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It was hard to watch the scene play out, but I knew Mark wouldn’t want me to intervene. Every time I tried to break something up in the past he reminded me to stay in a child’s place. That he could solve it himself. It took everything in me not to just yell out to calm down. But somehow I knew that would only fan the flame.

Kleitos’ thick hand yanked the collar of Mark’s tunic backward, causing him to stumble, almost losing his footing. Closing the distance between them, Kleitos’ voice stayed steady and low. “The bultungin won’t harm your wife,” His eyes scanned over to my mother, who had been watching in complete shock. When his gaze finally drifted back to Mark’s, he simply stated, “His master hasn’t given any orders. There is no threat. Calm yourself before you stir the kingdom.”

The air was tense as Mark’s eyes darted between my mother and Kleitos. There was an anger there that should have felt misplaced, but it was justifiable in that moment. Mark’s jaw clenched tight as he tried once again to yank free of Kleitos' grip but failed. “Get your hands off me!” he yelled once more, frustrated by the sheer strength.

Like a deer in headlights, my mother stood frozen, eyes flickering to watch them both. Besides the shock, there was sparkling curiosity behind her gaze at the anomaly, but also a bit of fear lay somewhere in her depths. Before answering, she shook her head, looking at Kleitos first before she shifted her focus back to Mark. “I’m sure Kleitos is right.” There was a brief pause in her stance. Like she didn’t mean to agree with him. “I just mean… If he meant us harm, he’d have done it by now, Mark.” She looked behind her shoulder just for a moment to meet Bomani’s gaze. “We were with him the last night. He didn’t attack us; nothing happened.” She blinked, then to Arianna: “I didn’t know he could do that, though.”

My mother had always been fearless, even in the face of the unknown; she didn’t turn a blind eye to it. I’m glad that wasn’t taken from her during her transition. Even though everything about her physically changed, that part remained untouched by monsters. Valentina squeezed my hand gently as my foot inched closer to the scene.

With a hand outstretched, Martha turned back to Bomani. There was nothing but curiosity and warmth in her expression. “I’m not scared, Mark,” she whispered as she closed the distance between Bomani and herself. Her fingers skimmed along his arms curiously as she took in the depth of his skin. Her own golden-brown paled in comparison to the oil that painted his body. “You said he was a bultungin?” she asked, glancing to the group for confirmation.

A chuckle rang through the base of his chest as Bomani looked down at her. Catching her fingers with his own, he answered, “I am.” There was a calmness to his tone as he took her in. “Thanks for having faith in me.” He dipped his head to meet her at eye level. His yellows shone brightly in hers as he continued, “I serve my demon, Arianna. If she hasn’t asked for blood, there’s nothing to worry about… unless you piss me off.” Flashing a wicked smile, the whites of his canines lit brightly against his dark skin. He chuckled and, with surprising tenderness, lifted a stray curl from my mother’s cheek using only his pinky, tucking it behind her ear. Pulling away, he offered the rest of us a crooked grin.

Mark’s body writhed against Kleitos’ grasp during the exchange. He still had him by the neck with that same yielding fist on his shoulder. Mark's fingers tried to pry the hand free, but it was unmatched to strength that met him. “Get away from her,” he yelled, still straining.

My eyes bounced around the four of them, unsure what would calm the tension. Was there anything I could do to convey that everything was safe? Kleitos’ way of handling it only seemed to escalate things, but I couldn’t find the words to go against him. It was strange, but I felt like showing disloyalty to him would destroy the potential of knowing him. Seeing Mark so fragile also stirred unwanted feelings, no matter how mad I was. Neither deserved me to side with them. Somehow, I felt pulled in the middle.

Bomani stepped back in the snow, hands to his side, giving Mark a warm smile. “I mean no harm, friend.”

Patting Bomani on his back, Arianna broke the tension with a smirk. “Are we really going to argue about my beast all morning? I thought we came for a spar?” Stepping away from Bomani and my mother, she crossed the clearing with precision. The leather of her boots crunched snow beneath feet her as she approached them. Without hesitating, her hands slammed against Mark’s back and Kleitos’ chest, parting the two with a shove.

The sudden jolt sent Mark stumbling face-first into the slurry in front him. That had to be the last straw for me because I stepped forward. Valentina’s grip held me back for a moment, but when we both saw that Kleitos was left standing, she loosened her grasp.

Kleitos smiled as he backed away from Mark. Shaking his head, he said, “You’re right, let’s get started.” Without looking at Mark, he and Arianna crossed the clearing towards the middle.

The second Val’s fingers left mine, I crossed to Mark. It wasn’t even a thought for me to hold my hand out to him as he sat up. However mad I was at him, I couldn’t just let him think I wanted to see him injured. I wasn’t cold. I’d never turn my back on him. I was just… hurt. The least I could offer was a hand-up.

“Thank you, son.” He whispered as he took my hand in his. I pulled him up into my arms for the quickest embrace. When he leaned into me, he softly said, “We’ll talk after this. Just me and you, okay.” When he pulled back, there was a gleam in his eye at the promise.

It warmed my heart to hear it. That’s all that I wanted from him. Just one conversation that let me understand where he was coming from. It would make it easier to forgive him. I’d probably understand it more if he’d just let me in. Nodding, I mumbled, “Whatever you’ve got… Just make sure he doesn’t kill you.”

“Of course,” he smirked. That small gesture had instilled a little more faith than I had before. If it was anything like a second ago… he stood no chance. There was physical incompatibility, but it couldn’t be as bad as I imagined. If Kleitos was a man of his word, he would go easy on him. I heard those same words from Arianna, and it was met with anything but ease.

Valentina approached from behind, her hand sliding along my back. “Alexander,” she said in that velvet-soft voice. “Come with me for a moment.” Her eyes signaled across the field to Kleitos, watching the scene play out. There was a hard line pressed to his lips as his jaw clenched at how close Mark had been. With a nod, I took my place by her side.

Giving Mark one last smile, I slid my hand into Valentina’s grasp. “Good luck.”

When we turned, air caught in my throat. I just hoped everything would work out. It had to. Without a word, she led me toward my mother and Arianna. The four of us huddled together at the sideline as we watched Bomani cross the clearing towards both of my fathers.

The three of them were almost standing in a line as they whispered amongst each other at first. Bomani towered over the two as he stood between them. Kleitos was just underneath him, but Mark was almost pubescent. It was unfair to have them even try this.

I only caught a fraction of what they said, but what was clear among the whistling wind was Kleitos’ voice. It drifted on to us, low but sharp: “I won’t hurt you too much. I see my child has affection for you. I want to measure your strength. It’s in case we ever go to battle. You claim he’s yours. Prove you can protect him. He’s mine. I’d lay my life down for him.”

I didn’t know he felt so strongly towards me already. It calmed me, though, to know there was a place he had for me in his heart and his mind, but the antics around it were a lot to digest. He didn’t have to prove himself by having a duel.

Mark's expression was hidden, but he stepped up to Kleitos. Shockingly, he grasped the back of his neck, pulling him down to eye level. Leaning in closer, his lips almost brushed the side of his head as I watched his jaw move in a whisper. I couldn’t catch the thought over the wind, but the way Kleitos' eyes peered down at him with offence, I knew it landed. They separated without a word, and Mark returned to his position in the snow.

Breaking my attention from the chaos, my mother came to my side. Her scent flared around me in a greeting as her arm wrapped around my waist. She rested her head on my shoulder as she watched the three men get into formation. Valentina smiled at her, a hand touching the one my mother had bound around me. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there, Alex,” she whispered, kissing my cheek.

“It’s okay,” I reminded her. It wasn’t her fault. None of this was. Her free hand patted my cheek before her eyes wandered between Valentina and me.

A coy grin played on her lips as she took us in. Her new smile was perfect. Each tooth gleamed a sparkling white, and somehow the fangs suited her. “Looks like you figured that girlfriend thing out after all?”

“Uh,” I froze. My mind was stuck on the word. That felt simple and also too rushed to make a claim. But was Valentina my girlfriend…in the human sense? We had spent so much time together that someone probably could mistake it for that. But the woman had also kidnapped me, so I had plenty of reason to exercise caution with the title. Shaking my had I avoided the question, “Let’s just hope Dad doesn’t get hurt.” That earned a round of chuckles from all the women. Even Arianna, who’d been keeping her distance, joined in on my uncertainty.

Ignoring the three of them, I shivered as the wind picked up. For a beat, everything went deathly silent. Even the trees around us stilled despite the weather. Our attention swung back to Bomani, who stepped forward to lay down the rules. His voice cut clean through the whistle: “No one crosses the treeline. This is not to the death. Both parties may use their abilities. Blood is all in good fun.” He counted them down, then jogged back to stand with us.

Everything happened so fast. I would have missed it if I had blinked.