Page 84 of Alpha's Rejected Warrior
Conan shifts his weight. Akila’s expression softens.
“We’d sneak away to drink it,” Branson continues. “Just the two of us. The taste was awful to us at first, so bitter we’d gag.”
His mouth pulls tight, fighting against the words. “But it made us feel close to her somehow. Like we were keeping a piece of her alive. Eventually, we got used to it. Started drinking it every day.”
A long breath escapes him before he turns to us, arms crossed. “Then, one morning, we realized Jayme’s hair was noticeably darker. It was so strange to us that at first we thought that— we thought that he’d finally gotten his wish. All of his life, he only wanted to be like every other wolf in our pack.”
Conan and Akila exchange a loaded glance.
“But then our father saw his hair,” he goes on. “When he asked us what we’d been doing, what we’d been eating, we told him about the tea.” He pauses, his eyes fading into the rapture of memory as his face slips into a slackened expression. “He beat us both bloody and told us to throw it all out. Fortunately, he couldn’t bring himself to destroy mother’s tea set. But he made it clear that Jayme must pay his penance for being born an abomination. Concealing his true nature was forbidden.”
“Branson,” Akila says. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
No answer. Instead, he continues, “When I left the Gorg, Jayme didn’t leave right away. He said that he would never be accepted no matter what pack he joined. Even when the Moon Curse was fast-approaching, I left my only brother to their mercy. I’ll never forgive myself for that.” His gaze locks on the teapot like it might shatter any second. “But the Curse was what woke me up. I knew I had to get Jayme out of there. I recalled then how the tea had darkened his hair.”
“Goddess above.” Conan buries his face in his hands.
“Branson, how could you?” Akila says, disappointment dripping from every word.
Seems I’m the only one not quite catching how serious this actually is.
“So, what does that mean?” I ask.
“It means our pack is danger.” Akila’s face flushes with anger. “Throughout history, Scarlet Wolves have been known to act as henchmen, spies, and murderers Because they’re violent. Blood-thirsty. But they’re also unpredictable. They don’t pledge themselves to any pack for long.”
“Now you’re getting carried away.” Branson says.
“What Jayme turned into today is a Scarlet Wolf?” I ask.
“No, that was something else entirely.” Branson shakes his head. “His wolf is just like you’ve always seen him, only with naturally red fur. I’ve never seen him like what he was today.”
“Allowing such a creature into Kortan is treason,” Conan says.
“My brother is not a monster,” Branson says. “Whatever they say he did, that wasn’t him. He would never—”
“But hedid,” Akila says. “Branson, he could have killed us. You saw what he became!”
“I’m telling you, that wasn’t him. He’s not violent. My father beat him every day of his life. Sometimes, almost nearly to death. Never once did Jayme raise a hand to him, and believe me, therecame a point when he could have. There were so many times he could have ripped his throat out, and by Gorg law, he would have been justified.”
“What’s your point?” Akila takes a wider stance, chin lifted.
“My point is that he chose not to. Prior to this summit, have you ever seen him attack anyone here at Kortan? Act aggressively toward anyone? It’s not like him.”
I can tell that Branson isn’t lying. He means every word he says about Jayme. That doesn’t guarantee he’s right, though.
“What if someone’s controlling him?” I articulate what I’ve suspected for some time now. “Making him do things he wouldn’t normally do?”
Akila shakes her head. “Lycans cannot be mind-controlled.”
“Mostly.” I repeat the exact answer that Dr. Olcan had given me. The answer has been there all this time. “Dr. Olcan said that Lycans cannot be mind-controlled because you aren’t connected to magic. But hybrids with connections to magic, like Scarlet Wolves, possibly could. We ruled out that possibility at the time because we didn’t believe Jayme was a Scarlet Wolf, but now. . .”
I look between Akila and Conan. Both of them stare back, eyes huge.
“We need to inform the Alpha right away,” Akila says.
Conan nods.
We start to leave, but I stop and turn to Branson. “You come with us too. You’re the most important part of this.”
