HIS UNKNOWN LOVE CHILD (Book Three In The LOVE CHILD Series)

Chapter Two "Brothers"

Brant...............

I sighed heavily as I exited the airport, finally. It has been a long journey back to the States, nearly eighteen fucking hours and I was completely exhausted. And travelling with an exhausted and cranky eleven year old was no picnic either.

Coming back to this city was not something that I ever planned on doing, Over the years I had used every excuse in the book not to come back for a visit, no matter how short. My parents had finally gotten the message and stopped asking. They'd stopped calling too. I really only kept in touch with my twin brother Brent. I looked around for him now, my eyes searching the crowd. He was the only one who knew that I was coming home. I suppose on some level that my father did too, because an order to return from the King was not exactly something that I could ignore.

"Brant, Brant, over here" I turned towards the sound of the voice calling my name. A smile broke out on my face as I looked into the identical eyes of my twin brother. He was waving like a maniac and a grin a mile wide was spread across his face. We hadn't seen each other in twelve years. As I watched him make his way towards us I couldn't help but to marvel at just how much we still looked alike. The same dark hair, cut into the same style, the same dark eyes and even our dimples when we smiled. But there were subtle differences, if you knew to look for them. He was taller than me by half and inch, and just that little bit broader and wider in the chest and shoulders. He also had a bit more muscle to him.

He pretty much launched himself at me as soon as he was close enough. We grasped each other in a desperate hug. I inhaled deeply of his scent and tears pricked my eyes as the realization of just how much I had missed my twin sank in. Up until the day I left twelve years ago we had been inseparable. We had done everything together, looked out for each other and had each other's back. We shared everything. Being away from him for the past twelve years had been extremely difficult. Now my wolf was howling in my head, I could feel his emotions has we were wrapped in the arms of our twin.

After what felt like eternity we finally separated and I could see that he too had tears in his eyes. We held each other by the shoulders at arms length and just drank each other in. "I've missed you so much. So damn much." With that he dragged me back into his arms.

"I've missed you too bro. So much." I said into his shoulder, struggling to hold back my tears of happiness.

We separated again and I turned towards my son Logan, who was looking at us with bored disinterest. Brent had never met Logan, he'd never even seen a photo or video of him. I had left the city long before he was born and I was so paranoid about my father or anyone else finding out about him that I never sent Brent any pictures of his nephew.

Brent followed my movements and he laid eyes on Logan for the first time. "Logan, this is your uncle Brent." I said. Logan's eyes moved from my face to Brent and back again. I nodded at him in reassurance and he turned back towards Brent. "Hello." Logan said to his uncle in a hesitant voice. He was not the best communicator around new people

Brent stared at Logan in shock. I watched as he inhaled deeply, catching Logan's scent and committing it to memory. I knew what he was seeing, what he was scenting. The Hawkethorne features, the scent of the Royal Bloodline. Brent's eyes snapped up to meet mine and I shook my head at him. Now was not the time to talk about this. He nodded at me, but his gaze clearly said that we would discuss it later.

Brent gave his attention back to Logan and crouched down so that he was at eye level with my son. He gave Logan his most winsome, dazzling smile and said, "Hey buddy. It's nice to finally meet you. Care to give your uncle a hug?" Logan looked up at me again for confirmation that it was alright and I nodded at him. He wasn't the most outgoing child, especially around strangers.

Logan took a couple of tentative steps closer to Brent. Brent met him half way and crushed him his hold. I could visibly see Logan's body relax as Brent's scent hit him. His inner wolf recognized Brent as family.

.................................

On the drive to Brent's house I asked, "So, any idea why a summons have gone up for all Alphas and Betas to return to the city?"

"Nope" he said popping the p. "But whatever the reason is, it must be something big." He continued.

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

"It's just a feeling that I have. Can't really explain it. Besides it's not just Alphas and Betas flooding back into the city." He answered.

"Who else has been coming?" I asked this question with bated breath. I was dreading the answer. What if Thorne had returned too?

Brent took a moment to answer. " We've gotten reports of high level, very powerful vampires arriving in the city too. But not just them, other shifters as well. Something big is going down bro and it looks like Cromwell City is going to be ground zero. "

I turned and stared out the car window. It was getting dark outside. At my brothers' words I thought, not for the first time that I may have made a huge mistake in bringing Logan with me. Not only was I facing the possibility that Thorne too was back in the City, but it looked as if I was bringing my son into the middle of a very dangerous situation.

....................................

I closed the bedroom door behind me and headed into the Kitchen. I took a deep breath to steady my shaky nerves. I could hear Brent cleaning up the mess left over from our supper earlier. Logan had finally succumbed to exhaustion and now he was fast asleep. Brent was waiting for me, this was not a conversation that I was looking forward to at all. But knowing my brother, he was not one to let the issue drop.

As I entered the Kitchen Brent turned to face me. We stared at each other in silence as he wiped his hands dry on a rag. "You mind telling me why you didn't tell me that Thorne Hawkethorne is Logan's father?" Brent finally broke the silence between us. By the tone of his voice I could tell that he was pissed.

I shrugged my shoulders at him, "You never asked." I replied.

"Bullshit Brant" he growled at me. "I never asked and I didn't pressure you into telling me who the father was because you were already going through enough crap at the time."

"What difference does it make? He was long gone by the time we found out that I was pregnant. It's not like he stuck around." My anger was spiking too.

"What happened between you two?" Brent asked. I could hear the sympathy in his voice.

"Nothing." I said shortly. "It was nothing but a drunken one night stand. It didn't mean anything. He was half drunk out of his mind and I was ...... well I don't know what I was." I finished lamely.

Brent stared at me for a long moment before he said in a soft voice, "It may not have meant anything to him, but I know that it probably meant everything to you. You have been in love with Thorne your entire life. I remember clearly the day you took one look at Thorne and told me that he was the one that you were going to spend the rest of your life with. We were no more than six years old."

I too remember the day very clearly. "Well I've grown up a lot since then. Being placed strictly in the friend zone and watching the man you love look at other people the way that you pray for him to look at you kinda does that to a person. Plus being a single parent is no picnic."

My brother looked over at me with sympathy in his eyes. "Please, I don't need or want your sympathy or pity." I said. "I came to terms with the fact that Thorne and I would be no more than friends a long time ago. Now we're even less than that."

"And if he's back? What are you going to do if he too has been summoned back to the city?" Brent asked the question that had been plaguing me ever since I got the call to return to Cromwell City.