Brother

Shane hadn’t been lying about the car swap and the beat-up old Hyundai we were now in was completely different to the lush Mercedes we’d left Scott’s place in. I thought the eye mask, handcuffs and earplugs were a little dramatic, and despite being let go, we were far from being free.

We could go home, or stay in the city; it didn’t matter just as long as on the full moon Danny and I would be with Scott for my first change. If we ran with our family, I didn’t doubt Scott’s ability to find us. It didn’t really matter, I had already accepted that part of this, but the fact he banned me from seeing Michael was a surprise, mostly because that restriction didn’t apply to Danny.

’It’s a trap. The Blakes are missing except for their Dad, so by setting us loose he’s waiting for them to find us.’ Danny told me. ’We’ll be watched at all times.’

I prayed Michael and even his brothers wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for it, and unable to talk about it anymore without going over and over the same facts, I let Danny keep thinking about ways to get out of this. All I could focus on was a smell, well a scent, that I would be a lot happier with being far away from me - Ben.

It was he who took off our blindfolds and as the driver stopped the car, it took me a few seconds to work out where we were. This was the street my Nanna lived on and looking out the front, the driver now had a small black handgun aimed at me as Ben took off the cuffs. Danny and I were able to remove the earplugs and the gun was then handed to Ben, which didn’t comfort me at all.

Glaring at him, I noticed the way he started to sweat and as his eyes darted to Danny, he swallowed the lump in his throat while rubbing his thumb on the side of the handle. He was terrible at hiding his nerves and I dared to look at Danny to find him a mirror of my own intentions to severely hurt the other werewolf. Judging from Ben’s reaction, he didn’t doubt that we could do it.

Is that what Scott saw when he looked at us?

All of that was forgotten as I realised we were slowing down and my stomach sank at the sight of my Mums car out the front of Nanna’s house.

“Out. Now!” The driver yelled.

Danny grabbed my arm and I was being pulled out of the door, as my brother didn’t seem to be as reluctant to get out as I was since my focus was more on Ben than freedom. I’m not sure when I got comfortable being around thugs and guns, but there was no relief as we made it onto the sidewalk and the car sped away, leaving nothing other than burnt rubber behind.

“Come on.” Danny ended up holding my hand as we went down the driveway and I could feel how nervous he was about going inside.

“Joy!” Will called out to my Nanna.

Two shadows moved behind the curtains as we made it to the front door and it was flung open before we hit the porch space. I nearly head-butted Danny as Nanna put an arm around each of our necks and pulled us all in for a group hug.

“Mum?” Dad called, and suddenly there wasn’t enough room in the doorway as everyone tumbled out.

“Oh, my babies!” Nanna was cast aside as Mum took her place before Dad grabbed Danny by the shoulders and nearly crushed him with a hug – then did the same to me. “You’re back!”

The detachment I had been feeling from everything vanished at the sight of my crying Mum, and even Dad was wet-eyed. I don’t think I’d ever been this emotional, and as Mum kept hold of me murmuring promises that everything was okay now, I believed her and let everything I had been ignoring and pushing aside out.

Eventually, we were all in Nanna’s living room with cups of tea being passed around and somehow she even managed to put a plate of biscuits out. Danny and I sat silently with mugs of hot chocolate on a chair that wasn’t exactly made for two, while a million questions were thrown our way.

Luckily we missed the craziness of Nanna explaining everything to my parents; who with the help of Will and his family were now up to date with the world of werewolves. Annabelle was doing better, with my Aunt and Uncle being kept out of the loop about the supernatural activity in our family since they had been told about the pregnancy instead.

Annabelle was happy to keep quiet about it all too, opting to pretend it didn’t happen despite Nanna making an appointment for her with a psychologist - who also happened to be a werewolf.

“So just like that, he let you go?” Will asked, sounding as disbelieving as the look on everyone’s faces.

“There are a few conditions, but yeah. For now.” Danny answered rudely.

I barely looked at my brother, not sure why the sudden hostility towards Will and I couldn’t be bothered to ask either. All I could do was stare at the white lumpy bits that had once been a marshmallow disintegrate further on the surface of my drink.

“But, what about the police? Can’t your werewolf friends get him now? He kidnapped my kids, that’s grounds enough for an arrest.” Mum yelled.

“It’s not that simple, we went over this already. All we’ve been able to do is make things uncomfortable for him, and-“ Noah started to explain.

“No. It hasn’t bothered Scott at all. You’ve pissed off Guy and the Howlers. Scott isn’t close enough to that for it to be an issue.” I found myself answering.

“Yes, but-“ He continued.

“We saw. Guy went to the house and asked Scott to fix it and he was practically thrown out after Scott beat him up.” Danny finished. “Scott is after the Blakes, well the boys anyway. Michael really fucked up his Dad and he may as well as kill him now Scott has him.”

Mum frowned as Danny cursed and I rolled my eyes.

“I don’t know the details exactly, but there is a lot going on between the family and Alpha.” Danny sighed.

“We only got let out in the hopes of them coming to us,” I tell them.

“Why would they? You’d think they’d have left the country by now!” Dad sounded more involved in this than Mum who still only saw it for what it was.

A bad guy took her kids; the justice system should sort it out. The werewolf issue probably hadn’t truly sunk in.

“Dad, Mike is kind of dating Sarah. He could have made a huge mess of them at the clinic, but didn’t because Sar was in danger and he wasn’t going to risk pissing Scott off enough to actually hurt her.” I felt the attention in the room shift to me and ignored it by finally taking a sip of the cold beverage in my hands. “Scott’s hoping Mike will come to find her now.”

“Their kind are very loyal when they find a mate.” Nanna winked at me, and I pretended I didn’t see. “I should know!”

Dad groaned. “I always dreaded the day my little girl would start bringing home boys and-“

“He won’t. He still has his brothers to think of and he isn’t stupid enough to fall for one of Scott’s traps.” I snapped, standing up I needed to escape. ”I need to shower.”

Behind me Dad and Danny kept talking, and the most obvious thing was anytime Will or one of his tried to get involved, Danny shut them up or ignored them. Once the water was on, I stopped listening, completely over the subject.

Once I was dressed, I felt a little bit better. Being somewhere familiar with the secure feeling of home helped too and coming out into the hallway Danny was waiting. For someone who had just been released from a kidnapper, he really didn’t look happy.

“Sar, Michael changed me, so I’m still kind of pack bound. I’m going to find him, and make sure he stays out of this. I know it’s important to you and so it’s even more important to me.”

I shook my head at his wolfy references, not wanting to deal with it for five minutes. I knew that wasn’t possible and thinking of Scott using us to capture the Blakes didn’t sit right with me, but for other reasons. What if Danny got hurt?

“You’re more important to me Danny. Are you sure Scott didn’t say we were banned from talking to him? What if that was a trick too?” I didn’t want to say it, as much as I wanted Michael to be warned. “I think we should both stay away from the Blakes.”

Danny looked at me with wide eyes, not hiding his surprise very well at all. “Sarah, you can’t be serious?”

Was I, really? I could be selfish if I wanted to be. He was my brother, my own flesh and blood and the reality was he came first.

“We have another group of wolves out there, older and more experienced than us. Use them instead.”

“They won’t do what we want. It’s still us and them, we are not their pack.” He argued.

“No? Then why would they risk their lives to save you?”

“Loyalty. Grandad was one of theirs, so they are bound to help Nanna because of him. Not us. Given the situation again, they will turn the other way.” Lowering his voice, Danny came closer. “You know they will, because all they’re really interested in, is challenging Scott. They don’t have the numbers to attack him directly so they’re hiding behind us now.”

Anger rolled off him, the smell of it infecting my own emotions as we squared off against one another. I wanted to know how he got to that conclusion when they had only shown me kindness and helped us. Some of their people were killed at the clinic, yet no one seemed too bothered by that in the bigger picture. Could Danny be right?

“So who do we belong with then if not Grandads pack? A bunch of criminals, or the outcasts wanted dead or alive?”

“They’re not outcasts, they are our pack.” Danny challenged. “You really want them to die? Joe is younger than us, Justin is a follower and Michael - you really wouldn’t care if Scott got hold of him?”

My stomach churned at the thought.

“It’s not just them at risk Sarah. Jake is pack, he will be exterminated like all the rest because the Blakes won’t be around to protect him and neither will we if you want to stay out of it.” He yelled now.

My resolve weakened. This was so much bigger than just us, even if I didn’t want it to be. Scott had asked me if I could live with people’s deaths on my conscious. I couldn’t and it took me a second to get a grip on myself before trying to answer him.

“That’s not what-” I started already sounding defeated. Instead, Danny nearly crushes me in a hug.

“I know Sar, I know.” He told me softly.

For the first time in a long time, I was the one needing help; not Danny, and just like I had done a million times before, he took control. I believed he could fix this, a part of me was looking at him to be the leader, and not having to work this out alone made it seem a little easier. Of course, it wasn’t, but I was starting to believe that could come up with some kind of plan.

We avoided the others opting to sit outside despite the heat, and after a few awkward questions from our parents about what had been going on these last few months since they wanted to hear it from us – not Nanna, Danny had an idea.

Will had wolves at either end of the street. I could smell them, that musky animal odour was thick on the breeze despite not being able to see them, and despite everyone leaving the house except for, Nanna and our parents, I felt more than their eyes on us. Looking out the window, the night helped them to hide well.

‘Go to bed, we’ll wait for them to be asleep and if we go over the back fence, we should be able to sneak out that way!’ Danny told me, not even looking in my direction as he got up and stretched, before talking to me instead. “Goodnight Sarah.”

“Night Dan.” I let go in and a few minutes later, went and said goodnight to Mum.

It felt like hours until the house was silent and Dad’s snoring reached us from the living room. Danny had already made sure to leave the back door unlocked, so it opened silently and sure enough, once we got over the back fence, snuck through the neighbour’s yard and made it out onto the street, we started to run.

Since it was eleven at night, traffic was low. We didn’t want to risk being seen by our enemies and so kept to the shadows and tried to avoid being too visible to people in passing cars though I doubt they were paying much attention to two kids walking on the sidewalk.

I didn’t know where we were going exactly, but when we made it to a train station and got to the CBD stop gave a little bit of it away. From there, Danny waved down a taxi and we were taken up to Kings Park. Thanks to the time, few people were around and the car parks were empty. The grass was void of tourists and locals having picnics, leaving the area feeling empty compared to all the other times I’d visited the gardens.

A photographer was set up by the war memorial that from its positioning on top of the hill, overlooked the city and river. I wasn’t sure if he was taking photos of the city or of the moon that hung lazily over the hills in the distance and avoiding him, I followed Danny down one of the walking trails.

The tangy scent of the eucalyptus trees and the assortment of flowers from the gardens around us was overwhelming. I never noticed the smells around me before and as I rubbed my nose for the fifth time, Danny laughed.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“What?” I asked, before sneezing.

“Your sense of smell, wait until you change into the wolf.” He grinned.

“Oh god, what is your room going to smell like now then?”

Danny stopped laughing and rolled his eyes. “Wait here a sec.”

I did as he said and a few minutes later, just as I was starting to get paranoid that something had happened to him, a new smell came to me. It was like that wet dog stench near Nanna’s that the wolves had, only less musky and more - Danny.

Leaving the path, the bushes and trees blocked some of the light from the posts behind us, yet not once did I struggle to see. The yap-like growl guided me further and just as the hill began to slope, Danny appeared as his wolf. Surprisingly, his clothes had been folded into a neat little pile and not needing instructions, I took off the bag I had been carrying and shoved his things inside it.

‘Come on.’ He told me, nudging my hip before walking back to the path.

Pausing briefly, his ears were up and alert and with his nose to the breeze he happily walked on. I still wasn’t sure what his plan was, and I soon got my answer as we reached the area near another walking path that was suspended around the edge of the cliff. Traffic flowed casually beneath us, unaware of the werewolf that stared down at the cars.

‘You might want to block your ears.’ Danny warned.

I didn’t have time to ask why because he took a couple of steps closer to the edge and threw his muzzle up to the sky and howled. My bones vibrated with the sound, as my muscles seemed to cramp and the need to join him became almost unbearable. It was such a beautiful, haunting song and yet I only felt like I was suffocating. When my mouth opened I almost expected to find myself howling too, but no sound came.

Danny stopped and looked up at me. ‘You okay?’

I nodded and sat down beside him. He nudged my arm and I ended up putting it over his back as he sat beside me.

He did it again and I could feel the rumble of it within his chest as the howl echoed out into the city before us. Dogs barked, and in the apartment block to our lower left, a couple of lights turned on. I didn’t ask Danny what he was saying, because I felt it. The warning was obvious, and while he didn’t use his words, he didn’t have to. The sound sunk into my bones, making me shiver and fill with dread.

It was after the third time that we both froze as a howl answered us. Then another, but they weren’t from those we wanted to hear from. The curiosity was obvious, the sounds short and lacking the feeling Danny’s had. They both sounded far away too and Danny’s ears flicked back and forth as he listened. This wasn’t working out how he had hoped.

Danny tensed, about to try one last time when another finally answered. I was on my feet in seconds, recognising the howl as if it was simply Michael talking to us. I looked to my right and across the water to where I was positive the sound had come from, half expecting him to be just standing there. He wasn’t obviously, and disappointment was more than I’d ever admit.

“Danny!” I looked down at him as I instinctively grabbed a handful of his fur and saw he was concentrating in Michael’s direction. All I got in response, was a joined chorus of others came faintly from behind us and if Michael did call out again, it was lost as the night came alive.

‘He heard and understands. Don’t worry.’ He assured me and after a few minutes, the odd calls from all over the city area went quiet. ′They’re safe.′

Danny didn’t howl again and neither did Michael, but Danny’s idea let us warn him, without going near where ever they were hiding out so even if we were being followed, by Scott’s people or Will’s, no one could use us. It was kind of genius, and rubbing behind Danny’s ear he pushed his head into my leg - clearly enjoying it.

‘We should get back, they probably know we’re gone now.’

I took off the backpack and looped a handle over his neck, letting him run off into the bushes to change and dress. It was gone midnight by the time we got back to Nanna’s and went in the same way we went out. The house was exactly how we left it, and I ended up with Danny in the living room feeling completely exhausted. We were asleep in seconds and that was exactly where Will found us when he turned up twenty minutes later.

“What are you doing here?” Nanna opened the door as she tied a robe over her pyjamas. “Oh no, is something happening?”

I stood behind Danny, and the pair of us were glaring at the old man as our parents came out too. They looked like they had aged about twenty years these last few days and guilt ate at my insides. Would it be different if I had told them earlier? Mum had been disappointed about that, and I wondered if any of us could go back to how we used to be after this.

“Something happened! You two, explain!” Will growled, pushing past Nanna to come inside.

“Just a minute!” She yelled as Dad looked ready to hit him.

“Shut up, this doesn’t involve you.” He snapped back. “Talk. Now.”

His order sent goosebumps over my skin, but instead of doing as he said, I moved forward to meet him. Finding Will’s gaze, that feeling of empowerment that was becoming all too familiar made my skin feel too tight. Worse than that, my fingernails ached as if the bones in my fingers were pushing up and out. Danny was right, my sense of smell was getting better and the flicker of doubt in his eyes only helped me lock onto that alluring stench of fear.

“Get. Out.” I threatened, ignoring my parents and Nanna as I felt Danny come up behind me.

“How dare-”

“You heard her. We no longer require any assistance from you and yours.” Danny backed me up, only there was no missing the growl in his chest.

“What do you mean? You two are just pups, one of you isn’t even changed yet!” Will snapped, not hiding his disbelief. “Scott will kill you both.”

“If you don’t do it first. I heard your pack talking when they rescued me and Annabelle. Sarah told me that day you guys were going to help us, but the more time I spend around you all, the more I don’t trust you.” He answered and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nanna cover her mouth with her hands.

“You’re not serious!”

“Leave,” I confirmed.

Will pointed his finger at me instead. “You are a danger to yourself. Do you dare challenge me? You’re still just a human and-”

“He’s not.” I nodded at Danny and I think that actually worried him.

“Do not make me your enemy.” He warned.

“What’s one more?” Danny answered and as Will stepped back hesitantly, Danny followed him. “You need us, more than we need you.”

No one moved or spoke as he stormed out, and Danny relaxed after a few minutes. Testing the breeze that came through the front door, he had called off our guard dogs.

“You really need to tell us what is going on.” Dad ordered and this was a command we listened to.

“In the car, on the way to the clinic, they wanted to know why Scott would take us. They thought it had more to do with Blake’s, but a few even suggested keeping the pair of us, to see how much Scott would pay to get us back. I only heard bits of it and then when Sarah told me the rest of what has been going on, I thought I’d heard wrong, but being around Will today, I don’t trust them.”

Today had been full of surprises and I wondered if everyone had gotten it wrong in regards to who was the more dominant one out of the pair of us. He had totally taken control and was doing a good job of it too while I felt like I was one more surprise away from needing more therapy than Annabelle. I was eagerly following his lead, and not a part of me was bothered by that.

“We’ll go home in the morning. Put some distance between us and everyone else until we can work out what to do next.” Mum answered weakly, her voice was filled with pain and it cut me deep.

“Good idea.” I agreed, and Danny nodded.

“No, we go now.” Dad decided.

“It’s gone midnight, a few more hours won’t hurt anyone?” Nanna argued, yet even she was oddly submissive as Dad shook his head.

“He was pissed off, who knows what might happen if he comes back. If they were contemplating selling off my kids, we’re not sticking around to let them try again.” He snapped, going into the guestroom. “We leave now.”

Nanna’s house was locked up and she was dropped off at my Uncle’s, while the four of us went home. Mum didn’t take long to fall asleep, and Dad and Danny swapped seats halfway to share the drive. After that, I gave in to my own exhaustion and as Danny woke me up, I looked at our house with relief. We were home, back in our territory - only I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.