Chapter 148

Alyx

“I’m not sure I like her,” Jeremy said the moment the door closed. He was giving it a bright-eyed look that made even Alyx a little uneasy. Anyone who thought Jeremy was the nicer brother didn’t know him very well.

Alyx saw what happened in there. Celeste was trying to appeal to his humanity, but Jeremy didn’t have much to begin with, and it had dwindled in the years since they’d seen each other. That was partly why they got along so well. They were cut from the same cloth.

“Not what you expected?” Alyx asked, falling into step beside his brother. Ever since they were small, they’d done everything together. Jeremy was only ten months older than him, and they were inseparable growing up. It was nice to be back together after so long.

“No,” he replied. “Not really.”

They didn’t exactly have a heart-felt reunion. When he’d appeared a few hours earlier, Celeste draped over his shoulder, Jeremy had just looked at him with a bored expression. But Alyx knew he was happy to have him back, anyway. Their younger brothers were either too soft or too eager to prove themselves for his liking. Their two older brothers were too busy running the faction to pay him any attention.

“We should go see Ronan,” Jeremy said.

Alyx nodded. He hadn’t seen his eldest brother yet. Kai, his second, had come down to give him orders, but that was all. He’d barely stuck around to get a good look at Celeste before he was climbing the stairs back up to their brother’s office. For as long as he could remember, Ronan and Kai had been joined at the hip.

Rocky and Lane were waiting for them when they reached the office. They were stationed outside the door like guards, their arms crossed over their burly chests. Despite being only eighteen, they were the biggest of the brothers aside from Ronan himself.

They were twins, and both had the same dark, shaggy hair as Alyx and Jeremy. Their eyes, however, were a pale, lifeless gray. Freckles dotted their cheeks and spread across their muscular arms.

“Look who it is,” they said at the same time.

“Boys.” Alyx clapped hands with them. “Miss me?”

“Terribly,” Lane drawled.

“You should go in,” Rocky said. They both stepped aside, their movements synchronized.

Lane grinned. “He’s waiting for you.”

Alyx nodded and opened the door, steeling himself. Jeremy followed him in, a small smile on his face. Ronan was seated at a large oak desk, the same one that used to belong to their father. He lounged back in his chair and watched Alyx approach with hard eyes.

Behind his head, a large oil painting covered the wall. In it, their mother and father stood side-by-side with their hand on Miles’s shoulder. The three of them were smiling. They were also all dead. Their father and brother died in the war. Their mother died years ago when Alyx was still young.

Ronan gestured for them to come forward, and they stationed themselves in front of his desk. Jeremy looked bored, as usual. Alyx tried to school his face into a neutral expression.

The resemblance between the three of them was striking. Ronan was older, harder, and he had a wicked scar down his face, but it was like looking in a mirror. Kai, who stood at his right shoulder with his arms crossed, had their mother’s chestnut hair and pale eyes.

“Home at last,” Ronan drawled. “It seems Jeremy is happy to see you.”

Jeremy didn’t react.

“It’s good to see you, brother,” Alyx said.

Ronan smiled, but it wasn’t a kind one. Kai looked down his nose at him, but Alyx knew better than to react. “I was beginning to think you’d never get the job done,” Ronan said. “Who knew it would be so hard to get her to turn?”

“She’s a stubborn one, sir,” Alyx murmured. He knew he was being scolded, but he couldn’t say he was surprised. This wasn’t the first time he’d been reprimanded in this office. His dad used to make him lean over the desk so he could use his belt on him, but that was only when he’d been really bad. Ronan didn’t need to resort to corporal punishment.

“I look forward to meeting her,” Ronan replied. He looked at Kai. Kai shook his head slightly, and Ronan smiled. “You took too long,” he said, turning back around. Alyx hung his head. “Things are getting tense out there.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Ronan waved him off. Despite being only twenty-eight, he seemed much older. He’d taken power immediately after the death of their father, and he’d held it with an iron fist ever since. It was what he’d been raised for. Kai and Miles were supposed to stand at his shoulders, but Miles was gone, and Ronan never selected a third. Alyx could still remember the grief on his brother’s face when he heard the news.

“Give her some time to adjust. Then I want to meet her,” Ronan said. “She’s the Holy Maiden and she’s special.”

“Yes, sir.

“You're still assigned to her. It’s your job to make sure she stays in line, and that nothing bad happens to her. Remember that we need her.”

Alyx nodded. He knew better than to argue. He wasn’t in any position to refuse an order. Even though the thought of spending more time with Celeste made him want to bang his head against the wall.

Ronan turned to look at Jeremy. “How’s your little project going?”

Jeremy grinned, but it looked more like he was baring his teeth. “Responses are mixed.” Jeremy had an interest in science and the werewolf brain. He was trying to find out why turned wolves often descended into madness.

“Well, carry on, I guess.” Ronan let Jeremy have free rein. They all regarded him as a kind of genius, and none of them really understood him. Ronan seemed to think his experiments would come in useful one day, and Alyx didn’t disagree.

Kai looked at his brother, and Ronan nodded.

He rounded the desk and pulled Alyx into a crushing hug. “Welcome back!”

Alyx returned the hug. Kai practically raised him growing up, and he was there for them after their father died. There was a time as kids when it was Kai and Miles putting them all to bed and helping them with their schoolwork. Ronan was always off with their father, learning how to lead.

“Thanks,” Alyx said, pulling away.

Kai squeezed his shoulder and looked at Ronan, whose expression was still impassive. It was hard losing Miles, but he sometimes thought about what it must have been like for the two of them. They did everything together. Sometimes Alyx thought Miles’s death hit them harder than their father’s death did.

They wanted vengeance. Alyx did, too. The people who did this to them had to pay.

“I won’t let you down,” he said to Ronan, standing up to his full height.

Ronan leaned back in his seat. “I should hope not.”

Before he could say something else, there was a sharp knock on the door. “Yes,” Ronan called. A moment later, his younger brothers, Noah, and Beck, tore into the room. They were seventeen and fifteen respectively, but they often still acted like children.

Their eyes widened when they saw Alyx. A moment later, they were jumping on him. He growled, but they didn't let go.

“Oh my God, you’re here!” Noah exclaimed.

“Why didn’t anyone tell us?” Beck whined.

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

“What’s up?” Ronan asked, exasperated. “I know this little family reunion isn’t why you came crashing in here.”

Beck took a step away, a frown coming over his face. “We caught someone canvassing the border. We chased them, but they were too fast. They got away.”

Alyx froze.

Ronan frowned. “A wolf?”

“I think I can guess who that was,” Alyx said, a sudden smile splitting his face. The time had finally come. “Celeste has a boyfriend who must be looking for her.”

Ronan just sighed. “Whatever. Deal with him then.”

“Oh.” Alyx exchanged a glance with Jeremy. “I will.”