Rhet ground his teeth as he spoke to Hatrhed on his cell. "Yeah. I get it. I'll be there." His outside voice was quite a bit more pleasant than his inside voice, which was mumbling something like, Mother fucker cock sucker. "Yep. Have fun, play nice. Can do."
If he were more of a human-Christian-ish person, he'd be goddamning it all over the living room. As it was, there weren't enough swear words in his vocabulary to adequately express himself at the moment. He stared at his phone when the call ended, working to control the overwhelming urge to launch it missile-style off the loft balcony. But, no... control would be essential for the next several days. Might as well start now. He set it down gingerly on the table next to him.
Which, of course, reminded him that he still had a volume of his sire's 'This Is Your Life' collection because it was right there where he'd left it. He scowled and contemplated launching it over the railing instead.
He sighed. His newly-discovered half-sister was making it clear that he had to be civil to Night and Ace and work cooperatively with them if he wanted into the training program. Which he did.
Fuck.
He heaved himself off the couch and made his way to the stairs. He needed to get out. Maybe a run would clear his head. He donned his running gear consisting of shoes, tights, Under Armour, windbreaker, gloves, and balaclava. No need to have cold ears. That was the worst.
He took off down his drive and turned it left to head further into the country where there wouldn't be so much traffic. Not that there was a lot to begin with, but safety first. The air was dry, or at least as dry as the South got in the winter, but the breeze was more than a little brisk. The moon was just rising, shining its half face on the world, and the stars twinkled overhead.
To his surprise, he saw the house next to his brightly lit, the light filtering through the trees. It'd been on the market for months, with no takers. It was set back on its lot, much like his, but the similarities ended there. His was contemporary with unique architecture in contrast to the cookie-cutter housing plan of the one next door. Stone and wood attempted to balance the... What? Vinyl siding?... on the neighbors. He didn't even want to get started on the yard. Who the hell wanted to live in the woods but still have an enormous lawn to mow? Idiots.
He realized that he'd stopped in the middle of the road to gawk at the house. He was about to turn away when the porch light turned on, and he spied someone coming out the front door.
The first thing he noticed was the color of her hair. It was golden, the color of corn silk, and hung halfway down her back, even though it was in a high ponytail. It bounced as she trotted down the stairs and to the car parked in front of the garage. The next thing he noticed was her ass, which he wouldn't necessarily focus on so quickly, except she popped the trunk and leaned waaaay over... Wait. Is she wearing shorts? Who the fuck wears shorts in February?
He watched her, with more than just his eyes appreciating the view, fish out two armloads of grocery bags from the trunk, then struggle to close the thing. He took several steps toward her, intending to offer help, before what he was doing registered. You're an idiot, Rhet. Like some strange guy approaching her at night out of the darkness to help with groceries is gonna fly.
The breeze stirred, swirling the scents of crisp leaves, wood smoke, and... her. He was captivated, to the point that he didn't even care she was human. She smelled like soap and some soft floral perfume that, ordinarily, would probably have made him sneeze.
She pushed open the front door, shuffled through, then kicked it shut. He waited, listening intently, for the door to lock. When he heard the click, he nodded, released from the spell he'd been under. He took off down the road, racing through the night, lost in thoughts of corn silk hair.
Rhet's heart ached when he saw his sire and brother standing together, lit by the porch lights, at the top of the entry's stairs of Hatrhed's farmhouse. The pain lasted about a millisecond before being replaced by a fit of burning jealousy. He did his best to tamp it down. Gotta get along.
"Farmhouse" was really a misnomer. It implied a small one-family cozy little place. Hatrhed's farmhouse was straight out of Gone With the Wind, only without all the racism and misogyny. The short flight of stairs passed between two massive columns. More columns, two stories tall, supported the wrap-around porch's roof. A small landing with a wrought iron railing was directly above the front door, black to match the shutters, accessed from the second-floor hall. It was too dark to see the many chimneys and gabled dormers of the attic protruding from the red metal roof, but it didn't matter anyway; he focused his attention on Night and Ace again.
Ace smiled tentatively and gave him a little wave. Night watched him with hopeful eyes. It was damned uncomfortable, but he ignored them as he stepped out of the truck. He'd brought his ATV to help haul equipment and went about dropping the trailer's tailgate-turned-ramp to roll it out.
"Hey. Need a hand?" he heard his sire ask. He glanced to see Night and Ace striding his way and swallowed. "Yeah. Sure. I'll put it in gear and push it if the two of you will guide it down." See? He could do cooperative.
Once on the ground, he straddled it and turned the ignition. "Thanks," he said, thumbing over his shoulder, "I'm going to take it to load up."
"Yeah, okay," Night replied. Rhet could feel the disappointment roll off the older male and decided he didn't care. He followed a smaller gravel path to the kitchen entrance behind the house where the rest of the party and several doggen were loading the supplies they'd need onto the small fleet of ATVs. Coolers and boxes of food were on many. Hatrhed had brought out the Outlander MAX ATV, the one with six wheels and a cargo area on the back. They loaded crossbows and compound bows with enough bolts and arrows to mount a small siege in the bed.
By the time he'd secured his load, Ace was by his side. "So, I've never hunted feral pig before. Have you?"
Rhet settled against the ATV and crossed his arms. He wasn't in the mood to talk, but he couldn't avoid it the entire time. "Yeah. Quite a bit, actually. They destroy crops, so we work to keep the population down."
"Cool. You can show me how to take one down. And to use a crossbow. I'm a pretty good shot with the rifle, and we bag deer every year."
"Well, taking down a pig is slightly different from a deer. You have to hit lower and more forward. Honestly, if you can, a stab to the armpit is the fastest way to kill a pig. But, that's a little up close and personal for a first hunt."
Ace nodded. "Yeah. I'm happy to shoot it from a distance."
"Hey, Rhet!" Hatrhed called. "You're with Ace, Phury, and me. You ready?"
"All loaded," he answered. "We going out to the northeast stands?"
"Yeah. Ace is going to need a ride. Double up and bring up the rear."
Rhet scowled but nodded. He gestured to the second seat behind the driver. "Climb on."
Ace stepped up and swung his leg over to settle in the seat with a fluid motion that told Rhet he'd ridden before. He started things up again and sighed. Guess there's no way around being polite. "Where do you all live that you get to hunt?" He asked as he waited for everyone to ride past and head to the fallow field, following the treeline.
"Alaska. Mostly Sitka deer but some moose, too. Some hunt grizzlies, too, but we don't. They haven't bothered us, so we haven't bothered them."
Rhet had to admit he was interested. "I've never seen a moose. I hear they're big."
"They're huge! Taller than dad, for sure, and he's not small."
"No," Rhet said, unable to hide the bitterness, "Brothers usually aren't." He opened up the throttle to keep up with the rest.
Ace was quiet for a time. "You know, he's not a Brother anymore, right?"
"So I was told. Nice to know he didn't hide it from you."
"Well, actually, I didn't know about the Brothers until Lassiter and Tarra showed up. I only knew there were more of us out there, but not to what extent."
"So, you didn't know about your kind or your family? How does that not piss you the fuck off?"
"I—I don't know. I mean, like I said, dad has his issues, right? He's got a lot of shame wrapped up in his time as a Brother. I figure if he wants me to know, he'll tell me."
Rhet fell silent, thinking about the book Tarra gave him. He wondered if it told about whatever his sire was so ashamed about. Maybe he should change his mind about reading it. He grunted in frustration. Not gonna happen.
Ace didn't try to continue the conversation. Rhet vaguely felt he should be saying something, but he was at a loss of words. So, they rode, not speaking, until they reached the stands. Once the ATVs were unloaded, and the gear stored properly, they met in the clearing.
Hatrhed explained the plan. "Let's get the lay of the land and see what kinds of signs of feral pigs we see. Then, we can decide how to best approach them. The best way is to find a natural ravine of some sort, block one end, and then be able to herd the pigs into it. Maybe we'll come across a sounder of a small family group. Then, we can pick and choose the ones we want."
Wilhelm handed Kyle and Rhet each a contraption. "You two take these portable stands and install them wherever you're setting up."
Hatrhed began handing out crossbows and quivers of bolts. "You feel okay with this after you practiced yesterday?" she asked Ace as Rhet waited for him. Ace, Night, V, and Phury had gotten together to brush up on their skills the night before. Or, in Ace's case, learn their way around the weapon.
"Well, I wouldn't want to go up against anything on my own, but I think I'll be okay with others. I'm not the fastest at cocking it, and it's a slow reload as it is."
She smiled at him. "You should have tried the originals. These modern rigs are immensely improved. Trust me."
Night approached them. "You two going to be okay?" he asked his sons.
"Sure, dad," Ace answered with a grin. "Just like deer, only not."
Night laughed and slapped his back. "Yeah, not quite deer, but you did good in practice yesterday. Just stick with Rhet. He'll get you through."
"Yep. Come on," the older brother said. "Hatrhed and Wilhelm are waiting."