What We Left Unsaid

“Why didn’t you tell me it was the alpha female’s birthday!?”

Two dark eyebrows rose as the taller man looked down at the woman, tossing an arm over her shoulder as he walked. “I don’t really appreciate you using that tone with me, young lady,” he declared as he continued strolling forward, pulling the woman along with him. He let out a grunt when one of her fists collided with his side, but he didn’t make a move to retaliate. “Oh, relax. It’s not like it’s my personal job to inform you of every minor detail. Take some credit here, big girl!”

“Brian!”

“Ava!” he mimicked, high-pitched and huffy. When he was only once again punched in the side, he hissed out in irritation. “Come on! Seriously, I’m sorry, Man. I thought you knew!”

“You thought I knew?” the woman repeated lowly, earning an exaggerated nod from the man in response. “How the fuck could I have known? I just met her, damn it! And she already hated me before I forgot to go and get her a birthday gift!”

“See, you just said that you forgot! You admit that you knew!”

“Fuck you, Man, fuck you! You know I never knew. And what’s got you all chipper today, hmn? I mean, no complaints, but what exactly are you on?”

The guitarist snorted. “Just because I’m in a good mood means something has to be up?”

“This good of a mood? Uh, yes. The last time I saw you this way, you had just... Oh come on! Seriously? Already?”

“Is that an actual question you want an actual answer to?”

“It’s fucking four in the afternoon! On a Wednesday! And you’re wasted right now, aren’t you?”

“Well I wouldn’t say wasted...”

“Uhuh,” the woman drew out, fixing her gaze on her friend’s face for a moment before shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Remind me to hide all of your scented hair products when we get back, yeah? You shouldn’t get to use them to hide the smell of alcohol on you.”

“Ha ha,” the man returned, rolling his own eyes before looking back down at the woman, his expression, unlike the rest of him, sobering up. “She doesn’t hate you, you know. She’s just... quiet and... tough to get to know.”

The blonde could do nothing more than arch an eyebrow. “She hates me, Brian. She fucking hates me, and let’s not pretend she doesn’t, okay? Instead, let’s focus on finding a damn good gift so that she doesn’t hate me more. Come on, Drunky, I need your help here!”

“But we’ve barely got time to go shopping before we’re supposed to meet the others for the dinner. I don’t want to miss Cheesecake Factory, Ava! It has cheesecake! And beer!”

“All the more reason to hurry the fuck up, then. Come on! What does she like?”

Sulking a bit, the taller man looked down at her with a sad frown on his face. “You used to like cheesecake, you know.”

“Still do, Bri, still do. But you know what I like more? Not pissing off my good friend’s mate.”

“Oh!” he suddenly exclaimed, causing the woman to send a hopeful look his way, waiting for whatever brilliant suggestion he had come up with. “Speaking of good friends’ mates, you and Zacky seem to be avoiding each other lately... like, more so than usual. You two didn’t talk, did you?”

The blonde scowled. “Oh, you’re definitely drunk if you’re bringing that up. No, Bri, we are not talking about Zacky and me.”

“What, can’t a guy talk to his best friend about her love life?”

“Okay, seriously, no. Just no. Drop it. What should I get Kat, huh?”

“I walked in on him this morning holding a bag of frozen peas to his face, Ava. You didn’t tell him.”

Huffing in irritation, the woman pulled away from the man, shrugging off his arm from around her shoulder and coming to a stop. “No!” she told him lowly, waiting for him to turn around and face her. “Did you expect me to, after everything he said? I was actually planning on telling him, before all of that; now I don’t see why I should bother.”

“You know it only gets worse,” he commented, keeping his tone carefully neutral. “Matt’s already asked me what I knew about--”

“What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, relax! I told him it was between you and Zacky and that neither of us had a place interfering, and, luckily for you, he agreed and backed off.”

“Just like you should now,” she told him pointedly, even as she consciously relaxed the muscles that had tensed a moment before. “So why are you suddenly interfering?”

He only shook his head, making a face and shrugging his shoulders. “He’s still my friend, Ava... But you’re right, it’s not my place, and I won’t say a word. You should know, though, both Matt and Zacky know the one way to fix it.”

“It’s really not surprising that Matt managed to figure that out, and that’s too bad for Zacky, because that’s not happening. Your point?”

“You know there’s another way.”

Steely blue eyes narrowed in on the soft, chocolate ones staring back at them. The blonde huffed, lifting a hand to run through her hair. She remained silent for a moment, just staring back at him, before she promptly turned on her heel and continued walking down the plaza. “We’re done with this conversation,” she told him, her tone full of finality.

There was a sigh heard from behind her, but no more than a second later, an arm was once again swung around her shoulders and the man was easily keeping her pace. “As you wish. Now, can we please head toward the delicious smell of cheesecake?”

“Bri! I have to find a gift first! We should still have like five minutes before-- oh shit!”

“Hey, look! That’s Short Shit’s car!”

“I know!” Ava hissed as she elbowed the waving man beside her in the ribs. “Brian! Don’t fucking wave them over here already! Goddamn it, Man, we could have still found something!” When the car in question rolled down the window and revealed a waving Johnny, she could only sigh in defeat, knowing there was no way to avoid being located after all. But, as the car turned into the nearest parking lot, she realized there was still a small chance of her finding that gift. “Go with them to the fucking Cheesecake Factory, alright? Just tell them I... had to use the restroom or something. I’ll be quick!”

And, giving the man beside her a shove forward, the woman turned quickly and headed toward the nearest store. She got exactly fifteen steps.

“Hello, Sister.”

Her blood froze, her body quickly following. It took her a moment to remember that she needed to breathe, and only after that did she slowly turn her head to the side, wide blue eyes landing on the well-dressed man standing not more than a few yards from her, hands in pocket and a smooth, perfectly white smile she knew to be false on his face. His blonde hair was styled just as she remembered it, a perfect mixture of tamed and untamed.

“Drake.”

“Come now, love, give your big brother a hug!”

She could only stare at the mocking open arms, not making a move toward him, but also not making a move toward her pack. Her muscles still painfully stiff, she turned her body towards him as he walked to her, full of fluidity and confidence even as he dropped his arms and fixed a frown on his face. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Shouldn’t I?” he asked as he came to a stop with just a few feet between the two of them. “I’m your big brother; I’m here to congratulate you! And oh, don’t look so surprised; you couldn’t have possibly thought I wouldn’t know!” He gave another smile, looking almost amused. “Actually, I find myself quite insulted that you didn’t let me throw you a celebration! It’s not every day a man’s little sister finally gets mated, you know.”

Before he had mentioned the word ‘mated’, she had still been holding out hope that perhaps it was just a coincidence her brother had floated on into town, but he had just ruined that dream. Crossing her arms before her chest, she only stared at him, wondering exactly when it was that he was going to launch his attack. She also wondered when exactly Drunk Brian would turn around and notice exactly what kind of a predicament she was in, all alone.

“I’m being quite genuine, Sister, so you can relax, you know. There were quite obviously better choices out there for you, but -- come now! -- you know we all approved of this way back when. I knew you’d end up with Haner, I just figured it would have been years ago.”

Ava was very, very careful to contain her reaction when her brother’s words registered in her mind, knowing that he was undoubtedly scrutinizing ever single blink she gave. Taking a slow breath, she gave her shoulders a shrug. “Yes, well, I’m sure you can understand my hesitation to relay the news to you, given the whole traitorous bastard thing.”

“Ah, yes. His name did get scratched off a wall when he up and left the pack, didn’t it? But, don’t fret, my darling! I’m here to fix this little mess. Go ahead, give him a nice wave over here; he’s been standing there staring at us for a good while now, afraid to take a step toward us.”

She took only the briefest of seconds to tear her gaze away from her brother’s untrustworthy smile, quickly finding that his words had actually been true, and her old friend was standing all the way across the plaza, stiff and warily watching. Her gaze was back to her brother’s before she could even take the time to see how far away the others were, though. “Brian,” she called out, gaze still locked on her brother’s smiling face as she spoke, “why don’t you join us? We’re only having a nice conversation over here, no need to worry. Drake’s here to congratulate us on our mating.”

The second she had made it clear that it was safe to approach, she had heard the footsteps that answered as Brian undoubtedly rushed to her as quickly as he could without drawing unwanted attention from the humans in the area. She also heard the scuff and the silence that immediately followed her last comment, and she knew he must have frozen at the thought, frown and his face and a look she didn’t want to see on his face as he stared at her. Luckily, though, she didn’t have to see it, because she was still carefully watching her brother, not wanting to look away from him and leave herself vulnerable. That didn’t make it any easier to feel the weight of the stare into the side of her head, though.

“Oh, don’t just stand there, Haner! My sister wasn’t lying; we’re having a nice, civil conversation right now,” Drake declared as he turned his still-smiling face toward the man, hands still in pockets. “There’s no need for this to get ugly. Now, come on over.”

There was no mistaking the order for a mere suggestion, but even though she was sure it killed him to go ahead and obey, Brian still moved to her side, wrapping a protective arm around her waist as he stared defensively back at the uninvited guest on their territory. “What are you doing here, Rinaldi?”

“You’d think I was the one that banished you from ever returning home with that tone of yours! Be grateful, Haner; I’m actually here to offer a second chance, believe it or not. Consider it my mating gift for my one and only sister.”

“A second chance?” Ava repeated slowly, her tone showing her disbelief despite how guarded it still was. “You don’t do second chances, Drake. You never have.”

For only a split second, that perfect little smile disappeared from the blonde man’s face, replaced by a single, dark look that was aimed directly at his sister. Just as quickly, though, the smile was back, albeit slightly strained. “I’m making an exception, for you, Sister. Haner may have been... confused and mistaken all those years ago when he ran off to join this dismal little group of strays, but he’s still a pureblood. I’m willing to accept this mating and welcome the both of you back into the pack, and just put all of this foolishness behind us. Your parents have agreed as well, Haner.”

The two friends were both frozen for a good minute as they just stared at the man that still had that stupid smile on his face. Brian was the one to break the silence. “Oh, shove it, Rin--”

“What he means is,” Ava practically shouted the second the guitarist had spoken, trying to interrupt quick enough to stop her brother from carrying out whatever violent intent his face clearly showed he was considering, “do you have any idea what, exactly, your little alpha-puppets tried to do to me? There’s no way in hell we can share a pack with those two ever again. But we otherwise appreciate your offer, Brother.” She received a sharp pinch to her side from Brian at that, but he didn’t vocalize his dissent.

There was a very tense moment as it looked as if Drake was about to ignore the distraction, but, to the great relief of his sister, he turned his attention back to her. Though his face still contained traces of promised violence, he kept himself otherwise composed. “What are you talking about, Sister? What did Chase and Devan do?”

“They tried to have me raped by Alaric, and then threatened to kill me if I didn’t play along so that they could get paid. They didn’t even care to get your approval! It would seem they have no respect for the Rinaldi bloodline, Brother.”

“Well that,” her sibling drew out, expression having turned stony during her confession, “that simply will not be tolerated. Consider them officially dealt with.”

“Everything okay over here?”

With Brian right at her side, Ava felt secure enough to finally allow her gaze to look away from her brother, focusing instead on the muscular man she had never been so happy to see before in her life. There was no fake smile on his face as he walked toward them, his hazel eyes glancing between the three of them before settling heavily on the intruder. From over his shoulder, she could see the rest of the pack had caught up, though they all kept their distance. Even Kat remained behind, though from the look of the grip the Berry brothers had on her shoulders, that was not her own decision.

“Matthew Sanders,” the elder man drawled, eyeing the new man with irritation he didn’t bother to conceal. “This does not concern you. Run along now.”

“You’re on my land, Drake Rinaldi,” the hazel-eyed alpha returned coldly, “so this most definitely does concern me.”

There was a twist in the lips of the intruder that left Ava immediately knowing something else was up her brother’s sleeve. “Feel free to join us, then,” he offered, going so far as to extend an arm in a sweeping gesture, before turning his attention back to the the pair before him. “You’re just in time to hear your new betas agree to abandon you.”

Ava could feel the intense look that burned into the side of her head before she even turned to meet Matt’s gaze. Widening and then narrowing her eyes, she tried to send her warning nonverbally, though she couldn’t be sure whether the narrowing of his own eyes meant she had gotten through to him or not. When he sent a quick glance over his own shoulder, she took the opportunity to glance back up at Brian for the first time, who was starting to look nauseous, instantly reminding her that he was still very much drunk. Her only allies at the moment were a drunk man, an alpha that may or may not be playing along, and a pack that would hopefully keep their distance.

Her enemy was not a patient man. “Come now, you two; tell the half-blood the good news.”

“How did you even know I was here?” she found herself asking instead, half curious and half trying to get her plan in order.

His eyes darkened to a glare when he met her gaze, but when he didn’t just demand she do as he says and stop procrastinating, she knew she wasn’t in immediate danger. He took a carefully controlled breath, his expression quickly returning to that same little smile. “Well, I’ve heard all about the territory issues going on in this neck of the woods -- one of the many, many reasons I’d beg to differ that this even is your land, Sanders -- and then, of course, I noticed the withdrawal from your account, Darling. Did you think I’d stopped checking?”

This time, it was her expression that darkened, for his answer once again had both Brian and Matt snapping their attention to her, stares piercing the side of her skull. Jaw stiff, Ava took a deep breath and carefully relaxed her own expression as she stared back at her brother. “I barely dented my inheritance. And it’s my inheritance, anyways. I’m allowed to make a withdrawal.”

“Of course you are, dear sister,” he easily agreed, smile wide and arms extending before him, “so long as you are, in fact, a Rinaldi. I’m sure you can see my predicament, then, when you’ve withdrawn funds and have yet to accept my gracious offer to remain a Rinaldi. No more idle chatter, Sweetheart. Tell the half-blood you and your mate are coming back home. Now.”

“Drake, I simply can’t tell you how much I appreciate your offer,” Ava told her brother with a sweet smile plastered to her face, her tone just as carefully polite. “I really couldn’t even find the words if I tried--”

“I could.”

Jabbing her elbow harshly in the side of the man still standing with his arm around her waist, Ava’s smile faltered only for a second. “--but Brian and I belong with our pack. You taught me all about loyalty, and if I learned anything from all of your lessons about my place as a female with a mate, it’s that I must be loyal to him above all others. That includes you, Brother. Brian and I are staying.”

Another very tense moment passed as the eldest in the group only stared, unblinkingly and expressionlessly, at the blonde woman bold enough to turn down his offer. “Sister,” he finally said after another moment, the smile no longer on his face as he stressed the word, “I am not going to give you another chance after this. Be a smart girl, now, and come along.”

“She said she’s staying, Rinaldi; she’s made her choice. Now get off my land.”

”Not yet!”

“Baker, get out of here!”

“Just leave this alone, Zacky!”

“We’re sorry, Shads; we tried to talk him down!”

“Baker! I said get out of here now!”

“Still alive, after all this time?” the elitist asked as his hawk-like gaze quickly transferred to the newly approached man, eyes flashing amber. “I can very easily remedy that.”

But the shorter male didn’t appear threatened, his own lips twitching into a smirk as his green eyes narrowed. “Intruding on claimed territory and threatening to kill a beta? I don’t have to be a Rinaldi to know that’s certainly not legal.”

“Shut up, Zacky!”

Ava stiffened even more than she already had when her stupid fucking mate had gone and opened his mouth, and when her brother snapped his completely amber gaze to her, she didn’t have to fake the hatred and disgust that engulfed her expression. “Ignore the filthy mutt, Drake; he’s not worth your attention!” she declared quickly, ignoring the violent growl and the sound of a slap of a hand against a chest as she tried to hold her brother’s attention. “He’s only pissy because he’s been outranked... but believe me, Brian and I will put him right back in his--”

”No!” the rhythm guitarist roared, snarling viciously as he visibly struggled to contain his urge to shift, and as the alpha visibly struggled to contain him. “You don’t get to pretend you’re mated to Brian! You don’t get to live down the fact that you’re mated to me!”

”WHAT?!”

It took only a second for Brian to have used the arm he had around Ava’s waist to pull her back from her brother and put himself between them, and for Matt to finally have grabbed Zacky by the throat and thrown him as far back from the group as possible. It took only another second for the rest of the pack to be at their sides, the whole lot of them poised and ready to spring into action.

“You’re outnumbered! Leave!”

“This betrayal will not be tolerated, you fucking disgusting little tramp! And--”

“Get out of my territory, now, Rinaldi!”

“--I will kill you myself, because you are no sister of mine! And--”

“I said leave!”

“--I will draw it out and make you beg for it -- you and that mutt of yours! And you will--”

”ENOUGH!” Everyone froze and spun around to look at the man who’s booming voice could easily have been felt. It wasn’t the alpha that had spoken. “Now I know I don’t have to remind a Rinaldi what happens when a Council-recognized alpha demands he leave the territory, and instead he stays and threatens the lives of that alpha’s pack. Leave!”

For a second, Ava almost thought that her brother was blinded enough by rage to go ahead and try to murder all of them right then and there, but it appeared he hadn’t lost his instinct of self-preservation after all. Instead, Drake fixed his furious, glowing gaze on his sister and gave a final smirk. “This is but the beginning, I promise you.” And, with that, he disappeared.

Everyone else remaining still and wary, Brian was the first to move, turning, glancing down at his old friend, and huffing out the breath he had been holding in. Conspiratorially, he leaned down toward her. “I’ve never been so happy to see a Council member in my life.”