Alpha Brothers - The Beta (book 2)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Archie
"How's Amy?" Callum asked as we pushed through the sludge that was almost ankle deep.
"She was on and off but she should be fine now," I told him.
As soon as I left Amy, Callum had called me to go bush walking with him. I was hoping that it would take Amy off my mind but I was finding that she was always on my mind. Even when I was thinking about something completely different, somehow her voice or body would enter my head.
"I really am sorry about last night," I told him, "I never meant for Amy to get hurt."
"You don't need to apologise. It wouldn't have been easy to see your mate goin' after another man."
Understatement. It would have been one thing if she went off with just an ordinary lad. But she went after a vampire.
"Do you think Little Liv will ever forgive me?" I asked trying to lighten the mood.
"Not completely," he chuckled, "but she understands too."
"You mean, after you explained things to her."
He shrugged, smiling, giving me my answer.
"Anyway, tell me more about the club?" He asked.
My blood ran cold remembering my betrayal. Callum couldn't know about Adin. If he knew about Adin, he would find out about the rest of it.
"Not much," I sighed, trying to sound disappointed, "it was recently bought by a Vamp from America, I don't know much about him, I don't know anythin' about him really," I corrected, "the club itself is supernatural friendly and like I said, there's back rooms for certain couples," he nodded, catching what I was throwing.
"I think I might meet this new owner."
"What?" I said stopping him.
He couldn't meet Adin.
"What, I need to know what he wants. I need to know if he's here to cause trouble."
"If he was here to cause trouble, he would have done it by now," I told him.
"That's what we thought about Hector Macangus."
My blood went cold at his name. I wasn't afraid of Macangus. I was afraid of how easily that family could ruin mine. And the very idea of Adin damaging my family like Nathair and Hector Macangus did gripped my heart tight and would not let go.
"We're never goin' to forget about that day, are we?" I asked, hoping but knowing the answer.
He shook his head, "Liv still has nightmares of Nathair and then the thin' with Malcolm..."
He didn't finish it.
What he said could have meant anything. Just that Hector and Nathair was the real cause of Bonnie's death. But it wasn't like that.
"What about Malcolm?" I asked, stopping him.
Guilt washed over his face as he bowed his head. He was keeping something from me.
"You said that there was more to the story. What's the rest of the story?" I asked.
He sighed, "Its Malcolm's story."
"Well, I very much doubt that we will be havin' story time any time soon," I snapped.
"Whose fault is that?" He yelled, "You now know what it's like to have a mate and you know what it's like to have her in danger. Malcolm killed the girl he loved. Aye, she wasn't his mate but she meant a lot more to him than we realized."
I frowned, "what?"
That guilty look of his appeared again, causing him to take a step back.
"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a step forward.
He sighed, closing his eyes, giving in. That's what I thought at least.
"Archie no," I groaned at him, "The wedge between you two have gone on too long."
I rolled my eyes, "he started it."
"But you continued it. Countless of times Malcolm had tried to reach out to you. What did he even do?" He asked.
"He turned away from his -."
"It's more than that," Callum butted in, "bein' mad about him turnin' away from his family and his wolf is one thin', but he must have done somethin' worse to make you disregard him like this."
I thumbed the ground knowing that it was true. If my Brother had been around, I would have never met Adin. I shook my head as my guilt flooded me. I was worse than my brother. I had broken the rules that were once created by my ancestors, I had disgraced my name, myself, I had betrayed my pack and family. I should be the one asking for forgiveness. Not Malcolm.
"Fine," I sighed, "I'll try to be more forgivin'."
Callum didn't look happy with that.
"What, Callum? What do you want from -?"
"Stop, stop," he hushed me, standing still.
I watched has he slightly lifted his chin, sniffing the air.
"Do you smell that?" He asked.
I did the same catching the scent of blood and decay. Vampire.
I took another step forward, searching through the smells of mud and over passing rain to deepen the smell. An image flooded my mind like it would when I was a wolf showing me the figure of Kaylie. She walked along the trees, purposely brushing her hand against the bark. She walked bare foot through the mud as if she was walking in sand. Her blonde afro what damp from the rain as well as her clothes but she didn't care. Her movement came to a stop when there were growls in the distance. The wicked smile that I knew so well returned when she spied the brown wolf before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
"That must have been Donald," Callum stated, bringing me out of the image.
He must have gotten the same one.
"He told me the day Amy came that he saw a vampire in the forest, I hadn't had time to look till now."
I nodded understanding. Callum was never organized, that was my job. But I had been preoccupied.
"Do you recognised the Vamp?" Callum asked.
I instantly shook my head.
"Maybe I do need to see the new Vampire in town," he stated, turning back in the direction of the house.
"Don't do that," I said in a hurry making him stop.
"Archie, if vampires think that they can work freely on wolf territory then we have to tell them that they're wrong."
"How do you know that the new vampire is in relation to this one?" I asked.
"I don't know," he admitted, "But we haven't had a vamp sightin' in years. Then a new vamp comes to town, buys a club around the same time Donald sees a vamp in our territory. It's too big of a coincidence."
It was true. But I couldn't let my brother talk to the devil. Adin was cunning and loved to set traps. I couldn't live with the guilt if he did something to my brother.
"Well, when you decide to meet him, I want to be with you," I told him.
He smile that smile that reminding me so much of our strong father.
"Of course, Brother, I wouldn't have it any other way."