Tasting Darkness
Book 2 Tempting Darkness Chapter 1: Kalen POV

She was out cold for hours, her shredding had died off, but we all knew it was only a matter of time before it returned. There were four of us after all, and until she completed it entirely, it would only keep returning, though the first part seemed to have worn off. ”Try to get some sleep,” Lycus murmurs behind me, yet all I could do was stare and watch her eyelids move as she watched the disaster of my entire life unfold.

I hated myself, hated that being our keeper, she would have to endure all my misdoings, all my failures, and most of all, I hated that she would know. She would see how truly pathetic I am. Aleer would know that I am weak. I had nothing to offer her, and I worried she would be upset that she was cursed with a mate like me. Lycus growls, gripping my face and tilting my head to look up at him. ”Get some sleep!” he growls, but I shake my head, gnawing on my fingernail while staring back at her sleeping body.

”Leave him be, Lycus,” Tobias says as he gets ready for bed. He climbed in beside Aleera, tucking her tiny body against him. She reacted instantly to him, rolling into him and clutching his arm as she whimpered at whatever she was living through in my memories. Lycus squeezes my shoulders, kneeling behind me as he watches her.

”She will be fine,” ”I know that. It isn’t what I am worried about,” I whisper, and he leans down, resting his chin on my shoulder and wrapping his huge tree–trunk arms around my waist. ”Then what is it?” he asks, nipping at my mark.

”You’re not weak!” Darius snarls, and I glance at him over my shoulder. He was sitting by the fire, glaring at it while Ryze perched on the back of the armchair, watching him. ”Is that what you think?” Lycus growls at me. His anger erupted through the bond, and I hung my head.

Darius always read me too well. They all did. Darius, however, was usually the most observant. ”What if she thinks I am?” I murmur. “You are not weak. Never say that again. You know I hate when you talk like that.” ”I Lycus snapped.” Lycus, calm down,” Tobias scolded as Lycus trembled behind me, fighting the urge to shift at my words.

Yet I couldn’t help but believe she would hate me for being weak, hate me for not telling her it was me all along that was talking to her, hate me for them hating her for what I did. ”Lycus, go for a run,” Darius snarled, making me jump when he ripped Lycus off the bed just as Lycus shifted into his gigantic black wolf.

His claws ripped apart the rug as he skidded along it. Tobias clucked his tongue while Darius glared at him and pointed at the door. Ryze hissed and squawked at the huge werewolf. Lycus’s anger grew, and his werewolf instincts took over, making him savage. No longer in control, he lunged at Ryze, but Darius snatched him off the back of the armchair before his powerful jaws wrapped around the bird.

Tobias pointed to the door, and Lycus growled, his claws scratching the floor up. Lycus pivots and runs out the door when Tobias moves with inhuman speed and opens it. ”What’s wrong with him?” I asked. He didn’t usually lose control like that.

”He is picking up on her anger as well, Darius says and I look at Aleera and put my head in my hands. She thought I was weak; I knew she would. I wasn’t like them. I wasn’t powerful. I wasn’t strong. Darius steps closer, holding Ryze in his hands like he is holding an oversized chicken. Instinctively, I cringe away, and Ryze flaps his wings. Darius lets him go, and Ryze flies over to perch on the headboard. His tail flicked over her arm as he petted her like she was his pet, not the other way around.”

Crazy bird, ”Darius mutters, climbing on the bed beside her. Ryze hisses at him, but he waves his hand at him.“

“Hate me all you want. Just do it quietly,” Darius snaps at him. I shake my head, but Ryze seems to listen, huddling in his feathers like an owl watching with wide eyes, but he remains quiet. Darius leans his face closer, sniffing her neck before sighing and laying back. He pats his chest with his hand while looking at me expectantly, but I don’t move.

”One!” Darius says, and I ignore him, not in the mood to cuddle. I was antsy and irritable.

”Two!” I pick at the blanket, watching her squirm as fear floods me through the bond from her. ”Don’t make him get to three, Kalen,” Tobias hisses behind me and nudges me toward him. I roll my eyes and look at Darius, who raises an eyebrow like he was daring me to disobey him before pursing his l!ps.

He lifts a finger, motioning for me to come to him, and I growl before crawling closer. Obviously, I didn’t move fast enough when Darius ripped me on top of him. ”Stop your pouting and sleep,” Darius growled before pressing his l!ps to my forehead. His hand was warm as it trailed up my arm gently.

”You’re not weak,” he whispers, while I trace the scars on his chest with my fingertips. I looked up at him, observing his aura, but I could see he was worried about something. His aura was black but flickering red oddly. Everyone had color in their aura, depending on the emotion.

Mostly everyone was a shade of black or grey, sometimes blue. Looking at Aleera’s was like looking at a bubble when the sun hits it, a mirage of every color you could think of. Observing Darius again, he was nervous about something.

”What are you worried about?” I asked him. ”Nothing that concerns you, now sleep,” ”Only if you tell me,” I tell him, and he growls, squeezing my arm before he sighs. ”She will know all my secrets, just like she knows yours,” You worried she will replace out about your father? ”No, something else,” I could tell he wouldn’t answer any more than that and sighed before looking at Tobias, who curiously watched Darius.

Darius grabs my hand, placing it over his heart and holding it there. ”Try to sleep. I will wake you when she is up,” he says before I feel his magic wash over me. I melt against him, letting his scent soothe my anxiety. A few hours later, I am woken by screams; I lurch upright, and so do Darius and Tobias.

Lycus, having returned, growls, stepping over me, his eyes on the door. Blinking, I see it is still dark, but definitely early morning. The light outside was lightning, and I could just make out the trees in the distance.

“For crying out loud. What now?” Tobias g****s, tossing the blanket back and climbing out of bed. Something was going on downstairs. Darius tapped my arm, and I rolled off him. He leaned down, k!ssing my l!ps softly, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth as he k!ssed me. All too soon, he pulls away before ruffling Lycus‘ fur as he climbs off the bed.

”Stay here,” he says, grabbing a shirt and tugging it on as he follows Tobias to the door. They leave, and I look at Lycus, who starts to shift back before moving off the bed toward the closet. Sitting up, I see Aleera was still asleep, but her eyelids moving rapidly when she shot upright, scaring the crap out of me.

“She blinks, her eyes trying to adjust to the light.” ”It was you all along,” I whispered. Tears glistened in her eyes before spilling over. “I never ran from you, Kalen. I was trying to replace you, replace my internet friend,” she tells me, and I suck in a breath.”

You’re not mad. I didn’t tell you? ”I ask her..” No, I am mad I ran,” she says, tears roll down her cheeks before she threw herself in my arms. I wrap my arms around her, squeezing her tight.

She didn’t hate me, and I had never felt more relieved. Feeling the bed, I watch Lycus climb on the bed. He k!sses my cheek before running his fingers through her hair, and Aleera turns her head on my shoulder to look at him.

I k!ss her nose, hugging her tighter when Lycus runs a hand down her sides before pinching her chin and pulling her head off my shoulder. Her l!ps part, and he k!sses her gently at first before his tongue invades her mouth, making my c*ck twitch beneath her.

”Thank you,” Lycus whispers, pulling his l!ps from hers and she looks at him oddly, clearly confused by his words. ”For what?” she asks, confused. Lycus pecks her l!ps before laying down, pulling us with him.