Chapter 39

“Hey, Jackson…you got a moment?” asked Carson.

Shutting down his computer, Jackson looked up at his brother. “Sure, if it won’t take too long. It’s my turn to corral my son and make sure he’s in his pj’s although I don’t know why I bother since he always shifts during the night.”

Chuckling, Carson walked into his brother’s study and sat down. “I feel for you…thank goodness our boys are magic users and not shifters.”

“You say that now, but wait till they start using magic…then what?”

“Remy said they can’t use it on me so I’m not worried.”

“Right…but have you thought what else they will be able to do…like disappear so you can’t find them when it’s bedtime or mealtime? Then what are you gonna do?”

Groaning, Carson muttered, “Why would you tell me this? Here I was thinking how easy I was going to have it compared to Cody and Colton.”

“Hate to break it to you, but that ship has sailed, especially since Jessie has a major crush on Eamon.”

“My hope is she’ll outgrow it,” Carson replied.

“Yeah…well good luck with that,” Jackson said grinning “Now what did you want to talk about?”

“You know when I went with Remy to move Tristan’s pack…”

“Yeah, what about it? ”

“Well…” Carson began, then hesitated. He wasn’t sure how his brother would react to what he was going to say, but Jackson was his Alpha and deserved to know the truth about what he’d done. “Uhm…”

“Hey, look at me,” Jackson said softly. “Tell me…I won’t get angry…I promise.”

Nodding, Carson said, “Okay, so Kahn was there and he told me how sorry he was for what Josiah had done and swore to me that if he’d known what his father was planning, he’d have told you or Mom.”

“I see,” Jackson replied, leaning back in his chair and studying his brother. “And you believed him?”

“Not at first,” Carson replied. “I could smell he wasn’t lying, but it was hard to ignore the anger I still had all these years later. I can’t tell you how many times I dreamt about my failure to save our younger brothers and sisters. It got so bad I hated to go to sleep because I’d have nightmares about the pain they’d had to endure. It was only when I was completely exhausted that I could fall into a dreamless sleep, but then the cycle would start all over again.

“It wasn’t until I met Remy and his brothers that I was finally able to say goodbye to our siblings. Now I only remember the good times I had with them. And with Mom alive, I was sure I was ready to move on…to look forward instead of being stuck in the past.”

Jackson nodded, before saying, “But there was still a piece of the puzzle that was missing, wasn’t there?”

“Yes…that’s when I knew I’d never be free until I made peace with Kahn. Even though he wasn’t with Josiah that night, it was important for him to tell me to my face he didn’t know what was going to happen to our family. I can’t explain it, but not knowing for sure prevented my heart from healing fully. And when I realized that Kahn was telling me the truth, it finally allowed me to put the past where it belonged…in the past.”

Pausing for a moment, Carson glanced down at his feet before returning his gaze to his brother. “I accepted Kahn’s apology and, in the process, found the peace that had eluded me since that night. I just thought you should know…” Carson’s voice trailed off, no longer able to look at his brother.

Leaning forward, Jackson said, softly, “Carsy, please…look at me.”

When Carson finally raised his eyes, he was relieved to see there was only love in his brother’s eyes.

Smiling at his brother, Jackson said, “Happiness is something I want for all my brothers and I’m so glad you found it. And it doesn’t matter how it happened, what’s important is that you did.”

Nodding, Carson said, fervently, “I swear I’m happy, Jackson.”

“I know,” Jackson replied. “Your eyes tell me everything…the grief you tried so hard to hide is gone and there’s a cheerfulness that I haven’t seen since before that night. There were so many times I wished I could fix what was troubling you, but I finally realized that the road back to living is one we each must walk alone…and we all have to find our own way.”

“I felt as if I were drowning…and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my head above water,” Carson whispered.

Jackson nodded in agreement with his brother. “Josiah took more than our loved ones. He stole years of our lives and shattered our dreams for the future. When I think back to those dark days, the hardest thing for me to accept was that none of us would ever be able to go back to the life we knew. When I finally came to terms with it, that’s when my healing began. I realized that dwelling on it only forced me into a place where there wasn’t a future for me…or any of my brothers…and I wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Still,” Jackson continued, “it wasn’t easy for me. Sometimes, I’d go to sleep and wonder which brother would be gone in the morning. My grief, your grief…all of our grief was so palpable, that at times I felt like I was suffocating.”

“When did you know you would make it?” asked Carson.

“When I found Steel. Before that I was barely keeping my head about water,” Jackson replied, smiling.

Nodding slowly, Carson said, “It was the same for me…finding Remy started my healing. And Kahn…with a simple apology, completed it.”

“I’m so proud of you, Carson…and so glad you’re finally at peace.”

“Thank you…but what about you…are you at peace?”

“Not totally, but I came to the conclusion a little while ago that my missing piece is also Kahn. I plan to talk to him once Rudy is dealt with,” Jackson replied, smiling. “It’s time for our family…all of us, including Kahn…to move forward.”

~/~/~/~/~

Rudy got out of the SUV and surveyed the area. It had been a long time since he’d been on the Fox River land and it paid to be cautious since he didn’t know if Jackson had come back to the land after Josiah’s death. But from the look of the overgrown road they’d ridden in on, his guess was no one had been here for a long time—which was exactly what he'd hoped for when he decided to launch his attack on Silver Point to take back what was rightfully his.

Looking over his shoulder, Rudy saw the rest of his men, except for Osrum and Bruno, get out of the vehicles that had followed him. He couldn’t care less about the magic user since he had no further use for him, but Bruno’s absence pissed him off. Time was of the essence and if he didn’t call soon, Rudy would have go without him. Turning his gaze back to the land he would eventually take from Jackson, he smiled. Josiah had made a lot of mistakes in his efforts to acquire it, but he wouldn’t be making the same ones.

“Everyone’s here, boss,” Seth said, standing behind him.

Not bothering to turn around, Rudy growled, “Bruno?”

“I haven’t heard from him. I think something’s wrong” Seth replied. “Do you want me to send someone to get him?”

“No!” Rudy growled. “There isn’t time.”

“But what if he’s hurt?”

Turning around Rudy snarled, “Then it’s too fucking bad, isn’t it? Now get the men in position…and forget about him. And don’t give me any shit. It’s your fault I’m in this clusterfuck right now because you let Frank escape. Your stupidity is the reason I’m out of time. I have to move now or otherwise, all this shit has been for fucking nothing. Go!”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Seth muttered to himself, heading over to the men milling around the trucks .

Sidling up to Seth, Hans whispered, “What about Bruno? Does Rudy want us to see what’s keeping him?”

“No…he’s gonna attack without him.”

“You’re all right with that?” Hans asked, incredulously.

“Fuck, no,” Seth murmured, “but for now, just follow my lead, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. What are you gonna to do?”

“Not now, Hans, not when Rudy has spies all over the place. Just stay close to me.”

“Okay.”

Stopping in front of the men, Seth called out the names in the order Rudy wanted, having them form a single line and then led them over to the edge of the woods that bordered Silver Point Pack land. It took some effort, but eventually he had them in formation.

After passing Rudy’s last minute instructions to the men, Seth gave the signal and watched as they started to walk through the woods. He thought Rudy’s plan was flawed because each of them was exposed and could easily be shot, but Seth knew better than to voice objections to someone who had always shown so little regard for his enforcers. And it was why he hadn’t bothered to argue with his boss about the need for him and Hans to find Bruno. Rudy would never understand that kind of loyalty.

But Bruno was different and he was the only one Seth and Hans gave their loyalty to. They owed Bruno a lot for rescuing them after they’d been sold by their parents into virtual slavery on a hemp farm where they were made to toil ruthlessly for hours every day and had to endure frequent beatings. Finally, unable to take it anymore after one brutal whipping, Seth made plans for them to leave, but Hans became ill. Refusing to leave his brother behind, Seth abandoned his plans, and decided to stay until Hans was better.

It took over a month for Hans to recover and during that time, Seth was forced to do the work of two men which exhausted him. One night, badly beaten, and unable to walk, he could only manage to crawl from the fields at the end of the day. When his irate owner began to beat him with a baseball bat, Seth knew it would be a miracle if he survived. Collapsing, he curled up in a fetal position, covered his head with his arms and waited for death.

But a savior suddenly appeared, grabbed the bat and used it to kill Seth’s torturer. Then a pair of strong arms picked him up and assured him he was safe. The next few weeks were spent at a campsite, deep in the woods, where all he remembered was a haze of voices, broken up by hours of blackness. When he finally healed, Hans explained what had happened and introduced him to Bruno—the man who’d saved his life.

One day, while out hunting for food, Bruno met a shifter on the way to a pack advertising for enforcers. After getting more information from him about the job, he returned to their campsite and, after telling the two brothers about it, they all decided to head for the Silver Point Pack where they were hired.

Since then, more times than he could count, Seth thanked the Fates for sending Bruno to them because his life had become better than he ever thought it could be. Bruno, who’d once worked as an enforcer for a different pack, taught them everything about the business and, while it didn’t bother Seth to give someone an occasional beating, Hans hated that part of the job. But they had a home, food, and best of all, Bruno at their side.

Marching through the undergrowth, Seth waited until the forest grew thick, making it impossible for Rudy to see anyone except those closest to him. Stopping, he told the man next to him to keep moving, that he had to take a piss and would catch up with him. Once the man was out of sight, he looked to his right and smiled at his brother who was waiting for him. Grabbing Hans’ hand he said, “C’mon, we’re gonna go find Bruno.”

“What about Rudy?”

“Fuck him! This is his fuckin’ fight, not ours.” Retracing their steps, it took only ten minutes before he and his brother emerged from the woods. Heading over to a truck, Seth pulled the keys from his pocket, and pressed the button to open both doors. “Get in and enter the address I sent you into your GPS.”

After inputting the information, Hans said, “We’re about two hours away from there.”

Nodding, Seth drove slowly over the ruts in the dirt road until he reached the highway. “Which way?”

“South.”

Turning onto the paved road, Seth pressed down on the accelerator, ignoring the speed limit, a risk he had to take since his wolf was agitated and urged him to hurry. Slowed by traffic after reaching the city, they nonetheless arrived at the address in less than an hour and a half.

Turning off the engine after finding a parking spot, Seth glanced at his brother who had grabbed the door handle and was about to get out. “Wait, little brother.” After carefully surveyed the buildings lining the streets he pointed to one, and said, “That’s the one Bruno would’ve chosen.”

Hans looked at it and asked, “How can you be sure? There’s nothing that stands out.”

“That’s exactly why he picked it,” Seth muttered. “C’mon, he’ll be on the roof.” Then he led Hans into the alley next to the building.

“He was here,” Hans whispered. “Can you smell him?”

“Yeah…look, he went in here,” Seth responded, grabbing the broken doorknob. Once inside, he sniffed, picking up Bruno’s recent scent along with… “Oh fuck…c’mon…Yuri’s here.”

Following his brother up the stairs, Hans picked up the faint scent of blood, causing his stomach to glitch. He couldn’t be certain it was Bruno’s but it wasn’t a good sign.

Reaching the top of the staircase, Seth held out his arm to stop his brother from opening the door leading to the roof. “You stay here until I make sure Yuri isn’t around.” Then he pushed open the door, but before his eyes could adjust to the darkness, Hans rushed past him toward two men lying on the roof.

Scenting Bruno’s blood, Hans ran to his friend. Kneeling down next to the deathly pale man, he grabbed Bruno’s hand, begging him to open his eyes.

Joining his brother, Seth pressed his fingers against Bruno’s neck, searching for a pulse. It took a moment but he finally found a faint one. Glancing at Hans, he said, “He’s alive…help me lift him…we gotta get him to a doctor…fast!”