The excuse of a coward. Fury wanted to be better. To be as brave as they were and to stand by and take it.
But he wasn't. His fear overrode his bravery and he stood back even though he knew he should act. He tried to ease his conscience by saying that they wouldn't have defended him either.
Maybe it was true.
Fang hated him, he knew that. Since the day Fury had joined their clan, they'd never gotten along. They were too much alike.
And that made this even harder. He saw himself in Fang's eyes. Saw the pain, the betrayal. The brutal hatred.
Most of all, he saw the injustice.
"This is ridiculous," Liam growled beside him. "We should do something."
"Like what?"
Liam looked away, his lip curled. "It won't go well for the rest of us once they're gone. Stefan will be in charge now. Undisputed."
"Then challenge Markus."
Liam snorted. "I'm not strong enough."
And neither was Fury. While he could take Markus on pure animal strength, he was no match for his father's magick. Because he'd been kicked out of his mother's clan shortly after puberty, no one had tutored him on how to control his powers. He could change forms and travel through time and space, but that was about it. And even those he couldn't always control well.
Fury flinched as Fang and Vane were finally cut down. Their bodies were ravaged by the barbed whips to such a degree it sickened him.
They fell to their knees, panting and bleeding. His stomach churned at the sight. To be trapped in human form while a wolf was torture in and of itself. To be wounded while holding that form . . .
He could only imagine how excruciating their pain was.
And still they stood united. Neither was tearing at the other-blaming him for what was happening to them.
That was what Fury envied. It was a pure, loving bond that he'd never experienced or understood.
Vane and Fang were brothers.
To the end.
His hand trembling, Vane reached for Fang, who lay unmoving. His features were contorted by anguish. "Fang?" The torment and fear in that one weak call brought tears to Fury's eyes.
Fang closed his hand around Vane's.
The relief on Vane's face was potent. And short-lived as Stefan and George hauled them to their feet, then retied their hands behind their backs.
There was no pity or remorse on Markus's face. "Take them out to the swamp and leave them for the gators."
Those brutal words told Fury that he'd been right when he decided to never let his father know he was his son. That lack of mercy. Lack of love . . .
Their mother had been right. Markus was an animal through and through. But then, she was every bit as brutal. Maternal instinct had passed her by so fast, it'd left a skid mark over her intolerant heart.
Fury started to leave until he heard a whisper on the wind. He turned to see Markus speaking into Stefan's ear.
"Hang them from a tree and then summon the Daimons to finish them off and tell them to take their time with it. I want them to suffer."
Stefan bowed his head in submission as anger tore through Fury.
And in that moment, Fury knew what he had to do. . . .
Fang leaned his head back as his entire body ached and throbbed while he hung from a tree branch by a thin wire that cut so deep into his wrists, it sent rivulets of blood down his forearms. The blood dripped from his elbows straight into the murky water below and though he shouldn't hear the sound of it, he swore that he did.