Kyros (discontinued)

Chapter One

"NICOS. WAKE UP." Talia whispered into his ear, hearing his soft snores come to a halt as she gripped his shoulders and shook them. She rolled her eyes at his grouchy response. He was always such a heavy sleeper.

Nicos grumbled, "What do you want?"

"Come train with me."

Nicos mumbled something incoherent, rubbing his eyes groggily as he sat up.

"Fine, I'll get dressed."

She pulled away from him, shuffling out of his room and descending down the dark and rickety stairs.

"Is he up yet?" Aunt Helena asked, dusting the flour from her apron. She wiped the sweat off her glistening forehead and tucked a sliver strand of hair behind her ears, her green eyes staring at Talia expectantly.

Talia nodded, grabbing a ripe, green apple from the fruit basket placed on the dining table and munching on it.

"Don't leave without eating," Helena smiled, "I made your favorite, waffles and berries."

Talia grinned, walking over to the short woman and kissing her forehead, "You know I love you, right?"

"Damn right you do,"

Talia let out a soft laugh, she loved that woman with all her heart.

Helena walked back into the kitchen to tend to her work; she was a cook for the Alpha and she was a good one at that. Talia got up early in the mornings to help her with the preparations for their first meal of the day.

Nicos... not so much. He liked to sleep until noon.

Loud footsteps could be heard stomping down the stairs, and a groggy Nicos descended, joining Talia on the dining table.

"The queen has risen from her slumber!" Talia cheered as a heavy-eyed Nicos took slow steps towards her.

"Shut the fuck up," Nicos grumbled.

"She speaks!" Talia joked.

"Alright, alright, settle down you two." Helena said, entering the room with two plates of waffles in her hand, topped with maple syrup and berries.

Talia grinned widely, "I could die a happy woman."

Nicos snorted, "You're barely a little boy, let alone a woman."

Talia jabbed his stomach with her elbow and turned to Helena. "Aunt Helena, let's just ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist."

"Sometimes, it's hard to believe you're both twenty years old."

"Mom, how many times do we need to over this? Twenty years and six months." Nicos corrected her, pointing a finger out.

Talia rolled her eyes, "It's a shame, he had a 6 month head start and yet he has the maturity of a 10 year old."

The room went quiet with one glare from Helena - no one dared to utter a word. In this house, Helenas word was as good as the law.

Talia's smile was wiped off her face as her eyes caught a photo frame hung up on the wall of Helenas house. Two babies held by the arms of Helena as she smiled at the camera.

It was just the three of them - it was always the three of them. She never knew a life outside of this - no idea who her parents were, who she was, where she came from. She only knew what she was told.

She always dreamt of a life where she belonged, of people she could utter the words "mom" and "dad" to, of a place where she didn't feel so alone. The presence of Helena and Nicos never filled that void in her chest, but it eased her pain.