, only to be splintered into pieces by that arrogant so-called Alpha.

“Cassidy, where did you two go?” Elliot asked me in a calm voice. Thank Heavens he was calmer than me and Zarion combined. His gaze never left Zarion this time. “And what is he doing?”

“I don’t know, Elliot. We just, uh, we went to a stroll on the woods—”

“Stroll—what? In the middle of the fucking night? In this weather?!” I heard Elliot sigh that seemed to say, “Gods, you two are unbelievable.”

If this was a different time, I could have smiled. Cackled. But this was a different time, and  I yielded an exasperated breath instead. “Yeah…and then we met his brother.”

“Brandon?” he asked, and the way my face reacted gave him the answer he’s searching for. He nodded and bit his lower lip. “Of course, he knows where you are. You are his mate.” Even when he shifted on his heel, I still saw in the corner of my eye how Elliot swallowed, how his masculine throat bobbed as if he already knew how wicked Brandon could be. “Why did he come to see you?”

“It’s a long story, Elliot. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why is he acting like this? Surely, we have all the time in the world to talk about it.” Elliot slumped on a nearby couch. And when I’m finished telling the story—my side of the story, he winced. “Zarion, man… you freaking know you can’t be like this. What did I tell you? Try not to let your emotions eat you. Just stay away from things that stress you out—”

“Stress is following me everywhere.” His eyes scanned my face. Wait, am I the stress?

Zarion didn’t listen to Elliot. Instead, he cut him off. “We need to go, Elliot. Thanks for accommodating us.”

“Wait, what? Where are you doing?”

I answered, instead, because Zariom was busy putting clothes in his luggage. Our luggage. “We’re going to the Madfur Claws Pack—to Zarion’s father.” Of course that’s our destination. Again. Or maybe I’m assuming things again. That’s what I thought where we’re going, aren’t we.

“No.” Zarion cleared his throat, interrupting me and Elliot’s conversation. “No, you’re not going there. I will go there alone.”

“What?!” I grabbed his arms and looked him in the eyes seriously, searching his face for a hint of humor. But there was only solemnity and finalization that twinkled across his features. “Where am I going, then?”

Please don’t say it, Zarion. Please. Please.Please—

“You need to go back to your grandmother, Cassidy.” I did not blink even for a millisecond. “Tell your precious and beloved grandmother that you miserably need to hide.”