Cassian

"I cannot believe that worked." He whispered with pure male satisfaction. Cassian turned to his mate, trying to tamper down on his pride at bonding with her son. That little animal instinct that kept the fae trapped to their heritage was beaming in smug pride. "Izzy-"

His heart melted.

Isabella was slumped over, curled around her son who was nestled into her side. Their sleeping faces were identical. Perfectly adorable and mirror images of each other. Both had their mouths open slightly, little puffs of breath leaving their lips and they lightly snored.

They were so fucking cute.

A soft smile tugged on his face and Cassian slowly stepped forward, scooping up Isabella first and carrying her through to the main bedroom he had passed on his way in. It was a tense three minutes of slowly placing his mate down on the creaking bed, fluffing up her pillows and tucking her in all the while not waking her up.

For a moment he just stared, brushing back a piece of her before deciding that was creepy and shuffling back to get Oliver. He had planned on leaving them separate. That way one could wake without waking the other but.... But they were so sweet and with that male- man - lurking outside he wanted to keep an eye on both of them.

Logically he knew that with his fae senses he would be able to hear anyone approaching but centuries of war and bloodshed had made him cautious. Losing Rhys had made him cautious. So here he was slowly picking up the boy with no small amount of fear.

It had been instinctive with Isabella, she was his mate and his instincts were roaring at him to keep her safe, to care for her. Ollie was different. He wanted to keep him safe, sure, that instinct was there. But there was also this innate fear of damaging him, of breaking one of his fragile little bones.

Especially now that he was sick.

When Azriel had tugged him to the side two days ago and told him that Oliver had got some kind of cold he had been worried sick. And apparently Feyre had got irritated enough with his endless questions about human illness that she begged Rhys to occupy him for a while.

He had lasted all of 12 agonising minutes brutally sparring with his brothers before he began peppering them with questions. Or more accurately Azriel who's shadows seemed to be waning that day.

Except the ones still by his side were darker, more dangerous in the way that suggested they intended to be corporeal for a while. It was odd seeing his brother's shadows charged up and ready for fight when there were hardly any of them left.

It had him on edge.

Rhys was apparently more than happy to help him deep dive into human ailments and medicine. It brought back memories of evenings spent in the library learning etiquette, battle plans and listening to an intellectual teen Rhys ramble about his topic of the day. It was nice for a moment, perhaps the only thing that had managed to distract him until he realised that Rhys wasn't invested in the same way as he usually was.

Normally there would be a casual ease to his studious times, whether it be a personal topic or a High Lord duty there was always a sense of decorum around the male. That was all thrown out the window and replaced by endless stacks of books and rabbit hole of study that lead to Cassian and Azriel physically dragging a passed out High Lord between.

Not like they hadn't saved the light weight from nights out before, they'd just rarely had to save him from a night in with the books.

It was worth it though, seeing how his small family  would fit within the Inner Circle. Oliver quickly burrowed into his mother's side, even while sleeping they instinctively sought each other out. Cassian decided then and there that he would pray to the mother with all that he was worth in hopes of one day experiencing that kind of quiet love.

The gentle soft comfort it brought through everyday acts of devotion and adoration.

And there he was turning into a sap again.

He could practically hear Rhys' teasing words though there was no longer any heat behind them. Cassian had known his brothers were jealous, he didn't blame them, not now that he was so close to having the life he always dreamed of.

Cassian did blame Morrigan though. They'd had a knock out fight as soon as the group were back in Velaris. He didn't regret a single word but something had shattered inside him, some held out hope for Mor to treat him as anything more than just a bastard Illyrian. He's not even sure if the argument was about Isabella in the end. Mor certainly had her issues with her mate but he doesn't think they were anything to do with Isabella's actions beyond what Feyre initially told Mor about Isabella marrying Tomas.

Surprisingly, he thinks that was the one thing she didn't have a problem with.

The way Isabella lives on the other hand. Cassian sighs. He knows it wasn't about that either, it was her attitude, the strength that Morrigan admires and covets in friends except Isabella's passion died out when the Queens left and Cassian thinks that pissed Mor off. She always got a bit testy with females who weren't willing to be fiery all the time, who were more inclined for stereotypical 'feminine' roles and actions.

But seeing his mate now. Cassian can feel a soft smile bloom on his face, carefully tugging up the blankets around the pair before taking great care to tuck them in and leave no room for drafts. Though he might have to fix that blanket if that's to be the case. He tries not to bristle at the threadbare blanket, the practically empty pillows and breaking bed.

He doesn't look down on them for it. Mother knows he had far less than they did but it's different seeing the people you care for suffer. It makes him understand Nesta's bitter blows. Cassian could see how easy it would be to snap and hiss at Isabela, anything to shock her into action.

But he'd seen enough to know that it had to be her choice.

So he did the only thing he could at this moment. Cassian reached out for his connection with Azriel and asked him to winnow over with a thick quilt. The male appeared in seconds, winnowing into one of the darkened corners not touched by the midday light.

It was an effort not to snarl at his brother when he stepped closer to his family, clearly intent on covering them with the blanket himself. A blanket that was clearly Azriel's from the scent. Cassian narrowed his eyes, what the hell was Azriel playing at?

When he opened his mouth to question the male he was quickly cut off by a soft 'shhh' and Azriel's smirking face inclining toward the sleeping duo. How dare he use them against Cassian right now. Either way he snatches the weighted blanket from Az's hands, grumbling as he unfolded it and gently covered up the mother and son's sleeping figures.

Azriel was waiting patiently by the door, clearly waiting for the inevitable conversation. Cassian takes one last look at his mate, at the serene look on her face that makes her look younger and more free before joining his brother outside in the narrow hallway.

"What are you doing?" He hissed, feeling his nostrils flare in rage. "Why would you bring my mate a blanket that clearly belonged to you."

"Seriously," Azriel snarled back, obviously in the mood for a petty fight. "That's your concern right now. I got here as fast as I could to be courteous and I was in my room. I just grabbed the first damn quilt I could find."

"Well why didn't you go to my room." He sounds petulant to his own ears

"Because you sounded panicked, gave me no further information, my shadows decided to be arseholes and keep their mouths shut so I was left imagining the worst." He snarls back and Cassian can finally see the veiled concern in the male's eyes. "It's freezing out here. I didn't know Oliver had got worse, if you were going to ask me to winnow him to Madja. If you tried to take some damn romantic walk by a river and Isabella had fallen in. Which, by the way, humans freeze to death a lot quicker and at a warmer temperature than we do."

Cassian sighs, "I'm... sorry okay." He glances away, staring out the window to where the eldest member of the Mandray clan is carrying in a few logs despite his limp. "I'm just on edge, being here and all."

Azriel's expression doesn't change but he's known the male long enough to see the shadow singer's own sigh of defeat as he follows his gaze.

"I don't like that male."

"Me neither." Cassian grumbled, remembering the odd look in the male's eyes when he had first seen him staring up at Oliver's window. "I don't like the way he looks at Oliver."

"We could kill him."

Cassian whips around to the spymaster of the Night Court. For a moment they just look at each other; Cassian in pure shock and Azriel who stared back with an unapologetic shrug.

"What? It's not like we haven't killed people for less."

A/N: A little bit of a teaser into the males' pov.... and minor foreshadowing