22. Chapter 22 #2
Cyrus sighed. “Maybe, never sure if they’ll care or not.”
Gabe kissed Cyrus’s shoulder, and Cyrus closed his eyes.
He felt warm, comfortable, complete, and the tension and anxiety he had felt before everything was gone.
Gabe was alive. The conflict was settled.
While part of him was still worried that some bullshit might pop up having to do with the new people, he found himself easy to fall asleep, especially with the pain killers helping to dull his pain and lull him into peace and quiet.
Three days later, Cyrus was nearly completely healed.
Enough, so that going through the initiation ritual for the second time in the last month was easy enough.
There was nothing new, same old same old, just different ashes—Jasmine’s—and new people surrounding them.
Gabe seemed more confident during the ritual.
Tatiana seemed relieved and grateful to be part of it.
While some of the people from Crimson and Lotuslacker had left, there was still plenty there. More people than ever had shown up to the ritual as they neared the end, covered in blood, ashes, and excitement in the air. The both stood. Gabe turned to look around at everyone.
“We are now not just Crimson, but…I declare us Crimson Lotus,” he announced. “We will live together peacefully and take care of each other.”
Cyrus smirked softly as he watched Gabe. He couldn’t help but feel pride well up in his chest. Cheers and howls rang out.
The celebration started.
While Cyrus would have loved to partake in the drinking, he was still taking painkillers and healing a bit. He needed to get in the shower. He gave a soft goodnight to the others and headed inside. Figuring he’d let Gabe enjoy the aftermath a little.
Surprisingly when he got out of the shower and headed to his room, Gabe was there—also washed off the remnants of the ritual.
“Sneaking away, huh?” Gabe teased.
Cyrus rolled his eyes and moved to sit on the end of the bed after tossing his dirty laundry in the basket next to his door.
“You know, that ritual is more exhausting than I remember.” Cyrus sighed.
Gabe frowned a little. “You’re healing quickly. You should be good in another day.”
Cyrus nodded. “Yeah, just sore right now,” he admitted. “How are you doing?” he asked. Reaching a hand out to touch Gabe’s shoulder and chin. Gabe flushed softly as Cyrus’s fingers lingered underneath his jaw.
“Okay,” he admitted. “You saw me. Bruises are gone, cuts are mostly gone.”
Cyrus’s gaze shifted to Gabe’s chest, covered by his T-shirt.
He felt strange. The pull to make himself distant from Gabe was strong, and he hated it. Lily was right. He did push people away—he wasn’t sure how to get rid of the feeling of anxiety when he thought about what had happened with Kasper.
He swallowed hard. “I’m…” He sighed. “I want to be with you, but, every time I think about it… I think about Kasper,” he said. Gabe’s face shifted. It was a little random, after all.
Cyrus put his hand down.
Gabe reached over and placed his hand over the top of Cyrus’s.
“Come here, lay down,” Gabe insisted.
Cyrus sighed and though stubborn, did as he was told and shifted in the bed to lay down with Gabe. Gabe pulled the blanket over them and wrapped his arms loosely around Cyrus. Cyrus rested his head along Gabe’s chest. Listening to his heartbeat.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed the feeling of being held, just…held, and hearing someone else’s heart until that moment. It made his own heart ache.
“What was he like?” Gabe whispered.
Cyrus blinked, not expecting that question. He licked at his lips for a moment and stared through the dim light of his room.
“Charming,” Cyrus said quietly. “It was like he could…walk into a room, and everyone in the room wanted to talk to him.”
He paused, letting his body relax more.
“Warm. One of the warmest people I ever knew. He smiled, and you felt better. He was content. I was always aiming higher. He was content where he was, but… I thought he should have been Alpha, not Liam’s father, Damien, but Damien challenged his best friend. None of us expected it.”
Gabe was quiet as he listened. However, Cyrus was going slightly off track.
“Kasper didn’t want to fight. He had faith that Damien would be what was good for the pack. When he wasn’t, Liam challenged him…Kasper was already gone, and…I was in no place to challenge anyone.” He sighed.
Gabe took a breath. “But you were planning on challenging Liam when I did,” he mumbled. “Like you wanted Kasper to.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”
Cyrus shook his head softly and closed his eyes.
He moved on from that subject, back to telling Gabe what Kasper was like.
“He was impatient,” he mumbled. “Content with his job as a teacher but was always struggling to be patient. Small things, how long food took to cook, how long I was gone, how long it took to get ready. He’d always click his tongue and stood there trying to…
pretend like he wasn’t counting the seconds.
” Cyrus chuckled weakly. His eyes stung.
“He was a horrible cook,” Cyrus mumbled. Even Gabe laughed softly at that one.
“So are you,” Gabe teased.
Cyrus scoffed.
“Not that bad,” he insisted.
He felt Gabe’s fingers brush through his messy soft curls.
“How did you meet?” Gabe asked.
Cyrus pursed his lips. “Are you sure you want to hear all this?” he asked.
He didn’t want to make Gabe feel insecure.
“Kasper is gone, but you loved him. I want to hear about it. I think it will make you feel better,” Gabe told him. “How long has it been since you spoke about him?”
Cyrus couldn’t answer that question. He was silent.
“Exactly,” Gabe mumbled.
“How did you meet?” he asked again.
Cyrus took a slow breath.
“I was a guard for the middle school for a little while, fresh out of high school, immediately joined Lokk, as I didn’t know what else to do,” he explained.
“He was just starting out as a young teacher there. Saw each other every morning and when his class went to lunch. He started making efforts to chat with me more after about a month and a half. Until…we were talking longer and exchanged numbers. We just grew together.”
“He was the first person you were with?” Gabe asked.
Cyrus shook his head. “No, I dated in high school, and…was still dating around when we met. We didn’t start officially dating until five months and didn’t get into an actual relationship until three months later,” he explained. He sighed, his head feeling fuzzy, but it was comfortable.
“We got engaged after two years, married five months later,” he mumbled. They’d done the claiming ritual a while before. The engagement had come after, but Cyrus felt that might be one of the more sensitive things to bring up.
It was quiet for a moment. Cyrus focused on Gabe’s fingers in his hair.
“I want you to be happy,” Gabe whispered.
Cyrus hummed out contentedly. His heart felt a little lighter.
“Cyrus…” Gabe said after a long moment.
Cyrus shifted. “Yeah?” he asked, feeling comfortable.
“I…” Gabe started hesitantly. “I want to claim you.”