227 Brothers and Ghosts
Darian
Lucian was finally back.
I had seriously considered going to Mistwood to find him, but then my father dropped the Alpha mantle on me like a bomb. After that, there was no way I could leave. Everything was unraveling faster than I could fix it, and truthfully-I didn’t know what would have happened if Lucian hadn’t returned. We were all holding our breath, waiting for some kind of hope.
He was it.
Mara wasn’t handling it well. She tried to keep it together, but the pregnancy made it harder for her to mask what she was feeling. Normally, she was good at building walls. But Lucian had torn them down completely. And I got it. I was the reason those walls were there in the first place-because of my own selfish mistakes.
I still thought about what could’ve been between us sometimes. That quiet ache never completely disappeared. What I told her at the lake, I meant with every part of me. But things had changed. I had Tiffany now. I had Emma. They weren’t just people in my life-they were my life.
I’ll never feel for Tiff what I once felt for Mara. But fate had made its choice. And so had I.
Watching Mara with Lucian, it just made sense. They fit in ways that made everything else fade. I came to love her like a sister and quietly rooted for them-because they made each other better.
Mara brought light into our family-a family that had lived in shadow far too long. She healed the rift between me and Lucian, the one I’d thought would last forever. He laughed more now. He listened. He took his time with people. He grew. And I stepped back because I could see what she meant to him-and what he meant to her.
So when she started unraveling in his absence, I knew it wouldn’t be long before she did something reckless. If I didn’t go
after Lucian, she would. I was certain of it.
Then the call came. A private jet had landed-unauthorized. I didn’t wait. I took a squad of soldiers to the airport, not knowing if we were facing enemies or ghosts. My chest was tight the entire drive. It could’ve been Lucian… or someone
sent to finish what Chase started.
Rowan was the one who told me first.
“It’s Lucian,” he said.
And my heart soared. I could finally breathe.
He was back.
And it meant I could step down, hand the Alpha title back where it belonged. I didn’t envy him. Not for a second.
The job sucked.
And it was never meant to be mine.
I went out to welcome Lucian, but if I hadn’t known them, I wouldn’t have recognized a single one.
Denis had shaved off his afro. Lance-one year my junior-was now wearing long dreads. And Katherine looked like a regular girl off the street, not the hardened soldier I remembered. But it was Lucian who threw me off the most-his once-golden hair was darker and ragged, and his nose looked like it had been broken and badly set.
Still, when he smiled at me, I knew he was okay. Changed, but okay.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep it together. Then I noticed the two strangers they brought with them-a woman
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and a man. The guy looked like a prisoner. Cuffed. Guarded. Trouble.
“Darian!” my brother called out, and I didn’t hesitate. I ran to him.
45 Points
The relief on both our faces said everything we didn’t. He grabbed my head and rested his forehead against mine, patting the side of my face-an unspoken thank you, a brother’s bond reforged.
For a moment, I truly thought we’d lost him. But here he was. Solid. Leading.
“How’s my wife?” he asked as he pulled back.
I laughed, raising a hand. “Relax. I didn’t make any passes at her.”
We both cracked up-more from relief than the joke itself. It was good to laugh again.
Then I gestured toward the newcomers. “Who are they?”
Lucian turned toward the guards handling them. “The girl’s free. Name’s Bianca Ash. Call girl from Goldenpeak. Make sure
she gets treated, then send her home safely.”
My eyebrows lifted slightly, instincts flaring. For Mara’s sake, I had to ask. But before I could say a word, Lucian caught my
meaning.
“I’d never cheat on Mara,” he said firmly, and I relaxed. I believed him. He said it like a vow.
“What about the guy?” I asked.
Lucian’s face darkened. “Her pimp. Justin. That bastard tried to kill us. He’s working for Chase Nighthorn-followed
orders to wipe us out. I played him with cash, killed his team. Now he works for us. For now. But I don’t trust him. At all.
Whatever info he gives, verify it. Twice.”
There it was-that Lucian. The one who trusted no one unless they’d bled beside him. The one who survived by watching
every angle.
Denis walked over then, calm but alert. Lucian turned to him immediately.
“Where’s the prisoner?”
“In Rowan’s custody,” Denis replied with a smile. “He’s solid. Loyal. He won’t flip on us.”
Lucian nodded slowly. “I hope not. I really don’t trust anybody right now. That bastard has moles everywhere.”
We stood in silence. Because we all knew he was right.
Besides Rowan… and Mara…
I didn’t know who I could trust either.
“May I go home to Keisha?” Denis asked quietly.
Lucian didn’t hesitate-he nodded.
I understood. Denis was newly married and had spent the past three weeks on a mission so covert he couldn’t even send word to his wife. She was pregnant, too. The man had more than earned the right to go home.
And let’s be honest-Lucian was headed straight to Mara, and if I knew anything about the two of them, they wouldn’t be seen again until tomorrow… maybe even later.
Denis gave a respectful bow and left. Lance and Anna followed soon after, slipping away without fanfare.
Lucian turned to me. “How’s Father?”
I hesitated. There was no easy way to say it.
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“He never left the hospital,” I said finally. “He’s still there. Refuses to leave her side.”
Lucian’s jaw tightened. He didn’t speak, but I knew what he was thinking. If my mother ever believed our father didn’t love her, she was wrong. But love couldn’t fix what was broken-not when the truth about Alaric was still alive and breathing. As long as that man drew breath, my parents’ bond would never be whole again.
Lucian’s voice broke into my thoughts. “And your mother?”
I looked down. “The doctors want him to pull the plug… but he won’t. He believes she’ll wake up. For a man who claimed the mate bond was gone, he’s clinging to something fierce.”
Lucian reached out and patted my back-soft, understanding. He didn’t offer words. I was grateful. Sometimes silence
says more.
“Come on, big brother,” I said, trying to shift the mood. “Time to go home.”
We headed for the parking lot. The sky was heavy above us, but for the first time in weeks, it didn’t feel oppressive.
As we walked, Lucian began to talk-quietly, almost like confessing. He told me what happened in Mistwood. How they were made. How Chase had set trap after trap and how they walked right into them. And how, somehow, by pure instinct
or divine grace, Lucian had spun a lie convincing enough to buy them time-and lives.
The moon must have been watching over him. Had Justin or his gang buried a bullet in my brother’s skull, none of us
would’ve recovered. Not our family. Not Mara.
Not me.
I glanced at Lucian as we reached the car. There was dirt under his nails. Scars that hadn’t been there before. His nose
was crooked, his eyes sharper. The disguise made him look different-but he was alive.
And for that, I was deeply, silently grateful.
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