Thick & Thin (THIRDS 8)

"Sorry," Cael said with a laugh. "I'm running on chocolate bars."

Tony laced his fingers over his stomach, his lips pursed. "Your brother's going to tell us how he singlehandedly killed the asshole who shot me."

Cael stared at him, and Dex could see the wheels turning furiously in his head. "You killed Moros? On your own?" Cael shook his head, seeming unable to believe it.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, bro."

"No, it's not that. Dex, Moros was a tiger Therian with years of military training. The guy was huge and lethal. I know you've been training, but biologically.... How...?"

Well, it was now or never. Dex braced himself. He opened his mouth to reply but then closed it. Where the hell did he start?

"Dex?" Cael was worried, and he had every right to be. Dex just hoped this wouldn't freak his family out.

"I, um, I killed him with, uh...." He let out a shaky breath, willed the change, and winced when his claws pierced his fingertips. It was the only thing he had some control over at the moment. Fuck, he was never gonna get used to this. He held up his clawed hand. "These."

"Holy shit!" Cael's jaw dropped, his eyes focused on Dex's fingers. "What...? What?"

"Yeah, so, um, I'm part Therian now." He cleared his throat. "Jaguar Therian."

The room plunged into silence, Cael and his dad so still they could have been frozen in time. Dex was going to say something, anything, just to put an end to the eerie quiet, when Cael erupted.

"What? When the fuck did that happen?"

Holy shit. Chirpy dropped an f-bomb. That couldn't be good.

Cael put his hands to his head as he paced. "Oh my God. Dex, what--oh my God." He spun to stare wide-eyed at Dex. "Sloane. His marking you. The anomalies in his blood. He did this to you? His blood did something to you."

Dex explained everything--from his original symptoms with his itchy eyes to being able to escape from Wolf, from Sloane's DNA fusing with his own to his newfound Therian traits. As much as he didn't want to tell them, they needed to know. Cael reacted as Dex had expected. He was all but vibrating with fury.

"You died?"

Dex studied his brother and dad very carefully.

"I'm going to kill him!" Cael sped to the door, and Dex caught him before he could leave the room. He wrapped his arms tight around his brother, a feat that was far easier with his new strength, and Cael knew it too, which just pissed him off more. "I don't care if he's your boyfriend. I'm going to kick his ass!"

Dex was hardly about to bring up the fact that the only way Cael could kick Sloane's ass was if Sloane let him, which Sloane might, considering the guilt he carried about all this, but that was something Dex would deal with later. Right now he had to find a way to calm his hissing and spitting cheetah Therian brother.

"Cael, please."

"No! No." Cael pushed Dex away, and Dex released him, his heart breaking at the pain and unshed tears in his brother's big gray eyes. "Sloane marked you. His blood changed you, and you died, Dex. If Ash had done to me what Sloane did to you, you would be out there beating the shit out of him, and you know it! Admit it."

"You're right. I would be. But...." Dex put his hands up in front of him and blocked the doorway before Cael could make another attempt. "This wasn't Sloane's fault. I asked him to mark me, remember? We knew it would change me in some way, even if we didn't know about the anomalies or the extent of the change. Do you really think Sloane would have done it if he'd known? He was there, Cael. He was there when I died. Think about that. Think about what he must have been thinking, feeling. You know Sloane. He's never going to forgive himself for it, no matter how much I ask him to."

Cael seemed to think about it before dropping down onto the couch, deflated. Dex quietly took a seat beside him and pulled him close, his voice soft as he kissed the top of Cael's head. "I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere."

Cael turned and buried his head against Dex's shoulder, his body trembling with quiet sobs. It was all finally catching up. The last few weeks had been hell on his brother, and it was all crashing down around him again. Dex held him close, running a hand over his head. He met his dad's gaze. This conversation was far from over, but they were done for now. The look Tony gave him said he wasn't going to get into it now, which was fair enough. The man was recovering from a bullet to the chest, for crying out loud.

When Cael had exhausted himself and pulled back with a sniff, Dex gave him a smile. "Can I give you some good news?"

Cael's pout was adorable. "Yes. That would be a nice change."

Dex showed him his left hand.

Cael blinked down at it, then up at Dex. "Is that what I think it is?"

Dex's smile spread wide. "I know you want to kill him, but maybe you can wait until after the honeymoon?" He laughed when Cael threw his arms around him, squeezing him tight. Cael released him and huffed.

"I guess killing your future husband would be in bad taste."