(Thanks for the reviews people, fact is I didn't really rate the last chapters very highly myself but if you liked them, great and if you have any comments on how my writing can be improved, even better.)

Fury opened the door to Bride's store and walked inside as if he were dancing on air, in spite of himself he could not keep the stupid grin from spreading over his face at unexpected moments. Bride glanced over her shoulder and when she saw Fury turned fully to glare at him with her hands on her hips, Fury inwardly flinched under her steely gaze, he held up the single yellow rose as a peace offering and gave her a charming smile.

He had picked up the rose for a small gift for Charisma, the yellow reminding him of her hair; but he didn't think his mate would fuss too much over him giving it away if it saved his skin.

"Hi Bride," he said as if he was not melting under her evil stare.

"Hello Fury," she replied coolly and Fury who had been pretending to lean against the counter and read one of her magazines dropped his head in his arms and groaned.

"I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry," he raised his head and straightened when she didn't look appeased by his apology. "Oh, come on, Bride, its not as if you noticed I was gone .."

He trailed off again and took a step back for running room when the scent of her anger tripled, he held his hands up, palms out in a placating gesture.

"Of course we missed you!" Bride cried and he visibly winced at the hurt in her voice, if Vane heard it he would rip his throat out. "Fury, how can you say that? You've been gone three days without any word telling us where you are!"

Three glorious days, Fury thought wistfully. He and Charisma had spent a whole three days in the forest he had flashed them to, making love, eating, making love, talking, swimming, making love …

They had only returned when both he and Charisma realised they hadn't seen either of their families for that long, and only because they were liable to organise a search party did they agree to go back to New Orleans. Fury had been amazed by her, she had no problem with him being a wolf, the night when they had lain down in the grass to sleep Charisma had snuggled to his side and he hated the fact that in his sleep he was no longer a man. When he had woken the next morning Charisma lay beside him as she had all night in her wolf form, it touched him as nothing else could. They talked of many things during those days. He had told her of things he hadn't told anyone, of his life with his mother, of being almost killed and disowned by them when he had turned Katagaria. At that point her eyes had filled with tears and she had sat in his lap holding him, her tears squeezing his heart; he told her of life before Vane in the pack and after as the alpha. In fact the only thing he did more then talk was make love. Yeah, those three days had definitely been worth the roasting he was going to get now.

"Bride, I know I should have got in touch but things happened," Fury said, scratching the back of his neck, the way he always did when uncomfortable or when he was trying to lie to her. She was the only one he couldn't do it to and that pleased her greatly.

"What things!" Bride demanded and Fury looked helplessly at Vane and Fang that appeared at the doorway leading to her back room, they both had evil grins on their faces. "Don't look at your brothers, Fury, they won't help you now!"

"Bride, come on -"

"No, whether you like it or not Fury your family! My God, don't you think I see how you act, I pull you close and you pull away. You're my family, Fury! And Vane and Fang's family. Why do you keep pulling away from us?"

Fury had never gotten into this discussion before and tried to laugh it off, "Bride, I don't know what your thinking -"

He looked over at Vane and Fang appealing for help and noticed their faces were now solemn and serious. Again his hand went to the back of his neck and he blew out an irritated breath, "Bride this has nothing to do with why I haven't been round for a couple of days!"

"Three! Fury!" Bride cried, "you haven't been around for three days! And why? Well, you sure as hell won't tell us, that we know!"

"A wolf is entitled to a little privacy," he muttered and stepped back when she took a brisk step forward, "now, Bride, be reasonable."

"Fury, when are you going to stop this self-isolation thing you've got going?" Her voice went from furious to sad and searching, it made him feel like a slug for worrying her but even worse then that, it dragged up issues he wanted dead and buried. He had never given Bride enough credit for her observant nature, he would have to be more guarded around her.

"When are you going to drop the defences you've got up? Have I not earned your trust by now?"

Fury felt his throat tighten, he loved Bride dearly, if anything she was the only one he even barely trusted. "Of course I trust you, Bride."

"What about Vane?"

"What about him?" Fury gave Vane another pleading look but his brothers were far too interested in what Bride was dragging up, he felt cornered, and that pissed him off. He growled and began to pace, Vane noticing the unpredictable animal rage building in him stepped forward to pull Bride back, but she pushed his hands away.

"Whenever your all together, you, Vane and Fang, its like you take one step back. As if you feel like you have no right to be there, taking your place as their brother. As if you don't trust us at your side. Your not an intruder, Fury, or an observer. Your one of us."

He stopped his pacing and looked at her, his sister in-law sure knew how to made him feel like an asshole, she stood there with tears streaming down her face and it made him want to run with his tail between his legs, but he had never been a coward, so he simply sighed.

"She does have a point, you know?" Fang said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, Fury gave him a practiced droll look.

"well she does!" Fang cried defensively. "I mean the first time you ever called me 'little brother', and by the way I want you to know I despise the 'little' part, was when me, you and Vane rescued Wren that time remember? And how long had we known that we were brothers up until that point?" Not waiting for an answer he carried on, "almost a whole year. That's how long."

Fang looked at Vane who nodded and Fury rolled his eyes, "that's because it's the only time you deserved to be openly acknowledged as my brother, Scooby!"

Fang grinned and shrugged while Vane stepped forward, his expression very serious, "And when Bride and I first met and I found out we were brothers, you were gonna disappear without a trace. Just introduce yourself and go."

"You know I had my reasons!"

"Yeah, you were too stubborn and insensitive to think about if we wanted you to stay," Fang chirped in leaning casually against the door frame.

"And when people ask if we're related, its always me that has to say that we're brothers. You never say it" Vane continued his tirade, "why is that, Fury?"

Fury scratched the back of his neck and winced, it was quite raw by now, he couldn't help but throw a scowl at Bride, but Vane was still looking at him expectantly.

"What?" Fury cried, "I thought that was a rhetorical question!"

Fang barked out a laugh and Fury sighed. "Does this really matter anymore?"

"If its what's always stopping you fully being a part of us, Fury, then yes it matters a hell of a lot," Bride said softly, she moved to stand before him and Fury had a sudden quite sobering jolt, it was one thing to see your brother married but a whole other thing to realise why. Fury groaned and looked at Vane helplessly.

"Do you ever win an argument with her?"

"Never," Bride answered for him, "he adores me and does everything I say."

She giggled as Vane pulled her back to his front and bent down to nuzzle her neck, Fury sneered on principle, "what a mutt!"

Fang laughed and came forward to lean against the counter as Fury sat on it, now that rather uncomfortable moment was over he had to think of a way to telling his brothers he was mated. The only reason they didn't know was because Fury was a master of hiding his scent, he had never perfected the magic of their race but one thing he could do above all else was cover his scent. He'd had to do it from stopping anyone realising he had come from Arcadians first of all then second of all to stop anyone realising he was related to Fang, Vane and their father, who loathed the two wolves ever since their birth.

"So, where have you been these last few days?" Fang asked wagging his eyebrows, Fury raised his own.

"Is that supposed to mean something or do you have a twitch? Little brother," he added tauntingly just to hear Fang growl. "Ahh, hear him, Vane? He yelped!"

Fang smacked Fury on the back of the head, "come on just tell us, or we'll sic Bride on you."

Fury cast his sister-in-law a boyish grin. "Sorry you worried about me little sister," he said before taking a deep breath. "I met a woman."

Fang howled his approval while Vane and Bride laughed. "So she was good enough to ditch us for, I presume," Fang wagged his eyebrows again, this time Fury bopped Fang on the back of the head only half jokingly.

"Well, anyway, this happened." Fury held up his palm and showed them his mating mark, Fang choked beside him and Vane and Bride's mouths dropped open.

Fang grabbed his hand, while Vane muttered "holy shit!" before walking over to inspect it.

"Is she Katagaria?"

"Is she Arcadian?"

Fury grimaced, "She complicated."

"Complicated?" Vane repeated, both he and Fang exchanged cautious looks and Fury shrugged.

"She's, well, she's a goddess."

"A goddess?" Vane found himself parroting Fury again and gave himself a mental shake. Fury told them everything, from the time he first met her by the lake when they were both pups, to them coming in the shop and the strange reaction when they clasped hands to the night he dragged her off stage.

Once he had finished his story he was hoarse, his brothers was speechless and Bride was watching him with a stupid weepy expression on her face, and both hands pressed to her heart.

"Oh, man!" Fury muttered and she scowled at him.

"Daaamn," Fang muttered while Vane was obviously grappling for something to say, Fury just shrugged, as far as he was concerned he was one lucky son of a bitch and his mate, no offence Bride, was perfect.

"You've not completed the ritual yet?" Vane asked curiously and Fury hesitated and then shook his head, both his brothers again exchanged looks.

"Why?"

Fury was at a loss for something to say, where was his iron clad reason for not mating with her? She knew what he was, he knew what she was and it was obvious that they were hitting it off with one another …. Fury just shrugged.

"Guess I was just giving us a little extra breathing room before we permanently become attached to each other."

Vane and Fang nodded understanding, though they didn't understand, not really; not when he didn't really understand himself. Bride raised an unimpressed eyebrow which he chose to safely ignore.

"So how you going to explain to her?" Fang asked, his voice muffled from his fingers tugging his bottom lip, it was a habit he had developed from their nephew, Quinn.

"Explain what?"

"About Mum?" Fury racked his brains and came up with nothing.

"Well, I've told her about our parents if that's what your getting at."

"No, Fury," Vane interrupted cautiously before Fang could say another word. "What he's saying is have you told her that there's a danger of Dare coming after her, you know finishing off what mum started?"

Fury went cold, oh shit! He had completely forgotten about their Arcadian brother Dare. The Kattalakis brothers had found out on Vane's mating to Bride that their mother, Bryony, had made a pact with a demon to carry her forward in time from medieval England to wherever each of her Katagaria sons were and kidnap their mate. In her mind she was saving Bride from Katagaria scum that would force his will upon her, she never took into account that Bride had actually wanted to mate with Vane.

The pact had ended when Bride, funnily enough, had fought his mother and locked her in a cage and then Vane, God bless him had delivered the ultimate punishment by putting her and his father on an island together. The thought still made Fury chuckle. Bryony could no longer leap frog in time with the aid of the demon as the pact had been fulfilled, each one of Bryony's Katagaria son's had met their mates, they just didn't know it, according to Ash.

So there mother as out of their hair, but that didn't mean their psychotic litter mate Dare couldn't execute her final plans. And knowing the young Arcadian wolf's hatred of his Katagaria brothers he was likely to do so.

"Hey!" Vane shook Fury's shoulder, "don't freak out just yet. Like you said, she's a goddess, she can handle herself right?"

Fury nodded, but he was already off the counter and pacing, his mind to full of the sudden obstacle in his blindingly clear path. He knew it was just too easy for him, now it occurred to him why he hadn't yet completely mated with her, he was waiting for some really foul shit to hit the fan and it had in the form of his brother. Now the cosy image of his future with Charisma was smeared and the tension that had left him those last three days were seeping back into his shoulders.