Unsevered Ties

21. Big Bad Wolf

Trigger chapter: abuse or anger. The trigger will be marked with a start and end in the chapter.

Chapter 21: The Big Bad Wolf

Rafeo stared at Sega, and Sega stared back. Sega had a glass of dark liquor in his hand as he waited for his old friend's reaction. Rafeo could have a violent side to him like any other man, and having practically grown up together, there was no vast difference in skills. Rafeo had a stronger build than him, and standing only two inches shorter, he could give Sega a run for his money in an outright knuckle brawl. Like his father, Rafeo was an exceptional fighter and hunter. Sega did not actually want to get into a fight with him.

Rafeo stayed quiet for a long moment, the wheels in his head turning as he tried to process it all. Gods? Gods of all things interfering? The skeptic in him did not believe Sega's story, but it was one of those types of things that someone couldn't make up. It would explain why the King had been so cryptic with details.

Rafeo grimaced at the thought of such a farfetched thing happening—to his brother, of all people. He knew there were things and forces in their world that no one could explain. He was a believer in both science and their faith, but to actually see a modern-day sign of the existence of their Gods. His mind was beyond blown.

He sat, the weight of his body slumping back into the chair. "You're telling me that you both really went through with this?" Rafeo's head dropped into his lap, many emotions coursing through him. "Both of you. Two of you, with my singular little uninformed brother." Rafeo forcefully shut off his brain. He couldn't go down the route he knew Naki had to have traveled. "Oh, I want to take you both and take your jaws apart right now. Sega, I want to kick the shit out of you so bad right now."

"It wasn't planned. I put my honor on that Rafeo. Aiden and I had no intention of sharing. I don't know how, but he has a bloodline gift. The very same from the Mountain King. The King had no children. With him, the trait would have died out until the Gods saw fit to bless another family line. For Aiden to have it, something is amiss with him."

Sega gently swirled the contents of his glass around. "What should have been a fast match turned out to be more than I expected. Truthfully, whether the Gods intervened or not, there would have been no pretty outcome. And then Aiden demanded the marking immediately, and as I told you, I had no plans on, um, you know, plucking Naki's fruit, but if only Aiden had-"

"Mm-no-no-no. Don't you dare finish that. Don't you ever finish that sentence in my presence." Rafeo frowned, his brows furrowing with discontent. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Gods, mysterious new bloodline transfer. There was something at work, and thus far, it was beyond his comprehension. Naki, his little sweet-faced Naki, his little sensitive brother who had far too harsh a life already... Now Naki got pulled into prophecies?!

"Did the King have concerns over it? We don't know much about the Mountain Pack. I assume that you have been staying with Aiden and Naki. Are you investigating him? Your father disappeared, as he tends to do. The day after I came back, he said nothing about this, but then again, another subject took importance."

Sega nodded. "I am looking into things. There is something that the King knew that other Packs do not, and such a thing shouldn't be able to be done by the likes of us. The Mountain Pack has had a huge expansion. I am not sure what has been going on since Aiden has left, but I think he could answer these questions far better than I could."

Rafeo shook his head. "This is... all of this is unbelievable. Why Naki, though? What does he have to do with any of this? I swear, if Aiden has gotten into some type of sorcery shit, I'm going to chop everything that's longer than an inch off of him!"

He turned swiftly towards Sega. "I don't trust him as far as I could throw him. I don't know what he has been doing over these damn years. To come back a King... I shouldn't have so readily let it go without real answers." He leaned over the desk, anger rolling through him. "I was so quick to try to cover myself, I let Naki get caught up in some weird voodoo shit!"