Chapter 37: A Family Matter

Chapter 37: A Family Matter
Silas
“Put a shirt on already. I’m sick of looking at that creepy mate mark.” Cody scoffed.
"Shut up, Cody." I snarled. His attitude toward Sydney and I is really getting under my skin.
"What are you, the little bitch's, bitch now?" Cody continued to mock and down his drink and slammed the glass on the table.
I jump to my feet. "Cody, if you forgot, I outrank you now, so I mean it when I say shut the fuck up." I feel Bram pushing forward and my Lumiere Aura pushing out.
"Uhhh... You!" Cody slumps down in his chair, trying to fight the pull.
"Cody, bro, seriously knock it off. You are not just Silas' brother but the Gamma of our pack. So as your Beta, I'm telling you to stop now." Davy steps between us. Him being the oldest always trying to keep the peace. My blood is boiling. I’m doing everything I can to hold Bram back, but a big part of me wants to let him loose.
"Grrrrrr..." Cody’s eyes flash dark brown from their normal smoky green. "Don't you start too? What's your problem? The girly Alpha has your balls in her purse too?" Cody snarls out at Davy.
Something in me snaps. I flip the coffee table between us, push Davy out of the way, and rip Cody from his chair. I pick him up by his shirt collar, and I’m inches away from his smug face. Davy was back up instantly and trying to get me to let go of Cody, but there was no losing my grip.
"You're still the little brother. Just because you're the Man-Luna of this shit pack, don't think you're better than us." Cody spits out while trying to push me off.
*Crash* The door wasn’t locked, but it’s kicked open, and I see Sydney step through. "I don't care who you are. No one disrespects my mate or my pack." Sydney roars.
She jumps at Cody, and now I’m trying to hold her back. It’s one thing if brothers fight, no matter if we are in different packs. It’s a whole other issue if an Alpha attacks a ranked member from a different pack.
“Syd, let me handle it.” I can barely pull her off him before she does any damage.
“What the hell is going on!” I know that roaring dominating voice. It’s my dad.
“Boys, what did you do?” mom popped out from behind him in the doorway. Damn, it got worse. “Cody, what did you do?”
“Why is it my fault! This crazy she-demon attacked me!” Cody staggered to his feet for only a second before I knocked him back down.
“You lying sack of shit.” I raised my fist, but a burly arm pulled me back before I could connect.
“Everyone stop this instant!” we all froze, hearing the threatening tone in mom’s voice. She might be small, but she meant business. “Davy, what is going on. Tell me right now, or I mean it, you will regret it.”
“Mom, it’s nothing, honestly. We had some drinks, and we got a little hot-headed, is all. Right Silas?” Davy looked over at me to confirm his story, but I saw Sydney clenching her fist and jaw.
“No! Cody can’t keep that sewer of a mouth shut. I was going to shut it for him.” I attempted to lung forward, but my dad had a firm hold on my arms. “Let me go. He needs an ass-kicking.”
“What’s all the ruckus about?” Theirs a crowd forming outside the door. “Beta Davy, what’s going on.” Alpha Conor Amaris steps through the doorway, and now it’s much, much worse.
“Alpha, it’s honestly nothing more than a scuffle between brothers. It’s a family matter. I apologize for letting it get out of hand.” Davy bowed and glared at Cody.
“Alpha, it won’t happen again.” Cody bowed and glared back at Davy.
Sydney clicked her tongue, “a family matter.” She stepped out of the room, and I quickly followed after her.
She stomped down the hall, growling and muttering under her breath. I was still pissed at Cody, but right now, my priority was calming Sydney down before we had an inter-pack incident on our hands.
I reached for her hand, “Sydney.”
She jerked it away and kept walking. She followed the halls till we were at the side exist. “I need to run.” Is all she said before kicking the door open and clomping her way to the treelined.
“I could use a run myself.” I hopped down the stairs and strode up next to her.
Sydney turned and looked at me. Her face said I’m pissed, but the bond’s feeling said she was more sad than anything. “You can’t hide behind that angry face with me.” I let out a sigh. “I know my brother is a giant jerk, but he’s the Amaris packs Gamma. Plus, my mom would be pretty upset if he was injured too badly.”
She didn’t say a word, but the feeling of deep sadness was pushing so strongly through the bond that it was making me panic. What was making her so sad? I understand being mad, but I didn’t understand why she was so depressingly sad.
Sydney just looked away from me and took off her cloth in silence. I was scrambling to take off my shoes and pants in time. The faint moonlight breaking through the trees made Sydney’s milky skin look like it was glowing. She looked like the daughter of the goddess. My heart fluttered as she looked up at the crescent moon; she breathed and then shifted. I quickly tossed my pants on a branch and shifted.
We ran in silence through the trees, not at full speed. It was a steady pace, but the distance we ran in that stillness felt like it was cross country. Once we got to the top of a nearby mountain, the trees grew sparse, and the night sky was on full display. Sydney stopped and shifted. Plopping down on a large boulder nearby. She just looked up at the moon like she was waiting for it to answer the question in her heart.
I stood back for a moment, not sure what to do. “Mate is sad. Go sit with her dummy.” Bram was feeling panicked too.
“Yeah, it’s a start.” I took a shaky breath and walked up behind Sydney, sitting on the boulder. A cool fall breeze blew by, twirling Sydney’s hair in the air. It really looked like a flame for a second. As I got closer, I saw past the stony expression; the deep sadness was in her eyes.
“You know you can’t hide your feelings from me.” I sat next to her but left a small space between us.
“Ha.” Her eyes looked glassy as she blinked and clenched her jaw. She swallowed hard and said. “A family matter.”
“Syd, my dad and brother didn’t want to cause an incident, so that’s why they said that.” I rubbed her back.
“You don’t get it!” Her voice was trembling. “The first time your father and oldest brother referred to me as family was because of a fight. I really am nothing but a heartless monster.”
“Don’t say that!” My heart was pounding in my chest, and my voice raised. “You are not a monster. My brother is a jealous ass who can’t keep his mouth shut. You did nothing wrong; I was already going to kick his ass before you came in the room.”
“No, he is right to criticize. All I know how to do is fight. It’s like my temper flares, and something in me just snaps! Before I know it, I’m drawing blood from my next victim. I don’t know how to be Alpha. Hell, I don’t even know how to be a mate.” I feel her tremble under my hand. “All I kept thinking about during your ceremony was how I wished my parents could be there. Would they act like yours? Taking pictures and videos. Hahaha.” A sweet laugh came out but turned into a sob in the end.
I pull Sydney close to me. “Hey, my family loves you already. My mom asks how you are doing every day. She always says how cool you are. I think she may have started liking you more than me.” I got a giggle out of her, and she looked up at me. “I’ll be your family, and we will have a family. We can have as many pups as you want. We can fill the pack with our offspring if it makes you happy.”
“Hey now! Slow down there. You’re not the one carrying all these pups.” She tries giving me a stern look, but her tear-stained cheeks make her look pouty. I kiss her forehead.
“Be my family.” Tears started falling from my eyes.