Chapter Two

Lucien was having a nightmare again.

Aksel frowned, watching him toss and turn in his sleep. Lucien kept whispering no, no, no .

Aksel's hands curled into fists. He wasn't stupid. In the year since Lucien had joined their family, Aksel had found out what had happened to him. The adults didn't talk about it in front of the kids, but most people didn't realize how much better his hearing was than theirs. He'd overheard his parents' conversation.

His mother wasn't pleased about his father's decision to take a second spouse, and one with a tarnished reputation .

"What happened isn't the kid's fault, Vagrippa," his father had snapped. "Do you not feel sorry for him? He's just a child! His family disowned him and kicked him out of his home for something that wasn't his fault!"

"I do feel sorry for him," his mother said stiffly. "But it's none of our business, Garrick. Why did you have to be the one to rescue him? Why couldn't it be someone else?"

"I never thought that you lacked empathy, Vagrippa," his father said. "Just imagine one of our children in his place. Imagine them being rapedby a bunch of Pelugian soldierswhile in heat, and then being thrown out of our family when they started increasing."

"Our boys are alphas," his mother said.

"But Belinda might be an omega," Garrick said. "What if the same happened to her? Would you not help her? Or would you disown her too?"

After a moment, Vagrippa sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. It's just... You know how I hate being the subject of gossip. I understand that what happened to him wasn't the boy's fault, but his tarnished reputation will cast a shadow over my children too. Have you not thought about it?"

"They're Cleghorns. They'll live."

It hadn't been the only conversation Aksel had overheard. There had been others, between nasty people who said nasty things about this sad-eyed boy who flinched and became smaller every time he saw an unfamiliar alpha.

Aksel hadn't understood everything he'd overheard, but he'd understood enough. People thought Lucien was dirty for something that was done to him. He'd asked Royce what the word rape meant, and his brother had gotten an uncomfortable look on his face before answering that it was a very bad thing good alphas never did. He'd refused to say more, so Aksel had asked his older cousin.

What he'd told him made something dark and ugly curl in Aksel's chest.

He'd never felt anger like that before: so strong it was overwhelming. He wished he were a grown-up, not six. He wished he could find those sick people and hurt them.He wished he could protect Lucien better.He wished he could fix him.

He wanted to fix Lucien.

But he didn't know how.And he hated it.

Lucien whimpered in his sleep again, curling his body into a ball under the duvet. He should have been hot—the room was warm and the duvet was thick—but he seemed to be shivering, as if he were cold.

Aksel thought for a moment before slipping under the duvet and pressing himself against Lucien's back. He hugged him, burying his face in Lucien's nape. A low, humming sound came from somewhere deep in his throat, and miraculously, he felt Lucien relax. His scent became sweeter, no longer sour with distress.

"Aksel?" Lucien mumbled, sounding half-asleep. "What are you doing here?"

"You were having a nightmare. I heard you from my room."

"Oh. I'm sorry for waking you."

Aksel scoffed. "Don't be stupid, Luce. It's not your fault that my hearing is that good. And I don't mind."

"You don't mind being woken up in the middle of the night?" Lucien said, sounding doubtful.

"I hate it," Aksel mumbled, nuzzling the back of Lucien's neck. "I hate that you still have nightmares."

Lucien tensed up against him. "Aksel…"

"I hate them," Aksel said. "Those people who did that to you."

There was a long silence.

At long last, Lucien's muscles relaxed again. "Me, too," he whispered, barely audibly.

He didn't say anything else. But he didn't pull away from Aksel, either.

Feeling pleased, Aksel tightened his arms around him and held him.

It took a long time, but finally Lucien fell asleep again, his breathing becoming even.

Pulling back, Aksel carefully climbed over Lucien's body to lie on his other side and stared at Lucien's face.

He wanted to sleep too, but he stubbornly kept his eyes open. He didn't want to waste the night on something as unimportant as sleep when he could watch Lucien instead.

Watching Lucien was one of his favorite things in the world. Lucien was just so pretty . Like a picture. When he slept, his face became even lovelier. He looked like an angel when he slept.His angel.

His .

Aksel frowned. Sometimes these flashes of possessiveness confused him. He knew they came from the other him—the beast that lived under his skin. The beast liked Lucien as much as Aksel did. But it liked Lucien in a way Aksel didn't understand yet. The beast wanted to—to possess Lucien. Aksel wasn't sure how he was supposed to do it. The intensity of the beast's instincts were a little too much, so Aksel usually just ignored them.

But it wasn't just the beast's instincts. Aksel simply liked Lucien. So, so much. He wanted to touch him all the time. To touch his fingers with his. To hold his hand. To hold him, period. He wanted to fuse them together, burrow his way under Lucien's skin and soak up his warmth. Lucien was so warm . Under all the prickly wariness he displayed to the world, he was so very kind. So very kind and sweet.Aksel sometimes felt like he wanted toswallowhim whole, as if Lucien were a candy.

It was stupid. Lucien wasn't a candy.

Shaking his head to himself, Aksel took Lucien's hand in his and closed his eyes, allowing the sound of Lucien's steady heartbeat to lull him into sleep.

After that night, Aksel noticed that Lucien became more relaxed in his presence, the wariness in his eyes fading whenever Aksel grabbed his hand and sat down next to him in public. He smiled more genuinely when Aksel told him about his adventures, none of the fake, nice smiles he gave everyone else. It made Aksel so proud he couldn't help but scent-mark the other boy all the time: touching his wrist, his shoulder, and sometimes his throat too. Lucien giggled when he did the latter, clearly just humoring him, but Aksel didn't mind, as long as Lucien let him do it.

His family seemed amused byAksel's behavior too, thinking that he was just playing at being a grownup.

They didn't understand.

They couldn't.

How could they when Aksel barely understood it himself?