The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 83

JUNIPER

"Juny! Juny!" Little Nathan tugged on my sleeve. "Come play blocks with me!" He was only five at the time, but he loved it when I played with him.

It felt like I was getting whiplash with the sudden change of memories, and now I knew they weren't coming in any specific order.

James took a bite of his cereal, looking down at his younger brother. "Nathan, Juniper played blocks with you yesterday."

"But I wanna play again! Please, Juny!"

I smiled down at Nathan. He was a sweet kid, even though his dad had put him into wolfball training at such a young age.

"How about I play with you later today?" I suggested.

"You don't have to always do what he wants," James said, unable to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

"I know. I want to play blocks with him. I have to keep practicing my building skills so I can beat you." I stuck my tongue out at him. James and I were always in some sort of competition.

"If you think I'm going to let you play blocks without me, then you're crazy," James said.

"So you'll both play with me?" Nathan said, his eyes filled with delight.

"Yes," I giggled. Nathan was just too cute. It was hard for me to say no to him.

"Yay!" Nathan jumped out of his chair and started running circles around the table.

"But only after your practice," I quickly added.

"What about us? Will you play video games with us?" the twins asked at the same time.

Asher and Axel were dressed in the same outfit. They liked confusing people by making them think they were the wrong twin. They were able to fool most people, but they were never able to trick me. I could always tell by their eyes. They may have looked almost identical in every other way, but their eyes were beautiful in their own ways.

"I'll play with you guys later, too," I agreed easily. I loved playing with the twins. They were always playing pranks on others and making me laugh, so it was easy to agree to hang out with them.

"She can't always hang out with all of you," Ethan scolded as he walked into the breakfast nook. He was only twelve, but as the oldest, he made it his responsibility to wrangle all of his brothers. "Maybe instead of harassing her, you should wait for her to ask to hang out with you."

"But she's always hanging out with James!" Asher and Axel complained at the same time.

"That's because I'm the favorite," James retorted.

"Are not!" The twins stuck their tongues out at James, and he stuck his tongue out right back at them.

"Right, June?" Asher asked.

"I love all of you," I said, giggling. James was my favorite brother, but that wasn't something I was going to say out loud. Plus, I truly did love all of the Burrell Brothers in their own way.

Ethan took the empty seat next to me. He had two slices of toast on his plate.

I crinkled my nose as I looked at the plate. "Why do you eat that when you could have cereal?"

"Because cereal isn't good for you," Ethan said.

"It's okay to do things that aren't good for you sometimes. You are a kid after all," I protested. Ethan was the oldest of all of us kids, but he wasn't that much older. He acted ancient in comparison, though.

"Daddy-Father says that as the oldest I have to be responsible. I'm going to grow up to be like him one day," Ethan said. His posture was perfect, and he was proud to know he was going to have such an important role one day.

I couldn't help but feel sad for him.

Even as a kid, Ethan didn't get a break from his father.

"That doesn't mean you can't have fun now. It's not fair," I muttered under my breath.

"Nathan! Stop running around the table and sit down," Ethan ordered. When Nathan didn't listen, Ethan grabbed his little brother mid-run and set him in the chair next to him.

"You meanie!" Nathan whined.

Ethan sighed. "Just eat your breakfast. You have to go to camp soon, and you don't want to go hungry. You'll feel sick, and you don't want that, right?" "No," Nathan muttered, jutting out his lower lip.

Ethan shook his head, but there was the smallest smile on his face. Even though he acted like his brothers annoyed him, he loved all of them dearly.

A moment later, Ethan leaned towards me and asked, "Do you want to do a puzzle with me later?"

James groaned and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the table. "Juniper can't hang out with any of you today. She and I have plans all day!"

***

"Get away from them!" Ethan screamed, running through the forest to reach us.

Once again, I was back to this memory, and my heart raced, knowing what I was going to see based on Ethan's recall of the incident.

The hunter turned to Ethan, holding the gun pointed at him for a moment. Then he clicked his tongue and turned away, disappearing a moment later. Several beats of silence passed, and I continued holding in my sobs, just as James asked me to. "James! Juniper!" Ethan shouted.

Ethan lifted James into his arms, pulling his brother off me in the process. "James, stay with me. I called for help. Daddy is on the way." He pressed his hands against the gunshot wound, but it didn't seem to do anything to stop the bleeding. It only made Ethan's hands sticky with blood.

"Ethan, you have to save him," I whispered. I was still covered in James' blood, and I knew that much blood wasn't good. I knew how dangerous bullet wounds were too, and James' wolf was hardly developed, which meant his body wouldn't heal as fast as it could've. I knew what all of these things added up to, yet I didn't want to believe James was going to die.

"Help is coming," Ethan said. His eyes were wide as he stared at his brother.

James' breathing was irregular and strained. His body was fighting to survive, but if he didn't get help soon, there was nothing his body could do to save him. His eyes opened for a brief moment of clarity. He lifted his hand up, reaching for Ethan. Ethan grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Don't move. It'll only make it worse."

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect Juniper better," James whispered.

"No, no, you did a great job," Ethan said. His eyes were wide, and his body shook as he looked down at his brother.

"No, I didn't. You have to protect her. You have to promise to protect her, even when I'm gone," James begged, his voice cracking.

"You're not going anywhere. You can't. You can't die." Ethan's voice was tight. He was trying not to cry, but it was a fight he was losing.

"I love you," James choked out. He started coughing, and blood spurted from his mouth.

I was in shock. James was dying, and there was nothing I could do. I forced myself to stand up. "I-I'll get help." The moment I got on my feet, I fell back to my knees. Pain shot through my side, and I pressed my hands against my body. When I pulled my hand away, there was fresh blood.

I hadn't even realized that some of the blood I was coated with was my own. "When did I start bleeding?" I asked, confused. Everything happened so fast. I remembered the shock in my body, but I hadn't felt the pain, too afraid for James to care about myself. "Juniper!" Ethan shouted. "No, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. James, you have to stay awake, so we can help Juniper."

James didn't respond. He wasn't breathing either. Ethan looked back and forth between us, and the decision he had to make was tearing him apart.

"I'm sorry, James," Ethan whispered. He lowered James off of his lap and moved towards me. He wrapped his arms around me instead. "Where does it hurt?"

"Here," I groaned, pressed against my torso.

Ethan placed his hands on top of mine, helping me keep the pressure against the wound. "It's going to be okay."

"Is James dead?" I asked.

Ethan looked at his brother, and for a moment, he didn't respond. "I... I don't know."

"Ethan!" Asher and Axel shouted, running up to us.

"Ethan! What was that noise? What's going on?" Axel asked.

"Go get help! Now!" Ethan ordered. "Go!" he shouted when the twins didn't move.

One set of footsteps echoed through the forest, but I didn't have the energy to look at who it was. It was at that moment that something broke inside of me. It felt like a rubber band had snapped, and everything it was holding together fell apart. I looked at James, and I knew he was gone. The connection I had with him was no longer there, and an emptiness replaced it. I gasped, unable to breathe.

"Juniper! Juniper! Hang in there. You're going to be okay." Tears streamed down Ethan's face. He wasn't able to keep it together for a moment longer.

"James is dead," I cried, knowing the gift the Moon Goddess had gifted me had been torn away. "James is dead." I repeated this over and over, unsure of what else to do.

"It'll be okay," Ethan whispered in my ear, holding me close.

Everything started to get dark again. I felt myself fading away, wishing to join James wherever he ended up.

But then a sudden warmth filled my body. It came from all different directions, and even though I had just lost James, I knew I wasn't alone. I was loved by the rest of the brothers at a deep level I didn't fully understand until that moment. As I relived that moment, I knew it was the moment my heart was tied to the rest of the brothers. I loved them before, but my love grew in the grief, and I knew I had been gifted four new mates to replace the one I had just lost.