CHAPTER 38: BROTHERS DIVIDED

Brock POV

I slammed my fist against the cave wall so hard that rocks crumbled to the ground. "We can’t just sit here while Lily and Caleb are out there!"

"Keep your voice down!" Aiden hissed, grabbing my arm. "Do you want the controlled wolves to find us?"

I jerked away from him, my whole body shaking with anger and rage. We’d been hiding in this cramped cave for six hours while our pack members marched around outside with glowing eyes, looking for us like we were criminals.

"They could be dead already," I said, trying to keep my words quiet but failing. "Every minute we waste talking is another minute they’re in danger."

"And charging out there like a crazy person will get us all killed," Aiden shot back. "Then who’s going to save anyone?"

Behind us, the twelve other pack members who’d fled the mind control watched our argument with worried faces. Elder Iris sat against the cave wall, looking older and more tired than I’d ever seen her. Three mothers held their young children close. A handful of teenage wolves gathered together, scared and confused.

This was all that was left of our pack. Fifteen wolves hidden in a cave while hundreds of our friends and family served the First Shadow.

"Brock’s right," said Tom, one of the young wolves. "We should be fighting, not hiding."

"Fighting with what?" Aiden demanded. "We have no tools, no plan, and no idea how to break the mind control. What exactly do you want us to do?"

"Something!" I burst, my control finally snapping. "Anything except sitting here like cowards while our people suffer!"

The word ’cowards’ hung in the air between us like a slap. Aiden’s face went pale, then red with anger.

"Cowards?" he repeated in a dangerous voice. "I’m trying to keep these people alive, Brock. I’m trying to find an answer that doesn’t get everyone killed."

"Your solutions aren’t working!" I shouted back. "We tried calling other packs - they’re all controlled. We tried hiding - they almost found us twice. We tried waiting for Lily and Caleb to come back - they’re probably taken or worse!"

"So what’s your brilliant plan?" Aiden stepped closer, his Alpha power making my wolf side want to back down. But I was too angry to care about pack rank right now.

"We fight our way to them," I said simply. "We break through the controlled wolves, find Lily and Caleb, and figure out the rest together."

"That’s not a plan, that’s suicide!"

"It’s better than doing nothing!"

Elder Iris struggled to her feet, her walking stick tapping against the cave floor. "Boys, please—"

"Stay out of this!" we both snapped at the same time, then glared at each other even harder.

"You want to know the real problem?" Aiden said, his voice getting colder. "You’re not thinking like a boss. You’re thinking like a warrior who only knows how to solve problems with his hands."

The insult hit me right in the chest. "And you’re thinking like a politician who’s too scared to get his hands dirty!"

"I’m thinking like someone who actually cares about keeping people alive!"

"You think I don’t care?" I stepped right up to him, close enough that our noses almost touched. "Those tamed wolves out there include our parents, Aiden. Our friends. Luna. Everyone we’ve ever thought about. And you want to sit here making plans while they suffer!"

"Making plans is how we save them!" Aiden pushed me back. "Rushing in blind is how we get them killed!"

"They’re already as good as dead!" I pushed him back harder. "At least my way gives them a chance!"

That’s when Elder Iris did something I’d never seen her do before. She whistled - a sharp, piercing sound that cut through our disagreement like a blade.

"Enough!" she snapped, her voice carrying more power than I’d ever heard from any omega. "Both of you, sit down and listen."

Something in her tone made us both freeze. Even angry as I was, I found myself sitting on the cave floor without meaning to.

"You’re both right," Elder Iris said, pointing her walking stick at each of us. "And you’re both wrong."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" I muttered.

"Brock, your heart is in the right place, but Aiden’s correct that charging recklessly into a fight will get everyone killed. Aiden, your caution is smart, but Brock’s right that waiting too long will make any plan useless."

She looked around at the other pack members. "But more importantly, your fighting is splitting the only free wolves we have left. How do you expect to save anyone if you can’t work together?"

Shame washed over me as I realized she was right. While Aiden and I had been fighting, the other wolves had started taking sides. Tom and two other teenagers had moved closer to me, while the mothers with children had grouped near Aiden. We were physically splitting our tiny group in half.

"I just..." I started, then stopped, not sure how to put my thoughts into words. "I can’t stand not doing anything. Every time I close my eyes, I see Mom and Dad with those bright eyes, and I want to break something."

Aiden’s face softened a little. "I see them too," he said softly. "But I also see these people depending on us to make the right choice."

"So what do we do?" asked Sarah, one of the moms. "My children are scared. We can’t stay hidden forever."

Before either of us could answer, a new sound reached our ears. Footsteps outside the cave. Multiple sets, moving slowly through the forest.

We all froze, hardly daring to breathe. The controlled dogs had found us.

"Stay quiet," Aiden whispered, motioning for everyone to move deeper into the cave.

But as we crept backward, I heard something that made my blood run cold. Voices. Familiar sounds talking to each other in normal tones - not the flat, emotionless way controlled wolves spoke.

"I think I saw smoke coming from this direction," someone said.

I knew that voice. It was Marcus, one of our border guards. But Marcus had been controlled during the attack on our land. I’d seen his sparkling eyes myself.

"Are you sure?" another voice answered. "The First Shadow said all the free wolves fled toward the river."

That was David, another pack member who should have been under control.

"Maybe the control is wearing off," Aiden whispered hopefully.

But something felt wrong. The voices sounded too normal, too relaxed. Like they were performing a play rather than having a real talk.

"Hello?" Marcus called out, his voice bouncing off the cave walls. "Is anyone in there? We’ve broken free from the mind control. It’s safe to come out."

Elder Iris grabbed my arm with surprising power. "Don’t," she whispered desperately. "Something’s not right."

"We’re friends," David added. "We’re here to help you escape."

I wanted to believe them. These were wolves I’d known my whole life, wolves I’d trained with and laughed with and trusted with my life. But the way they were speaking, the perfect time of their arrival, the fact that they claimed to be free when we’d seen no sign that the control could be broken...

"It’s a trap," I realized.

Aiden nodded grimly. "They’re using our own pack members against us."

"Please," Marcus called again. "We know you’re scared, but we’re really free. The First Shadow’s power is fading. We can all escape together."

The worst part was how much I wanted to believe him. How much I wanted to run out there and hug Marcus and David and pretend everything was going back to normal.

But then I heard it - a sound so quiet I almost missed it. A third set of footsteps, moving around to the back of the cave. Someone was trying to surround us while Marcus and David kept us busy with their fake rescue.

"There’s someone coming around behind us," I whispered to Aiden.

His face went white. We were stuck. Controlled pack members at the front entrance, more closing in from behind, and fifteen innocent wolves relying on us to keep them safe.

"We have to choose," Aiden whispered. "Fight our way out the front, or try to slip past whoever’s coming from behind."

Before I could answer, Marcus’s voice changed. The fake friendliness vanished, replaced by the cold, flat tone of the controlled.

"We know you’re in there. Come out now, or we’ll come in and get you."

Behind us, footsteps were getting closer to the back door.

We were out of time, out of choices, and out of places to run.

That’s when the footsteps behind us stopped, and a familiar voice called out from the cave’s back entrance.

"Brock? Aiden? Thank god you’re alive."

It was Caleb.