Chapter Four: Too Close To Hide

Slightly shorter chapter this week, but what I wanted to say only needed so many words.

The pack watched attentively as Beta Tristan Wynn shredded mannequins. One particularly brutal uppercut completely took a head off. Tristan paused for a split second to grin at the damage, before turning to face the next dummy. The sharpened nails that were now almost fashionable amongst the pack did their work well, tearing a huge gash through the torso.

The mannequins were not particularly realistic, but they did ooze a red liquid that made Ze'ev uncomfortable despite how little it smelled like actual blood.

Beta Wynn completed the mannequin massacre and turned to face Master Jael, his fist on his chest.

Jael nodded once. "An improvement. You may rejoin the pack. Beta Kesley?"

As one, both Ze'ev and Ran stepped forwards.

Ran glowered at his brother. Ze'ev set his jaw and ignored him.

"Ah," Jael said with a slight smile. "Of course. Beta Ze'ev Kesley, you may rejoin formation. Beta Ran Kesley, you may begin."

Both brothers saluted. Ran moved to the start of the next set of mannequins, whilst Ze'ev took a step backwards.

"You know," Beta Vanya Volkov said, too quietly for Master Jael to hear him, "I think one of them is going to need to get either promoted or demoted."

"I bet I know which one," Beta José Lobo said, equally quietly.

"And which direction," Beta Aziz Sherazi added.

Ze'ev fidgeted, but kept quiet.

It had been about a month since Ran had joined the pack. In that time, he'd had gotten into over a dozen fights and lost every one.

That in itself was a bad sign. But what was worse was that Ran more than just lost – he had yet to land a single blow, even against Beta Sherazi.

Only two people in the pack had yet to beat him: Omega Emil Katona and Ze'ev himself. And the entire pack knew that while Emil was a coward, he was still a lupine special operative and a challenge was inevitable.

There was no doubt as to who was going to end up as omega.

Ze'ev wanted to take his little brother to the side, show him a few tricks to improve his game. He'd tried after Beta José Lobo beat Ran into the dust, mentioning quietly that he'd have better luck if he fixed his stance a little. Ran had just snarled, stalking off without a word. Ze'ev hadn't tried again.

If Ran wanted to forget they were brothers, there wasn't much Ze'ev could do. It didn't stop him from cringing as he watched Ran fumble his way through the mannequins.

"Was I that bad when I first started?" Ze'ev murmured to Gibbous Troya, who was standing next to him.

"No. You were a little better than average," Gibbous said. "Your little brother is about half that."

"Right." Ze'ev watched.

Ran tried to mimic Beta Wynn's decapitation punch. The first blow was badly aimed, scraping the jaw in a way that would barely leave a bruise on a real human. The next shot hit the head with decent force, a blow that might be fatal with a little luck. Stubbornly, Ran hit the same mannequin again, grabbing at the throat and trying to tug it off.

After a moment, he gave up, hissing with anger. Ran turned around and lunged for another fake human. He chose his teeth for that attack, ripping out the throat and finally managing a killing shot first go.

The fake blood stained down his shirt. Ran didn't falter, moving onto the next.

Finally, he finished. He ran eagerly to Master Jael, hand on his chest, and smiled through the red liquid coating his mouth.

Jael arched one eyebrow. "Pitiful," he said.

Ran's expression fell.

"I expect significantly better results at this stage of training. You may return."

Dejectedly, Ran walked back to the pack formation.

"Alpha Brock, you may begin. I would hope that your attempt will be better."

"Of course, Master Jael," Alpha Crater Brock said. He gave a derisive look at Ran, before stepping up to the course.

Master Jael walked off with the other thaumaturges sometime before lunch, presumably to get their own meal. After the bell chimed and the rest of the operatives raced to the dining hall, Ze'ev held back. He knew that Ran wasn't quite able to keep up with the stampede yet, and the newest pack member would wait a few moments to head in.

Ran scowled when he saw Ze'ev still there after the arena emptied. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to ask you what's going on at home."

"RM-9, you mean?" Ran tilted his head slightly, but at least he didn't growl. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because," Ze'ev faltered. "Because I need to know. What happened to mum and dad? Are they okay? How did they take the conscription?"

Ran tapped his fingers along his arm. "You're not supposed to still care. There's a reason all ties are cut."

No-one in the pack talked about their families much. Ze'ev only knew a couple of details: Alpha Brock had once mentioned that he had a brother; Gibbous Troya had spoken about how he used to ask his older sister to braid his hair; Vanya Volkov said that he had a stepmother; Eclipse Garson had explained that his parents had taught him to pray every night.

Despite their silence, Ze'ev knew that almost all his pack mates missed their family. He wasn't sure how many would go home if given the chance, since words about life before the army were always chosen carefully, but he was confident that everyone would love to be able to contact their families.

"I know. Ran. Brother. Please."

Ran sighed. "Okay. Fine. After you were conscripted, our parents went into mourning."

"Mourning?"

"Yes. They wore black sashes for a month and even carved your name into a rock to make a plaque," Ran said. "I guess it was easier to pretend you were dead, although I'm still not sure whether they hoped otherwise."

Ze'ev remembered the holographic image of the lunar soldier with completed modifications, and thought of the blank, animalistic eyes. He wasn't sure what rumours of the Queen's Army reached RM-9, but he'd rather they thought he was dead than one of those monsters. If Jael's pack didn't pass training, Ze'ev might as well be dead.

"Are they – were they getting better?"

Ran shrugged. "They were moving on a bit before I left. Probably regressed after I joined the army."

"Oh." The loss of a second son might have crushed them, but at least they were alive. A year could have a lot of casualties in mining sectors.

"Yeah." Ran wrinkled his nose. "Always somewhat weak."

The words didn't ring completely true, as if Ran was trying to cultivate a new persona. It didn't matter; Ze'ev was instantly furious. Had it been anyone else, he would have attacked.

"It's not weak to care about someone."

Ran snorted. It sounded genuine. "And I thought this training was supposed to make us tough."

"Were you always like this?" Ze'ev said. "Or did the surgery change you?"

"Were you always this pathetic?" Ran replied.

Ze'ev growled.

Ran attacked.

He swung wildly, without any real aim. Ze'ev effortlessly blocked the punch, deflecting it away from him. Then Ze'ev threw his own attack, slamming his fist into Ran's stomach.

Ran doubled over, wheezing. He looked up with a growl.

Ze'ev didn't wait for another blow. He brought his knee up hard, connecting with Ran's ribcage. When Ran stumbled backwards, Ze'ev stepped forwards and pushed him in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.

"You want to forget we were ever brothers?" Ze'ev snarled, leaning closer to the downed boy. "Fine. Let me give you one last piece of brotherly advice. Work on your reflexes."

Ze'ev turned around and walked to the dining hall, leaving Ran on the ground.

There was only Omega Katona left to battle Ran before his stance in the pack was absolutely official. As Ze'ev doubted that Emil would pull his punches too, it seemed likely his brother was going to be omega by the end of the week.

He wasn't okay with that, not really. But he didn't have any other ideas.

Seriously, please, please, please, please review. I adore attention and comments keep me inspired to write more.