Dark Shadow (Book 1 in DARKNESS DUOLOGY)

Twenty: Love, Unconditionally

One thing is to be the one keeping everyone else up with your blubbering because they are worried about you… and because you’re loud. Another is being the one kept up because your baby brother is crying his heart out, thanks to a bigot alpha who had taken away the person said baby brother was meant to be with.

From my bedroom, as I laid in bed staring at the ceiling, Cody was sobbing since the day Alpha Hannibal took Nikko. Mom’s been in the room with my brother the past couple of nights. She was trying to ease him but all it seemed to do was to make Cody hurt more.

He was hurting in a way so very familiar to me. My heart went out to him. He was only fourteen. Cody shouldn’t be crying all night. My brother shouldn’t be going through this at such a young age. It wasn’t fair to him. And to make it worse, there was this situation with the alphas having made a deal between one another to settle the matter of the Quail Wolf. A stupid solution, really.

I looked over at my door where Cody’s wails were muffled but still carried throughout the house. I could hear my parents still trying to calm Cody down but nothing seemed to be working. Frustrated at being unable to help him, I squeezed my eyes shut, turning back to the ceiling.

When the knock on my door snapped my eyes open, I turned again, now looking at my sister open the door to poke her head in.

She’d been spending a lot of time with Sawyer ever since recognizing one another, and I was happy for her. I felt bad when my parents told her what happened with Cody, and Cece immediately switched off her honey-moon phase. She offered to do anything to help as did Sawyer, surprisingly.

I had assumed Sawyer wasn’t the type of man who understood the lifestyle we accepted here in Carmel. But thankfully, after seeing for himself how tormented my little brother was when Cece tried to ease him and her efforts were pointless, Sawyer apologized to my parents on behalf of his alpha. He mentioned to us that same night—while mom was upstairs cuddling with her baby—that Alpha Hannibal had always been homophobic. That not even his wife, Marie, could change the way he thought.

“He’s not going to take too kindly to finding out his son is the same as yours.” Sawyer made a point of saying. “I wouldn’t be surprised if my alpha made an example out of Nikko when we return.”

My dad sighed, running a hand through his hair while the rest of us sat at the table, looking upward at the ceiling as Cody’s wails drifted from upstairs.

I sat up, watching Cece come sit on my bed. She crossed her legs, her brows pinched together as she stared at the space between us. Her lips formed a tight line and she winced every few minutes because of our brother.

“He’s not let up yet…” Cece whispered, glancing at the door.

I nodded, sighing, “It’s an hour more than last night. I think he’s going to keep going until he tires himself out again.”

Cece let out a frustrated growl, shaking her red head and scoffed, “How dare that man treat both his son and Cody that way! How can he take away one mate from another?! Doesn’t he know that goes against our way of living?!”

My shoulder shrugged, murmuring that when I told dad the same thing, he sighed that unfortunately, Nikko was Alpha Hannibal’s son. And there was nothing that they could do about it.

“He’s not of age yet, Gigi,” Dad told me. “Alpha Hannibal still has guardianship over his son for another four years.”

Stupid Were laws.

My sister looked at me, muttering how Wade was getting impatient. Apparently, our older brother has been trying to convince Dad to stand up to the alpha about everything.