What others don't see
~
Lycus
~
Rexton was an eclipse, a veil of what was beyond but shouldn't be unearthed.
Lycus didn't want him found, he didn't want him freed and in his mind of thoughts, he knew it was for the best.
The best for Rexton.
The lycan's eyes lingered on the blood beneath his claws and grimaced, jaw ticking. His bones cracked and snapped, falling back into place to the design of a human. He almost didn't want to turn back. Not with what awaited him.
Lycus wanted to claw his own heart out, tear it out and crush it before he fell to his death. He wasn't even around his little brother for a few minutes and an argument unravelled, a fight that turned bloody.
Twisting his head around, his jaw snapping and chin jutting out, he felt his canines fade away.
So the same Rexton looked. Lanky, messy-haired and a soulful face that never died out from the darkness.
The darkness Lycus created for him.
"I don't know, he drinks more than he ever has, Accalia," Tristan said sombrely from the second story of the manor, his voice drilling into Lycus's skull.
Lycus paused in his steps, his claws retracting, fur retreating into his skin and his surroundings becoming distinct, but in a different light. His vision in his lycanthrope phase was much more glaring and prominent — all objects closer than before where he could pick apart sand, count every single star in the sky and see her.
At times, seeing her could be blinding.
"Does he—" caution etched in Accalia's throat and Lycus wanted to take it away from her. "Does he talk about me?"
Lycus searched around the bushes, slipping his hands through the cracks of branches and scooping up a pair of grey sweatpants. He wasn't exactly in the mood to stalk through his house stark naked with many potentials catching his behind or front.
"You know how Dad got, losing mum and then Aunty Katerina, Uncle Henry, Grace and Derek, he had to take us all on by himself." It was loyalty in Tristan's words, plain and unfaltering loyalty.
"I know, but it doesn't excuse how he turned out."
Accalia hardly spoke about her father, all Lycus knew about him was his firm and strict nature, his infamous lineage stemming from that. From time to time, Lycus recalled when he slapped Accalia across the face and his blood ran hot, wanting to enforce an example on the man for it.
"I, mean look at how all of us turned out?" Tristan responded and his stocky frame encompassed the window, his back pressing against the glass.
"What do you mean?" It was pain in Accalia's voice.
"We're all fuckheads — never mind, I better get to bed." Lycus watched as Tristan shifted away from the glass and his voice grew distant. "Will you be fine here on your own?"
Why wouldn't she be? Lycus seethed into his head.
"Yeah, of course. It's been a long day, everyone is already sleeping anyway. Night, Tris."
A door closed and the bedroom light blew out.
Lycus grounded his teeth together, still reigning the beast into its cage. He didn't like the idea of Accalia being all alone, trying to sleep with the stitches and in a room he wasn't close to.
His room was at the other end of the house, further away from everyone and closest to the woods, for a reason that reminded him of what occurred today.
I shouldn't have said that to Rexton — I should have said it to Gabriel, Hell, a part of Lycus knew he shouldn't have said anything at all.
How simple it was for Gabriel, just to hug him and look at him without a rack of guilt that froze even a lycan to the spot.
Because seeing him, even the faintest glimpses of him, instilled an injection of shame Lycus couldn't fight against.
Looking away from Rexton helped, only enough that Lycus knew he shouldn't be here. He should be back in the coffin, wrapped in chains and metal like it was supposed to be.
Rexton shouldn't be here.
The fight that unfolded between the two of them confirmed it so plainly. Lycus could feel the rage exuding off Rexton, even if his inner self was revealed to not be that at all.
Rexton laying his fist into Lycus only revealed his animosity towards him. Accalia being at her end with Lycus only proved that he had completely failed. Rexton protecting Accalia from Lycus's hands enforced that.
Failing at all things he had tried to control for so long. Trying so hard to protect.
Lycus wanted to head into Accalia's room, but someone else called to him.
Silently opening the front door, Lycus was met with dreariness and no voices welcomed his ears. With the day everyone had endured, no doubt they would all be asleep.
Creeping through the hallway, he came to the living room and a gust of wind whispered through the huge area.
It wasn't an open window, but a shattered one that instilled a cool breeze.
Gabriel was the first person Lycus saw, lounging stiffly on the armchair with a wool blanket covering his uncomfortable form. He would have made Nina sleep soundly away from everyone else.
Lycus was curious to know who Gabriel was protecting in all of this. Rexton against Cadence, Lycus against Rexton or Rexton against himself.
Gabriel breathed evenly, stirring around to get cosy in the confining space.
Lycus hovered his sights on Rexton.
Air left his lungs as he inspected Rexton's throat. No imprints of the claw mark Lycus left showed and he was almost amazed by it, expecting the complete opposite.
Rexton was something else.
Lycus considered how Rexton could find it in himself to be able to sleep so soundly, so peacefully where it looked like nothing had ever troubled the young man. But it quickly came to mind as to why. When a vampire consumes blood, they're in a euphoric high, unable to come down. Rexton had since crashed, falling into a deep sleep.
Lycus clenched his jaw, teeth-rattling and fought at the guilt wanting to brand him the way the coffin branded Rexton.
Lycus nudged the blanket beneath Rexton's chin and skimmed his shoulder, wanting to confirm his liveliness.
"Night, Rex." Lycus whispered.
Steering away, Lycus took his eyes off his brothers and headed to the staircase that led to someone else he craved to see.
Accalia was restless when Lycus crossed the threshold of her bedroom. Her body couldn't sit still and the blanket smothered her in tangles.
Lycus tore the blankets off her to make her breathe better, but her eyes snapped open and she lurched herself against the headboard, shooting her hand over to the nightstand that had a dagger on it.
"Lycus," Accalia mumbled, hunching forward as she reached for her back with a suppressed wince. "What are you doing in here?"
Lycus scanned her, realising walking in unannounced wasn't the smartest move to make. "Is your back alright?"
Accalia cooed through the pain and shuffled back down against the mattress. "Sore." She clipped.
More than that. It looked as if it was hurting her from the inside out.
"The healers stitched it back up?" Lycus asked.
She glared. "Shortly before Rexton came into the pack."
He wanted to inspect it for her, see exactly where the pain could be inflaming but imagined it would be all over her back.
"I didn't mean to wake you up, I just wanted to check on you. You weren't sleeping well." Lycus said and took a seat on the end of the mattress.
By the look on Accalia's face, eyes narrowing and nose scrunching, it wasn't welcomed but Lycus didn't stand back up.
Instead, he stretched over to her and skimmed the pad of his finger across her cheekbone.
"What are you doing?" Accalia snapped, swatting his hand away with a fiery glower.
Lycus smiled crookedly at her and shrugged. "How are you feeling?"
Accalia looked him up and down, disgust on her face and Lycus could say it was welcomed. Only because it was Accalia, the spitfire he loved to see.
"How am I feeling? How are you feeling? You know, after putting your claws in Rexton's neck from a fight you caused! After you—"
"You two on a first name basis now, huh?"
Accalia shook her head and kicked him off the bed with a hard shove.
Lycus laughed, falling back and to annoy her further, stretched out along the floor, the surface cooling his heated skin.
"Get out. You've annoyed me enough to last me a lifetime." Accalia snapped at him, pulling the blankets back over her.
Lycus rolled his eyes and turned to face her. If she didn't realise how much of a stunner she was, he wanted nothing more to tell her every single day. By this point, with her flaming words, warmth-filled eyes and wild beauty, he could never get over her. Not in the slightest.
"Oh, come on, beautiful, I'm teasing. Just teasing."
Accalia lolled her head to the side. "Lycus, you shouldn't have said that to Rexton."
Lycus nodded at her, realising this from the moment he shifted, but even in that clarity, nothing could stop the storm from rolling in.
Seriousness settled on her face again and she muttered, "you're lucky Tristan didn't shoot you, why would you do that in the first place?"
Lycus wished he could answer that for her because he hadn't the faintest clue either. Was it possessiveness? The need to have Accalia within his reach and only his own. Rexton's scent was all over her, washing her in it and that grazed Lycus slightly.
He didn't know if Rexton was going to hurt her or not before he arrived home. He didn't know if Accalia was further injured or worse, dead. On the road back to the pack all he thought was the liveliness of his mate and how quickly that could be diminished.
Lycus expected wildness from his brother, a caged beast that was feral and barbaric, hellbent on consuming blood and hurting others. Only to be met with the kid eating cereal and looking as unassuming as the day he was caged.
"I thought Rexton could have killed you. When you gave me that phone call, I thought you were gone. I thought that was going to be the last time I'd ever hear from you, Accalia." Lycus admitted to her.
Accalia came to the end of the bed and hovered above him, eyes shining. "But I'm okay. Rexton was scared as I was when I first met him. He was scared of himself, Lycus. And worse of all, I think he was scared of what his brothers would think of him."
Lycus sat up, face swimming toward hers and he was immensely relieved when she didn't move away from him. "He bit Cadence, he could've done worse."
Accalia nodded, not a show of her expression excusing that and Lycus didn't want her to. Rexton could be unpredictable, especially with all these years with no blood.
"I know, which is why we have to be wary of him, but not treat him like he's an animal." Accalia reasoned.
Lycus wanted to kiss her. Grab the back of her head, drag her into him and never let go.
Until that slithering question welcomed his ears.
"Why did you put Rexton away?"
Lycus rose to his feet and stretched, ignoring Accalia's watchful gaze that wasn't at all fazed by his muscular frame.
She wanted answers and Lycus couldn't give them. He refused.
"I put him away for his own protection."
"But why—"
"Accalia!" Lycus snapped and she steered away from him, face solid enough to not inspect anything was wrong.
"Goodnight, Lycus."
Lycus sighed, dragging his hand down his face as she threw the blanket over her and turned away from him.
Wanting to kick himself, Lycus came to her side of the bed and crouched down, levelling his face with hers. "I'm sorry."
Even he felt it was forced and not compelling as he intended it to be. But he wanted it to mean something to Accalia, to find it in herself to forgive all the wrongs he had made.
"Say sorry to him." Accalia turned away, giving Lycus her back.
Growling lowly, Lycus jumped over her and landed on the bed with a thud. Before she could protest or throw a pillow at him, he took half of the blanket she had and threw it over the both of them.
"You're so beautiful when you're annoyed and even more when it's at me." Lycus stated and tapped her nose, eyes falling to her parted lips.
"So beautiful." He murmured under his breath.
"Flirting will get you nowhere, Lycus Fenris."
"Apologising will get me somewhere, Accalia Lilybelle Larren."
They faced off with stubborn and fixed gazes.
After a moment, Accalia lost the unsaid game and buried her head into the pillow, closing her eyes.
"Is it okay if my family stayed?" Accalia whispered, keeping her eyes closed and distance parted.
Lycus brushed his hand across her hip and she stilled under his touch, moving enough to get his hold off her.
Closing his eyes to gather himself, Lycus said, "It's fine. It's the least I could do after strangling your cousin. And you need them right now."
Lycus knew there would be more to be done after what he did to Cadence. He wouldn't be in Accalia's circle of trust for a while, losing that privilege after hurting her family. It would take time, effort and endless apologies that would fall on deaf ears.
"I do need them," Accalia admitted, unruly brows creasing and face tensing as if a memory was peeling through her. "After everything."
"Do you feel it's my fault for what happened with Cole, Accalia?" Lycus's hands brushed against her hip again and settled there. He wanted to wash away all pain she had, all traces of Cole Canus away and never leave a mark on her again.
Accalia swallowed, softening against his touch and it was relief that soared through him because of it. "I know whose fault it is, Lycus, and it's not yours. I'm just tired."
"Tired of me?" Lycus already knew the answer he would get.
When in his lycan form, his consuming thoughts weren't all he had to endure, but the irritation Accalia had against him. It didn't have to be spoken from her mouth, her body that stood straight and fiercely told him enough.
"Lycus, you've made me ache more in a day than when Cole scratched me."
Lycus tucked his hand away and Accalia opened her eyes to meet his. It felt like waves crashing into rocks, hard-hitting and sweeping, dragging back into the strong tides.
And it hit him enough to make him realise something.
"I want to break the deal we made off, it was I who made it, so I will break it. I don't want you here under an obligation, Accalia. I want you here because you want to be and if I cause you ache, I want to mend it." Lycus confessed, keeping his tone neutral to not startle her and to restrain the desperation in his chest not wanting to let her go.
But he needed to make amends with Accalia, mend her scars and help her heal. Even if that meant letting her go to do that herself.
"And if I run?"
Lycus refrained from smothering his lips onto hers, wanting to claim her any way he could. "I'll try to not chase you."
"And if I stay?"
"Then I'm the luckiest bastard in the world," Lycus said truthfully.
"We'll see," Accalia murmured in a soft coo. "But Lycus, touch Cadence again and I won't stop my people from killing you."
Lycus couldn't process her threat quick enough as silence swept through the room and Lycus heard Accalia's breathing slowly even out.
She was a dream Lycus didn't want to wake up from and even if cracks of nightmares crawled through, wanting to destroy all that had been made, he didn't want to awaken from it.
____
Tried to edit the best I could. I know it a lot of filler, but I need to fill in the gaps between character relations and dynamics. A lot of that plays a part in this story.
— Caranyx.