Page 54 of Nita's Redemption

Tank held up one finger. “First of all, brother, you brought her up. Second of all, how the fuck would I have ever known a fucking thing about you or anything before my birth, asshole? I knew nothing about you or your family before you came in here swinging your attitude like you had a pair. Now, I ask again, why the fuck are you here?”

Hurricane lifted his chin, indicating the door behind Tank. “The three of you sharing one female. Why would you do that? You’ll kill her just as your father almost did with my maman,” he growled.

The words that had tumbled out of Hurricane clicked. “Are you saying that my father, who by the way is obviously yours as well, and your mother were mated along with another male?” Tank tried to wrap his mind around his father and another male sharing a female. He’d go straight to the source and ask his father, but no way would he want to interrupt sexy time between Lorna and his old man. The last time he’d stumbled upon the duo getting busy, he swore he was scarred for life.

“My maman married when she was fifteen even though her family disagreed with her choice. My tante asked her to go search for her pas bon mate. Cet homme est beaucoup amoureux.” Hurricane lifted his lip in a half snarl. “Sorry, you probably don’t understand what I’m saying.”

“You said you mother came here with your aunt who was searching for her mate that was a womanizer,” Tank corrected him. He might be a fucking redneck from the backwoods of southern Missouri, but he wasn’t stupid.

“Hmm, so you understand Cajun? Good. Then you should know that a female of worth doesn’t leave her man and come back with another male’s seed growing inside her without consequences. The male allowed us to live in his home after she pushed us out, but he was a capo. You know what that word means?” Hurricane didn’t give him a chance to answer before continuing with a deep growl. “He liked to hit those who were smaller and weaker than him. Me and Honor were safe while we were babies, you see. When we became toddlers is when he began hitting me. He only hit Honor if I didn’t do as he said. Our maman tried to protect us at first, until shame took over her emotions. Our maman took everything he gave because she felt she owed him fealty for what she’d done with your father.”

Tank lifted a brow yet held his tongue.

Hurricane shook his head. “Our father. By the time I was big enough to stop his abuse the fucker nearly killed our maman. The female who had hopes when she’d come here was nearly unrecognizable in more than just looks. Every day Honor and I were sure we’d wake to find our pauvre maman dead. Instead, it was me who killed our beau-père. I had seen only eight summers but like you, I’m sure, I was a lot bigger than other boys our age. Our maman couldn’t look at me after I killed her male. She called me a monster as I bathed in his blood, and that was before I fed his lifeless body to the gators.” Hurricane’s last words came out a deep rattle. The beast he had within him was clearly trying to break free from his human restraint.

Tank eyed Hurricane’s hulking form. “To answer your question, yeah, I was always bigger than most other shifters growing up. I can’t imagine being around humans and hiding who I was. Did he know you were a shifter?”

Hurricane tossed his head back, laughter that held no mirth scared a few of the wildlife from the nearby trees. “Ah, you see, he wasn’t human either. That was how he knew our maman was pregnant when she returned. She said he nearly cut us from her stomach the first night she was home.”

“I don’t read minds unless I’m asked, Hurricane. Why don’t you just spit out what you want to say.” Tank prepared himself for whatever revelations his half-brother was going to reveal.

Hurricane tipped his neck to the left and to the right, a loud popping sounded as he did. “He was a non-shifting wolf. That was probably worse than if he could’ve shifted.” Hurricane let out a sigh. “He had all the strength and the extra senses, but he couldn’t shift. Do you have any clue how much fucking rage that bastard had in him as he waited for me and Honor to grow up? The day I shifted, I was alone. That fucker was waiting near the bayou for me. Yeah, I can see the knowledge in your eyes.”

“You don’t know shit,” Tank snarled.

“Wait, I bet it was different for you. Was your maman a shifter?” Hurricane asked, venom dripping from each word. Hurricane bumped Tank’s chest with his, snarling low in his face.

“Don’t rattle my cage, brother.” Tank warned him.

“Or what? You going to shift all full-blood or something?”

It was there, in his brother’s amber eyes. Tank saw Hurricane’s torment reflected back at him. Hurricane’s step-father must’ve used the fact he was half-human against him.

“Our pack is made up of many beings, Hurricane. Yeah, I’m all shifter. My two best friends are as well. Our other best friend is mated to two demi-gods, but she couldn’t shift until recently. Her old man loved to beat her to a bloody pulp all the fucking time, which made her wolf retreat deep within her. Do you think we thought her weaker than us? He was the alpha until our old man challenged him and won.” Tank allowed his eyes to go wider than normal, almost mocking. “Jaklyn was tougher than all of us and still is.” He let out a tired sigh. “Listen, we got a lot of shit to work out, and the fact your mother was basically a kid when she met our father means she might’ve gotten things wrong.”

Hurricane’s growl was easily as deep as his father’s alpha roar. “Are you saying my maman lied?”

He stood straight, showing no fear. “I’m saying I know my father, our father. I know his honor. He would never have made love to your mother and then asked to share her with another unless she was his truemate and another males like what I have with my mate. There must’ve been a mistake, or something else was fucking with them back then because he would never have allowed his female, his truemate, to leave without chasing her down and doing all he could to win her back. If she was his, he’d have done everything within his power to claim her, even cut off this other male. You saw him with Lorna. She’s not my mother, yet she’s his truemate. My mother died giving birth to me. My father nearly died with her. The only reason he fought to live was because he had a son to raise. He wasn’t the alpha yet, so he didn’t need to stick around for the pack. Most males would’ve easily handed me off to another female to raise and gone off to be with his mate, but he chose to stay and fight to raise me until I was old enough to live on my own. And then he had to fight to hold this pack together. You don’t know the male who is our father. He’s not what you grew up thinking, or what your maman thought. He’s a male of worth, a true alpha male. I’m sorry you had a childhood that no male or female should, but if our father had known about the two of you, he’d have done anything to help the both of you, and your maman.”

“Growing up, we were told we were the bouki, my sister and me. To be called a hyena, which is basically a canine character in Creole folktales, typically the dimwitted victim of Lapin's trickery was tantamount to scum.” Hurricane let out a tired sigh and looked to the sky.

“Obviously he was jealous because the two of you could shift and he couldn’t.” Tank wasn’t going to offer platitudes. He was glad the fucker was dead.

“Once he was gone and we could leave the swamp and find a place within the local pack, they welcomed us, even our maman. I had already showed them I was a male of worth when I killed the real bouki. They hated the male and would’ve killed him years before had he not shown them his twin shifter children but our maman still wanted nothing to do with me or Honor.” Again the rattle was there in his words.

“Didn’t they know you weren’t his?” Tank and any shifter worth their fur could scent familial ties through blood ties when they meet another wolf. How they wouldn’t have known two small pups with him were not his made him question the pack.

“Oh they knew, but he’d convinced them he’d taken us in when our own father abandoned our maman when she was pregnant.” Hurricane stepped away, shaking his head. “I don’t want or need your pity looks. I contacted Brock a few years ago to see if he’d come see our maman. Her mind was fractured. Our healers thought that if she was reunited with her mate she would be healed. He said he’d come but that he was mated to his truemate. I was angry even though he agreed. He came but it made no difference. Our maman didn’t recognize him either. As for what you say about his truth and my maman’s truth... we’ll shelve that shit for later. I didn’t come here for a family reunion and since we’ll be sparring tomorrow, I’m sure it’ll be a revelation to all of us just how different we are.”

Tank let out a tired sigh. “I think that’s going to be an understatement. I’m fucking tired and I want to go hold my truemate. Not sure if you know about those, but if you’re lucky, then the Goddess will bless you with one. Or if you’re like me and my brothers in there, then you’re blessed to share the most perfect female ever created with one or two males who are your very best friends. Trust me, when you’re given a mate, even if that means you have to share her with another male, you’ll accept what the Fates give you. If that’s what happened with your maman and my father, they’d have stayed together. Trust and believe that I believe that to be the truth with every fiber of my being.” He hitched his thumb toward the home he shared with his family. “That female inside there? She’s worth absolutely anything and everything. Sharing her with Link and Abe isn’t a sacrifice, it’s Fate. I know those two males in there with her right now will always make sure she’s surrounded with love and protection. It don’t matter if I’m out running protection lines, or on a mission for the pack. They’re my ride or die brothers. They may not be my blood brothers, but the bond we have runs deeper than that. And before you open that gaping hole you call a mouth and say something you’ll regret, I’ll warn you to shut it. I am not now, nor have I ever had sexual feelings for a male, and neither have they. However, if we did or they did, I wouldn’t give two shits either way. What I do know is that the three most important beings in the world to me are just beyond that door, and instead of lying beside them, I’m out here having a...whatever this is with you. Do you have a grudge against me and my pack?” Tank asked. His very last fuck was given the moment Hurricane stepped into his space.

“You know I don’t know what I have. During our journey here, I thought of all the things I wanted to say to you, but I think I’ll shelve it all and see you on the training field tomorrow. And by the way, we’re here to help your pack with your Voodoo issue, so you might want to dial back your better than me attitude. Sleep tight, baby brother.” Hurricane spun, shifted to a huge black wolf, and disappeared.

Tank flipped the disappearing wolf the bird.

“That’s very mature, mate.” Nita’s arms slipped around him. She’d silently walked up to him while he and Hurricane were talking. Oh he’d also known she’d been listening in at the end, her presence one he would recognize no matter what he was doing.

“How long had you been there?” he asked.

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