Cyrus Laskaris
I heard a sigh followed by a shifting in the space of the bed behind me. This caused me to roll over to see if Zoey was awake. I smiled to myself when I saw she was sound asleep but my smile faded when I saw she had a pained look on her face and her breathing was quick and uneven. I gently brushed my thumb over the space between her eyebrows and almost instantly she relaxed and her breathing returned to normal. I smiled to myself again before wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into my chest. She shifted again and grabbed my hand and pulled it under her chin before relaxing. I laughed slightly as I began to see what she was seeing in her dream as I myself drifted back to sleep.
I woke up a few hours later in the same position but Zoey was now facing me. I smiled to myself again and brushed her hair out of her face causing her to stirr.
"Is it morning already?" She groaned rolling to her back.
"Unfortunately," I laughed, watching her stretch. "How'd you sleep?"
She hesitated for a moment. "Good," she lied.
"Uh-huh," I said, raising an eyebrow at her.
"What?" I said nothing. "Cyrus what?" She laughed.
"You were tossing and turning all night and when I woke up earlier you were having a nightmare."
She sighed, "ya'know I really hate this telepathy thing sometimes," she said sitting up.
"What's bothering you?" I asked copying her actions. I could feel her battling her thoughts again before they went silent and I grabbed her hand. "Zoey."
"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just worried."
"About what?"
"About everything Cy," she sighed, throwing the blankets off of her and getting out of bed.
"Zoey-" I started to say but I was cut off by the slam of our bathroom door.
I let out a breath as I laid back in bed and covered my face with one of Zoey's pillows. I groaned loudly and pushed it into my face before getting up and getting dressed. Once I was done I sat on the bed and waited for Zoey to come out of the bathroom. But after a while of waiting I finally came to the conclusion that the shower she decided to take was going to be one of those showers, so I got up and went to the lounge where Isaac and Jo were sitting on the couch laughing about something.
"Glad to see some people are having a good start to the day," I said sitting down in the chair across from them.
"Awe, what's wrong Cyrus?" Isaac said, poking his bottom lip out at me. "Trouble in paradise?"
I glared at him. "Yeah, actually."
I watched as Jo swatted Isaac's arm and looked at me. This made me smile. "What happened?" She said leaning forward on her knees.
"Zoey's just in a mood. She won't let me in again and I have no idea why or how she does it," I said, rubbing my forehead. Trying to get into her head to help her was actually giving me a headache, not to mention the burning in my stomach from being away from her was making me uncomfortable.
"You know she used to do that to me too. Towards the end especially. I never could understand how she did it either," Isaac said.
"What if she's like that Blake kid? I mean he can let people into his head even if they aren't part of the pack. What if this is the same thing?" Jo said.
"I mean it is possible. There might be others in that pack that have those abilities, maybe different ones. Zoey's family is connected to that pack so maybe that has something to do with it-"
"Connected? I mean yeah Zeus is the alpha I wouldn't say that connects her to Nero," Isaac said shaking his head.
"That's not what I mean. Her and Zeus have a bloodline connection to that pack."
"How do you know this?" Jo asked.
"We found it in one of the journals in the library. The Ozais and Nero packs used to be one. Then a feud between my family and Zoey's divided us and that side became Nero. There's a prophecy written that the packs will be brought together by two members of the founding families and be one again," I said repeating what Zoey read to me that day.
"So you and Zoey-" Isaac started.
I nodded. "We think that's why your bond actually failed. Her entire family are bloodline wolves but her and Zeus were both born human along with their parents. We think the fact that the packs have been divided for so long the strength that they had together is fading which caused her and Zeus to be human and her to be mated to you. When Zeus was changed his first instinct was to merge the packs. Zoey's first instinct was to find me. That's why he took you and Zoey and changed her, but he didn't realize that when he changed her the strength was restored because it created a bond between Zoey and I."
"The joining of the founding families," Jo said quietly.
"Exactly."
"So what about Selina and Zeus? Weren't they together too?" She said, shaking her head.
"Yeah but we think that their bond was weak because he wasn't focused on joining the packs for the safety of our kind. He wanted it for more power so that's why theirs failed-"
"You guys are talking about me aren't you?" Selina said walking into the room.
"We're just trying to make sense of everything," Isaac said leaning back on the couch.
I looked up at her just as Cedar and Alex walked into the room as well. I sighed and looked down.
"We planning this or what?" Cedar laughed sitting in the chair next to me.
"Make sense of what Cryus?" Selina said, staring at me.
A silence filled the room making me focus on the burn in my stomach again. My leg started to shake as I avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. "Zoey's not here yet. We should wait till she gets here," I said, still looking down.
"Cryus, stop avoiding the question," Selina said, crossing her arms. "Something's up and you're not telling us."
I didn't speak. "Cyrus-"
"Zoey's pregnant." I blurted out.
There was more silence and I looked over at Isaac whose eyes were wide.
"Oh." She said quietly.
"And she's fighting with something and she's not letting me in after we found out that both her and Zeus have a bloodline connection to the Nero pack which was once this pack and there's a ton more information that I'm not going back through so if you really want to know go look at great grandma's journals yourself." I sighed and buried my hands in my face, that came out a little more aggressive than I meant it to be.
The burning in my stomach subsided a little causing me to look up and see Zoey standing in the doorway.
"I hope you guys haven't started yet," she said, forcing a smile. Her eyes found mine and she walked over to me.
"We were waiting for you," I said as I stood up quickly, allowing her to sit in the chair and sat myself down on the floor in front of her. I felt her hand on my shoulder and suddenly I could breathe again. The silence that came over the room when she walked in was just as uncomfortable as not having her with me. It was like what I said was a bomb blowing away any other thought from everyone's heads.
"So-uh," Zoey said, looking around the room. "Any ideas?"
Isaac cleared his throat before finally speaking. "Umm-Jo and I have a group of wolves that will remain on the outside to make sure we can get in and out." I nodded my head. "Everyone in this room is in the group that will be going in so are we all good with that?"
There was a unison "yes" from everyone in the room except for Selina and I.
"I spent too much of my life there. I'm not just waltzing back in. I'll stay here and make sure you guys aren't followed," she said, crossing her arms.
"She's right there should be a group here to make sure we get back safe and if we are followed then we're gonna need some help," Zoey said adding to Selina's comment.
"That's true and you will be in charge of that group," I said, turning to look at her.
"Excuse me?" She snapped.
"Zoey there has to be a leader here-"
"And that can't be Selina?"
"No-"
"You know she's more than capable of leading a group too, right?"
"That is true," Selina said, shrugging.
"Butt out Selina," I said looking at her quickly. She glared at me as I turned back to face Zoey.
You know why I want you here.
"This is the second time you are leaving me here to go against him alone."
I know. Just trust me on this.
"Cryus if something goes wrong-"
Then you will be far away and safe and so will our child. You have to understand why I can't let you near this even now.
"Even now? So you weren't going to let me go regardless?"
No-
"You know this whole mind communication thing is awkward when you aren't part of it," Cedar said.
"Yeah, it's like watching a really intense staring contest," Alex added.
Zoey rolled her eyes and sat back in the chair. "I can't be the only person who doesn't think it's a good idea for Zoey to be out on the field for this," I said turning to the group.
"You're not," Alana said from the doorway, causing all of us to turn to her. She was holding Matthew who was giggling and playing with a toy in her arms. "I know you want to help Zoey and you can, but I'm with Cryus on this one."
"Fine," she said from behind me. I could tell by the tone of her voice that this was in fact not fine.
"How are we going to get this plan to Blake without anyone noticing?" Selina said, trying to steer the conversation back to the original topic.
"Isaac and I will go late tonight when the younger wolves are on watch. He should be out there at that point then we'll come back and get what we need. We'll wait 48 hours then we'll go the day after tomorrow at sundown. That way that gives Blake enough time to get a group together and we might just be able to walk right in," I said.
"The day after tomorrow? Are you sure you want to wait that long?"
"If we give Blake some time maybe this will be a faster and cleaner job." I responded out loud.
"Or it will give the others time to tip off Zeus so he knows you're coming and try to kill you guys." I sighed. "You were so skeptical of the kid when he got here and now you just want to trust him like that?"
"Do you have a better plan?" I said turning to face her. She almost looked surprised at my out loud response.
"I just find it weird how all of you were so skeptical of Blake when he first showed up and now all of a sudden you guys are trusting him with your lives basically. I'm sorry but that seems a little off to me. And also, what do you geniuses plan to do with Zeus when you bring him here?" She said looking at everyone and then at me. "You can't just leave him locked in the basement for the rest of his life."
"Why not?" I shrugged.
She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're joking."
"What?"
"You are raising such a hassle to 'keep me out of harm's way' just for you to bring the cause of that harm into my house where he can break free if he really wanted to. Does that make sense to anyone?" Everyone shook their heads.
"My only other option is to kill him and I didn't think you'd want that-"
"Of course not-"
"Then what do you expect us to do Zoey?" Isaac's voice cut in. Unlike Zoey and I his voice was calm and quiet.
"Anything but that," she mumbled her voice breaking. This caused me to turn to her again. Her head was down and she was picking at her fingers in her lap. I placed my hand over hers stopping her from continuing. She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Until we figure out what to do with him, we'll bring him here. Two of the warriors will be at his door at all times to make sure nothing happens. Does that sound good to everyone?" I said my eyes scanning the room. Everyone nodded but Zoey. She didn't respond. "Okay. Isaac, meet me out back at sundown, we'll head to Nero and still make it back by morning. Once that's done we'll all meet and gather things that might help us get Zeus."
Everyone quickly nodded before standing up and leaving one by one until it was just Zoey and I. Once I knew we were alone I moved to my knees and turned my entire body to face her placing my hands on her knees.
"I know you don't like this plan-"
"I hate this plan."
"I know." I said, squeezing her knee. "But I need you to understand that I can't have anything happening to you."
"And what about you?"
"I get that you're worried-"
"I was worried before," she said, placing her hand on her stomach, "now I'm terrified."
"Understandable. Believe me I'm worried too. I'm used to being in complete control when it comes to stuff like this but I don't know if we can trust Blake. But I trust him because I trust you. For all we know he could be setting a trap and we're handing him every bit of information Zeus needs to get the jump on us. Zoey, you have no idea how much that possibility scares me," I could see tears start to form in her eyes again, this caused the sting of them to form in mine as well. I could feel my voice start to shake but I kept speaking. "But he has hurt too many people that I love for me to just stand by. So yeah, I'm going to take my strongest wolves and I am going to trust this kid because you trust him and I trust you with everything I am. And I am going to do this and I will do it alone. And you will stay here, because out of everything in this plan the only thing I can guarantee is that you will be safe because you'll be here with Selina. I know I can trust you to keep her here too." I finished my speech by reaching up and brushing a tear that had fallen on her cheek. "You are the only thing that matters now," I added.
"Not to me," she said with more tears falling down her face.
I smiled to myself as I felt a tear fall on my own cheek just as she leaned forward and pressed her forehead to mine. This simple little action sparked just enough calm and quietness to make us both sigh in relief. This was the first time I noticed just how much was going on in my mind, not to mention Zoey's. No wonder why she had been on edge today; she felt like she was being pulled in three different directions. She had her own thoughts that disagreed with the idea of staying back, she had the thoughts of a future mother who agreed that she shouldn't be anywhere near this and she had the thoughts of being my mate and the Luna of this pack and the urge to protect the pack was making this hurricane of emotions that much worse. Only I didn't see it because she was shutting me out.
"Next time you're battling these voices let me in," I said, my eyes closing as I was finally able to help her soothe her intrusive thoughts.
I felt her nod and grab my hands as all but one thought went quiet. It echoed in my mind but it wasn't just Zoey's voice. It sounded like a blend of her voice and someone else's.
"I love you."