“Dad did that?” Steve said, looking at Marcus’s face with shocked dismay.
“I’ve been going against him a lot recently,” Marcus said, nonchalant. “It creates tension. We fight, he establishes that he’s still dominant, and he lets me have my way.”
That was the worst thing Steve had ever heard. It was dysfunctional to the point of horror.
“You shouldn’t-”
“Dad is unstable and he knows it. When the time comes that I have to do something about it, I’ll be ready, but that time is not now. He’s still in control enough that he can run the pack.”
Steve remembered what Marcus had said about how their dad had taken Steve leaving. ‘Fighting more than usual,’ were the words he’d used.
Did that mean that Marcus had needed to put himself in harm’s way because of Steve? The thought made him sick.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Marcus said, grinning and pulling Steve in for another rough hug. “This isn’t your fault. I want to take over from Dad, and that means testing him and pushing my limits.”
Except that, in his anger, Marcus had admitted that he was doing it ten years earlier than he had planned. If it hadn’t been for Steve, Marcus wouldn’t be testing the limits and getting into altercationsnow, he’d be doing it ten years down the line, when he was stronger and their dad was weaker.
Steve felt the weight of his decisions crashing down on him, shame curdling in his stomach.
“Hey, stop it,” Marcus said, grabbing him by the back of his neck and squeezing him tight. “I could have dragged you home and avoided all of this at any time. I’m not angry with you.”
That only made it worse. Steve held back tears, not wanting to cry in front of his older brother. After a moment, he managed to wrestle himself under control.
“I wish you’d told me to come home,” Steve mumbled. He wouldn’t have left if he’d realized what it would mean for Marcus.
“Only if my spies told me you weren’t doing well, and you seemed to be doing okay,” Marcus said, releasing Steve from the hug. “I think it was good for you to get some time away from the pack, and Dad will be happy when it all blows over and he’s left with a bigger territory and an alpha like Ryker Sterling under his command. It all worked out in the end.”
Steve ducked his head and looked at the floor, feeling like an idiot, when Marcus’s mention of spies registered. He looked up.
“You were the one who sent people to spy on me?”
He’d thought for sure it was their father, but when he gave it a little thought, that really wasn’t their dad’s style. Then again, how had their dad known he was getting close to Ryker if he didn’t have people watching him?
“Of course it was,” Marcus said, reaching over and ruffling his hair. “Did you think it was Dad?”
Steve nodded, and Marcus chuckled.
“No, he only sent one. That’s when I knew we had to act, before he started getting paranoid and did something stupid.”
“Betty Wiltshire?” Steve asked.
Marcus nodded. “Yes, she was working for Dad. Patricia, Colin and Jonathan were working for me.”
Steve hadn’t seen hide or hair of Patricia, Colin or Jonathan. They must have been incredibly sneaky.
“I only noticed Betty,” he admitted.
Marcus laughed. “Dad was never the best at cultivating spies.”
“Not like you?”
“I wasn’t allowed to contact you, but I needed to know if you were getting into trouble.” Marcus tilted his head and gave him a look. “I almost intervened when you started up that weird habit of yours of encroaching on Sterling’s territory. I’ve been dying to ask you, what in the world you were thinking?”
“What do you mean?” Steve asked, defensive. He crossed his arms. “The whole preserve was neutral territory.”
Marcus looked at him, his eyebrow lifting in that infuriating way it did when he thought Steve was being an idiot.
“It was!” Steve insisted. He was so tired of this argument.
