𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙

It only took moments later for Heaven's resolve to crack. Her angry facade faded away, leaving behind large midnight eyes complimented by a sad smile.

She opened her arms, beckoning me softly towards her. I didn't waste a moment in pulling her into me, her cheek pressed lightly against my chest as I ran my fingers through her ebony strands.

Heaven looked up from her position, her captivating features so close that I could feel her breath tickling me.

"I just want you to let me in," she spoke, her voice soft and whispery as if she had been crying previously.

I knew that it was irrational of me to still keep this secret from her. She was involved with me and my pack, and therefore this would directly impact her. But somewhere in my mind, I thought that if I kept it from her, she wouldn't be involved. It was stupid and reckless, because no matter what I do to keep her away from all of the danger, it's going to find a way in.

"I know," I spoke, my own voice still recovering from my tears earlier, "And I'm ready to tell you everything."

She looked on towards me hesitantly, but a flicker of hope passed through her eyes at my words.

"Really?" she whispered, drawing closer.

"Yeah, I was being an asshole earlier," I admitted, my heart lightening as a faint smile tugged at her lips, "But you're my mate, and you deserve to know."

I sat down on the edge of Heaven's bed, beckoning for her to sit beside me.

The bed dipped slightly as she sat down, her body heat enticing me to pull her closer.

And so I took a deep breath and dove in.

"I lied to you earlier." I began, drawing her attention.

"About what?"

"When we first got to know each other, I told you I only had one sibling, a sister. I lied"

I looked towards her face, only to see her encouraging me to continue. I looked down to my folded hands once again, and continued.

"I have a brother, too," I spit out the words, "But I'd hardly even call him that."

✧ ✧ ✧

𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖓

I could see that August was struggling. His hands were restless, reaching up to run through his hair every so often.

I reached over, gently enfolding his hands in my own.

"Go on whenever you're ready," I smiled softly, looking into his worried eyes.

He gave me a grateful glance, before struggling on with his words.

"He was my older brother," he began again, "And we had always been close growing up. We'd do anything that normal brothers would do together, from wrestling in the dirt to pulling pranks on our sister." He smiled sadly as he recalled the memories, his eyes still staring at the floor.

"Once we got older though, it was obvious that my parents had began to favor me. It was small at first, but overtime it became more noticeable. He started to distance himself from me; I think that he began to blame me for their treatment of him. I never had time to think much of it, I was too busy trying to meet my parents' high expectations."

I listened as he spoke onwards, thoroughly curious as to how this story connected.

"Anyways," August continued, "One night, a rogue stumbled onto our pack land. As soon as my brother laid his eyes on her, he knew that she was his mate. They became inseparable, spending every waking moment together. I had never trusted the rogue; she had never given a clear answer of her intentions when she had first come onto our land, and she always seemed to be messing with my brother's head; making decisions for him and telling him what to do. But she was his mate, so I couldn't do anything about my suspicions."

"One night, I went into my father's office to grab a file that I had forgotten, and I found her hunched over his desk, classified files littered all around her. When she saw that I had caught her, she panicked. She came at me. I don't know if she was just trying to escape, or if she was aiming to kill. Whatever it was, I had to stop her."

He choked up on his last sentence, and for a moment he didn't continue. I scooted closer to him until our legs were touching, resting my hand delicately on his thigh.

He stared at my hand with a light smile on his face, before shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

"When she attacked me, I had no idea what to do. I panicked. She was my brother's mate, but she was also a traitor to our pack. So I stopped her."

His amber eyes came up to meet mine, a pained expression flitting idly by.

For a moment I had wondered what August had meant by 'stopped her', but he was so enamored by his own story, and I didn't want to risk interrupting him.

"When my brother had come in and saw what had happened, he didn't wait for an explanation," August struggled out, "He went insane. His instincts took over, and he turned on me. It was lucky that my father had heard the fight; him and I were just able to take my brother down."

"What happened to your brother after that?" I asked, curious as to the fate of him.

"My father couldn't bear to kill him, so he exiled him, which made me next in line for the alpha position."

"I'm assuming that your brother is the one you keep mentioning when you're talking about attacks on the pack." I inferred.

August sighed, entwining our fingers together.

"It seems that my brother had never got the justice he felt he deserved, so once he was exiled he began to create his own pack of rogues. And since then, they've been merely a pest. But for the past few weeks, they've gotten more aggressive, pushing closer to our border every day."

The past few weeks...

I sucked in a breath as the realization hit me.

"Are the attacks because of me?"

August gave me a pained expression, answering my question soundlessly.

"He knows that I found you. It seems that seeing me happy has fueled his plans for revenge even more."

I looked down at our entwined hands, thinking over all that was just revealed.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "All this new trouble with him is because of me."

There was a slight pause as I continued to avoid looking August in the eye.

All of a sudden, his strong arms turned my gaze from the floor, pulling me right into his captivating irises.

He placed both of his large hands on my shoulders gently, as if shaking some sense into me.

"The tension between me and my brother had been building up since long before you came along," he reassured, "Something like this would've happened eventually."

Wordlessly, he pressed my small frame flush against his chest, pulling us further onto my bed.

I rested my palm against his chest and closed my eyes, humming gently to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

After a few moments of silence, I faintly heard a whisper.

"I only wish you weren't in the middle of all of it."