Chapter 54

(**Parker’s POV**)

Parker stood rooted in place as Owen looked at him. The moment that old nickname was spoken out loud, something broke wide open in his chest. Emotions that he thought were worked out when he thought Frank was Owen flooded through him. After Rayne told him about her suspicions about Frank, he had to admit that he jumped on the idea of his brother being alive like it was his lifeline to the past.

The reality of the situation is something altogether different from what he would ever have expected. Both his father and his older brother were alive, and Frank was his brother. Not a half brother but full blood brother. Yet there was still something about Frank that was rubbing Parker the wrong way. Instinct told him there was more to Frank’s story that he had yet to share with them.

Maybe Owen was the key to that mystery?

Rayne’s voice brought Parker out of his stupor as she spoke to someone standing in the doorway next to Owen. That was when he focused on the two of them more clearly. Owen is dressed in grey slacks with a button-up white shirt. He looked healthy and happy. The woman beside him was small in stature, but what drew his attention more that anything was her very pregnant belly. Her dark hair is pulled up in a bun and left her mate mark visible to all.

She was Owen’s mate.

Rayne asked the woman if she would like to take a seat at one of the booths, then offered to make her and Owen food. Both women left the room to go to the kitchen shortly after. Parker was still rooted to his spot, but this time his mind was full of memories of the past.

“Cat got your tongue, Little Sparrow?” Owen stepped up to the bar as he spoke.

“He spoke just fine before you walked in,” Frank interjected.

A chill swept over Parker at the tone in Frank’s voice. Looking over, he noticed Frank wasn’t looking at Owen at all, his eyes were glued to the doorway that lead to the kitchen. The room where Rayne and Owen’s mate were. Something Frank said earlier clicked in Parker’s brain. Was the woman with Owen the same one Frank was in love with in the past? Well, that explains the bitterness in his voice.

Looking back at Owen, Parker notice he was now staring at Declan. Would he remember their father? He was old enough to remember both their parents. “How did the two of you find each other?” Declan asked quietly.

Owen looked at Frank for a moment, then he looked at Parker. “The story Frank told you about the gang I was in is true. I was a mid-level guy in the gang at the time. One day, my task was at the docks to over see an incoming shipment of drugs. What I found in the cargo hold was a skinny, half-starved boy. The moment his eyes met mine, I felt something familiar in him. So, I took him back to the compound with me.”

“Saved my neck from the chopping block too.” Frank finally looked away from the doorway to look at Owen.

“My boss wanted to kill him. Thought he was a spy from our suppliers who were trying to get a stronger foothold in Ireland. I am not sure why, but I felt compelled to help the kid. So, I took him under my wing. Took responsibility for him with the boss. We became partners and did our jobs as a team. He looked more and more like me as he got older. I figured it out before he did. Though when he told me about his past, I was skeptical.”

“Did you send him here to find out if I was who you thought?” Parker looked back and forth between his brothers. The feeling of being on the outside looking in was unsettling. He didn’t belong with them. He wasn’t like either of them.

“No, that was Frank’s idea. He decided it would be a good way to see if you would know your brother or not. I told him you would know me, even if you didn’t fully remember me. He wanted to prove you wouldn’t.”

“He didn’t know the difference until his woman said something.”

“Leave Rayne out of this!” Parker growled at Frank.

“Are you after something that isn’t yours again, Frank?”

“Nyla was mine before you showed up.”

“I was never yours, Frank.” Nyla spoke as she and Rayne came back in the room.

Nyla walked to Owen and sat on a stool next to him at the bar. He rubbed her arm as she sat down. Rayne came to stand next to Parker, but instead of touching him like she normally would, she just stood beside him quietly staring Frank down. What had the two women talked about while they were in the kitchen? Rayne left a few moments later to go back to the kitchen, but the tension in the room only got stronger.

“So, the two of you figured out that your were brothers and hatched a plan to find Parker?” Declan looked between the two men, then back to Parker.

“I knew he survived the fire at the orphanage. I tracked down one of the old nuns who used to live there, and she told me what happened. It surprised her I was still alive since she knew what the priest did to me. So, knowing my little brother was still alive, I started searching for him. It was not a straightforward task.” Owen moved behind Nyla and rubbed her shoulders.

“The family that adopted me changed my name. It wasn’t until after they died I started using my real name again. Even then, I only ever used my first name. I also moved around often.”

“Were they good people?” Declan asked as his eyes were very alert at the mention of Parker’s adoptive parents.

“Yes. They were shifters too. They both taught me everything they knew. How to blend in with humans. How to hunt, fight, and track when needed. They were killed in an accident.”

“Well, at least one of my boys had a decent outcome.”

“While the one you never wanted lived in a cage.” Frank looked at Declan with pure hatred in his eyes.

“Never wanted? Who told you that? Gyles? Gerald? Your mother and I wanted you more than anything. I fought every day to get to you after they killed your mother right in front of me. I spent years in a dark cell alone for my defiance because I was the one who gave Gyles that scar. So, don’t you dare tell me I never wanted you.” Tears were spilling from his eyes when he was done, but Declan remained seated.

“What are you talking about? I was told both you and my bitch mother abandoned me.” Frank growled at Declan as he stood up from his stool.

Parker had Frank pinned face down on the bar before he could blink. He pulled one of his arms up behind his back between his shoulder blades and pressed hard. “You are a misguided fool. I have let you get away with quite a lot since you have been here, but if you bad mouth my mother again, I will kill you. Brother or not, I will snap your neck.”

“Alright, let him up, Parker. He has false information. He lived his life thinking his family didn’t want him. Let Declan tell him the truth.” Rayne said to help calm down.

“Frank, I told you that our parents died. You never told me you believed they abandoned you.”

“Because it never seemed to be the right time to tell you.” Frank stopped struggling with Parker. His voice came out ragged as his face was pressed hard into the counter.

Parker shook his head. There has been too much violence and misunderstandings in all their lives. Enough is enough. He let Frank’s arm go, then stepped back. Moving back behind the bar, he stood next to Rayne. “Did Owen ever tell you stories about our parents in all the time you spent together?”

“Yes, but I never believed him. Families like that don’t really exist.”

“Your mother was held in a cage for her entire pregnancy. The day she gave birth they brought me into a small theatre where Gerald was waiting for me. He played live video of her giving birth. She was allowed to hold you just once, then Gyles slit her throat. They forced me to watch as she died. I fought with everything I had to get to you but was brought down hard. When I was allowed out of my dark cell, Gyles told me you were dead too. All my fight left me that day.”

“Gyles killed my mother?”

“Yes, but on Gerald’s orders.”

“Then we need to kill Gerald,” the three brothers spoke up in unison.

A look passed between the three of them. An unspoken vow was made, and they added Gerald Finkman to their list of enemies. The war against the Collectors added another player to the game. Gerald and Vicktor were now on their radar. How many more snakes hide in the tall grass of the supernatural world?

How long will it be until it explodes and spills over onto the human world?