Brother

Running. Always running. I spent more time tripping over than I did moving, but eventually I was at the top of the cliff. Scott was behind me, I could hear his claws scraping against the wooden stairs as he got closer. He wasn’t supposed to come up here; this wasn’t somewhere he was allowed to be.

“Bright Eyes!” Michael called and turning around, the wolf called to me again. “Come on!”

I followed him blindly, because I trusted him. He promised to take care of everything and so the fact I was now running on nothing other than air as the ocean swirled and splashed below me didn’t matter; until I started to fall.

“Come on Sarah, wake up!” Danny whined impatiently.

Opening my eyes, I awoke with a jump as instead of hitting the water, where I would drown to only then start running, again - I was on a bed. It wasn’t mine, and breathing in, none of the smells around here offered any kind of familiarity. Except for Danny.

“She’s awake!” He called out, crushing me in a hug as I felt completely bewildered as to what was going on.

The rush of footsteps on the wooden floor allowed me to track the movement in the house. Closing my eyes, a rush of memories from last night came back to me; running from Scott, the pack, being hunted. I growled.

“Sarah, you’re safe now.” Danny told me. I trusted him, but as the door opened and the werewolves came in, nothing he said would have mattered.

With strength I didn’t know I had, I pushed Danny away from the bed, and swiftly stood semi-crouched in front of him. Growling again, this time I didn’t hold back. Karen instantly dropped her gaze, holding her hands up innocently and stepped back, while the other two with her did the same thing.

“Stop!” Danny growled, just as Mum and Dad took the others place in the doorway.

Mum and Dad.

I didn’t relax, not even as Danny grabbed my shoulders and forced me to sit back on the bed. I could smell the ocean, if I listened hard enough, I could hear the waves too. The kettle was boiling and someone was humming nearby and as the smells from the people gathered outside my room stopped moving, their scents all came to me.

“Danny?” Mum asked softly.

“Just give us a sec, I didn’t mean for everyone to come running in!” He scolded them.

Fear tainted the air, only stirring the hunger that decided to flare up. Finally dropping my gaze from them, I saw the cut on Danny’s leg that disappeared under his shorts and then the bruises and marks on his arms as he took my hands. Looking at myself, I wasn’t much better.

“I mean it Sarah, you’re safe now. Try and stay calm. I know what you’re going through, okay? I know how scary it is and how overwhelming all this new stuff you’re dealing with is. I’m going to help you, Jake’s here, he can help you too. We’re okay. We don’t have to worry about Scott anymore.”

“Michael?” I coughed as my throat felt like I’d been eating sand.

Danny shook his head. “We’re done with the Blakes now Sar. It’s better this way.”

Eventually he guided me out of the room, explaining how I’d been out for a couple of days and that we were now in Broome. I had woken up twice, yet had no recollection of swapping cars or being force fed food and water. Danny said it had been the wolf in me taking over, but I hadn’t had the energy to shift back, which made it easier to move me around. We arrived at the rented beach house this morning and Dad had told Jake’s Dad about what was going on. They’d made a few minor changes to their own holiday plans and had arrived last night.

That made me feel a little better. My pack was here. My parents were safe.

Rachelle stopped in the hallway, startled like a rabbit and just thinking of the hunt made my mouth water. Fear would make her weak, and the weak were so much easier to-

“Sarah? You okay?” She asked hesitantly.

“Don’t be scared Rach. It’s not helping.” Danny told her, his grip tightening around my arm.

It’s not like I’d hurt her, but there was a smell coming from behind her I couldn’t ignore and I’d do anything to get to it right now.

We kept walking, and Danny guided me slowly through the rental until we hit the kitchen. Instantly the other werewolves scattered and Mum took Rachelle’s hand, leading her outside with the others. Jake took the slab of meat from my Dad, sitting on the table and froze as he saw us.

Pain tore up through my abdomen as Danny was pushed away.

“Get out Dad!” Danny warned, quickly moving to shield our Dad as he went to leave out the back door.

I could see, the pain only intensifying and I fell to the floor. The loose dress I had was too restricting, and I started to panic; falling into the corridor.

“Leave her, she needs to do this.” Danny told someone, I think it was Jake.

I barely managed to lose my clothes as my arms and legs changed to the same kind of limbs. My blood was on fire, and my skin felt like a million little ants were biting their way into my body. I wanted to call out to Danny for help, but couldn’t and I faintly heard the cry of agony from around the corner. He said he was going to help me, so why wasn’t he?

Everything stopped then, and looking down Sarah was gone. I was a wolf now and wasn’t no time in getting into the kitchen. Jake stood too close to what was mine, and baring my teeth at him, he quickly retreated.. Reaching up, I used a paw to drag the hunk of meat closer and a growling groan escaped me as I tore into it. Nothing had ever tasted this good before, ever.

It fell to the floor, leaving a blood tainted puddle on the plastic tiles and I had no issue with licking that up too. I ate whatever they gave me, unable to feel ashamed at the way I was acting, but neither of them seemed to care. When I was finally done, all I wanted to do was sleep and I retreated to the bed I had woken up in to do just that.

Jake followed, and I had no issues with the wolf spreading out along the side of the bed. It took me a minute before I ended up getting down to lay beside him and when Danny walked in, he sat down in front of me. I rested my on his stomach as he leaned against me and he started talking about what we were going to do once I was ready to move again.

From here, we were going to fly to Darwin and then on to Singapore where we’d end up catching another flight to London. Nanna was around, and apparently sponsoring our trip. Mum, Dad, Rachelle would be coming with us and Baz was already making a few arrangements with his shop so they could come with Jake too. Everyone thought it was a good idea for us to stick together.

“From what Noah found out when he detoured into the city, we’re off the hook. We just need to keep a low profile so Scott doesn’t get any kind of reminder we exist, so going away is a good idea.” Danny finished.

Guilt ate at my insides. Everyone’s lives have changed because of me, because of us. Would we ever be able to go home? How could we ever stop being afraid that Scott was going to change his mind and decide to kill us after all?

It took another week before I started to feel normal again, right around the same time university offers went out. Lots of people deferred their studies to take a gap year. Backpacking around Europe was most eighteen year olds plans, but it had never been mine. The thought of having to study and go to classes again made me feel nervous, so I just ignored it.

Noah’s family were more than accommodating too; the older werewolves helping me, and even Danny and Jake with all our questions and issues. They never mentioned us joining them and the way they acted around me and Danny told me they wouldn’t either. Their fear was obvious and whether it was because they sensed that Danny and I were a team they wouldn’t want to mess with or because of our past with Scott, I wasn’t sure.

Danny was my right hand man, a second in command as Karen explained to me one night. I was in charge, like I always had been and most likely always would be too. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, especially since all our problems stemmed from my ability to be a pack leader. It didn’t stop me from pushing myself in Don’s training or listening to Noah preach on about history, but nothing about it felt right.

Something was missing and while I was still competitive and threw my weight around when I had to, I lacked feeling any satisfaction from it. I almost didn’t care. Had we been around other werewolves, or if Danny wasn’t so loyal, Karen warned that attitude would see me having to fight to keep the responsibilty. Despite not really wanting it, I didn’t tell her I wouldn’t fight if someone wanted to take over. I blamed the wolf in me for that.

Since I was still adjusting to being able to change and the fact my wolf instincts were not just minor personality adjustments but completely new abilities and thoughts, Danny stepped up and looked after me and Jake as he needed to do, because I couldn’t right now. Then again, we all looked after each other; our parents and Rachelle included.

Our pack had been established.

It was the day after Noah and his family left that Nanna found me sitting on the back porch. I was only staring out at the horizon, despite the fact the sun had gone down hours ago. I had shifted with minimal pain today, and yet it still left me feeling tired afterwards.

“How are you?” She asked, sitting down beside me with a glass of wine in her hand.

“Better than I was yesterday.” I faked a smile for her sake.

“Good to hear, but how are you really?” Looking at her, she raised her eyebrows waiting. “You’re a good kid, stronger than I could ever be and I’ve been watching you try your hardest this last week. Your Grandad would be proud of you kiddo, but I’m asking how Sarah is. Danny told me what happened with you and Mike.”

I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t even if I wanted to because I didn’t know what to say. My vision got blurry, and I closed my eyes hoping that it would pass.

“Sarah?” Nanna asked, so softly it came as barely a whisper and blinking a couple of times, I managed to look at her. “Oh, sweetheart!”

She leaned over and wiped away tears I hadn’t even felt as the aching loneliness I had been ignoring made my chest feel like it had been trapped in a corset. Breathing was nearly impossible and I pulled away from touch, happy in my misery. The only reason why I had even been doing half of what I with the other werewolves, and their training and working on my fitness in wolf form was to avoid these thoughts and escape from this feeling.

“i’m a big believer in fate and if something is meant to be, it will be! Your Grandad and I-” She started.

I didn’t want to hear it.

“We’re not you and Grandad!” I yelled, standing up to glare at her. “It wasn’t even love. It was some stupid teenage infatuation and he was only playing us this whole time to find out if Danny and I were what Scott was looking for!”

“Well if-”

“No. You don’t know everything so stop acting like you do!” I growled and instantly feeling bad, I turned and started to run because I didn’t want to see that disappointed look on her face.

The town was empty thanks to it being so late at night. Even the pub was dark and deserted and heading back to the water, I followed the path up until the red earth gave way to the ocean. I climbed over the rocks and up a small way with a nimble ease I hadn’t had before the changing. Finding a place to sit, I looked at the crescent of the moon and waited for it to say something. It been so talkative and alluring the night I was changed and now? Now it didn’t give a shit about me.

Staring down at the water, I was barely able to make out the rocks hidden beneath the surface. Waves broke over the larger boulders and I wondered how much it would hurt to fall down onto them. Would be like in my dreams, with the water gently caressing me as the darkness far below sucked me in?

I stood up, swaying slightly as I found my balance and went closer to the edge. Behind me, a rock fell and looking back, Danny’s head emerged over a rock as he climbed towards me.

“What are you doing?” He didn’t hide his surprise or how annoyed he was. “Get your ass back here!”

“Fuck off Danny.” I hissed at him.

“S’if I’m gonna do that! You’re not actually thinking of jumping right now are you?”

Was I? After all we had gone through, I couldn’t do that to my family and Danny. I felt lost, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and find my focus again. He managed to climb over to where I had just been sitting and when he grabbed my arm, I let him pull me back. We ended sitting side by side in silence and I could feel how desperate he was to say something.

“I hate you.” I finally told him.

“I don’t blame you. I really am sorry though, you know that right?”

“Yeah I know.” I paused for a few minutes and finding a few small pebbles, I threw them over the edge. “I don’t really hate you.”

“I know. Did you ah, wanna talk about it? I heard what happened with Nanna or I can get Mum or Rach to come talk instead?” He offered.

“No. There isn’t anything to say.”

“Sar, come on! I-”

“No Danny. Just drop it!” I stood up again and so did he.

“Fine. You owe Nanna an apology. Come on, we should get back.” He huffed.

Reluctantly I followed and as we got to the street our house was on, the TV from the shack on the corner was on and bright in their living room. I barely glanced that way, until I heard the news reporter.

“Breaking News! Notorious gang leader and President of the Howler Motorcycle Club, Guy Davies has been found dead in a North Perth hotel suite. Police say it looks like a suicide, but are not yet ruling out foul play considering Mr. Davies high profile. More details to follow in the eleven o’clock news.”

“Did, Dan, did you hear that?” I look between him and the TV screen.

“Let’s get home.” He frowned, and we started off at a run.

After a quick search on Dad’s laptop, news is starting to filter through. Gang wars, police pressure and all sorts of conspiracies are used in the headlines, while the details on how he died are a varied with most reporting suicide. Eventually Danny does to bed, urging me to do the same, but I can’t. Scott’s half brother is dead. Mr. Blake is dead. They had both been Presidents of the club and now with Michael rejoining the ranks, was it coincidence?

Finding Danny’s phone, I call Justin and he answered sounding like I just woke him up.

“It’s Sarah, Danny’s sister.”

“How are you?” He quickly wakes up.

“Good. Getting better.” I tell him, glancing at some of the scars that haven’t yet faded on my arm. “You?”

“About the same. We’re with Hugo and Leah now, Mike set it up for us.” He yawned.

“How is, how is he?” I bite my lip, anxious to hear the answer.

“Um, okay I think. We haven’t seen him since we left home to come back to the city. Told us to stick with these guys and that he was going to head back with Scott. I heard Hugo on the phone to him earlier though, so at least he’s still alive.” Justin sighed, the way his breath wavered told me how cutup he was about it all. “We, Joe and I, appreciate you defending Dad. After everything.”

I couldn’t answer him as I tried not to cry.

“I better go, but I hope you and Danny have a nice life. Stay safe.”

“You too.” I wasn’t sure if he heard me as the beep of the call cutting out happened straight after.

Stupidly I rang Michael next and only got his voicemail. Just hearing his voice hurt me more than changing did and in a burst of rage, I threw the phone into the wall and watched it crack and fall. That was going to annoy Danny in the morning and while I just stared at it, Nanna soon appeared outside beside me.

“I’m sorry for being such a bitch before.” I apologised calmly.

The second she pulled me into a hug, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore and now that I had started to cry, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to stop. Eventually I did, thanks to wearing myself out enough to sleep and four days after Guy was found dead, we boarded our flight to Darwin, starting the twenty hour trip to London.

-x-

It took two weeks for the police to declare Guy’s death little more than a ‘tragic’ suicide. During that time, it became my obsession to keep on top of any news relating to the Howlers, Scott and more importantly Michael. A month after that, the news articles were dated and useless giving me nothing.

Mum found work at a hotel nearby to where we were staying and Dad picked up a few casual hours as a dishwasher. Danny and Jake were soon hired as waiters and we took over the small establishment. From there, the guys made friends with their co-workers. Luckily old habits of getting into trouble and finding the wrong crowd were left at home, kind of.

Danny soon found a couple of werewolves and their pack consisted of six; parents, with two kids and their partners. They welcomed us in like old friends and in the lead up to the next full moon; Rachelle was changed too. I only ran with them when I had to, mostly keep an eye on my three and subtly making sure no boundaries were crossed with what pack they belonged to. The old man was a weak pack leader, and they were all respectful of us. Of me.

My parents took us all on tours of Europe, trying to make the most of a bad situation and Nanna went home after the third month. Baz kept an eye on our house and Noah kept us informed on the werewolf situation. He had little to report. Scott had all but disappeared, and Michael was never seen. Keegan had take the place of Guy, what news Noah could offer us was about him and the illegal activities they were being investigated on.

Six months later, Mum and Dad had to go home. All Mum seemed to talk about was her old boss sending her emails, begging her to come back. Dad missed the Australian weather. I wasn’t ready for that, and so with promises of staying out of trouble, the four of us were left alone. That said, the emails were up to three times a day and the calls nearly as bad as that. Eventually they eased up and Rachelle started going to go college, while Danny and Jake were happy with their hospitality jobs.

Danny had changed. He wasn’t the sulking teenager anymore and in his place of bad moods and acting out, was a young man who worked hard, and now took on responsibility instead of shying away from it. If there was one good thing that had come from all of this, it was that. Rachelle was the same. She wasn’t so impulsive and immature anymore, and Jake, well, I doubted there would be a day when he wasn’t Danny’s shadow.

As for me, I had changed a lot from the girl I used to be too. No one walked all over me anymore, my own confidence only bloomed and I found peace with who and what I was. Thinking back to the talk Karen and I had about having to fight for my title; now I’d kill to keep it. I took a job with Margaret, the wife of one of the London werewolves, working in her clothing store. She was a clothing designer, and after being given the task of setting up her front window display, I impressed her enough for her to start trying to push me down that career path.

I had planned on returning home and doing Law like Dad always wanted me to; a way to try and make up for screwing everything else up for them. I soon discovered that telling people what to do when helping her organise a launch party for her new line was actually kind of great and so, with her as my mentor, I started to go to college too. I loved it and life was good; for all of us and the past seemed like a lifetime ago.

We stayed for three years until Danny suggested we go home. My pack was ready to move on and so was I. There was no reason to hide anymore, and like Dad years ago now, I missed the Australian weather, the beaches, and our parents.

“Come on Sarah, it’s our last weekend here! You haven’t hooked up with anyone this whole time!” Rachelle reverted back to her annoying seventeen year old self when ever more than two glasses of wine got into her. “Any guy here would be happy to take for your a roll in they hay!”

“One. I’ve been too busy with work to even try dating. Two. We’re leaving on Monday, I don’t want just a roll in the hay!” I argued.

She poked her tongue out. “Fine. When did the guys say they’ll be here?”

“Soon!” Now it was my turn to tease her. “So, you and Jake going to last the plane trip home?”

That she didn’t like.

“Oh look, was that a sense of humour I caught the scent of?”

For the last year, the pair of them had been on and off. It was hard to keep up and it was almost funny to think he had once had any kind of those feelings for me. It was just after my parents left he had tried to make a move after a pack run and the wolf had made it clear that wasn’t going to happen, and so did the human the next day when he tried it again.

Luckily he got the hint after that and that awkwardness disappeared to bring on this. Pack-mates, like coworkers and any kind of relationship where people have to deal with each other all the time, should not be allowed to date. Breakups get nasty when you turn into a wolf at will, especially when one of them brings a new boyfriend, who also happens to be a werewolf to a pack run. Twice I had to break it up and if she boards the plane with her new ‘soul mate’ or not talking to him again, I am waiting for the next flight.

“Doubt it. Sarah doesn’t have one of those!” Danny answers for me, hugging me before doing the same to Rachelle. “We gonna part-ay tonight?”

As soon as Jake makes his appearance, Rachelle becomes attached to him and Danny frowns. “So, ah, just us tonight then?”

Drinks in hand, we move to the dance floor and the happy couple quickly join us. We dance until midnight and it’s not long before I find myself alone at the bar. Danny is practically dry humping some redhead by the DJ. Rachelle and Jake soon find me and I urge them to go dance.

“I had a long day finishing up with Margaret today, but you guys stay. Have fun! I’ll see you in the morning.” I escape the music that’s too loud and decide to walk home instead of catching of taxi.

Shuffling around in my purse, I check the time and put my phone away; making the most of these old streets before I have to leave it all behind.

“Excuse me? Miss?” A deep voice calls out.

I turn to find a man running towards me and managed to choke back a growl; especially as I catch his scent and he is one of my kind. “Yes?”

“You just dropped this.” He holds out his hand and in his hand is my small pocket diary. “I don’t think it got wet!”

His blonde hair is almost gold in colour under the street light, and the his eyes reflect the same shade as he meets my gaze. His taller than I am, even in my heels and broader than Michael. I cringe inside at the comparison; it had been weeks since I had thought about him and as he grins a toothy grin, I find myself returning it.

“Thank you. How, clumsy of me.” I feel my cheeks heat as I lower my gaze, only too look up at him seconds later and dare to flutter my eyelashes a little.

Maybe Rachelle was right about getting some action.

“It happens to the best of us.” He gaze softens slightly, and his shoulders relax. He knows I like what i see. The masculine scent that radiates off him is almost overwhelming and on instinct, I lick my lips. “You know, it’s not safe for a lady to be walking around alone at night. May I escort you home?”

“And walking with a big bad wolf would be my safer option?”

He laughs; a deep happy sound and I can’t help but giggle a little with him. He extends his arm and link mine in with his, but as soon as we start walking I’m not enjoying it.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.” I quickly let him go.

“We don’t have to do anything. I haven’t met she-wolf that has taken my interest in a long time! We can just grab coffee and swap numbers if you like? I didn’t mean to imply-” He coughed awkwardly, and had to smile at how much of a gentleman he was.

“It’s nothing like that. It’s me, and I leave tomorrow. My holiday is over and it wouldn’t be fair on you. I’m sure you’ll find another she-wolf, um, I don’t even know your name?”

“Roger. And yours?”

“Sarah.” He takes out his wallet and hands me a business card.

“Nice meeting you Sarah. If you ever come back to town, don’t be a stranger.”

“Um, we can always do coffee?” I offer, feeling bad for kind of flirting with him.

Turns out Roger is a gentleman through and through. He was a financial advisor at a local bank, enjoyed fishing on the river near his parents house and got changed when he was seventeen by his girlfriend. She had the idea of them taking out her Uncle - their Alpha, but he was much to gentle for that and so she turned the pack against him. He ended up finding out his cousin was like him soon after so was accepted into his pack and has been rather content with it all ever since.

“What about you? How did you get cursed?” Such an innocent question and I gulped down my coffee.

“My brother. We moved here soon after and now we’re going home.”

Roger went quiet for a few minutes. “From the look on your face, it wasn’t that simple. You run alone or with a pack?”

“I have my pack.” I answer a little coldly, making it clear they were out of bounds too.

“That explains it!” Roger smirks, but it lacks that cocky arrogance Michael used to have. “I understand. Say no more.”

We parted ways with a handshake and I went a step further and kissed his cheek. Instead of walking home, I hailed down a taxi and in case anyone else got home in the time I spent having coffee, I used the drive to shake off the trip down memory lane going home was already bringing up and what Rachelle painfully reminded me off every time she had a go about me not even trying to date.

Despite his goodbye, despite everything that had happened; he had asked me to wait for him.

So I was.

“Sir, do you have a second?” Shane knocked on the door before entering the cellar. The stench of blood filled his senses as the rush of air hit him, exciting the wolf inside.

“What?” He groaned, flexing his fist as the man tied to the chair slumped forward unconscious.

“We just received flight confirmation.”

The trio turned to look at Shane and the leader spoke with little interested. “Okay. Think he’s had enough for today.”

Their captive was left alone and with a nod two of them walked out. Coming up at the back of the group, Shane stopped Michael on his way out.

“The flight confirmation? The Attwell' s are back in Australia. They arrived earlier in the week.”

How could he forget about that? It all made sense to him now and just like that, hope returned. He’d practically given up, and just when things had settled down, Michael knew his world was about change all over again.