Chapter 40

Meagan breathed in the cool, clean air as she leaned against the balcony's railing. Her eyes roamed the dark forests and she let her breath out in a slow sigh.

She never did get to see if her trap would have caught brother. She wouldn't be able to hunt him daily anymore either, not for a long time, maybe not ever. It would not be easy for her and Betsy to be around each other for a long time and Meagan's heart clenched at the thought.

Even harder, she would need to avoid Brian for a long time...maybe ever. It seemed odd to no longer have those who had been friends for so long in her life. They had left before Rachel and Kitty had returned and Kurt had tried to speak to her while she packed but...Meagan had not been as kind as she could have been.

Like Betsy, all of them had seen but had refused to know. All of them had helped Brian keep her in relationship that was not right. They had all stood by and not told her that what Brian did was not right. So, though they had not meant to, they had ended up telling her that what Brian did was right. Their silence had helped to condemn her...and now brother was stuck there with them, with their anger and their remorse.

She had offered to stay, to stand by him. After all, her leaving was the cause of much of the pain so shouldn't she stay and ease it?

Both David and brother had told her no. Had told her that it was important for her to heal before she tried to heal others. Brother had said that he could take their anger because he had his own anger at them for not stopping things before he arrived.

Still, brother should not be in a place where people were mad at him. It was not his fault.

Warm hands slid over her shoulders, offering comfort that she accepted by leaning back into David's embrace. His chin hooked over her shoulder as he asked, "What's wrong? What are you thinking?"

"About brother. That he must suffer anger in my place. It is my fault for being so foolish."

His arms tightened around her. "No. It is Brian's fault for being an abuser and never seeking help and it is Betsy and the others' fault for being so selfish that they did not take care of you. How could you know that what was going on was wrong when everyone told you it is right? Especially when you had Brian messing with your head, telling you that you were lucky to have him, doing his best to keep you ignorant by not even teaching you to read. It's their fault that Victor has to go through this because they didn't do the right thing before he arrived."

"But, they will say mean things to brother."

A soft chuckle whispered over her skin. "Trust me, Victor has had to deal with a lot worse than mean words in his life. He'll survive."

"I...I just wish he was here. I am selfish but I want him here. So we can hunt and laugh like we did."

His arms tightened around her. "Don't worry. You will hunt with him again. He'll make sure of it. In the meantime, you and I can hunt together so your skills don't get rusty and, maybe, we can come up with some surprises for him."

Meagan smiled for a moment but then lost it, "Betsy will not want to see me for a long time so brother will not be able to see me."

"You're his baby sister and he's not glued to her at the hip. He'll come to see you no matter what...and Betsy will get over all of this if she's half the woman he says she is."

Turning in his arms, she wrapped herself around him and nuzzled at his chin. "Thank you, David. You help me think better."

Victor was sitting on the couch reading when his mate's scent hit him. He immediately put down the book and turned toward her.

"I found a therapist that specializes in helping abusers." She stood in the doorway, arms crossed.

"That's good, ain't it?"

"Maybe. I sat in during the first session. What he said was worrying. He stated that he would work with Brian as long as Brian seemed to want to improve. Brian and I both assured him that Brian wanted to get better. However, he stated that all abusers say such things when they lose their victim and have had their behavior exposed in front of those important to them but that many abusers give up as the guilt lessens. Apparently, facing their own responsibility is something abusers can not stand to do easily because that is part of the problem to begin with. He said that Brian hurt Meagan because Brian never held himself accountable for his actions, blamed others for everything which justified him behaving in whatever manner he wanted. Unless Brian can truly own his own behavior, there is not much hope." Betsy's head was bent and her shoulders shaking.

Victor immediately went to her and pulled her into his arms. "At least the therapist is telling the truth."

"Yes...but what if he is right and my brother can never...be...himself again. What is this is who my brother is?"

"Then you keep working with him and kick his head in every time he tries to screw over another person like he did Meagan. Ya got a harder head than him so, eventually, ya can pound it in how he needs to be treating people. 'Nd if ya cain't then you and me make damn sure he doesn' get his hands on another victim."

"So...I am now my brother's keeper?" Her words were muffled against his shoulder.

He stroked her hair. "Ya always tol' me that when ya see something bad, ya gotta try to fix it. What's wrong with him is bad so...we gotta try to fix it."

"We?"

A chuckle rumbled through his chest. "What? Ya think I'm gonna let ya do this alone? We're mates which means what's yo'r problem is my problem. I ain't goin' anywhere."

She pressed deeper into his embrace at his words and he rubbed her back soothingly. Eventually, she quietly murmured, "I...Do you think Meagan will be ok?"

"Yeah, David is watchin' out for her and I'll be checkin' up on her too."

"But without me?"

"Bets, Meagan will eventually forgive you. She's just hurtin' right now so, yeah, for a bit I'll be vistin' her on my own but, when she's ready and when yo're ready, I'll take you t'see her."

"Thank you. I...I am not sure I will ever forgive myself that I did not see, that I ignored what he was doing to her. How could I do that to her and say I loved her?"

"'Cause ya loved yo'r brother 'nd no one wants to see bad in who they love." His lips curved up into a smirk. "After all, Meagan still won' let anyone call me a murderer when she knows I've killed."

He was rewarded by a muffled snort of laughter. "Still not the same. She has not seen you kill then deny it and, besides, you are not a murderer anymore."

Victor shrugged, not willing to argue the point when she needed comfort more than arguement.