Angel was sure he needed to train harder in the future because keeping up with Kiril while running was more difficult than expected.

He also hoped that they would be turning to their human form only in a proper environment, meaning somewhere with some... Privacy, because else he was certain he would never recover from that experience.

But what if not? It just dawned on him that he didn't know where they were going or why. What if Kiril wanted to kill him after all? He really liked killing people, alphas most of all lately. And Michael had really, really annoyed him with that crap about Mila, who hit it first and all, so Angel doubted he would bother with technicalities, like the fact that he was Michael's former lover.

Angel, you are an idiot. You were so angry with Michael that you just didn't think at all. I am going to fucking die.

They were running for almost three hours and were almost passed Inverness.

Where on earth are we going? And why?

Another hour later after a steep ascent that reminded Angel a lot of his adventures with Nodin, and that made him almost yelp and cry, they reached a cabin in a clearing.

Just before reaching the steps, the door opened and two men and a woman stepped out. Rogues. Angel could recognize them by the smell, as they didn't share that common undertone with Erik's... now Michael's pack. Besides that, one of them, the man who looked in his fifties, was a notorious one. His name was Malcolm, and when Erik decided to take permanent residence in Scotland he had been a very prominent opposer and troublemaker.

Despite the headache, Erik insisted on not killing him, because he came from a very old bloodline of Scottish wardens, he just happened to have come astray, he always said and hoped he would incorporate in the pack eventually. But like most of the noble decisions Erik made, it came to backfire; the man remaining a permanent thorn and a troublemaker even if he agreed to retire in the north of Scotland and was given the territory around Inverness to take care of at his will, just to be appeased.

"We will be on our way, everything is under control," he said bowing his head slightly in front of Kiril.

That meek headbow was revealing a well-kept secret. That was how Kiril was trespassing Erik's territory the years before without them knowing. Inverness could be a small harbor too, or big enough to land a small plane in the woods. He was matching his reputation once again and Angel became more and more certain he was in mortal danger. Again.

Malcolm and the others just left without a word and Kiril still in his wolf form entered the hut.

Then Kiril, in human form stepped outside again dressed only in some very tight jeans that were still unbuttoned.

"You coming? Turn and let's talk," he said throwing a pair of pants at him.

Talk, he said. Not kill... But he has to call it somehow, thought Angel to himself while his gaze was fixated on Kiril's lower abs and that damn undone button.

Then he turned away to go back inside and Angel noticed various whiplash marks on his back in contrast with the rather flawless skin and couldn't help wondering where they came from.

Angel walked slowly towards the cabin trying to remain cool but, those damn jeans were so tight... He had never seen Kiril wear jeans before which was...

"Angel I don't have the whole day. I think you got that we are kind off in a hurry here."

And the way he just heard him say his name probably for the first time ever just made him gasp for air.

Angel, you have issues.

He turned and put the pants on thinking intensely about his grandmother for his blood to revert to his brain where it needed to be if he wanted to survive.

Stepping cautiously inside he asked with the same hesitance, "Are going to kill me now, sir? "

Kiril only lifted an eyebrow and smirked a bit surprised.

"You can call me Kiril unless you really like the sir. You think we came here so I can kill you? If I wanted to I would have eviscerated you in front of Michael hours ago only to see his face. The audacity... fucking idiot."

"Yes, he was pretty rude. But please don't kill him, he is just trying to do the right thing, it's just in these times it's challenging to know what that is. He is not a bad person."

"You know him best out of all people. Where do you think did he bring Mila?"

"You think he lied?"

"Yes. Don't you think the same?" he said and he had that half evil smile on his face and a gaze that felt to Angel entirely devouring. He was close enough to notice that his lashes and eyebrows were the color of lead mixed with silver and the shade of his irises darkened too from grey-azure to midnight blue when he smiled like that.

And damn it, is he gorgeous.

Angel also felt suddenly a glimpse of bloodlust drip into the atmosphere and saw in his peripheral vision how two of the fingernails from his left hand elongated into claws.

He lied! He is going to kill me.

And in a matter of seconds, he was pressed against a wall and the two elongated claws were grazing the skin on his neck.

"I think Michael would exchange you for her, wouldn't he, baby Alpha? What do you think would happen if I send him say... a token...?"

Angel's heart was racing, he knew he could never win a fight against him. He would just die miserably and humiliated. Humiliated as always... So he decided to at least die bravely.

"Just go ahead, my life is damn miserable anyway; I don't have much to lose. But Mila is my friend and I really want to help her, and Michael doesn't give a shit if I die, so your effort would be very much in vain. Go ahead and make fun of me. I guess all mighty powerful as you are you have no idea how it feels to be weak or when the person you love the most doesn't care about you at all!" he was crying when he finished saying that but at least it felt somehow good.

Kiril's features lightened and he retracted his claws.

"Relax. So dramatic. I just wanted to see if you are lying or if you are under the spell too, because when I entered your lover's mind there was a portion that was strange and foggy like I have never seen before as if he was intentionally hiding something, but it was bizarre and I am not sure what is going on. But you are not, or the spell is really well camouflaged in your mind. So I will take a risk. I have decided to trust you, Angel, in good faith, against my custom. Don't disappoint me. And about Michael, if he would really love you, he would rather have set that house on fire and died trying to kill me than let you run off with me, so he is not worth your tears. You on the other hand seem to really love him, which admittedly... Sucks."

Ok that wasn't quite a nice, sensitive pep talk but Angel's expectations were quite low lately and now that a death threat was not looming over him anymore he remembered that he was pressed against a wall and Kiril who was wearing only a really tight pair of jeans with an undone button.

Goddess, have mercy.

"Here, you look like you need a drink," he said moving away and handing Angel the glass of whiskey he just poured.

Angel took a small, timid sip while he watched Kiril pouring himself another one and sinking down on an armchair facing him.

"So, what are your thoughts?"

Angel took another sip and sank to the floor to sit down and lean against the wall facing Kiril.

"Mine?" asked Angel somehow surprised as if there was anybody else in the room to whom the question could have been addressed.

He was drinking whiskey with the great alpha of the north that was asking for his opinion and was taking him apparently more seriously than Michael.

"I think he is definitely hiding something, even if everything he says stays in character. It's the way his jaw clenched and his pupils squinted, that was something that was happening usually only when he knew he did something I would disapprove of. Now it's not about my opinion anymore but the behavior is the same; he did something he is uncertain of, meaning something Erik would mind if he knew about it, because Erik was always the center of his world, for the better or the worse."

"Erik, you say? Tztztz," said Kiril smiling devilishly.

"Not in that way, Erik was straight and their relationship was never like that but Erik was always the sun in Michael's universe."

"Yeah, I saw how straight Erik was. Well okay, I don't really care about Michael's crushes. Think of something useful. Does he know a powerful mage to put a barrier strong in enough for me to barely sense it, to hide his thoughts? And regardless of that, what is he trying to hide? If he lies indeed and Mila is with him, where is she? And why..." Kiril stopped and Angel was majorly curious how that question would have ended but he knew better than to go there.

Angel wasn't quite sure if he heard the first part right, so he just brushed it off because it didn't make any sense.

"No. There is no other mage we know, only Samira. And Samira is not really in touch with her power. It's very strange and volatile and she could never really grasp or bend it."

"What else can she do, except opening portals?"

"What portals? I only knew about dream walking, which might be fun but fairly useless in a fight."

"Nothing is useless..." whispered Kiril more to himself.

"What do you want to do with Mila when you find her? Do you want to kill her and take her power?"

What a stupid question Angel, he will of course lie if he would. But don't annoy him, dumbass, unless you want him to kill you after all.

"Sir, uh Kiril, you must understand it's hard for us to trust you too. You almost killed us all and now it's really uncertain what you really want. But you didn't kill Samira so I want to hope you are not that bad after all. I want to trust you too, but it's hard because lately I have seen persons I know for a long time change drastically and turn on me... and..."

Kiril's face didn't move, it was blank and impossible to read.

"Mila feels like my mate. I can't hurt her. There were times I wanted to and wished I could, I admit, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that, even for the greater good I envisioned."

When he said that, the color of his eyes changed again and it became slightly more vivid as if the dark blue hues suddenly shone like brushed with silver, and Angel's heart couldn't help skipping a beat.

"Amaru was hurting my sister despite the mate bond, so you definitely can. I guess it variates with how you are as a person too or you lie. When you had her with you, you could have killed her though, but you didn't. So, I am meeting you halfway. I don't know where she is, but where I would start looking is also at a cabin. It's where I used to go with Michael when we wanted to be alone or where he went when he wanted to be alone. The second is with his father. But let's start with the cabin it's not that far, coincidentally."

Kiril stood and took Angel's hand and Angel thought he was hallucinating and retracted it frightened.

"Common, I can't be that frightening," he said grabbing it again and pressing it on his chest over his heart.

Right now that wasn't Angel's problem but the tingle in his hand when he felt the warm, soft skin under his fingertips and the subtle bumps of the claw marks, that were slicing the full moon tearing it into pieces, the warm blood, the heartbeats, and the proximity.

"At this distance, it's perceptible for you if my heart rate increases regardless of how good I am at controlling myself. If I lie, or if I show you something untruthful, you will know."

At the same time, Kiril's eyes shone and Angel noticed astonished how he could see and feel what was inside his mind. It was dimmed down, Angel was certain and he could see only a very small portion of his thoughts but it was fascinating. His inner life was like granite, cold and sharp.

"I do not want to kill Mila," he whispered and Angel could sense something different like a fine trace of longing in Kiril's otherwise very methodic thoughts, that fascinated him even more. He clenched his jaw to not move and not give in to what he actually felt like doing, namely tracing with his fingertips the outlines of Kiril's chest.

I will never recover from this.

"That's enough. Out," he said abruptly when while Angel was following fascinated that whisper of longing. He was kicked out just as fast.

"I uh, believe you. Let's go to Michael's cabin. We don't need to turn just follow me," he said curtly and exited the cabin starting to run as fast as he could to not think about anything he shouldn't.

In about an hour they reached that said cabin, which looked more like a small but chic modern condo in the woods, all black brushed metal and glass. Angel opened the digital keypad and scanned his retina hoping it would still work.

It did. Michael didn't eliminate his data from the access accounts.

"Nice place," said Kiril moving around the very elegant building. "But it doesn't smell like Mila at all."

"No, unfortunately, but Michael has been here recently. Before we go, I can get you some better clothes if you like. More fitting ones, I mean," offered Angel.

Kiril smirked.

"Fair enough, I can't button these damn pants up. Maybe if I try harder," he said looking down and trying to clasp together the button that caved under the pressure and flew all the way across the room.

Angel couldn't suppress a smile. Kiril was actually quite humane sometimes and it was just as fascinating as his devilish, dangerous side. He thought about what Michael would say when he would find out that they were there and that he gave Kiril some of his clothes. He would be angry for sure but Michael could go fuck himself, concluded Angel when he exited the walk-in closet with a bunch of clothes in his arms.

Kiril was leaning over Michael's desk crumpling a sheet of paper in his fist. His claws were pressing into the skin of his palm drawing blood but his expression was ambiguous, not angry as Angel would have expected but somehow blank, and in his eyes, for a brief moment Angel thought to have sensed ... fear, that he blinked rapidly away baring his fangs.

"Has Michael ever mentioned The Brotherhood of the Right Faith? Or... has Erik?" he almost spat the last part as if feeling... betrayed.

Kiril was many things but not an uncomplicated personality.

"No. And before you start. I won't lie! I swear on whatever you want I will never lie to you. What is that? And are you ... alright?" he finished asking timidly.

Kiril tilted his head to face him, retracting his fangs and claws but not letting go of the bloodied paper.

"If it's a pack thing, Wilhelm must know," said Angel.

"Let's go back to Edinburgh, I need to think," he said exiting, turning abruptly, and starting to run.

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