Raven Moon

Chapter 8:

Brothers Betrayal

The scent of dried herbs and candle wax filled Raven's apothecary shop, mingling with the faintest trace of rain from the storm rolling in outside. Shelves lined with glass jars, spell books, and enchanted trinkets surrounded her like silent witnesses as she wiped down the counter, trying to shake the unease that had settled in her bones.

Something was coming. She could feel it in the shift of the air, in the way her magic prickled beneath her skin like an unspoken warning.

The door chimed, and she turned, expecting a customer. Instead, she found Conner standing there, his sharp blue eyes scanning the room before settling on her.

"We need to talk," he said, voice tight.

Raven sighed, setting down the cloth. "You always say that."

"This is different."

Before she could ask what he meant, the door swung open again—harder this time.

Rogue.

Drenched from the rain, his dark hair clung to his forehead, and his green-and-purple-flecked eyes burned with something more than just his usual smolder. It was rage.

Raven's stomach twisted as he stepped forward, his gaze locked onto Conner like a predator sizing up his prey.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" Rogue spat, voice dripping with venom.

Conner didn't flinch. "You shouldn't be here."

Rogue let out a dark chuckle. "And yet, here I am. Funny how you don't get to decide where I belong anymore."

Raven's head snapped between them, confusion twisting in her gut. "What the hell is going on?"

Neither of them looked at her. The tension between them was thick, a storm about to break.

Rogue stepped closer, eyes blazing. "Tell her, Conner. Tell her why I'm not part of your perfect little family. Tell her what you did."

Conner's jaw clenched. "You made your choice."

"My choice?" Rogue's voice was raw, bitter. "You mean when I refused to be your family's puppet? When I refused to let them turn me into another one of their pawns?" He turned to Raven now, his expression dark with old wounds. "Did he ever tell you, Raven? That we share the same blood?"

Her breath caught. "What?"

Rogue nodded, never breaking eye contact. "That's right. The aristocratic Conner is my brother."

Her mind reeled. "That's not possible."

Conner exhaled sharply. "It doesn't change anything."

Rogue slammed his fist on the counter, making the jars rattle. "It changes everything!" His voice cracked with something deeper than anger—betrayal. "Tell her, Conner. Tell her why I'm not part of your perfect little world."

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.

Finally, Conner turned to Raven, his expression unreadable. "Because I exiled him."

The words hit her like a slap. "You… what?"

Conner straightened, his face a mask of control. "He was a danger to the family, to the order we've upheld for generations. He let his vampire side take over. He refused to control it, to abide by the rules that keep our kind safe. He would have destroyed everything."

Rogue let out a bitter laugh. "Is that what you tell yourself? That I was some reckless beast who needed to be cast out?" His voice dropped, low and dangerous. "Tell her the truth, brother. Tell her that it was never about control. It was about power. About you making sure I never had a claim to the family's name, to its legacy."

Raven felt like the ground beneath her had crumbled. She had been caught between them for so long, torn between security and passion, between light and darkness. But now she realized the truth—there was no light here. Only shadows, secrets, and wounds that had never healed.

Her voice was barely a whisper. "You're brothers."

Rogue turned to her, something desperate in his gaze. "Yes. And it's his fault I've spent my life as an outcast."

Conner's expression remained unreadable. "I did what had to be done."

Raven stepped back, her heart pounding. The choice she had been agonizing over suddenly felt so much heavier.

This wasn't just about love. It was about a past tangled in lies, about a betrayal that had shaped the men standing before her.

And she had no idea where she fit into it.