Their shared room smelled faintly of eucalyptus and protein powder. Jason had woken up before dawn, doing push-ups beside the bed as if the carpet were enemy terrain. Jeremiah, cocooned in his silk robe, cracked one eye open and groaned like a martyr.
"Jason," he mumbled, voice muffled by his satin pillow. "Why is the sun not even up, and yet you are?"
Jason finished his fiftieth rep and bounced to his feet. "Because, brother, today we conquer the ice bath. Today we kill the weakness within."
Jeremiah pulled the blanket over his head. "Today, I go back to sleep."
But there was no escape. Soon, a conch shell blasted through the resort grounds, summoning the attendees like an ancient war horn. Jason nearly vibrated with anticipation. Jeremiah, dragging his fluffy slippers across the floor, looked like a trophy wife on her way to sign divorce papers for the third time—impeccably dressed, beautifully bored, and entirely unwilling.
---
The alphas gathered around a massive carved stone basin filled with glacial water and chunks of ice the size of bricks. Steam rose from their breath in the humid morning air as they pounded their chests and hollered like gorillas in an enclosure fighting for the last banana.
Jason jumped right in line, fists pumping. "BROTHERS! IRON SKIN! ICE HEARTS!"
Jeremiah strolled in, silk robe flowing behind him, sunglasses perched on his nose, clutching a thermos of imported oolong tea. He side-eyed the bath, lips curling in disdain. "Absolutely not."
The Instructor appeared like a thundercloud, veins bulging in his bald head. "WHAT IS THIS? A REFUSAL?!" He stomped toward Jeremiah, voice a whip. "YOU THINK YOUR LUXURIES WILL SAVE YOU FROM THE COLD?!"
Jeremiah raised one brow over his sunglasses. "Yes."
Jason jumped between them, hands raised. "Sir, with all due respect, my brother's got his own methods of—"
"NO EXCUSES!" The Instructor's roar shook the palm trees. "ONLY PAIN! ONLY ICE! Or you admit you are BETA."
The crowd gasped. Beta. The dirtiest word in their shared vocabulary.
Jeremiah's nostrils flared. "Excuse me?"
"Prove yourself. Enter the ice." The Instructor's smirk was merciless. "Or live forever as prey."
Jeremiah froze, tea halfway to his lips. His pride was delicate, but it was also enormous. Slowly, he handed the thermos to Jason. "Hold this. If I die, bury me in satin."
Jason's heart thudded. "Bro, you don't have to—"
But Jeremiah was already slipping off his robe with the theatrical flair of a Broadway diva. He stepped toward the ice bath, slender frame taut, every movement laced with reluctant determination. The alphas cheered, stomping the ground.
Jeremiah dipped one foot in and immediately recoiled like a cat presented with a cucumber. "Cold."
"IN!" the Instructor bellowed.
Jeremiah hissed through his teeth, lowered himself in, and finally submerged up to his chest. His gasp echoed like a death knell. He clutched his shoulders, shivering violently, looking for all the world like the world's most disgruntled wet cat. A *very fancy* wet cat.
His teeth chattered. "I hate this. I hate all of you. I hate my life."
He sneezed, violently. The alphas flinched. His feet, pale and delicate, turned a concerning shade of blue.
Jason's protective instincts surged like a tidal wave. He rushed forward, ignoring the Instructor's protests, and scooped Jeremiah out of the bath as if rescuing a damsel from a dragon. He knelt on the ground, cradling him, rubbing his hands and feet vigorously, desperately trying to restore warmth.
"Stay with me, brother! Breathe! You're not dying on my watch!" Jason's voice cracked with passion.
The alphas stared, jaws slack. One whispered, "Uh… isn't this kinda gay?"
A silence fell. Then another alpha, stroking his chin, declared, "No. Helping your bro is the most alpha thing there is."
A ripple of agreement spread. "Yeah, brotherhood." "Protect your pack." "Totally alpha."
Jason ignored them all, focused only on Jeremiah, whose nose was pink and dripping, whose wet hair clung to his cheeks like fallen silk. Jason rubbed harder, panic and something else twisting in his chest.
Jeremiah sneezed again, glaring at him. "If I die, Jason, I'm haunting you."
Jason laughed with relief, holding him closer. "Over my dead body, bro."
Around them, the alphas began chanting. "BRO-THER-HOOD! BRO-THER-HOOD!" Their voices thundered through the resort.
The Instructor scowled but said nothing. Even he couldn't argue with the sight of pure, undeniable brotherly devotion.
Jeremiah, still shivering, muttered under his breath. "This retreat is hell."
Jason smiled down at him, hands still wrapped around his. "Then I'll drag you through it, one bath at a time."