(Jedrek)

I stared at the screen with a sense of dread and guilt. My brother’s results were just as good as mine. This was not good. It wasn’t a fluke. 

“Shit.” I let out a deep breath. 

What the hell was I going to do? If they tested me and found out my blood was good for making a dog’s bitch, the werewolves were going to come for my siblings.

“So, it was you?”

I jumped and spun around, nearly knocking over the machine. “You? Who the fuck are you? Some new guy shows up with a fucking tester?”

The dark-haired boy shrugged. “When I came back after everyone ran off, I noticed blood on the panel. Mixed in a little water and well.” He motioned to the machine. “That’s fucking amazing. The top dominates will be fighting over staking a claim on you.”

I rose to my feet. “You can shut the fuck up. You will not speak a word of this, or I will bash your head in.”

“They’re going to find out,” he said, amused.

I glanced at the machine and then the blood cloth. “It’s not me. It’s my brother.”

“The cripple?”

Clenching my fist, I moved closer.

He held up his hands. “I meant nothing by it. He was born that way, right? It’s not that he did anything wrong.”

I glared at him.

He motioned to the machine. “This could cure him.”

“What?” I clenched my jaw.

“Mating with a werewolf—it would cure his… his condition.”

“No,” I stated. “I’m not handing him over to be some dog’s bitch.”

He shrugged. “Fine, but it would save him. Rumor has it that he’s getting worse. Your mom was talking about it to some of the other women. It is circling around the whole town that the werewolves are done helping him.”

“People need to mind their own fucking business. Jax is fine. Everything is fine.”

He moved around the side of the house. “Sure, whatever you say. Hey, so the other night was it yours or…”

“His,” I snapped. “I wanted to see… I was double-checking. I thought about the healing thing, but I can’t… I won’t let my brother be turned into one of them.”

He scoffed. “Maybe you should ask him. It is his life.”

I snatched the front of his shirt and slammed him up against the house. “Do not tell me what to do. I’m taking care of him. I’m taking care of my family. I don’t need some goddamn mutt’s help. So keep your opinions to yourself before I shove my fist down your throat. Got it?”

Wide-eyed, he nodded.

I jolted against the building and turned to leave.

“Do you want a print?” he asked, rubbing his neck.

“What?” 

This guy was pissing me off. He inched toward the machine. I was resisting the urge to mash the damn thing. He pressed a button on the side, and a piece of paper resembling a receipt was printed out.

“What the hell?”

He held it out to me and jumped back when I took it. “Just in case. If something were to happen, you could show a werewolf that. They’d—well, they’d do something.”

I glared at it. “Erase it.” I pointed. “I don’t need you printing off another and running off to the werewolves.”

“I’m not going to tell. I don’t care for those bastards either. My family gets shipped all over the damn pack. I’m lucky to get to see my siblings once a year.”

“Erase it,” I stated. “Now.”

He pressed a button before shutting off the power. “There. It’s off.”

“Good, move.”

“What—”

I grabbed a chunk of concrete and hurled it at the machine. He jumped back and ended up falling on his ass. I picked up the concrete again and dropped it to ensure the machine was dead. I couldn’t risk it. I snatched the bloody cloth.

“What the hell?! Do you know how hard it is to get one of those?!” He gathered some of the pieces. “You can even get parts for this model anymore.”

“Good.” I walked off toward the nearby field. “Be glad I got rid of it. If a werewolf caught you with one of these, they’d stick you.”

“Fucking bastard!” he yelled after me. “Goddamit. I hope the werewolf finds out and you get turned. Damnit! How do I fix this?”

I didn’t care. I needed to take out my frustration on something, and that hunk of metal had me so stressed out I was struggling to sleep. I took the piece of paper out of my pocket. Rip it up and get rid of it—that was what my gut was telling me. I shoved it back into my pocket and headed for home. I’d keep it for now.

***

(Jax)

I patted my spoon on the last bit of my cereal. They were too mushy to eat now.

“Jax, are you done, or do you want some more?” my mother asked.

“I’m good.”

Maggie glanced at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She smiled. “You’d better finish, that’s all.”

“Hmm…” I stared at the wall. 

I didn’t need her telling me what to do. Maggie often forgot that I was her older brother.

“Boys!” yelled my mother up the stairs. “Jedrek, Richard, let’s go! We have things to do today.”

Ricky came down first. “Good morning.”

“May I ask what is taking you so long? I’ve been yelling all morning for you. Jed!” 

“Sorry, we were up late. Jed was tossing and turning all night. It felt like he finally stopped thrashing, and the alarm went off,” he yawned. “We need to share some of Jax’s meds with him. Hide it in his dinner. The drowsy ones that knock Jax out. Jed’s been so uptight lately.” Ricky sat at the table and poured himself a bowl. “Did you eat already?”

I nodded. “I’ve been up for a while. Dad helped me downstairs.”

“I think I remember him yelling at us. God, I am so tired.” He pushed back his hair.

“I slept great,” I muttered. “Maybe you should get earplugs.”

Ricky nodded. “Like I said, you need to share the good stuff with Jedrek. I need my sleep.” He grabbed my arm and rocked side to side. “I’m not going to survive,” he groaned dramatically.”

“Stop it.” I waved him off.

“I agree.” My mother eyed Ricky. “Eat. You’re needed in the field.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Jed stumbled down the stairs while putting on his shirt. “Sorry.” He rubbed his eyes.

“Long night?” My mother arched a brow. “Your brother is upset with you. You’re not sick, right? I can ask the overseers if you can go into the clinic.”

“I’m fine.” Jed shrugged. “Just a bad night.”

“What about yesterday?” Ricky glared at his twin.

Jed shrugged. “If it happens again, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Good.”

“Enough. Eat. Your father is waiting.” She motioned to the table. “So hurry up.”

Jed took the seat across from his twin. “You better not have finished it all.” He grabbed the box and shook it.

Ricky ignored him as the last few pieces rattled inside. He continued to shovel spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. 

“Asshole,” muttered Jed as he emptied the box and grabbed the other box to fill his bowl.

It resulted in a weird mixture of the two.

My sister grabbed our bowls and went to put them in the sink. “I’m off to help Dad.”

“Oh, Maggie, wait.” My mother hurried about and took out some water bottles. “It’s going to be hot today.”

“Thanks. I’ll tell Dad you two are on your way out.”

My brothers waved at her before going back to eating. I just watched them. They finished one bowl and poured another. After that one, they started on a third. I didn’t even know if a werewolf ate this much. 

“Boys, could one of you help get Jax situated? I’m heading out. Your dad called, and it looks like we have some pivot problems. Make sure to put the milk away.”

“I got it,” said Jed. 

“I’m coming.” Ricky grabbed a handful of dry cereal and poured it into his mouth as he jogged after our mom. 

Jed cleaned off the table and put the milk away. He grabbed a couple of water bottles. “Where do you want to be?”

“Outside under the tree.”

He set the water bottles in my chair along with an apple. Grabbing the handles, he pushed me outside and went to the tree in the front yard. “Are you good here?” He made sure I was fully in the shade.

I nodded. “Yes, thanks.”

“Yeah.” He patted my shoulder and started back to the house. “Hey, Jax?”

“Hmm…” I turned in my seat.

“Umm… I just want you to know physical strength isn’t everything.” He cleared his throat. “It may not seem like it, but I’ve always looked up to you. You never complain about anything, and you have it worse out of all of us. But yeah… I don’t know. I just felt like telling you that.”

I didn’t really know how to respond. He was acting weird. Maybe he was sick.

“Anyways, just so you know, I’ve never seen you as a burden or nothing like that. You handle”—he motioned to me—“you handle it far better than I ever could.” He took a deep breath. “You’re a tough guy.”

I smiled. “Thanks. Good luck with that pivot. Dad isn’t going to be very pleasant today.”

Nodding, Jed laughed to himself. “And being late isn’t going to help.” He waved. “So much mud.” He nodded. “Well, I’ll see you later. Mom will be back soon.”

I nodded with a wave. “Have fun.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, tons of fun.”