Enemies
Astor did not intend to bang the door on his way in. It just slipped from his hand and the current of the wind drew it closed. He preferred to be as silent as possible so his encounters with Zeth would minimize to the bare necessary. This time, unfortunately, he alarmed the younger werewolf.
He was sitting on the couch, munching from a bag of barbeque chips while some kind of movie was blasting loudly from the TV. Astor's eyes landed on the screen, a bloody scene unfolding making him frown.
"You look better than I expected." Zeth commented, making him remember that the beating had been his idea. He ignored him, throwing his keys on the kitchen table before he poured himself a glass of water. What could he say? Ask why he did it. Curse him? There was no real point in doing any of that so he simply wanted to drink his water and get to sleep but his brother didn't seem to want to let go. He followed him into the kitchen, sitting on the counter, the bag of chips on his lap as he looked at him. "So, did anything interesting happen at the library?" he asked.
"If you're asking about those idiots you sent, yes, they did get me." Astor told him and Zeth tried to hide a wicked smile. Not that Astor wouldn't notice.
"I don't know what you're talking about." he joked.
"Cut the crap." He said, grabbing tightly his glass. There was so much someone could take. He was truly being mocked right in front of his face. Pretending that nothing was wrong, that they didn't really hate each other's guts proved to be a lot more difficult than it seemed, especially when his own brother was trying so hard to make his life a living hell.
"Should you be talking like that to me? I am the next Alpha after all."
"How about you go do your Alpha stuff and leave me alone?"
"I smell herbs from you." Zeth said, sniffing the air. Before Astor had entered the house he had gone to their backyard, washing away the emulsion with cold water from the hose in the garden, hoping that his brother wouldn't notice the smell. He did look like an idiot but he wasn't one.
"What do you mean?" Astor asked him, a lump forming slowly in his throat. He desperately needed to avoid this kind of confrontation. He couldn't get exposed so easily. "I am sleepy. Goodnight." he tried to cut their conversation short but Zeth stopped him, jumping off the counter and grabbing his bruised arm he forced him to turn around so their eyes would meet.
"Who helped you?" he asked him, his stare showing pure annoyance. If someone from the pack had helped him that would mean they were going against him and obviously, he did not like that.
"No one!" Astor explained, trying to show the same annoyance. Pulling his hand away he walked a bit further wanting to create some space between them. "You have made sure no one would ever want to help me."
"That's true…" Zeth mumbled with a skeptical expression. He was thinking, trying to understand how Astor had returned home looking that well. Why he had the scent of medicinal herbs on him when no one in the Highfangs would ever even dare to look at him with empathy?
"Can you leave me be now? If you're bothering so much with me that means you have a lot of free time on your hands." Astor said.
"Don't think I won't find out what happened. I am sure that….hello?" Mid conversation his phone had started to ring, a light flashing from his right pocket. Zeth answered it immediately while Astor had the time to read the name of their father's Beta on the screen. Why would he be calling at this hour? He wondered as he stared at his brother, noticing how wary his expression turned as the moments passed.
The white-haired werewolf, even though was quite curious to find out what happened he decided this was the perfect opportunity for him to lock himself in his room and avoid being further interrogated. He turned around only managing to take a few steps before his brother's voice stopped him.
"Stay here." he said strictly. "Okay…do we have anything else or is that all that we know?" he asked the man on the other line. "I see. Yes, we will come now to the main hall. Do not talk to anyone else about it, understand?" he ordered before he angrily ended the phone call. He was not satisfied by what he had just heard, worrying Astor that the situation was going to get much worse. He needed to be very careful about what he said from here on out.
Zeth was squeezing his phone like a stress ball, on the verge of crushing it in his palm, his fingertips on his lips as he bit on his nails, looking around while his mind was working.
"Come with me, we are going to the main hall."
"Why what happened?" Astor asked concerned. He never took him with him when business was involved. Once he had even told him to stay away from the Main Hall entirely but now he needed him with? No matter how hard he thought about it he could make no sense from Zeth's words. He could not be of any use to him.
"They are here. And they are here for me, to kill me." Zeth said, suddenly his tone becoming desperate. Worried. "I made a mistake." he told Astor. "Help me." he begged, honestly shocking him.
His brother would never ask for his help. He hated him.
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Gifts
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received Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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