Embrace (Rocky x Chase)

Chapter 16- Breaking the Mask

There was no turning back now.

"What did you do!?" Rocky cried, running outside into the yard as panic surged in his veins. He only became further distraught upon seeing Chase's unconscious body next to the car. "Why did you do that!? You didn't need to do that!"

Dakota merely shrugged off his brother's words, his cold expression never once slipping. "Would you relax? Cops never just leave, I figured you knew that already."

"You didn't know that!" Rocky barked, his voice shaking at the sight of his partner. "You didn't know anything he was about to do!"

"Ugh, what's it to you?" Dakota said with a sneer, flashing Rocky an irritated look. "Didn't you tell me a while back you wanted all of them to burn?"

Rocky's heart sank as his own words were thrown back at him. "I- I did say that, but that was before-" he stopped, voice freezing as he realized what he was about to say.

His brother narrowed his eyes at him. "Before what?"

Under the larger dog's intimidating gaze, Rocky felt cornered. All he had to do was say Chase was his boyfriend, so why couldn't he? For reasons he couldn't explain; Rocky felt an unbelievable fear of revealing such a thing right now. Abandoning his suspended words, he hung his head in shame. "Nothing... sorry."

Dakota looked at him up and down, trying to read his brother like a condemned novel. He could smell something was up, but he let it slide as he prepared their course of action. "Well then load him onto my back, we can't keep him here."

A storm of guilt washed over Rocky every second he gripped Chase's limb body. "Where are we taking him?" He asked, hoisting the shepherd up.

"The same place I took Zuma, now come on."

Before the dumbfounded puppy could say another word, With their newest prisoner in tow; Dakota led into the overgrown, filth-ridden forest that surrounded the shack. The trees stood like dark towers, the branches extending out and clamping their thin fingers around one another. The whole place was a scene straight from a horror movie, the exact place some idiot would wander into and get murdered six minutes later. Rocky stuck close to his brother as they walked, unable to hide his frantic shivering as the trees watched him. His gaze couldn't seem to leave Chase as he was carried, a sickening feeling rising within him.

"What happened back there," Dakota said after a while. "Can't happen again, you hesitating like that."

"I just... I knew him, that was all." Rocky's guilt tracked him in his step, shrinking under the disapproving glares of the branches. The whole damned forest seemed alive, reading Rocky's sins and showering him with their shameful leaves.

His brother didn't look at the trees - debatable if he even saw them at all - not caring to meet their judging gazes. "Well, the harshest betrayals come from those we trust." He said coldly. "The important part is finding who to trust in the first place."

"Can I trust you?" Rocky dared to ask.

Dakota completely stopped in his tracks, standing still as if he was merely listening to the trees rustling. Then he took a deep breath, and slowly turned his head to face Rocky. His eye twitched for a fraction of a second, leering down at his sibling. With an unnerving lack of emotion, Dakota stared into the frightful dog below him. "Of course you can," he said, gritting his teeth for a second. "After all, who else do you have?" Rocky had no time to say anything before Dakota sharply turned forward again. His eyes flicked to Chase briefly, frowning as he followed behind.

"Sometimes you have to do things that aren't pretty." Dakota said, his tone noticeably growing colder. "Maybe you're sending a message; maybe it's for the greater good; regardless, you have to learn when something is necessary in the grand scheme of things."