22. Chapter 22
twenty-two
The next moment Cyrus was engulfed in darkness.
It was warm and comfortable. More than it had been in the last few days.
He barely wanted to come out of it. It was so difficult to force his eyes open.
There wasn’t a lot of light in the room.
He could tell this even with blurry vision.
Just a low dim flickering light or two. He could feel a soft mattress under his body, a blanket wrapped around him, and a familiar scent of his room—and Gabe.
He groaned softly.
“Hey, you’re awake.” Gabe’s voice came softly from the left of him.
Cyrus swallowed hard, and as his vision cleared, he looked over to see Gabe sitting on the bed to his left. His gaze trailed from his head to his feet.
“Mmm.” Cyrus sighed. “And home,” he mumbled.
His head was fuzzy. It took him a moment to process what had happened. His brow furrowed. “Gabe, I—” he started.
Gabe shook his head. His hair was damp. Cyrus felt a droplet or two drip onto his shoulder.
“You’re healing quickly. You could be completely fine within a few days, but I was worried about you,” Gabe told him. “I could’ve done it on my own, Cyrus.”
Cyrus looked away for a moment. “I couldn’t risk it,” he replied quietly.
There was a silence. Gabe scooted closer and brushed his fingers along one of the several bandages on Cyrus. Gabe himself had a few but looked far less like he’d been put through the wringer as Cyrus did.
“I couldn’t risk losing you,” Cyrus told him, gaze shifting up to look into Gabe’s.
Gabe’s jaw tightened. “You went against my orders, you knew what I wanted to do, went there and tried to challenge in my place, Cyrus,” he said, “I might be new at this, but…even I know that any other Alpha would…” He shook his head. “You’re risking your place in this pack doing that.”
Cyrus looked at him in silence for a moment, tired still. “Okay,” Cyrus said simply. “Tell me I’m out, and I’m out.”
Gabe blinked at him. “You’ve been second in this pack for—” he started, but Cyrus cut him off.
“If you want to punish me, do it. I know the choices I made,” Cyrus said quietly. “My only regret is you getting hurt. T-tell me I’m out if you want me out.”
Gabe looked in his eyes for a moment and then looked to the side, a look of frustration on his face. “No, I don’t…want you out, Cyrus,” Gabe said, voice cracking. “But that was stupid, so fucking stupid. Don’t ever do that to me again, do you understand?”
Cyrus licked his lips. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters,” Cyrus mumbled.
“Cyrus…” Gabe growled softly and leaned down closer to him. “I swear to God….”
Cyrus chuckled weakly and then winced at a pain in his ribs. “Okay.” He sighed. “I promise.”
Gabe let out a breath of relief.
“As long as you promise too,” Cyrus added. Gabe furrowed his brow.
“Cyrus,” he mumbled.
“Please,” Cyrus whispered. “I love you.” His heart was squeezing in his chest so tightly that it hurt.
Gabe took a slow breath, stared into his face, and then leaned down.
Cyrus’s eyes closed as Gabe pressed his lips to his.
He sighed softly as he kissed him back slowly and gently.
The taste of his lips was frankly better than anything he had ever tasted.
Next to food after not eating for several days.
He felt Gabe’s thumb along his cheek and couldn’t help but tilt his face into Gabe’s touch.
“I promise, okay?” Gabe told him against his lips.
Cyrus let out a sigh of his relief.
Gabe kissed him one more time. “I love you,” Gabe whispered, though shaky.
Cyrus was not quick to say such things. While some part of him was worried things were moving too quickly, he knew it was true. He wouldn’t have risked his own life if it wasn’t.
Gabe sighed. “I need to go get Lily. I told her I’d tell her when you wake up,” he said.
Cyrus reached to touch Gabe’s arm, brow furrowing.
“I know.” Gabe chuckled. “Not going anywhere, I promise,” he insisted.
“Lotuslacker is now Crimson. I’m Alpha. About twenty people have left us, but we’re still bigger than before.
No one has tried to hurt me. I’ve let people leave peacefully.
There’s nothing to worry about. I need to get Lily. She’s downstairs.”
Cyrus eyed him, and he nodded. He watched as Gabe disappeared.
His eyes when looked around his room for a moment.
It was dark. The dim light of a few candles on his dresser flickered.
He wasn’t sure if it was the same day, a new day, but he was home.
Gabe was alive. He was alive. Lily and everyone else didn’t have to live under the rule of Jasmine.
Cyrus zoned out for a moment before the door opened, and there was Lily with Gabe close behind her Lily was carrying a food tray with a plate and a steaming mug on it.
Cyrus carefully pushed himself up against the many pillows on his bed.
More than he usually had on it. His room also looked like it had been cleaned. It wasn’t that messy before, but…
“Did you clean my room?” he asked Lily.
Lily smiled a nervous smile. “Yes.” She chuckled. “You were out all last night, and today, I needed something to do.”
Gabe chuckled from behind her, and Cyrus shook his head a little.
“I made you breakfast, that is…now dinner,” Lily told him and carefully set the tray in his lap.
Cyrus looked down at the plate of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and some fruit. The mug was filled with what looked like tea and smelled like ginger and lemon.
“God…thank you,” Cyrus said and immediately started to dig in.
“Be careful,” Lily insisted. “Don’t want you to get sick.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. Cyrus knew from not eating in a while, save for what he’d had before the fight, he could get sick from eating too quickly, but he was starving.
He hummed softly. He noticed Gabe had left the room but kept the door open as Lily sat there with him.
“Good?” Lily asked.
“Mhm,” Cyrus hummed out as he chewed.
“Good…” Lily mumbled quietly, giving him a soft smile—suddenly, her hand was whacking him in the side of his head.
“Ah! Hey!” Cyrus huffed.
“Don’t you ever do that again!” Lily hissed. “Scare me like that… Worried to death.”
Cyrus’s brow unfurled, and he sighed. “Okay, okay,” he told her. “I’m sorry.”
She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I love you, but if you try to get yourself killed again, I’ll kill you myself,” she mumbled. Cyrus flushed slightly. Feeling a little overwhelmed by the affection he was getting.
“Alright!” Cyrus groaned. “Love you too….”
Lily scooted closer and leaned against him a little as he ate.
“I heard what you said to Gabe,” Lily whispered.
Cyrus blinked. “Yeah?” he asked.
Lily chuckled. “Yeah.” She sighed. “Not the best way to figure out how you feel, but…I’m happy for you.”
Cyrus blushed more and shoved another bite of food into his mouth. “Mhm.”
Lily laughed softly. “Even injured and eating food made with love, you’re stubborn, huh?” she asked.
Cyrus shrugged a little and winced in pain.
“Let me get you, pain killers,” Lily offered. “The good stuff.” She chuckled and then darted out of the room.
Cyrus sighed. Somehow though he felt glad to be safe and around people and food again, he was still grateful for the silence and emptiness of the room.
He ate in quiet for the next minute or two.
Trying to remind himself not to eat too quickly.
It was so delicious. He sipped at the tea that made his dry throat feel better.
When he was done eating, taking medication, drinking about a liter or so of water, and finishing his tea off, Cyrus would have attempted to get out of bed if Gabe and Lily hadn’t insisted he stay in it.
Honestly, as soon as he thought about getting up, he was kind of exhausted. So, he wasn’t objecting.
Gabe came in after taking Cyrus’s dishes to the kitchen.
“How are people acclimating?” he asked.
Gabe shook his head. “As well as they can, it’s only been a day. We still have to do a ritual to bring everyone from Lotuslacker officially to our side, bind them to the pack and…figure out who is going to remain at the pack house there to oversee it.”
Cyrus nodded slowly. “Wait, how do you even know what to do?” he asked.
Gabe chuckled. “Tatiana and Lily have been talking to me about it. Trust me. I had no idea before them. I didn’t know if the pack house there would become an empty house or what.”
Gabe walked over to sit beside him on the bed.
Cyrus sighed and shifted to lean against the side of his shoulder.
Feeling very little interest in pretending he didn’t want to be close to the man.
After all, they’d risked their lives for each other.
Cyrus had gone through several days of torture for Gabe.
“How are you feeling?” Gabe asked him.
Cyrus pursed his lips. “Well, the pain killers are setting in, so that helps.” He sighed and slid down so that he was more lying and not sitting up. It felt much better. He let out a slow breath. His head tilted to the side.
“Lay with me?” he asked.
Gabe smiled softly and nodded. He got up for a moment to close the door and then slid into bed carefully beside Cyrus.
Cyrus hissed slightly in pain but tried to do his best not to make a sound as Gabe cuddled up against him under the blanket.
Gabe rested his head against Cyrus’s less injured shoulder.
Cyrus let his body relax as much as it could and pressed his face against Gabe’s hair and the side of his face.
“When you’re healed, we’ll do the initiation ritual,” Gabe told him quietly.
Usually, the second in command of the other pack would also do it, and depending on which Alpha won, decided which second in command would remain. Unfortunately, or perhaps, fortunately, Oliver was dead, which left Cyrus to help Gabe bring the other wolves officially into their pack.
Their district was growing ever larger still.
“And I’ll write to the council,” Cyrus mumbled.
Gabe snorted. “Right.” He chuckled. “Aren’t they going to be surprised.”