He was the last brother to arrive, widening his arms as he stepped inside the council room. It was where their troop had meetings if any danger needed to be shared, but he found it surprising that only his brothers were there when he entered.
"Why were we summoned?"
Dante hadn't seen any of them since their reunion at Tyler's home. He hadn't heard any news regarding Jules, Tyler, or even Raphael, but he sure as hell wasn't looking for any updates about them either. They had failed to find out where Nate was being held captive, but the worst part that he couldn't wrap his head around, was that Jules was going to tell them and Raphael stopped him. They had done everything right, but someone on their own side decided to destroy their plans, making all their efforts go down in vain.
He was still furious, hence he didn't want to see his siblings whatsoever. However, his father rarely summoned them for a meeting; usually it was when their base was being targeted and they had to flee or they had a dangerous threat on their tails; that was why he decided to show. "Father never summons us."
"I figured it had something to do with Jules' torture." Bronsted was sitting on the table, snacking on his chips as he narrowed his eyes at Molly who tried to grab one. "He might be upset with that since we didn't tell him."
Dante furrowed his brows, glancing towards the others. "When do we ever tell him anything—?"
"We don't fucking know why we were brought here, alright?!" They we're all stunned by the sudden snarl from Reno who lifted his head for a second before scoffing and turning away. "You all talk way too much." The shadow that surrounded his eyes had never been there before, as if he hadn't slept for a weeks. They were sharp and narrowed, somber and gloomy, and his disheveled hair only made it appear worst.
But Dante had done nothing to him. "What the fuck is up with this guy?"
"We don't have to talk about it." Bronsted had been the one listening to Reno's venting ever since they had left Tyler's location. He was the one that caressed him when he cried, that calmed him when he convinced himself fighting Lucius was going to resolve his overwhelming grief. Even worse was they had no idea what had been done to Walker's body—the only person that knew was Lucius and he refused to share that information when Bronsted questioned him.
This meeting was the first time he was facing Lucius again ever since he watched him murder his best friend. He had shot him in the face repeatedly, stepped on his convulsing body, as if Walker had been a mere fly that buzzed too close to him. And that was why Reno was unable to maintain his composure, watching Lucius roll his eyes and fold his arms, leaning against the wall with a lit cigarette at the edge of his mouth.
"You want to know what's wrong with me?!" He stood to his feet, his hands already squeezed into fists as he turned towards his brother nonchalantly exhaling the fumes from his cigarette, glancing elsewhere but the raucous Reno had created.
Dante slowly shook his head. "I really don't—"
"What's wrong is that Lucius has been going around killing anybody he wants and we can't do anything about it!" His finger violently pointed in his brother's direction and Bronsted stopped chewing when he saw Reno take a step forward. "He killed Walker for no reason."
A silence fell onto the room, all of them waiting for a response from Lucius. Dante was in alert, preparing himself to lunge towards Lucius if any sort of weapon was brandished since he knew Lucius was one to have no mercy when his rage surfaced. Reno was breathing heavily, his gritted teeth showing as he lifted his chin, awaiting a reaction. However, the reaction never came, at least not one he expected.
Lucius inhaled a long take from his cigarette, lifted his chin and blew it in the air. Then, with a smirk tugging at the end of his lip, he yawned and closed his eyes.
That only caused the boiling in Reno's stomach to grow warmer. They hadn't had the chance to speak on this earlier, but with everyone in the room and their father soon to arrive, this was the best moment. "Walker and I were best friends Lucy."
"Quiet." His voice was raspy, clearing his throat before muttering, "I'm trying to rest."
"I agree with Lucius," Molly whispered under his breath, but none payed attention to him.
Reno threw his arms in the air. "He doesn't even care!"
"Precisely," Lucius admitted with a chuckle.
However, the entire atmosphere of the room changed when Reno growled, "And that's the reason the next time I see Raphael, I'll blast his head open the same way you did to Walker."
That not only caused Dante's eyebrows to rise, but Lucius eyes instantly flung open and he pushed himself to his feet. Without even flinching, he crumbled the cigarette in the palm of his hand and pushed himself from the wall. "What the fuck did you say?"
"Yeah," Dante also stepped forward, his shoulders broadened as he spat, "what did you say?"
"Oh boy." Bronsted set his bag of chips aside, walked in front of Reno and placed a palm against his chest to stop him from stepping forward. The tension in the room was growing in heat way too fast, and with the temper of the Hercules, he needed to stop that before they caused irreversible damage. "He didn't mean that—"
"You both heard me," he snapped, shoving Bronsted's palm aside and attempting to move him aside but failed. Instead, he shouted over his shoulder, "I'm killing him and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Threaten Raphael one more time," Lucius' sharp eyes suddenly had flames beaming in them. "I dare you."
"Lucius!" Bronsted finally turned his attention to his older brother since it was clear Reno was not going to attempt diffusing this animosity. "He's just upset, cut him some slack."
"He can't threaten Ralphy like that," Dante retorted.
"He isn't blood, is he?" Reno argued.
"I wish he was."
All of their spines straightened the moment they heard a voice that had not been in the room moments prior. They had been focused on the argument that they hadn't heard the door open, neither had they heard it close.
He was the tallest amongst them all, reaching a height of eight foot four, needing to lower himself to even walk through the entrance. The stomping of his books clanking against the metallic floor, always caused shivers across the spine of anyone around, even his children. He always wore his golden bullet proof armour, never seen without the double barrel shotgun cradling his back. At the front of the table was a throne immersed with gold, and sounded like a earthquake tremor when he fell into his seat.
Father, leader, and mentor of millions, Draco Hercules was not a man one wanted to cross. He was merciless—except to his children—cruel, conniving, deceiving, ruthless, heartless, gruesome, and worst of all, he relished the sight of blood. The only care he had in the world was invading as many territoires as he could, planting his seeds across the globe and destroying anyone that crossed his path. He wanted his name to be remembered, to scare anyone that even thought of him, for people to even be afraid of speaking him name.
His visage resembled a dragon, with bushy eyebrows that shadowed his sharp golden eyes and a long braided blond beard. Many considered him a giant tyrant due to the size of his muscles, thick and wide, impossible for anyone to compare to him. His hands were robust and wide, strong enough to grab a person's head with one hand and crush their skull.
He was a monster, a demon—there was even a rumour that he wasn't at all human.
"Have you all finished bickering about lives that have no meaning?" His slanted golden irises shifted to Reno. "Moreno?"
Reno swallowed hard, lowering his head and bowing forward. "Yes father, my apologies."
He folded his arms, staring at his sons aligned in front of him. "I assume you all know why you've been summoned?" None of them answered. Draco straightened his spine, folding his arms across his chest before adding through a hiss, "Jules." Dante swallowed hard but maintained his face narrowed. The only one who did not seem fazed was Lucius who continued to smoke his cigarette as if no one was speaking to him. "Wolf will retaliate."
Bronsted furrowed his brows. "Not if we let him leave."
"If we let him leave?" Draco repeated, his eyebrows raised in shock.
"We we're always planning on letting him leave," Reno added in defence, shrugging his shoulders and glancing at the others when the only thing Draco did was burst out in cackles. His laughter began to grow, bouncing off the walls and causing the floor to tremble by his entire body's vibrations.
From the way his father's eyes sparkled the moment he entered the room, and his laughter that sounded more victorious than anything, Molly's eyes squinted as he fell deep within his thoughts. "You know something we don't..."
In between laughs, Draco exclaimed, "Exactly."
All of them turned to Molly who again let his thoughts roam wildly throughout his mind. Until he fell onto one that made the most sense, and he inhaled a sharp breath. "He's...he's dead, isn't he? Jules is dead?"
Draco's laughter finally settled, his sons' eyes all on him as they anxiously waited for a response. Even Lucius had stopped smoking, waiting to hear what his father had to say. He observed each of their expressions when he nodded his head and confirmed, "You've killed him."
"Holy fuck!" Reno shouted, putting his palm on his forehead.
Bronsted frowned, glancing at Reno before returning his gaze onto his father. "Why is that a big deal?"
"Yeah," Dante added his own piece. "Jules is one amongst thousands of them and they lose men practically daily. Why would Wolf retaliate over losing one guy?"
That was another answer that Draco was surprised none of them knew—except Molly, of course. "Would you like to answer for your idiotic older brothers, Melissa?"
Molly cringed at his full name, glancing elsewhere. It didn't matter how many times he asked his father to call him as he wanted, he never cared to agree to do so. Molly turned away and spat quietly, "Jules is Wolf's biological son. Only son, to be frank."