Oh Brother

"Thank you for meeting me on such short notice Elder John." I said sliding onto the sofa in front of the little old man. He nodded his wrinkly head once and interlaced his fingers. He leaned back in his recliner and got comfortable.

"What can I do for you today Rafe?" He asked with a shaky voice. John is the oldest elder in the pack, he's almost one hundred years old and he is still able to get around on his own.

"I wanted to talk to you about my dad." I said hesitantly.

"Alpha Blackwood?" He asked with astonishment. Normally people don’t just go around asking questions about the Alpha of a pack. The Alpha isn’t to be questioned on any terms. I nodded my head.

"I found my mate." I stated. He smiled and showed his pearly white dentures.

"Well congratulations boy!" He said with excitement. "I bet your mother is ecstatic." I shook my head.

"She doesn’t know?" I said lowly he stopped smiling and stared at me.

"Why not?" He asked cocking his head to the side. I took a deep breath and told John about my father's mysterious ways. I told him about Lovey being a werewolf and my father refusing to tell her.

"He can’t do that!" He gasped. I paused and looked at him with curiosity. He rolled his eyes at me. "Boy don’t you know the law?" I thought I knew the law up until now. Obviously my father has been leaving something out all of these years. I shook my head.

John stood up from his chair and slowly walked over to a large cabinet in the corner of his living room. When he came back, he had a small, ancient book. The binding has started to fall apart and it looks like it will crumble if you look at it too hard. I guess I could describe John like that too.

"What's that?" I asked when he sat back down with the old book.

"This is the very first werewolf rule book." He stated. "A few things have changed now but there is one rule that can’t be changed. This is the book that I go by, I don’t go by the one's printed out today." He chuckled. "He'll I've never even read the new one." He opened the book up and flipped through a couple of pages.

He pointed down at rule #45; I read it aloud. "If any man shall come upon an unknowing shifter under the age, they must make the person knowledgeable of the existence of werewolves.

If the person fails to tell the shifter in question, they will not shift when they come of age, therefore losing their werewolf gene all together."

I reread the passage over and over again. This definitely isn’t written in the handbook today. The handbook today only has a few rules. When a new Alpha is chosen, they can throw out and add in rules. This rule was thrown out and it shouldn’t have been. None of the other elders know about it because they’re sticking to the ancient book of laws.

"Did you not read the book boy?" John asked. I looked up at him, my mind swirling with confusion.

"It’s not in there." I said. His eyes widened a bit and he leaned closer as if he had heard me wrong.

"Excuse me?" He said sounding taken back. "Are you sure it’s not in there Rafe?" He asked seriously. I nodded my head.

"I'm sure." I said definitely. "I’ve read my father’s handbook a thousand times because I wanted to know the rules before he steps down and I become Alpha." He gave me a serious look.

"Rafe, as of now, you are Alpha." He said without a hint of humor.

"What?!" I shrieked. He has to be fucking kidding me! I'm only sixteen years old; I can’t be the Alpha of a pack. I mean I know just about everything I need to know and I know I can handle the pack better than my dad can.

"Your father has been breaking the rules for years and he has defied his pack, there’s no telling how many of us have been lost because of this. Worst of all he turned on his own son." He said. "Don’t you realize that if you don’t tell Lovey before her birthday, you'll lose your bond because she won’t be your perfect half anymore?"

I started to get angry and I wanted to hit something. I'm not going to knock Old John out but when I get home, that bastard better be ready. "What do I do?" I asked through clenched teeth. He thought for a moment.

"Honestly, you can do whatever you want." He said. "Kill him for all I care, I always knew he was bad news. I don’t see why anyone would ever trust a rogue." When he said rogue my eyes shot up to meet his.

"Rogue?" I asked completely baffled. "My dad wasn’t a rogue." I said. John nodded his head surely.

"Oh yes he was." He said. "You’re my Alpha now which means I can’t lie to you, remember that. Your dad came to this pack when he was fourteen. He was a vicious rogue, even at his young age. People had heard rumors of murder and some tried to warn James about him.

James never found his mate. He lived alone up until your dad popped into town. He took your dad in and treated him like his own son. James refused to listen to what people were saying. Eventually it didn’t matter because he got the Alpha position any way." He ended with a sad voice.

"Where is James now?" I asked curiously. "Maybe I could speak with him. There is a lot I don’t know about my dad and I need to find out." John shook his head sadly.

"James has been dead for twenty-five years." He said with a shaky voice. "Your dad had just turned eighteen. He still hadn’t found your mother yet. He was taking not having his mate a little hard. He told everyone that he had gone for a run and when he came back, James was dead. It looked like he had committed suicide; he was hanging from the shower head in the upstairs bathroom."

"Do you think he killed himself?" I asked curiously. He looked up at me with serious eyes.

"I know he didn’t kill himself," He said. "James was happy, mate or not. He lived his life to the fullest and he never let many things get to him. He was the strongest Alpha this state has ever seen. I know he didn’t take his own life. We had talked about it numerous times; he said that even if he had to live in this world alone he wouldn’t have the balls to kill himself."

I stood up from the couch angrier than I think I've ever been. I thanked John for his time and help. "Take this with you." He said handing me the old rule book. "I know you can be our Alpha but in order to be a good one, you’re going to need to go by this book. This book is like our Bible, well the original Bible. Learn it and live it." I nodded my head and thanked him again before I left.

I jumped in my car and tossed the book in the passenger seat. The only thing I could think about is what John had shown me and said. Why does he want to keep Lovey from shifting and most importantly, why doesn’t he want me to have my mate. I'm not really looking for an explanation, I just want him out. He is no longer a part of my pack or my family.

When I pulled up at home, I saw Lovey sitting out on the front porch. I can tell she's been crying, her eyes are red and swollen. I could smell her tears the second I stepped out of the car. When she saw me she jumped up and ran over to me, leaping into my arms. "Please don’t let them send me back!" She wailed.

"What are you talking about?" I said pulling away from her and looking into her eyes. She looks a complete and total wreck. She looks nothing like she did before I left this morning. That gleam in her eyes is completely gone and I can see her whole world falling apart.

"Zev said just told me he is sending me back to foster care!" She cried. "He said that getting me was a mistake and that he and Blair should have never brought me here!" I pulled her into a tight hug and she cried into my shoulder.

"I want you to go upstairs to my room and lock the door." I said through clenched teeth. "No matter what you hear, don’t open the door until I say so." I could hear the Alpha in me taking over. My wolf and I aren’t going to let that sorry son of a bitch take our mate away. She nodded her head as she took in my order without knowing it. I grabbed her face and kissed her passionately.

We walked hand in hand towards the door and I could hear my mom yelling and crying. "Where's Rudi?" I asked her before we reached the porch.

"She's in her room I think." She sniffed. "She was crying because Zev told her I was leaving."

"Go get her and take her with you." I said. I opened the door and she ran inside quickly and shot up the stairs. I waited until I heard my door close before I moved. I heard my mom yelling at that bastard.

"Zev, why are you doing this?" She yelled as tears fell from her eyes. I can see her standing in front of the fridge with her arms wrapped around her body. "She hasn’t done anything to anyone, she respects all of us and she looked up to you!" I heard my dad scoff.

"Shut up," He said with agitation. "It was my choice to bring her here and it’s my choice to take her back. You just need to sit down and shut up." I saw him come into view and he was glaring at my mom with the most hateful eyes ever. He stalked towards her. "Stay in your place, or you might just have another accident." He said as he slammed her back against the fridge.

My wolf took over and I shifted quickly. It doesn’t hurt me anymore and now that I'm Alpha, I can do it faster. I leaped into the kitchen and latched on to Zev's arm. He screamed and tried to shake me off. I bit down harder and I heard my mom screaming.

We crashed into the kitchen table. The wood broke to pieces under both of our weight. I stood over him trying my best to take a bite out of his throat. He held his hands against my chest keeping me inches from my target. "You think you can take my place, huh?" He asked as he struggled to keep me off. I know I can take your place! I wanted to scream.

He managed to bring his feet up enough to kick me off of him. I flew across the kitchen but managed to land on my feet. I my paws slid across the floor as I whipped myself around to go after him again. He was grinned at me and shifted. I launched myself at him but he dodged and shot towards the front door.

He slid through the doggy door with ease but I stayed on him. We ran out into the yard and he jumped over the fence. His back paw got hung in one of the chain links and I heard the bone snap. He yelped loudly and tumbled harshly to the ground. I leaped over the fence and landed right on top of him.

'Leave,' I growled with demand through our link. 'Don’t ever come back. I swear if I ever see you again, I will kill you. If you send anyone here, I will come find you.'

'I'm your father.' He said. 'You can’t do this to me.' I growled angrily at him. I can’t do this to him? Look what he's done to me! Look what he's done to Lovey and my mom.

'You’re not my father,' I yelled furiously. 'You won’t be anything but another dead wolf if you don’t get the fuck out of my state!" He scrambled to his feet and limped off into the woods quickly. I felt our family bond break and I could no longer communicate with him.

Something told me to turn around. I turned and looked up at my bedroom window and saw Lovey staring out at me. Her face is totally shocked and her mouth is hanging open with surprise. She looked from me to where Zev had run off to in the woods.

I ran off into the woods in the opposite direction to shift back. I keep clothes everywhere around here. I ran to the closest set of clothes I could find. I pulled on the blue pair of boxers and a pair of basketball shorts. I snuck back around the house and silently passed through the back door.

My mom looked up at me with tearful eyes. "Is he gone?" She asked wearily. I nodded my head. She seemed to break down after that. She slumped towards the floor but I was able to catch her. She cried into my shoulder, I don’t know if she's crying because he's gone or because she's happy he's gone. She's sort of sending mixed signals.

I carried my crying mother up the stairs and to her bedroom. I placed her gently on the bed and kissed her forehead. "Rafe," She said before I walked out. I turned around and looked at her. "Thank you." She said as more tears fell from her eyes. "I knew what he was but I couldn’t get away from him." I walked back to her bed and sat down beside her.

"I should have just left!" She cried. "I shouldn’t have stayed with him after he told me what he did but I did. This is all my fault." She let her head fall as she wept. "Lovey probably hates me now. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me too." I pulled her into a hug.

"Mom, nobody hates you and none of this is your fault." I said trying to make her feel better. I'm not lying, I don’t hate my mom and I know Lovey doesn’t either. We're a family and we will always be together now that my shitface father is out of the picture.

"I just hope you don’t get stuck with a mate like your father." She said seriously. I wasn’t going to bring it up yet but she just sort of initiated the conversation. I put my hands on top of hers and squeezed them lightly.

"Mom, I've got to tell you something." I said hesitantly. She looked up at me and wiped her face. "I found my mate already." I whispered. Her eyes got big and she looked over my body.

"That's why you’re growing so fast." She said as reality set in. "Why didn’t you tell me?" She asked looking back up at me. I gave her a sad look.

"The same reason you didn’t leave dad," I said. "He wouldn’t let me. He used your accident as an excuse. He wouldn’t even let me tell my mate that she's my mate."

"Who’s your mate?" She asked curiously. "I've never seen you with any girls other than your sisters." I took a deep breath and looked straight into her eyes.

"Mom, Lovey is my mate." I said. She gasped and covered her mouth. She stared at me in silence. I closed my eyes and waited for her to blow up and call me all kinds of hateful names. She brushed her hand across my cheek and I opened my eyes to see her smiling.

"I was hoping you would say that." She said honestly. "If I had to choose your mate from a group of a hundred girls, I would choose her."

Her words seriously shocked the shit out of me. I wasn’t expecting her to take it so well. The way my dad talked, he made it seem like she would be totally against it. "You’re not mad?" I asked making sure I heard her correctly.

"Oh I'm pissed off," She said giving me the eye. "But it’s not because you’re mated to your adoptive sister, it’s because you didn’t tell me." My head dropped a bit. "I'm not upset with you Rafe, I'm angry with your father."

Maybe mom can help me tell Lovey. I don’t want to just come out and say it; she wouldn’t believe a word of it anyway. I can’t just show her, she'll probably faint and that’s not what I want. "Mom, how do I tell her about us?" I asked. She looked at me and sighed.

"You'll have to figure that out on your own since you’re our Alpha now." She said. "I can’t tell you how to tell her, it will make your bond weaker if I help you." I nodded my head sadly. It looks like I'm on my own with this one. I knew being Alpha had a few bad spots but I never expected to have to do this alone. "You'll figure it out son." She said confidently.

I stood up and walked out of her room after hugging her one last time. I walked back to my bedroom and tapped on the door. “Lovey open the door.” I said. I heard a bit of shuffling and the door flung open and she jumped into my arms crying. I kissed her lips gently. “I told you I wouldn’t let him send you back.” I said. Rudi sat on my bed looking frightened.

“Where’s daddy?” She asked curiously. I looked down at Lovey and she looked as if she were wondering the same thing. I grabbed her hand and walked with her to the bed. I sat down and pulled my baby sister into my lap. She snuggled into my arms and looked up at me with wondering eyes.

“Daddy had to leave.” I said trying to choose my words wisely. I don’t want to tell my little sister that our dad is a criminal and that she’ll never see him again, at least not alive. She cocked her head to the side with confusion.

“Is he going to be back soon?” She asked. “He promised he would teach me to swim today.” I felt a bit of regret, Rudi doesn’t deserve to lose a parent. He sucked at being a parent but she still loved him through everything he put us through. I shook my head sadly.

“He won’t be back for a while.” I said honestly. Her eyes got big and she smiled.

“Is he out on “official” business?” She asked. Usually when dad leaves out on Alpha business he brings her back a gift. This isn’t exactly the case but I’m not going to break her heart. I can’t do that to her. I’ll have to make her think that he’s just out of town for a while before I tell her the truth. I nodded my head, not able to let the lie come out of my mouth.

Where’s mommy?” She asked. “I need someone to play with?” I smiled lightly at her.

“She’s in her room.” I said. She quickly kissed my cheek and jumped out of my lap. She hugged and kissed Lovey before she ran out of my room giggling. I chuckled lightly and pulled Lovey into my arms. I hugged her so tightly she had to make me let go.

“Rafe, what’s going on?” She asked pulling away from me a bit. Her eyes look worried and I know she’s thinking about what she saw out front. I would be wondering what was going on too if I saw two giant dogs fighting in the yard. I sighed and closed my eyes.

“Lovey, I need to tell you something.” I said preparing myself to tell her what I am. I think I should hold off on telling her about herself for a little while. She may not want to be one of us and I don’t want to add more problems to my plate than I already have. This is going to be harder than kicking my father’s ass.