Kane POV
Fuck.
I knew that voice anywhere. It was mine—technically—but it wasn’t . Yeah, I get it, I sound like I’m talking complete mambo jumbo. But co on, my life has already gone to hell tonight. My mate is out here acting like she’s auditioning for the next drama-filled soap opera, furious at for reasons I still don’t understand, and throwing herself at every idiot with a heartbeat. And now him.
Yeah, him.
The smirk on his face said it all. Too smug. Too cruel. Too... wrong. And the way he leaned against the wall, posture lazy and taunting, made every cell in my body boil with rage.
I call him Dean.
Why? Because it makes it easier to distance myself from the truth: he’s not just so random asshole who decided to copy my face. He’s . Well, the worst version of , if you can even call it that. Think of him as my dark side—if my dark side had arms, legs, and a psychotic personality to match. Imagine witchery gone horribly, horribly wrong, and voilà, you have Dean. He’s not my brother, though he likes to call that. He’s my blood, yes, but nothing about him screams family.
Of all the days for him to crawl out of the shadows, he chose today. The worst possible day, when I already had more than enough to deal with. My mate was furious at , running around as if she was hellbent on tearing my sanity apart. She’d been flirting, dancing, and kissing every guy in sight just to spite —though why she was angry, I still didn’t know. And now him.
The smirk on his face sent a fresh wave of rage coursing through . It was smug, cruel, and unapologetically mocking. He leaned casually against the wall, like he hadn’t just dropped into my nightmare of a night and made it exponentially worse.
Dean. My so-called twin. My dark side.
You’d think having one version of would be enough for the universe, but apparently, life had other plans. Dean wasn’t a sibling in the literal sense. He wasn’t my brother by bond or heart, but he was made of my blood. A curse gone catastrophically wrong—a witch’s magic twisting my very essence into two. Now, there was ...and him.
"Brother," he said, his tone dripping with mockery, as if he wasn’t currently the last person I wanted to see. "Didn’t know you had such fine taste in won."
Of course, he’d make it about her. Dean was predictable like that, always looking for an opening to twist the knife deeper.
There it was. That smirk. The one that had haunted for years, right alongside every mory of the chaos and destruction he’d left in his wake the last ti I’d seen him.
Elena froze beside , her eyes darting between the two of us, her confusion and fear rolling off her in waves. "What the hell...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Fuck.
She wasn’t supposed to know about this. About him. About .
I stepped in front of her without thinking, blocking her from his view, from his gaze that was already roaming places it shouldn’t.
I stepped in front of Elena without hesitation, shielding her from his gaze. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I snarled, my fists clenching.
Dean shrugged, his smirk widening. "Just having a little fun." His gaze flicked to Elena, lingering far too long, and my wolf roared to life, furious and ready to rip him apart.
I saw red. My wolf roared inside , the sound so deafening in my mind I barely registered the growl rumbling from my own chest.
"You son of a bitch," I spat, taking a step toward him.
Behind , I heard Elena’s sharp intake of breath. "Kane," she said, her voice shaky. Her hand reached for my arm, but I shrugged her off, unable to focus on anything but the smirking bastard in front of .
Dean chuckled, pushing off the wall with lazy confidence. "Relax, brother. No harm, no foul, right?"
"I’m not your brother," I growled.
"Semantics," he said, brushing off like I hadn’t just spoken.
My fist connected with his jaw, and for a split second, it felt good to wipe that smirk off his face.
He thought this was funny. He always did.
I lunged at him again.
But he was ready.
He dodged easily, his laughter echoing in the alley. His voice full of dark amusent.
I aim for him again, but Dean was fast, faster than I expected. He dodged the next blow, his laughter echoing through the alley like a taunt.
"This is going to be fun," he said, grinning through bloodied teeth.
"Sobody better start explaining what the hell is going on," Elena demanded. Her voice cut through the chaos like a blade. Her tone was sharp, commanding. It made even my wolf pause for a mont.
Both Dean and I froze for a mont, her words pulling us out of our standoff.
Dean turned his gaze to her, his grin widening. "Oh, sweetheart, you’re in for a treat," he said, his voice low and smooth.
Before he could say anything else—before he could touch her or even breathe too close to her—I lunged again. My fist collided with his jaw, harder this ti, sending him stumbling back against the wall.
Dean wiped the corner of his mouth, his grin faltering for a mont before it returned, smug as ever. "That all you got?"
I didn’t let him say another word. My fist connected with his jaw, the impact wiping that damn smirk off his face. For a mont, satisfaction surged through .
But it didn’t last.
He staggered back but didn’t go down. Instead, he straightened, rubbing his jaw, and then he laughed. "Still got that temper, I see," he said, his tone infuriatingly casual. "But you’ve lost your touch, brother."
"Dean," I snarled. "Leave. Now."
"Why would I do that?" he asked, his tone light, almost playful. "You’re the one making a ss of things. I was just here to clean up."
I charged at him again, but this ti, he was ready. He t halfway, his fist slamming into my ribs with enough force to knock the air out of my lungs. Pain radiated through my side, but I didn’t let it stop .
I swung again, catching him across the cheek, but he retaliated with a punch to my gut that made stumble.
"Clean up?" Elena snapped, stepping out from behind . "Are you kidding ? Who are you?"
Dean’s eyes sparkled with amusent as he looked at her. "Didn’t he tell you? I’m the better version of him."
"Shut the fuck up," I barked, stepping between them again. "Don’t listen to him, Elena."
"Oh, but she should," Dean said, circling us slowly. "After all, if you’d been honest with her, she wouldn’t be so confused now, would she?"
Elena’s eyes darted between us, her confusion giving way to sothing colder. "Honest about what?" she demanded, her tone icy.
My chest tightened. This wasn’t how she was supposed to find out about Dean, about the curse that had split in two. I’d kept it from her to protect her, to keep her from being dragged into the darkness that ca with him. But now it was all unraveling.
"Dean," I warned, my voice low and dangerous.
He ignored , his grin widening. "You an to tell he never ntioned ?" He feigned surprise, placing a hand over his chest. "I’m hurt."
"Dean!" I snapped, but it was too late.
"Elena, get out of here!" I barked over my shoulder.
"No," she snapped, and when I glanced back, I saw the fire in her eyes. "Not until soone tells what the hell is going on!"
Dean used my distraction to land another hit, this ti to my jaw. I stumbled back, tasting blood, but I didn’t go down.
"Elena, he’s not—"
"Let guess," Dean interrupted, his voice mocking. "You haven’t told her about yet, have you?"
Elena’s eyes widened, her gaze darting between us. "What is he talking about, Kane?" she demanded.
"Shut up," I growled at Dean, lunging for him again.
He sidestepped easily, his laughter grating on my nerves. "Oh, this is rich. You’ve been playing house, haven’t you? Pretending like I don’t exist. Like this doesn’t exist."
"Kane!" Elena shouted, her voice cutting through my haze of rage.
"I’m his dark side, sweetheart," Dean said, leaning casually against the wall as if this was just another ga to him. "All the anger, the violence, the instincts he keeps locked up tight? That’s . And let tell you, it’s exhausting watching him screw everything up."
Elena’s eyes narrowed. "You’re lying," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos around us.
Dean chuckled. "Am I?"
"Elena," I said, turning to face her, my tone urgent. "Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to ss with you."
Her eyes flicked to mine, searching for answers. "Is he lying, Kane?" she asked, her voice quieter now, but no less demanding.
I hesitated.
That mont of silence was all Dean needed. He laughed, a low, rumbling sound that grated on my nerves. "See? He doesn’t want you to know the truth. But don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m here now."
That was it.
I lunged at him again, this ti with every intention of ending this once and for all. But Dean was ready, eting head-on. The impact sent us both crashing to the ground, fists flying as we grappled in the narrow alley.
Elena’s voice cut through the chaos again, sharp and commanding. "Enough!"
She whistled, the sound piercing and painful, making both of us freeze as we clutched our ears.
"That’s enough," she said, her tone firm. "Both of you."
Dean smirked, his hands dropping first. "Well, this has been fun," he said, stepping back with a mocking bow. "But I think I’ll let you two lovebirds sort this out."
"Dean," I growled, but he was already walking away, his laughter echoing down the alley.
I turned to Elena, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable. "We need to talk," she said, her voice cold.
I froze, my chest heaving, my fists still clenched at my sides. "It’s not what you think," I said, my voice low.
Dean laughed again. "Oh, it’s exactly what she thinks. You just don’t have the balls to tell her."
Elena stepped forward, her gaze locked on mine. "Kane, what is he talking about?"
I swallowed hard, my throat dry. "It’s complicated."
She crossed her arms, her expression hardening. "Uncomplicate it."
Fuck. This night just kept getting worse. I still had a bone to chew with Evil after the staunt he pulled before disappearing leaving death in his wake.
"Wait," Elena’s voice rang out, sharp and commanding, slicing through the tense, suffocating air of the alley. Her hand shot up between and Dean, stopping just before I could lunge at him again.
I froze, my fists still clenched, my blood boiling. My wolf growled in frustration, wanting nothing more than to rip the bastard apart. But her voice held an authority that I couldn’t ignore. Not even in this state.
"Before either of you throw another punch," she continued, her words slow and deliberate, her eyes darting between the two of us, "I need an answer to one simple question."
Dean and I both turned to her, tension coiling around us like a living thing.
Her gaze locked onto , sharp and unforgiving, before shifting to him. "Who," she began, her voice dangerously low, "did I see fucking Ashley?"
The words hit like a freight train. My chest tightened, and the air seed to still around us. She was glaring now, her arms crossed, her fury unmistakable, and I could see the raw betrayal burning behind her eyes.
Before I could say anything—before I could even begin to piece together the shitstorm this night had turned into—Dean’s smirk stretched wider, morphing into a full-blown, shit-eating grin.
"Oh, you an that hottie blonde?" he asked, his tone dripping with mockery, his eyes glinting with sadistic amusent.
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