Chapter 333: Chapter 333

Xander “| took it all for granted,” | said.

| tipped my face back to look up at the cavern ceiling, and a drop of water hit me in the my breath and swiped at it. When my vision cleared, Mason was frowning at me.

“| grew up being told how great | was, and | just believed every word. Every compliment, every bit | knew from the time | was a pup that I’d be running Constantine Pack one day, and | never once bothered think about what that all would actually mean.”

“Sounds like every Alpha I’ve ever met,” my brother said. ‘Arrogant and full of himself.”

| rolled my eyes. “Present company included.”

“Right,” Mason said with a low chuckle and slid back into the water. “It's not a shock, man. Alphas are born, right? It’s inside you from the moment you take your first breath. Before that, even. It's just how we work.”

“You, on the other hand, would’ve been the actual Alpha if our father hadn’t been such a pr ick to both our mothers. You didn’t grow up knowing it would be handed to you, but you dreamed about it. Ached for it. Am | right?” | asked when his frown deepened.

“You wanted it, you were determined to get it, but you weren’t one hundred percent sure you would. It wasn’t a guarantee, the way it was for me.”

you’

“No,” he said after a pause. “I knew that there was always the chance that | wouldn’t be able to defeat “When my dad decided to relinquish being the Alpha, | thought it was because | was so f ucking great, so strong, so whatever-

the-f uck amazing, that he just couldn’t wait to hand it over to me.” | laughed ruefully. “The reality was, he wanted to make me the Alpha so he could get on with all the stuff he couldn’t do when he had to take care of the pack. And here’s the thing, Mason something | can’t tell anyone else. Ever”

| tried to find the right words, but there were only a few to be said “l understand why”

Mason And | feel guilty as f uck about it my brother admitted, head hanging “Not because I’m away from my pack, but because i dont feel that bad about it | should think my ded was a complete fature as an Alpha because he gave it up so he could do other things. Shotty, sorrible things. But | also get why he had to give it up so he could do, be anything else A few months ago, my brother’s words would have Sure | have done in lost to kill him for that confession us to a fist fight A short time even before that, Iny waited for my fury to rise up, but my wolf only sat Or maybe I'd just found a way to relate to my brother.

“I'm an Alpha without a pack,” | told him. “Yeah, technically, it’s Constantine, but they don’t know me, and we aren’t there. But I’d be a liar if | told you | hadn’t thought about just running off. F uck all this sh it. Go be a rogue in another small town, far away.

Hell, maybe even a lone wolf.”

“Way less to worry about,” Xander said.

“But no Lanie.”

“No,” he said. “No Zane. No pups. No brother.”

| splashed at the water with a grunt. “Being here at Brightsky is kind of like being in a fever dream.

Everything seems too bright. There’s an edge to it all, surreal, like | have to pinch myself to make sure I’m awake. It’s just so f ucking...easy here. | know it only seems like that, | mean, they've got military grade security. Better than military”

“But it does feel easy,” my brother agreed. “Simple, and happy, and like we can just hang out and be with our kids and our Luna and each other, and maybe just...breathe. We don’t have to decide anything for anyone else. We barely have to decide it for ourselves.”

“If we wonder what's next one of those da mn bells will remind us,” | said with a laugh.

“We have friends here. Dude, don’t laugh at me, but other than Zane, | don’t think I’ve ever really had any.

He’s the only person who treated me like we were equals. Well, until you came along. Kinda f ucking hated, you for it, at first.”

I snorted. “And now?”

‘Still think you're a pain in the as s, but...I’m glad you're my brother.”

‘Like you said, we'll figure all this out. For now, | have to get out of here or I’m going to melt.” | slipped out of the water with a sigh of relief.

Xander handed me a towel. “I don’t want to leave here. Not yet, anyway.”

“Same” | wrapped the towel around my waist, not adding what | knew we both were thinking We probably weren't going to have a choice