Tasting Drakness

Chapter 17

Darius POV

Lycus was in a terrible mood when I came up to the room. Pushing the door open, Lycus was yelling at Kalen, which was rare; he tried to never raise his voice around Kalen. We all knew how fragile he was. We had all had to pull him back from the brink at some point, yet walking in, I had no doubt that Aleera was the reason.

“What’s going on?” I asked, opening the door and shrugging off my Jacket. I tossed it over the back of the chair by the fire. Turning around, they were both glaring at each other, yet neither answered.

“This has something to do with Aleera?”.

“Who else, she needs to go,” Lycus snaps at me, finally turning away from Kalen.

“What is this about? What did she do?” If she has disturbed the peace, she will be back in the cells.

“She did nothing; Lycus is the problem,” Kalen says before storming toward the door to leave.

“Where are you going?” I asked him.

“Out,”

growled at him, and he stopped with

Darius. We are mates. You don’t get to control all of

sit your ass down,” I growl at him. Kalen’s knuckles turn white on the door handle, where he gripped it before he slammed the

the couch by the fireplace. Despite his anger, Kalen’s behavior was as expected, and I

noticed he did it, but it’s always the same when Kalen was in a mood. He would just lay in bed and sulk or stare off blankly when he is depressed,

in the room. I turnt o him, and he nods, letting me know he dropped Aleera’s dinner off to her. He glances at Kalen, and I shrug, and he rolls his eyes before climbing on the bed and sitting next to him. Kalen rolled instantly, placing his head in Tobias’s lap. Tobias leans back against the headboard and brushes his fingers through Kalen’s hair and, I could

look at Lycus, knowing it is coming from him. Kalen was our weak spot in more ways than one, and we hated upsetting him. His mind was fragile. One minute he was fine and overly excited and bouncing around. The next, he refused to get out of bed, would harm himself, or try

from the rafters unmoving. I had all the cameras pulled down that week. When I checked the footage, it sickened me. I couldn’t unsee it. Kalen on that damn tablet wondering why she never opened his message, staring at the screen when he tossed it aside. He spent weeks begging her to

rope around his neck until he jumped

walked into the castle, and Lycus found him hanging from the second floor. He cut him down and performed CPR until Tobias got back. We all felt his bond sever, yet Tobias didn’t stop. He

called on us. Kalen had never been happier until we had to remind

bed beside him before tucking

shouldn’t have taken his magic, it always made him worse, and I couldn’t believe I was stupid

toward the bed and sighed. “Come here,” I tell him, but

I

you angry at

yelled at

the wrong thing,”