Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter #18)(27)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fang did his best to ignore all the other Were-Hunters and Acheron and Simi as he made his way to them. They were the only thing that mattered and as he approached his anger mounted.

Fang hated what he felt, but he couldn’t stop it. Resentment and bitterness swelled inside him. How dare Vane go off and find happiness while he’d been tortured and abused. Images of the demons beating him, of the wounds that had cut him bone-deep went through his mind. Again, he remembered the unrelenting hunger and thirst that had never been sated. The months of grueling agony.

All the while Vane had been with Bride. . . .

Stamping his rage down, Fang held his hand out to Bride the instant he reached her.

She hesitated a moment before she took his hand into hers and he felt the way she trembled in uncertainty. The scent of her nervousness was heavy in his nostrils and the protective wolf in him wanted to soothe her. It wasn’t her fault that he’d been locked in the Nether Realm. She was his brother’s mate and he would honor her as that no matter what he felt inside.

"She’s beautiful, Vane. I’m glad you found her." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he withdrew and met Fury’s shocked gaze.

At least the bastard had the decency to look shamefaced. Well he should too. It was all Fang could do not to punch him for replacing him in Vane’s affections and loyalty.

But Fury’s presence in the room wasn’t nearly as shocking to Fang as Stefan’s was. Stefan who’d been the ringleader who beat him and Vane and then chained them to the tree for the Daimons to eat. Stefan who’d been sent out to kill them. Obviously things had changed while Fang had been out of it.

Now, their father’s grand ass**le sat at a table looking like someone had beat the shit out of him. No doubt he deserved it.

Stefan refused to meet Fang’s gaze.

Vane came to his feet. "Fang?"

Fang didn’t stop on his way back to the kitchen. He was afraid that if he did, he’d attack his brother for abandoning him to the Nether Realm and the last thing he wanted was to taint the happiness Bride and Vane shared. Vane deserved to be happy and Fang had no right to hurt him. He knew that Vane would have moved heaven and hell to get him out . . . had he only answered when Fang had called.

Gods, his emotions were absolutely bipolar and volatile where Vane was concerned.

That pain and hurt were still raw inside him. The months of brutal survival couldn’t be undone with a simple encounter. He needed time to come to terms with what he’d been through.

What he’d consigned himself to.

With a hesitant smile on her beautiful face, Aimee met him at the kitchen door. Her T-shirt was a bit tighter on her body today and it caused a vicious wave of lust to consume him. Thank the gods something overrode his pain.

Before he even realized what he’d done, he reached out to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him through the kitchen and back up to his room.

Fang didn’t speak the entire way up the mahogany stairs as the lavender scent of Aimee captured him.

Once in his room, he lay back in the huge tester bed while she covered him with a brightly colored quilt.

Her gaze suspicious, she paused by his side. "I know something’s wrong with you, wolf. You’re never this silent."

Fang snorted at her poor attempt for humor. He probably shouldn’t mention any of this and yet he found himself confiding in her even against his better judgment. "If my mother’s defeated and Stefan is down there in the bar with Vane and Fury and not fighting them to the death . . ." He didn’t finish the thought. He already had a good idea of what that meant.

Someone was now in charge of those two clans.

And it wasn’t him.

That stung him deep inside. Things had changed so dramatically and he felt all alone. Disassociated. Stunned. Most of all, deeply betrayed. Maybe he should have stayed in the Nether Realm. It was obvious that no one here needed him anymore. Vane had moved on with his life.

Their entire clan had restructured under someone else’s leadership.

What was he going to do now? He felt lost and he hated that sensation.

Aimee felt Fang’s turmoil and it made her want to cry that she couldn’t help him. She couldn’t stand feeling so helpless. Most of all, she didn’t want to see their family splintered at a time when they needed one another the most. "You know your brother checked on you every day while you were out of it. Even today, he made sure to come see you. Fury was here too."

"I know."

And still he was so sad.

Without thinking, she curled up on the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around him to hold him close. It was the only way to comfort him that she knew.

Fang closed his eyes as his heart pounded from the warmth of her embrace. No one had ever held him like this before.

No one.

There was nothing sexual about it. It was a hug meant to comfort him. And may the gods have mercy on his worthless soul because it did.

Placing his hand over her much smaller one, he felt something inside him shatter and in that moment, he knew a truth that scared him even more than the demon that was living inside him.

He loved her.

It made a mockery of what he’d thought he felt for Stephanie all those years ago. This wasn’t the crush of a young wolf fascinated with a beautiful wolfswan who was coveted by the pack. This was the bloody and bruised heart of an animal that had never really been opened before.

Aimee had come for him and she had stood beside him when no one else had. She alone had fought to save him from hell.

Even now . . .

Gods help me. He shouldn’t feel like this. He should shove her out the door and yet he couldn’t bring himself to destroy the serenity of this moment with her. The tenderness inside him that her touch awoke.

For the first time in his entire life he was at peace.

Without a word, she trailed her hand up to brush through his hair. His body was white-hot, reminding him of the fact that it had been literally months since he’d last been with a woman.

And he wanted her with a madness that was consuming. A madness he had to deny for both their sakes.

"As much as I’m enjoying that, Aimee, you’re going to have to stop."

"Why?"

"Because I want you so badly I can taste it."

She rolled him over onto his back. Her crystal blue gaze only added to the need in him to have her. Those dainty fingers, so soft and soothing, played over his lips as she smiled at him. Then she did the most amazing thing of all, she lowered her head and kissed him.

Fang growled at the taste of her. At the warmth of her breath mingling with his as their tongues danced together. He surrendered himself to the magic of her mouth.

For a moment, all of his thoughts scattered.

"No," he said, pulling away. "We can’t do this."

"I know. I’m sorry." Kissing him lightly on the cheek, she got up slowly and straightened her clothes.

His c**k twitched as her br**sts were made even more apparent by that action. Damn, hadn’t one of her brothers or her parents ever told her not to parade around like that? Her ni**les were hard and outlined in a way that tortured him even worse than the demons had.

Gods, to taste just one of those . . .

The wolf inside was salivating.

"Are you hungry?"

Yes, he was, but not for food. "No. I’m all right."

She nodded. "I’ll be in my room if you need me."

Naked? He almost groaned aloud as that image went through his mind with a clarity that should be illegal. Damn it to hell, get out of my head. But the image of her nude body was there and it blistered him.

As soon as she was gone, he placed his hand down to his c**k to try and alleviate some of the pain she’d caused. It was no use. He was so hard, he could drive a nail with his erection.

"What am I going to do?"

If he touched her, he would violate all the laws of the Omegrion and her family would mount his balls to the mirror that hung over the bar.

So he would suffer. Whimper . . . none of it would give him what he really wanted, which was to be inside her sinfully delicious body.

"Fang?"

He heard Vane’s voice from the other side of his door. Pulling the covers over his lap to hide what Aimee had done to him, he sighed at the welcomed interruption even though he dreaded seeing his brother again. "Come in."

Vane opened the door. "Hey."

Fang would have been amused by his uncharacteristic hesitancy, but right now nothing much could elicit that from him. Not while his body was this hungry.

Awkward silence filled the room as they stared at each other.

Vane leaned against the closed door. "I can’t believe you’re finally awake. I really thought I’d lost you."

"Yeah, well, you’ll have to forgive me for being a selfish ass**le." Fang cringed as those words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Vane stiffened as he recognized the quote. "You heard me?"

Fang looked away, unwilling to answer. So he changed the subject. "Why’s Stefan downstairs?"

"Markus has fallen and Stefan is no longer a leader. I put Fury in charge of the pack."

Fang couldn’t have been more pissed off had his brother slapped him. Then again, that’s exactly what he’d done by putting Fury in as their leader.

It should have been him.

"He’s not strong enough to lead."

"With my backing he is."

And with Vane’s backing, Fang couldn’t challenge him for leadership. Well, he could, but it would break their bond and weaken them before the others, leaving them open to attack. Which was exactly what the other wolfswains would do. Perfect. He’d been completely cut out of his birthright.

Markus would be thrilled.

Vane moved forward cautiously as he watched Fang’s solemn contemplation. This wasn’t the reunion he’d expected when Fang finally came out of his coma. He’d dreamed of this moment over and over again. Fang waking up, happy to be alive. His brother embracing him. . . .

But something was different now. There was an air around Fang far deadlier than anything Vane had sensed from him before.

His brother was angry and there was a bitterness to him that he didn’t understand. Why would he feel like that given what he’d put Vane and Fury through? "You’ve been out of it for months."

"Believe me, I know." His eyes flashed with brutal malice.

Frustrated, Vane sighed. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing, Vane, I just want you to be happy."

His mouth might have said that, but his tone didn’t. Vane tried again to ease the tension between them. "I am that. Finally. Bride’s better than I ever deserved. And we both have a room for you at our house."

Fang grimaced at his offer. "I don’t know. You two are newly mated. The last thing you need is your mentally defective brother spooking the shit out of your woman."

That was a vintage Fang comment. One of the sarcastic retorts that Vane had been craving to hear all of these months past. "Bride doesn’t spook easily."

"Probably true if she sees you first thing in the morning."

Vane smiled at his humor. His chest was tight as he realized just how much he really had missed his brother while Fang had been out of it. There was no one else in the world like him. "We want you with us."

Fang shot out of the bed as if he were about to attack. "I’m not your son, Vane," he snarled with an unexpected rage. "I’m not a child. I’m a grown wolf and I really don’t think I belong with you guys."

He nodded, but refused to back down. He knew better than to let Fang sense his emotions. It would only make the wolf in him more volatile.

So he tried to change the subject to something safer. "There’s something else you need to know about Fury."

Fang scoffed. "He’s my brother. Aimee already told me."

That surprised the hell out of him. Just how close was his brother to the bearswan?

That couldn’t be good.

"Do you want to see him?" Vane asked.

"Not really. In case you’ve forgotten, the two of us aren’t exactly friendly."

"Yeah, I know. But he’s been a big help protecting Bride."

"I’m glad you had him." The tone of his voice belied those words.

Vane scowled at his attitude, which was beginning to chafe his ass raw. He’d been keeping a leash on his temper, but it was starting to slip under the constant assault he didn’t deserve.

He was trying, but Fang wasn’t making any effort at all.

Instead Fang kept attacking and the wolf part of Vane was getting really sick of it. "Why are you so angry at me?"

Fang simmered inside. His fury was volcanic and he wanted to lash out at Vane in the worst way.

You let me down, you ass**le!

But that wasn’t the only bane that burned inside him. It was the fact that while Vane had let him down, he’d cursed him for being trapped. That his brother had said things to him that were wrong and hurtful.

And wholly undeserved.

He wanted to feel the same love and loyalty for his brother now that he’d felt the night Anya had died. But it wasn’t there anymore and that hurt most of all.

Fang wasn’t the same and neither was Vane.

Unwilling to fight anymore when it wouldn’t change anything, Fang backed off. "Look, I still don’t feel well. Why don’t you go and spend time with your mate and Fury?"

"What about you? You’re my family too."