She began to fear every sound since she had met him. With every step she looked over her shoulder. Fear of him kept her wary. Trying to run from the nightmare he put her through was all that mattered, but the pain of being away from half of your sou...
Dinner goes by tensely as Eros asks me all the questions you would expect from a kid and Apex glares down at his food. I can't bring myself to touch the plate in front of me. I just play with my fingers in my lap and give Eros noncommittal answers. Finally, things become too much for me. "Excuse me", I say and stand up to leave the table. I walk away from the table and back towards the room from which I came. As soon as I am out of the room I hear a pitter-patter of feet behind me. Eros appears at my side and starts walking beside me. He reaches for my hand and grabs ahold of it. "Do you not love my brother?", he asks. "I don't know", I tell him and that's the truth. I don't know how I feel about him at all. "Are you mad at him?", he asks. "Definitely", I tell him. He nods in understanding. "Why?". I can't fully explain the issue with this child, but not wanting lie I say, "He did somethings in the past that are really bad". Then he asks something I hadn't expected, "Is it because of our mom and dad?". Surprised I swing my head around to look at him. "What do you mean?", I ask. "He says that mom and dad gave him scars because he was bad, he must have been really bad to get that many", he says. I stop in the hallway. "Your parents didn't give him those scars because he was bad", I say, "they gave him those scars because they were bad". He once again nods at this. We reach the doorway of the room Apex left me in earlier. He let's go of my hand and gives me a hug before turning. Both of us are surprised to see Apex standing behind us. Eros walks around him and I enter the room fully knowing he'll follow me. I'm not wrong and he closes the door as I sit on the bed. He comes to sit next to me. We sit in silence for a while. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me to lay down, despite my discomfort, I let him. He holds me with my head to his chest. "Do you want me to tell you what happened?", he asks. I nod and he feels it. He takes a deep breath, "My dad wasn't mom's real mate. He was an Alpha from another pack that invaded this land. He'd never met his mate, people say he didn't get one because he didn't deserve one. So when he took over he thought this pack's Luna was beautiful. So he mutilated her mate in front of her and the pack then sent him off to be a slave to another pack. He forced himself on her to create me and Eros. When I came around I wasn't enough of an heir in his eyes. He hated me for how weak I am. One day my mother couldn't take it anymore. She got just enough bullets for the four of us. She shot him at first. Then me, but I didn't die then or when I blocked the shot meant for Eros. She only had one left so she put the gun to her head. Our grandma found us and brought us to the hospital". I look up to see his stone-faced expression. I wrap an arm around him and rub circles on his back. He seems to soften a bit before continuing, "I was about Eros's age when I took over. A lot of people missed my father's rule and thought I wasn't ready to be Alpha. I had to do terrible things to prove I could rule as my father did and silence those who still spoke against me. I thought that after all I had done that I wouldn't get a mate either. I didn't know what to do when I saw you. I still don't know what to do now. I'm not sure if I regret taking you that day, but I regret everything after. I think if I could do it over again I still would have taken you, but I would have loved you so much that maybe I could have made you love me too". He buries his head in my neck. "Do you think you could have loved me if I had treated you better?", he asks. "Yes", I say unthinkingly and it's true. If he had done things differently, even if it still wouldn't be ideal, then I wouldn't feel so complicated about things. I don't think I would have gone nearly as quick as I'm sure he'd like, but I'd get there eventually. "Do you think you could ever love me now?", he asks. "Maybe", I tell him. He holds me even tighter and presses a kiss to the crook of my neck. We stay like that and after a while, the daylight outside turns to night. "Can I please stay here with you tonight?", he asks. "You can", I say. He excitedly picks me up before pulling back the blankets and laying us both down with me in his arms. He then pulls my leg up around his hip and kisses my forehead. "Goodnight darling", he says looking into my eyes. If things were different I wouldn't feel so conflicted when I think about how handsome he looks when he's relaxed like this; or how his eyes seem to glow in the dimmed lighting. I want nothing more than to curl my fingers in his hair and kiss him, but I don't. I close my eyes and try to fall asleep. I feel him put his chin on my head and rest it there.
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