Darius Wraith
Tobias’s fist connects with her jaw. It happens so quickly that I barely catch the movement until she starts to fall to the ground, her eyes rolling into the back of her head. Tobias hesitates to catch her, and for a split second, I think he is going to let her hit the marble floors. At the very last second, he moves, catching her limp body just as a loud bang steals my attention.
Peering down the long corridor toward the main entrance, Lycus storms out of the dungeons, looking extremely pissed off. His shirt is covered in blood, and so is his face. Kalen is at his side in an instant, fussing over him and his bloody nose like he has some life-threatening injury. Hearing the ruckus coming from behind him, Tobias turns, noticing my gaze is directed over his shoulder. Lycus smacks Kalen’s fussing hands away as he storms over to us.
“Fucking bitch stole some of my power and hit me with it,” he growls, rubbing the back of his head with his hand.
Kalen’s eyes look to Aleera in Tobias’s arms; his expression conflicted before reaching his arms out, wanting to take her.
“No, we have talked about this. You are to stay away from her,” Tobias tells him, turning away and looking at me expectantly. Yet so does Kalen, giving me a pleading look and wanting me to step in for him. For the most part, Kalen is non-confrontational.
It is one of the things I love about Kalen; he never puts up a fight or challenges us, he trusts us completely. Yet that is also something he uses against us. He never asks for anything, so when he does. He usually gets what he wants from us. All of us are unable to say no to him; unless we truly believe it is not in his best interest or to do with his safety. Our guilt of not stopping him or being there to stop him. Knowing how fragile he is makes us all reluctant to upset him at the same time. However, right now, he is asking for something, or more begging for it, with the way he is staring at me. He wants to hold her, feel her close. He wants his mate, despite her being the very reason he is so broken.
“She is unconscious. She can’t hurt him,” I tell Tobias, giving in to Kalen. Kalen smiles eagerly, holding his arms out for her, and Tobias’ jaw clenches.
He growls, then reluctantly passes her to him. Kalen takes her limp body in his arms, almost bouncing with excitement, and he instantly presses his lips to her cheek, burying his face in her neck. Lycus growls, not wanting Aleera near him, or maybe he is jealous of Kalen’s affections. Through the bond, I can tell it is for both reasons. None of us want her near him, and I worry this might start up the obsession again. I am pretty sure letting him take her will be just the beginning and a mistake on my part.
Kalen is already attached to her, and he hasn’t even spoken to her face to face. We all watch him with her for a second, none of us able to pull our gazes from them. All of us felt the same, worrying about her hurting Kalen again, yet happy to see him excited for once. She looks small in his arms as he hugs her close to his chest. How could he still want her after it nearly cost him his life? He almost chucked it away for her, yet he is so tender with her, so gentle. I hate it, and Tobias’ and Lycus’ deadly glare says they do, too.
“You can put her back in the cells, Kalen,” I tell him when he turns around with her in his arms. He stops, turning slowly back to face me. He pulls her closer, as if he can stop us from taking her. Kalen looks down at her, his lip quivering and his eyes turn glassy.
“Darius, please.” His voice is a soft murmur as he looks down at her in his arms. Lycus walks over to him, and Kalen pulls away from him when Lycus stops in front of him, reaching for her.
Kalen’s defiance earns him a growl from Lycus. “Put her back in the cells, Kalen.” Lycus’ voice is a menacing snarl. He is angry, but I want to know why he went into her cell. However, Kalen’s sudden refusal takes me aback.
“No! She isn’t going back down there!” Kalen snaps, clutching her so tight his fingers are digging into her skin. Lycus’ eyes flicker and go to his. He tilts his head to the side, watching him for a second. “No?” Lycus questions Kalen, who looks at Tobias and me.
“Yes, I said no.” Kalen whispers, his earlier angry refusal dimming slightly when he realizes he just yelled at us. Lycus frowns, and I watch them. Kalen is usually submissive. He is no match for us, not that we will ever hurt him, but seeing this side of him come out is always cause for worry. It’s usually the first indicator that his state of mind is slipping.
“She attacked me. She just tried to run. Put her back in the cells, or I will!” Lycus threatens him, taking a step toward him. Lycus is never like this with Kalen. He has never challenged our mate. Kalen is the weakest of us, and the fact he would go against us shows his obsession is already returning, and the mistake I made by letting him touch her.
We all know he loves Aleera. He spent years talking to her through an anonymous chat group without her knowing who he is to her. Her running affected him the most. Now she is here. I am worried about his mental state. Stepping closer, I am about to back Lycus up when Tobias speaks beside me.
“Put her in her own room in our quarters, Kalen. But if she runs again, I will kill her,” Tobias warns, and Lycus presses his lips together, his jaw clenching.
“She won’t,” Kalen answers, rushing off with her before Tobias changes his mind. We all struggle with saying no to Kalen. We are terrified of losing him again, but with Aleera here, all of us are at a loss of what to do; it isn’t like we can hide her from him, he felt her calling just like the rest of us.
“What are you doing? We all agreed he is to stay away from her. I don’t want her near him,” Lycus growls, his eyes flickering to silver and burning brightly. The beast that resides in him trying to take over. The savage side of him that likes to terrorize its prey. Right now, I know Aleera is his prey. Good. She deserves no mercy.
However, it is worrisome seeing Lycus so angry; he is usually calm, level-headed and like Kalen, rarely challenges us unless it is regarding Kalen. Lycus spent most of his life fighting to survive, fighting for Kalen.
Here, he doesn’t have to worry about that, so seeing him challenge Tobias makes me wonder if bringing her back here is already a mistake. Maybe we should have just killed her. Attacking him seems to set him off. He hates violence unless it is to protect one of us. He spent most of his childhood and teenage years fighting for Kalen in the orphanage they grew up in together.
Aleera is a threat to Kalen, and Lycus doesn't take too kindly to threats against his mates. Aleera, he wants to eliminate her from the equation where it concerns Kalen, he won't allow her to hurt him if he can help it. Lycus’ kindness only extends so far, but hurt Kalen and you find yourself to be his next enemy to destroy.
“You said she used your magic against you?” I question him, folding my arms across my chest. Lycus looks away guiltily before making sure Kalen is out of earshot.
“Did you have to break her fucking leg and hand? I couldn’t leave her like that.”
“Well, you should have. So, don’t blame us because Kalen is with her,” Tobias scolds, but his eyes dart to me. We aren’t usually violent towards women, but I have a particular spot reserved for Aleera. I have no qualms hurting her as she did all of us. But fighting amongst ourselves is not going to get us anywhere.
“You healed her,” I scoff, shaking my head.
“She was in pain. You said we make her suffer. You never said about literally breaking her bones.” Lycus snarls jabbing me in the chest, I snatch his hand, squeezing it. “Watch yourself, Lycus, we are on the same side here,” I growl and Tobias shoves between us making me let him go.
“Enough, she isn’t worth fighting over.” Tobias snaps at both of us.
“He said we punish her, make her suffer. But–”
“She was suffering. I see no difference,” I answer, cutting his words off.
Lycus shakes his head and then fists his hair before pointing at me. “Don’t let Kalen see you hurting her like that,” he warns, then turns to face Tobias. He folds his arms across his broad chest, giving him a glare about to rant at him for agreeing with Kalen.
Before he can, however, Tobias lifts his hands in surrender. “He would have sat down there with her, so don’t look at me like that. You know I hate him being near her just as much as you do— but I won’t have our mate withering away in a cell with her or sneaking down to see her. It is better this way. We can monitor both of them,” Tobias says before Lycus could shout at him about letting Kalen take her to our quarters. Lycus snarls, clearly not happy, but says nothing else on the matter.
Rubbing my temples, I sigh. This is turning into a nightmare already. “This may be a better idea, anyway.” I interrupt their arguing.
“Why is that?” Tobias asks and I glance between them, a smirk slipping onto my face.
“Because tomorrow she can start classes. Let’s see how she fares when she goes up against an entire castle of pure demons,” I laugh. Tobias chuckles at my words, knowing exactly what I am thinking.
“But she has no magic,” Lycus states, and Tobias chuckles, dropping his hand on his shoulder.
“Exactly, we don’t have to make her suffer. They will do it for us,” Tobias says, then stalks off toward the stairs.
Lycus throws his arms up in the air. “Where are you going?” Lycus asks him.
“To get Kalen away from her before he does something stupid, like confessing his undying love for her.” Tobias tosses over his shoulder.
Lycus shakes his head and glances at me over his shoulder. “So, what will you tell the men about her?” he asks.
“We will tell them nothing about her being our mate, only that she is our prisoner. Let them think what they want about her. I will just tell them she is an enemy we want kept close,” I tell Lycus with a shrug.
“Good. I don’t want them following her orders just because of what she is to us,” Lycus replies while watching Tobias walk up the stairs to our mates.
Stepping closer, I wrap my arms around his chest from behind and rest my chin on his shoulder. “No, I have a better idea. Let's make it a competition. Whoever breaks Aleera first wins the ballad for a ranking officer,” I tell him, and he turns his head and smirks.
“Well, that will be enough motivation for them, but she is not to be in any of Kalen’s classes,” Lycus says, and I nod my head in agreement and press my lips to my mark on his neck.
“I know you’re worried about him—”
He raises his hand, silencing me.
“Don’t. You didn’t find him. You didn’t have to cut his body down from the rafters. Worried is not the word I would use to describe how I feel about Aleera being near him,” Lycus growls before shoving me off, turning on his heel, and walking away from me.
My jaw clenches at his words. I wasn’t there, but luckily we got back in time. Luckily, Tobias could revive him and heal his broken neck. A few seconds later, he would no longer be with us. We would have never let him die, but resurrection could be tricky. It tainted the soul, and not in a good way. But I won’t allow her to destroy us this time. No, she will break. And when she does, she will understand the torment she has caused us.