7
RAFF
I'd spent the last few days angry at a dead man, and the worst part was I couldn't confront him about it. My beloved twin was somewhere I couldn’t reach him.
Whatever Bodie had done to Thorne, the human refused to discuss it. I made lists in my head of what my brother did that was so bad, but it was futile when Thorne refused to voice his anger.
And though Thorne was my mate and I should have been head over heels in love with him, I instinctively reacted to the human as if I’d taken on my brother’s role. Bodie’s scent provoked something in me. My brother had been a lot of things. The words charming, reckless, impulsive popped into my head, but I'd always believed he was a decent guy. Maybe I was wrong.
When we were kids, he protected me, and now somehow in death, those roles were reversed, and the universe was telling me what? That I had to take my twin’s side and defend him from any accusations that the human could fling at him.
The situation was so messed up, and my head and heart were messed up along with it.
The cafeteria should have been a place to forget about work, chat with friends, and eat great food, but now it had become a battleground. Thorne was always there, whether out back in the kitchen or in the cafeteria itself. He and I no longer made eye contact, or if we did, we quickly looked away.
He was supposedly still considering whether to reveal the truth, and I was giving him space. That was what humans called it. But my wolf made that nearly impossible. If Thorne came within twenty feet of me, my wolf lunged toward him and I had to haul him back. And underneath that desperate pull to be with my fated mate, Bodie's scent lingered, and my anger flared again.
I was mad at my brother which was a betrayal. He was dead. He couldn't defend himself. But he'd done something to the one person the universe had chosen for me, and I couldn't forgive that without knowing what it was.
Anger at my twin and at Thorne for keeping quiet festered inside me, and I wanted out of my head. Though that wasn’t possible, when two days off landed on the schedule, I drove home to my folks’.
My parents lived in the same house I'd grown up in. It was a large old place which had originally belonged to my grandparents. It was perfect for shifters, especially ones who had just found their beasts, because it backed up to the woods where Bodie and I had taken our first shifts.
Dad was in the garden when I pulled up, kneeling beside a row of tomato plants that he’d been weeding. He stood when he heard the truck and met me halfway up the path. His eyes brightenedwhen he caught sight of me, but that didn’t hide the sadness that had snatched away a part of him when Bodie died.
“You look tired.” He pulled me into a hug.
“That's why I’m here for some R&R.”
He studied my face but didn’t ask any probing questions. My omega father tended to hold back questions until you answered them on your own, which was kind of infuriating.
Pop was in the kitchen making lunch. He grinned, and if a stranger walked in, they wouldn’t have picked up on the grief that he hid. Pop had learned to live with the pain of losing Bodie even though it was a constant ache. Bodie's death had broken something in Dad that never fully healed, whereas Pop had learned to carry the weight of it.
“There he is.” Pop clasped my shoulder. “I saw the highlights from last week. You looked good out there."
I didn’t want to talk about how that wasn’t true. I’d been average at best after the benching.
We ate lunch, and they asked about the new team, about Axel who I’d mentioned, and the facilities. I’d sent some pics, and they were as impressed as I was that first day.
Dad asked if I was eating properly and whether my apartment had working smoke detectors. That last one he asked every time I moved somewhere new. None of us spoke of why he did that. It was too painful and would dredge up memories.
“Are either of you familiar with the name Thorne?”
“Should we be?” Pop asked.
“With regards to what? Is this to do with one of the neighbors or an old school friend?” Dad pushed his plate away.
“He's the new chef at the stadium.”
They both shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell them he was my mate because they’d get excited and pepper me with questions. Dad in particular could do with some good news, but I chose to keep that hidden.
“He knew Bodie.”d
My parents stopped fiddling with their water glass and picking at leftovers.
“Knew him h-how?” There was a tremor in Dad’s voice.
“That's what I'm trying to find out.” I explained that he wouldn’t tell me much. But he knew my brother, and because I looked like Bodie, he connected the dots that we were brothers. “I wondered if Bodie ever mentioned him.”
