Chapter 1

"I was your mark?" Danny thundered, his face a picture of anger and betrayal. His eyes fixed on the boy he had made the mistake of falling in love with.

"Yup", Aiden quipped, almost triumphantly, casually leaning against the wall, "no point denying it, Ethan."

"Please, just hear me out Danny", Ethan pleaded, his heart breaking into a million pieces as he watched his boyfriend look at him with disgust. In spite of himself, Ethan felt tears roll down his cheek.

"You were my mark Danny, but you changed me! You made me a better person, more than I could ever hope to be! And I didn't lie for a second when I said I loved you. Please Danny, you have to believe me! I love you!" Ethan heard his voice tremble.

Danny was livid; his face red with anger, betrayal and anguish.

"I trusted you! I loved you! Hell, I even slept with you..." Danny broke down completely. He sank to his knees, doubled over, holding his head in his hands. Ethan rushed forward and attempted to put his arms around Danny, but Danny shoved him away with all the strength he could muster.

"Get away from me you werewolf! I hate you! You disgust me, you sick creature and I never want to see your face again!" Danny yelled between heartbroken sobs. Ethan looked as if someone had just gutted him with a machete. He just froze on the floor beside Danny. The pain was evident on his face. He could feel his heart constricting painfully in his chest.

Aiden felt a sudden pain, a physical pain shoot through his chest. He was feeling a small fraction of Ethan's pain because of their connection. For the first time since he made this mess, Aiden felt sorry for Ethan, but only slightly. He walked over to his twin and put a soothing hand on his back. When Ethan didn't respond to the touch, Aiden pulled him up on his feet.

"Danny, please..." a small, final whimper escaped Ethan's lips.

"It's over, Ethan." Aiden said in a soothing voice as he wrapped his arms around his twin and gently steered him away. Ethan's body trembled and he didn't even fight Aiden as they, or rather, as Aiden made him walk away. Danny was still hunched up on the floor and he didn't look up even once.

On the way to the pack's warehouse, Ethan remained in a stony silence. Aiden had driven them in a car because he knew his brother was in no condition to handle a bike. Aiden knew Ethan was hurting, bad, and he also knew that what he had done was for the best so he wasn't going to make any apologies. But that didn't mean he liked seeing his brother so... sad and, well, heartbroken.

Deucalion strode over to them the moment they entered. Before either of them could realise what was happening, Deucalion's powerful punch had sent Ethan flying across the room.

"Traitor!" he yelled. "You completely ruined my plan... My Plan! How dare you!" He was standing over the struggling Ethan in a second. He rained down a couple of blows, drawing blood from Ethan's face. "What did you think, I'd never find out?"

Ethan spit out blood from his mouth and breathing heavily looked up towards Aiden for some support. But Aiden just stood there nonchalantly as if to say, "don't say I didn't warn you bro."

Deucalion roughly grabbed Ethan by his hair and made him stand up. "Now, you'll pay," he said menacingly, "you will have to prove your allegiance to the pack and to me or you'll pay for it dearly."

Ethan quietly looked at Deucalion, "I'm already paying for it", he said sadly.

Deucalion barked out a small laugh, "My boy, it hasn't even begun yet. Bring him!"

Two werewolves from their pack entered, holding between them a struggling captive. When Ethan saw the boy, his blood froze.

"Danny!" he cried out, trying to go towards him but Deucalion firmly held him by his throat, effectively choking him. Ethan struggled furiously at the sight of the other boy, forgetting his own increasing lack of oxygen and pain. He only stopped struggling when his vision began to blur and the pack leader roughly threw him back on the ground. He took a few deep breaths and his eyes landed on Aiden. By the looks of it, even Aiden didn't know Deucalion's plan. Ethan's heart sank. He heard the two werewolves toss Danny down on the ground next to him like he was some rag doll and leave. But they didn't go far, they just went and stopped behind a glass wall and settled in as if watching a movie. Deucalion ordered Aiden to do the same and after some consideration, Aiden followed them.

Ethan turned his attention to Danny. He could see the right side of Danny's face swelling up, like he had taken a bad hit to his cheek bones. There were claw marks on his arms and one of them was slowly trickling blood. But they were slight flesh wounds which would heal in a day or two. Ethan sincerely hoped that whatever Deucalion had in store for them, he would be the one to bear the brunt of it and not Danny. He had already hurt Danny enough and couldn't bear to watch him suffer more. When Danny finally turned to look at him, Ethan noted the pure terror in his eyes. Instinctively he put his hand on Danny's shoulder trying to reassure him but Danny jerked it away.

"Trouble in paradise?" Deucalion's voice reached them. Ethan felt Danny tense beside him, his heartbeat going through the roof. Ethan himself found his body tensing protectively as he slowly got up on his feet. "What do you want Deucalion?"

"I want to give you a fitting punishment."

"But Danny and I broke up. He hates me. Isn't that punishment enough for me?"

"Not even near. I need to see that you will follow my orders, always. I want you to kill your mark, Ethan. I want you to kill Danny, right here, in front of me."

TBC