Bray reacted first, much to Lucan’s surprise. He took a few steps toward him, and for one fleeting second, Lucan was scared he’d explode in anger, but then his brother sank to his knees at his feet, bowing his head. He kneeled. Bray was kneeling for him.
“Bray, what…?”
“You were right.”
Bray’s voice was so soft Lucan had to strain his ears to hear it.
“Even with how I’ve changed my thinking, deep down, I still took status into consideration. Kean was worth listening to because he was my mate and because he was Palani’s brother. Felix and Duer both have specific expertise that made me listen to them when it concerned their territory. Lars was easy to ignore because he’s such a brat, and Enar… I know he’s a beta, and I’ve always prided myself on treating him as such, but it’s impossible to deny that my instinct is still to see him as an alpha. But you, you’re…”
“I’m your little brother, someone you’ve always looked down on,” Lucan finished his sentence.
Bray raised his head and met his eyes, and Lucan gasped. His big alpha brother was crying. “Yes, I did. And I’m so, so ashamed of it. I did feel I was better and worth more than you because I’m an alpha. I never realized it until now, until you gave me no other choice but to look deep inside and acknowledge it.”
Lucan drew in a slow breath. “Thank you for admitting it.”
“I’m sorry. I know they’re empty words, but I’m so sorry. I was so in the wrong.”
And with that, Bray bent his head again and bowed low, prostrating himself before Lucan like no one ever had. It was surreal to see his big alpha brother like that, so humble and small. “Thank you. This means a lot to me. I love you, Bray. Even when you were an arrogant, overprotective asshole, I still loved you. I just hope that this changes things, that you’ll try to do better.”
When Bray looked up again, Lucan gestured at him to stand up, which in itself was all kinds of weird. Him telling his brother what to do? That had never happened before.
“I promise, Lucan. I promise with all my heart that I will do better. Call me out on it when I treat you dismissively or with condescension. Please, help me to change in that area as well.”
He’d never, ever thought he’d hear his brother utter the words “please, help me” to him, and maybe that proved to him more than anything else that Bray meant it. “I will.”
He opened his arms, and Bray stepped in, then hugged him tightly. “Also, you’re not a nobody. I suck at complimenting people and telling them they’re doing a great job, but you are. The clinic wouldn’t function as well as it does without you.”
Lucan smiled as he let him go. “Stop it, Bray, before I have Maz examine you to check what alien creature has taken over your body.”
14
God, he hated fights and disagreements. From the moment Maz had set foot into the room, his stomach had roiled. Sando’s presence had helped a little, but after what Lucan had just sad, Maz’s discomfort over the argument itself was forgotten, replaced by a different kind of pain. One that wasn’t about him…but about the man he loved.
His heart ached, and even holding Sando couldn’t comfort that pain. Watching Lucan express his hurt was akin to torture, even more because every single one of his words was an indictment against Maz as well as against Bray and Palani. He’d always thought he wasn’t influenced by status, that he treated everyone the same regardless of whether they were an alpha, a beta, or an omega. Or something in between, like Lev.
But Lucan’s words had hit him hard. No, Maz might not be as much as an alpha asshole as a lot of alphas were, especially doctors. But to think he was immune to it, that he hadn’t been influenced by how society saw betas and omegas, how they were always considered as less in blatant and subtle ways, was arrogance. He needed to stop thinking he was treating everyone the same because he wasn’t. And clinging to the illusion that he had shed that way of thinking was alpha privilege in and of itself.
“As much as I’d like to claim that you’re wrong, that I would’ve reacted the same had Maz come to me, I’d be lying,” Palani said, his voice thick with emotions. “I