The balcony beckoned to him…but for the cold.
A white moon hung above in the vacant dark, keeping the night faintly aglow. No stars. Perfect. There was nothing starry about the entirety of the day either.
Lucian tore his hands from the rail of the balustrades as it turned icy against his touch. However thick the robe he was clad in, it didn't do much to inoculate him. He folded his arms. The chill clutched at his throat and chest all the same. An ugly churn gripped his stomach.
But winter wasn't for another two seasons. So was it the temperature or his own inner scare?
The foliage below slapped and slithered about each other, whispering discreetly in the wind.
From the corner of his eye, he noticed his uncle emerge and come to stand beside him. "What's behind your troubled eyes, my boy?"
Lucian felt the fur of his collars tickle the back of his neck. "You could ask your lovely Moon Goddess"
"Go easy on yourself now. Don't go acting like the whole world rests on your shoulders"
Lucian scoffed. "I'm the new Alpha. You expect me to sit down and watch the Bloodfangs fucking besiege us?"
"Those?" Bane waved a lazy hand. "They ain't shit. And it's barely been a night. You've got to take it easy"
Lucian's eyes narrowed. "Have you always been like this?"
A smile played on his uncle's face. "Confident, you mean?" he said, his grin twitching.
"It's illusory and grand"
Uncle Bane's shoulders quivered with a quiet chuckle. "I AM a wizard, dear boy. I'm in control of more than your mind lets you comprehend"
Lucian stared off. A memory stayed afloat his sea of thoughts. His father's fading hand, ghostly and pallid as he reached out to touch him. The mottling of his skin as he tore through his wrist with the iron scalpel. He couldn't shake the image off his mind. "Dad has spots on his hands," he announced.
Uncle Bane's grin faltered. He frowned, giving him a side-on glance. "I'm not sure where this is going"
"He's getting paler by the fucking minute. Control that, maybe?" Anger pressed his voice.
"You're worse than a centenarian. Worrying so much""
"And you happen to be his fucking brother" his jaw tightened. "You don't think that's reason enough?"
Uncle Bane exhaled, shaking his head. "So long as he keeps up with the ointments I gave him, he'll be fine"
Lucian didn't respond. His hand balled on the railing. Uncle Bane's long beard lightly swept with the breeze. The night wore on.
"How do you feel after the ceremony?" Bane asked finally. "How's the mantle sitting on your shoulders?"
Lucian threw his head back in absolute mourning, rubbing a hand down his face. "Give me a fucking break, uncle" he groaned.
Uncle Bane brushed off his complaint. "What's your first act as Alpha"
"Boxing Callum's stupid face"
"Will you leave that young man alone?"
"She won't even fucking look at me" His voice echoed in his ears. For the first time, he realised, he'd actually said it aloud…he finally did.
"Who?"
"Who else?" Lucian muttered.
"Funny," Uncle Bane tilted his head. "I could swear it's the other way around"
"I don't give a shit anyway"
"I believe you"
"Really, Uncle" Lucian stared right at him. "I've got better fucks to give"
Silence planked in their middle again. "Your cousins came" he looked up at Lucian. "Talked with them?"
"No?" He frowned. "They were here some months ago. We don't have a damn thing to talk about"
"You should, before they leave. Who knows when they'll come again"
"I don't want to"
His palms opened and closed his palms again as he tried to find the words. "But why her? It doesn't feel right"
"Because she was your brother's girlfriend?"
"Obviously I don't care about Cal's feelings," Lucian began. "–but yeah"
"Her ways are beyond our understanding," Bane said softly. "It's important to remember that"
"And now, aside from being Alpha…" he trailed off, staring hard at his fingers, callused and red with sores at the knuckle from his earlier conflict with Callum. "…I think about her. All the fucking time" The railing juddered under the bong of his fist.
Uncle Bane sighed. "You see, Lucian, you can fight destiny, but you can't fight instinct. Don't bother denying it now, boy"
A chorus of voices rose in some frantic alarm, bouncing off the sturdy corridor walls.
Lucian straightened. "What's that noise?"
"I don't know," Uncle Bane frowned, turning around. "You stay here. I'll go check"
While his uncle went to investigate, Lucian caught sight of Vesper, Uncle Bane's raven circling the moon. A vast imprint in the sky, dark as the moving shadow he cast over the earth below.
"It's your sister"
Lucian looked behind him. "What happened"
"She's unconscious," his uncle told him, voice calm.
Lucian stormed past him and out of the balcony.
The Healer's Hollow teemed with people who were already dispersing. They cleared a path like reeds in the wind as Lucian appeared at the doorstep. Their heads bowed beneath his searching eyes and they quietly trooped out behind him.
"You stay" he shot at a pair. A boy with a mushroom haircut and a girl with her curls in a bow tie and rosy cheeks.
He studied their faces. The girl looked ready to leap through the roof. The boy, a heartbeat away from wetting his pants.
"What happened?"
They didn't answer. Heads bowed.
"You were with her!"
They jumped.
"What happened?"
"We were just fooling around, and she fell all of a sudden," the girl blurted.
"Did you take wine?"
They became silent again.
"You know you're not allowed to take wine"
"We didn't. Promise" the boy said quickly, glancing at the girl. "Yeah. She–She's complained of dizziness for most of the ceremony." They nodded to each other and looked at him.
Lucian's gaze on them was hard. It stilled, their hearts beating out of their small chests.
"You may leave" He finally told them.
They scrambled for the door.
Lucian turned to the physician standing at the other side of Freya's cot. He sat down, taking his sister's warm, limp hand into his.
"How long has she been out?"
"Not quite long"
"And how's she now?"
"Well contrary to your little friends, she is slightly inebriated"
"Those damned kids" he muttered.
"Other than that, we've not found anything else"
He sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. A wolf growled low and restless.
Looking up again, Selena stood at the doorway. She was in her ceremonial dress, dark as her expression she wore on him. A bag strap went over her shoulder.
Rising, he sank his hands into his pockets, to keep from betraying him. His wolf stirred, riled by her scent, and as always, her olive skin. "Going somewhere?" his voice came out cool and detached.
She adjusted the strap. "Away. Yes" her tone was firm. But for a split second, he traced something in her eyes as she retreated. She turned away, starting down the corridor.
Outside, Vesper's crow broke the night.
Lucian's jaw flexed. He didn't follow. Why would he?