Lucian’s POV
It seed I had finally struck the last nerve he possessed.
But, I did not care.
"I can’t," I answered quietly, taking a deliberate step toward him. "We are brothers. We protect each other."
"Fuck with this brotherhood," he snapped. His chest rose and fell with a deep breath, then another, as he tried to steady the tremor in his temper. "You have a mate, you are doing good. Why can’t you just let be and focus on her? Why are you here after ? Want to kiss again just to save ? Or rather fuck ?"
"Rafe..."
"So that you can go to her and tell her you did it again just to protect ? That how great are you to sacrifice your dignity into kissing and fucking another man just to save him? And then, it ant nothing to you at all, huh?" Other than anger, there was a hurt in his eyes. His voice rose in anger and frustration, "You don’t have to do anything for either. Stop being my protector already. You don’t do things that you don’t an, Luke. Don’t make hate you."
Gosh! My heart was beating at fullest, unsure how I had hurt him or rather I was the one hurt here.
He heard it when I told Eira it ant nothing to . That kiss was nothing. But yeah, it’s suppose to be that way, isn’t it? He wanted the sa if I am not wrong.
"I don’t an it when I kissed you?" finally, I said, my jaw clenched, teeth gritted, "Who was the one to act like it ant nothing to him once it was over. Who was the to ignore like I am so idiot to even kiss you?"
"So it ant sothing to you?" he asked, anger still there.
I was the sa, angry and breathing heavy in frustration. "Just like it ant nothing to you."
I didn’t know what I ant to say, or what he understood from what I said.
We just stared at each other as if fighting in silence.
"We are done," he said, "forever."
What does he an? I wondered.
"Look," he said at last, lifting his gaze to et mine. Other than anger, it carried earnest pleading. Desperation. "Just this once, alright? I need it this ti. Please don’t spoil it for . It was difficult to get it already."
The words were almost calm, and he was still struggling to breathe evenly.
He was adamant about taking that drug. And I was adamant about stopping him.
He knew it. I saw the realization harden behind his eyes. He had to hurry.
The bastard began edging away from , one cautious step at a ti, as though retreating from a predator. His movents were subtle, calculated, seeking an opening, an escape.
But he knew as well as I did that escaping was nearly impossible.
He understood my intentions perfectly.
As he continued stepping back, his fingers worked with deceptive ease over the box. Sneakily. thodically. I caught the faint click as he loosened it, preparing to draw out the syringe hidden inside.
All the while, he held my gaze, keeping engaged, weaving his words carefully.
"Luke, I promise this will be the last ti. You should understand why I need it. You of all people, I expect to understand . We aren’t just brothers, but sothing more than that..."
He was trying to occupy my mind, to dull my focus with conversation.
But I was not the fool he hoped I would be.
I knew he was not in a condition to fight . The hunger in his veins had weakened him, thinned his strength, made his body restless but unsteady.
And I was going to use that.
My gaze never left his hands. I saw every subtle movent, every calculated shift of his fingers. He was only a heartbeat away from driving that syringe into his skin.
If he had been any ordinary werewolf, he would have been struggling for his life in my hands by now.
But Rafe was not ordinary.
Which ant I could not afford even the smallest mistake.
My fists tightened at my sides as I gathered my strength, drawing upon the full extent of my power. My vision sharpened, darkened, narrowing until there was nothing in the world except him and the object in his hand.
"Kael?" I said suddenly, glancing over his shoulder as though soone stood behind him.
The reaction was instant.
His focus broke.
He turned.
And in that single, precious mont, I moved.
The world seed to flip for him. One second he stood braced and guarded, the next he was slamd against the rough bark of a tree, my forearm pinning his shoulders firmly in place as I stood behind him. My other hand had already wrenched the box from his grasp, the syringe slipping free into my hold.
"Luke!" he snarled.
"You are not getting it today," I said, leaving no room for argunt, no softness in my tone.
He finally relaxed as if he couldn’t fight at the mont. The bloodlust and not getting what he wanted, had turned him weak to fight .
I felt bad, but what I felt won’t help him.
Silence settled between us, thick and suffocating. He let his forehead fall against the tree trunk, the rough bark scraping against his skin. It was a gesture I knew too well.
He had given up.
Slowly, I eased my hold and stepped back, freeing him.
But I did not lower my guard.
"I want to see her newborn child," he said quietly, still facing the tree, his palms braced against the bark as though it were the only thing keeping him upright. "I want to hold her child like it’s mine. I want to feel what it ans to be a father even if it’s not mine, and that happiness of having a family. I want to tell her how strong she is, and thank her for giving us another child."
He was not arguing with now.
He was confessing.
"I can’t mate with her. I can’t have a child with her. I can’t stay with her for the rest of our lives," he continued, his shoulders trembling faintly. "But am I not allowed this happiness at least? I want to feel it all. Is that too much to ask for?"
Fuck!
My chest tightened as though a massive stone had been dropped upon it, crushing the air from my lungs.
"You can," I said softly, though the words felt fragile. "Trust ..."
"You know the truth," he cut in, still not turning around. "I am already at the edge. But I want to hold on until she gives birth and I fulfill my wish. That’s why I need this drug, but..."
"I am trying to find a way," I insisted, even as doubt clawed at .
"I don’t have that much ti," he interrupted again, finally turning to face .
And when he did, I saw it.
Tears.
After so long, after everything we had endured, I had never seen him look like that. The sight of those tears hurt more than I could have imagined. It felt like a blade twisting slowly beneath my ribs.
It fucking hurt!
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