End of Chapter 10

"Fuck," Seraphim groaned, stepped back slumped onto the seat. His body shivered, translucent as he turned watery with his regret. "Fuck me. You know I didn't. I couldn't choose. I didn't know. I thought. I thought—"

"You're the one that betrayed us," Altair said, rolling his eyes as if he didn't care.

"I have no control over it, you know that." Seraphim gasped, his form bubbled, frame jellied. "Everyone knows that. He just so happened to be compatible with me. What can I do when it's my body that betrays me? It's not my fault he's my true mate." The words out of his mouth was a bitter sting in Kieran's chest, and Altair seemed to mirror that roaring at his words.

"And yet we're your soulmates. We're your soulmates!" Altair snapped, a hissing fit springing free. "You came for someone we do not know!"

"It's not my fault!" Seraphim replied, angered and vicious, grasping at loose ends. "It's not my fault that I cum for him and not you. I didn't want it; you think I did?"

"You cheated on us! With Rue!"

"And so, you hurt him?" was Kieran hiss, he spun turned to the two at the door, and stepped forth in an explosion of sunbeams and unforgiving heat. "Altair, Valentino, I thought you'd be obsessed. Val, you spent years crying over Rue so why the fuck would you hurt him on the first day of school?"

"When did you become Rue's boyfriend?" was Valentino's lifeless chuckle, his hip cocked to one side. A tongue pressed crudely to the corner of his lip. "When did you become so overprotective, Kieran? Did he let you fuck him? Like he allowed everyone else to? Did he suck your cock? I'm surprised he's not dead, you've always killed your guides. Every last one of them—"

"Don't you dare fuck with me Valentino," Kieran snarled. "Rue's not like that. It doesn't matter because whatever the fuck you did. We could lose him tonight because of you! His hands are ruined, . This wasn't a guide. A guide we could explain, it's justified, it's work. But this—He's not even trained. We'll have the school breathing down our necks. Our fathers will question us. And yes, they'll let us off with just a mere slap on the wrist. But this was an innocent bystander!"

"So much anger for a bystander," was Valentino's hiss, "I always knew he was a whore."

"God, Valentino," Kieran groaned, fist clenched. "He's an untrained guide on his first day of fucking school. He didn't even know what guiding was until I told him. He's that dumb. And is from the most backwatered planet in the entire universe. Rue is like a child, and even I have the decency to protect a child—"

"He guided Val," was Altair's quiet answer, a gentle tap of his fingers on the table. A low snort. "It was my fault. But he guided him. Val was in Rampage in my time stop. And Rue touched him. All it took was touch and—"

"What the fuck?" Kieran sighed, slumped against the wall, his hands on his forehead. "Time stop, seriously?"

"I don't know! I just wanted to greet him," Altair shrugged, cheeks growing pink. "I just didn't anticipate him to be so…I don't know. Urgh, whatever." He flicked his hair back. "His ugliness grows on you. Something about the way he carries himself is just a little hot—"

"Altair!" Seraphim's shrill snap, "what did you do?"

"Just teasing. Most people enjoy it when they find out they are in a time stop with an Emperor. And the one person who gave him a secured spot in Hakon. He should be sucking my dick. Who would have known that he'd reject me." Altair pouted, pursed plump pretty lips. "I wasn't going to do anything more than just getting my dick wet. He wouldn't actually die."

"Fuck," Kieran groaned, hands rubbing up his skin. "That explains the tears." They didn't slip, warm full and watery down Rue's cheeks. But his eyes had been glittering with unshed ones, his sadness dripping from yellow pupils.

"He cried?" was Altair's gasp. "Serves him right for breaking Valentino's heart. He made our Valentino cry too. All because of a useless—"

There was a growl from Valentino, a warning that dripped out from him, raw from his tears. And Kieran now caught the bloodshot gaze, could see the redness that laced the corners of beautiful almond eyes. His light darted over the face of his lover, and this had his anger quelling.

His worry ballooned for his mate. But there was alarm in Valentino's eyes and then rage that he shot Altair's way. And Kieran scrutinized those expressions, gaze drifting to Seraphim who seemed just as concerned.

"Val…are you—" Kieran began to say.

"Shut up," was his answer, an angry scowl on his gorgeous face.

"So his hands—" Kieran didn't know why but his mind was drawn back towards Rue, so quickly that it should disturb him. "It wasn't on purpose?"

"God no!" Valentino hissed. "I would not touch him if I could. In fact, I don't even want to see him. I don't understand why the fuck you wanted him here Altair. Because I couldn't care less even if he died—"

"How chaotic," a low groan slipped free, and a dark figure appeared in the shadows, wafting forth and ending his sunny rays. Levi groaned, fingers brushing the traces of alien blood that dripped from his figure, the purple liquid splattering upon the ground. The manifestation of a shadowy sword was sheathed. "What's going on kids." His shadows shimmered, darted over the ground, and coiled over their feet tasting the rage.

"Levi," Kieran greeted, shivering at the whispery tendrils. "There's…a small problem."

"I smell a lot of blood," was Levi's low groan, tongue slipping out to lick flesh. His voice was a drawl, that dragged across the words, burned in low timbre. "Our new little baby?" He chuckled, shaking his head, tongue flicked out to lick at pink lips. "Always getting himself into so much delicious trouble." He purred; a low shiver that trembled through his frame exposed exactly how delighted he was to be feasting on Rue. Glutton.

"He's badly injured, you should heal him," Kieran moved to tug at his lover, pointing towards his door. "Do it quick, I'm worried he won't make it through the night. There's too much in his system—"

"Who won't make the night?"

A second figure slipped through the portal, dripping with guts and the blood of his enemies. Dante appeared, electricity fluttering across his skin, his eyes the deepest of vibrant blues. His presence had Kieran's heart thundering, his mouth going dry at the sight of his pack Alpha who stood, beautiful and deadly. His skin seemed to vibrate, danger trembling across his flesh, a predator that would tear out hearts and burn all that lived just for his lovers.

That had fear swelling in Kieran's throat. A burning understanding unleashed upon his soul of the danger Dante was going to be for a weakling like Rue. And that had his light growing chaotic with their displeasure. Dante turned, hands settling on Valentino's cheek, cupping the tear-stained flesh. Moisture evaporating. A soft coo on his lips.

"Who made you cry? Darling, I'll kill him for you."

"Dante," Seraphim's mumbled, a quiet hush of warning. There was horror in his voice. And suddenly Kieran understood him to be an ally in his need to protect Rue. Their eyes locked, a quiet understanding growing.

"It seems," Dante hummed, his voice echoing. They didn't need to speak, had no reason to explain, for he already knew of the anomaly in their household. "That our new roommate has created another set of ridiculous problems." He scoffed. "Surely he's not that necessary." Dante tilted his head, eyes wide. "I can touch him, and we'll end all this nonsense. You're all strangely obsessed; his existence should not warrant such a drastic splinter between us."

There was a pause and a crackle as Kieran exhaled, blinking rapidly, fear rippling. A sudden strange pain coiled around his throat as he understood Dante's words. "No, Hal has yet to see him." He started to say, panic drenching each word. "You know how mad Hal will get if he knows you've killed him already—"

"Petty revenge, a mere fry should not distract someone of our calibre," Dante chuckled hands waving, a gesture of dismissal.

"He's the only one that can keep our children alive," was Seraphim's shaky gasp, a hand around Dante's arm. The fear was odd on him, and Seraphim on another day would have been wincing and gagging at the sight of blood and organs on his mate. On a better day, Seraphim would be nagging, a whine on his throat as he commanded their leader to take a shower. "I—"

"Darling, there are other methods. And there will always be. If you want children, we will breed as many as you want." Dante smiled. "As many that will take, regardless of their lives."

"But not through Omegas!" was Seraphim's weepy cry. "Rue's Alpha! The only Alpha that can do it."

"Don't kill him," Valentino muttered , a soft shaky look in his eyes. "I, he's…Altair, tell them how full he made you."

"Urgh, fine. Yeah…He's very emotional. His energy is quite strong." Altair nodded begrudging, but even he seemed shaken. "He's good as food."

"You know how Altairie has been struggling to keep food down," Valentino beseeched.

"Levi too, Levi loved him," Kieran said, turning to his shadow for support.

"His blood tastes good," Levi answered, leaning against the wall with a shrug.

"Very well," Dante sighed, "I don't understand why you wish to have him, but if you'd like to keep the food—"

"And the breeder," was Altair's perky reminder.

"Breeder around. I best should not see tears in my mates' eyes. Or I'll kill him." His eyes swept across the room, burrowed deep into their eyes. His blue orbs settled upon Kieran, and he wavered. "Unless you don't think of him as just that." The question hung over the room. And he smiled, a twitch of his lips. "Kier, you'd protect him, over us?"

"No, pack Alpha," he murmured, feeling the burn of Dante's eyes.

"You're our soulmate," was Dante's warning, voice dripping low.

"Of course," Kieran nodded, and felt a rush of confusion that surged through him. "Rue's just…A tool for our pack."

"Exactly," Dante smirked. "Just a little tool in the back of our closet. Nothing more, nothing less."

A/N: Read ahead on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/tinyeyecat