Chapter 265

#Chapter 265 – Threat in the Night “Oh calm down, brother,” Rafe’s voice says from the darkness, a sigh thick in his words.

Victor’s growl cuts off, but he stays tense behind me as the figure climbs the stairs, coming into the light spilling through the living room window.

When we see that it is indeed Rafe standing there, Victor leans back, scowling at him. “Don’t sneak up on your Alpha family, Rafe,” he grumbles. “That’s one fast way to get torn to pieces.”

“Whatever,” Rafe says, sighing. I frown at him, still sitting tense. What the hell was wrong with him now? And where was he all day?

Victor looks his brother over as well, starting to pick up on his mood. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Rafe murmurs, but I can tell by his tone that something’s wrong. And that he’s feeling rather sorry for himself.

“Okay!” I say cheerfully, picking up my glass of wine and standing up. “I’ll leave you two to talk this through.” I bend down and give Victor a perky kiss on the cheek.

“Wait,” he says, grabbing for my hand as I walk away. “There’s still more I want to talk to you about –“

“You know where I’ll be,” I say, pitching my voice low and giving him a wink. Victor smiles at me and lets me go. Inside the house I give a little sigh as I dump my wine into the sink, wishing Rafe hadn’t interrupted. I know, in my heart, that Victor has more to say.

But still, I can tell that Rafe needs him now more than I do.

And I want to get to the bottom of whatever is going on with him as well. So, I head up the stairs, fully intent on interrogating Victor about what the hell is going on with his brother as soon as he comes up.

____________________ When Evelyn goes inside, Victor quickly sniffs the air between him and his brother. “Are you drunk?” he asks, suspicious.

“No,” Rafe says, rueful. Then he sinks down onto the loveseat next to his brother. “I haven’t had anything to drink since you got back. But I don’t know why I’m not. It didn’t bring her back.”

“Did you think it would?” Victor asks, screwing up his face in confusion.

“Well, yeah!” Rafe says, splaying out his hands and looking at Victor angrily. “You and Evelyn made me go dry – and talk to her – and it was all supposed to get her back, and it hasn’t done anything –“

Victor laughs, settling back into his seat and taking a sip of his whiskey, which just seems to piss Rafe off more.

“I don’t know why I even try to talk to you,” Rafe mutters, starting to stand up angrily. “You’re just so smug –“

“Sit down,” Victor orders, leaning forward and putting his hand on his brother’s chest, giving him a little shove so that he falls back, hard, against the chair. “Why did you think this would be easy?”

“Why isn’t it easy?” Rafe counters, frowning at his brother with wide eyes. “I’m doing everything right! I stopped lying to her! I…cleaned up! I want her back, I’m going to treat her good –“

“You’ve been nice to her for like, a couple of days, after being mean to her for months, and you expect it to wash all of that away?”

“Well, it worked for you and Evelyn, didn’t it?” Rafe bites out, nasty.

Victor leans forward then, his eyes narrowed. “Watch it, Rafe,” he growls, the hair on his neck rising.

“Evelyn and I paid our dues. Paid them, with interest. We worked for this, and I was never a sulky jerk in the meantime just because she needed space. Bridgette has every right to pull away from you right now, and you have to respect it. You’re lucky she’s even giving you the time of day.”

Rafe sighs, leaning back in the chair and looking down at his hands, knowing his brother is right. “So, what do I do?”

Victor just shrugs, taking another sip from his drink and looking at his brother for a quiet moment. “You just…wait. Be steady. Be a rock for her. When she’s ready – if she’s ever ready – be there, waiting for her. Don’t let her down.”

Rafe mumbles something that sounds like “okay,” but heaves a big sigh in the meantime. Victor laughs at him, not an unfriendly thing.

“What?” Victor asks. “Were you hoping I’d say something like ‘go get your girl?’”

“Well, it would be something to do,” Rafe says, spreading his hands out in frustration. “All of this waiting…” he shakes his head.

“Well, if she’s worth it, you’ll wait.”

“She’s worth it,” Rafe replies, full of remorse. “This is just…torture.”

Victor sighs and leans forward, pressing his half-full glass of whiskey into his brother’s hand. Then, he stands up.

“Are you leaving?” Rafe asks.

“No,” Victor says, heading for the door. “I’m going to get the bottle. You shouldn’t drink alone. You get sloppy.”

As Victor pulls the door open, he catches a glance of Rafe’s wide grin.

Then he goes inside to grab another glass.

_________________ Evelyn is asleep by the time Victor climbs into bed with her. Instinctually, her body turns towards him in the bed, and she moves to wrap her arms around him as he sinks into the mattress.

But then, after one deep breath of contentment, she’s wide awake.

“Ew!” Evelyn says, sitting up straight. “Victor! You stink!”

“No I don’t,” he murmurs. “I took a shower this morning.”

“No, you stink of whiskey!” she hisses, shoving his shoulder hard. “How much did you have!?”

“A bunch,” he mumbles, slurring a little and smiling as he pulls her back down against him. “Rafe needed it. He’s sad.”

“You got Rafe drunk!?”

“No,” he sighs, lowering his head to take a long sniff of her hair. “Just a couple. You smell so nice.”

She can’t help the little laugh that bubbles out of her at that, settling down against her mate. “You’re going to pay for this in the morning” she whispers, tapping him against the forehead with her finger.

“Shhhh,” he says, bleary, taking a deep sleepy breath and nuzzling his shoulder. “Be a nice quiet little mate. So loud, so late.”

“But I want to know what’s happening with him!”

“Enjoy the mysteries of life, Evelyn” he yawns and she laughs a little, shaking her head and knowing that it’s hopeless. She will, indeed, simply have to wait to deal with it until morning. Victor’s breathing deepens as she settles back in bed, smiling at the outline of his face and his body in the dark.

Deep down, she’s glad he connected with his brother. But that doesn’t change the fact that she only got a piece of the news she wanted today. She knows now what was going on with Amelia – that she’s gone, with Edgar, and apparently safely out of their lives.

But what had kept him with Annabeth so long? And what, indeed, was going on with Rafe and Bridgette?

Evelyn bites her lip, deciding that if she wants to get to the bottom of this stuff, she’s going to have to take matters into her own hands. Perhaps meddle a little bit.

Smirking, Evelyn leans over across the bed to her side table and grabs her phone, sending a quick message off to Bridgette.