The Brotherhood

16

The day was one of those days were everything seemed a bit bland. The sky was cloudy and overcast, but there was no rain falling from the heavy clouds. Training dragged on and on making Finley feel like she'd fall asleep at any moment. Boredom seemed to have fallen over all of the pack members in a way that made time seem to move slowly. 

The day stretched on. Finley noticed that there was a presence missing from training that day. It was a presence that was absent from dinner later that day as well. It wasn't until they were about to leave the dining hall that Finley began to understand that something was truly wrong. One of the members of Ethan's pack came up and whispered in Raynar's ear. Finley couldn't hear what he'd said but whatever it was made Raynar's face turn white. Finley's heart began beating wildly in her chest. 

Raynar looked out at the pack and seemed to make a split second decision. He turned back to Ethan's pack member and whispered something to him. The pack member nodded then ran off. Finley didn't take her eyes off of Raynar. She needed to know what he was going to say next. It felt like time had begun to stand still. 

"What happened?" Finley asked impatiently. Xander shot her a look, but Finley still didn't take her eyes off of Raynar. 

Raynar didn't answer her. He looked over at Warren. All Warren did was raise an eyebrow at him. Raynar answered with a nod. That was it. There was no other communication between the two before Warren stood up and motioned for the pack to follow him. Finley stayed where she was for a moment. She didn't want to leave without knowing what was going on. In the end, she followed after her pack. There was no getting any information out of Raynar that he didn't want to tell. Grumbling, Finley got up and followed her pack. 

She reached the doors on the opposite end of the dining hall before she turned back. She watched as Raynar stood and left. Finley glanced behind her to where the rest of her pack was walking back to the training ring for their final round of training for the night. Finley didn't follow them though. She turned toward where Raynar had wandered off and marched after him. She knew that she'd likely get in a massive amount of trouble for this, but she had a feeling that something was very, very wrong. She couldn't ignore that. She had to find out what was wrong. 

Finley followed behind Raynar, far enough away from him that his bonded, Chloe wouldn't be able to scent her or Titan. Titan stayed close to her side like he could sense trouble too and he didn't want to risk something happening to her. It was the best comfort that Finley could ever ask for. 

Raynar walked down hall after hall, twisting and turning around corners. Finley had never been in this part of the compound before. She had no idea where she was. Titan seemed to know something that she didn't though. His hackles kept raising and he was growling low enough that Chloe wouldn't be able to hear him. Usually, Finley would reach down and stroke his back to calm him down, but some instinct deep inside of her warned her that she should let him be on guard for whatever they were about to see. 

Raynar turned down a long hallway that was big and wide. Finley had never been here before, but she knew where they were. This was where the Supreme's quarters were. An inescapable chill skated down her limbs. Had something happened to the Supreme? Was that why Raynar had been called away, to help Kane deal with an injured Supreme? 

Raynar walked forward with his arms swinging loosely at his sides, like nothing in the world was wrong. Finley slowly crept forward behind him. She couldn't get too close and her heart was beating so loudly in her chest she was worried that Chloe would be able to hear it. She watched with a lump in her throat as Raynar opened the wooden door at the end of the hall. Finley waited six heartbeats before approaching the door. She hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. That same instinct from before warned her that if she opened this door, there was no going back. Whatever was behind this door would forever change her and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that. Some voice of fate seemed to tell her that she wasn't ready for what she was about to see. That same voice seemed to urge her onward though, whispering delicately in her ear, asking her, daring her to open the door. Finally, Finley took her fate in her hands and turned the knob, pushing the door open.