Mated to the Wizard

14 - Evil Man

"Ave?" Shane. His voice cracks as he speaks. I stare at him for a few seconds and he just breathes heavily with hope and regret etched onto his face. My brother has bags around his eyes, and his hair hasn't been tamed yet. His clothes are dirty, shoes non-existent.

"Yeah." I whisper in response, smiling through my concern for him.

"Is that actually you?" he takes a hesitant step forward and tears brim in his eyes. There's a lump growing in my throat that won't go away.

"I've only been gone a week, Shai." I reply jokingly, which my brother takes as a sign to run forward and embrace me in a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh my Goddess, I was sure you had been killed. We all thought you were gone, Ave." He talks into my ear as if he thinks I won't hear him otherwise. "When you mind-linked dad about the rouge he went mental, and Alex has-" he stops suddenly, sniffing the air and snapping his eyes behind me. I know he's seen Gabe when he takes on his 'rouge stance' and pushes me behind him protectively. He has his feet apart and is crouched slightly, arms falling at his sides with his fists clenched.

"Shane." I snap my fingers in front of his face a couple of times, and push past his hand as he tries to keep me behind his frame. "This is Gabe. He helped me get away from..." my brother looks Gabe up and down a few times, judging him. It really bugs me, but I know he's only doing it to protect me and his future pack. I would be even more bugged if he didn't. After a few seconds, Shane seems to realise Gabe isn't there to hurt anyone and straightens his back again, turning back to me with a new glint in his eyes.

"So you really were with him." Shane laughs, raking a hand through his hair and taking a step away from me, a humourless smile on his face. No, that smile is too full of hurt and pain to be real. "The wizard." He adds. Not knowing how else to reply, I just nod. "So it's all my fault. I told you to talk to mum and dad about it when I should've told you to reject him straight out! I should've told you to leave or something; a fucking wizard for crying out loud! They never mean well!" he rants, a tear openly running down his cheek.

"It wasn't you, Shane. I wouldn't have listened to you anyway – he is my mate." I point out, trying to calm him down. My response only angers him more.

"I could've helped you somehow, but instead I was so caught up in my own life-"

"It wasn't your fault, Shane!" I yell, effectively cutting him off. With that accusation out the way, he seems to go into even more protective big brother mode.

"Goddess, I can smell that bastard all over you! If he touched you in anyway, I swear to-"

"No, we were sharing a bed because he didn't have a spare one." I state, which only makes it much worse. Rage swirls in his eyes as he paces in front of me. Gabe is staying back through this whole exchange, which is probably wise. A pissed off future Alpha being told what to do by a mere rogue wouldn't help at all in this situation.

"So he was taking advantage of you then? Did he hurt you?" he shouts accusingly, although I know the anger isn't actually aimed at me. It's obviously for Everest.

Everest.

My stomach clenches at the sound of his name in my head. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. It's meant to be strong, independent. Mountains stand alone. I'm just a pathetic climber, and I've just fallen a few hundred metres back down again, even after I spent so long trying to get to the top. Mountains are ruthless. Gah, I've always hated hills.

"No." I tell him. "But I don't know if it would've stayed like that much longer if Gabe hadn't..." in that moment, it really hits me. Without Gabe, I would still be clueless. He literally saved my life, if what he says is true. A part of me is still refusing to believe that. Somewhere along the line, some feelings for the monster I call my mate started to develop, but that's before I heard he's a selfish prat, and they shattered.