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 his hand on the door

We are mates. You don’t

sit your ass down,” I growl at

men was impossible, so we made one. Lycus watches him and moves to the couch by the fireplace. Despite his anger, Kalen’s behavior was as expected, and I could feel a hum of satisfaction come through the bond when Kalen lays down, snatching Lycus pillow to

would just lay in bed and sulk or stare off blankly when he is depressed, clinging to our pillows like they were a safety net. I watched, amused as 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 feel Tobias magic oozing out

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 and kill himself. I lost track over the last six years of the number of times he wanted to end it, the number of

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

didn’t see the rope around his neck until he jumped

time. Luckily, Lycus went back feeling sick. Kalen was dead before he 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 kept feeding his blood to Kalen, and by some miracle, his heart started up,

Kalen had never been happier until we had to remind

the bed beside him before tucking his

it always made him worse, and I couldn’t believe I was stupid enough to take it from him, blinded by my anger With

here,” I tell him,

heal her?” I asked him and

at Lycus because

also yelled at her,”

did the wrong thing,” I tell