Kael's nightmare

“Wake up,” Damien said, shaking Lucian to try and rouse him from his sleep.

“Leave me, bro. Not now. I'll wake up once I'm done with our mate,” Lucian muttered, turning his back to Damien.

“Ugh, why would he have a wet dream about her instead of getting up to find her and make his dream a reality? This boy is so annoying,” Damien muttered, his frustration clear.

“Please don’t kill her. Take me instead,” Kael tossed in his sleep, sweat dripping from his body.

‘He’s definitely having a nightmare,’ Damien thought, watching Kael’s restless form.

“Don’t kill him, please don’t,” Kael begged in his nightmare, trembling on the bed.

“No!” Kael screamed, causing Lucian to jolt awake.

Damien quickly rushed to his side and shook him until he woke up.

Kael shot up from his sleep, gasping for air.

“It’s okay now, it was just a dream,” Damien reassured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

Kael’s panting subsided, and slowly, he returned to his normal self.

“What happened?” Lucian asked, walking over to Kael.

“Nothing,” Kael replied, standing up from the bed, now soaked in sweat.

“It can’t be nothing. I heard the way you screamed; that tells me you had a nightmare,” Damien said, his tone full of concern.

“It was nothing,” Kael replied, attempting to end the conversation, though he knew his brothers wouldn’t give up so easily.

“The last time you acted like this was when our mother died,” Damien remarked.

“Yes, I had a nightmare, but I have nothing to tell you. So, cut the crap and leave me alone for a while,” Kael said, stepping out to the balcony without waiting for a response.

Flashes of the dream flooded Kael’s mind, leaving him on edge. The way they slashed his mate’s head and his father’s made him tear up.

He couldn’t bear the pain, and something deep inside him told him that what happened in the dream was going to become a reality. He tried to shrug it off, but he couldn’t.

What raced through his mind was when Aldric had held the sword in his hand and told him to make a choice between his father and his mate. The most painful part was when he couldn’t make a choice, and they both died.

“No!” Kael screamed, punching the wall and leaving a small crack…thanks to the quality of the bricks.

As soon as Damien and Lucian heard the scream and the punch against the wall, they rushed to the balcony.

Damien took in Kael’s figure, feeling nothing but pity. He wondered what had happened to his brother that had brought him to this point. He approached him, with Lucian trailing behind.

“What happened, Kael?” Damien asked, concern evident in his voice.

“Leave!” Kael roared, making Lucian flinch, but Damien didn’t back down.

“No, I can’t leave you like this. Look at you, your knuckles are bleeding, you're shaking, and I can see the tears in your eyes. You expect me to leave you like this?” Damien said, his voice thick with concern for his younger brother.

“You don’t understand. Just please leave,” Kael said, his tone calmer than before.

“I’m not leaving, no matter what you say,” Damien said, his resolve firm.

“You’ll regret this,” Kael said, his voice dripping with arrogance.

Damien turned to Lucian, who was standing behind him.

“Go get the first aid kit,” Damien ordered Lucian, who immediately went to fetch it.

“Kael, what’s happening to you?” Damien asked him for the umpteenth time.

“I’ve told you countless times, it’s nothing,” Kael replied, his teeth chattering.

“It’s obvious something’s going on, so you’re not fooling me,” Damien said, concern blazing in his eyes.

“It’s not your business,” Kael said, his jaw tightening, fists clenching, and his eyes bloodshot red.

“It’s my business as your brother. Your elder brother, to be precise,” Damien said, his voice harsher than usual.

Damien had pushed Kael to his breaking point, and with that, Kael transformed into his wolf form…Cyrus. Without hesitation, he launched himself at Damien, his eyes bloodshot with rage.

Cyrus stood over Damien, glaring down at him with red, feral eyes.

“Get a hold of yourself, Kael!” Damien struggled to push Cyrus off him as he spoke.

“Hrrr,” Cyrus growled lowly, a guttural sound escaping him, and raked his claws down Damien’s arm.

Damien finally managed to push Cyrus off him, using all his strength. He quickly stepped back to keep some distance between himself and Cyrus.

Cyrus strode toward him, his movements predatory.

“Don’t, Kael. You’ll regret this. Try to regain control of Cyrus. I know you don’t really want to do this,” Damien pleaded, but Cyrus continued to stride toward him. In the blink of an eye, he had Damien in a chokehold from behind.

“What the fuck?!” Lucian exclaimed the moment he entered and saw the scene unfolding before him.

Immediately, they heard Lucian’s scream, and their heads snapped to his direction, but Cyrus didn’t stop strangling Damien.

“Stop!” Lucian roared, and with a final growl, Cyrus released his grip on Damien’s neck.

“I think it’s high time we leave,” Lucian said as he quickly approached Damien and pulled him by the arms, guiding him away from the balcony.

Damien pulled his hand away from Lucian’s when they reached the room.

“We can’t just leave him like this,” Damien said, his gaze fixed on Lucian.

“We have to,” Lucian replied, dropping the first aid kit on the shelf.

“But…” Damien started, but was cut off by Lucian.

“No buts,” Lucian interrupted, then dragged Damien toward the bed.

Lucian sat down on the bed, and Damien followed, sinking down beside him.

“He needs some alone time to cool off, and he could hurt you if you try to intervene again,” Lucian stated as a fact.

“I guess we’ll have to give him some time to cool off. Then, he’ll get back to his old self,” Damien agreed with Lucian.

Lucian scanned Damien, his eyes filled with concern.

“What happened to you?” he asked, holding Damien’s bruised arm gently.

“I got scratched by Cyrus,” Damien replied flatly.

“You could’ve avoided him,” Lucian muttered.

“I couldn’t leave him like that. Don’t you see the way he looks?” Damien explained his reasoning.

While the two were having a conversation, Kael suddenly barged into the room.

“I’m…”