Theron stiffened at the common barb thrown his and Thames’s way.
No. No, no. Why? His brawling bear was useless, curling into fetal position inside.
“I don’t want him, and never will. I only stepped between you because I didn’t want his death marring this celebration.” She turned to the other two males. “We three have waited our entire lives for this day. To ruin it with useless blood spilling… well, it just seemed a waste, dear Mother Bear. I do hope you understand.”
The murmurs of agreement rose from the crowd, and Theron’s chest caved with his heavy breaths. He was going to cry. Damn it, he was going to cry because it hurt so bad. He never cried. Not since mama and pop. But even with the tears brimming, he couldn’t take his hopeful eyes off Ava.
Please be a joke. Please be a nightmare. Please say I’ll wake up.
But he didn’t.
“I do not like it, female…” Mother Bear mused, tapping her chin with one gnarled finger. “But I do understand. I simply hate it when an Ursa Inferior can’t behave and ruins it for all others.”
Ava never looked back at Theron. She kept her gaze on the Mother until he thought his eyes would bleed from their begging. But it was done. She didn’t want him. Not even to try. Not even to see if he could do right by her.
Thames cleared his throat. “But she chose him. Ava chose Theo. It’s the law, she is his to prove. He should get a chance. It… Mother Bear, it’s the law.”
She turned her fiery gaze on him. “I am the law. And I’ve had enough of both of you. You’re here for a reading, I’ll give you a reading. Thames, the eldest of the Ursa Gemini, your mate will be filled with wicked evil, and have no love in her heart for you.”
Theron heard the words. Understood their meaning. Thames would never successfully complete the mating ritual. And since Theron was the youngest, he couldn’t mate until Thames did.
“And you, Theron. The despicable second twin. Your mate will regret the day she chose you. Regret ever putting herself in harm’s way for you. Regret meeting you at all. She will be a bouquet of regrets, always stinking up your nose, until she is free of you for good.”
Theron let each word hit him squarely in the chest, but none of it hurt as much as Ava’s betrayal. Ava’s derision. Ava’s hate.
“Now, leave this ceremony and let us make this the joyous celebration it should be,” she commanded. “We’ll finish your punishment later.”
Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off Ava. Ava who wouldn’t look at him.
Not mine.
Thames’s hand landed on his arm. “Come on, brother. We need to go.”
Theron let his brother pull him out of the gathering grounds and back to the fringes of the community.
“Don’t worry, Theo,” he said quietly. Calmly. Much too easily. “I don’t believe a word Mother Bear said. Your mate won’t regret anything. She… I bet she’ll be something wonderful. I bet she’ll love music. You should prepare by learning to play something. Guitar maybe. Or piano. And sing a lot. She’ll like that I bet, whoever she is.”
Theron said nothing as they ambled back to the dumpster.
When they arrived, Thames began rifling through their meager things. He came out with a ratty back pack and another stained up tote. They smelled like vomit and wet earth. Passing one to Theron, he said, “Pack what you think will be useful. And put something on, okay?”
Theron didn’t ask why. He didn’t care. He just dragged something over his body to cover up, threw shit in the bag like his brother said, and then followed him into the woods.
Hours later, when they crossed over the clan boundaries, he stopped walking.
“Thames.”
“Yeah.”
“What are we doing?”
His brother doubled back, stopping directly in front of him. “We’re leaving, Theo. Going far away to a place where no one knows us. Where no one calls us inferior.”
Theron stared, feeling dead inside, but his mouth said the words that were logical. “This is our clan. These are our people.”
Thames shook his head. “We don’t have people. We have me, and we have you. It’s how it’s always been. How it will always be.”
He settled his big hand on Theron’s aching shoulder, and somehow that single motion released the floodgates he’d put up to keep himself from crying. Big sloppy tears fell from his eyes as all the pain came to a bursting head.
Leaving this place wasn’t death, but it was the relief he’d been desperate for.
No more Mother Bear. No more Ava. No more ridicule and embarrassment. They would be free. Utterly alone, but free.