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Cole shoved me through the door of the cheap motel room on the edge of town. Two beds were separated by a common bedside table and lamp, and were decorated in identical orange and yellow striped covers. The matching curtains were closed, covering whatever view that could be seen from our room, as well as shielding whatever view anyone else had into the room. The carpet was a dull, faded yellow with the occasional stain of who-knows what. On a whole, whoever had decorated was clearly blind.

My brother shut the door behind himself, sliding the lock through its latch. He turned to face me and I held my breath. Now that I was able to see him in a brighter light, Cole looked feral. His normally clean-shaven face was dark with stubble and his black hair was greasy and unkempt. I hadn’t heard any news about him since I had last saw him, but my brother didn’t seem like he was entirely in his right mind. Cole smiled, something that I had rarely seen him do, especially if it involved me. “Sleep,” he ordered. “We’ll be travelling tomorrow.”

“Rowan will come and get me,” I threatened timidly. “Issy will notice when I’m not in the room and she’ll tell him that I’ve gone missing.”

Cole laughed dryly. “I left a note saying that you’d gone for a run in your wolf form and that you wouldn’t be back for a while; something about needing to clear your head. I also said not to look for you. So we’re safe for now.”

I gulped. “How do you know about everything?” I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“Alaska’s a really nice place, isn’t it?” Cole said. “I was up there about a week and a half ago. The wolves up there are pretty friendly, especially if it involves offers to make treaties. I told their alpha about a wolf that I knew would be a perfect match for her daughter: the alpha of the Silver Talon pack.” He laughed.

My eyes watered. It was him. It was his fault. My mind flashed back to what Malvina had said. “Yours aren’t the first pair of red eyes we’ve seen come through here.” She was talking about Cole. I felt so stupid. How could I forget that Cole also had red eyes?

I sniffed, burying my face in the pillow and hugging it to my chest. Shutting my eyes tightly, I sniffed, not wanting Cole to see me crying.

The bed sank a little and the end, indicating that Cole had sat down. His fingers traced along the bone of my ankle and I flinched, quickly bringing my legs up to my chest. Cole chuckled and grabbed my leg, tugging me across the bed.

I kicked at him which only made him laugh harder. I sat up, frustrated and too emotionally exhausted to deal with my brother, and hit him with my pillow.

My brother grabbed the pillow and threw it to the floor. He picked me up and sat me on his lap, holding my arms so tightly I thought it would leave bruises.

We sat still for a minute before I decided I was way too uncomfortable to stay in the position we were in. “Can you let me go now?” I paused and he raised an eyebrow. “Please?”

Cole opened his arms and grinned. “There now, was that so hard?” he asked as I struggled to get off of his lap. “You’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you,” he noted.

I gulped and frowned. Since when had my brother been so brotherly? “That kind of happens when you eat normally after only ever eating three quarters of what you should,” I said sarcastically, flinching when Cole moved towards me.

He wrapped his arms around me in a hug, squeezing tightly and causing me to wince.

“Cole?” I said quietly. “Cole, you’re hurting me.”

“Shut up,” he growled, squeezing tighter. “You’re mine now,” he said in a quieter voice. “Now that you can’t be that guy’s mate anymore, you can belong to me.”

I frowned. “You’re crazy,” I whispered, the exhaustion now sinking in. “You practically sold me to that pack.” His grip on me loosened slightly. “It’s your fault that he’s my mate.”

Cole’s grip tightened again and I sighed. “No, you’re not mates,” he said. “He hasn’t marked you – I can smell it. You’re not mates yet.”

I felt my mouth drop open and I frowned. “Mark?” I repeated. “What do you mean?” The stress of the day was building up and so were my confused tears.

“You know what I mean,” Cole said, adjusting his position so that my arms were free. He smiled as I felt my face redden. “Oh, you do know what I mean,” he said in a surprised tone.

A single tear slid down my face and I quickly wiped it away. “Why am I here?” I asked.

Cole laughed quietly and finally loosened his grip enough to let me slip out from his arms. “I had an idea,” he grinned, sitting down on the other bed. “A pack of wolves purely with our red eye gene,” his smile grew wider. “Isn’t that something?”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Because I can!” He laughed for a moment before frowning. “But, as far as I know, you and I are the only ones with this gene. We’ll have to find some females.”

I sighed in relief. He didn’t know about Marble. The pups were safe for now.

Cole noticed my expression. “You know something,” he said, making me freeze.

Widening my eyes, I shook my head. “O-oh no, I was just wondering how this whole ‘new pack’ idea would work with me being a ‘disgusting’ homosexual and all.”

“Don’t lie to me, Runt,” Cole growled and I flinched.

“It’s not a lie, brother,” I said shakily, the challenge sounding far less aggressive than I had meant.

Cole smirked, standing up and approaching me. Both of his hands wrapped around my neck and his thumbs trailed over my windpipe. “I’ve known you since you were born, Runt. I know when you’re lying, and I know when you’re hiding something.”

I gulped, feeling Cole’s fingers shift as I did. His hands slowly began to constrict and I whimpered.

He stopped. “Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked. When I shook my head, he sighed, obviously annoyed with me. “I could snap your neck and then go after those kids,” he shrugged, smiling when he saw my eyes widen. “I’ll ask you one more time. Is there something you want to tell me?”

My eyes watered as his grip grew tighter again. “One –” I choked, unable to talk properly.

“Go on,” Cole said, his hold loosening significantly.

I drew in a large breath when he finally let go. “One of Raven’s pups has the gene,” I whispered shakily, struggling to inhale as much breath as I could.

Cole smiled, pulling me in for a hug. “There now, was that so hard?” he asked, his hand running through my hair.

Sobbing, I closed my eyes. “Just don’t hurt them,” I begged. This bipolar brother of mine scared me. There was no knowing what he would or could do. I felt physically sick every time he touched me, and I could only hope he wasn’t going to harm the pups.

“Go to sleep,” Cole said, heading for the door. “If you even think of leaving, you know what will happen.” He exited through the door, leaving me alone in the room.

I lay back down on the bed, shivering slightly; not because I was cold, but because I was frightened. The room felt so empty and without Rowan, I felt lost. I could leave, I thought. I could make a run for it and try and warn Rowan and the others before it was too late. I shook my head and closed my eyes. There was always the possibility that Cole was waiting for me to run just to have an excuse to go after Rowan. As my breathing grew steadier and I drifted off to sleep, I realised that I would have to play along with Cole’s sick fantasies if no one was to get hurt. I would find a way to get back to Rowan; and when I do, I would tell him how much I love him, how much I need him and how much I missed him.

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