Angry Brothers
Angry Brothers
Giselda
I groaned as my eyes fluttered open. I was sore in ways that I never thought I would be. I shifted, uttering a small noise of pain, knowing that–wait! I sat straight up, looking around. I was in my room. How was I in my room? An arm went around my waist, gently tugging me back down onto the bed.
“Giselda,” Gerry whispered, his voice sending a shiver down my spine. “It’s too early to get up. Lay back down, baby.”
“Gerry!” I cried as I threw my arms around his neck. “Am I dead?”
“Dead? Why would you be–Giselda! Are you really here?” he asked as he sat straight up, looking me up and down as his hands followed his eyes.
“Yes!” I gushed as I shifted to straddle him on the bed before running my fingers through his hair and molding my lips to his, kissing him with a fervor that I didn’t realize I was capable of.
When we finally pulled away from each other, we were both breathless and had smiles on our faces. I lovingly ran my fingers through his hair again.
“I never thought that I would see you again,” he whispered, his voice ringing with fear.
“I thought the same,” I murmured back before kissing him again. “The only question is how am I here now?”
Gerry was quiet for a moment before he growled. “Annie!”
“What? Annie is at your home sleuth. She–”
“No, she’s not! The last series of things I remember before waking up next to you is Annie coming to us through the vines and getting taken by Kirkland. The next time we saw either of you, Kirkland slit Annie’s throat, and the vines took her to heal. When they brought her back to us, I blacked out, and ta-da. You’re here.”
I groaned. “I wonder if she’s still here.”
“I’m sure she is. I know that she would want to make sure you are okay. Speaking of you being okay, how are you feeling?” he asked worriedly.
“I’m hungry, but okay. I actually feel pretty good,” I told him.
He eyed me closely. “Are you just telling me that, or do you really feel that way?”
“I really feel good, surprisingly,” I laughed. “Come on, Gerry. You need to feed me, because I’m famished.”
I climbed off the bed, and when he threw the blankets back, vines were flung into the air before landing on the floor. I looked at them before meeting Gerry’s eyes.
“Well, that explains why I feel good. Annie must have asked them to heal me,” I told him.
He smiled at me as he got up before he frowned. “What is that? Is that a heart?”
I turned in the direction that he was pointing, where there was indeed a human heart lying. I walked over to it before picking it up and inhaling deeply. I gasped as my eyes shot to Gerry’s again.
“Oh my Goddess, this is Kirkland’s heart!”
“Are you sure?” he asked as he rushed over to me.
“Yeah!”
“I’m going to kill her,” he growled as he spun to race out of the room.
I took a bite of the heart as I followed him out of the room, listening to the happy conversation I heard coming from the kitchen. It helped me relax to know that she was okay. As I was stepping off the stairs, Gerry walked into the kitchen.
“ANNAIRA!”
“Good morning, Gerry! Logan and I made pancakes and–”
“DID YOU FUCKING HUNT KIRKLAND DOWN BY YOURSELF?” Gerry roared.
“I…I wasn’t alone…”
“OH, YEAH? WHO WAS WITH YOU?”
“Ummm, the vines…”
“THE VINES? GODDESS DAMMIT, ANNARIA! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”
“STOP FUCKING YELLING AT HER! SHE’S FINE! SO IS GISELDA, THANKS TO HER! YOU ARE BEING AN ASS, GERRY! I’M GOING TO TELL GISELDA!”
I laughed as I walked into the room. “I’m awake! And while I won’t yell at her, I would like to know the answer to his questions.”
Logan narrowed his eyes at me. “It’s good to see you home, Giselda, but don’t get it twisted, Annie is the Alpha Sow, and you will respect her as such.”
“Not in this instance, Logan. She is family, and I can ask her whatever questions I want!” I retorted.
“She’s my baby sister, Alpha. That trumps your mate right now! So, what were you thinking by hunting Kirkland down by yourself?” Gerry repeated.
“I had to, Gerry! You and Logan weren’t going to ever find her. I had to step in. We had to get Giselda back. She’s home, and Kirkland’s dead. Isn’t that what we all wanted?”
Before either Gerry or I could respond, someone started banging on the front door.
“OPEN THIS FUCKING DOOR OR I’M GOING TO BREAK IT DOWN!” Osprey yelled.
Annie swallowed hard as she stepped behind Logan. “He sounds mad, Gerry.”
“Yeah, well, I’m mad, too!” Gerry grumbled as he walked out of the room to answer the door.
Seconds later, Osprey’s deadly aura filled the room, and I stepped in front of Logan as he entered, causing him to immediately narrow his eyes on me.
“Where is she?” he hissed.
“You need to calm down! You will not be allowed to come to our sleuth and disrespect our alpha sow. You are welcome to discuss whatever you want with her, but you will do it calmly, without anger, or you will have to deal with me,” I warned.
He bared his teeth at me. “Where. Is. My. Little. Sister?”
Angel pushed our aura out hard and fast, sending him to his knees. “You. Will. Respect. Her!”
A hand was placed on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Giselda. He’s only worried about me. I left home without telling anyone I was leaving. He has every right to be angry with me.”
I gave Osprey a stern look before stepping to the side to let him see Annie, who was now standing beside Logan with their fingers linked together. Osprey shakily climbed to his feet, wobbling a little before he managed to get to his feet under him.
“Annie! How dare–”
“I had to, ‘Sprey. Kirkland was going to hurt Giselda. I had to get her back. I swear to you that I was safe. I…” She closed her eyes as tears crept up in them. “Ezekiel gave me the rest of his power,” she finished softly.
Osprey’s anger immediately faltered as tears started to course down her face. He sighed deeply as he moved closer to take her in his arms.
“I’m sorry, Annie. Did you get to say to goodbye?” he asked her quietly.
She nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry I left the sleuth without your permission. I’m sorry that I worried you.”
He groaned as he took a step back. “Well, Vinekeeper Annaria put us all down for almost a week. I only woke up last night, and she was there to reassure me that you were okay.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “As much as I wish that I could let you stay here, you have to come home.”
“You could just leave her here,” Logan said hopefully, earning him an annoyed look from Osprey.
“No, Logan, I can’t. She agreed to stay at our home sleuth until she turned 18. This is part of being an alpha. If she doesn’t follow through now, that doesn’t bode well for her stepping into Havana’s leadership. Not to mention the backlash my sleuth would get for not enforcing it,” Osprey told him.
When Logan went to respond, Annie put her hand on his arm. “It’s okay, Logan. We already talked about this, remember? I was going to have Angel bind Marsha’s power and then you were going to take me home.”
“Bind Marsha’s power?” I repeated slowly. “Why would I do that?”
“Ezekiel said to have you to do it. He said I was going to have to learn how to control my power and that it would take time,” she told me.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “And what do you think? Do you think that you need me to bind your powers?”
She sighed deeply. “Yes. I didn’t want to say anything, but I’m burning up. It hurts to breathe.”
“Okay, I’ll bind your powers,” I agreed reluctantly.
“Thank you.”
“When do you want to do it?”
“Now,” Osprey said.
“I wasn’t asking you,” I growled. “Annie?”
She sighed. “Now is fine.”
“Alright. Osprey, get out.”
He threw his hands up. “Fine! You have an hour.”
“It’ll take a day to do it properly, Osprey! You might as well make yourself comfortable!” I snarled.
“Alright. I’ll be in the living room.”
“Gerry, will you accompany him and get him whatever he needs?” I requested.
“Of course, my love. Osprey, come with me.”
They started walking out of the kitchen, but Osprey paused at the door and looked back at us. “24 hours, Annie. I mean it.”
“Yes, Osprey.”
When they left the room, Angel quickly moved into Annie’s head, binding her powers quickly before retreating. I offered Annie and Logan a smile.
“You have 24 hours. Make the most of it.”