One

Chapter 33

"How are you feeling?"

It was a simple question, one Brandon couldn't really give an answer to with his frazzled mind. Jamie had been more than kind by helping him wash up, even going as far as to bat Brandon's hands out of the way when the weakened Alpha tried to reach for the soap.

Currently said Alpha was struggling to stay upright, enjoying the gentle scrape of Jamie's fingers through his hair. Clearing his throat, Brandon forced himself to focus in order to answer Jamie's honest question.

"I'm... shaky. Tired in general but the pheromones are still clashing." He didn't mean to sound like a pup complaining about a tummy ache but judging from the soft chuckle escaping from Jamie... that's exactly what he sounded like.

Luckily the beta didn't pester him on his childish reaction, instead applying the conditioner before rinsing his hands. There was a brief moment of silence before Jamie hesitantly poked against Brandon's uninjured shoulder, "Your muscles are tensed up too. Especially around the mark."

A grimace made its way on Brandon's face as he flexed his neck, sighing as it only managed to pull on the sensitive skin around the fresh mark and irritate it. "Nothing I can do about that besides wait until it relaxes."

There was a comfortable moment of silence as Jamie cleaned a few of the products up before Brandon licked his suddenly dry lips. "How do you feel? With all this?" He added a tired, halfhearted motion towards his mark, hand splashing back in the bathwater as Jamie paused. "It may be the pheromones messing with my head, but, you seem more...distant."

For a moment the Beta remained quiet, stacking away the shampoo and conditioner in the cupboard before closing the doors and slowly faced Brandon. Jamie's smile was gentle and understanding as he sat down beside the bath so Brandon didn't need to look up at him.

"I'm not ... unhappy about it, if that's what you think." Jamie murmured, reaching for the detachable showerhead before motioning with his chin for Brandon to lean back. The Alpha did as commanded, baring his throat in the process without a second thought.

He stilled as a shaking finger hesitantly pressed against his throat before Jamie's hand supported his head while the man rinsed his hair. "I...look. You've already seen Lobo's reaction when you informed him what a permanent mark entailed."

Oh yeah, Brandon vividly remembered. The charge in the air as the Lycan's gaze had cooled, turned lethal within a split second. How for a single heartbeat, Lobo had looked at Brandon as if he was a target needing to be destroyed.

"You're a smart and kind man, Brandon." Jamie's voice murmured softly, though his tone was almost distant. Hollow. "By now, I'm assuming you've already guessed what happened to us. In what state your father found us in."

The water shut off and Brandon looked up at Jamie, at the dampness in his eyes, the discomfort as the Beta wiped his hands dry before reaching for a towel so Brandon could get dried off. He knew alright, at the very least could make assumptions.

Try as he might, it wasn't too hard to notice the scars on their body, their reactions to Alphas and not make the connection. Then there was also the story Jamie had entrusted to him, about Royal's kidnapping and how the Corrupted had spoken to him.

Eyed him.

Jamie hadn't needed to explain what happened to them all. What happened each time he had pushed Sean to the back of their minds and had faced the Corrupted on his own. Brandon knew enough of the world and had learned about Corrupted enough to know those monsters lacked any morality.

They wouldn't shy away from anything if it got them what they wanted. Why care for what someone else wanted or needed, what that person refused if the Corrupted's own needs and desires were fulfilled?