A Week Later...

My mother peeled back the collar of Darren's shirt, revealing the bite wound that his boy toy had given him. He stiffened, making sure to keep his gaze focused on the floor, ignoring the fact that he had four pairs of eyes on him. I felt like a jerk for having said anything but I had been too worried to keep my mouth shut about it anymore. He had been putting healing herbs on it but they weren't helping as they should have been. The only good thing about the situation was that Alby and our father were away on other business so it was only us girls and Rafe to witness Darren's bruised ego. 

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? How can we trust you to go out on your own when you can't even be honest about things, Darren?" Our mother asked in a calm voice, even though I could see the hardened expression on her face that said she was feeling anything but calm. 

"Because I knew you would freak out like you are right now." He replied dryly, turning his face to give mother a pointed look before glancing away to the window, lips pouted, "It's not that big of a deal. Sure, It hurts like hell but it will heal." 

Our mother scoffed at him before whirling around and pointing at Jocelyn who stood beside me, "Go fetch me some Burdock root and bring me the rest of my horsetail." 

Jocelyn made a whining noise in the back of her throat. I half expected her to stomp her foot like she did at times when things weren't going in her favor, "Why do I have to get it? Why can't Poppy do it?" 

"Because you know if I send Poppy, she'll probably come back with snake root instead. She's never had an eye for these things. You're a natural with plants, sweetheart." She smoothed over nicely but I couldn't help but feel slightly offended by her comment, even if it was true, "Plus she needs to go and fetch me the Lycan that bit your brother." Darren turned quickly to her with wide eyes, shaking his head no. He hadn't spoken to or been around Cole since he had bitten him. He said he didn't want to see him but I had caught him a couple of time, peering out the window while Cole was running surveillance around the house with Anna. 

Apparently that was Alexei's concept of handling things. He left my family with the two lycans I didn't particularly like as protection. I had a feeling that he had done that part on purpose, just to get a rise out of me. It didn't matter if he was here to watch it happen, wherever he was he was probably smiling knowing how pissed of he had made me. 

Jocelyn puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, "Fine." 

"That's a good girl." Mother praised as Jocelyn turned to leave, sending a glare in my direction before she disappeared. I couldn't figure out what it was that made Jocelyn fight me so hard, perhaps it was because I was the only sister she had. Maybe she saw me the way Darren saw Alby. Either way her attitude towards me was getting really old, really fast. 

"What do you need the lycan for?" I questioned. I hoped it was because she planned to give him a beating for laying a finger on her child. Alexei banishing him from being around Darren but still letting him guard us was not punishment enough in my mind. I wanted the monster to bleed like he had made Darren bleed. 

She gave a look over her shoulder at me, "I've been reading about their culture, considering one was claiming my daughter as his mate." My cheeks rushed with heat at her remark, "Apparently much like a snake they have venom glands. That's how they are able to change people...I have a feeling the one that gave Darren this, must have released some...hopefully on accident. Either way I have a theory like a snake, a sort of anti-venom can be made." 

"How do you even know the Lycan who bit him is here?" I was curious. 

She snorted as if I had asked a stupid question, "I'm the mother of five druid children. I have to eyes and ears everywhere. Plus, somethings don't take much to figure out. Now go." She shooed me from the room with a way of her hand.

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I approached the SUV that Cole was currently sitting in, staring blankly out the window. I tapped my knuckles on the glass, pulling him from whatever world he had been in. He got out of the car with his face twisted into a usual scowl, "What do you want, witch?" I had a feeling the he and I were never going to get along. 

"I want a lot of things but I'm not here to talk about me right now. I'm here to talk about Darren and what you did to him." I found amusement in the way his whole body stiffened and his entire focus turned toward me. He was waiting on bated breath for whatever I was going to say next, "Easy now, boy." I teased as If I was talking to dog which awarded me a show of teeth. 

"Do not play games with me, witch. Tell me true what is wrong with my mate." He was clearly on the edge. I could see the angle of his face shifting slightly as his Lycan pressed for freedom, which would not be a good thing to happen in the middle of day in a quiet suburb. 

I put my hand to my hip as I shifted my weight, "Your fetish with biting people is what's wrong with him. You pumped some of your dog saliva into him and it made him sick, and he isn't getting better...he's getting worse." I leveled him with a hard stare all of my good humor evaporating. From the surprise that flashed in his eyes, I knew that he hadn't meant to do whatever he had done to Darren but that didn't mean I forgave him. 

"If I had my way...I would be cutting off your head and hanging it on my wall as trophy but I don't think that would make my brother very happy despite his reluctance to be around you. So instead you're going to go inside that house and try and help my mother fix the mess you made. If my brother doesn't get better than I'll do things the way I want to do them, understand?" There wasn't a lot of people in life that I cared about but my family were in the small handful, and I would do everything in my power to protect them even if it meant burning the rest of the world to ash. 

Cole bowed his head low, putting his hand to his chest, "If something happens to your brother, I will happily accept your offer of death, witch." It felt weird to have him making some kind of death oath to me. It made me feel a bit like something Alexei would do. As quickly as he came into my mind I frowned, not enjoying the ache that began to burn in my chest. It had been getting worse everyday, and not thinking about him as hard as I tried was getting harder. 

I turned away from Cole, "Whatever. Let's just get this taken care of..." I walked back into the house with the lycan trailing behind me. He didn't say anything more, just stalked behind me like the predator he was. It made me uncomfortable to have him at my back but I wasn't afraid. There were worse things in the world, Alexei  Grimm sitting at the very top of the list.

When we got to the back sitting room I walked in casually, finding mother mixing the the herbs Jocelyn had brought her together into some kind of paste, "I brought your Lycan." They turned to look at us, all eyes moving past me to Cole who crowded the doorway with his large body. 

"Do I have your permission to enter the room?" He questioned, Shifting from foot to foot as if someone had put ants in his pants. It took me a moment to realize what was happening. Apparently he had taken Alexei's punishment quite literally, which I got sick amusement out of watching. 

My mother watched the scene with confusion, "We asked you to come here didn't we?" 

I chuckled as I crossed my arms over my chest, smug smirk plastered on my lips,  "No, he needs Darren to give him permission, Mom. It's his Alpha's punishment for doing what he did..." Cole glanced in my direction with narrowed eyes. He wanted to wring my neck but he couldn't touch me, which only made me want to poke at him further. It was a bit sadist of me to be enjoying this whole situation the way I was, clearly Alexei had rubbed off on me more than I wanted to admit. 

"Poppy, stop." Darren groaned in my direction. His gentle rebuke of my behavior left a tiny sting in my heart.  He was my other half, the better half. He had gotten all the good qualities between the two of us. Darren was more selfless, understanding, and compassionate. Even though he was the older of us two I always felt like I needed to protect him from the world. It was a dark place and even though we fought with darkness on a daily basis it never seemed to leave a mark on him, until now. 

"You can come in." Darren spoke softly, body sagging in silent defeat.Cole moved hesitantly toward Darren as if he was afraid he would spook him, keeping his gaze focused on the ground. 

My mother motioned for Cole to come to her,  "I need you to spit in this."  She held out her ceramic bowl toward him. He gave her a questioning look, glancing quickly toward Darren before leaning forward and spitting into the bowl as she had asked. 

"Ew, Gross!"  Jocelyn turned away and I found myself agreeing with the sentiment. 

"Now I'll need you to lick the wound. I image your saliva has the ability to heal the damage the venom from your bite did." She got to mixing his spit into her healing cocktail. 

"What?!" Darren's squeaked out, "No way. I don't want him anywhere near me like that...no..." I noticed the way Cole flinched at my brother's words but he kept his mouth shut, eyes focused on the ground. 

 Mom leveled Darren with a look that had his mouth snapping shut, "You will stop acting like a child this instant, Darren or so help me..." The energy in the room shifted and his jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth but he wasn't nearly as brave as me when it came to challenging our parents. She turned to Cole with a pleasant smile, "If you would please..." She motioned for him to get on with business. 

Cole licked his lips nervously, "Do I have your permission, Darren?" 

There was a moment of silence, before mom snapped her fingers, "Darren..." She hissed out his name expecting him to obey. 

He tensed up, cheeks burning red, "You have my permission..." 

It felt weird to stand around and watch my brother's boy toy lick at his neck, "I'm going to get some water." I tossed out quickly, backing out of the room--no one seeming to notice. 

I jumped a little in surprise when I found Anna standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall just outside of the room like a silent spectator. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes closed, "You know if you wanted to leave, now would be the perfect opportunity...with everyone's attention averted elsewhere..." 

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion,  "What are you going on about?" 

Her eyes fluttered opened, "I've been watching you, while you watch us. You've been looking for an opportunity to get away, and meet back up with the others who are hunting down your dark witchling. I may be many things but a fool isn't one of them." I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth together. I had thought I was being pretty good about surveying the two of them. I had been tracking the times in which they ran there surveillance, looking for the time breaks during switch overs. All I needed was a good ten minutes and I would be home free. 

"Is this some kind of test?" 

Anna shook her head pushing away from the wall and closing the gap between us with a lazy stride, "No test. No games." 

I tilted my head to the side, scanning her face for any signs that she was lying, "Why would you help me? You don't even like me." 

A slow smile crept over her lips, sending a shiver of fear through me. At times it wasn't hard to see why Alexei would want a woman like her. She seemed to have an air about her just as dark and cruel as his at times, "I never said I didn't like you. I just didn't trust you and still don't. It's not personal. I don't trust anyone and neither should you. Anyone can betray anyone in this world." Something she was proving by helping me. Alexei had trusted her to keep me safe, and out of his hair but here she was doing the very opposite. 

"That's a pretty speech." I remarked sarcastically. 

She moved past me, our shoulders brushing, "Better start moving...your window of time is getting smaller by the second..." I watched her disappear into the room, not bothering to look back at me as she closed the door behind her. 

I stood unsure for a moment before I hurried to grab the bag I'd already had packed in my room under my bed. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest with anticipation and the fear of getting caught. My family had been happy to have Darren and I back at home. They had welcomed Alexei's offer of protection until they handled the problem. Of course, they still had no idea that the problem in question was a dark Druid. I hadn't shared and neither had Darren, though I had a feeling once he found out I was gone he would share my secret like I had done to him. 

Alexei wouldn't be hard to find. There was only one family that kept watch over the hell gate in this region. 

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Song: Judas --Banks