Raise

Twenty five

I need a piss and a coffee in that order. And we need to stop and call to check in on the pack, see if they are ok.
If Alice is ok. It's evening so she is most likely settling in with her pup, getting comfortable in bed for the night. I wonder if she wears much to bed, or if she sleeps naked like me...

My eyes go wide as I snap myself out of my reverie. Fuck. The fuck is wrong with me. I slap Benji on the chest as we pull to a stop. He stirs with a startle and blinks his eyes open and closed a few times, looking out the window and then over to me.

"Why have we stopped, this is not our rendezvous?" He says, half question and half demand.

I shake my head and open my door to get out.

"Need to piss and get a coffee. Maybe you could take the time to call the pack, check in." I say, trying to be non committal about it all. Nope. Not checking on anyone specific.

He doesn't buy it for a second. His confused expression turns suddenly sour as he grunts out his reply;

"Check on Alice you mean. You know, the mate you don't want." He growls a little on the end of the sentence as he pulls out his phone and begins to scroll messages.

Fuck. It's worse than I thought. For some time I have suspected that he had developed feelings for Alice. His attitude every time her name has been brought up this trip has further flagged my suspicions.

This is awkward. We have never had any interest in the same female before. Ever.

Not that I'm interested in Alice. It's.. she's... it's complicated.

I grab his shoulder as he goes to turn away from me, his hand pulling at his dark hair like it's his last lifeline.

"Alright, out with it Benj. You have been acting like a bitch every time Alice is mentioned and we need to talk about it." I say, Alpha or not. Brother or not. We need to hash this out.

The other wolves travelling with us can sense the tension and give us a wide berth, heading quickly instead to the small dingy diner attached to the side of the gas station.

Smart.

Benji glares at me, his eyes red from the travel and stress. He feels the strain of the decisions he needs to make on a daily basis. More so now than ever before.
It's not just a yes or a no now. It's life or death. And we both feel it. The pain and the terror.

He stares me down, shaking out of my loose hold.

"There is nothing to discuss Beta." He spits out. Title. Nice. I can see this won't be easy.

"Yes there is. And you damn well know it, Brother." I counter, hitting him where it hurts. In the blood.

He lets out a small snort and shakes his head. It's low, I get it. Our bond is as strong as any bloodline around. More so. We have been through so much. So bloody much. And we still have more to do. But we each know we would never choose to face it all with anyone else.

It's us above them all.

Always.

His face drops and I see the very moment he releases his tension and faces the truth. His shoulders drop and he lets me see it all. The real Benji, not the brave facade he puts on for the pack.

"You're just such an idiot." He says finally, defeated. He starts slowly in the direction of an outside table at the diner and I follow behind him. Cautious. Not wanting to do this at all but I know we need to. To clear the air.

We sling our huge frames into the seats and order coffees to go when the waitress hovers near our table and then we sit, in relative silence as we each try to sling a sentence together that won't hurt the other.