Invictus

I try not to be upset with her. I know she was struggling but-god, does that woman drive me insane and at the same time she stirs a carnal desire inside of me that even scares the hell out of me. When I look at her, all I want to do was kiss her senseless.

I left her to go speak to my father and when I returned and she was nowhere in sight. I panicked. It was like my whole life flashed by me. I felt my hands becoming damp. My heart rate was beating through the roof.

When I found her, the relief that washed through me was overwhelming that I snapped at her. I didn't mean to but she drives me crazy. I was constantly afraid of losing her.

Shrugging on my jacket, I glanced over at Caden who was looking at me with an arch eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to go with us on this hunt?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't I want to?" I replied. "I need to find him. It is the only way for me to be able to live without looking behind my back every two seconds to see if he will appear at any moment."

"But Dee is a newborn." Caden replied.

I paused for a moment in zipping up my jacket. My mind was temporarily flickering back to her crying. I could still hear her sobs. My heart still ached.

"I have to do this." I spoke quietly. "I need to protect her."

Marc sighed as he swung his jacket over his arms to wear. "This is why I don't want to find my mate."

It was always a topic we have always debated about. Before Deidre, I could see why I don't want to meet my mate. I did look for her but I never tried hard enough. A small part of me was ok with not finding her because I was afraid of what will happen to me if I was to lose her. Now that I have Deidre, all I could think about was protect her and what I thought was a good life was not so good after all. My world completely turned 180 degrees and I can't imagine my life without her.

"We are leaving." I ordered as I stalked towards the door.

Deidre

I wiped my tears and held my breath to stop my hiccups. Once I was done, I stood up and walked downstairs where I ran into Akoni. He looked at me with a sympathetic expression. I didn't want to see that look and so I turned and tried to walk away from him. He moved to grab a hold of my wrist to stop me from walking away.

"I'm sorry he is acting this way." Akoni said.

"You aren't the one who should be apologizing, Akoni." I responded, still not looking at him.

He sighed and moved to stand in front of me. He placed two hands on my shoulders. "Don't let this make you feel like you aren't special to him. You are the most important thing in his life."

"How would you know? You aren't him." I retorted. He moved to place two fingers under my chin and lifted my gaze up to meet his.

"You forget, he is my twin. I lived with him for so many years; I can read his emotions like anything. He isn't that hard to predict, even if he pretends he is." Akoni teased. "C'mon. While he is gone, I will give you a grand tour and at the same time start your training."

"Training?" I asked.

"Of course. Every lycan should know how to protect themselves. While I give you a tour, I will give you the Lycan 101 teaching." He continued as he wrapped an arm around shoulders and led me down.

We walked down the stairs. "Number one: newborn lycans are the strongest yet most unstable creatures."

"I don't feel unstable."

"Are you kidding? You cried almost every-"

"Ok, I get it." I mumbled.

He chuckled as we hit the ground floor. I saw Ron and Max rounding a corner. They started toward us as soon as they saw us.

"Hey Deidre." Max said.

I haven't talked to Max or Ron that much but they seem like very nice lycans. When they continued to stand in front of us, I spoke again.

"Is there something you guys need?" I asked.

"Nope." Ron said. "We are just here to watch you."

"Invictus told you to follow me?" I asked.

"Yup. The crazy lycan ordered us to remain at your side. His exact words, 'Stay with her. You leave her side and you die'." Max responded.

"We would very much like our heads on our shoulders, if you don't mind." Ron said and Akoni chuckled.

"This is great. More people mean more company. C'mon I was just about to show Deidre around." Akoni said.

They toured me around the palace and showed me all the little hiding spots that they use to do hide in when they played hide and go seek. They also pointed out the important rooms that I needed to know. Once we reached the basement floor, we walked down a narrow passage and opened a door. Max flipped on the lights illuminating the whole room. The whole basement floor was made of concrete and with warehouse lights. It was a huge rectangle shaped room with all kinds of training equipments.

Akoni slapped his hand together and rubbed them in an excited manner. "Let's play."

Max and Ron were grinning as they began taking off their shirts. I blinked several times as I watched Akoni do the same thing. They turned to me and I shook my head.

"I am not taking off my shirt." I replied.

They laughed and pulled me into the middle of the room. Max and I started combat training first. He taught me the defense moves that I needed and the reflective move I needed to make in order to obtain a hit on my opponent.

"Remember, Deidre, a lycan can die. We might be immortal but the Moon Goddess created us with a way to end ourselves." Max said.

"How?" I asked.

"Severing the spine of a lycan will kill him instantly." Ron spoke from behind me. He waved me over to a punching bag.

I walked over and then brought my hands up, ready to punch. Akoni chuckled as he approached and he began fixing my stance.

"Your arms and legs are most important. They are what you need to provide the force you need to hit your opponent. If you stance is lacking, you will be out faster than you can blink." Akoni scolded. After he fixed my form he pulled back. "Remember, the goal of combat is not to just hit your opponent at all cost. It is so that you can weaken their state as well as amplifying your own."

I nodded and then threw a punch.

It wasn't until later when I finally threw each one of them down on the black mat while doing combat with them that the boys finally let up and allowed us to go back upstairs to eat. Max and Ron were standing next to me and Akoni ahead of us as we headed up the steps. Once up the steps, Akoni stopped and turned to me.

"Before we go any further, I want you to know that we accept you for whoever you are rather you were human or you are now lycan. You were one of us the minute he brought you home. You just need to accept the fact that you are now a lycan. Your transition as a newborn will be easier." Akoni stated seriously.

He reminded me so much of Invictus. I missed him. I can't ignore the feeling. I missed Invictus but I was also thankful the boys kept my mind busy until now. I nodded my response to Akoni. He smiled then and turned around continued walking.

I was left to ponder what he had said. Was it what I really needed to do? I knew deep in my heart that there was still a part of me that still didn't believe that I was a lycan. A part of me that was still not accepting the truth that was happening right now and coursing through my veins but as we passed by a hallway mirror I knew the truth was evident. The black veins that were slowly disappearing were still there. My eyes still held certain ruddiness to it that told me I wasn't my human self any longer.

I cast my gaze back to Akoni's back. They had put on their shirts again before we left the basement. We made our way upstairs to the dining hall where we met Simon and Mama Kate. She smiled when she saw me and immediately waved me over.

"You must be hungry. I heard the boys took you downstairs to train." She said.

The aroma of butter and freshly baked bread entered my nostrils and my mouth watered instantly. I nodded and moved to sit next to her. She placed a few buns on my plate and I moved to grab the butter as well as some meat. Before I knew it, my plate was piled high. I looked at everyone to see if they caught my ravenous action but when I saw them smiling softly at me I felt a little better.

"Go ahead and eat, dear. Newborns are hungry eaters and tend to eat more than they are normally used to." Simon said. I nodded and began digging in.

I think I finished off two plates that were piled high before I stopped and took a sip of my water. I wiped my mouth and gave everyone a sheepish smile.

"At this rate, you might get chubbier than you are now." Akoni teased. I pursed my lips into a frown. He chuckled and patted my back. "I'm kidding, Deidre."

"Lycans' metabolism absorbs the food like nothing. You will not gain weight." Mama Kate replied.

The days passed by quickly and it soon turned into weeks. I have done training almost every day with Ron, Max, or Akoni. We will end the night with me beating them in combat. I was becoming stronger. I can see the outline of my muscles on my body. My body has become more toned. My hair has grew past my shoulders down my back at a surprisingly fast pace. The red glints around my eyes were now gone.

Every day, I waited for him to return and every day he didn't. My heart was hurting. I missed him terribly to the point that I would apologize for crying just so he would come home. It was weak. It was pathetic but I knew it had to do with the bond. It was becoming stronger and it was getting harder to stay away from him. I needed him to come home.

It wasn't until the six week of him being gone that I woke up to the sound of happy laughter. The ones I have been missing but the moment I heard it, it gave me a sense of happiness and at the same time anger. I was angry it took him this long to come home. I was angry that the moment he came home, he didn't come to see me right away. Instead, I heard him talking to Elena outside of his bedroom.

Authors note:

Ah! Before i forget, here is an awesome cover made by yoursecretviolet love it