Battle Between Brothers

Osprey
I glared at Gerald threateningly while our parents glanced around the restaurant anxiously. My mother stood up, easing between the two of us to break our eye contact. She reached out a shaky hand toward me.
“Osprey, honey, it’s okay. We shouldn’t be fighting here. Not in front of humans. Please calm down,” she begged quietly.
My link with Scarlett opened, and I knew she was feeling my rage.
‘What’s going on?’ She asked.
‘We’re going to eat Gerald,’ Godric hissed.
‘Oh, Goddess, Godric! What did I tell you about wanting to eat people?!’ She asked.
‘This is different! He’s challenging me!’ I snarled.
‘Talk it out,’ she demanded. ‘Everything can be fixed with words! Be diplomatic!’
I narrowed my eyes on Gerald’s smug face over my mother’s shoulder. I didn’t think there was any chance of working out whatever problem Gerald had with me. Ever since he left our sleuth to attend Grimm Forest College, he has had an issue with my authority. I wasn’t sure why, but it was beyond time to find out his reasoning behind it. I sat back down in my chair, still glaring at my brother.
“What is your problem with me?” I asked quietly.
“Everything,” he answered simply. “You are so determined to control all of our paths, despite the fact that you almost screwed up your own. I don’t want you to be involved in my life to that extent. And while we’re talking about it, you have been such a fucking asshole since our parents named you and Scarlett as our future leaders! You are so quick to remind all of us that you’re the ‘future Alpha’ but you forget that to us; you are just our brother. Any of us have the right to challenge you as Alpha. The girls don’t because they respect you, but let me make it very clear to you that I do not have the same respect for you as they do. You say I’m the bad influence, but so are you. What makes you so much better than me? Because you have Scarlett?” I scoffed. “Well, let me be the one to tell you that no matter how great of an Alpha Sow she will be, it doesn’t make you any better of an Alpha. Scarlett deserves someone better than you. Our sleuth deserves a better Alpha than you. Our parents are fools for allowing you to take over.”
I stared at him in shock. This was all news to me. When he asked to leave the sleuth to come to college at Grimm Forest, I wholeheartedly threw myself behind him as a big supporter. I had only come along on this trip to protect Annie from our parents’ wrath. They had come with the intention of dragging her home by her hair if they needed to. I picked up my drink to take a sip while Scarlett, who was listening in on our conversation, tried to soothe my anger. When I had reclaimed control of Godric, I set my plastic cup back down on the table.
“I can see that your problem with me cannot be solved by talking. I am not entirely sure why you are so angry with me. The only thing I can think of, since you mentioned my mate and wife, is that this has to do with a female. A female that you can’t have.” My eyes briefly touched on Annie. “Or at least one you shouldn’t. I have done nothing but support your dreams and aspirations.” I stood up in preparation to leave. “Come along, Annie! You are not staying here. Alpha orders.”
Gerald jumped to his feet with his fists balled. “You overstepped, Osprey! This is Annie’s life! You can’t force her to go with you. She has a plan!”
I met his eyes, smirking a little. “Plans change, Gerald. Annaria is coming home. I will find her a different program that will offer the same opportunities.”
“Osprey, please, don’t do this to Annie because you are mad at Gerald,” my mother pleaded. “This is so cruel to her. Look at what it’s doing to her!”
I turned to look at my youngest sister, who was silently crying as she listened to our conversation. I frowned at Gerald before reaching across the table to grip Annie’s elbow.
“Let’s go, Annaria.” I met Gerald’s eyes. “And as far as you’re concerned, you know where I am if you want to challenge me.”
I practically dragged Annie out of the restaurant behind me, too pissed off to care about her crying. I shoved her into the backseat of my car as Gerald, followed by our parents, stormed outside. I locked my car as Gerald began to tug on the door before slamming me against it by my throat. I stood stiffly in his grip while his eyes rapidly transitioned between his and Kraven’s.
“You have until the count of three to let me go, Gerald,” I said calmly.
He pulled me away from the car, only to slam me back against it. “Let her out!” He growled.
“One. Two. Three!”
I pulled on Scarlett’s aura as I let mine out in a rapid rush of immediate power. Gerald let me go as his legs buckled, making him crash into the ground. I kicked him away from me as I bore down on him, increasing the strength of my aura, while Annie screamed from inside my car as she tried to get out. My aura held her inside it while I continued to pin Gerald to the ground without touching him.
“This is why the girls don’t challenge me,” I growled lightly. “Because they know I am the only one with the power fit to be our next Alpha. You want to challenge me, so be it! I won’t take it easy on you just because you are my little brother! I will kill you before I allow you to be the ruler of people who depend on their Alpha for protection and guidance. If you decide to come for *my* title, you will lose. And when you do, you will leave our entire family to grieve over you because I will not let you continue to live. If I were you, I would think this through before you utter a challenge.”
I gave him one final warning push of my aura before ordering him away from my car. He crawled up onto the grass, where he collapsed, panting. I turned to meet Annie’s eyes, pulling my aura back a lot so that I didn't hurt her.
“Sleep!”
Her fist fell mid-hit on the window as she slumped against the seat, unconscious. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my hair before looking at my parents, who were eyeing me in confusion.
“What is going on, son?” Timothy asked me.
I rolled my shoulders back, shrugging. “I’m not sure, but until I am, I need you to trust me. I need to speak through my thoughts with Scarlett. But I swear to you, when I am sure, I will let you know.”
Tony glared at me angrily as he took a threatening step toward me. “You have 24 hours, Osprey, and then I want answers. The way you are treating Annie is so wrong. This isn’t about her! This is between you and Gerald and whatever bullshit you two have going on. Taking Annie away from Grimm Forest is just your way of punishing Gerald! This is her dream, and you are destroying it!”
He stomped to his vehicle, getting in before honking the horn repeatedly. After making sure that Gerald would recover from my warning, Timothy walked back over to us, fury written on every one of his movements.
“This was uncalled for, Osprey!” He snarled. “He was right! You are abusing your power!”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Dad. But believe it or not, if this stops him from challenging me, then so be it. It was a warning worth giving.”
He grabbed my mother’s wrist as he walked toward Tony’s car, dragging her behind him as she shot me a sad look.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Osprey. If you don’t, this will destroy our family,” she whispered.
I waited until they were all in the car before unlocking my car to get in. I slammed my hand down on the dashboard.
“FUCK!” I glanced in the mirror at my sleeping sister. “Why did you do this, Annie?” I asked as I put my car in reverse. “There’s no coming back from this.”
I started the drive back to our sleuth, pulling over when I saw Serena pacing on the side of the road. Scarlett shifted back before climbing into the passenger seat. I reached into the back to grab one of the emergency dresses that I kept behind her seat for her.
“You didn’t have to come meet me,” I told her softly.
“No, I didn’t, but you needed me, and I didn’t think you should wait,” she responded. “Do you want to talk about why you kidnapped Annie and hurt Gerald?”
I growled as I hit the dashboard again. “They are involved, Letti, and they lied about it. I didn’t know how else to handle it,” I admitted as I turned toward her. “I need you to tell me what to do. Because I have no fucking idea what to do.”
“Do your parents know?”
I shook my head. “How do you tell your parents something like that? Hi, Mom, and Dads, Annie and Gerald are fucking.”
She took my hand, squeezing it tightly. “If that’s what it takes, yes.”
I sighed as I angled my rearview mirror down to look at Annie. “If I do that, they will separate them in such a way that they will never see each other again. That really would destroy our family.”
“So, what’s your plan then, Osprey?” She asked.
“We find their mates and let them naturally leave each other.”
“If that’s what you’re doing, then why did you take Annie?” She inquired.
Godric let out a little growl that made my chest vibrate. “He challenged me. He needed to be reminded that I have the power. I am in control.” Godric surged forward. “I will be Alpha, and there’s not a motherfucking thing he can do about it.”