Underwhelming

Kerensa's POV

I pushed open the door and found them both there, lounging on their respective beds.

Hunter was propped up on his elbows, shirtless, his chest a smooth stretch of sculpted muscle. Xavier leaned against his headboard with a book in his hands, also bare-chested, his pale skin warmed by the soft lamplight.

The room smelled like clean sweat, cedar, and something distinctly male.

I immediately regretted walking in.

There was a tension in the air that made my skin feel too tight. I ignored it and headed for my bed, keeping my head down and my footsteps quiet.

As if they were going to let me get away with that.

"Look who's finally back," Hunter drawled. His voice was lazy, mocking. "Playing hard to get, Rhys? We've barely seen you."

I kept walking.

My hand reached for the privacy curtain I'd rigged around my bed.

"Hey. I'm talking to you."

Something changed in his voice.

The teasing faded, replaced by an edge I didn't recognize. I heard the sheets rustle behind me and knew he'd gotten up.

"Where have you been hiding? We have some questions for you."

I stopped with my hand wrapped around the curtain.

A trace of cedar drifted toward me from across the room, and my pulse gave an annoying little kick.

"Training," I said. "Same as you."

"Training, right."

Hunter scoffed.

I heard his footsteps before he came around me, blocking my path.

He was close. Too close.

Heat rolled off his bare skin, and that cedar scent surrounded me again, warm and annoyingly familiar. His expression was still hard, but beneath the irritation, I caught something else.

Dread.

It disappeared so quickly I almost wondered if I'd imagined it.

"We're not talking about training," he said. "We're talking about before. About why you're here."

His eyes locked onto mine.

"We want to know where she is."

The urgency in his voice caught me off guard.

This wasn't the same boy who'd taunted me in the hallway. Whatever was driving him now went deeper than cruelty.

I finally looked at him and forced my face into a mask of cold disdain.

My mind, unfortunately, wasn't cooperating.

Julian's words came rushing back.

Hunter and Xavier's mother. The Beta's wife. She was the one who'd whispered the lies that had sealed my father's fate. She'd wanted our land. Our standing in the pack. And she'd taken advantage of my father's grief over Ashton's death, twisting it until everyone saw him as a murderer instead of a broken man.

Their father had simply carried out the arrest.

I'd never said any of it aloud.

I'd never had the chance.

But the accusation burned inside me now, hot and ready.

"Who?"

Hunter's jaw tightened.

"Don't play dumb with me."

His eyes flashed.

"Kerensa. Your sister. Where is she?"

His voice cracked around the next words.

"I need to know she's all right. I've needed to know for seven years."

For a second, I couldn't breathe.

Then I laughed.

It came out short and humorless, because apparently that was easier than letting him see what his words had done.

"You're asking me about my sister?" I said. "After all this time?"

I shook my head.

"Why? So you can pick on her again? Find new ways to make her life miserable?"

I stepped closer, refusing to let him see the way my chest had tightened.

"Grow up, Hunter. It's been seven years."

His face flushed.

He stepped closer, his voice dropping into a growl.

"That's not why I'm asking."

"Sure."

"We just want to talk to her." His jaw clenched. "There are things I should've said a long time ago."

"Right." I sneered. "I'm sure there are."

I folded my arms.

"The big, bad twins suddenly grew a conscience. I don't believe you for a second."

Xavier finally spoke.

"He's telling the truth, Rhys."

His voice was calm, almost painfully reasonable.

"We just want to apologize."

I turned my sneer on him.

"An apology?"

The word tasted bitter.

"After what your mother did? After she framed my father and ruined my family? You think 'I'm sorry' fixes that?"

I shook my head.

"You're even more arrogant than I remember."

Confusion crossed Xavier's face.

Real confusion.

"My mother?" he asked. "What are you talking about?"

Hunter looked between us.

His frustration was starting to boil over, but there was genuine bewilderment beneath it.

"What is she even talking about?"

He glanced at Xavier.

"Do you—"

He stopped himself and looked back at me.

"That's not why I'm asking. Why won't you just tell us? Why are you being like this?"

His eyes narrowed.

"You're not the same person. The Rhys I knew would have—"

"The Rhys you knew grew up."

I cut him off before he could finish.

My voice came out sharper than I intended.

"You made sure of that. You and your family. Same as the rogues."

I stepped toward him.

"Now get out of my way."

I tried to shove past him.

I didn't make it two steps.

His hand closed around my arm.

Hard.

His fingers locked around me like a vice, and his scent hit me all over again.

Cedar.

Warm skin.

My heart lurched.

Traitor.

"Not until you tell us what happened to her."

I yanked against his grip.

"Let go of me!"

"No."

His face was inches from mine now.

His eyes burned with frantic intensity.

"Not until you tell us where she is."

"Get your hands off me."

Heat crawled up my neck despite the anger pounding through me.

"Or what?" he challenged.

His grip tightened.

"What are you going to do about it?"

I stopped struggling.

My body went completely still.

I stared straight into his eyes.

Then I lowered my voice.

"You really want to know what happened to her?"

Hunter didn't answer.

"I'll tell you."

I swallowed.

"Something in her broke the night your father's men dragged our father away in chains."

His expression shifted.

"She's gone because rogues tore her apart seven years ago."

I held his stare.

"Dead."

The word hung between us.

"So there. You have your answer."

I jerked my arm again.

"Now let me go."

For a moment, Hunter just stared at me.

The shock on his face was almost comical.

His grip loosened.

That was all I needed.

I ripped my arm free and stumbled backward, rubbing the sore spot where his fingers had dug into my skin. My chest rose and fell too quickly, adrenaline still racing through me.

I looked at Hunter.

Then Xavier.

Xavier had sat upright, his book forgotten in his lap.

He looked stricken.

And, God help me, the sight gave me a vicious little burst of satisfaction.

Good.

Let them hurt.

I'd been hurting for seven years.

I let my eyes drift over Hunter's bare chest.

"If you're going to stand there half naked, at least try to make it impressive."

His eyes narrowed.

I smiled without an ounce of warmth.

"You think you're so impressive, walking around here like you own the place. Let me give you a little advice."

My gaze dropped deliberately.

"It's not doing you any favors."

His expression hardened.

"In fact..." I let my eyes linger for another second before meeting his again. "It's a little underwhelming to be putting on such a show."

I shrugged.

"You might want to keep that covered up. No one wants to see it."

Hunter's face twisted with rage.

"You little..."

He took a step toward me.

"I'll show you underwhelming."

He moved so fast I barely had time to register it.

One second he was across the room.

The next, his fingers had hooked into the hem of my shirt.

He yanked.

I twisted away on instinct, throwing my hands up to shove him back, but he was a solid wall of muscle.

The fabric pulled higher.

Too high.

A strip of skin appeared at my ribs.

My blood ran cold.

The binding.

My heart stopped.