Pieces (Patchwork #1)

by T. Aleo

  “No, get over here now. That’s not JJ.”

  “I know!” I yell, my heart in my throat. “It’s Ryland.”

  “Ryland?” he asks, his face twisting in confusion. “Ryland Kelley?”

  “Yes,” I say, and just like that, Ryland shifts back to himself, standing tall as he stares my brother down, waiting for him to make a move. “Please, put the gun down.”

  “No, he’s here to kill you,” he tells me, but I shake my head.

  “No, he’s not, I promise. Please, trust me, put the gun down,” I beg, but he doesn’t move.

  “Get over here.”

  “Oceanus, look at me!”

  He doesn’t move at first, but then his gaze snaps to mine, and all I see is betrayal.

  Shit.

  “He wasn’t here to kidnap me. Well, at first he was, but then he stayed to protect me from his family—”

  “He’s supposed to be dead!”

  “But he isn’t,” I say, my heart jackhammering in my chest. “They faked his death because—”

  “Rebekah, no,” Ryland urges, and I look up at him.

  “He’s my brother,” I say, but Ryland shakes his head.

  “And he has a gun.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I protest as I look back at Oceanus, who still holds the gun on Ryland.

  “Ryland isn’t here to hurt anyone. He’s protecting me. It’s fine,” I promise him, but my brother only shakes his head.

  “He’s supposed to be dead, Rebekah. This is insane. I went to his funeral!”

  Letting out a long breath, Ryland throws his hands up. “I was sent away because I’m a hybrid. An amalgam.”

  It’s as if time stops. Oceanus’s eyes widen more, but he doesn’t drop the gun, and his eyes are intent on Ryland as if he has every intention of shooting him. Stepping in front of Ryland, I look back at my brother.

  “Oceanus—”

  “He isn’t supposed to be alive. Move away from him, Rebekah. He is dangerous.”

  “No,” I say, my blood going cold. “No, Oceanus. Stop.”

  “He is a fugitive in this house. I have to detain him and protect you.”

  “Oceanus, please,” I beg, my eyes pleading with his. “I love him.”

  But it’s as if he doesn’t hear me because then he is moving, and before I know it, so is Ryland. I don’t know how; I don’t even see it. All I see is a flash of movement and then Ryland has the gun and is pointing it at my brother. “Ryland! No!”

  Holding the gun toward Oceanus, Ryland’s gaze is on him too. “I’m not going to hurt him as long as he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  Oceanus looks to me. “Define stupid.”

  “No, stop,” I say, trying to defuse the situation, but it doesn’t seem to be working. The testosterone coming off these two is out of this world, and I can feel the tension around me. But I won’t let them hurt each other. “Please listen to me, Oceanus.”

  His eyes cut to mine, and I hold my hands up, my tears rushing down my face. “He won’t hurt me. He loves me too.”

  “He using you. He’s gonna take you back to his family, that bunch of fucking liars—”

  “No, I’m going to take her away from this family that kills innocent people for no reason!” Ryland yells, his shoulders back and his jaw taut. “I’m going to protect her and love her.”

  Oceanus pauses, his eyes scrutinizing mine as they narrow. “What? Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of going with him!”

  “Osh, please,” I plead as a chill runs down my spine. I feel like I’m getting nowhere. No one is listening to me. “I have to follow my heart. Surely, you can understand that since you won’t follow yours.”

  “We aren’t allowed to mix clans!”

  “I don’t care. I love him.”

  “You don’t know what love is—”

  “I do, Osh. Please,” I beg, and I don’t know why I want him to approve or to support me, but I do. I need him to. “Please, you have to understand.”

  “I don’t, I’m sorry. I don’t understand how you can’t see he’s using you,” he throws back at me, but I shake my head.

  “How do you know that?”

  “’Cause he is a Kelley!”

  “I’m not my family, Oceanus,” Ryland says, coming up beside me, the gun still trained on my brother.

  “Put that down,” I say, pushing it down before turning back to my brother. “He doesn’t want to hurt me. He wants to protect me, love me. Please trust me.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t,” he says, his eyes narrowing even more. “And if you think I’m letting you leave with him, you have another thing coming.”

  “Oceanus—”

  “I mean, I can just shoot you, and we’ll leave,” Ryland says, and I throw him a dirty look.

  “We are not shooting anyone,” I yell back at him, snatching the gun from him and unloading the clip, then throwing the gun to the other side of the lab. Looking back at my brother, I hold his gaze. “Please, Osh. I want to go. I want to be happy. You know I don’t belong here. This isn’t what I want in life. I want to be happy! Let me go, let me be with him the way you want to be with Taegan.”

  When he pauses, I think he is going to let me go. That I’ll be home free, but then he is shaking his head, and my heart drops.

  “You’re not going anywhere with him,” he demands and my heart breaks. I don’t know why I thought Oceanus would support me. Why I assumed he wouldn’t stop me. As much as I don’t want him to be, he is the most like my father.

  “Please, Osh.”

  “No.”

  “To hell with this, come on,” Ryland says, pulling me. But before I even take a step, Oceanus kicks Ryland square in the chest, knocking him onto his back before grabbing me and slinging me against the wall. All I see are lights from the way I hit the wall, but that doesn’t keep me from hearing the roar that happens behind me.

  “Holy shit,” I hear Oceanus say as I blink quickly, begging the lights to go away. Finally, when they do, I look over to see a wolf over my brother. Drool is dripping from its teeth, and I hear a snarl so terrifying it gives me chills as my brother holds it back by its scruff while it snaps at his face.

  “Ryland! No!” I beg, scrambling to my feet and rushing to them. When I push into him with my shoulder, the wolf falls off-balance and rolls to the left as Oceanus rushes to his feet, pulling me back. But I bat him away. “No, he’s just protecting me.”

  When I look back, Ryland is looking back at me, his eyes full of fire as he stands buck naked. “I wasn’t going to hurt him.”

  “I know.”

  “Sure looked like you were,” Oceanus yells, but I shake my head.

  “I just freaked when he threw you like that,” he says to me and I nod.

  “I know.”

  “Rebekah, he’s a monster,” Oceanus says, and I look back at him.

  “Osh, we’re all monsters,” I remind him. “But I love this monster. I always have, and I need you to let me go.”

  Silences stretches between us, but my heartbeat is so loud and hard it rattles my teeth. I don’t know what he is going to do, and I can’t watch Ryland hurt him, but I’m unsure if that’s how it will play out. They are both fiercely protective of me, but Oceanus is not listening to what I want, what I need. And Ryland is acting with his emotions.

  “Everyone is freaking out,” I say, my breathing so hard, I’m gasping. “We need to calm down because this is okay. I’m okay, you’re okay, and Ryland is okay. I just need you to understand that I love him, he loves me, and I want to be happy. I need to be happy. I’m begging you to let me go without a fight. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Swallowing hard, Oceanus shakes his head. “I don’t know if I can.”

  “Well, you have to,” I say, my eyes clouding with tears. “’Cause I’m going.”

  “I’ll stop you,” my brother promises, and I shake my head.

  “You can try,” I say. “But I’m going.”

  “So y
ou’ll turn your back on us, for him?” he asks incredulously.

  “Yes,” I answer automatically. “And don’t think that doesn’t pain me, but I have to follow my heart, and it leads to him.”

  But apparently, Oceanus doesn’t agree, because he says, “I don’t care if you say he is trying to protect you, I just see a dog that can’t control his temper and will hurt you. I love you, Rebekah. I won’t let you make a stupid decision that you’ll regret—or that will ultimately kill you.”

  “I love her. I would never let that happen,” Ryland says, coming around me, but I stop him. “She will always be safe. Trust me.”

  “Trust you? You just tried to bite my head off!”

  Ryland waves him off. “I only snapped at you. Relax.”

  Oceanus shoots him a dry look as I step closer, my eyes pleading. “Osh, I love you, I do. You know that. But you have to trust me. Ryland wouldn’t hurt me. Just look the other way. You won’t even have to say you saw me. Just let me go. Please.” When he doesn’t answer, I take another step toward him as I whisper, “If this were you, and he was Taegan, wouldn’t you want this chance to be happy? I can’t stay here anymore. You know in your heart, you just know I’m screwed if I do. I’ll never be happy. Please, Osh, please.”

  “I can protect you,” he says, and when he looks up, his eyes are full of tears. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I know that, please don’t think I don’t. I know you’ll go to the ends of the earth to protect me, Oceanus, and I love you for it. But you can’t stop him.” My voice breaks, my heart doing the same as I stare up into the eyes of my brother, my protector. He pauses then, his eyes locked with mine, his breathing erratic. I can feel the displeasure and unease coming off my Ryland. “I have a chance to leave, to be happy. Can you really stop me and subject me to our father? A father who will use me as a walking science experiment and marry me off to get ahead?”

  “I won’t let that happen,” he promises, but I shake my head.

  “You can’t stop him, you know that.”

  “I’ll be running the Patchwork soon, just be patient. I can’t let you leave with him.”

  “Then look the other way,” I ask, my body shaking with fear. He could deny me, which I’m pretty sure he will. But also, at any moment, the door could open, and my father or Samuel could come through. Then I’d be in for a load of hurt because I know Ryland will do anything and everything to get us out of here. I have to put a stop to this; I have to convince my brother to let me go quietly. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

  “You don’t even know him,” he tries, and I take another step forward, needing to be close to my brother. I worry he might grab me and try to take me, leading to Ryland losing his shit, but I have to try. I need Oceanus to see how important it is to me that I go.

  “I do know him. I’ve known him my whole life, except for the last three years when he’s been allegedly dead,” I say, closing the distance between us and reaching for his hand. His eyes meet mine, and I’m stunned by what I see. Pain, fear, and maybe a little anger. “Before he was sent away for not being what he is supposed to be in this society, he wrote Father a letter. He asked for the rules about mixing the clans to be abolished because he loved me and wanted to have a future with me. Oceanus, he went against the grain, he spoke up to Father because he loves me. That has to mean something, Osh. Please understand how bad I need to get out of here.”

  Squeezing my hand, he kisses my knuckles as he holds my gaze. His green eyes plead with mine. “Rebekah, I don’t doubt you think this guy loves you—”

  “I do love her,” Ryland says, coming to my side. He’s taller than Oceanus, bigger too, but I don’t think Oceanus cares one bit. “I want nothing more than to protect her and love her, Oceanus, I promise. Nothing will happen to her.”

  “Shut up…dog or shifter, whatever the hell you are,” Oceanus spits back and I close my eyes. “You don’t know her situation!”

  “He does,” I answer, my eyes opening to meet his heated gaze. “I told him.”

  “Rebekah,” he gasps. “You aren’t to speak of that.”

  “I love him,” I say, and that’s all I need to say. “I’ve always loved him. And the thing is, I’m screwed no matter what. That new formula didn’t work, and I refuse to stay here and let father marry me off for a formula that solved nothing, or whatever else they may have planned. Don’t subject me to that, brother, please. Let me go.”

  “It didn’t work?” he asks, and I slowly shake my head, my eyes filling with tears.

  “No, Oceanus, and I don’t know how much more I can take of Father pumping me with formulas that don’t work. If I die, at least I die happy. Please, let me go. I can’t be a prisoner in here any longer,” I beg as one tear rolls down my cheek and then another. When Ryland reaches over, wiping my face, Oceanus’s shoulders go back as he watches, his lips pressing together. Tearing my gaze from his, I turn to Ryland, smiling as he gives me a small smile back.

  “I won’t let that happen,” Ryland promises, his voice full of emotion, and my heart just soars. Do I know what will happen? No, but I don’t care. Even behind bars, this man cared for me. He has loved me through all these years and never stopped. He would die for me; he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. I can understand how Oceanus would be worried, but he doesn’t need to be. I trust Ryland. I know he won’t hurt me or let anything happen to me.

  Swallowing hard as I nod jerkily, I say, “Thank you.”

  Ryland’s eyes burn into mine before he turns to my brother. “I know you don’t know me, and I wish you did. I wish you understood how much she means to me. How much I love her. I wish this was happening under different circumstances, that you could accept me. But it’s not, and I get that. I can promise you nothing will happen to her. I will keep her safe and protect her as well as, if not more than, you would. But one thing is for sure, we are going through that door, and I don’t want to hurt you to do it. I don’t even want to hate you, so please, let us go.”

  Oceanus looks down at me, and I know he doesn’t want to let me go. I can see the years of him protecting me, us sparring, joking together. He has been my best friend, my big brother, and I’m about to walk away from him. I first need his support, though. I need to know he will always love me because that matters to me. I’m going, but I want to go with his blessing. If that makes any sense. I respect him, and I want him to do the same for me.

  Swallowing hard, he nods. “Go.”

  “Really?” I ask, my heart kicking up in speed. “You’re not going to stop us?”

  “No. Go. I won’t let Father hurt you any longer. You’re right, I can’t stop him, no matter how much I wish I could.”

  “Thank you, Osh.”

  “Don’t thank me. I don’t want to let you go, and if you get caught, it isn’t on me. I never saw anything.”

  “Of course,” I say, relief flooding me as I go to my toes and kiss his cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  He scoffs. “I’ll worry, more so than you’ll ever realize,” he says, his face changing as he lets out a long breath. “But I know you. I know if he can’t protect you, you’ll protect yourself.”

  “You’re right.”

  He nods. “So you’re sure?”

  “Yes,” I say immediately.

  He looks over my head. “If anything happens to her—”

  “I’m dead. Yeah, I’ve got it,” Ryland says, and Oceanus looks back to me.

  “Good. Go before someone finds you,” he urges, kissing me once more before glancing back to Ryland, holding his hand out. I hate that I’m immediately concerned as Ryland takes his hand, consumed with the fear that Oceanus will do something. But he doesn’t, he just shakes his hand. “I’m trusting you, and you may be what you are, but I’ll die trying to kill you if anything happens to her.”

  “It won’t,” Ryland promises, his hand coming into mine. “’Cause I’ll die before it does.”

  “Or we’ll all stay ali
ve,” I suggest, trying to lighten the mood, but no one laughs. Looking down to me, Oceanus cups my face before kissing my temple.

  “Stay safe, sister.”

  “I will,” I promise as Ryland squeezes my hand.

  “We need to go.”

  “Yeah, you do,” Oceanus says as he slowly backs away, his heart on his sleeve. It hurts to see. I love my brother and I don’t want to leave him, but maybe this will help him to follow his heart.

  Or he’ll stay miserable.

  “I love you, Rebekah. Stay safe,” he says, his hand squeezing mine.

  “I love you, Osh. Tell Cyrus the same.”

  “I will.”

  Looking over at me, Ryland reaches out for me, a grin on his face as he asks, “Ready, princess?”

  Nodding my head, I take his hand. But before I can say anything, the door bursts open with a crash, and I whip my head toward it, finding my father, Samuel, and Cyrus all looking at us.

  Oh, crap.

  “Rebekah?” my father says, and my whole body freezes.

  Double crap.

  Oceanus turns, his eyes wide, and I look to Ryland as he reaches for me, pulling me up onto his back.

  “Who is that?” Samuel yells just as Ryland wraps my arms around his neck.

  “Hold on, don’t let go,” he demands. But before I can answer him, all I hear is the sound of cracking, then the smell of flesh burning before the feel of coarse hair is beneath my fingers and along my body. No longer am I holding on to Ryland in his human form, but in his wolf form. Gasping, I look up to find everyone staring at us with gaping mouths and wide eyes as the beast beneath me snarls, making his whole body vibrate.

  “Rebekah! What the hell? What is that creature?”

  The look of pure betrayal in my father’s eyes is heartbreaking, but I can’t dwell on that. I have to get out of here. As I hold on tight to him, Ryland takes off before I can even think of what to say. As he jumps over the table, I’m thankful everyone moves out of the way as things come crashing into a heap behind us as Ryland goes through the door. I hear my father call my name, but I bury my face in Ryland’s fur, closing my eyes, wanting to become one with him.