8.| Troubled Waters

[Song for scene: Tom Walker - Leave a light on ]

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"Do you know what you've done?" Asked Marcellus, skin so dark it blended in the shadows of the unlit living room.

Yuè was silent. He wanted to say something back about how it was saving Gunter's life, but he doubted it would help the situation. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. They attacked Gunter and I while we were by the lake." He explained. "He told me to run and I panicked. Then he showed up injured. I never meant for your father or anyone to discover me. I never meant for Emery or Gunter to get hurt."

Marcellus blinked and the candles in the living room lit up by themselves, the dark carpet holding an ember halo from their flickering light. He sat with one leg crossed over the other, his hand running along his chin as though he were trying to control the temper Yuè was well aware of. "You were right." Was all he said, thought kept his fiery gaze upon the Yuè.

Yuè's brows pulled together in confusion as he watched the man cautiously. "Right about what?" He asked. He felt like a cornered animal waiting for the wolf to strike.

"Why did I save you only for you to be a burden?" He stood up. "I regret it. I regret saving your life. I should've let Kayden and Hayes tear you apart!" Marcellus yelled, lifting the chair he'd been sitting in moments before and tossing it across the room.

Yuè flinched away from where the chair shattered. Backing up against the wall. "Then you should have!" Yuè screamed back. "You blame me constantly for everything. You ridicule me! You hate me!" He glared at Marcellus.

"I do hate you!" Marcellus spat back.

"Do you think I asked your brothers to come and attack us? Do you think I asked for Gunter to be hurt in that manner? Do you think I asked for Emery to be humiliated and hurt by his own father? Do you think I asked to go against your wishes?! What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?!"

Marcellus' breathing was ragged, his chest rising and falling, crimson eyes wild and feral. "Everytime I look at you it's like looking at a goddamn ghost!" His canines lengthened, voice sounding like two people talking. He growled, glancing down at his shaking and clawed hands. "Get out of my sight. Hurry!"

Yuè stared at him for a moment longer before rushing out of the room. Instead of going up to his room, he ran out of the house back towards the lake. The moon still sat high in the sky, a comforting presence in his heartache.

In so little time had his life been shattered and tossed to the wind. Everything he had ever known snatched away harshly only for him to be tossed literally to the wolves.

He missed his father's calming smile as he made them tea in the morning before Yuè went out to hunt. Missed the silent crackle of their fireplace on the days they were able to find good firewood. He didn't care if he was starving and cold.

He would take that over all the food he was offered here. Here he was treated with just as much scorn by the leader as he had been back home. Hated for something he had no understanding of.

His very should still felt raw from Edgar's betrayal, for the harshness of the villagers who he'd grown up knowing. People he had hunted for when food became scarce. How could they have been so cruel? Most of all, it ached for his father who was now alone. But he knew he would accept it if he could just be with his father again. The only person who had ever loved unconditionally and without hesitation.

Sitting at the water's edge, he stared down at his reflection. His tear filled mismatched eyes. Another thing that made him stand out. Perhaps his heart was too weak for this world.

He had done nothing but shed tears from the moment he'd been separated from his father. Gone was the fierce hunter he'd been raised into.

No longer did he have the same fire his father had been so proud of. He could not stand up for himself here where men shifted into beast and beast wore the face of his loved ones to taunt him. He was not strong here.

Yuè's palm skimmed over the top of the water. "Please," he whispered. "Show him to me. Show me babà."

The reflection of the moon on the water's surface rippled, illuminating a silver glow before an image appeared with a swirl of water.

There sat his father, hunched over at the dinner table, eyeing the chipped wood lifelessly. He was thinner than when Yuè saw him last, his dark graying hair lank and unkempt from the neat bun he usually kept it in.

"Babà…" He whispered pained. As though his father could hear him, Qiang looked up, dark eyes seemingly meeting his own. Yuè reached out a hand, pressing it to the reflection of his father's withered face.

"Yuè." His voice was a rasped sound from his father's lips. "Yuè, is that you?" He asked once more, the water rippling. "Where are you? I can feel you watching me."

Yuè swallowed the thick lump in his throat. He knew his father wouldn't be able to hear him. Even if he wanted to tell him where he was, Yuè would never endanger his father that way. So instead, he watched the image of his father before the image faded away. "I'm sorry babà." He whispered to himself, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

"Such trouble you caused today." A smoky voice came from the shadows that surrounded the lake Yuè was in. "I was quite amused."

Yuè's head shot up, looking around him to find the source of the voice. Of course something else would happen. It seemed to be his fate to only come across misfortune. "I suggest you seek your amusement elsewhere." He said sharply, standing from where he'd been sitting with a shiver. He still wore Emery's soaked clothing.

A low breathy chuckle followed his snappy remark. "It's Erosta day. Doesn't every wolf celebrate?" The man asked and the wind whistled through the trees, sending fallen leaves swirling around Yuè. "But I guess since you are claimed by the tragic son of Malachai, you aren't for the taking. Then again, you'd be in his bed or tent instead of standing soaking wet in a lake talking to yourself."

"What do you want? I am in no mood for games. If you are only here to mock me then you can leave." He said. "Better yet, I will. You can lament about your amusement to yourself." He turned back towards the mansion, planning to do just that.

The wind blew once more and an arm slung around him from behind. "I of all people don't play games." His breath tickled the back of Yuè's neck and he inhaled. "King Malachai would kill you if he knew what you really were…and from the outline the wet clothing revealed, you aren't a woman either."

Yuè reared his head back, slamming it into the man's nose in hopes he would let go. "You do not have permission to touch me." He hissed, pushing away from the strange man.

He only laughed, and when Yuè thought about it, his head had never struck anything to indicate his hit landed. "Not yet of course." The man replied coolly. "But eventually you'll be needing me, Paidí tou fengarioú."

His presence was gone. Although he hadn't seen the man once, he couldn't feel that someone was lurking in the shadows. Paidí tou fengarioú. Those words were in a lullaby his babà used to sing to him when he was young. Child of the moon.

***

Yuè was beyond exhausted and more than a little unsettled by the time he finally reached his room. The strange man's appearance on top of all of the horrible events left him feeling more strained than he'd ever been. His worry for Gunter had not waned, especially since no one had spoken of him since the festival earlier that night.

With a heavy sigh, Yuè closed the door to his room, peeling off his damp clothing on his way to the bathroom. Although the water had washed away most of the blood from his skin, it still stained his shirt and pants, the coppery scent clinging to his skin.

To his surprise, there was already a hot bath waiting for him in the attached bathroom. He peeled away the rest of his clothing before sliding into the heated water with a small groan of pleasure.

His tired body melted into the tub as he gave another sigh, simply feeling. The water was not as potent as the natural water of the lake, but it still eased away the rest of the bruising on his arm and neck.

The ring on his finger sparkled in the dim light and he raised his hand to stare at it closer. He didn't really have time to examine it earlier, but now that he did, he could see just how breathtakingly beautiful it really was.

Something that did not belong on his finger. He would give it back to Gunter as soon as he saw him. He should give that ring to someone special.

Sitting back, he dunked his head beneath the water, washing his hair before he resurfaced. He grabbed the nearby bar of soap from the side table by the tub and began scrubbing his skin clean until he could no longer smell the coppery scent of Gunter's blood.

Once the water was cooled and he was cleansed, he stepped from the tub, grabbing a towel from the neatly folded pile in the cupboard.

Drying his body and then his hair as much as possible before he stepped back into his room in search of something to wear to bed. He almost screamed when he spotted Gunter there, lying on his bed. His wounds healed but his eyes closed.

Yuè crossed the room in no time. "You're okay." He whispered in relief.

Gunter's eyes opened, shining like obsidian gems in the moonlight that filtered through the window and encased his large form. He was curled up and silent, only watching Yuè for a moment before his eyes started watering and tears fell from them.

Startled, Yuè sat down on the bed next to him, pulling him into a hug. "Why are you in tears, silly wolf? Are you still in pain?" He asked, threading his fingers through the others brown hair.

"I didn't get to spend the rest of Erosta day with you, and I'm supposed to be your husband and I didn't protect you the way I should of." He shifted his head, sending his dark brown curls from his chiseled face. "And I heard my father blamed you. Sometimes I wonder if I was better off still being in a coma."

Yuè pulled back so he could stare the other in the eyes, taking hold of his chin. "Now you listen to me. You did protect me. I am still here, am I not. And it is not your fault I was blamed."

He scolded. "And how would you be a good husband if you were still in a coma, hmm?" He tapped his finger on the other man's nose.

"Besides, we are spending time together now are we not?" He raised a brow, daring him to say any more negative things. "I would be so lonely if you were still in a coma."

Gunter rolled onto his back and pulled a pillow over his face. Only his mouth and the soul patch of hair beneath his bottom lip. "Will you let me sleep here tonight?" He asked, though when he pulled Yue on top of him, it was evident he wasn't taking no for an answer.

Yuè scrambled to keep his towel secure as he was suddenly pulled forward, his face burning red. "You can stay, but allow me to get dressed first." He said against the broad chest that was suddenly smothering him.

Gunter shifted the pillow from his face. "Noooope. If you were to have spent Erosta day with me, you would've been wearing nothing." His toned arms remained tightly around Yuè. "You're warm." He hummed.

Yuè squeaked, looking up at him flushed. "I've told you, you cannot say things like that. You don't know what you're saying. I'll put on some clothing then you can hold me as much as you like."

"What makes you think I don't know what I'm saying?" Gunter's brows lifted. "I'm not a child. I'm working on remembering and being the man I'm supposed to be. Or do you think I'm a lost cause too because of my incident?"

Yuè frowned at him. "I do not think you are a lost anything, Gunter. But do you hear what you're saying? You gave your mother's ring to me for moon's sake. Me, stranger whom you've just met. Surely you will come to realize the mistake once you regain all the you you've lost."

"But I didn't. I used to see you in my dreams before I met you. When I was in a coma, I was trapped inside my own head. I was alone, and sometimes I'd hear you singing in the river or lake, and I'd watch you." Gunter pursed his lips. "Because I was all alone and you were the only precious and most beautiful thing about those seven years inside my own mind, I promised I'd find and wed you. You just so happened to come to me first."

Yuè stared at him speechless. Seen him in his dreams? Visions perhaps? He could not tell the man what he saw was false. The world was strange and fate seemed to have dropped him here for a purpose. "Then I am glad I could keep you from being lonely." He said finally, resting his cheek against Gunter's chest.

He could only imagine how alone it must have felt. He would have to ask Emery about his visions. Surely Gunter would have told his brothers what he had seen.

Gunter's face turned red as he kept staring at Yue. "You're so beautiful." He muttered. "Uh, can I ask you something? And you can't laugh at me."

Yuè's heart fluttered. "I won't laugh, promise." He swore.

"When I kissed you earlier today, something happened. And it's happening again." Gunter sounded nervous. He took Yue's hand and placed it atop his trousers where a bulge expanded the front of his pants. "Is it normal for that to happen when you look at someone pretty or kiss them?"

Yuè eyes widened in understanding and shock eyes flickering down to see exactly what it was Gunter was telling him. "Oh." He breathed out. "Oh dear." Swallowing, he moved his hand gently so that it was no longer pressed to the growing erection.

Clearing his throat, he pushed himself up til he was braced against Gunter's chest in order to look him in the eyes.

"Listen to me Gunter. There is nothing wrong with you. It's completely normal for men who find another person attractive. It's your body's way of….showing appreciation…" Gods he was so bad at this.

"What I am trying to say is, yes. It is a normal response for a healthy growing boy or man. Nothing to be ashamed of." He gave him a reassuring smile.

Gunter sat upright, though his legs remained extended out, face still red. "Is that what they use on Erosta day? What you meant by it going in a hole?!"

Yuè was just as red, shuffling away a bit to secure his towel tighter. "Yes. T-that's what you would use to mate." He looked away, moving to slide off the bed. He really should put on some clothing. This conversation was embarrassing enough without him being naked in only a towel.

Gunter leaped from the bed, his dark eyes lingering on the towel that wrapped around Yuè's waist and Yuè swallowed. "Let's mate one day!" He blurted out. "I'll be twenty eight in three months. Let's do it then, okay?!"

The tall and large man rushed over to Yuè before he could respond, kissed his forehead, and ran out the room.

"Gunter, wait!" Yuè called to him but the man was already gone, leaving him flushed and flustered. He blinked at his closed door before blowing out a cheekful of air. The spot where Gunter kissed him tingled slightly and he shook his head.

What was he going to do now? Gunter was stubborn, that much he knew from the small amount of time he'd known him. He wasn't even able to give him the ring back.

Sighing, he stood up, intent on getting dressed and going to bed. He would think about it tomorrow when he was less tired.

In fact, he had a lot of things to think about. Especially now that his arm was healed. Marcellus made it clear that he did not want Yuè there, and Yuè was less inclined to want to be. Emery and Gunter were great, but the looming threat of his presence was more than likely to get them both hurt again.

Tugging on a large shirt from the drawer he crawled back into bed and underneath the cover, blowing out the candle at his bedside.

He'd just turned around when the flutter of wings caught his attention and he looked toward the window. There was a large black bird sitting on a branch staring at him with glowing silver eyes. It held his gaze for a moment before it was gone, flying off.

Yuè shivered, pulling the cover over himself tighter. That was no ordinary bird.