Word Count: 2230

~Lavelle

I walk beside Tavrik, my mind focused on the limited gap between us.

Being near him like this isn't how I would prefer to spend my day, but when I woke to a note requesting my presence, I couldn't exactly say no.

So here I am, walking with Tavrik in his private gardens, wondering what excuse I can make to get away from him.

There is only one thing on my mind, and that is Zyre. Not his psychopathic brother.

"Thank you for joining me on this walk, Lavelle." He gazes down at me, the late morning sun carving a gilded path along his relaxed features. "It is nice to see your face, considering the amount of time you've been spending in your room."

I smile tightly, looking ahead at the primly trimmed roses that line the path of which we walk. Everything here looks so immaculate. Tavrik's need for control extends to even the most innocuous blade of grass.

"I hope you can understand why..." I drift off, looking down at my feet.

Zyre being here makes for a good excuse to avoid Tavrik while I craft my plan. I only wish he was not stuck in a prison below our feet.

"Yes of course. I understand completely." He smiles graciously at me, apologetically.

"What is your plan with him?" I ask casually, squinting against the rays of sun that peek through the trees nearby.

His face tightens, and for the first time, I see a glimpse of his uncertainty, the control slipping from him. Zyre appearing threw him off guard, and there is no doubt that he is considering all the reasons why his brother would feel compelled to do that.
 
"I'm undecided. I never thought he would appear here like he did," he admits. "I find myself scrambling for what to do, if I'm honest."

His honesty momentarily stuns me.

"Yes. It is quite...unlikely of him to be here, isn't it?" I withhold a grimace.

Tavrik falls silent for a moment. All that can be heard is our faint footsteps against the packed grass and the distant chirp of birds and the hum of insects.

"He has feelings for you. Real feelings," he says suddenly.

I look at him, alarmed. "No he doesn't. He was only claiming to have romantic feelings for me to trick me."

If Tavrik thinks Zyre has feelings for me, it won't be such a leap to think I have feelings for him also. Him learning that will not only compromise my plan, but will also but Zyre in more danger.

"You cannot truly believe that, can you?" He gives me a funny look, like he finds me amusing.

"It's the truth," I insist.

"Zyre was never the most romantic of us two. Father and I never thought he would ever settle down with a female," Tavrik explains, fingers brushing the petals of a soft ivory rose as we walk by. "Yet, it is clear he feels greatly for you."

The problem is, Tavrik is not a fool. He is intelligent, which only makes my plan more difficult to conceive.

While he is falling for my ruse now, he could change his mind on that at any moment.

"How can you know? You've never seen us together."

"I don't need to." He shrugs. "Him coming here is proof enough."

Damn Zyre and his unyielding loyalty...it is complicated this plan endlessly.
 
"He came back here to claim me, to continue his horrible plan," I exclaim, trying desperately to convince him. It is easier if Tavrik thinks Zyre sees me as only a chattel — something to own, to covet.

Still, that slight, amused smile toys at his lips.

"He wouldn't risk stepping into my control again unless it were for a great reason, and that reason is you." He nudges me, and I resist the urge to recoil. "His feelings for you."

I brush my hair over my shoulder, raising my chin. "Whatever he feels, I do not care."
 
"I understand that." Tavrik bows his head, looking at me sideways. "I can see why he had feelings for you, though."

My gaze remains trained ahead, my expression neutral despite the chaos flaring inside of me. He can't possibly be taking an interest me in. It is not possible. Tavrik is in love with Elowen, not me.

Unless this is yet another part of his manipulation. Perhaps he intends to seduce me like he has Caroline.

Then, he would truly own me.

I stop abruptly, waving a hand in front of my face. "Perhaps we should get back inside. I'm quite thirsty."

He grabs my wrist before I can walk off, his grip unreasonably tight. He must notice me flinch, because the pressure lessens.

"Before you go, I wanted to tell you something."

I swallow tightly. "Yes?"

"I'm having another Alpha visit in the coming days. I'm not sure how long he will be here for, but I wanted to let you know about his presence before he arrives," he says.

I blink. Someone else is going to be here? In this empty, cavernous house?

"Oh...who?"

"Alpha Finnian." He smiles. "You don't mind, do you?"

I don't really know of Finnian. From what I do know, he is the Alpha of a pack incredibly far away. While it has great distance from where I call home, his pack isn't exactly humble.

What business does he have with Tavrik?

"No, as long as he doesn't mind having me around." I would actually like to speak to him, to see what he knows of Tavrik. Perhaps he is aware of some unknown weakness of his.

Or maybe he is Tavrik's weakness.

His hand squeezes my arm. "He won't. He will be delighted to meet you."
 
"All the while, Zyre will be..."

"Locked away. Do not worry," he assures me.

I swallow my sigh of relief. As long as Tavrik has no plans to move Zyre away, I can keep seeing him. Right now, it's the only thing keeping me sane. Over this past week, I've snuck down to see him every night.
 
"Alright Tavrik." I meet his eye. "I trust you."

For the rest of the day, I'm able to avoid Tavrik and my sister. The Alpha is busy with a political matter, and because of his absence, Caroline has taken to napping most of her afternoons away.

It makes me sick knowing he's got such a hold of her. It is as if he has her brain on a leash.

At nightfall, I take my dinner down to the cells with me. I've requested more food from Tavrik, and he's obliged me. Let him believe I simply have a healthy appetite.

Zyre sits on the floor of his cell, eating his portion of my dinner near the cell bars. I sit directly on the other side, picking absently at a chunk of bread.

"It is a tactic. It has to be," Zyre mutters, speaking about Tavrik inviting Finnian to stay.

I frown. "What kind of tactic?"
 
"I don't know, but you need to be careful. This could have something to do with his plan," he warms darkly.

I nod absently, looking away.

The more time passes, the harder it is to look at Zyre. The lack of sunlight and proper nutrition has turned his skin sallow, and his clothing is rumpled and unkempt. I've brought him enough supplies to keep him clean, but it's clear he is uncomfortable.

At least he is not being tortured. Tavrik's guards are too afraid to step into Zyre's cell, even in his weakened state, and even with all their weaponry.

"I suspect that to," I admit with a heaving sigh. "Are you still being treated fine?"

"Fine. I'm being largely ignored." His jaw sets into a hard line. "He's going to find a way to get use out of me. He always does."

Despite Zyre's state, he is still devastatingly beautiful. I feel almost bad admiring him as much as I am when he is suffering so.

"I'll deal with him before then," I promise him.

His gaze sweeps to me, brows pressing together. His helplessness is killing him more than the lack of food he is being supplied.

"Please be careful, Lavelle. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you..." He murmurs.

I edge closer to the bars of the cell, under my shoulder presses between them. "It won't."

He looks at me knowingly. He's well aware that I can't make such a promise, but there is nothing he can do about it from where he is sitting.

"Zyre...you shouldn't have come," I whisper.

"I'll go anywhere you go, Lavelle." He pushes his plate away, shifting closer to me. "I know we haven't had this conversation yet, and this is probably not the right time, but—"

"Zyre...no." It comes out like a plea. I can't hear this.

I know what he is going to say, because it's been hanging between us since he got here. Actually, it's been hanging between us for months, and yet only Zyre ever came close to saying it.

"Let me say it, please." Desperation addles his features. "In case I don't get to in the future."

His words make my stomach twist. How can he say that? We both know his future is uncertain as long as he is under Tavrik's control, but I can't bear to hear it.

"I don't know if I can hear it right now, when you're in this cell and I can't get to you." I rest my head against the cell bar, ignoring the scent of rusting metal.

"I need to say it. It's weighing on me," he insists.

There is enough aching need in his eyes that I fall silent. He is right. There could be limited time between us. If it is not said now, it may never be.

He takes my hand in his, fingers entwining with mine.

"I love you, Lavelle. I knew it before all this, and I know it even more so now," he tells me earnestly. "I'm not leaving here until you're leaving here with me."

I look at him. Truly look at him. The strong lines of his face, the whisky colour of his eyes, the sloping bow on his lips. There isn't a thing about him that I do not desire.

That I do no love in turn.

"We will leave together. I know we will." There is no other alternative that I can accept.

He tilts his head. "I want you to stay with me, even after all this is over with. I want you to be my wife."

I smile softly, his words warming me from the inside. They speak to what I've been wanting, even if I haven't wanted to admit it.

His surety gives me certainty.

"I want that too," I breathe.

He straightens. "You do?"

"This has made me realise how there is no chance I can go back to any other life other than the one I have with you," I exclaim.

I can barely remember my life before he came into it. Everything he has changed, he has changed for the better, and I am tired of pretending like that isn't true.

A smile splits across his face. It is a beautiful sight, banishing all evidence of this past week for all I can focus on is it.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that." He brings my hand to his mouth, kissing it once, twice. "Do you want to be Luna?"

I pause. "I...I don't know. What if I'm not your mate?"

The thought pains me to consider. What if someone else were to come into his life, to take his affections away? I couldn't bear it.
 
"I'm almost certain you are—"

The words barely make it out of his mouth before a splitting pain carves through my head.

The pain is so shocking, so debilitating and horrifyingly familiar as I curl over, gripping either side of my head.

"Lavelle!" Zyre's voice sounds faraway, like he is above the surface of water I'm currently drowning in.

I feel tears spill down my cheeks as the pain rolls through me in great, grieving waves. I've felt this pain twice before, and it does not get any easier enduring it.

"What is happening?" Zyre has reached through the cell bars to grab me, to run his hands soothingly along my skin.

"The pain..." I grit out.

"Just breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe," he insists.

All of a sudden, the pain vanishes as quickly as it came. It leaves nothing behind by weakness and fatigue.

I slump toward Zyre. "It's over..."

"What is happening to you? Why now?" His hand wipes away at the sweat on my brow, his worried eyes turning blurry in my gaze.
 
"I have no idea," I whisper. "But whatever it is, it isn't good."

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