Fang lay in his bed as a wolf, his mind trapped by the demon powers that were warring inside him as they converted his body even more. He was only vaguely aware of the sounds of the outside world.
He now saw things in infrared while he slept. Every tiny insect in his room. Every creature that walked past his room in the hallway. He was aware of everything on a level he'd never imagined, but unable to respond. He was like an outside viewer who couldn't break through the glass case no matter how hard he struck it.
"Fang?"
Vane. He'd know that deep baritone anywhere. But in Fang's mind Vane was nothing more than a reddish outline standing beside his bed. There was a woman with him. One who smelled sweet and all human. She stood so close to Vane that she appeared tucked in there.
Fang tried to reach out to his brother, but couldn't. It was almost like he was back in the Nether Realm where only voices could reach him. Only now he couldn't understand the words his brother was saying to him. They were jumbled and malformed as he and the woman said things.
Hanging his head, Fang sighed wearily.
"Aw, what's wrong, little wolfie? Can't you get up?"
Fang went ramrod stiff as he heard the raspy voice of a demon. "Alastor." He didn't know how he knew the creature's name, yet he did.
His body went straight into the demeanor of a lethal predator. Fang lowered his head and watched the demon closely with his peripheral, ready to strike him down with deadly precision when the time came.
Small and wiry, the demon was ugly and gray-skinned. Worse, he stank of sulphur and blood. His hook nose and bald head made him look like a gargoyle. In the darkness of his dream, something silver flashed.
Fang reacted on instinct. He caught the demon's hand to see a dagger held there. Laughing at the audacity, or more to the point the stupidity, he wrapped his other hand around the demon's throat and lifted him from his feet.
The moment he did, he saw Alastor's thoughts in his mind. Heard his own mother telling the demon to kidnap Vane's mate and bring her to his mother's pack so that Bride couldn't complete the mating ritual with Vane. It was a pact his mother had made with the demon to capture all of their mates to prevent them from having even a small chance of happiness.
Or more to the point, to keep them from procreating and spreading their animal natures that his mother despised so much.
Raw fury exploded inside him.
"You rotten bastard," he snarled as his demon's bloodlust ripped through him and the demon inside him roared to life. It wanted him to rip the demon's head off with his bare hands and feast on his entrails. Never had he experienced anything like this.
"I was just doing as I was told." The whine in the demon's voice was like a chair scraping across a floor. It made the hair on the back of his neck rise and did nothing to curb his blood fever.
Before Fang even realized what he was doing, he sank his teeth into the demon's throat so that he could taste his blood.
Stop!
The sound of his conscience succeeded in reaching him. Choking on the thick liquid that tasted like warm metal, he forced himself to step back. Alastor slid to the ground, holding his neck as he pathetically begged for his life.
Part of Fang demanded he kill the sniveling beast at his feet. It was what he deserved. But the part of him that was wolf refused to kill for pleasure.
Katagaria only killed to protect or to defend. They never killed for amusement.
At least not often.
But the wolf in him also couldn't let the demon go while Alastor posed even the hint of a threat to his family-that wolves killed over without remorse. "You hunt any of us or those we love again and so help me, I won't stop until I've pulled you into so many pieces, you'll think you've been through a grinder."
Alastor bowed low to the ground as he thanked him for his mercy. "I will never hunt again, master. I swear it." He vanished instantly.
Fang wiped at his lips that were still coated in the foul demon's blood. He cursed at what he'd done. But worse was the desire still in him to cause pain and to kill.
The demon was strong within him and it was hard to resist.
"I won't do it," he snarled at himself.
Ever.
He was a Were-Hunter, not a demon, and he wouldn't cede himself to this hell. He wouldn't become one of them. Not for anything. No matter the temptation or hunger. He would stand strong.
Wake up!
He couldn't. Cold panic consumed him as he staggered through the darkness that had no form or substance, seeking something to return him to his room. Had Thorn relegated him back to hell after all?
No, this was worse than the Nether Realm. There were no caves or anything else here. This reminded him of walking an endless desert that had no sides or borders. The landscape was obsidian and there was no respite.
"Fang?"
He heard Aimee calling to him, yet he couldn't find her in the oppressive black. That was even more terrifying to him than being locked in here. "Aimee?"
"Fang? Wake up, sweetie." That precious, siren voice . . .
If only she could find him again.
"Aimee!" he shouted until his throat was raw, but she didn't seem to hear him this time.
What was going on? How could this have happened to him again?
Something struck him hard in the back of his head.
One moment he was lost in the dark, and in the next he was in his bed with Aimee leaning over him, her features contorted by her fear and worry.
Aimee started to pull away as Fang shifted from wolf to human, but the panic in his eyes riveted her. His breathing ragged, he held on to her hands as if they were a lifeline for him that he was afraid she'd remove.
It made her ache for him. "Are you all right?"
He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms where he held her in a crushing embrace.
She frowned as she realized he was shaking all over. Scared for him, she wrapped her arms around his body to help as best she could. "What is it?"
"Nothing."
But she knew better. Something had happened to him again. Something he didn't want to share.
Fang held her close, letting her scent and arms anchor him back in the world of the living. Closing his eyes, he tried to settle his nerves and his breathing. He felt like an idiot for acting like this. . . .
But the trauma of the Nether Realm was still raw and biting. He never wanted to go there again. He never wanted to go to sleep without having a way to come back.
Shell-shocked and weak, he wanted to feel safe again. But he seemed to have no control over himself anymore. No control over anything.
It was a feeling he hated.
Aimee pulled away to look at him. She placed her hand to his cheek as she searched his eyes with her gaze. "You've been asleep for two days. I was beginning to worry that you were lost again."
He stared at her in disbelief. Two days? Had it really been that long. "What?"
She nodded. "Today is Thanksgiving and you've already slept through most of it."
Fang shook his head as those words sank in. How had that much time passed and he not known it? It seemed like he'd only just lay down to rest.
Aimee scowled. "Did you not hear when Vane and his mate came in to talk to you a little while ago?"
"No," he lied, not wanting to admit to her how close he'd come to slipping back into the comatose state he'd been in before. "Are they still here?"
Both of her brows shot up as she cocked her head suspiciously. "You didn't hear the commotion in the connecting room a few minutes ago?"
"What commotion?"
She gestured toward the wall where a giant mirror was mounted-strange how he'd never seen through that in his sleep. Only through the door. "Vane's mate, Bride, beat your mother down in the next room when Bryani came here to kill you. Bride actually caged her during the fight . . . did you really sleep through all that?"
He was aghast at what Aimee described. His mother had come for him?
Was that why he'd seen Alastor?
But the most incredible part was that a human had defeated their mother . . . that took courage and strength. And a giant boatload of stupidity.
"I guess I did."
She shook her head. "I've heard of heavy sleepers before, but dang, wolf. You're special." She stepped back. "Vane and Bride are still downstairs if you'd like to see them before they leave."
That he had mixed feelings about, but his brother needed to know he was alive and back in the world of the living. At least for the time being.
At the rate he was going, he could be sucked back into hell in a heartbeat.
Without a word, Fang dressed himself in a long-sleeved black shirt and jeans before he got up and almost fell again. He caught himself against the bedpost, despising the fact that he was still weak. He needed to be in fighting strength as soon as possible.
She put her hands on him to steady his balance. That innocent touch burned him to the core of his being. Covering her right one with his left hand, he gave a gentle squeeze.
Aimee paused at Fang's uncharacteristic action. Normally he'd be pushing her away, telling her he was fine and cursing her for treating him like he was helpless. That alone told her just how shaken he was from whatever he was hiding from her.
He was a strong wolf and a proud one.
She stepped back to give him space as he made his way to the door and walked out it. The fact he didn't use his powers was also very telling.
Aimee followed him down the hall to the stairs and to the kitchen that was bustling with activity. One of the few times of the year that Sanctuary was closed to the public, Thanksgiving had always been a celebration for them, a time when they held a massive banquet. All of the Were-Hunters who lived in Peltier House came together to feast and hang out, and this year they also had several of the former Dark-Hunters, and Acheron and Simi, in attendance.
Everyone was laughing and partying. Their cheer echoed into the kitchen where Cherif and Etienne were spooning out more potatoes and meat and adding a lot of barbecue sauce to it-Simi must still be hungry. Smiling at the thought of the Goth Charonte demon who could eat an elephant's weight in food, she returned her brothers' cheerful greeting as she helped Fang to the door.
She paused there while Fang continued into the bar and over to the table where Vane and Bride were sitting together and holding hands. He stood tall and moved fluidly, but she could sense his hurt and unease. His buried anger at the fact that Vane hadn't been there for him.
"Good luck," she whispered under her breath. She hoped everything worked out between them.
Her gaze went to Fury who froze and looked stricken the moment he saw Fang upright and moving. How she ached for all of them and for the family they would now have to piece back together.
A lump in her throat, she scanned the room to seek her own family . . . Alain who sat with Tanya and their cubs, feeding them honey sticks while trying to keep Zar from playfully stealing them. To Kyle and Cody who laughed at something Colt had said while Carson pulled a beer away from the twins. Maman and Papa sat to the side, holding hands while they whispered to each other like two teenaged humans wanting to be alone and knowing that they couldn't. Dev who sat talking and laughing with Remi, Acheron, Jasyn, Quinn, and Simi while Simi plowed through a plate of turkey, stuffing, and ham.
She couldn't imagine not having them in her life. Through everything, family was family, and yet Fang and his brothers were now suspicious of one another.
That broke her heart.
Fang wanted to turn around and leave as he realized every eye in Sanctuary was now on him. Most of them had had no idea he'd awakened and he felt like a freak in a lab where everyone was trying to figure out what had gone wrong in his DNA.
But he wasn't a coward.
Ignoring the cold lump in his stomach and wrapping his arms around himself, Fang kept his gaze on the goal of his brother and his mate. Even though Bride was seated, he could tell she was tall and Rubenesque-just the way Vane liked his women. With auburn hair and eyes so bright they danced with life, she was exquisite. And the love in her gaze as she looked at Vane was something rare. Something that should always be cherished and never abused.
His brother had done well for himself and that only made the lump inside him that much tighter.
Fang did his best to ignore all the other Were-Hunters and Acheron and Simi as he made his way to them. They were the only thing that mattered and as he approached his anger mounted.
Fang hated what he felt, but he couldn't stop it. Resentment and bitterness swelled inside him. How dare Vane go off and find happiness while he'd been tortured and abused. Images of the demons beating him, of the wounds that had cut him bone-deep went through his mind. Again, he remembered the unrelenting hunger and thirst that had never been sated. The months of grueling agony.
All the while Vane had been with Bride. . . .
Stamping his rage down, Fang held his hand out to Bride the instant he reached her.
She hesitated a moment before she took his hand into hers and he felt the way she trembled in uncertainty. The scent of her nervousness was heavy in his nostrils and the protective wolf in him wanted to soothe her. It wasn't her fault that he'd been locked in the Nether Realm. She was his brother's mate and he would honor her as that no matter what he felt inside.
"She's beautiful, Vane. I'm glad you found her." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he withdrew and met Fury's shocked gaze.
At least the bastard had the decency to look shamefaced. Well he should too. It was all Fang could do not to punch him for replacing him in Vane's affections and loyalty.
But Fury's presence in the room wasn't nearly as shocking to Fang as Stefan's was. Stefan who'd been the ringleader who beat him and Vane and then chained them to the tree for the Daimons to eat. Stefan who'd been sent out to kill them. Obviously things had changed while Fang had been out of it.
Now, their father's grand asshole sat at a table looking like someone had beat the shit out of him. No doubt he deserved it.
Stefan refused to meet Fang's gaze.
Vane came to his feet. "Fang?"
Fang didn't stop on his way back to the kitchen. He was afraid that if he did, he'd attack his brother for abandoning him to the Nether Realm and the last thing he wanted was to taint the happiness Bride and Vane shared. Vane deserved to be happy and Fang had no right to hurt him. He knew that Vane would have moved heaven and hell to get him out . . . had he only answered when Fang had called.
Gods, his emotions were absolutely bipolar and volatile where Vane was concerned.
That pain and hurt were still raw inside him. The months of brutal survival couldn't be undone with a simple encounter. He needed time to come to terms with what he'd been through.
What he'd consigned himself to.
With a hesitant smile on her beautiful face, Aimee met him at the kitchen door. Her T-shirt was a bit tighter on her body today and it caused a vicious wave of lust to consume him. Thank the gods something overrode his pain.
Before he even realized what he'd done, he reached out to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him through the kitchen and back up to his room.
Fang didn't speak the entire way up the mahogany stairs as the lavender scent of Aimee captured him.
Once in his room, he lay back in the huge tester bed while she covered him with a brightly colored quilt.
Her gaze suspicious, she paused by his side. "I know something's wrong with you, wolf. You're never this silent."
Fang snorted at her poor attempt for humor. He probably shouldn't mention any of this and yet he found himself confiding in her even against his better judgment. "If my mother's defeated and Stefan is down there in the bar with Vane and Fury and not fighting them to the death . . ." He didn't finish the thought. He already had a good idea of what that meant.
Someone was now in charge of those two clans.
And it wasn't him.
That stung him deep inside. Things had changed so dramatically and he felt all alone. Disassociated. Stunned. Most of all, deeply betrayed. Maybe he should have stayed in the Nether Realm. It was obvious that no one here needed him anymore. Vane had moved on with his life.
Their entire clan had restructured under someone else's leadership.
What was he going to do now? He felt lost and he hated that sensation.
Aimee felt Fang's turmoil and it made her want to cry that she couldn't help him. She couldn't stand feeling so helpless. Most of all, she didn't want to see their family splintered at a time when they needed one another the most. "You know your brother checked on you every day while you were out of it. Even today, he made sure to come see you. Fury was here too."
"I know."
And still he was so sad.
Without thinking, she curled up on the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around him to hold him close. It was the only way to comfort him that she knew.
Fang closed his eyes as his heart pounded from the warmth of her embrace. No one had ever held him like this before.
No one.
There was nothing sexual about it. It was a hug meant to comfort him. And may the gods have mercy on his worthless soul because it did.
Placing his hand over her much smaller one, he felt something inside him shatter and in that moment, he knew a truth that scared him even more than the demon that was living inside him.
He loved her.
It made a mockery of what he'd thought he felt for Stephanie all those years ago. This wasn't the crush of a young wolf fascinated with a beautiful wolfswan who was coveted by the pack. This was the bloody and bruised heart of an animal that had never really been opened before.
Aimee had come for him and she had stood beside him when no one else had. She alone had fought to save him from hell.
Even now . . .
Gods help me. He shouldn't feel like this. He should shove her out the door and yet he couldn't bring himself to destroy the serenity of this moment with her. The tenderness inside him that her touch awoke.
For the first time in his entire life he was at peace.
Without a word, she trailed her hand up to brush through his hair. His body was white-hot, reminding him of the fact that it had been literally months since he'd last been with a woman.
And he wanted her with a madness that was consuming. A madness he had to deny for both their sakes.
"As much as I'm enjoying that, Aimee, you're going to have to stop."
"Why?"
"Because I want you so badly I can taste it."
She rolled him over onto his back. Her crystal blue gaze only added to the need in him to have her. Those dainty fingers, so soft and soothing, played over his lips as she smiled at him. Then she did the most amazing thing of all, she lowered her head and kissed him.
Fang growled at the taste of her. At the warmth of her breath mingling with his as their tongues danced together. He surrendered himself to the magic of her mouth.
For a moment, all of his thoughts scattered.
"No," he said, pulling away. "We can't do this."
"I know. I'm sorry." Kissing him lightly on the cheek, she got up slowly and straightened her clothes.
His cock twitched as her breasts were made even more apparent by that action. Damn, hadn't one of her brothers or her parents ever told her not to parade around like that? Her nipples were hard and outlined in a way that tortured him even worse than the demons had.
Gods, to taste just one of those . . .
The wolf inside was salivating.
"Are you hungry?"
Yes, he was, but not for food. "No. I'm all right."
She nodded. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
Naked? He almost groaned aloud as that image went through his mind with a clarity that should be illegal. Damn it to hell, get out of my head. But the image of her nude body was there and it blistered him.
As soon as she was gone, he placed his hand down to his cock to try and alleviate some of the pain she'd caused. It was no use. He was so hard, he could drive a nail with his erection.
"What am I going to do?"
If he touched her, he would violate all the laws of the Omegrion and her family would mount his balls to the mirror that hung over the bar.
So he would suffer. Whimper . . . none of it would give him what he really wanted, which was to be inside her sinfully delicious body.
"Fang?"
He heard Vane's voice from the other side of his door. Pulling the covers over his lap to hide what Aimee had done to him, he sighed at the welcomed interruption even though he dreaded seeing his brother again. "Come in."
Vane opened the door. "Hey."
Fang would have been amused by his uncharacteristic hesitancy, but right now nothing much could elicit that from him. Not while his body was this hungry.
Awkward silence filled the room as they stared at each other.
Vane leaned against the closed door. "I can't believe you're finally awake. I really thought I'd lost you."
"Yeah, well, you'll have to forgive me for being a selfish asshole." Fang cringed as those words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Vane stiffened as he recognized the quote. "You heard me?"
Fang looked away, unwilling to answer. So he changed the subject. "Why's Stefan downstairs?"
"Markus has fallen and Stefan is no longer a leader. I put Fury in charge of the pack."
Fang couldn't have been more pissed off had his brother slapped him. Then again, that's exactly what he'd done by putting Fury in as their leader.
It should have been him.
"He's not strong enough to lead."
"With my backing he is."
And with Vane's backing, Fang couldn't challenge him for leadership. Well, he could, but it would break their bond and weaken them before the others, leaving them open to attack. Which was exactly what the other wolfswains would do. Perfect. He'd been completely cut out of his birthright.
Markus would be thrilled.
Vane moved forward cautiously as he watched Fang's solemn contemplation. This wasn't the reunion he'd expected when Fang finally came out of his coma. He'd dreamed of this moment over and over again. Fang waking up, happy to be alive. His brother embracing him. . . .
But something was different now. There was an air around Fang far deadlier than anything Vane had sensed from him before.
His brother was angry and there was a bitterness to him that he didn't understand. Why would he feel like that given what he'd put Vane and Fury through? "You've been out of it for months."
"Believe me, I know." His eyes flashed with brutal malice.
Frustrated, Vane sighed. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing, Vane, I just want you to be happy."
His mouth might have said that, but his tone didn't. Vane tried again to ease the tension between them. "I am that. Finally. Bride's better than I ever deserved. And we both have a room for you at our house."
Fang grimaced at his offer. "I don't know. You two are newly mated. The last thing you need is your mentally defective brother spooking the shit out of your woman."
That was a vintage Fang comment. One of the sarcastic retorts that Vane had been craving to hear all of these months past. "Bride doesn't spook easily."
"Probably true if she sees you first thing in the morning."
Vane smiled at his humor. His chest was tight as he realized just how much he really had missed his brother while Fang had been out of it. There was no one else in the world like him. "We want you with us."
Fang shot out of the bed as if he were about to attack. "I'm not your son, Vane," he snarled with an unexpected rage. "I'm not a child. I'm a grown wolf and I really don't think I belong with you guys."
He nodded, but refused to back down. He knew better than to let Fang sense his emotions. It would only make the wolf in him more volatile.
So he tried to change the subject to something safer. "There's something else you need to know about Fury."
Fang scoffed. "He's my brother. Aimee already told me."
That surprised the hell out of him. Just how close was his brother to the bearswan?
That couldn't be good.
"Do you want to see him?" Vane asked.
"Not really. In case you've forgotten, the two of us aren't exactly friendly."
"Yeah, I know. But he's been a big help protecting Bride."
"I'm glad you had him." The tone of his voice belied those words.
Vane scowled at his attitude, which was beginning to chafe his ass raw. He'd been keeping a leash on his temper, but it was starting to slip under the constant assault he didn't deserve.
He was trying, but Fang wasn't making any effort at all.
Instead Fang kept attacking and the wolf part of Vane was getting really sick of it. "Why are you so angry at me?"
Fang simmered inside. His fury was volcanic and he wanted to lash out at Vane in the worst way.
You let me down, you asshole!
But that wasn't the only bane that burned inside him. It was the fact that while Vane had let him down, he'd cursed him for being trapped. That his brother had said things to him that were wrong and hurtful.
And wholly undeserved.
He wanted to feel the same love and loyalty for his brother now that he'd felt the night Anya had died. But it wasn't there anymore and that hurt most of all.
Fang wasn't the same and neither was Vane.
Unwilling to fight anymore when it wouldn't change anything, Fang backed off. "Look, I still don't feel well. Why don't you go and spend time with your mate and Fury?"
"What about you? You're my family too."
Yeah, right.
Funny, he didn't feel like that anymore. "Just pretend I'm still in a coma. I'm sure that'll be easy enough for you to do."
Vane screwed his face up into a look of disgust. "Oh, fuck you, you selfish bastard. You know, Fury and I were the ones who kept you safe while you laid in bed, worthless to us. And now you dare to cop an attitude with me? You are such a bitter shit."
Fang raked Vane with a sneer. "Yeah, like you don't know anything about being selfish."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You abandoned me to chase tail and then when I didn't rise at your command, you buddied up with a bastard you hate. Don't forget, I know your love of Fury runs about as deep as mine does. Where was your loyalty in all this?"
Vane slung his hand out and pinned him to the wall. "You better be glad you've been sick or I'd shove those words down your throat."
Fang blasted him with a wave of his own. It shattered the powers Vane used to hold him and sent his brother reeling as he was released. "You're not the only one who can command magick, dick."
Vane looked up from where he'd landed on the floor against the wall, his features shocked. "How did you do that?"
"There's a lot about me you don't know, adelphos. Be grateful that I'm not willing to show it all to you. Now get out."
Vane pushed himself to his feet. No, this wasn't the same Fang who'd been through a bitter childhood with him. Something was seriously wrong with his brother and he had no idea what.
But if Fang wouldn't tell him, there was nothing he could do.
He wiped his hand against his mouth. "Fine. Sit up here and rot." He slammed the door shut as he left.
Aimee shot out of her room at the sound and paused in the hallway as she saw him. "Are you all right?"
"No, I'm not." Vane glared at the closed door as he imagined splintering both it and Fang's head wide open. "I'm one step away from killing that idiot."
"Fang?"
"Is there another one?"
Her expression bemused, she nodded. "Quite a few under this roof, point of fact, and I'm related to several of them. But why would you want to hurt your brother after all he's been through?"
"After all he's been through?" Vane scoffed. "Pah-lease! You sound like him. I'm sorry if laying in bed and being hand-fed because I can't deal with the same reality the rest of us had to face just doesn't relate to what has been happening to me and Fury. We barely survived the hunt. I've had to battle a demon and Daimons and-"
"And you think Fang wanted to be in that coma?"
Vane sneered at her. "You heard what Carson and Grace said. He could have come out of it anytime he wanted to."
Aimee shook her head. "No, Vane, he couldn't. Believe me."
"Believe you? No," he said as his bitterness swelled up deep inside him. How dare she take up for Fang. "I know my brother better than anyone and I know exactly how selfish he is. All he cares about is himself."
"Vane . . . you're wrong. Fang wasn't in a coma. He was trapped in hell. I know because I'm the one who went in and got him out of there. You battled one single demon. He battled hundreds."
