Chapter 42: Guys Night (Part I)

*February*

*“I’m not going away this time! You’re not getting off this easy! If I have to suffer, so will you. You made her leave us. You stupid, arrogant…I hate you!”*

Elijah’s wolf roared against his chest, causing him to double over. He breathed through it. *“I know. I’m sorry.”*

*“Why? Why did you make her leave us? She loved us, we love her. Why? It hurts.”*

Hearing the pain in his wolf’s voice tore him apart more than the physical strain. It’d been weeks since he’d seen Rachel and there wasn’t a day he didn’t feel incomplete. Listening to her request, he let her go, though every day his heart ached for her more than the day prior.

He wiped his eyes, his hands shaking. *“I’m trying. Please just, I’m trying.”* His wolf calmed, but its sadness still loomed. He needed help, but he couldn’t talk to Jordan. Sterling and he were just as much of a mess. Standing, he put on his coat and slowly made his way to Jordan’s loft.

*****

Sterling and Jordan sat on the couch in Jordan’s loft with music playing in the background.

*“The sunshine has disappeared…”*

Sterling raised his glass in the air. “You hear that, Little Red?! My sunshine is gone. It’s dark as shit outside, girl!” Shaking his head, he let the song wash over his soul.

Jordan grabbed the remote, changing the song on Sterling’s playlist.

*“Not having you here, I realize the strongest part of me is gone…”*

“I’d conduct a hostile takeover of ENT SECURITY if it meant you’d come back to cheer me on!” he shouted. He placed his head in his hands, and Sterling patted his back. They were hammered and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t seem to get themselves together.

“W-why is it when women break up with you, they turn into runway models, and y-you automatically start looking like The Penguin,” Sterling said. “I walked past the restaurant—” Jordan glared at him, and he put up his hands. “No wait, she didn’t see me, I promise. Anyway, she looked amazing. Look.” Sterling shoved his phone in Jordan’s face, revealing a blurry picture of Morgan. He zoomed in. “Y-you see that? Back away and squint your eyes a bit. It’s a smile. She’s-she’s doing okay.” The song ended, and another played on the system.

*“Oh, you going to just leave me, and let goodbye be the last thing you say?! Cool, I didn’t want your ass anyway. You heartbreaking, soul shaking, no good flooz—”*

“Jesus!” Jordan shouted, cocking his head back.

Fumbling with the remote, Sterling changed the song. “Admittedly, when I saw her happy, I didn’t take it too well,” he murmured.

Jordan nodded. It was hard. He wanted her to be happy, but the thought of her being happy without him made him miserable.

*“Yeah, you two really screwed things up for us,”* Sterling’s wolf said. *“I mean, don’t get me wrong, we love Luna for her personality, but that apple scent and arctic fur”*—it forced Sterling to jump up and down and wave his hands—*“Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Jesus be a werewolf fence.”*

Jordan rolled his eyes. *“No need to rub it in and stop syncing. This is not the time.”*

His wolf growled. *“Don’t tell us what to do. We can talk trash if we want to.”*

*“You’re drunk and using the link wrong. Stop taking over. You’re being disrespectful to our wallowing,”* Sterling said, downing his drink.

*“Takes a drunk wolf to know a drunk wolf, drunkie. Oh, and shut up! We can sync when we want to, not just when you command. Don’t like it, tough titty! We’re mad. You both can wallow these wolf nuts for all we care.”*

Sterling’s wolf snickered. *“Speaking of titties, you both know we’re not the only ones without. You messed up with the best tits and ass you’ve ever had. Big Brother Wolf, how much does Jordan miss the melons?”*

*“About as much as Sterling misses the caboose. I can feel it. Jordan misses the hell out of those balloons.”*

*“Oh, believe me, the buns haven’t been forgotten about by Sterling.”*

Jordan’s wolf cackled. *“Funbags…coconuts!”* it said, slurring.

*“Moneymaker…I think that’s right. See, I can’t even ask Luna because they screwed up.”8

*“I’m pretty sure it’s right, so is tig ol’ bitties.”*

*“Come on, Sterling, admit it. You miss the ass that is so beautiful it makes you speak in French.”* His wolf made Sterling strike a pose. *“Derriére,”* it said, laughing. *“Twinnnn, name the boobies with an accent and tell me it doesn’t make you feel fancy.”*

Jordan’s wolf paused briefly, then forced him to put his nose in the air. *“Der-tee pill-ooos,”* it said, making him wink.

“Knock it off!” Sterling shouted out loud. He severed the link and regained control. “They’re annoying as hell when they’re drunk.”

“Tell me about it.”

Entering the loft, Elijah grabbed a pillow and sat in a nearby chair. “Hey. You guys drunk?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Yup.” He pulled a bottle of cognac from the inside of his coat. It was an unspoken rule: struggle through work and come home to get hammered. “The restaurant’s been packed since it opened. I’m so proud of them,” he said.

The twins smiled sadly and spoke in unison, “We are too.” So wrapped up in their mess, they didn’t hear the door open.

“It smells like ass in here,” Klaus said as he turned up his nose.

Jordan glared at him. “Excu—oh never mind, it does smell horrible. Can you call for the maid?”

Klaus placed his arms across his chest. “No.” Jordan’s eyes tinged, but seeing Klaus’s eyes shift in color, he instantly relaxed. “You three are a mess. I think it’s time I stepped in, but you need to give me full immunity.”

Looking from one another, Elijah shrugged his shoulders. “What do we have to lose?”

Jordan sighed. “Full immunity, but please don’t tell me you charged twenty thousand to my credit card. I don’t think I could handle that right now.”

“No, but I brought in as Luna calls them, ringers.”

“What?”

Two men entered the loft, and Jordan and Sterling immediately stood. “Oh, hel-heck no!” Sterling shouted, glancing at Jordan, whose face matched his. One guest stepped forward. With salt and pepper hair, angry age lines, and a piece of hay in his mouth, the mere sight of him sent terror up their spines.

Jordan stuttered, “H-hi U-Uncle George.”

George wiped the motor oil off his hands. “Sorry, I’m late, little brother,” he said to Klaus. Standing side by side, the older twins glared at the younger two. George folded his arms over his chest. “Outside,” he said.

“B-ut….”

“Out-side! See what happens if you make me tell you a third time.” Two Alpha wolves— who killed and never thought twice—put their tails between their legs and walked outside, like scolded children, into the middle of the woods.

Klaus took off his driver’s cap. “I see you both remember, George.” They circled Sterling and Jordan, locking them in the middle.

“Why would you agree to immunity, you blockhead?!” Sterling yelled, pushing Jordan. “Did your old behind forget the last time Uncle George came because mom told Uncle Klaus we were mouthing off? If they don’t kill us, I’m going to whip you as–butt!”

Jordan tried his best to keep up with the older wolves, but their movements made him dizzy. “I didn’t fucking know he invited Uncle George.”

“Watch your mouth boy,” Klaus reprimanded him.

“Y-yes, sir.”

George’s and Klaus’s eyes turned yellow. “I had to close my damn shop and come up here because my brother told me you two were up here acting crazy. That you done chased off your Luna. Is that true?” George asked.

“W-we…”

George and Klaus shifted and charged at Jordan and Sterling. In sync, they knocked the Alpha twins hard on their asses.

“Stop that damn stuttering. I asked you both a question!”

Standing, Sterling coughed. “Yes, we did.”

Klaus bared his teeth. “Betsey has me sleeping on the couch because of you two. I told you don’t mess up my groove, didn’t I? Don’t ask you two for shit, but not to mess up my groove. She won’t come near me with a ten-foot pole. You know what it does to a wolf when his pretty mate won’t give him none?”

Sterling cocked his head back, tasting the bile stuck in his throat. “Oh sweet baby Jesus, please be merciful. I’m already about to get my butt kicked. I can’t deal with psychological warfare.”

Before Jordan could react, Klaus and George swiped their paws across his face. He fell to the ground. They moved quickly in sync, laughing as Sterling helped him up.

“You two better shift. Might give you a fighting chance,” Klaus taunted.

Hesitantly, Jordan and Sterling shifted. The two large brown wolves sized up the huge, black furred Alphas.

George snickered. “I thought I was going to see something worthwhile. I came all the way up here and the only thing I see is some pups playing pretend.” Sterling lunged at him, but George moved to the side. Tackling him, Klaus sent Sterling flying hard into a tree. Jordan tried to bite into Klaus’s leg, but he moved to the side like his brother. George–like Klaus had done to Sterling–tackled him, sending him flying as well. George looked at Klaus. “Well, at least they’re still protective of one another. We can work with that.”

Changing into their half form, the older twins scaled two trees. Klaus called from up top, “Listen, boys, I got to be back home by nine, so we’re going to wrap this up. No more taking it easy on ya now.”

“Easy?!” Jordan screamed. He heard nothing but laughter in response, then complete silence. Jumping from the trees in sync, the elder wolves pushed Jordan and Sterling into the middle again. They ran fast, dizzying them, their claws connecting with accuracy against their faces.

“Get in sync! Stop trying to fight us by yourself! You’re twins, fucking act like it!” they yelled in unison.

Sterling cried out, “How many of you all is it? I know it’s over four fists hitting me! Forget this, I’m calling mom!” Four fists hit him in the face again.

“Stop that damn crying! You weren’t crying when you were up here being little shits!”

Jordan closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. The beating against his body stirred something inside. “Enough!” he roared, and Klaus and George stopped. Dropping to his knees, he exhaled harshly and wiped the blood from his face. Sterling bent down and placed his paw on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. Turning to face him, Jordan’s eyes burned bright. “I fucking hate you,” he said.

Sterling retracted his paw and averted his eyes. “I know.”

He didn’t respond at first, but shifted back into his human form. He sat on the ground. “I hate you, and it pisses me off because, as twisted as it sounds, the fact that you think I could ever truly hate you makes me hate you more.” He stood. “It was you and me. You. and. me! It didn’t matter what I went through, as long as I had you, I knew I would be okay. Then you left me. I understand why, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. I closed off a part of me that day, and I don’t want to reopen it and you abandon me again. And that’s what I really hate. Why I can’t share a mate with you again. I hate the fact that I’m terrified to trust my favorite person in the entire world won’t leave me behind if things get bad.”

It was the first time Sterling had heard him speak so openly with him since they were kids. “I didn’t know you felt that way.” Jordan turned away from him, and Sterling shifted. Grabbing onto him, he turned him around and embraced him tightly. “This entire time, I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. That’s why I stayed away for so long. I couldn’t face you. I couldn’t face knowing I let my hero down.” Both sat in the revelation, understanding the other’s side. “I’m not going anywhere, big brother. I’ll never make the mistake of leaving my favorite person behind again. I just hope one day you can trust me.”

From the corner, George called out, “Hey you two, catch!” He threw two daggers directly at their heads, and they caught them in perfect sync. They dropped the knives, and Klaus and George smiled. “Looks like he already does,” George said, beaming.

Jordan and Sterling smiled at one another, then Sterling glowered at George. “Hold up. What the heck? What if he didn’t trust me?!”

“Then I’d probably have a lot to explain to ya mama.”

Jordan eyed his brother. “You threw a person at me.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not as scary as Little Red. Sorry, but she kicked my butt once. I’m good.”

Two sets of twins walked out of the woods, the younger having finally done what their Luna asked. Klaus stopped Jordan and Sterling and squared his shoulders. “And you better not tell Betsey what happened here tonight, or I’ll call George back,” he said, replacing his hat, and they gulped.