Chase POV
I swayed my way into my brother's office with a sigh. I was tired of everyone doubting me, and definitely didn't like playing babysitter to a feral wolf.
"Redecorating?" I smugly asked, briskly walking to one his non dismantle chairs.
"Get out!" River roared out, grabbing multiple books in his hand and chucking them at the window. It didn't even scratch the glass, which enraged him more. River then ripped an entire bookshelf from the wall and hurled it at the window.
"I think the place looks better like this. Want to talk now?"
"I said..." River turned his black eyes on me, stalking my way with nothing but death in his eyes. "Get out!"
"We've known each other since we were born, probably even before that. We both know I'm not going anywhere. Let's skip the whole 'I'm the toughest Alpha' act of this play and cut right to what happened with Kiera."
River grunted at me, searching my eyes to gauge that, despite my playful demeanor, I wasn't in the mood to fight for dominance.
"I told her to fuck off. Now get out," he spoke more calmly, gathering pieces of wood and throwing them into a small trash can. I don't think that was going to help much.
"You know I felt you two together. Is this outburst guilt because you think you betrayed Elizabeth?"
River darkly chuckled. "Elizabeth." He let out a sigh after speaking her name. "No, it isn't guilt about betraying her."
"It's part of it. Remember, I can feel you, big brother." I smiled at him, and he shot me an annoyed look, his eyes like storm clouds on the verge of unleashing a violent storm.
River walked to the window, shoulders slouched, gazing out with a poignant expression as if searching for solace in the distant horizon, the room's silence now filled with the unspoken weight of emotions.
"I should feel guilty. Not a single part of me feels like I betrayed Lizzy, but I should."
"Kiera is our fated. Elizabeth knows this and it is why she left."
"I'm aware of what happened, Chase." He grunted.
"Then what has you breaking anything made of wood?"
He clenched his jaw, eyes diverting to the side to see the destruction he caused in his office. "I told Kiera it meant nothing, just a good fuck and for her to get out of my face. She looked to me with absolute disgust etched across her face."
I shook my head. "You're an asshole." I laughed at him.
"This isn't funny."
"No, it is not. Kiera is fucking strong willed and as righteous as your dick face. You will need to do some serious graveling to ever have her in your arms again."
"I don't want her!" He spat out.
"Liar, liar... pants on fire, dear brother."
"Go away, Chase." River let out a long breath and I felt the despair weighing on him.
I thought for a moment, reaching to him and how he felt. A whirlwind of confusion, conflicting emotions, and inner turmoil residing within him.
"You remember Anastasia?" I asked.
"She is our sister, of course I do."
"Kiera reminds me of her. Those purple eyes and fire that burned so fiercely inside them."
"She was the oldest of us all, a disgrace in dad's eyes and what made mom distance herself from us." He sighed at our miserable childhood. "She was unruly and needed to be punished." River imitated our father's voice.
"He was such a dick. It's a good thing we killed him." I grinned sinfully.
"Yeah." River chuckled. "Wait, Anastasia was fifteen years older than us. Do you think..."
"No! Fate is fucking twisted, but not like that. There is no way Kiera is our niece and our fated."
"They do share a striking resemblance and mom always said lavender eyes were rare, only passed down by direct relatives."
"She also said it was a gift that can be given." I examined his face, seeing how his anger shifted to curiosity. The big psycho wolf just needed a little distraction.
"You think Anastasia knew Kiera? Gifted her some kind of power? That seems a bit far fetched."
"How do you live as a werewolf yet constantly question magic? It's magic! It makes no sense, is bound by no rules, no logic."
He huffed at my little outburst. "Maybe! We don't even know what lavender eyes mean as far as magic."
"Mom said it meant power, not of strength but of self-will."
"Mom also went crazy. For all we know, that was a made-up tale to convince herself her daughters were still alive. Lavender eyes could just mean lavender eyes, rare, but of no importance, especially magically."
"It's possible, but my story is much more fun." I grinned at him, and his chest let out a small laughter.
"Or maybe you're going just as crazy as she did."
"Oh, we already know I'm crazy, but the most handsome." I stood, walking to my brother and letting the weight of what happened disappear. "We will make it through this. Stop breaking our house and go take a bath or something."
"I don't take baths." He grunted. "Where are you going?"
"To fix our mate. It seems Drake has failed, and I'm the last brother standing."
"Fix? What is wrong with Kiera?"
"Some big stuffy Alpha told her to fuck off, and now she is pissed, wanting to leave."
"She isn't leaving!" River demanded, making me chuckle. I thought Drake would be the hardest for Kiera to break down the walls that kept us from our mate. It obviously was going to be River that caused her the most frustration though.
"Not without a fight. Go calm yourself and let me handle our little pixie." I gave him a wink and strolled back to his door.
"Chase!" He called after me.
I spun back to him. "Yeah."
"We need to know more about Kiera's past. All eight of our sisters were traded to the South, married off to some douchebag Alpha down there. Being a Luna herself, there is a good possibility Kiera actually met one of our sisters."
"I already planned on finding out more from her, that is, once she is done wanting to kill us. Drake has informed me both Kiera's biological and adopted parents were killed. We know Jackson tricked her to be by his side, which any Alpha knows was to obtain her power. I think the Nightmare pack knows more than they are telling."
"I think we have played enough with our little mate, now it is time we get back on track."
"We can never play too much with our mate, and I never lost track of our mission." I turned to the door to leave then spun back around. "Do you know dragons are the only mythical creature written to have purple eyes?"
River's eyes widened at me. "You can't seriously believe Kiera has part dragon in her? Or that dragons even existed!"
I shrugged nonchalantly. "Magic is magic, River." I chuckled. "But no, I don't think dragons existed. However, I do believe every tale has a sliver of truth to it."
My brother scrutinized me, wondering what I was trying to say. "What does the purple eyes mean for dragons?"
"Fierce strength, iron heart, and born leaders. It's a symbol for other dragons to recognize these qualities in other superior dragons. Kind of like how we naturally know who is an Alpha, Beta, or omega."
"We don't naturally know anything about Kiera, especially from her eyes."
"Or maybe we just haven't been taught how to perceive it. Since birth, we are told of our inherited hierarchy, taught how to acknowledge those higher and below our status." My fingers tapped my head, then I finally left my brother to ponder over my riddles of magic and old tales.
That should keep him occupied for a bit. Now it was time to go see my goddess. Drake seemed terrified of her, claiming she sucked out his power somehow. I can't wait to see this nifty parlor trick of hers. Every day Kiera just gets more and more amazing.