Finally Noticed Trilogy: Finally Noticed (being revised)

Grimsley

I woke up in the middle of the night with a gasp. I felt as though knives were being shoved into my chest and needles were scrapping all over my body.

"Zarik?! Why do I feel like this?!" I quickly called for my wolf, hoping for a response.

Silence.

"Zarik?" I tried it again. Still nothing.

I felt the worst pain ever. It was ten times worse than when I first shifted or when my father would hit me for misbehaving or not owning up to my duties as next-in-line-alpha. I let out a hoarse gasp as I felt tears of pain spring into my eyes which I quickly wiped away, hoping no one saw that weakness from me.

"Grimsley? Are you okay? Luca alerted me that he felt Zarik's presence leave and then come back super depressed, almost as if your mate died or something. What's going on?" I heard my second youngest brother, Marshall knocking at my door with a confused and concerned voice.

Grinding my teeth against one another, trying to fight through the pain, and show no weakness, I do my best to tell him in a calm and monotone voice that I'm fine.

"You might be brothers through blood, but that doesn't mean your brothers through the soul. Anyone of your brothers can easily turn against you when you have your back turned and you won't even notice it. Always be on guard when it comes to them. All brothers end up turning against one another." Father's voice rings through my ears, reminding me to be wary of Marshall as he is the closest to me through age which means he can easily overpower me at any point if he so chooses.

While my other two brothers, Grant and Valentine don't pose as too much of a threat, I can never be too careful with them. Grant appears to be the most honest and trustworthy as he's good at keeping secrets and isn't afraid of lying if it means protecting those who he cares about or bending the truth if someone comes too close to a secret that he knows.

Valentine, on the other hand, is still too naive to notice anything. He does whatever he's told without a second thought and just simply tries to stay on everyone's good side by telling jokes or simply just being friendly towards anyone and everyone. While he is naive and innocent, something tells me that he knows more than he's putting out as he hinted at how he knows certain things that no one should know. When asked about what he knows, he just simply goes back to being naive and wanting to be friends.

Marshall poses the biggest threat to me. While he is blunt and plays fair, that doesn't mean he doesn't avoid confronting anyone and even getting into fights with others. It's constantly close calls between me and him when we're paired against one another and he appears to rather use psychology rather than strength in his fights. Choosing to mess with his opponent's mind rather than trying to fight them physically. He also has a strong brain when it comes to medical situations or science in general, making him an even bigger threat as he knows how to manipulate people to be on his side and how to slip poison in a drink.

"You sure about that Grimsley? You don't sound okay to me. Luca is trying to get into contact with Zarik but can't. Did something happen between the two of you?" Marshall breaks me out of my thoughts and I instantly remember my father's words.

"I'm fine." I snapped, hoping to sound more confident than I am. "Just go back to bed." I pray for Marshall to listen to me and to just leave, not bringing it up to anyone while at it. Especially father.

If father were to catch wind of me showing weakness, especially to Marshall or anyone, he wouldn't hesitate to take me to the training room and fight me. Telling me to prove my dominance to him and that I'm worthy of the alpha position more than any of my other brothers. Especially Marshall.