"With my backing he is."
And with Vane's backing, Fang couldn't challenge him for leadership. Well, he could, but it would break their bond and weaken them before the others, leaving them open to attack. Which was exactly what the other wolfswains would do. Perfect. He'd been completely cut out of his birthright.
Markus would be thrilled.
Vane moved forward cautiously as he watched Fang's solemn contemplation. This wasn't the reunion he'd expected when Fang finally came out of his coma. He'd dreamed of this moment over and over again. Fang waking up, happy to be alive. His brother embracing him. . . .
But something was different now. There was an air around Fang far deadlier than anything Vane had sensed from him before.
His brother was angry and there was a bitterness to him that he didn't understand. Why would he feel like that given what he'd put Vane and Fury through? "You've been out of it for months."
"Believe me, I know." His eyes flashed with brutal malice.
Frustrated, Vane sighed. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing, Vane, I just want you to be happy."
His mouth might have said that, but his tone didn't. Vane tried again to ease the tension between them. "I am that. Finally. Bride's better than I ever deserved. And we both have a room for you at our house."
Fang grimaced at his offer. "I don't know. You two are newly mated. The last thing you need is your mentally defective brother spooking the shit out of your woman."
That was a vintage Fang comment. One of the sarcastic retorts that Vane had been craving to hear all of these months past. "Bride doesn't spook easily."
"Probably true if she sees you first thing in the morning."
Vane smiled at his humor. His chest was tight as he realized just how much he really had missed his brother while Fang had been out of it. There was no one else in the world like him. "We want you with us."
Fang shot out of the bed as if he were about to attack. "I'm not your son, Vane," he snarled with an unexpected rage. "I'm not a child. I'm a grown wolf and I really don't think I belong with you guys."
He nodded, but refused to back down. He knew better than to let Fang sense his emotions. It would only make the wolf in him more volatile.
So he tried to change the subject to something safer. "There's something else you need to know about Fury."
Fang scoffed. "He's my brother. Aimee already told me."
That surprised the hell out of him. Just how close was his brother to the bearswan?
That couldn't be good.
"Do you want to see him?" Vane asked.
"Not really. In case you've forgotten, the two of us aren't exactly friendly."
"Yeah, I know. But he's been a big help protecting Bride."
"I'm glad you had him." The tone of his voice belied those words.
Vane scowled at his attitude, which was beginning to chafe his ass raw. He'd been keeping a leash on his temper, but it was starting to slip under the constant assault he didn't deserve.
He was trying, but Fang wasn't making any effort at all.
Instead Fang kept attacking and the wolf part of Vane was getting really sick of it. "Why are you so angry at me?"
Fang simmered inside. His fury was volcanic and he wanted to lash out at Vane in the worst way.
You let me down, you asshole!
But that wasn't the only bane that burned inside him. It was the fact that while Vane had let him down, he'd cursed him for being trapped. That his brother had said things to him that were wrong and hurtful.