Chapter 153: Fractures in the Night
Kiel
I groaned, dragging my hands down my face as I struggled to heave Varen’s dead weight through the back door of the pack house. He reeked of whiskey, his steps stumbling, his head lolled against my shoulder.
"Damn it, brother," I muttered under my breath. "You couldn’t just drink a little, could you? No—you had to drink yourself into oblivion."
His incoherent mumble was my only answer, his body slumping heavier against me. I clenched my jaw and adjusted my grip, half-carrying, half-dragging him down the hall. If anyone saw him like this, the calm, collected Alpha would lose face. My brother deserved more dignity than whispers of drunken weakness trailing after him.
"Almost there," I muttered, shoving open the door to his room with my foot. With one final effort, I dropped him onto his bed. He groaned but didn’t stir. Out cold.
I stood there a moment, chest heaving, sweat dampening the back of my neck. The smell of alcohol clung to me now, thick and nauseating.
Turning toward the door, I found two guards waiting outside. Their backs straightened at the sight of me, but I raised a hand.
"No one goes in," I ordered, my voice sharper than intended. "Not until I say so."
They nodded in unison, and I pushed past them into the hall.
The headache brewing at the base of my skull flared as I stepped into my own room. I pressed my palms against my temples, groaning. Too many thoughts. Too many damn problems pressing at once.
And then came the one that refused to be silenced—Josie.
Where was she? And why the hell was she still with Thorne?
I snatched my phone from the desk and dialed. First Josie’s line. Straight to voicemail.
I cursed under my breath and tried Thorne. The same thing.
"Shit." My grip tightened on the phone, knuckles whitening.
On instinct, I dialed Marcy. She answered after a few rings, her voice warm but laced with weariness.
"Kiel?"
"Where are Josie and Thorne?" I asked without preamble.
She hesitated before answering. "They left an hour ago. Thorne was... drunk and acting up. Josie went with him, but you don’t need to worry. I’m sure they’re fine."
Her certainty was a thin thread I couldn’t hold onto. "Fine?" I repeated, my voice flat.
"Yes," she said quickly. "Really, Kiel. Don’t stress. They’ll come back safe."
I ended the call before she could soothe me further. Because I wasn’t soothed. Not at all.
Instead, unease coiled tighter in my chest. I sat at my desk, flipping open my notebook, trying to distract myself the only way I knew how—through music.
My pen moved across the page, scribbling lines of lyrics, melodies that haunted me. Every single word bled Josie. Her laugh. Her eyes. Her stubbornness. Her fire. She was a song I couldn’t stop writing, a rhythm that had buried itself inside my bones.
But the more I wrote, the more restless I became.
She’s out there. With him. And I don’t know what’s happening.
With a growl, I slammed the notebook shut. My chair scraped back violently against the floor. I couldn’t sit here like some caged animal. Not when my gut screamed that something was wrong.
I stormed to the door, barking orders at the guards. "Double the security around the house. Keep your eyes sharp. I’m heading out."
They bowed. I didn’t wait for questions. I was already moving, slipping into the night, the air cold against my skin.
The darkness pressed in, but I welcomed it. It matched the storm inside me.
At first, I caught glimpses—shadows that looked like hers, movements that teased my hope. I saw a woman ahead, long hair swaying, and my heart leapt.
"Michelle?" I hissed, sprinting forward.
But when she turned, it wasn’t her. Just a stranger, startled by my presence, her eyes wide as she hurried past.
I cursed and ran the other way, frustration mounting.
I retraced my steps, pushing toward the highway. And that’s when I saw it.
Thorne’s car.
Parked. Empty.
My pulse skyrocketed. I sprinted toward it, yanking the door open. No one inside. The seats smelled faintly of alcohol.
"Damn it, Thorne," I growled.
I tried to mind-link him. Silence. I pushed harder, my voice echoing in the mental bond. Thorne! Answer me.
Nothing.
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. If he was ignoring me, then something was happening he didn’t want me to see.
I didn’t have time to rage over it. I called the Betas, enlisting their help, spreading the search wider. My feet carried me further down the road, where a faint light glowed in the distance.
A cottage.
My heart hammered. Instinct pulled me toward it.
I approached carefully, every step heavier than the last. The closer I got, the louder the sounds became. Not danger. Not fighting. Something worse.
A muffled moan.
I froze, blood turning to ice.
No. No, it couldn’t be.
But it was.
Through the crack of the window, I saw them. Thorne and Josie. Tangled together, bodies moving in rhythm, gasps and cries filling the air.
The sight slammed into me like a physical blow. My knees nearly gave out.
I stumbled back, my chest constricting as if the world had just caved in on me.
No. Not him. Not first.
I had always known, deep down, that she would belong to more than just me. That my brothers had the same claim, the same bond. But seeing it—watching Thorne take what I had dreamed of, watching Josie give herself to him—was a knife to my gut, twisting cruelly.
Jealousy burned so hot I thought it might incinerate me from the inside.
And yet, beneath it, a darker truth whispered—he had the right. Thorne was my brother. He was her mate too.
That didn’t stop the ache. It didn’t stop the bitter taste in my mouth as I turned away, the image seared into my mind.
I almost tripped in my haste to retreat, crashing through the undergrowth like a man being hunted. Because maybe I was—hunted by the ghosts of what I wanted but could never have fully.
By the time I returned to the pack house, I’d already called off the search, my voice hollow as I dismissed the Betas.
Inside, William was waiting, pacing like an anxious wolf. His eyes snapped to me the moment I entered.
"We can’t just leave Thorne out there!" he whined, panic edging his voice. "What if something happens to him? We—"
"Shut the fuck up," I snapped, cutting him off, my voice sharp as a whip.
His mouth fell open, shock flashing across his face.
"Get out of my sight," I growled, my control fraying. "Now."
He stammered, eyes wide, before scurrying off, leaving me alone in the silence.
The silence that roared louder than any storm.
My body shook with the force of everything inside me—rage, jealousy, pain. I couldn’t contain it anymore. My wolf clawed at my skin, demanding release.
With a guttural snarl, I shifted, bones cracking, fur bursting forth as my wolf form took over.
And then I ran.
Through the forest, wild and unrestrained.
I ran until the world blurred around me, until the night air cut into my lungs like knives. I ran from the image of Josie and Thorne burned into my mind, from the truth I couldn’t change, from the weight crushing my chest.
But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t outrun it.