Chapter 10 chapter Ten

When I pushed open the front door of our house exhaustedly, the dark night had already covered the sky.Usually there will be a quiet piano music dancing in the room.My parents would always play this melody on nights when they weren't patrolling the hills.Chopin's tune echoed in the air, either with a glass of wine in the mother's hand, or a glass of whiskey in the father's hand.But tonight.Father would snuggle up in his leather chair while mother wandered the forest near Hades. I climbed the stairs with slumped shoulders, feeling like I was carrying a heavyweight sandbag.My only wish is to go to bed after a hot shower and never wake up again.

As I reached the top step, I heard a strange banging and shuffling behind Ansel's closed door.I stopped in front of my brother's bedroom door and raised my hand to knock, but the door opened suddenly. "Hey, Calle!" Brin came out of Ansel's room, cheeks flushed.For a split second our eyes met.The muscles in her jaw were throbbing violently as she turned her head away. "You haven't left yet?" I quickly calculated in my mind.It had been about twelve hours since Brin was sitting at the kitchen table when I left. She glanced down the hall. "Um. Yes. Oh. I'm... you know... helping Ansel with her poetry homework." She put her hands on her hips, tapped her fingers, and didn't lift her eyes to meet mine.

"Yes." I stared at her, "Isn't his study really bad?" A smile formed on the corner of her mouth. "Oh, I wouldn't say that." "Thank you for your help, Brin!" Ansel called from the room. "See you tomorrow, Ka." She rushed downstairs. I narrowed my eyes and watched her leave quickly before walking into my brother's room.Ansel leaned lazily on the bed.He flipped the pages of an anthology of English literature absently with his fingers. "How's the patrol going?" He was still half-reading at the pages of the book in front of him.

"It's okay." I sat down on the corner of his bed, "How was your day?" "Great," he murmured. "Why, little brother?" I asked, resting my chin on my hands. He sat up, straightened his shoulders, and threw the book vigorously, and the book rolled off the bed and fell to the floor. "Isn't that your homework?" I asked, pointing to the anthology he had left aside.He ignored my outstretched fingers. "I have to talk to you," he said solemnly.The body straightened even more. "Really?" I lay on my side on the bed, "What's the matter?"

His eyes were still staring at me without blinking. "This thing is about me and Brin." "Oh?" I raised my eyebrows at him and tugged at the coverlet. A look of frustration crossed his face. "I mean, me and Brin." gosh.I had expected this moment to come.Poor Ansel. "That's what you said just now. What's the matter with you two?" "Please, Ka," he said, "do you want me to go into the details?" "Of course," I said, and even though I knew exactly what he was trying to say, I still hoped it wasn't true... for all of us.

His neck flushed red.He coughed. "I mean, don't you notice how I—" He shook his head and punched the pillow so hard that it split at the seam.Goose feathers flew in all directions in the air between us. I sat up. "Tell me what happened." He bobbed his head up and down, as if rehearsing a speech in his mind. "I want to be with her." He took a deep breath and went straight to the point, "After the new group is established, I want Brin to be my partner." "Ansel!" The situation was worse than I thought. "Look, Ka. I love Bryn. With all my heart. With all my heart. All the sweet things you've read and seen in books and movies can describe how I feel. All I want is her for the rest of my life," He said. "I just wanted to know if I had a chance. So, I confessed to her today."

I knew exactly what to say, but the words faded away before the haunting question. "How did she answer?" His face glowed. "She asked me to kiss her. I think she likes it when I do it." I groaned, but felt a tinge of relief in my heart.Maybe it wasn't that serious after all. "My God, Ann, we're talking about Bryn. She's gonna try everything, you know that." I pointed to the foyer. "As soon as I got home, she ran away. I'm sorry, dear, but I think she must be ashamed now." "No," he said, "she's just afraid you'll be angry. In fact, she's afraid you'll bite off one of her ears."

"Listen," I hope he's not too upset, "I know you've had a crush on Breen since you were a kid, but don't get your hopes up." "Forget it, Caller," he said, "I'm not your little brother anymore. I mean it." "You really have confidence." I cautiously looked at his bright smile. His eyelids were drooped, his lashes covering his gray irises. "And what if I told you she let me kiss for four hours?" "What?" I almost rolled over and fell off the bed. "Besides, we're not just kissing." His sly look was obvious.

"Ansel!" I stared at him dumbfounded, realizing that I had misjudged the situation earlier. He bounced back and forth on the mattress, with joy in his bright eyes. I rolled over on my stomach, grabbed a pillow, and bit down on the pillowcase. "Come on, Ka. You gotta be happy for us. We're in love." Ansel kept prodding me in the ribs. I let go of the pillow in my mouth, got up off the bed and faced him, clenched my fist behind me. "That's not how we live. I don't care what the books or movies say. We don't live like humans!" I snapped. "Ansel, you know that."

"I know, I know." He avoided my glare. "But, Dad said that the directors would listen to Alpha's advice when pairing the clansmen. So, now that you know that Breen and I Feelings, you can help us talk." "I could try," I said, "but I can't assure you. The pairing is arranged by the supervisor. The final decision rests with them." "I heard from my father that Lumini took his advice when making decisions." Seeing his hopeful eyes made my heart skip a beat. "I know. But, Lumini will not be our hostess in the future. Have you forgotten? I told you this morning, and then our host will be Logan." My abdomen felt as if I had been stabbed by a sharp knife Leigh, "If he orders that Bryn and Mason must be a couple, then there's nothing I can do."

I expected that Ansel would fly into a rage and open his mouth to object, but he laughed out loud.I frowned and watched him collapse hysterically on the bed. "Er—what the hell are you doing, Ann?" I said. "I'm talking business." "Yes, that's right, Calle." When I was silent, he stared at me. "You really don't know?" "Don't know what?" I asked, feeling as if I were an outsider. Ansel grabbed the only remaining intact pillow on the bed and squeezed it. "Mason is gay." "Are you kidding me? Mason?" I said. "Mason is gay?" Ansel sighed. "You know what, you alphas are so focused on taking over new groups that you don't know anything about what's going on in front of you." "Mason?" I repeated, embarrassed by my surprised tone. "He and Neville have been dating for a year," Ansel said, rolling over on the bed. "Neville? Who is Neville?" I frowned. Ansel just looked at me, waiting.After a while I figured it out. "You mean Neville? Ryan's Neville?" "No, it's not Ryan's Neville. It's Mason's Neville." He giggled, "His nickname is Neville." "one Year?" "Yeah, they met in a support group of guardians, and the theme of the group was 'coming out. You know, without the permission of the supervisor, any of our relationships can only be underground. Whether it is straight or gay." I let out a wry laugh from my throat. "You mean Mason and Neville - er, Neville - are both part of the Gay Guardians Anonymous group?" He shrugged.I lay down on the bed again. "Wow." I was a little surprised that Mason was gay, but even more so by how stealthily he was able to hide it.But having said that, this is a matter of life and death, but the thought of him not trusting me enough to confide such important things to me gives me a burning pain in my chest. Ansel stretched out beside me, his head resting on his folded arms. "Of course, this matter is a secret. Because of the supervisors. They cannot tolerate other ways of life." There is a bit of bitterness in his words. I ran my hands through my hair and scratched my scalp a few times. "Yes, absolutely true." Mason and Neville?It's unimaginable.Mason was bright and hilarious, but Neville was like, well, quieter. Ansel grabbed the latest issue of Rolling Stone from the bedside table. "As far as Logan is concerned, there's a real irony to it." "Logan?" I slapped the magazine hard, forcing him to look at me. "Yeah, Logan. At least that's what Mason said. But for him, or for any supervisor, such a thing is a completely different matter. I mean, Logan just needs to find a witch Be a vase wife, give birth to a few children to be the heir, and he can find some male devils to be his little boy as he likes." There was a sly gleam in his eyes. "Ansel!" I screamed.At least I don't have to worry about Logan being as virtuous as his father. "Uh, come on, Ka. I know I'm your brother, but that doesn't mean I don't know anything about this kind of thing." He grabbed the pillow and threw it at me. "Actually, from what we've talked about this time, I know a lot more than you do." At this time, there was a bit of idealism in his tone. "Still, I hope it will benefit us. I mean about Logan. He's still a director, but maybe he'll be different." "Yes." I looked back at Ansel. He pursed his lips thoughtfully, but his mood was still optimistic. "I've got to take the risk, Calle. I love her. I've always loved her." A chill ran up my spine. "Okay, Ansel. I get it. But until you get a formal order from your supervisors, you two are going to keep this a secret. Just play it safe." "Thank you, Sis." I felt his fluttering heartbeat as he nestled his head between my shoulder and neck.I closed my eyes, knowing that I would try my best to help my brother and Brin get their wishes, but at the same time, another emotion that was not so glorious was biting me.As an alpha, I can help members of the group achieve their wishes, but no one can help me realize my dreams.