The Traitor Panther

Chapter Eight

I never thought I would see him again.

I was told he had been sent away for more involved and intense warrior training, but a part of me always feared he was being punished for sneaking around with me. I think I stopped thinking of him as a coping mechanism because an even bigger part of me thought we would never cross paths again.

"Cleo, you're crushing me." I snap back into reality and realize I am in fact crushing Charlie. I had jumped into his arms but ended up knocking us both down. I don't care, I haven't seen my brother in years. I missed him.

"I missed you too." I look up to his goofy face with that warm smile I missed so much. His eyes were dark brown surrounded by a circle of gold, just like our fathers were. His hair was clean shaven along with his face, which bore a lot more scars than I remember him having.

"Alpha, we're going to go mingle with the others." My eyes drift to find whoever it was that spoke. A woman, short and solid looking with piercing eyes and a strong aurora surrounding her. She was looking down at where Charlie and I were sitting on the ground, but who was she talking to? I wasn't even Luna yet, and definitely not to her.

"That's fine. Keep an eye on everyone, please." I look to Charlie, confusion spreading. She nods to him and the group of six that had come with my brother dispersed.

"So, are you going to say anything to me or?" I blinked at him. I didn't really know what to say. Everything felt so petty and insignificant. Of course, he knew I missed him, of course he knew how happy I was to see him. Does he?

"I thought you were dead." Why did that have to be the first thing I said to him? So cold and blunt.

But he just chuckles, sitting so he's crisscrossed and facing me. I follow, and we put our knees together. We used to do this when we were kids. We would mostly just talk, or rather I'd listen to Charlie tell me stories. I guess it was a way of giving each other our full attention.

"I'm assuming you mean after we got caught all those years ago." He says once we're comfortable. I can hear people talking and banging about behind us, but I don't care. I only care about catching up with my brother.

"I'll tell you; I thought I was going to for a while there." He chuckles, shutting his eyes and rubbing the back of his neck. He did that a lot, even when we were younger. He was a brave and strong wolf, but he was also awkward around literally anyone and had trouble reading people. Not many people knew this side of him, but I did. Because we knew each other.

"After we were caught, I was dragged off to the pack training grounds. Every single warrior got a chance at me. And every single one took it." He's bowing his head now, staring at the ground. "I got my ass whooped a dozen times over while our Alpha watched, coaching them on how to better defeat me. Like I wasn't already defeated enough. I was so scared for you. Scared of what they might do to you." He scoffs, looking up to me with hate in his eyes. I feel myself flinch. I've never seen that look on him before.

"After that I was put through the toughest training I've ever endured. It took everything out of me just to survive, but I guess in the end it did make me the warrior I am today." He grins, bringing his bicep up to his mouth and kissing it.

"That woman called you Alpha. Not a warrior." I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Hold on a second, geez. I'm getting to the dramatic part. So, I was running laps around the pack grounds one day as part of my training, when the Alpha suddenly summoned me. The Alpha had never personally asked anything of me before, so of course I headed to him quickly and filled with curiosity. Turns out, he only summoned me to tell me the news. That our parents were dead. Actually, he told they had been dead for a while, but he didn't want me to lose focus on my training, so he waited until he thought I was ready to know." I feel my heart sink and my gut twists. Here it comes. The guilt, regret, sorrow, loneliness.