Chapter 1
Randall
When Randall heard that his sister had settled everything, he was happy for it obviously, but it had started a whirlwind in the family. Ben, their older brother, not only found out that they had a long-lost brother that he didn’t know about on his dad’s side, but he also wanted everyone to get hitched. Ben was on a mission.
The long-lost brother Ethan was going to take a little while to get used to the pack and the way things were. He had spent most of his time with the impression that he was human and now that he knew the truth, he was playing catch up. Randall didn’t like Ethan popping up out of nowhere and disrupting his whole life.
Worse than that, Randall was expected to be a good host and a good brother and show him the ropes. He was literally supposed to show his replacement how to act. It felt like adding insult to injury, and he wished that he would have taken off completely when his sister had gone. It would have been easier. She had the right idea, to do whatever the hell she wanted and ask for forgiveness later. It seemed to make a lot more sense than just being miserable like he was.
Ben called him to his office, and even though he was his older brother, Randall was very nervous about the meeting. He tried his best to hold his anxiety in because he knew that it would do him no good to fight it. He had to have a plan in place to be gone, just like Allie did. It was sad that it all came down to that, but Randall was a realist if nothing else. He could see the writing on the wall and knew that once his brother had become Alpha, everything in their family had changed. Ben was no longer the brother that he used to be and the new guy, Ethan, was no better. He was worse because Randall did not know anything about him, except that he didn't trust him.
One morning, Ethan came to his room earlier than usual and wanted to get started on training. Randall trained, of course every male in the pack trained, to stay in tip top condition but somehow, he had been roped into not only showing him around, but becoming his friend. Randall did not feel that way. He hated Ethan if he was completely honest with himself and just because there was some similarity in blood from their father, it didn't mean that he felt like they were brothers. He was just a stranger that had an “in” to his family. He was a stranger that was trying to one up him and take away all the good in his life. That was exactly how Randall saw him.
Even as he stood there, blonde hair curly and cut short with hairstyling products, Randall couldn’t stand to look at him. Thoughts flashed and there was nothing that resembled his own dark eyes and hair to feel the same. How could someone that was supposed to be related to him be so different? It made no sense. Randall looked at him and he saw nothing but a stranger. What was he supposed to say? Randall just saw a cocky guy being treated like royalty since he got there, and it drove Randall crazy. He just couldn't abide by it.
“Come on, old man. Let's go get some training in.”
Randall scowled at him and asked him why he had to be so annoying. It was done on purpose; he was sure of it. Ethan was constantly trying to say negative things to throw him off. That moment was no different.
“Ben said that you would show me around and take me under your wing. That's what you're doing, right?”
Randall did not want to hear that. It was the way it was said, the smile that came out of the sounds, like he knew that they had him there and there was nothing he could do about it. It pissed Randall off, but to no avail. It did him no good. Ben had said that exact same thing. He had been standing there when it happened boldly to him. The problem was, Ben was his older brother and even his Alpha, but it didn't mean that Randall was so quick to listen to his instructions. He certainly wasn’t going to let Ethan throw it in his face like a threat.
It wasn't the first time that he wondered again if his mistake was not taking off like his sister had done. Likely, he would have been better off. He could have never met Ethan and wouldn’t be waking up to his face every morning.
For the time being though, until he came up with a better plan, Randall smiled and dealt with Ethan as well as he could. He had to ignore the urge to physically hurt his new brother. He had to go with Ethan and leave with him. It was the last thing that he wanted to do, but it was his older brother's wishes, so be it. It wasn't the first time either, that Randall realized his brother becoming Alpha was one of the worst things to happen to him. That was saying something.
They both walked to the training grounds, and Randall did his best to keep things light. He would have much rather traveled in silence but knew that Ethan was a talker and notonly that, but he would say something to rope Randall into the conversation every single time.
“Did you hear that I'm going to be getting a bride?” Ethan asked Randall out of the blue. Randall wasn’t ready and he missed a step, making Ethan chuckle and Randall cringe.
He had not heard that information and it caught him off guard, which he didn't like, because then Ethan got the reaction that he was looking for. That was the only reason Randall could think of why Ethan would say and do the things that he did. He was like one of those bad children, always looking for attention in any way they could get it.
Randall wanted to believe this time that his bragging was actually a lie. Randall had been hinting to Ben that he was interested in a wife, had been for a while, and every time Ben told him that he was too young, and he needed to sow his wild oats first. Randall could not believe that Ben would set Ethan up with a wife so quickly. He felt internal rage come over him that he had never had before, and Randall didn’t know what to do with the anger.
When he turned to him to start training, it all seemed to fall into place. Everything that was going wrong in Ben's life was because of his “new” brother. If Ethan wasn't there, if his brother didn't exist, then maybe everything would be a lot easier. Randall had to believe that.
“He set you up with a wife?” Randall had to ask, incredulous as he was.
“Yeah, I will go see her at the end of the week and from what I hear, she's a real looker. It's one of the clans that he is trying to take over, I guess. I don't know, but I told him I was down.”
He almost knocked Ethan’s head off with a surprise left. Randall felt sick to his stomach, and he started trading hard punches with Ethan. At some point, he must have realized that he wasn't playing around, and they were no longer sparring. In the end, Randall may have been truly just trying to smash his face in with his fist. That was all he could think of at the moment, all of it was just too much disrespect to be borne. He couldn't be expected to stand idly by when everything around him was happening so fast.
“Page is her name. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? She’s from that gypsy tribe that has harems. We really are missing out. When I heard that some clans have harems, I wished that I was a part of that one. I could get down with that.”
“Page? Jeffers?”
He thought about it and shrugged after a moment. “I think that might be her last name. Do you know her?”
Randall hit Ethan several times in the face, getting almost as many back. Randall was not the sort that took his frustrations out on other people but that morning with Ethan he was. Maybe Ethan had said too much or maybe it was because he hadn’t even let Randall have a cup of coffee yet. Possibly though, his talk of getting married to the woman that Randall had fallen for years ago when he was a teen and been told that he would never have a chance with was just the icing on the cake. How was Ben going to give her to Ethan? It was too much. The disrespect was more than he could bear any longer.
The more he thought about it, the harder he hit him. He looked down to see his face. There would be consequences for his actions. There was no way that there couldn't be. Randall could have worried all he wanted, instead he decided to bask in the glory of his decision and the way it felt to beat the crap outof him. The pain he felt just made it all the better. He told Ethan that he was no brother of his. Someone at the training ring saw them about to fight again, and they broke them up.
Randall knew that Ben was going to be pissed by what he had done to Ethan. He was supposed to befriend him, not fight him. Randall didn’t care. He wasn’t going to be friends with Ethan, ever. He had started something, but Randall was willing to see what happened. He knew that Ben was going to have some messed up way to get him back. He always did, but Randall thought it would be worth it.
Chapter 2
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