Chapter 4: The Big Bad Wolf (1)

As Zane sat in the interrogation room, he thought back to all that happened since he got off the plane and landed in Portland. It seemed that after that phone-call he had gotten from his uncle, everything seemed to have gone downhill, from discovering a dead body to suddenly reuniting with his estranged twin brother.

"If only I had minded my own business instead of calling the cops, maybe then everything would have turned out differently." He sighed as he glanced at the handcuffs that restrained his hands. With his strength, he could easily break out of the handcuffs, but something told him that would create more trouble than he was already in if he did that.

Suddenly, the door to the interrogation room opened and in walked his brother, who by the looks of things was here to ask questions. Zane couldn't help but smile mockingly at his brother, knowing that he probably found out about his "job".

"Well well well, Look who we have here?" Zane began as he observed his brother's facial expressions. Stone cold, just how he remembered it in their childhood. Zane continued on, trying to provoke a reaction from him, something that would make him slip from that cold face of his. " If I remember correctly, cops are supposed to arrest people based on evidence, not personal feelings right?"

Nick just sighed as he took a seat opposite to Zane and faced him, his calm brown eyes staring into Zane's mocking one's, trying to see what his brother was trying to achieve by trying to get a rise out of him.

"Look Zane, I'm sorry for arresting you without prior evidence, but you were a major suspect of the crime scene, we needed to take you in for questioning. Now, let's start talking abou-"

"Don't try to change the subject Nick! We both know the real reason you arrested me! Now, will you be a man and admit it or do I have to spell it out for you?" Zane had enough of Nick's nonsense as he slammed his handcuffed hands on the table in front of them. Zane's eyes that showed taunting only seconds ago quickly switched into one that showed rage, rage that even after all this time, his brother still failed to change that infuriating personality of his.

Getting interrupted, Nick looked at his brother, this time with the same coldness that he showed when they first met. Nick also didn't want to beat around the bush and confronted Zane with what he really wanted to say.

"Fine, you wanna be like that? Yeah, I did arrest you based on personal feelings and I don't regret what I've done. If it were up to me, I would want you to rot in jail for all the grief and misery you have caused upon Aunt Marie and me." He spat as he didn't back down from his brother's rage filled stare. Zane was momentarily surprised before laughing as if the comment he made was the funniest joke he had heard.

"Haha! That's a good one Nick, I didn't think you'd become a comedian in the 10 years we saw each other! Please, you and Aunt Marie caring for me? Do you think I was born yesterday! If you're done making jokes, I'd like to leave." Zane wiped a tear before looking at Nick's eyes, his ice cold eyes now turning into a glare that could freeze hell itself.

"You know that isn't true, while the same couldn't be said for me, Aunt Marie loved you like a son. She loved both of us and did everything in her power to fill in the gap that Mom and Dad made after they died! And what did you do? You spat that kindness back in her face and left her to be worried for an asshole like you for 10 years! Did you know she even developed cancer in the time you were gone? While you were out, probably getting high off your mind with that crazy uncle of ours, I had to treat the mother that raised us since we were 12!" Nick finally had enough with Zane's idiotic attitude and lashed out at him, yelling at him the mistakes he made and what he had to do to fix them.

"Then tell me, where were you when I had my problems in school? Where were you when the other kids were picking on me for seeing things that they couldn't see? Both you and Aunt Marie abandoned me because you didn't believe me! You guys thought I was crazy! The only person that could have believed me died when I was 12 and the one that helped me during that dark time was that "uncle" you thought was crazy as well. So don't tell me I abandoned the family, I just chose the ones that could actually understand me, see me for who I really am." Zane glared back at Nick, telling him that his life was also filled with struggles and hardship.

Nick finally let up on his glare and let guilt take over his stone cold face. Before he could utter a word however, Zane once again interrupted him, his next words causing his eyes to widen.

"Oh, and I believe you're experiencing the same thing lately as well, haven't you? Things that you can't explain and makes you think your eyes are playing tricks on you?" Seeing his stunned face, Zane smirked at the irony of his situation.

"I thought I could help you if you did experience the symptoms, be the brother you never were, but now I feel like I should let nature take its course? Maybe then you'll know what it feels like to be the weird one, huh?" Zane remarked and saw how Nick started to shift around in his seat.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." Nick said hesitantly and Zane smiled at his futile attempts at denial.

"I don't need your words to confirm it, I can practically smell it on you." Nick looked confused when he heard that but Zane wouldn't allow him to ask anymore questions. "Now, I really think it's time for me to go, places to be and people to meet you know?" he said as he got up from his seat making his way to the door. He then turned back and gestured to the handcuffs he was still wearing.

"Also, if you want to keep something like me contained, this toy isn't cutting it." he said before he flexed his muscles and pulled his hands apart, breaking the handcuffs in two as they slid off his wrists. Nick looked stunned at the act and Zane smirked one last time before leaving the room, leaving his brother in a state of confusion and panic, a contrast to the cold and confident person who walked in the room earlier.

***

As Zane got his key's from the Police Department's front desk, he made his way to the parking lot where his motorcycle was being kept. Seeing the black bike with not an ounce of a scratch on it, he sighed in relief as he checked over the documents he had in the seat compartment. Thankfully, both the money and the documents weren't seized and weren't treated as suspicious goods, probably due to how professionally made they were. But despite having nothing taken away from him, his situation just went from bad to worse.

"The bad news is my data is now in the Portland PD's records. It's going to be harder to move around in this city thanks to my idiotic mistake." Zane rubbed his forehead in frustration thinking how his mission just got 10 times harder. Now that his information was in the database, it wouldn't take long for Black Claw to figure out something was wrong with an "Interpol" agent coming unannounced to Portland. Depending on how deep they run in the government, it could be months or even days before they track him down.

Zane shook his head with the unnecessary negativity before hopping on his bike and riding out of the police station. When he got to the mainroad, he revved up the engine going faster, keeping his eye out for some cheap motel he could find on the edge of the street. He only had 150 grand for this mission and he wasn't about to waste it on some hotel room. As long as it had a bed and bathroom, he was fine with anything.

However, as he kept his eye out for a motel to show up, his mind couldn't help but wander to the argument he had with Nick. Just thinking about how heated he was when he thought he was over what happened in the past made him sigh in frustration.

'That idiot, can't he see I'm helping them? Why does he have to make things so difficult!' he mentally screamed as he thought about all the dangers and sacrifices he made for the only family he had left. He thought back to when he first found out what his family was, and how it changed the perception of his Aunt who he always thought hated him.

It happened when he first started training under his uncle, how he learned how to differentiate the smells his nose picked up and what exactly they meant. The first, and most important one, was how to identify the scent of a Grimm.

Without even knowing it he was living with an experienced Grimm that was his aunt for 6 years. When he learned that the weird smell that his aunt gave off was actually the scent of the Grimms, he was terrified! But when he thought about how her people were the ones that eradicated the Wolfbloods, it made sense why he never got on with his aunt, it must have been an instinctual dislike. Nick was probably right that she treated them like her own children, but Zane's untrained instincts flared whenever he got too close to her, making him the problem child that he was growing up. After years of training, he finally managed to suppress it, but at times when emotions flare up, the hatred of Grimms starts to come out, just like it did with his argument with Nick.

Truth be told, he loved his Aunt and brother. They were the only ones left after his parents died, but because of what he was, he couldn't treat them the way he wanted to treat them. That was why he left, for both himself and them, so that he could protect them if anyone or anything found out what they were.

The reason he even joined such a dangerous organization in the first place was to hone his powers and protect his family from any Wesen that might have found out what they were. He thought about all of this before he finally spotted a motel and proceeded to drive towards it.

Reaching the motel, he parked his bike in the parking lot and got checked in relatively fast. When he got to the room, it was just as he expected; a single sized bed, a bedside table, and a bathroom. It was a cheap motel anyway that only cost $80 a night, so he didn't expect anything too fancy. Booking for at least a week, he just plopped on his bed and thought about what his next course of action was.

His mission was to find any Black Claw members within this city and purge any uprising they had planned. He also had to see how the Verrat and the Royals played a part in this and in what way they were helping them. This was the first time he was doing such a dangerous and risky mission all by himself, as he usually at least had a team to split up the mission. But HW seemed it prudent that he was sent alone and he wasn't going to forgo a chance to kill some Royal scum.

"I'll definitely get revenge…..just wait Emma." he muttered before falling asleep, exhaustion catching up with him as he slumbered on the bed, dreaming of a time when he didn't have so many burdens placed upon his shoulders.

Hours later, he awoke to a sudden ringing that came from his phone. Groaning in frustration, he picked up the phone only to see someone was calling him, from his work phone no-less. Wiping out any form of exhaustion, he picked up the phone, only to be met with a voice he didn't expect to hear on the other side.

[Zane, is that you?] Nick asked urgently, and by the tone of his voice, he seemed to be panicking about something.

"Nick? How did you get this number?" Zane asked, mighty confused on how his brother, who he just met today had gotten hold of a number for a phone as important as his.

[I don't have time for that! You got to come to my house right now, it has to do with Aunt Marie!] Nick yelled into the phone as Zane had an annoyed face on.

"Look, if you want me to apologize…" but before Zane could finish his words, Nick interrupted him, his next words causing Zane's face to pale considerably.

[Aunt Marie was attacked! She's severely injured!] Nick continued, panic and fear evident in his voice.

"What!" Zane rose up, his mind thinking of the worst as he put on his coat, ready to tear up the piece of shit that dared to mess with his family.