Chapter 4

Griffin's Pov

"I knew I would find you here."

I'm not somebody who is usually taken by surprise because I'm always aware of my surroundings, but today my brother took me by surprise.

"What are you doing here?" I expected him to be on his honeymoon or at least be spending the night with his bride, and I don't even know how he knows about this place in the first place.

" I've always known about this place, brother." He said, and I stood up.

For the first time, I felt fear. It wasn't fear of being caught because he already knew, but the fear of seeing disappointment in my brother's eyes. I wanted to lie or maybe apologize, but I'm not kind of a man. I've been betraying him for years, and the least I can do is own up to my mistakes.

"I'm sorry." I said as we stood face-to-face, and for the first time, I didn't have to live with the guilt and burden.

"What are you sorry for exactly? Are you sorry for making a fool out of me for years?" He asked, moving around the place in a taunting manner. "Are you sorry for having an affair with my fiancé and mate for years. Or maybe you're sorry for looking me in the eye every single day, knowing that you were sleeping with her. Are you sorry for making a fool of our Brotherhood, or looking me in the eye every single day while you were betraying me? Are you sorry for humiliating me, or are you sorry because you wanted my light so bad?"

He looked at me with a name motion that I would describe as more than disappointment.

"Then why?" I asked. We both know I will never be in front of him and beg for forgiveness, so now that we both have our cards on the table, I think I have the right to know, too.

"Why what." He growled out, and his wolf was ready to surface, but we both know I can take him on, so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't dare.

"Why would you marry her if you knew?" l have worshiped this man or my life. I don't know how many times I've put my life at risk for him, and he had he done this knowing that I was in love with Lila.

All along, I thought he was in love with her, and that's what made the betrayal sting, but looking at him now, he doesn't look like a man in love, rather a man who would do anything to keep a woman he knows doesn't love him.

We both stared at each other with the acknowledgment that we never really knew each other.

"Maybe I did it to punish you." He said, and if somebody had told me that my brother would ever say those words to me, then I wouldn't have believed them.

My older brother. My hero. Our parents didn't care about me, they still don't, and I have lived in my life with the comfort that my brother did.

I could understand my punishment, but Lila is innocent. he played a game with our lives.

"Who are you?" I asked, pulling him closer to me. He looks like my brother, and he speaks like him, but he is not my brother, and I know that I am the one who betrayed him, but this can't be my brother.

He pulled away from me and started laughing.

"I'm the future alpha of this pack, but you've taken everything from me. My mysterious brother, the one everyone wants to figure out, the strong one, the one who can defeat everybody in this pack. The one who fell in love with the girl of my dreams." He shouted.

"What?"

"I shared everything with you. When our parents starved you every time you made a mistake, I was the one who gave you food. When everybody around the pack shunned you, I stood up for you, but you always wanted more, didn't you?" He said, and I heard twigs and movement around us.

I looked around and saw wolves coming out in different directions surrounding us.

"You always did your best to outshine me in every fight in front of everybody. Always came up with the best ideas in front of everybody. The pack's hero, but that's done." He said, and I looked at him from a new perspective.

The first blow took me by surprise. A fist, hard slammed into my jaw, sending a pain through my teeth and blurring my vision. I stumbled back, growling, ready to retaliate until I realised that it came from my brother.

Betrayal ripped through me, and the pain hit harder than the one in my jaw. It froze me for a split second, a fatal hesitation, because that's how they managed to destroy me completely.

Two wolves lunged, tackling me to the ground. The air left my lungs in as the weight of their bodies landed on me. I clawed, kicked, trying to throw them off, but more were coming. A boot connected with my ribs, sending pain through my side, and I roared.

We were in pack territory but a bit further away from everybody, so my roars were met with silence.

Another wolf took my arm, twisting it behind my back with brutal force. I felt a pop, and a scream tore from my throat. The pain was unbearable.

They were relentless. A constant attack of fists, boots, and teeth. I managed to throw one off, slamming him into a tree, but three more took his place.

I tried to shift, but the pain was too intense. They were deliberately targeting my joints and ribs and spots that would cripple me.

We were supposed to be brothers, bound by blood and loyalty. We hunted together and protected each other. Now, he was destroying me.

"Remember this day, brother," I croaked out even though it was painful to even open my mouth.

"I will, I wouldn't dare forget the day I murdered my biggest enemy, and I hope you look at me before you take your last breath because I want to be the last thing you see."

The beating continued, each blow destroying my will to fight. My strength was gone, replaced by a bone-deep pain that spread through my whole body. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the pain, to the betrayal.

He was wrong, though.

He wasn't the last thing I saw because I saw a blonde girl with blue eyes. A beautiful smile that could light up the whole world.

Even as the darkness closed in, I heard Liam's voice, cold and hard, above the sounds of their ragged breathing. "Finish it."

The last thing I felt was a crushing blow to the back of my head, and then, nothing but black.