The Moonlit Curse

Ch 40: Brothers

August forced his mind to stay alert and pushed through the pain, racing through the trees in the direction he heard Kiya's voice turn into the shriek of her wolf. The rage he thought he'd left behind came back in a rush. His veins burned, and his vision was red.

The black werewolf appeared out of nowhere in front of him. August extended his claws, armed with the silver blades, and slammed into the other wolf with as much force as he could. Screaming and snarling filled the air over the storm, and they tore into each other. They rolled over each other a few times before the wolf got a foot against August's ribs and kicked him away.

The two wolves rose and stood their ground, staring at each other. "You've really grown up, little brother," August called through the telepathic link. "I always knew you'd be a big fucker."

Octavius ta Ackera, the second son of the King of the Celestial Isles, rose to his full impressive height and growled down at August. "I, on the other hand, never thought you would sink so low, Augustine," he bit back. "Look at you. You have allowed another alpha to hold dominion over you. You live on the outskirts of your pack among the humans and lower yourself to their level. You have grown fat and weak. You are a disgrace. What would our mother think if she could see you?"

"You know nothing of our mother. How could you? You're the reason she's gone. She died so you could live."

Octavius roared and attacked. Unlike in their human forms, Octavius had every advantage. August had his silver weapons, but he was out of practice. Every one of his full moons were spent locked away in his cellar, ignoring his base instinct to run through the trees, while Octavious hunted, trained, and fought to prove his dominance over the wolve on the Celestial Isles. He was also several feet taller and hundreds of pounds heavier.

The only advantage August had was their blood relation and a fundamental understanding of their family's magic.

At the last second, August crouched low. Octavius had gone high, aiming for the neck, and was caught off guard. August clamped his jaws down on his brother's leg, grabbed his side, and sprinted forward. Octavius's claws tore into his back, but he held tight until he rammed the bigger wolf against the nearest tree. There was a yelp and a snarl. August pulled one arm back to plunge the silver into his brother's side.

Suddenly he was in the air. Twisting his body around, he managed to land on all fours, but Octavius was right there to wrap his claws around his throat and slammed his head against a nearby boulder. August stumbled away, his head ringing and vision beginning to blur. "Do you have any idea what your disappearance did to our father?" Octavius's voice roared between his ears. "Do you have any idea what it did to me?!"

August twisted sideways, but not fast enough. Pain exploded across his ribs as Octavius's claws struck home and dug deep. Bright red blood splattered across the white snow, almost glowing under the light of the full moon.

"I mourned you! The entire pack mourned you! We thought you were dead, and you left us!" Octavius screamed and his multi-layered wail pierced through the night. "You were my older brother! You were supposed to protect me!"

August lashed out, but Octavius dodged and landed a hard kick to the fresh wound that sent him flying into another tree.

"I was left to pick up the pieces of our mother's legacy. I was the one who endured our father's rage. I was the one who found the oracle that you were supposed to bring back to us. But I was never good enough for our father. Even now, when he looks at me, he wishes I was the one lost on that ship!"

He brought a clawed foot down on August's throat and leered down at his older brother writhing, bleeding, and gasping for air.

"I am going to bring them your corpse," he hissed in a deadly promise. "I am going to tell all the isles of your crimes and show our father that I am the loyal son and the only one worthy of our mother's throne. I'm going to mount your head on my wall as a trophy, and any time my hot-tempered little Kiya steps out of line, I will force her to look into your cold, dead eyes while I fuck her back into submission and remind her who she belongs to."