OBSIDIAN

~Chapter 45~

Niko pov:

I move slowly, as if any noise might break something.

Cass is finally asleep, but now he’s on the left, not in the middle.

His breathing is deep but still uncertain, as if he might slip out of his sleep at the slightest sign that he’s not safe.

I don’t touch him. Not now. Last night was too much for him. For all of us.

I turn around a little and see Ash. He’s awake.

Or maybe he’s just waking up, his eyes half-open, that sharp look he always has when he doesn’t know whether to fight or stay.

I touch his arm lightly. That’s it.

He flinches, then instinctively moves closer to me.

He grabs me with both arms, pulls me to his chest, and buries his face in my neck, as if that’s the only place he doesn’t have to be strong.

I let him go. I hold him. I can feel his breath warm and hurried.

“Cass spoke last night,” I whisper, so as not to wake him.

Ash tenses immediately. I can feel his muscles under my skin.

“What did he say?”

I smile, involuntarily.

A small, sad smile. “He said that… if they all disappeared, and it was just the three of us… he would give us children. One or two. If that were possible.”

Ash lifts his head slightly, looks at me with distrust, then with something more dangerous, hope.

“Did he say that?”

I nod. “He talked about a garden. About our childhood home. About peace. About a place where he wouldn’t run away.

”

Ash runs his hand through my hair, slowly, but his gaze darkens.

“It’s too soon,” he murmurs. “It’s too much.

His wolf will come. You know that.”

I swallow.

“I know.”

“It’s going to hurt,” he continues.

“And him, and us. Every time he feels like he has something to lose.”

I move closer to him, my forehead touching his shoulder.

“But he didn’t run away last night.”

Ash closes his eyes.

For a moment, he’s no longer angry. He’s just tired.

“I don’t know if I can hold him when he breaks,” he says.

“I’m afraid I’ll hurt him without meaning to.

”

“Then we hold him together,” I say.

“We don’t let him fight alone.”

Ash looks at me again.

Something changes in his eyes, the fear doesn’t go away, but something else sits beside it.

Decision.

He leans in and kisses me. He’s not in a hurry.

He’s not hungry. It’s a kiss that says I’m staying.

He holds me close, as if trying to memorize the sensation.

When he pulls back, he presses his forehead to mine.

“If the wolf comes,” he says quietly, “I’m not running.

”

I smile. “Neither do I.”

Behind us, Cass stirs slightly in her sleep. That's all. She doesn't wake up.

Cassian pov:

I wake up when I hear a word

But I keep my eyes closed.

"It's too much. His wolf will come. You know that." Ash says this and I'm a little out of breath.

How does he know? No...

"Calm down Vex, now you've found out the truth.

You should have at some point" Brex says and I frown but my face in the current moment has no emotion

"I didn't think so.

I thought you were lying, that you were playing with me.

..not that they are too...cannibal wolves!

" I say and accidentally grunt and then I feel Niko turn around.

"I never lied to you, Cassian.

You were just stupid"

Brex's words are said in an almost bored tone, as if he were commenting on the weather.

That makes them hurt more.

I keep my eyes closed.

My body is still, but something inside me is tightening, bending, seeking an exit that no longer exists.

Cannibal wolves.

"No," I mutter, more to myself. "It's not like that..."

Brex sighs theatrically.

"Calm down, you walking drama. You don't eat people."

I open one eye, confused.

"What?"

"We're in a different century, Cass," he continues. "Werewolves these days are... how should I put it... more like emotional vegetarians. They run, they protect, they suffer, they love easily. That's it."

"Then you. You mean me...?" I swallow.

"Lycan," he says simply. “Different species. Once upon a time, yes, and now, but that’s what matters from lycan to lycan. I was the problem. Not you.” There’s a pause. “And it wasn’t even a daily thing. You’re exaggerating.”

I want to laugh.

Or cry. Or both.

“So Ash… isn’t afraid that he’ll…

?”

“He’s afraid that you’ll hurt you and them emotionally,” Brex interrupts.

“Much more dangerous. Look what happened to him already.”

This hits me harder than any joke.

I hear the bed move. Ash and Niko get up. Footsteps. The door opens. It closes.

I’m left alone.

“I didn’t lie to you,” Brex says, more quietly now.

“The truth always comes when you’re not ready.

”

I sit up. My heart beats fast, but not with panic.

With realization.

“So I’m not a monster.

”

Brex laughs briefly. “No. You’re just a powerful Lycan who doesn’t know his powers but loves too much and runs too fast.”

Silence.

I put my feet on the floor. The cold wood anchors me.

“They know.”

“Ash doesn’t know what you are, he just assumes,” Brex says.

“Niko knows who you are, Cassian. Big difference.”

I take a deep breath.

Their voices are heard downstairs. Coffee. Life. Normality.

I get up and walk to the door. I stop with my hand on the doorknob.

"What if the wolf comes?" I ask.

Brex smiles, I can feel it without seeing him.

"Then pray I'm not so hungry that I eat people"

"EW STOP"

After I've gotten the idea of cannibalism out of my head for a bit, and I've calmed down a bit with the idea that they're also... werewolves, or excuse me, I'm Lycan and they're werewolves, I go downstairs to the living room.

Downstairs, the air is a little...strange but warm, like a 'leave me but don't go' feeling, and on the couch is Ash, Niko and Sergio, and in the kitchen I think It's Colby, because I can hear his voice.

I go around the back, trying not to be noticed, and take the second entrance to the kitchen, or more precisely, to the storage room.

I enter the kitchen quietly, and pray that Colby is not there.

I tilt my head a little to look and there is no one there, so I smile a little and walk out of the pantry and into the kitchen, being careful not to make too much noise.

I take a glass out of the cupboard, perhaps a little too carefully, as if the glass might break if I just breathe harder.

I put it under the tap and let the water run slowly.

Its sound calms me more than it should.

I fill the glass and take the first sip without rushing.

The second…

I feel arms around my waist.

I jump so hard that the air gets stuck in my chest, and the water goes in where it shouldn’t.

I start coughing, violently, almost choking, supporting myself with one hand on the counter.

“Cass!” I immediately hear Niko’s voice, alarmed.

I lean forward, cough again, water spilling from the glass onto the counter and a little onto the floor.

“Oh my God!” I mutter hoarsely. “Are you going to kill me?!”

Niko is still holding me, but now he moves a hand to my back, pressing gently, calmly.

“Sorry,” he says quickly. “I thought you heard me.”

“No,” I manage to say between breaths.

“Not… not at all.”

I cough again, then take a deep breath.

I feel my heart pounding, but not from fear.

From surprise. From contact.

Niko rests his forehead on my shoulder.

“Are you okay?”

I nod, not turning around yet.

“Yeah. I think so. Just… treacherous water.”

I feel him smile.

“I’ll take note. You don’t get scared anymore when you’re hydrated. ”

I lean back slightly, leaning against him without realizing when I decided to do so.

He doesn’t hold me any tighter. He doesn’t ask me anything.

He’s just there.

“I thought you were sleeping,” he says softly.

“Me too,” I answer honestly.

We stay like that for a few seconds.

The kitchen is quiet. The air is warm. Nothing needs explaining.

“Ash is in the living room,” he adds.

“Sergio is with him. Colby is gone.”

I close my eyes for a moment.

“Okay.”

Niko doesn’t pull away immediately.

He tightens his arms a little, just enough to make it clear that this isn’t an accident.

“We’re not running away,” he says, as if answering a thought I haven’t spoken.

I swallow. “I know.”

And next time I drink water… I’ll be more careful...

Niko takes my arm after the waters in my belly have calmed down a bit, and he takes me with him, still pulling me by the arm.

"Honey. I found a mouse in the kitchen!

" Niko shouts loudly before we reach the living room.

"Catch it!" Sergio shouts this time and I laugh at his phobia.

We now enter the living room and Ash and Sergio turn to face me

"I already caught it" Niko says and he still squeezes my arm, which has already started to throb and hurt.

"Arm" I say a little too hard and after Niko I suddenly let go of my arm.

I bring him closer to me and caress him a little hoping the numbness will go away, but the bruise will still be there.

"I didn't mean to, angel! I'm so sorry!

" Niko says quickly and she hugs me, kisses the top of my head and rests her head on my neck "it feels so hard.

..does it hurt?"

"It's okay" I say and push her away, I don't answer the other question either.

I walk over to the couch where Sergio is sitting, on the edge, and squeeze myself between him and the couch.

"Are you mad at us?" Ash asks a little too loudly and I feel the blood rushing through me.

"No...I just prefer this place" I say, and I lean on Sergio's shoulder and Sergio takes my arm and gives me a massage, which by the way, hurts.

"It hurts Sergio" I spin slowly.

"Prince" Niko says

"Yes" I spin quickly without realizing that I answered him when he called me by that name.

We stay stuck for a while and I see that Ash detects me a little.

.. too pofticies, and a shiver runs down my spine.

Ash doesn't get to say anything when Sergio intervenes:

"Please, no sex in front of me, I think my dear brother's ass hurts," he says, and I laugh softly.

"I agree ," I say, and he starts laughing too.

"By the way, where's Colby?" I ask, already feeling weird from all the stares.

"I don't know, we're not devils..." He doesn't understand.

"He fucked you. And not once, twice," I say, giving him a nasty look, "plus, your neck says something else, DOLL.

" I continue and get up from the couch without announcing it.

"Where are you going?" He says quickly, annoyed that I brought this up in front of them.

"Away from the person who says they're straight but is actually GAY, GAY AND GAY," I say angrily.

I walk over to Ash and accidentally slam into him, not the couch like we planned the first time.

Ash grabs my waist, 100% not letting me go, and hugs me from behind.

When Sergio was about to say something, Colby appears again.

"Okay," he turns to Sergio and, after looking at me, "good morning to you too," he says with a smile on his face.

I glare at him, and he frowns a little. "What is it?

What did I do?", he asks me.

"Mr. Sergio Romony, he keeps saying he's not gay, just a straight guy, please educate your boyfriend to understand your feelings," I say loudly, and then Niko takes my hand in his and I calm down, but not completely, a little.

Sergio then looks at me with snake eyes and sticks his tongue out at him, while Colby goes over to him and picks him up forcefully.

"What are you doing!.." Sergio says quickly but then he is pulled into a kiss that clearly shows that there is more to it than 'accident'.

After all It's with the tongue, doesn't that make it official?

Colby smiles with his whole mouth after the kiss, while Sergio remains staring at his face.

His boyfriend runs towards me, and says:

"Now it's official" he says, turns back to Sergio and kisses his nose.

I smile. "My boyfriend" he continues and again turns his tongue into my brother's mouth, but harder and longer this time.

"Oh please, I don't want more" I say and try to free myself, but I can't, so I pull much harder and later regret that I did that because I landed right on the muzzle and hit my nose

"Owww" I say softly, I touch my nose to see if it's broken, but I'm just hit, and after Sergio they start laughing

"Karma" he says and laughs even harder, span when Colby puts a hand over his mouth with a serious face and right then blood flows from my nose.

I get up from downstairs. Ash gets up too and pulls my hand but I hit it and I hurry upstairs. In the room.

I close the door.

"How vulnerable, Cassian" I say softly and go to the bathroom to wipe the blood flowing from my nose.

After drying myself off, I leave the bathroom a little nervously and go downstairs.

I go to the back, where my mom keeps more for when you scratch or cut yourself, but I stop.

I hear voices.

I lean against the wall, and hold my breath for a moment.

"Я АЛЬФА-САМЕЦ, КОЛБИ!" says I think Ash, but I don't understand

(I'M AN ALPHA MALE, COLBY!)

"может быть просто.

.." Colby says but it's all about what I think Ash is, again.

(Maybe just...)

"Ты не понимаешь, Колби.

Я альфа-самец, ему не следовало меня одолевать, и он дал мне больше, чем мог выдержать" He almost screams but he controls his voice

("You don't understand, Colby.

I'm an alpha male, he shouldn't have pressured me and he gave me more than he could handle.

")

"Думаю, лучше обсудить это дома, а не в доме Кассиана, где, кто знает, он может и русский знать" says Niko, but I don't understand anything here either.

(I think it would be better to discuss this at home, and not at Cassian's, where, who knows, he might know Russian)

"соглашаться" Colby fills in.

(Agreed)

After that, nothing is heard, and I think he's about to leave, so I quickly leave too, and head towards the living room.

Sergio is also there, sitting on the phone, I quickly sit next to him and he looks at me, surprised but bored at the same time.

"We need to learn Russian, we'll talk later" I say softly in his ear and he raises his eyebrows but then nods.

??

Now I really wish I had learned Russian instead of French, which hasn't helped me at all so far. Even though I don't know how to speak it..