The Brotherhood

03

From the moment that Finley woke up, she knew that today was a strange day. The brothers were whispering to each other every time she walked past. No one bothered to tell her what was going on or what they were whispering about, despite the fact that she asked Xander about it repeatedly. 

"Seriously, Xander, what are they whispering about?" Finley demanded. 

"I don't know," Xander sighed, exasperated, "I've already told you a thousand times, I don't know."

"Yeah, but -" Finley started. 

"Just let it go, Fin," Xander told her, walking faster to escape her endless pestering. 

Finley grumbled as she stalked after him. She went through the day with a growing feeling of frustration. Not one single person seemed to know what everyone was talking about behind her back. And yet, she had a feeling that there was one person who knew exactly what everyone was saying. 

Lunch finally came after a day of endlessly boring classes in which the other packs in them whispered about her the entire time. She slid onto the bench at the table across from Sloan, just like she always did. Usually, she ignored Sloan and the bullshit that spewed from his mouth, but today his ability to know everything that was going on in the compound at all times would be useful. She grinned at him. 

"What?" Sloan asked her, eyeing her suspiciously. 

"We're members of a pack, aren't we Sloan?" Finley asked sweetly. 

"Where's this going, Fin?" Sloan asked, not buying her act for a second, "What do you want?" 

Finley abandoned her act and did what she was best at, being completely obstinate and too blunt for her own good. "What's everybody whispering about today? What does it have to do with me?" 

Xander sighed as he slid onto the bench beside her, "This again? Seriously?" 

Finley ignored him and kept her eyes fixed on Sloan. Sloan looked her over for a long time. She refused to back down. She would find out what everyone was talking about, even if she had to threaten Sloan. She waited, not taking her eyes off of Sloan's face, waiting for him to crack. Titan stared Sloan down too, his yellow eyes not leaving his face either. Sloan glanced between Finley and Titan, starting to squirm. Finley felt her lips spread into a smile. 

Sloan threw up his hands in exasperation, "Ugh, fine! I'll tell you!" 

Finley threw her fists up in victory. "Yes!"

"Calm down," Sloan snapped, "I'm pretty sure once I tell you what everybody's whispering about, you're not going to be so enthusiastic."

Finley lowered her hands and waited quietly for Sloan to continue. Her heart raced. There were so many things that the brothers could be whispering about her. This had to be pretty bad if Sloan was warning her about it. 

Sloan watched her for a few moments before he spoke again. "Apparently, things got pretty heated at the alpha meeting last night. Anders started spewing some sort of nonsense about how we should've thrown you out to the village when you got here because you're only good for fucking. Kane said something that made Anders upset and Anders issued a challenge to him." 

The entire pack gasped after Sloan spoke. A challenge was no joke. Usually, a challenge didn't end until one of the fighters yielded or was killed. Finley wasn't sure how Anders was still alive. A challenge to Kane was a death wish. It took someone who was a real dumbass to challenge someone twice their size to a fight to the death. 

"Is Anders still alive?" Miles asked, his eyes wide. 

"Of course he's still alive," Raynar snapped, "Kane isn't stupid enough to kill another alpha at an alpha meeting."