"Addy wasn't too hurt, was she?" Rhea asked. Her eyes examined the streets overlooking Wildflower carefully.
"It was a silver blade but she will heal. The cut wasn't that deep. The blade went in by an inch or so." Cassian replied.
Rhea winced. "She's never got cut by a kitchen knife let alone stabbed by a dagger. Addy won't be too thrilled by the scar either."
"It's the price she pays for impersonating and deceiving you." Cassian said. A dark shadow crept over his expression.
"There is more to the story. Addy would never do that to me. I don't trust Kai-" Rhea stopped when Cassian's lips involuntarily twitched.
"What?" He said innocently.
"Nothing." Rhea muttered. She turned away to the streets once again.
"Tell me." Cassian prodded. His breath caressed her earlobes. Rhea shivered. "Buttercup."
"It's annoying that you were right. Happy?" Rhea growled, twisting around on her heels.
Cassian smirked. He leaned in until their foreheads touched. "Not really."
Rhea placed her hands on his chest. They were stuffed in a narrow alleyway so nobody paid any heed to them. The few who did could only see parts of their body shadowed in by the dark of the night.
"I can smell that mutt all over you." Cassian whispered. His teeth nipped her ear. Rhea made a noise at the back of her throat. "I hate it."
Cassian watched the grey in her eyes swirl to black. Her thick scent coiled around his neck in a strangle. Rhea slipped one hand to the back of his neck. Her lips almost grazed his own. Cassian wet his lips with his tongue.
Rhea dropped her gaze to them briefly before staring back into his eyes. Cassian's hands bunched the fabric of her dress at the waist. He wanted nothing more than to push her against the wall and feel her body move against his.
"We have to change that." Rhea said. She pressed a kiss on his jawline.
Cassian groaned. "How did I ever believe that your sister was really you?"
Rhea blinked. Her expression cleared and she lightly pushed Cassian away. "They're changing shifts. Now's our chance."
Cassian took a moment to gather himself. 'Why the fuck did you have to bring that up you fool?'
"Iris? Is that really you?"
Both Cassian and Rhea froze. Rhea stepped in front of Cassian as she turned around to smile at the person addressing her.
"Indeed." Rhea smiled at the light haired girl. "Is there something you need from me, Poppy?"
The girl, Poppy shook her head. Her light wavy curls fell around her shoulders. She seemed dainty like a faerie. Short stature, nimble limbs and sharp eyes. Cassian wondered if she were really one but her ears looked normal. Of course he couldn't smell her scent to be completely sure.
"People were talking about you so I got curious." She replied. "Who is this with you?"
"Well, people need somebody to talk about every now and then. I'm quite the popular subject so I won't listen in on to their nonsense if I were you." Rhea said. She shifted closer to Cassian. "This is somebody who is looking to speak to the Mistress. I was just escorting him to the parlor. I'll see you around!"
Without waiting for a reply, Rhea tugged Cassian into the brothel by his sleeve. The thick scent of incense and perfume at once stung his nostrils. Wolven looked at him flirtatiously, some even urging him to come closer. Though none dared to actually come close to him. Cassian realised why only when he caught sight of his mate's murderous gaze daring wolven to approach them.
Cassian caught sight of the window they had used to get in days before. A blush covered his ears at thoughts of events that took place after. He cleared his throat earning a curious glance from his mate.
"The medicine vial should be in the parlor." Rhea told him in a low voice. "Ursula retires for dinner exactly at the first shift of guards. We wait nearby until she leaves and then I sneak in, grab the vial while you stand guard for me at the door."
"I'm not standing guard." Cassian frowned.
Rhea paused and turned around. Cassian barely caught himself from stumbling into her. Rhea caught hold of his arms in an attempt to steady him. Warmth simmered through him.
"Is the job too meagre for His Royal Highness?" She asked.
"Indeed, it is. I've never stood guard for anybody in my life." Cassian replied.
Rhea rolled her eyes and resumed walking. "Well today you're going to learn."
"Has anybody ever told you how bossy you are?" Cassian said, striding to catch up.
"They also emphasized how much it aroused them. Do you share the opinion, Princeling?" Rhea replied. She smirked as Cassian scowled.
"Who said such a thing?" He demanded.
Rhea shushed him as Ursula appeared at the doorway of the parlor. Cassian quickly grabbed Rhea and pushed both of them behind the sheer drapes hanging from the ceiling. He pressed her against the wall and buried his nose in her hair.
"W-What do you think you're doing?" Rhea whispered. Cassian heard her breath hitch as he trailed his hands on her waist.
"We are in a brothel. Doesn't make sense to loiter suspiciously." Cassian whispered back. His lips left feather light strokes of heat on her skin.
Ursula looked in their direction but having found nothing out of the ordinary, she quickly left. Neither Rhea nor Cassian moved until her footsteps faded away in the distance. Cassian had almost forgotten that his mate was still in the last days of her heat.
It struck him only when the scent of her arousal seeped into his senses. Rhea's hands firmly clutched the front of his shirt, one hand over his rapid heartbeat. Her cheeks tinged pink and lips parted to catch her breath. Cassian's own need called out to him but he suppressed the urge.
"I'll stand guard." He said taking several steps back.
"Yeah." Rhea said simply.
Neither faced each other as they set to work. Rhea slid a pin from her hair and kneeled in front of the keyhole. Cassian watched as her fingers deftly unhinged and shaped the clip to fit in the lock. Rhea carefully pushed it in the keyhole. A twist, two jabs, a gentle push. A door creaked open. Cassian winced at the too loud noise in the quiet of the corridor.
"How many times have you done that before?" He asked. Rhea flashed him a sly grin.
"Too many to keep records." She shrugged. "Stay here."
Cassian noticed her clenched fists. Before he could stop himself, Cassian slid his hand over hers. Rhea startled as if suddenly remembering that he was right there with her.
"What's wrong?" Cassian asked softly.
Rhea shook her head. "I'll be back."
Cassian opened his mouth to press further but stopped and gave Rhea a curt nod. He would give her time to open up to him. Just as Rhea let him have his space.
Cassian leaned against the doorframe. Inside the room, Rhea searched for the vial as quietly as a mouse. Only the light creak of wood or an occasional low uttered curses served as disturbances. It was well over fifteen minutes when Cassian picked up a distant sound of footsteps coming their way.
"Buttercup, you need to hurry. I hear footsteps." Cassian called. He heard a low rattle of a drawer followed by a string of curses. The footsteps drew closer.
Cassian peeked inside the parlor and found his mate's shadow behind the large metal desk. His eyes traveled around the room for exits but found a single window which unfortunately was barred. Not to mention in plain sight and too close to the desk.
Cassian caught sight of the Mistress as she turned the corner. "Fuck it." He muttered. "Rhea we have to leave. Now."
Rhea gave a soft jubilant cry and reappeared from behind the desk. She clutched a small vial of bright yellow liquid in it. Her smile slipped when her gaze found Cassian's urgent expression.
"Iris?" Ursula's voice drifted from the end of the corridor.
Rhea quickly pushed Cassian behind the streak of sheer curtains that they had used before.
"Keep this safe." Rhea said. She gave Cassian the vial. "Return to the palace as quickly as you can and make sure Addy drinks every last drop."
Cassian caught her wrist. His eyes were fierce as they stared into pools of thunderstorm grey. "I'm not leaving you behind."
"Don't even dream of running away again, you filthy brat! Capture her!" Ursula ordered loudly.
"The only way out is past Ursula. Slip away while her attention is on me. I'll find you soon, I promise." Rhea told him. Her fingers brushed his cheek. Cassian caught her hand firmly in his.
"I'm not losing you again, Buttercup. I swore I would never make that mistake twice." Cassian said. His eyes flashed with an emotion Rhea couldn't understand.
"You won't lose me. I'm here. I'm always here." Rhea whispered. "Addy must know that I am not angry at her and that I believe in her. She needs to drink this to live another day, Cass. I cannot lose Addy. She's everything I have left. Please."
"Rhea-" Cassian was cut off the heavy footsteps of guards.
Rhea stood on her toes to press a kiss on his cheek. "I'll be okay. Ursula won't kill me. She needs me alive."
Rhea pushed him deeper into the shadows in time for the guards to arrive near the parlor. One of them roughly twisted Rhea's hands behind her back and pressed her against the chest. She coughed when his grip tightened at the back of her neck.
Cassian bit his lip, teeth sinking into the skin so deep that blood trickled past his chin. His eyes darkened nearly to complete black. Cassian growled low, the sound muffled in the chaos beyond. His primal instinct pushed him to go on a rampage and rip the arm that touched his mate.
From where she was held against the wall, Rhea's eyes locked onto Cassian. 'Go.' She seemed to plead. 'I'll be fine. Go!'
Cassian shut his eyes and let out a ragged breath. When he reopened them, they blazed with a new kind of determination. 'Never again.'
"So this is where you sneaked off to. Worthless bitch." Ursula spat.
The desperation in Rhea's eyes flashed in his mind. "She's everything I have left. Please."
Cassias safely tucked the vial inside one of the many small pockets that were securely hemmed on the inside of his trousers. Claws descended from his nails. Cassian let out a malicious growl as he ripped the curtain, making his presence known. Ursula startled in surprise. Her eyes narrowed as she deciphered his identity in the dim lighting.
"What are you doing?" Rhea cried out. Her captor kicked her calf making her knees buckle.
Cassian saw red. He lunged at the mutt before anybody could react. His snarl echoed viciously through the space as blood and sinew splattered on the walls. The wolven's body thumped to the ground lifelessly, his beating heart still pumping blood down Cassian's arm.
He dropped it to the floor as if it were nothing but a heap of clay. The heart punctured in a flinchingly wet squelch under Cassian's heel. Rhea stared at him with wide eyes as he helped her up to her feet.
"You are everything I have left." Cassian whispered eyes locked with hers.
Rhea glanced behind him for a split second before using him as support to plunge the dagger into the throat of another one of Ursula's lackeys. Thick red blood dripped from the gleaming blade. Cassian smirked eyeing the ruby hilt of the dagger.
"I see it has finally found it's rightful owner." He said. Cassian pushed Rhea out of the way in time to drive his knee into a wolven's stomach. The Wolven's wheezed, air completely knocked out of his lungs.
"Did you forget that the fate of your sister's life lies in my hands, wretched child?" Ursula yelled furiously. "What are you useless mutts waiting around for? Capture them at once!"
Rhea grinned at Cassian. It seemed feral with the blood that covered her skin. "You've never seen me in action yet."
Cassian rolled back his shoulders as more footsteps thundered down the corridor. His eyes briefly left to inspect the number before locking onto Rhea once again. "Neither have you, Buttercup."
"I need her alive." Rhea said nodding at the Mistress.
Cassian scrunched his nose in distaste. "Why?"
Rhea's lips twitched in amusement of his reaction. "I have questions that need answers."
"I won't touch her." Cassian replied with a shrug. "Do what you must."
Rhea smiled as she turned towards her Mistress. "Of course." She said, cracking her knuckles. "I need her alive not unbroken."
Cassian breathed out a short laugh as the guards shifted into their wolf forms. "Kinky."
"That old hag?" Rhea said incredulously. She did not pause to hear his response as bones cracked and elongated until a familiar auburn-white wolf charged at the incoming mutts.
Cassian shifted into his midnight wolf form just as the first of the wolven threw themselves at his mercy. From the corner of his eye, Cassian saw Rhea glide her blade sharp claws through the underside of a mutt. It sliced through as if he were butter. The wolven barely made a sound before his lifeless gutted remains slid across the hardwood floor.
Cassian plunged his teeth into the neck of a wolven. Another jumped on his body which he skilfully overtook and slammed the mutt head first on the ground. A satisfying crack resonated as her neck broke. Cassian did not waste time in killing her. The wolven probably never knew who she fought fruitlessly against.
His claws slashed at two more, marking their faces. One narrowly dodged at losing an eye. Cassian felt blood pool in his mouth as he tore through flesh and bone. He ducked as one of the few remaining launched himself at Cassian. The wolven sunk his teeth into Cassian's hind leg.
Cassian bit his neck and threw the wolven off his body. Rhea zipped into the shadows of the hallway leaving him behind. Cassian found out a moment later that Ursula was missing from the scene. He cursed and ran after his mate. A series of surprised yelps and screams echoed through the brothel as he raced through.
Cassian arrived to the front of the brothel in time to witness Ursula scream in both pain and horror upon the sight of Rhea snapping the bones on her legs between her powerful jaws. His mate didn't stop there. She slashed her claws on the Mistress's back, deep and long enough for Cassian to catch the death white of her bones and sickening fright in her eyes.
Rhea pressed on the snapped bones, breaking them into pieces that wouldn't heal if left untreated immediately. Ursula's screams filled the area drawing attention from both inside and outside the brothel.
"Cass, we're here!" Rowan called through the mindlink.
Cassian whipped his head up as three large wolven appeared at the gates. Rowan's chocolate wolf stopped short at the scene before him. Xander's light grey and Thomas' pale brown wolf forms joined at his heels not a moment after.
"Holy mother of wolven." Thomas whispered.
Rhea lifted her head to look at them. She snarled baring her teeth mistaking Cassian's soldiers as new threat. His paws sunk into the snow as he padded to the grotesque figure that lay in a pool of her own blood. He noticed that she was barely conscious. And protectively over her, stood his mate guarding her prey.
Rhea eyed him as he brushed against her body. Cassian nudged her away trying to tell her that she had broken the wolven enough. Any more and there would be no answers to her questions. Rhea resisted but gave in when Cassian growled, allowing some of his alpha tone to slip in his voice.
"Double the security of her cell." Cassian ordered Rowan. Thomas helped Xander lift Ursula on his back. "This one is not like the rest."
Rhea did not utter a word until they reached the palace. Only then she had asked that she be taken to Adelpha at once. Adelpha startled at the sight of them but immediately reached to embrace Rhea. Cassian passed Rhea the vial that had somehow remained intact throughout.
It was covered with droplets of blood and several scratches but the vial held onto its contents securely. Cassian had forgotten about the vial when he'd shifted. Fortunately, it had landed on the body of one of the guards. Cassian had found it when he left Rhea with Rowan briefly in search for the missing vial.
He wordlessly watched Rhea feed her injured sister whatever was in the vial. He had dismissed all the helps leaving only the four of them - including Rowan who currently helped Adelpha sit up. The entire time Adelpha had barely looked in Cassian's way.
He understood that it might be humiliating for her to face him after the night's events. But questions still burned on the tip of his tongue. Why hadn't she just asked for Cassian's help rather than go through this dangerous charade?
"I am so sorry you had to go through any of this, Addy. It is all my fault. If only I'd paid more attention-" Rhea choked on a sob.
Rowan glanced at Cassian then at Rhea. When Cassian hesitated, Rowan rolled his eyes. "Neither of you are at fault. So stop blaming yourself, Little Luna."
Adelpha nod her head in agreement. "He's right, Rhea. And I agreed to this as well. You didn't know any of it."
Rhea flinched at that. "Why? Why did you agree?"
Adelpha looked at Cassian for the first time since the balcony. She swallowed before answering. "I-I know...Mistress told me what you had to do to earn this medicine for me. And your-our freedom from the Wildflower."
Rhea blanched. "Addy there was no need...I had it all in control. I know perfectly how to protect what belongs to me-" Adelpha flinched. "-and that includes you."
"I'm sorry. It seems my meddling only caused you harm." Adelpha said. She fiddled her thumbs together and stared down at her lap.
Cassian pushed himself off the wall. "We must rest. All of us have had a long day."
"I'll stay here with Addy." Rhea spoke at once. "She might get sick in the night and it would be fatal if nobody is around."
"I do not want you here." Adelpha said. Hurt flashed across Rhea's eyes. A strange emotion simmered inside Cassian. He opened his mouth to retort but Adelpha continued. "You need a good night's sleep as much I do, Rhea. I do not want you to tire yourself while babysitting me. I'll be fine."
"I can stay back. I'll sleep on the floor." Rowan offered kindly. "Lady Adelpha is right, Little Luna. You need rest. Not to mention you reek. That alone will make me sick if I were your sister."
Rhea gasped and hit Rowan's arm. Cassian chuckled at the exchange. He moved close until he could gather his mate inside his arms. "I would argue in your favour but Rowan is right. You...we-" Cassian quickly corrected himself upon Rhea's glare. "-smell filthy. Not to mention you need your wounds checked upon."
Cassian leaned in to kiss her forehead. Rhea's red cheeks blazed like they were on fire. She lightly pushed his chest but Cassian only held her tighter. He felt both Rowan and Adelpha's eyes on them. One more scrutinising than the other.
"I'm trying to say this in the nicest way possible but can you please continue this back in your chambers where my eyes cannot be burned by such outrageous display of cringe." Rowan said. He pretended to look sick.
"That is actually a great idea." Rhea flashed him a smug grin. "I definitely do not want to be marked in front of children either."
Cassian choked on his breath. Rowan burst into laughter. Addy narrowed her eyes at Rhea playfully. "Maybe begin by getting your mate to sleep on the same bed as you before letting your imagination run wild, sister dearest."
Rhea felt Cassian go still behind her. She leaned into him so much that she felt his heart pound at the beat as hers did. "Maybe don't think about us sleeping together and focus more on getting better. That way you can find yourself a mate and stop thinking about mine."
It was friendly jab between siblings but Cassian felt heat spread across his body alighting a deep need inside of him. His hands squeezed Rhea's hips making her gasp lightly.
"Let's get going before an all out brawl starts between the both of you. Weren't you just doting over Lady Adelpha like a mother hen, Buttercup?" Cassian mused.
Rhea rolled her eyes and pulled herself away from him. Cassian immediately felt the emptiness of her presence. Rhea walked over to kiss Adelpha on the cheek.
"I'll see you in the morning, Addy. Fetch for me at once if you feel sick. I'll be very mad if you do not oblige." Rhea said.
Addy smiled. "I promise."
"No goodnight kisses for me, Little Luna?" Rowan chirped.
"You can kiss your ass goodbye." Cassian grumbled making Rhea laugh.
He watched with a frown and Rowan in surprise as Rhea kissed Rowan's cheek. She smiled fondly at him. Cassian awaited jealousy to wash over him like it did when Rhea behaved friendly with Kai, but felt none.
"Thank you for always coming to our aid. I truly mean it." Rhea said.
Rowan smiled back, lips falling into an easy lopsided curve. "You are family. Family always have each other's back."
Cassian only realised when they returned to his room, the reason of his lack of jealousy. As a matter of fact, he didn't have the need to feel the foolish emotion even when Rhea was with Kai. Because Cassian found that she never smiled at them nor looked at them with the same intensity and desire, with the same warmth as she did Cassian.
Like Cassian truly meant every little thing in the world.
"Buttercup?" Cassian called as Rhea returned from her bath. She hummed with her back to him as she dried her hair. He noticed her limp when she moved but at the moment he wanted- no, needed - to do something before he lost confidence. "Look at me." He said while standing right behind her.
"What-" Rhea never got to finish her question.
Because then, Cassian was kissing Rhea.