Free The Wolf You Feed Arc by Angela Stevens

crowd’s tone turned serious and the snarls and growls louder. Tore resisted Erik’s attempt to pull him backwards.  
    “Why isn’t anybody stopping them?” Tore asked, distraught. “Do something, Erik!” He pulled his older brother’s arm. Erik shrugged, “Liam has to prove who he is. He has our name to uphold.”
    Aleks lunged at Liam, fangs making contact.
    “Stop it! Stop it!” Tore’s tears spilled down his cheeks at the sight of Liam bleeding.
    Someone yelled that Isak was on his way, and the crowd backed away.
    “About time,” Erik muttered.
    Tore screamed at the wolves to stop and ran into the circle. Shouts rang out as he hurtled towards the wolves…
    …Tore woke to Liam kneeling beside him, his brothers face streaked with tears. Liam grabbed him and hugged him tight.
    “I’m so sorry, Tore, please forgive me, I…I didn’t mean to hurt you. God, I thought I’d killed you.”
    Moments later, Isak swept Tore into his arms and carried him back to the commune.

    “I’ll be damned!” Tore let out a long exhale, staring at his older brother.
    “Let’s step into my office?” Liam said. He shot a furtive glance towards the woman who’d greeted Tore earlier.
    Once inside, he closed the door and swung around to face his brother, “Jeez, you gave me a heart attack. Tore, I can’t believe it’s you!” Liam laughed; breaking the tension before he pulled Tore into a huge bear hug.  
    Tore wrapped his arms around Liam and held him tight. He’d harbored a vain hope that Liam would still be in the area, but eleven years was a long time.  
    His brother hadn’t changed. Liam’s dark blonde hair was still unkempt. It sprouted from the crown and spiked in all directions. The same kind, dark blue eyes framed by darker heavy eyebrows twinkled back at him. Apart from the rough beard around his mouth and chin, he was just as Tore remembered.
    “So, what the hell are you doing in Hot Springs?” Liam pulled up another chair. “Were you looking for me? Is Dad okay? Mom?”
    “Both fine last time I saw them.”  
    Over the next hour, Tore explained his recent expulsion from the clan and how he’d worked his way across the country to Arkansas. He told Liam about Annike and Nea and his two strong healthy boys.  
    Liam let out a long whistle. “Jeez, Tore, you have a son?” He shook his head in disbelief.
    “Two,” Tore confirmed.
    “I never thought Dad would ever let you leave. You were always the favorite. Felt sure he’d let you stay.”
    “Why’d you just vanish, Liam? Dad never spoke about you after you left.”
    Liam rubbed his hand through his beard and nodded. “It was that fight with Aleks. You remember?”  
    “How could I forget, Liam, you knocked me into outer space!”
    “You did get in the way of two wolves fighting. What did you expect?” Liam chuckled.
    Tore looked serious. “Everything changed that day. I thought you left because I got you in trouble with Dad.”
    Liam shook his head. “My leaving wasn’t your fault. It was between me and him.” Liam placed his hand on Tore’s shoulder. “I regret I never got to see you grow up.”  
    “It wasn’t the same without you. Erik changed and Dad was more distant. I missed you. Why did you leave me?”
    “Dad was being his usual high and mighty self. He expelled Aleks from the clan because he’d shifted, even though I’d initiated both the fight and transition. Aleks’s brother, Pytor, complained. He tried to rally others in support. Began questioning Dad’s authority because he didn’t punish me. You can imagine how he reacted to that!”
    Oh, Tore was aware of that. “Yeah I saw that first hand, made the same mistake myself, that’s why I had to get out of the clan so fast. So what happened with you?”  
    “Long story short, Pytor started a mini rebellion. Dad decided he was a danger to the clan’s stability. Set Erik on him. It was horrible. Dad forced all the transitioning and transitioned males to watch. It