Authors Note; First off I would like to thank all of you who voted and commented on my last story "At the feet of my Mother." The story did amazingly well and even had the number one spot for a few days. Now to start I received many answers to my question about erotica in SWB and it seems people would be fine with a little less. This chapter is one of the ones in question as, comparative to its length, there is not a lot of erotica, and honestly, if I did my job right the erotica is not even all that erotic. I mentioned a few chapters ago that there was a benchmark chapter coming up and This is that chapter. This begins the final countdown starting here there are 10 chapters left so 40 is the magic number! Now about this chapter. the best way to put this is that this is my chapter; an indulgence to myself, and the most fun to write since Samhain. I mentioned before that Lex Talionis was written a while ago and not necessarily meant for an erotic site. The same can be said for this one. I was originally only going to use half of this but my wife, the same person who pushed me to post Lex ,said that it was my favorite and to just let it fly. So who am I to argue? SWB is a very dark series and a bit of a wild ride. I will tell you right now that to date this chapter will be the wildest so far. So without further stalling; longtime readers, new fans, I present to you one of the darkest nights in the lives of Mark and Megan. Welcome to the complete "uncut" version of "The Wolves Den"
Spain's restaurant was packed, and despite the fact that I'd called ahead, dad and I found ourselves sitting in the bar area while we awaited our table. Dad had been sweet; asking me first if I was okay sitting at the bar and then after I said I was fine asking if it would bother me if he had a beer. I told him of course not, but I really appreciated him asking. I left out that I hated beer and it was hard liquor that even now once in a great while would call out to me. Between the crowd and the TV over the bar blasting the Sox game conversation was difficult so dad ended up watching the game leaving me to my thoughts. I have to say that although I was in no danger of succumbing to the siren call of my addiction I did have the passing thought of what I wouldn't give for a Captain and Coke.
Instead, I thought back on how things had been left off with Mark. My brother had not only played me but had made me think I was the one playing him. Mark had let me have exactly what I wanted .Then, before I left he had pulled a three sixty and denied me to prove a point; that I may very well have to learn how to live without him as my 'fallback' as he had referred to it. What was most upsetting is that Mark was absolutely right; it would not be fair to him to spend the rest of his life waiting on me.
Sad fact was that although on the surface, Mark looked like the colder of the two of us, in reality I was the one who had let people fall in love with me when I knew I was not in love with them. Years ago my brother had been in love with Krissy. There had also been a time after the Max incident that he and Cynthia had grown quite close. Had Cynthia not taken a dream job on the west coast, when she finished school who knew what would have happened. Then of course there was Samantha who had fallen head over heels for my brother. All this led me to the sad realization that if I did not accept Mark's heart that he would find someone that would.
Mark had left Samantha because, his feelings for her made him realize that I had been his love all along. In that light had I not found my soul mate because he had been in front of me my entire life? Reading the journal had reminded me that twenty years ago I had been in love with Mark but had wanted to save him from me. Mark had shocked me by bringing up that night at his apartment. All along I had thought that he didn't know I was in love with him and had convinced him he had been wrong about us. Once again Mark had proved to know better than I but had assumed that I had not wanted him.
Mark had even thrown out my longtime excuse of running from us. With six years sober and a very successful career I no longer had to worry about 'bringing him down'. Hell, if the Walsh deal worked out I would be making more money than Mark within a year! On that note I shook my head; what the hell was I going to do with Walsh? My brother was far more important than money but still, Royce's point of being able to take care of mom and dad had hit home. With a sigh I picked up my glass and sipped at the coke I had ordered.
Putting the glass down, I pushed past that and thought back to when I had left Mark's. After his little buy the cow crack he had kissed me as I had stood there in shock and headed off to the shower ending any further conversation. Feeling like an idiot I had gone into the parlor, and after picking up my clothes got dressed and waited to say goodbye to my brother. Mark had emerged from the shower dressed in only a towel and I found myself getting pissed off as I knew he was teasing me. Nonetheless, when he put his arms out to me, I had gladly stepped into his embrace and rested my head on his shoulder as he held me. As I enjoyed the feel of his still damp skin and the smell of his clean wet hair I again imagined having this every day.
Right on the heels of that thought was how long would it last? As Mark gently lifted my face from his neck to kiss me goodbye it hit me that that last thought was the problem. I had thought I had been in love several times and had been, but only for a short period of time. Then I would grow cool and distant and break the heart of the person who was still in love with me. I was afraid it would happen with Mark as well. What if I was not as capable of it as he was? What if at the end of the day I really was the more broken of the two of us? To me it was beginning to come down to break my brother's heart now or six months from now when it would be worse? Mark interrupted those thoughts by pressing his soft lips to mine and giving me a long lingering kiss that would have made my legs weak had I not thought that this was another tease.
When he had broken the kiss however he looked a little upset himself, and I found myself thinking; good! He had gotten himself with his own little game. Mark told me that he would see me tomorrow and that he would be free by six so let him know what time we would be going out. I nodded and told him I would, leaving out the fact that I was supposed to be on a private plane heading back to Chicago by that time. I then asked Mark if he wanted to tell me about him and dad and he rolled his eyes. I told him I was going to confront dad and he said to go ahead; that if dad cared about me as much as he claimed, then I wouldn't get an answer from him either.
I didn't like the sound of that but decided to let it go and unlike yesterday leave on a decent note. When I arrived back at my parents house Dad hadn't gotten home yet so I took another shower. When mom had asked why I was showering again I had told her that Mark had talked me into the gym and I'd had quite a workout. As I told lie number ten thousand and counting to my mother about my brother and I, the sick thought that my brother certainly had gotten me nice and sticky went through my mind.
After the shower I changed into a yellow sundress which I wore a matching blouse over to cover the tattoo that I knew dad hated. I also didn't bother with makeup and pulled my long black hair into a simple ponytail. As I looked in the mirror I thought 'daddy's little girl' and laughed as I thought of the outfit I had shown up at the airport a couple of days ago. By then dad had gotten home from golfing but needed to clean up as well so I sat with mom and had a cup of tea. Mom noted I looked exhausted and upset and asked if I'd had a fight with Mark.
Knowing I couldn't get away with saying nothing was wrong, I told her that I had found out that Mark was leaving Rhode Island. Mom then got upset and I felt bad, but she would need to know, and at this point could not count on my brother to tell her. After that I went right back to the lies telling her that Mark's decision was based partly on money but mostly the fact that the Winthrop trial had left him a moving target. Mom shocked me by snorting disgustedly and saying;
"Megan, I may be a little naïve but I'm far from stupid. Your brother has never run from a fight in his life, he loves knowing people hate him and gets a kick out of being the scourge of the courthouse." Mom had then shaken her head and said sadly;
"I'm sure part of this is over him and your father Megan, he doesn't come around me because he knows Doug doesn't want him too."
I had looked at my mother shocked and replied;
"Dad would never keep Mark from you, mom, even if he's mad at him."
"He would never tell him but he would..." Mom trailed off and sighed; "I love Mark dearly but he thrives on being the tragic tale. He thinks he lost me along with your father even though I've tried to keep in touch with him, so he has nothing left here. I..." She waved her and said;
