Chapter 28 The Brother Who Shouldn’t Exist
Lina’s breath vanished.
Her pulse thudded in her ears.
Her vision wavered.
The world around her dimmed as if someone had pulled a curtain over the sun.
Because the man standing in the ruins…
The man in black steel armor…
The man whose voice she would have known even in death—
Looked exactly like her brother.
“Lina,” he said again.
Softer.
Like her name was something fragile.
Kael stepped fully in front of her, blocking her with his entire body.
“Stay behind me,” he growled.
Lina’s fingers curled into his shirt. “Kael… I—”
“I said stay,” he repeated, deeper now, wolf surfacing sharply.
The warrior held up both hands slowly. “I won’t hurt her.”
Kael’s eyes burned gold.
“You won’t touch her.”
A faint smile ghosted across the man’s lips. “Still an Alpha, I see.”
“You know nothing about me,” Kael snarled.
Riven whispered from the side, “Uh… Lina? Didn’t all your family die?”
Lina could barely breathe. “They did.”
The warrior stepped closer.
That voice.
That face.
The scar above his brow — the same one he’d gotten training with her father.
Her heart twisted painfully.
But he shouldn’t be here.
Not alive.
Not whole.
“Aric?” she whispered.
Kael stiffened.
The warrior froze.
Then something old and aching flickered through his eyes.
“Yes,” he said softly.
“It’s me.”
Lina stepped forward.
Kael grabbed her arm instantly. “Lina—no—”
She touched Kael’s hand gently.
“I need to see him.”
Kael swallowed hard, jaw clenched, fighting every instinct, but he slowly loosened his grip.
She stepped around him, breath shaking.
Aric didn’t move.
He just watched her — with eyes the exact shade of hers.
Lina’s voice cracked. “How are you alive?”
Aric exhaled slowly.
“We were attacked. You know that. You fled with Father’s blessing. I stayed behind to fight.”
“You died,” Lina whispered.
“I saw the fire. I saw the bodies.”
“You saw shadows,” Aric corrected softly.
His expression darkened. “What slaughtered our family wasn’t a mortal creature. It didn’t kill me. Not fully.”
Kael growled, stepping closer to Lina again. “What does that mean?”
Aric’s gaze flicked to him.
Cool.
Unthreatened.
“It means,” he said calmly, “I was taken.”
Lina’s heart clenched. “Taken where?”
Aric met her eyes.
“The Veil.”
Silence slammed down.
Kael’s wolf surged so hard the air crackled.
Riven swore.
Yara gasped.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Lina staggered. “The Veil? That thing— it touched you?”
Aric nodded once. “It didn’t kill me. It… tried to turn me. Tried to consume me. I fought back for years, but the realm changed me. Time is different there.”
Lina’s knees weakened.
Kael grabbed her waist, steadying her without even looking away from Aric. “Why are you here now?”
Aric’s eyes softened as he looked at his sister.
“Because the creature is breaking through. Because it wants her.”
His voice shook for the first time.
“And I refused to let it take the last piece of our family.”
Lina’s throat tightened. “Aric…”
Aric stepped closer—
and Kael moved like lightning.
He blocked Lina with his whole body, chest brushing hers protectively, his voice a guttural growl:
“That’s close enough.”
Aric raised a brow. “You’re very attached to her.”
“You have no idea,” Kael snapped.
Lina touched Kael’s arm gently. “Kael… he’s my brother.”
Kael didn’t take his eyes off Aric. “We don’t know what he is.”
Aric’s jaw clenched. “I understand your caution, Alpha. Truly. The Veil leaves marks.”
And then he turned his head—
just slightly—
exposing a thin black vein trailing from behind his ear down his neck.
A mark of shadow.
Lina sucked in a breath. “Aric… what did it do to you?”
“I fought it,” Aric said. “Every day. Every moment. But the realm changed me. I am not fully wolf anymore.”
Kael’s stance went rigid. “So you’re corrupted.”
Aric didn’t flinch. “I am… touched. But not owned.”
Kael bared his teeth. “Prove it.”
Aric glanced at Lina. “She is the only proof I have. I heard the land awaken. I felt her magic call. And I came to warn her.”
“Warn her how?” Kael demanded.
Aric’s voice hardened.
“The creature wants the pact broken.”
His gaze locked on his sister.
“And it will rip this valley apart piece by piece until it gets to you.”
A cold shiver ran down Lina’s spine.
Kael stepped even closer to her, his voice razor-sharp:
“Over my dead body.”
Aric met his fury with calm. “If you fail her, Alpha… it will be over all our dead bodies.”
Kael growled. “I won’t fail.”
Aric studied him for a long, tense moment.
Then he nodded once.
“Good.”
Lina stepped closer to both of them. “Aric… why didn’t you come for me sooner?”
Aric’s expression broke — raw pain flickering across his face.
“Because I couldn’t reach your world,” he said. “Not until the rift widened. Not until the Veil… thinned.”
“And now it’s thinning because of me,” Lina whispered.
“No.”
Aric stepped toward her — slowly, cautiously — eyes full of old sorrow.
“It’s thinning because the creature planned for this day. Because your return was inevitable.”
Kael’s fingers tightened around her waist.
Aric’s gaze softened further.
“You didn’t cause this, little sister.”
He smiled faintly.
“You survived it.”
Lina’s breath hitched.
Kael watched her, jaw tense with worry.
Aric looked between them.
“I know you’re bonded,” he said quietly.
Kael stiffened. “That’s not your concern.”
Aric met his gaze evenly. “It becomes my concern if it puts her at risk.”
Kael took a step forward, eyes flashing. “You don’t get to protect her now. Not after centuries of nothing.”
Lina grabbed Kael’s hand. “Kael — please.”
He froze.
She turned to Aric. “What do you know about the bond?”
Aric hesitated… then said:
“It’s the only thing keeping the creature from taking you.”
Kael’s heart stopped.
Lina’s breath vanished.
Aric continued, voice low:
“The creature cannot pull you fully while you’re anchored to a living wolf.
Your bond is a shield.
But if it grows stronger… it will also become a target.”
Kael’s hand tightened around hers like a vice.
“Let it target me,” he growled. “I’ll take every hit before she does.”
Aric studied him — long and hard — then finally nodded.
“You might be strong enough,” he said.
“You just might be.”
Kael’s wolf eased slightly at the acknowledgment.
Riven muttered, “Wow. Praise from the maybe-dead maybe-shadow brother.”
Yara elbowed him. “Shut up.”
Lina exhaled shakily. “Aric… what do we do now?”
Aric stepped forward, standing beside them in the ruins.
“We go deeper,” he said.
“To the original pact chamber. Beneath the heartstone.”
Kael frowned. “Why there?”
Aric looked at Lina with heavy, knowing eyes.
“Because that’s where the creature marked you.”
He paused.
“And where you can unmark yourself.”