Alpha Brothers - The Trickster (book 4)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15
Bleu
I was curled in bed, trying to get their voices out of my head. They're angry faces as they argued and the white pale ghosts the others had become.
Aye, it was true Tarna and that's exactly why you didn't tell me
Oh aye, that's exactly it. I didn't tell you that Hector called you and your family murderers or that he wanted to ruin Callum's pack because I thought it was true. How do you feel now that you know that he threatened to beat me and rape me and kill –?
What had she gone to say? Kill her, or was it something more sicking.
Why didn't you tell me what Macangus said?
Who was Macangus and why did he threaten to do all those things? Why did he call Graham's brothers murderers and why did he want to ruin Callum's pack.
Graham, I've done something bad
So have I. Some of those thin's I don't want to tell you. Some of those thin's I'll probably do my best not to tell you about.
Why hadn't I questioned it before? I know why, because I had been so caught up in Graham Land that I forgot what he really was. A werewolf. I knew I shouldn't get caught up in it, not when I've come this far with him. But it doesn't change the fact that something has happened to his family and I knew nothing about it.
"Bleu!" I jumped at the sound of my name being called outside the door.
I didn't call out knowing he would find me eventually.
And I was right. Graham stumbled through the door with a grimoire in his hands, wearing that goofy smile of his.
"Hey, didn't you hear me callin'?" He asked, shutting the door behind him.
I shook my head, trying to get the thoughts out of my head but it didn't work.
"Ah, what you've got there?" I asked, wanting him to keep talking in case I said something that I would regret.
"That, Little Witch is the key that will help you control your magic. I found it, Bleu. Every single page."
I nodded happy. I was happy. By finding the grimoire, it meant that Graham wasn't ashamed that I was a witch like I knew I was meant to feel about him. Werewolves weren't impure like vampires were, but they were part animal and dangerous. And I knew my parents would never approve.
"Hey, what's wrong Little Witch?" Graham asked, bringing me out of my thoughts by the sound of his voice and touch of his hand.
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "what were Malcolm and Tarna arguing about this morning?"
Graham froze. I could actually see the inside workings of his brain as he determined to blow me off, tell a lie or tell the truth. I could see the pain fill his eyes as unwelcome memories flooded his mind.
When he looked away, I feared that I had made a horrible mistake. I should had just kept my mouth shut and pretended like it meant nothing to me. It wasn't even my business. But I was Graham's mate, so doesn't it?
"Where do you want me to start?"
I was so shocked that he had spoken that I hadn't even thought about what he was doing. He was going to tell me. He wasn't going to hold it back from me.
"Ah, the beginning," I told him.
He nodded and slightly turned his body so that he now faced me.
"If I tell you this, you have to hear all of it. I can't just skip over details that you don't want to hear. It's messy and some of it you're not goin' to like."
I nodded, understanding. Strangely, by him telling me that it was messy made me want to hear it more.
Taking his hand, I said, "I want to know."
He nodded, looking as if he expected that.
"Okay, well the beginnin' happened around seven years ago. At this point, none of us had found our mates and our parents were still alive," I nodded, understanding, "It was family night. We were all gathered in the library like usual, fightin' over what game we should play, like usual. We couldn't play twister because Ma was too short. We couldn't play Scrabble because apparently I cheat. I do, but that's not the point," I couldn't help but giggle a little at that, "Callum's the only one who can draw so Pictionary was out. So that only left Monopoly which we played all the time and was as borin' as hell," I bit my lip and allowed myself to get caught up in the happiness. I had forgotten about Graham's warning and allowed myself to believe that the story had a happy ending, "like always, Allie voted to go down to the river even though it was nearly sunset and like always Pa agreed with her," he paused, remembering something, "and that's when Donald came in."
"Who's Donald?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Graham paused again. I guess he wasn't expecting questions.
Shaking the thought out of his head, he answered, "Donald was one of Pa's friends and he looked after the boundary."
I nodded and allowed him to continue.
"He told us that Nathair Macangus was attackin' our pack."
"Who's Nathair Macangus?" I asked before I could stop myself again.
Swallowing, Graham told me, "Macangus was an Alpha that led a pack on our boundary or not far from it. His family and my family had been in a kind of war ever since the Royal Family was created."
"Royal family?" I asked.
Graham frowned, "Oh. I haven't told you."
"Told me what?"
"Callum's the Alpha King."
I jaw dropped. I wanted to take back everything I thought before about Graham being unworthy. He was royalty.
"So, you're like, royalty?" I asked.
He chuckled, "if wolf royalty counts."
"And Malcolm's Callum's beta?" I asked.
He shook his head, "no, that's Archie. I'll explain that in a minute."
Just as I was about to move off topic and start asking questions about the wolf hierarchy. I snapped. Nathair Macangus attacked Graham's pack because they were the royal family to the Scotland Wolf community. What stopped him from attacking again?
"Graham, what if he comes back?" I asked, "What will happen if -."
"Bleu," Graham stopped me, taking my hands, "Nathair Macangus is someone you'll never meet."
I frowned, causing him to continue.
"My parents died that day," he said it so bluntly that it couldn't sink in properly. He and his siblings were orphans.
"Pa had order Callum to take us to the safe house but before we got out, I convinced them to turn back but we were too late. Half our pack was dead, half Macangus' pack was dead and so were our parents," he paused, "there's something else you should know."
"What?" I asked.
"Malcolm. He could never control his wolf. It didn't take much for his wolf to snap and take over."
"Did he ever hurt anyone?" I asked.
He opened his mouth to tell me but closed it and sighed.
"Story's not over. Seein' our parents dead made him snap, it made all of us snap. But Malcolm's wolf is a lot stronger than all of ours so he did the most damage."
"He killed people?" I asked.
His eyes narrowed at me, "horrible people. People that killed innocent people. People that were in my pack died too, remember?"
"I remember, I'm sorry," I said taking his hand and squeezing it.
I hadn't realised what I was saying till I saw the hurt in his eyes. He didn't want me to think that his brother was a killer.
"What happened to Nathair Macangus?" I asked, skipping past the Malcolm part of it all.
"He escaped like the coward he was and went into hidin'. His son Hector Macangus took over his pack and for a while, things were settled. No. Thin's were hell. Callum was strugglin' to be the alpha king and the lord of the land, Malcolm couldn't control his wolf anymore which made it hard for him being Beta. Archie -," he paused, before he groaned, "God there's so much to this story. For the next year, Archie was workin' for a vamp called Adin Hughes."
I frowned, "wait, isn't that against your laws?"
Graham's eyebrows raised, "and to think I thought you knew nothin' about werewolves. Aye, it's against our laws, that's why he didn't tell anyone about it."
"What was he doin' for the vampire?"
"Ah," Graham stalled, scratching his head, "the usual, torturin' people for answers, shaggin' people for answers."
"What?" I asked before I could stop myself.
My instinct was to run. Who were these people that I had been eating dinner and talking to in the library with? One, couldn't control his wolf and would probably rip me apart and the other one, tortured people.
"Bleu, please don't be scared of us," Graham begged but I couldn't promise him that, "we're not bad people, honest. Do you think that Liv, Amy and Tarna would still be around us if we were?"
"I'm not them Graham," I reminded him.
"I know you're not. But durin' those years, none of us were at our bests, not even Level-Headed Brother himself, okay. I mean, I was shaggin' anythin' that looked at me, so was Allie. And anythin' that she did shag, I would threaten to kill."
I frowned, now understanding everything.
"Is that why Allie hates you?" I asked.
He nodded, "We all changed. Allie became heartless, Archie became emotionless, Malcolm became distant, Callum became distant with himself and I became controllin'. I'm not sayin' that I'm proud of what happened but that's what happened."
I nodded, feeling my heart break for all of them. None of them deserved that.
"What happened after that?" I asked.
Graham sighed, "Bonnie. She's was Malcolm's first mate."
"First mate?" I asked, "How can that happen?"
"Did you know that wolves can turn away from their mates and be with someone else?"
I nodded.
"Well, that's what Malcolm did. He marked Bonnie and for awhile thin's were a little bit better."
"It didn't have a happy endin'?" I asked, knowing his answer.
He shook his head, "we didn't know it at the time but Bonnie had met her mate. Hector."
I frowned, "Hector. As in, Hector Macangus?"
Graham nodded, "he and Nathair had poisoned Bonnie with the herb Lupo fiammata."
"Wolfsbane," I said, knowing that I had studied it once, "when it enters your system, it takes over your wolf and makes it stronger."
Graham nodded, "aye. Bonnie and Malcolm had gone out walkin' and Bonnie just snapped. She shifted and if it wasn't for Malcolm's wolf takin' over and killin' Bonnie first, I wouldn't have my brother."
I frowned, not allowing the words to sink inside my head, "Malcolm killed his first mate."
He nodded, "first baby too."
"What?"
"Bonnie was twelve weeks pregnant."
My head went into over drive. Malcolm had another mate who was pregnant. The mate also had a mate whose father was responsible for the death of Graham's parents. That said mate then poisoned Malcolm's first mate so that she would be ripped apart by Malcolm. But they didn't know that at the time. So how long was it till they knew that Malcolm wasn't responsible for Bonnie's death.
"You said that you didn't know that at the time," I started.
"Aye," Graham said.
"So, how did you find out?" I asked.
Graham sighed, "After that, Malcolm disowned his wolf. Like, literally. He didn't have a wolf. The only thin' that didn't make him human was, well, super strength, super hearin', that sort of thin'. Anyway, the rest of us got by, barely. And then a year later, Callum found Liv. And Malcolm came out of the attic, it was only for awhile but he was out, though it was only Callum that was grateful for his presence. And just as thin's started to feel okay, Nathair Macangus decides to attack the pack again."
I could hear my heart pound in my ear as fear and anger settled in the pit of my stomach. Why couldn't they just be happy? Why did Nathair have to keep going for them?
"I can't even begin to describe the anger I feel when I think of them Bleu," Graham growled, waking me from my thoughts, "I hate them all."
I nodded understanding, clutching his hand tight, "I know and I understand."
"We weren't goin' to be sent away again. I was prepared to die if it meant that I could fight for my pack and my home. And I was prepared to kill if it meant those bastards didn't kill my brother and take his throne."
"Did you kill?" I asked.
He was silent for a moment before he looked me dead in the eye and said, "Aye, I did."
Tears filled my eyes and without me even realizing, I had started to rub his arm.
"Are you ready to run yet?" he asked, almost angry by my reaction.
I shook my head and bit my lip, forcing myself not to let a tear drop. I wasn't upset because he had killed people. I was upset that they had turned him into a killer.
"No," I struggled to say, "And I'm not going to."
Graham frowned but didn't question it.
"Finish the story."
He nodded and continued, "There's tunnels under the house. It's like an old pluming system or in cases like these, the secret exit way. Malcolm was supposed to take Liv to the safe house but they didn't get out in time. Nathair and Hector had cornered them. They had planned it so that they're pack would rip Callum and the rest of us apart while they took the castle by themselves and took Callum's queen in the process."
I frowned, "So, they were going to steal Liv."
He nodded, "I don't know which one wanted her. Probably Hector to replace the old one but Nathair was sick in the head so I'm sure he would have found a way to get her awhile is son wasn't lookin'."
The way he talked about someone taking his brother's wife so easily made my head spin. How could he say the words and not even look like he was goin' to be sick after sayin' them?
Wanting to get the thought out of my head, I asked, "What happened next?"
"Nathair and Hector revealed the truth behind Bonnie's death and Malcolm revealed that he had gotten Bonnie pregnant."
"You didn't know before?" I asked.
He shook his head, "Liv was there at the time so of course she told Callum. And then I think Malcolm told Archie around the time Amy started living here and Allie and I didn't find out until he got Tarna pregnant."
I couldn't help but be surprised by that. Was Malcolm always keeping secrets from the rest of them or was it just on occasion?
"Anyway, Callum figured out that Nathair and Hector were in the tunnels so he turned back and found them. And after a fight to the death, Nathair was dead."
"Callum had killed him?" I asked.
Graham nodded, "Aye and Hector was next if Malcolm had gotten his way. But Callum had stopped him before he could."
"Why?"
Graham shrugged, "Because unlike the rest of us, Callum has a heart and he sees thin's differently. Always has. So when he saw that his brother was about to kill the most evil creature on this planet, he realized that Malcolm would be the one killin' Hector, not his wolf."
I nodded, understanding that. In the past, every kill Malcolm made was at the hands of his wolf, but this time it would have been at the hands of himself.
"What happened after that?" I asked.
"Well, a year after that Archie found Amy. Or Amy found Archie. That was actually an entertaining couple of months. I haven't seen a lot of women who could resist Archie's charm but man, Amy could."
I giggled at that, finally happy to hear a story that didn't end in disaster. That was until I remembered that Archie had been working with a vampire.
"You said that Archie was workin' for a vamp?"
Graham nodded, "Right up until Bonnie died and Malcolm disowned his wolf. That's when Archie became Beta."
"You said that he kept it a secret?"
"Aye."
"Then how do you know about it. Did he just confess one day?"
Graham paused, his mouth slightly dropping.
"Not exactly. The same time Amy came into his life, Hughes came back to Scotland and he wanted to make Archie's life hell for walkin' out on him all those years ago. He tricked Archie into sleepin' with this vamp and made sure that Amy walked in on them when he finally did agree to do it," my eyebrow raised, not believing it for a second, "The story kind of came crashin' down after that."
"But, Amy and Archie seem so happy together," I said, knowing that I don't think I could ever forgive Graham if he ever did that to me.
"That's because they are, in their own way. After almost dyin' and Archie finally killin' that damn vamp, she forgave him and they lived happily ever after. In their own little way."
I giggled, happy at least their story didn't end in total heartbreak and misery.
"What was your question again?" Graham asked, realizing that we had gone off topic.
"Ah, what was Malcolm and Tarna arguing about this morning," I reminded him.
"Oh right, we're there, finally," he started, "Okay, I'll keep the background short. Malcolm finds Tarna, Malcolm gets his wolf back, Malcolm hates the fact that he found Tarna and has his wolf back, Malcolm tries to forget about Tarna, fails, Malcolm shags Tarna but doesn't mark Tarna, Tarna is sad," I frowned, trying to make his words sink into my brain, "After Allie calls Malcolm a 'selfish little prick' – her words, not mine – he claims her, Tarna and Malcolm are now happy. After twelve or so weeks of happiness, they found out their pregnant. Another bombshell. Malcolm, at first, hates the idea of havin' a baby and bein' happy, finally grows to love the idea. And everyone is happy once again," he paused, and I dreaded the rest of the story knowing that it would finish how the others did, "It was Callum's and Liv's weddin'. Damn, we hadn't even cut the cake. Malcolm was just gone a couple of minutes to get Tarna a cookie and some milk, but that was all he needed. Hector and his Beta Davy kidnapped her," my eyes widened and I knew I really didn't want to hear the rest of the story, "Before Callum had banished him, Hector owned an underground nightclub. So he and Davy took her there. None of us asked questions about what had gone down in there. All we know is what we found."
"And what did you found?" I asked, hating myself for it.
"We found a wolfsbane gas chamber and Tarna inside of it. I don't even know how Malcolm got her out of there alive," his voice had become shaky and uneven, showing his true feelings unlike before and unlike his usual smooth self. He was scared that his brother was going to lose her, "Hector had beaten her, her dress was torn. I thought he had raped her too but Malcolm didn't think so. I think that was the only thing that she had allowed him to know as well. Her belly had this huge bruise on it like Hector had gripped it and squeezed it till it burst," he paused, licking his lips, "I honestly don't know how she survived it, Bleu."
"Was everythin' okay after that?" I asked.
He nodded, biting his lip, "We took her back here and the girls and Malcolm cleaned her up. Callum stayed too, just to make sure that Malcolm didn't lose it completely while Archie led the man hunt for Macangus."
He paused. I kept waiting for him to say the words. That he found Hector Macangus and put an end to him. But when his helpless eyes looked up to mine, I knew that it wasn't like that.
"We couldn't find him, Bleu," he admitted, breaking my hope.
The man that was responsible for so much pain was still loose and alive. I found myself wishing that Callum had never stopped Malcolm from killing him. It was the only horrible wish I would allow myself to have. And that included wishing for the death of Harrison.
"What happened?" I asked, "With Tarna I mean."
"Well, she wanted to go to the hospital so Callum and Liv took her and Malcolm there. I think they said that she had been hit but a car, she sure did look like it," I swallowed the image, "Somehow, the baby was fine. They did, like a million tests on her and she wasn't allowed to leave the hospital for a week. I mean, we can't be sure that nothin' is seriously wrong with the bub till it's born but aye, it's okay."
I let out a breath that I hadn't realized that I was holding. I hadn't been around here long enough to be in love with the idea of the baby in the house but I couldn't stand the idea of another horrible thing happing to this family. Too much pain and heartbreak had happened already. They didn't need another thing.
"So," Graham sighed, "are you plannin' on runnin' away? If you are, can you let me know? I'll try and make sure that I'm out to give you an easy escape."
I frowned, not understanding way he was saying all of this. I wasn't going to escape and I wasn't going to run away.
"Why would you say that?" I asked, heartbroken that he would even think it.
He shrugged, "I don't know. You have nothin' keepin' you here. You're not marked, pregnant and we're not married. You've only been here for three days, I don't think you can be in love with the house yet, even if it is really big. And –."
"I have you," I stopped him before he started calling me a gold digger.
He frowned, "Is that all you need?"
I nodded, "For now it is. I got a lot out of today. Things that I wanted and things that I defiantly didn't want. I know that your past isn't perfect, neither is your family. But neither is my past."
"Bleu, your past and –."
"Maybe, it's not as messy but it was hell for me too," I finished for him, "And if a group of people can survive all of that and come out of it with smiles on their faces than, that's a group of people that I want to be around."
Graham frowned, "What are you tryin' to say?"
"I'm tryin' to say that after this week, you're going to take me back to France. I'm going to be reunited with my family and my friends and then we're going to come back and be with yours."
His frowned deepened, "I'm still confused."
"I want to be with you Graham," I declared, crawling over to where he sat on the side of the bed, "And I don't want some other you or a perfect version of you. Just you."
"But Bleu, there's still things you don't know," he told me, "And Macangus is still out there. What's stoppin' him from kidnappin' you?"
"Because I've already been kidnapped and I've already lost my home. I don't want to lose another one."
"And you think that, that home's here?" he asked.
"I do," I told him.
"Well," he started, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, "I guess that makes it official. Even a trickster can find his mate."