Hope's Heart

Chapter 3 Part 2

“Riley, knock off your s**t before we tie you to a chair and gag you to get you shut up. We can’t keep Kole and Wulf from losing their tempers much longer. You may not give a s**t how much you hurt this family, especially your sister, but the rest of us do. Every man in this house, but you, would die for her. Hell, you could learn from her example. Even after all you have done to her, she still loves you and hopes she can get through to you.”Steve was towering over Riley, fighting to control his temper, “Now take off that black s**t, get those damned rings out of your ears, put on some real clothes, and get your ass downstairs. You have twenty minutes, or I will be back up here to do it myself, and I won’t be gentle about taking out your piercings. I will rip out every single one of them, every single one.”Steve gestured to the ones they knew he had in his p***s, and Riley cringed slightly at the thought of them being ripped out.

“Yeah, well, I have had her shoved down my throat for as long as I can remember! Everything is always about Inara! Inara is so precious. Inara must be protected. Inara is everything! I’m f*****g sick of it all, so f*****g what, she has a stupid f*****g birthmark. Why the f**k is she so f*****g special!”Wulf started to step forward, wanting to beat the hell out of Riley, but his father stopped him.

“You know damned well why she is so special, Riley. She is our people’s only hope for salvation and survival. She was chosen the day you two were born.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sick of it all. f**k you, f**k this world I don’t even know and have only seen a handful of times, and most of all f**k HER! I am not letting her f**k up my life anymore, and I am sick of living in her f*****g shadow!”Wulf’s eyes flashed at Riley’s harsh words towards Inara, and he growled and clenched his fists at his side, wanting to beat Riley half to death. Riley looked at Wulf and snorted, “As I said in the bar, f**k you, Wulf. Why do you care so much about her all of a sudden? She has been pretty much invisible to you since we turned sixteen. What’s changed?”Everyone else in the room realized Riley was right, but pushed that aside. They would have to look into that more closely, but not right now. They needed to get her home and keep her safe.

“Just change your damned clothes and shut the hell up.”Steve turned and looked at his son briefly. He saw a slight glow in Wulf’s eyes but dismissed it for now, and he and Wulf left the room.

Riley sneered at his Uncle, “Do you like seeing me naked, you son of a b***h?”

“Shut up, take a shower, and get dressed.”Mal watched unphased, trying not to laugh at Riley’s childish behavior. He was a twenty-year-old man pouting and throwing a tantrum like a two-year-old.

About twenty minutes later, Riley and Mal came downstairs. Riley, of course, hadn’t listened; the piercings were still in place, and he wore black jeans and a black t-shirt. On the upside, the makeup was gone, his hair was washed, and the smell of the bar and the excessive amount of s*x were gone, and he wasn’t wearing his Doc Martins; in fact, he was barefoot. Mal pushed a sulking Riley into the chair next to his father. “Now, use your damn brain for once and keep your mouth shut.”Riley looked over and saw everyone gathered around Inara, comforting and soothing her, and it made his hackles go up. Seeing his mother and Beth hovering over Kole, Wulf, and the other guys bandaging their wounds also pissed him off. The longer he watched, the madder he got. Just out of sheer meanness, he slammed the back of his bare foot as hard as he could against the leg of the chair he was sitting in. He smiled in satisfaction at Inara’s cry of pain.

In one swift moment, Wulf was across the room, lifting Riley from the chair by the front of his shirt. Lifting him until his feet were dangling off the floor, and they were nose to nose. Wulf growled low in his throat, hissing through clenched teeth, “I swear to the gods, if you hurt her again in any way, you little prick, I will find a way to hurt you without hurting her, and I WILL f*****g END YOU!”

Wulf felt a gentle hand on his bicep, “Wulf, mo dhìonadair, put him down, please. He can’t help that he is a selfish asshole. Please let me try to talk to him. Let me see if I can get through his thick skull.”Wulf looked down at Inara, and she saw his eyes glowing silver. They were filled with love and tenderness the moment he looked at her, and then it was gone. “Cac, Inara, I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”He gently put Riley down, taking care not to hurt her, turned, and stalked out the back door.

Inara started to follow him, but Kole stopped her, “No, Inara, let him go.”Kole watched as this man, like a brother to him, walked out fighting with some enter demon he didn’t understand. “Wulf is battling something none of us, especially him, can identify or understand.”

She looked up at her brother and pointed towards the back door where Wulf had disappeared. “It’s him, Kole. It was those glowing silver eyes we all saw just now as he threatened Riley; I saw this morning in the angelic face. The figure I saw when I blacked out was Wulf. He is my companach anam. But I don’t understand how Wulf and I want anything to do with each other. As Riley said, I have been invisible to him since we turned sixteen. There have been times, especially since then, that I………Never mind, forget I said that last part. But it’s him, Kole, I am sure of it.”Kole looked at his sister at a loss for words, and then he, Mal, Gary, and Paxen followed Wulf to the backyard.

Inara looked at Riley and sat cross-legged in front of him. Riley looked away, and she grabbed his chin and made him look at her. “Ri, look at me.”

Riley looked at her, and the hatred in his eyes began to soften. “You haven’t called me Ri in a long time.”

“Ri, what happened to us? We were thick as thieves until we turned thirteen. I could always count on you to be my rock. I could always come to you if I needed help. Ri, I love you, and I always will. I don’t know what is happening to me or what this is all about, but I need you by my side. If I’m right, Wulf is the other half of my soul, but you are my twin. We are both a part of the same thing. I don’t know what this birthmark on my hip means; no one has told me yet, but I know it means something for both of us. Ri, please tell me what I can do to fix us. Tell me how I can get my brother back. Please, Ri, I’m begging you to tell me what I can do. I know you still love me.”

Inara looked at him and saw he wanted to say something, but was holding back. “Just go away and leave me alone. The last thing I want right now is to see your face.”

Inara just shook her head and put her hand on his cheek, “I know you don’t mean that, Ri; I know you need me as much as I need you to get through this. I refuse to give up on you.”For a brief moment, Riley put his hand over hers and turned into it, and Inara felt his tears land on her hand, then he hardened and shoved her hand away. She let out a sigh of disappointment. She stood, let her hands fall to her sides, and looked down at him. “I will get through to you, Riley, and get my brother back if it takes everything I have. I love you. We all love you and will get you to realize it.”

As she walked away, she heard him mutter under his breath, “I love you too, Nari.” And she smiled to herself, knowing there was hope for him yet.