CH 4 - Thane
1354 Words
Thane POV
I rolled my bare shoulders, sweat already sticking to my skin, and pushed my hair back, tightening the man bun again before it fell into my face.
Annoying.
The axe bit into the trunk with a crack that echoed through the thick forest surrounding our small cabin.
The tree groaned.
Then gave.
Slow at first.
Then all at once.
It hit the ground hard enough to shake the dirt under my boots.
I exhaled through my nose, chest rising and falling, arms already sore and I hadn’t even started the day properly yet.
Figures.
That was life.
No shortcuts.
No one handing you s**t.
You wanted something done, you did it yourself.
Always had.
Three sons and a mother who had been left to figure it out alone.
No pack.
No help.
No one to call.
We had to learn fast simply because there had been no other choice. Simple.
I grabbed the axe again, starting on the branches, clean, efficient cuts. I needed that done before school or we wouldn't have the fireplace running this evening.
Each of us had a role.
Always had.
I handled the wood.
Keres hunted.
Aiden made sure everything else didn’t fall apart—food, electricity, pipes when they decided to be assholes.
And mom worked as a waitress in a human diner not too far from home to make all the ends meet.
A system.
A good one.
Didn’t need anything else.
Didn’t want anyone's help.
More than once the nearby pack had tried to reach out, asking mom and us to join them. Promising a warm roof over our head and food in our bellies.
But we didn't need that.
Packs, hierarchies, alphas—
All bullshit.
I spat to the side and brought the axe down harder than necessary.
Behind me, I heard the back door creak open.
Aiden.
“You’re starting early,” he said, voice calm like always.
I shrugged, cutting through another branch.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
He didn’t ask why.
Smart.
I took a deep breath preparing the next hit when my brother's scent hit me mixed with blood and mud.
I glanced up just enough to see Keres coming out of the trees, barefoot, completely naked, two rabbits hanging from his hands, blood streaked across his chest like he’d rolled in it for fun.
Show-off.
"Breakfast will be ready in ten, I'll help you handle this after school" Aiden added, closing the door behind him.
I huffed and went back to work. I could handle it alone.
The porch door opened again.
Mom this time, beaming at us like we were just handling her the moon.
“Those look perfect,” she said, already smiling at Keres like he hadn’t just walked in covered in blood.
Of course she did.
“You’re going to be late,” she added with her no bullshit tone. “All of you. Get cleaned up.”
After school it would be then.
I drove the axe into the stump and left it there, grabbing an armful of wood and heading inside.
I stacked the logs near the fireplace and got it going out of habit more than anything else.
Routine mattered.
Kept things steady and under control.
Keres brushed past me a second later, still butt naked obviously, already heading for the bathroom.
“Leave me some hot water,” I said.
He didn’t stop.
Just smirked.
“ We'll see.”
Asshole.
When I finally had the chance to have a well earned shower, water was still hot.
I leaned forward, hands flat against the wall, head down, letting it run over my neck, my back—
trying to clear my head. Trying to scrape those green eyes from my frontal lobe.
Didn’t work.
She was still there.
Even if she shouldn’t be.
Nothing ever stuck to me like that.
That girl.
That Alpha.
The one who didn’t look away.
Didn’t flinch like everyone else did.
Didn’t do what she was supposed to do.
Even when we gave her s**t on a daily basis.
And that, turned me on. Each, single, f*****g, time.
My jaw tightened.
Water ran into my eyes. I didn’t move.
Could still see her.
Standing there like she wasn’t outnumbered.
Like she didn’t care.
Like—
we didn’t scare her.
Every time she was nearby, something would press in my chest.
I hated it. I hated my body for craving a light touch, a brush of her fingers, a small smile.
I hated her, for what she was, for who she was.
A powerful pack to back her up.
Alpha daughter.
Protected.
Wanted.
Probably spoiled rotten.
Everything my mother hadn’t been.
Everything that had left her alone in the woods with three kids and no one coming back for her.
My hand pressed harder into the tile.
Tension building.
Sharp.
Ugly.
Unnecessary.
I didn’t want her.
Didn’t want anything tied to her.
Didn’t want the way she stood her ground like she had a right to.
And still—
She stayed there.
In my head.
No matter how many times I tried to push her out, she came back louder.
Clearer.
Like a f*****g never-ending nightmare. A blissful torture in my personal living hell.
And the sickest thing was that, the more I thought about her, the more my body reacted.
Fuck it.
I turned the water colder.
Didn’t help.
—---
School felt louder than usual.
Or maybe it was just me.
Everything scraped against my nerves—the voices, the lockers slamming, the smell of too many people packed into one place pretending they belonged there.
The scent of Bloodclaw Pack was everywhere. Not helping.
Because it just left her green eyes burned behind mine.
Making me restless. Making Ferus itch for blood.
Fuck. I needed to get a grip.
Keres was saying something at my side, Aiden answering him in that calm tone of his, but I wasn’t listening.
Couldn’t.
Because I saw her.
Across the hallway.
Leaning against the lockers like she always did, like she owned the space without even trying.
Flesh and blood.
Green eyes behind thick glasses that gave her that nerdy vibe—one that only made things worse for my sanity.
But I knew what was under that facade.
A ruthless Alpha.
Just like her parents.
Just like all of them.
Except—
today something was off.
Subtle.
Most people wouldn’t catch it.
People who weren’t f*****g obsessed with their nemesis.
I was.
So I caught it.
Her shoulders were slumped but still tight.
Her gaze… sad… and she had her jaw ticking like a crazy woman on the verge of a psychotic attack.
My feet slowed before I could stop them.
I frowned.
That wasn’t normal.
She was always in control or too tired to walk straight.
Always—
annoying as hell. I always oscillated between admiring her and wanting to take care of her.
Fucking insane.
Something twisted low in my chest when she forced a smile to her sister who was trying to cheer her up.
Unwelcome.
I ignored it.
Tried to.
Then some i***t got too close. Talking and touching and looking at her with googly eyes.
Brushed her arm like he had any right to do that.
He had not.
Even if he was one of her pack members, even if I knew they were friends.
He didn't have any f*****g right.
My body leaned forward anyway.
Like it had already decided.
I forced it back.
Forced stillness into my muscles, into my breathing, into everything that felt like it was slipping.
She pushed off the lockers a second later, muttering something under her breath before turning and heading down the hallway.
I watched her go.
Should’ve left it there.
But Ferus took over, and my feet moved.
Fucking wonderful.
She went straight to the girls’ restroom, swinging the door shut behind her.
I stopped outside.
Stared at it.
‘This is stupid,’ I muttered in my head to Ferus. ‘We’re going to get in trouble for nothing.’
‘She’s not nothing,’ he countered, already opening the door with my hand and stepping in.
- Writer
