Fated for Two

“No, I’m not, not really,” Everard disagreed quietly, so not to incite Brenton’s wrath once more. “I already feel my wolf moving back to his position of a beta, giving your wolf his respect as his alpha.”

Brenton frowned, saying, “Why? The Steward Pack belongs to you Everard, that hasn’t changed.”

“Brenton, from the day I was old enough to realize the difference between us, you have always been my alpha,” Everard whispered. “Even when we were small, you were always the leader, what you said went most of the time. Sure, sometimes I dared to disagree with you, but you always managed to talk me around to your way of things eventually. Why do you think I have been so lost these past four years and running my pack into the ground? It’s because every time I come up having to make a major decision, my wolf automatically wanted me to ask you because you are alpha.”

Brenton let out a heavy sigh, feeling regret. He felt regret for not talking to his friend, for not listening when he had come to him, broken and begging him to let him explain what had happened. He felt the regret of almost lashing out once more in anger only moments ago.

Walking over to Everard, he pulled him into a hug and held him tight. He whispered, so low that if he hadn’t been right in Everard’s ear he wouldn’t have heard, “I am so sorry my wolf brother. Please forgive me for the wrongs I’ve done you.”

“I have already forgiven you because you are family,” Everard said just as softly. “I think though it is time you forgive yourself, brother wolf, and move away from your anger. You need to be calm if we are to figure out what is going on here and come out of it with all of our lives.”

Brenton nodded as he said, “You’re right.” He stepped back and said, “I think we need to carefully find out if Owen has anything to do with anything. He may have just worried about his position and saw a way to get rid of the competition. He quite often heard my rants about Everard and may have just thought to keep him from working his way back into my life.”

“But he knows you are both my mate, right?” Farrah asked.

Brenton huffed and said, “Not exactly. He knows I found my mate and that you were on Everard’s land. He also knew I was leaving for the night, just not where I was going. This morning we told each of our betas to gather up the pack because we had some things to talk about, but we didn’t say what.”

“So, he’s in the dark, mostly,” Farrah murmured.

“Yes,” Brenton agreed as he proceeded to push his desk upright. “I thought it would be best to tell everyone at once, but I’m sure a lot of the pack is confused as to why I’m suddenly okay with being in the same space as Everard. They really will find it weird if they see him here today.”

“As I’m sure a lot of my pack is confused as well,” Everard said, picking up one of the filing cabinets and shoving it back against the wall. “Although, I never talked badly about Brenton, just told them we’d had a falling out. They probably figured out the rest on their own.”

“The same can’t be said for me, in my anger I said plenty,” Brenton mumbled as he began putting drawers back in his desk as Everard picked up another filing cabinet.

Farrah grabbed some of the files, laying them on the desk before picking up a chair. The other chair was broken, so she pushed it off to the corner and continued picking up papers. “Some of both packs were there when my car died, so they know something happened out there.”

“True,” Benton agreed. He picked up a broken mug and huffed before sitting the garbage can upright and tossing the mug into it. “Everard, did anyone ask you anything this morning while we were at your packhouse?”

“No, but I did see quite a few of them staring at you,” Everard told him. “I think it was more because you weren’t screaming at them in anger more than anything else. Your anger issues are well known.”

Brenton chuckled as he put his desk chair upright and sat down. He then began going through the papers Farrah had placed on his desk. As he quickly shuffled through them, he began to place them in piles. Farrah handed him folders and he started placing some of the papers in those before handing them to Everard who found the correct drawer to put them up.

“I think this mess is just anger, I don’t think it has anything to do with our other problem,” Farrah told them, placing more papers on the desk. “If that paper was here, I believe they would have found it already. Brenton, did your dad ever have a lockbox he kept in his room, maybe a wall safe, or even a security box at the bank?”

Brenton hummed thoughtfully as he continued sorting papers. “I honestly don’t know if he had a security box at the bank. Now that I think about it though, he did have a…” his head came up suddenly and he stopped in mid-motion. He then shook his head and said, “No, I’m wrong, I was thinking of Grandad, sorry. Dad never had any of those things.”

Farrah frowned at him, puzzled by his actions. Everard also stopped what he was doing and frowned.

When Everard opened his mouth as if to speak, Brenton shook his head vigorously and glared. Clearing his throat, Brenton stood up and asked, “Farrah, would you mind packing for me while Everard and I try and sort through some of this mess?”

Farrah blinked at the change in Brenton but wanting to get things done so they could go home, she said, “I can do that. Just tell me where to go and I’ll get it done for you.”

Brenton walked around the desk and wrapped her in his arms as he said, “Thank you, baby. My room is on the second floor, double doors at the end. It should be unlocked.”

Farrah nodded and after giving both men a kiss, she left the room. Moving down the hall and then up the stairs, she was soon standing in the middle of Brenton’s room staring at the complete mess that had been made there.

“Wow!” Farrah exclaimed as she turned in circles. “Someone was very angry today.”

When Farrah finally came to a standstill in the middle of the bedroom, she huffed, hands on her hips, and wondered where to even start.

Should I start picking things up, or should I just start packing up his clothes?

Looking around for inspiration on a place to start, she noticed a row of suitcases to the left of the door. There were also three suitcases thrown on the floor with clothes spilling from them. Those must be the three suitcases Elizabeth had been working on when she’d realized they wouldn’t be enough.

I’ll start packing since that’s what he asked me to do. Yeah, I’ll start with that.

So, moving toward the bed, she shoved the mattress back on top of the box spring. The mattress had been shredded, but it was still good enough to use as a table for the suitcases. She then placed the three opened suitcases side by side on top of the mattress. Next, she began refolding and placing the garments that had been lying next to them on the floor back inside.

“Most of this will have to be rewashed after being tossed all around,” she grumbled under her breath. “What was the purpose of this anyway?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” a female voice answered from behind Farrah.

Farrah turned her head to find a kindly looking older woman standing in the doorway. She had her hands on her hips as she glared at the mess.

“Alpha asked me to pack for him since I do all of his laundry. The first time I came up, I filled those same three suitcases before realizing just how many clothes Alpha has,” the woman said. “When I came back with three more suitcases, I sat them down, then looked up and found…” she waved her hand around, “this.”

“You must be Elizabeth,” Farrah stated. “I’m Farrah.”

Elizabeth moved further into the room, grabbing a suitcase as she came. She placed it on the bed and opened it up as she said, “It’s very nice to meet you, Farrah. I agree a lot of this will have to be rewashed because the Alpha is very picky about his clothes. I think that is why he picked one person to handle his clothing, always. There are five of us who work laundry, but I do all the Alpha’s laundry. I wash, dry, fold and put up, me and no one else.”

“I did hear he could be a bit OCD about things,” Farrah hummed as she made her way to the closet. Finding it empty of clothes already, she looked down and found shoes. Finding a duffle bag, she began to throwing shoes into it as she mentioned, “Beta Owen said the room smelled of Lysol.”

“It did and was so strong it burned our noses,” Elizabeth agreed. “Owen called the alpha right away. He knew Alpha would want to know what happened and that it wouldn’t go over well. So, he sent most of the residents somewhere else.”

“So that Alpha Phillips wouldn’t have anyone to yell at?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Elizabeth concurred. “Our alpha’s temper is a legend around here.”

“You didn’t see anyone coming from the room or in the hall when your returned?”

Elizabeth frowned, pausing in her folding, as she seemed to be thinking. “No, I don’t believe so. Honestly, though, I was upset and shaking so hard, I think I could have run right past someone and would have never seen them. Sad how unobservant you become when you get older.”

“There may not have been anyone to pass by,” Farrah reassured Elizabeth, seeing nothing but honesty in the woman. “Although, they could have still been in the room if you came back before they could leave. Did you notice the Lysol before or after you went for Beta Owen?”

Elizabeth sighed and groaned before exclaiming, “How did I not realize that! When I left the suitcases, I didn’t smell anything. If I had, I would have realized something was wrong as soon as I walked in the door, it was that strong. As it is, I calmly walked into the room, sat them down, then straightened up to see a disaster.”

“So, whoever it was, was hiding in the room and left after you did, spraying Lysol to hide their scent and probably hoping you didn’t notice it before you left. That would also explain why you didn’t see anyone,” Farrah determined from the information given.

“I guess that sounds about right,” Elizabeth said with a nod.

Farrah took a deep breath, and turned to look right at Elizabeth as she asked, “Elizabeth, do you know who I am?”

“Um, well,” Elizabeth stuttered, “officially, no.”

“And unofficially?”

“Talk is going around about you. Some of the wolves who went with the alpha to the border said he was acting strange. They said that a car had broken down on the boundary line between us and the Steward Pack. They were all shocked when our alpha allowed Alpha Steward over the border into our land to fix it because the alpha has nothing good to say any more about Alpha Steward.”

“Well, they have that part right,” Farrah muttered. “Please, continue.”

“The alpha came home mad though and stomped off to his room, but later told Beta Owen he was leaving and would be gone overnight. Nobody seemed to know where he went but he called Beta Owen this morning and told him that there would be a meeting of both packs in the big field. Beta Owen was furious, and I overheard him tell Jude that the Steward alpha was stirring up trouble again.”

Farrah sighed and sat heavily down on the bed as she asked, “Do you think that Alpha Steward is stirring up trouble?”

Elizabeth lay the shirt she was folding in the suitcase and sat down next to Farrah. Then, softly she said, “I have known those two boys since they were born. I was thirty-five when Brenton was born and with the alpha heir finally arriving, they threw a huge celebration. The Stewards were invited to come because the alphas were the best of friends, as were their ladies.

“Now, when Everard was born two weeks later our alpha was quite excited. He said he just knew the two boys would be good friends and carry on the alliance of the two packs. They came to visit when Everard was two weeks old and when they placed them on the floor next to each other it’s told that Alpha Brenton wiggled until he was close enough to Everard to snuggle up to him.”

“Aw… I bet they were adorable,” Farrah cooed, thinking what the two boys might have looked like as babies.

“They were and they grew up to be handsome men. I babysat them quite often until they were old enough to not need a babysitter. They were sweet boys, sweet to others and sweet to each other. Everard could calm Alpha Brenton down when even his own mama couldn’t do it, that’s how close they were. They were attached at the hip practically since infancy. They told everyone that they were “brothers of the heart and called each other “wolf brother”.

“You see, Farrah, Everard was the brother that Brenton never had by blood because Lady Phillips had trouble carrying a babe. She had many miscarriages before him, and the doctors told her she’d never carry another after him. That is why when she finally had Brenton, they were ecstatic and would do anything for that boy, including having Everard here more often than he was at home because they hated to be separated. No one ever said, but I think Everard and his brother Warren didn’t always get on well. Maybe it was the age gap, maybe it was something else, but they were never close. Alpha Brenton and Everard however, those two truly were brothers of the heart, just as they claimed,” Elizabeth said with a sad look. “It broke something in Brenton when all that mess with Fiona went down. He always had a temper, but he could be quite sweet. Since then though, he’s just angry all the time, never has moments of sweetness anymore.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard them call each other “brother wolf” and it is so cute,” Farrah said with a grin. “They were whispering together today, telling secrets and laughing, and it was so special to see after the anger and hurt I saw between them the day I met them.”

“So, are you going to tell me who you are exactly?” Elizabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.