Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

"I'm allowed to be secretive occasionally." He grinned.

The Lycan's brows furrowed as she turned her gaze to the mansion.

"Something interesting back there?" He sat up and turned his torso to take a good look at the mansion. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It looked pretty dull and ordinary.

"I'm just thinking..."
She muttered as she eyed the window which belonged to her room.

How did you escape, brother...

"I've been trying to find Aeker for the last few nights, but I can't manage to find him, he hasn't been back to his room."
She frowned slightly, she felt no guilt for what she had did.

The wolf tensed.

Aeker.

The welts on his back!

He snapped around quickly, raising a hand to run it through his hair, hoping to god that she didn't see his back.

"What'chu looking for your brother for? He gone missing or something?"

Her eyes locked onto him as his body tensed and he moved quickly all of a sudden.

Her brows inched together as she stared at him after he turned around, only half registering his question.

"Yes. Missing...What happened to your back?"
She questioned, she had seen marks like that before but she could not put her fingers on where.

Cac.

Well, she noticed.

Great.

"Nothing much. I just did something stupid," he replied, waving his hand dismissively with a grin. Play it off, dont give her the details. He could keep to that... right? He'd have to.

Her eyes narrowed slowly, he was dodging the question, something was up.
Where had she seen those marks before... she was getting annoyed as the memory evaded her.

"Aodh, you are constantly doing something stupid and I've not seen you with marks like that before.
Who gave them to you?"

He shrugged. "I finally made someone snap and they reached for the belt."

He ran his hands through his hair. "It's nothing, really. They look worse than they are." He had gotten used to the delicious sting the marks left on his skin. The only pain he got was when he shifted around a little too much when he was sitting.

"No one important." Bullshit, he contradicted mentally.

"Belt?"
She asked, then it hit her.

When they were growing up, the twins had just entered their twenties when Aeker caught one of the servant boys harassing Alexis, he'd set her brother off by grabbing onto Alexis' wrist and trying to drag her along.

Aeker had slammed the boy against the floor and beat him raw and bloody with his belt.

Alexis growled softly under her breath as he eyes flashed red and black.
"...Aeker..."
She muttered.

Aodh blinked.

"Lots of people use belts, Alexis."

Shit. Was it obvious he was trying to cover his tail then? She had assumed that it was Aeker, yes, but had he convinced her that it could be someone else?

...probably not.

Her eyes dulled back to a mixture between gold and red as she tried to control herself.

"Was it someone else?"

She asked raising as eyebrow at him, it was true, she had jumped the gun with assuming it could of been Aeker.

That had been one of the only times she had seen her brother snap and she doubted that he would of let Aodh get to him.

He hesitated before answering.

"Yes."

It was a blatant lie but he hoped the woman believed him. If she found out it was Aeker, he worried over what she'd do to him.

He had seen her punishments for him and he didn't want the vampire to go through that again any time soon.

Alexis pursed her lips, still displeased that someone had lashed the wolf.

"I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions.
I find myself a lot more short tempered and paranoid now that my madness is back.
I am learning to suppress it though."

She gave him a weak smile.

"That and I am worried about Aeker, last time I saw him he was not looking so good, I want to know that he's okay."
She lied, she was still spiteful over someone else trying to claim her brother.

He waved a hand dismissively with a small grin. "Its fine, we all do it."

The Lycan arched a brow, feigning interest.

"Not looking too good? Did something happen to him?" Like didn't already know exactly what had happened.

It took a fairly large portion of his self control not to lash out verbally at the woman. But that would do him no good. He'd hold his tongue or die trying.

"I don't know what has happened to him, I suspect he's not eating properly, he looked faint last time I saw him.

If you stumble across him, let me know?"

She asked innocently, looking over that the lycan.
Alexis was a good little liar, if you were to look at her she seemed to be telling the truth and showing genuine concern for her brother's safety when it was in fact the complete opposite situation.

She was a good little actress, he noted, eyes trailing over her face. But he was a damned good actor, too.

He nodded, face drawn in concern. He had only met the vampire 'once' but they had gotten on okay. "If I see him, I'll send him your way."

Like fuck he would.

"And if you see him, wish him the best for me, aye? After our rocky start, I could say we came...not enemies." She knew about the kiss and she knew that Aeker hadn't attacked him for it. That was all she needed to know to interpret that sentence has a worried friend.

"Thank you, I appreciate it, and I will.
It's nice to see Aeker making friends, he had always been such a loner.

I just worry that someone will take advantage of his soft-hearted nature, that's why I try to look out for him.
I suppose you can understand feeling protective, being a twin as well."

She smiled brightly at him.

"Really? I can't see why, he's actually pretty friendly." That wasn't acted. Yes Aeker looked like the sort of person that would much rather be alone in a corner with a good book, but he was a friendly man.

The grin on his lips tightened a little. "Yes, I understand completely."

He understood the relationship twins had. Aeker and Alexis' relationship mirrored Coilean and Aodh's with shocking precision.

Aodh and Aeker were the protective ones. They genuinely worried for their twins, even when they did things that were difficult to forgive.

But Alexis and Coilean were two sides to the same brutal coin. They were possessive over their twin; they got violent when their twin did something they didn't like or did something without their permission. Yes, they could be protective and yes they loved their twins; but possession ruled them.

She smiled softly and nodded.
"He is very friendly but he comes across as cold a lot of the time, I think that puts a lot of people off.

I wonder at times if he actually has any interest in being around people, most just don't seem to spark his interest, he'd rather have his books.
I hope he finds someone he can open up to, I don't want him to spend eternity alone."

She was lying through her teeth with that last sentence, but it was something that a concerned sibling would say, she wanted Aeker for herself, he had always been hers.

"We've all got our vices. His is just reading too much."

Something he wouldn't get the chance to do while Aodh was around. He didn't have the patience to sit around reading or be quiet while other were reading. Aeker would just have to disappear for a few hours if he wanted to read.

Aodh nodded, strained grin fading into a true smile. "Yeah, it'd be good for him to find someone to open up to."

Ich liebe dich, nur dich alleine.
Ich leiber dich auch, Aodh.

Aeker had found someone to open up to.

"But I suppose the same could be said for all of us."
She added, laying down on the grass, her hands placed under her head.

"Even vampires can't live alone forever. Every soul needs another."
These words were true, even the most reserved hermit yearned for company, someone to call their own.

"Aye."

He laid out again, stroking Macon's head as she settled on his chest again, avoiding the still not healed chunk missing from his chest. It didn't hurt him, but she didn't want to irritate it at all.

"You found anyone yet?" he asked curiously. If she did find someone, she may leave Aeker alone a little more.

she shook her head softly.

"No, not yet, but then I have not been looking for someone.
I don't think it's fair dragging another person into my life when I am this unstable, no one else should have to deal with my shit."

She admitted.

He grit his teeth.

But it was okay for Aeker to have to deal with it?

He inhaled then exhaled slowly, reigning in his sudden spout of anger. "You'll find someone, Kitty-Cat."

She shrugged softly.

"Perhaps, for now I have my brother for company so I don't really feel too lonely.

Plus, against all odds I am actually making friends here, a shock for me."
She smiled softly and gave a light chuckle.

He nodded silently.

He daren't speak. If he did, he wouldn't hold himself responsible for anything that came out of his mouth.

She had Aeker yet she treated him like that? That was not they way you treated someone close to you. Even he, a man known for his violence, knew that.