Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Roux
Something pulled me from my sleep. I blinked my eyes open, the early signs of dawn filtering through the window and providing just enough light to make out my surroundings.
Atticus and Thane were still wrapped around me, and I had to shimmy and wriggle from between them to get out of bed.
Atticus stirred a little, his hand reaching for me in his sleep, but I grabbed his hand and placed it on Thane’s hip.
He rolled towards Thane, and I smiled as I watched them snuggle together.
A hum vibrated in my chest, and a tugging sensation pulled at my solar plexus.
I quickly threw my clothes on and headed outside, following the gentle tug as if it were telling me which way to go.
In the back of my mind, I knew it probably wasn’t overly sensible to follow some unknown feeling considering everything that was going on, but it didn’t feel threatening or violent.
It felt curious, and there was a yearning beneath that.
Like someone was looking for a place to belong.
I stepped through the front door, carefully assessing for any kind of threat, just in case I was misunderstanding the sensation fluttering in my chest. I couldn’t see anything.
There was just the wide-open clearing in front of me, sat beneath a sky painted with soft hues in pink and orange.
It was a glorious sunrise, and the rays of the sun warmed my face as I turned my face up to the sky.
“I’d forgotten how beautiful a sunrise could be.”
I jerked my head to my left and saw the faint line of Erebus lingering in the shadows of the house.
“This one is particularly beautiful,” I replied, turning my gaze back to the sky.
The air next to me stirred as Erebus came to stand beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. “It’s like witnessing the world waken as the darkness recedes, each colour a whispered revelation until the glow of the sun caresses everything the light touches.”
I looked up at him, his words resonating somewhere deep in my soul. “You have a wonderful way of speaking, Erebus.”
A small smile played at the corner of his mouth. “I think it is terribly old-fashioned now.”
I shrugged. “I like it.”
We stood in silent companionship, our shoulders touching, watching the sunrise, asking nothing of each other but to not be alone.
When the last hues of the sunrise faded, Erebus turned towards me. “What brought you out here?”
“I don’t know. Something called me here.”
He frowned down at me, his lips pursed.
“I know, I know. I probably shouldn’t trust it,” I sighed and folded my arms across my chest.
Erebus gently clasped his long fingers around my upper arms, his thumbs brushing against my skin. “It’s not that. I worry that there is something lurking around the corner that we cannot see. Something that might undo us all.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. There’s just something in the air. Something that feels…ominous.”
Now the guy sounded like Thane. We went in the Vault because he was worried Erebus and Nyx were making a comeback, and I was somehow tied up in it all.
Perhaps we were just waiting for the moment Nyx would return and everything would make sense then.
It could possibly be absolutely terrifying, but at least we wouldn’t all be chasing our tails anymore.
The breeze changed direction, and the hairs prickled on the back of my neck. Someone was watching us.
I scanned the tree line, my senses on high alert.
“What is it?” Erebus asked, his body tensing and readying for action.
“Not sure.” I walked deeper into the clearing, my steps slow as I approached the trees, that tugging sensation pulling me towards them.
Two pale white orbs appeared in the shadows beyond the tree line. Then another pair, and another. Slowly, three great hulking wolves stepped into the light.
Lycaon.
What were they doing here? How did they find us?
The three wolves padded over to me, their tongues lolling out of their mouths and looking very different from the creatures that attacked us in the Vault. One of them came closer, the other two hanging back and watching their alpha.
His white fur shimmered in the early morning sun, like he’d been coated in diamond dust. He stopped right in front of me and lowered his head so his eyes were level with mine. He was huge up this close. Possibly even bigger than the twins’ Hounds.
“Hi,” I said as I reached a hand out to him. “May I?”
He leant closer and pressed his snout into my hand. I sank my fingers into his soft fur. He was warm, and the tugging sensation in my chest settled as the Lycaon sat there and let me scratch behind his ears.
“His name is Vega,” Erebus said as he came to join me in petting the wolf big enough to bite my head off.
“You know their names?”
“Yes,” he replied, smiling as he walked to the other wolves. “I created them as a gift for Nyx and named them after the stars. Vega is the Alpha, Altair the Beta and the slightly smaller one is the Omega. She’s called Capella.”
“I thought Zeus cursed men to turn into wolves?”
Erebus huffed a laugh, but it didn’t hold any warmth. “There’s a lot Zeus is credited with that isn’t true.”
Sounded like there was a lot of unresolved tension there.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vega. Thanks for not killing us in the Vault.”
Vega huffed through his snout, and Capella sauntered over to say hello too. She wasn’t much smaller than the other two, slimmer maybe, and her eyes were more almond-shaped, but she still looked very capable of ripping limbs off if she wanted to.
Capella playfully nipped at Vega’s ear, and he nuzzled his snout into the soft spot below her jaw. Altair, not wanting to feel left out, joined in, pressing his nose on Capella’s other side. Gods, they were cute. Deadly, but definitely cute.
“Nyx never liked them,” Erebus said, interrupting my enjoyment of watching the trio curl up and snuggle together.
“What?” How could someone not like these beautiful creatures?
“She thought they were a poor representation of her stars.”
Erebus gave me a sad smile and looked away from the wolves who appeared to be making themselves at home in our front yard.
I reached over to Erebus and took his hand in mine, giving it a soft squeeze.
There was so much of myself that I saw in the sadness in his eyes, the longing for someone they’d lost, that I felt connected to him in a way that I didn’t with the others.
He was a kindred spirit, and the more I got to see the man behind the shadows and the defensive barbs, the more I liked him.
He showed me his vulnerability, and it was raw and damaged.
In need of care and gentleness. Erebus was fragile behind those walls he’d built himself, and I wanted to wrap him up and protect him from the world to give him the time to heal from the wounds that had been inflicted on him.
“The Lycaon are beautiful, Erebus. And if they want to find a home here, they’re more than welcome to stay. They’ll be safe here.”
Vega’s ear twitched as if he were listening to my conversation. He lifted his head and gave me a small nod of acknowledgement before settling back down with his pack.
Erebus ran a finger along my jaw, pulling my gaze back to his, those red eyes of his full of emotion.
Longing. Gratitude. Fear. Hope. “I wish I could view the world like you do, Roux. To be able to see beauty in all things, no matter how lethal or damaged they are. I do not think you realise just how wonderful you are.”
“Keep talking to me like that, and I’m going to kiss you again.” And maybe fall in love with him.
“I do see you, Roux, but I cannot turn my back on the woman I love. The woman I have spent centuries dreaming of returning to. You’ve pulled me back into the world of the living, and I’m struggling to figure out which way is up and which is down.
I need to find my place again and stand steady on my feet. Until then, I cannot be what you need.”
I ran my fingers through the ends of his hair, the blunt ends soft against my skin. Stepping up onto my tiptoes, I pressed my lips against his cheek in a butterfly kiss. “I understand, Shadowman, and just like the Lycaon, you will have a place here for as long as you need.”
He tipped a dark eyebrow in a sharp arch. “I should think so; this is my house.”
“You know what I mean.” I slapped his chest playfully, and he grabbed my hand, pinning it to the spot above his heart, and he rested his forehead against mine.
“Thank you, Roux.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s figure out what we need to do next.” I stepped back from him and cast a glance at the ginormous wolves on the front lawn. “Vega, can you keep an eye on things out here?”
He lifted his head, and I swear his eyes were smiling back at me. He dropped his head in a nod, and he nipped the ears of the other two before standing and heading towards the tree line. Altair stood and went in the other direction while Capella sat up to stand guard outside the house.
As I stepped back into the house with Erebus, a worrying thought hit me.
What the hell did you feed a giant wolf?