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“Whatever you did, Darius. It can't be that bad. You are not the monster you think you are,” I tell him. He laughs again and shakes his head before turning his hoodie around the right way.
“Kalen, what I did to him? Was that a monster, Aleera? Or the times before that? Would you consider me a monster, knowing that wasn't the first time I had hurt him?” he asks.
“That wasn't you,” I tell him, knowing wholeheartedly that was a part of him he had no control over. I know that, and Kalen knows that too.
“When are you going to realize the monster the world portrays me as is accurate? I killed your parents, raped my own mate, hurt you, and still, you would defend me?”
“Because you had your reasons, Darius. I know that now.” I tell him.
“Really? You know that with absolute certainty?” he asks, tugging his jacket over his hoodie. He shakes his head.
“Then what excuse would I have for making the white fae extinct? What excuse removes the taint of ending the world and wiping out over half the fae population?” he asks.
“I don't believe you,” I answer.
“Believe what you want. And you wanna know the fucked up part? Wiping out the fae population is one of the lesser evils I am responsible for. And you want to see the shit I have done? You don't want that because I don't even like living with the things I have done. So I know there is no way you could live the rest of your life with me by your side, knowing exactly what sort of monster you lay beside at night," he snarls before flicking his wrist.
A portal opens up, and he steps through it, closing it behind him. I exhale and shake my head.
ChapterForty-One
Turning my attention back to the chicks in the crate. I watch as they squirm, wondering what they have been feeding them. Yet as they get louder, the others begin to stir, and Lycus groans before climbing out of bed and stumbling half asleep over to the crates. He tips the crates up, making my eyes widen before he starts removing his clothes.
I wonder what he is doing when he shifts abruptly, giving me a view of his ass in my face before he flops onto his stomach and lies on his side. The squirming chicks rush to him, bouncing on the floor, and I laugh as they burrow into his fur. He puffs out a loud wheezing breath while the chicks get lost in his fur.
“About time he made himself useful. If only he would sleep in this form every night, we may get some sleep,” Tobias says, brushing his fingers through Lycus' fur. The chicks squirm in his fur, popping their heads and chirping quietly while snuggling into him as if he was their personal warm nest.
Tobias carefully steps over him and falls heavily onto the couch beside me. His hands reach for me instantly as he drags me up his body and lifts his legs, turning slightly, so I am lying with him behind me.
“Where did Darius go?” he murmurs, his lips in my hair as he speaks. “No, Idea. We had an argument,” I tell him.
“About you shredding and not being able to mark him?” Tobias asks, tucking me closer. I nod, watching Lycus wolf form, worried he would roll on them and crush them. But he remains still as a statue.
"He'll come around, Aleera. He is just scared," Tobias says, and it makes me wonder if it was to do with me at all or if he did something to one of them without knowing. My eyes flick to the mantle where Ryze is perched and to the photo of Thomas, Tobias' brother. It was a sore subject, and I never mentioned him or how I recognized him, and I know Tobias thinks I abandoned him, but I didn’t. I just couldn't get back to him.
“Your brother…”
Tobias tenses behind me. “Aleera!” he breathes as if he doesn’t want the reminder I am to blame for his death.
“I’m sorry that he died because of me. And I’m sorry he died saving me,” I whisper. Tobias moves behind me, his arm draped over me, pulling me tighter against him.
“He shouldn't have gone alone. We told him to wait for us.”
“Your brother had gifts similar to Kalen,” I tell him, and he nods.
“How do you know that?”
“Because when he appeared, he knew what I was… he said, “Well, don't you burn brighter than the sun, the first time I have seen a rainbow aura? I knew there would be something special about you,” I repeat his brother's words. It was also what Kalen had said while manic that my aura was a rainbow of color.
“He sensed your power,” Tobias tells me. “That's how he knew where you were.” I swallow, knowing that using my magic trying to escape is what got him killed. Guilt floods me, and the pain emanating from Tobias saddens me and makes me feel cold and empty.
“I tried to get back to him, Tobias. I swear to you, I never abandoned him. I tried to open the portal after he shoved me through it.”
“What do you mean?” he asks, tugging me back so I am forced to roll onto my back.
“The hellhounds kept coming. I was running out of power. Your brother sensed that and opened up the portal. Told me you would come for me, shoved me through, and I was thrown into the forest. He had closed the portal before I could run back through to him,” I tell him.
“Why didn't he step through with you?”
