Chapter 30: Trust and Honesty

Bruce leapt down the porch steps and in full stride made for Solaris.

Solaris planted his cane to the ground, rested both hands on top of it, and smiled smugly.

“Back for my claws?” Bruce asked through a sneer.

He curled the fingers on his hand and his werewolf claws began to extend outwards. “Then why don’t I give them to you?”

“What’s with the old man?” Kurt asked, barging his way towards the two. Kurt knew very well who Solaris Sparks was, and how he would fit into his plan, but Kurt didn’t want Bruce to know that.

And Bruce didn’t want Kurt to know that Solaris had been holding him captive, especially since Bruce had only moments ago lied to his pack about his whereabouts.

“I’m not here to fight,” Solaris said, glancing at the two werewolves.

Bruce stood strong and said, “You have a lot of nerve coming to my home.”

“Do I?” Solaris asked, tilting his head. “Because then you seem to have plenty of nerve sneaking into mine to sleep with my daughter.”

Kurt smacked his lips and said, “Ah, okay. I see where this is going.”

“You’re daughter, Solaris,” Bruce said gritting his teeth, “is my mate.”

Solaris waved a hand. “Whatever your bizarre werewolf terminology is for it, I’m not concerned with. I know that you have real feelings for her, and that’s why I’m here.”

“I’m not abandoning her like you have,” Bruce snarled.

“I’m not asking you to leave her,” Solaris chuckled. “I’m asking that you stand by her. Put those muscles to good use.”

Solaris became grim when he added, “Things are about to change. I need to know that you’ll be able to protect her.”

Bruce bit down on his own tongue. He wanted so badly to scream at Solaris, “First you try and have me killed, and now you dare ask anything of me!?”

But Bruce knew it would be better to try and remain composed, and maintain the lie he had told Kurt about their aunt.

“I’d give my life for Silvana,” Bruce said.

“And I’m inclined to believe you,” Solaris said. “But let me hear you swear that no matter what ends up happening, you will look after my daughter. Swear it in front of me and your mangy brother.”

“Mangy?” Kurt asked with a sarcastic smile and wide arms. “You come here with that greasy gray hair and I’m mangy?”

Bruce ignored Kurt and addressed Solaris when he proclaimed, “I swear that I will move the world itself to keep her safe. And maybe the best thing for her safety would be the removal of her lying father.”

Solaris cocked an eyebrow. “Are you threatening me?”

Kurt stepped up, sensing the tension.

“Alright old man,” Kurt said, “You got your pact, now get the hell out of here and don’t come back.”

“You sound just like her,” Solaris said to Bruce, his gray hair bobbing at his ears. “Unappreciative and have no idea the lengths I’ve had to go to keep us all safe.”

Bruce felt like Solaris was baiting Bruce into talking about his captivity. To avoid addressing it, Bruce simply said, “I don’t think you’ve ever had the sense to keep werewolves safe.”

“I’ve done much more for your kind than you’ll ever know,” Solaris remarked.

“Leave now,” Bruce demanded, holding back a roar.

Solaris looked down his nose at both of the brothers, nodded, and got inside his car.

Kurt shrugged as Solaris pulled away.

“Mangy,” Kurt said, shaking his head. “Can you believe this guy?”

But Bruce was lost in thought.

“Whoa, bro,” Kurt said, trying to make eye contact with Bruce. “What’s up with you?”

Bruce sighed and slumped his shoulders. He said, “That man is rotten, but his daughter is so pure and wonderful.”

“Yeah man,” Kurt confirmed, resting a hand on Bruce’s big shoulder. “You got yourself a real one.”

Bruce half-smiled and said, “I remember the night I found her, when the Halloween carnival had been attacked. She was barely breathing, cut open from slash wounds, bleeding from a gash on her head, and somehow I knew she was going to make it, even without me. I couldn’t help but think to myself, as I saw her claw at the ground to get away from an evil spirit, ‘This woman is a fighter, and this woman is a survivor.’ And on top of her will to live, she wants to spend that life doing good for others and being kind.”

The whole speech was making Kurt sick, but he feigned devout interest.

“We’re attracted to strength,” Kurt said, patting Bruce’s back. “It’s in our programming to look for mates that we think can keep up with us.”

Which of course, Amelia was not. Amelia was weak and petty and simple, but Kurt could at least use her for her body and the ability to get close to Silvana.

Bruce looked at Kurt and stared into his eyes.

“You know,” Bruce said. “You can be a real asshole. But I think past all that, you’re a good man.”

Kurt grinned, knowing that he had won over his brother’s trust, and how foolish that would serve to be for Bruce later.

“I appreciate that, bro.”

And while Solaris was driving down the backroads towards his house, Silvana was just finding the text he had sent her saying that he was going to confront Bruce and apologize. Her heart skipped several beats and she wondered what words her father could possibly have for Bruce. Whatever it was, she didn’t think much good could come from it.

She grabbed her keys and raced out the door to meet them.

But Solaris was only a few minutes from home when something jumped out in front of his car, causing him to swerve.

The tires of his car shrieked and Solaris fought for control of the steering wheel. He whipped back into his lane but his front tire slipped off the edge of the road and into the grass, slowly leading him into a pit.

Solaris was muttering spells to help him concentrate and to guard his car against an accident, but it was already too late.

A second car collided into his rear bumper, sending his vehicle flying deep into the ravine.

Solaris slammed the brakes, trying to get control of his car in all the mud, but his tires wouldn’t grip.

Fought as he did to stop, Solaris rammed directly into a huge tree.

Covered in glass and blood, his head pounding and arm broken, Solaris shouldered his way out of the car. He fell to the mud and when he looked up at the figures standing before him, he screamed out in complete shock.

They tore at his skin and ripped at his flesh.

Bleeding profusely, the figures dragged Solaris farther into the woods, away from the crash.

When they were finished with him, the only thing remaining in the pool of Solaris’s blood was his ruby ring and the finger it had been worn on.