~Cyrus~

"Have you lost your minds?!" I exclaimed at the four men once we were back in the Alpha's office alone.

"Not that I know of" Elijah smiled lounging on the couch.

"What's the problem?" The Head Elder asked.

"The problem is that you want my mate to handle a 'Seer' alone!"

"He won't be alone Cyrus he'll have Teagan with him" Jim said.

"Oh right leave the unstable pyro to deal with my mate and a Seer." the sarcasm was dripping off my tongue as I glared at the four calm men.

"Are you admitting that your therapy sessions with him were no good Cyrus?" Heath asked. I gritted my teeth at those words.

I worked hard to try and get Teagan to join society, his mental state was almost beyond repair. He was so scarred, he would attack for no reason. I suffered plenty of scratches and burns from him till I finally earned a fraction of his trust. From what I've seen of him recently, he's doing so much better. Connor seems to be helping him cope with his past and keeping him sane. But I don't know what might happen if he meets his parents. They are the cause of his suffering and also his long lost baby brothers.

I sighed, oh Lakota. He was not far from his brother in this. He was just as scarred but since he had no powers to lash out with he had secluded himself in his wolf form. This was the first time I'd seen him out in his human form for so long. And I hated to admit it but I knew part of it had to do with Gale.

"Cyrus" I was brought out of my thoughts as Heath came to stand before me.

"Sir?"

"I know this is hard for you, all these new developments with your mate, Gale and this war. But I need you to focus on the mission. Get to the Seer, gather the location of these rogues and hope we win this thing."

"I'm not scared of this war sir, I'm more concerned with what all this will do to my mate."

"Understandable" he nodded.

"Cyrus" I glanced over towards the Vampir King. "Lakota has been through a lot, I know what a Syrin is capable of. He's lucky he's still in his right mind; unfortunate for his brother though. Your fortunate to have Lakota but I want you to step back and realize that Gale has entered your lives. My son is not an intruder in your world as you might think. He was brought to you for a reason."

I frowned as I stared at the vampire who had taken my mate.

"The Spirits make mistakes occasionally but when it comes to mating three individuals together, there could be no error. And to have a mate from another species altogether makes it impossible." This time it was Jim who cut in. Jim was unusually wise for his age and when he gave advice it was heeded.

I nodded, knowing that their words would stick with me for good throughout this trip. It was true that I was dumbfounded about Gale. Why he was here and obviously mated to Lakota. It made me angry when I first heard about it but now I think it was a strong kind of jealously. Not that I would tell anyone that.

"All that you need to do is protect your team" Heath said. I looked over at him,

"Sir"

"You're powerful Cyrus, more powerful than any other Elder that I know of. I understand that your loyalties are mainly for Lakota, since he's part of your pack and your mate. But I am trusting you to bring everyone back safely." Heath's grey eyes were showing all the faith he had in me and I could do nothing but give in to his demands, he was my superior after all.

"Yes sir" I bowed before leaving the room.

I stood outside of the closed door and lent my head back against the wood with my eyes closed.

-Let Teagan and Lakota speak to a Seer of all things

-Bring everyone back safe and sound

-Win a war against my mate's parents.

-Accept Gale as Lakota's mate?

It was a list of difficulties especially the last. I heard my wolf growl softly as I thought about it. Shaking my head I pushed myself off the door and walked down the hall. 

******

Bags were packed, everyone was waiting outside. Since we were going in wolf form we only packed a few clothes and cash for the few times we would need to go out in public.

"You ready?" I asked everyone who were standing around as I closed the front door.

"Yeah" Gale answered but I kindly ignored him.

I walked up to Connor and buckled the small pack around his neck and did my own.

"Alright let's go then"

All four of us shifted leaving our clothes tucked into a hidden clothes cache the Sky Raven pack left out for emergencies on the trees boarders and took off. As we ran I saw that Gale may not be able to shift and have four legs but he ran pretty damn fast with two; he kept up with our pace so skillfully he was almost a blur.

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~Lakota~

We had been traveling for a good two days straight now as we came to a rest for the night by a stream. It was a pretty silent trip with the occasional irritant from constantly being around each other all the time. I watched Teagan and Connor slip off somewhere while the three of us sat to rest as was a typical thing for them to escape for alone periods of time. I walked over towards the stream and lapped at the cool water. Laying my exhausted body down I was listening to the peaceful sounds of the creek rushing by, almost falling asleep when I jumped up suddenly as a fish was dropped in front of my face.

I looked over towards Gale who had made himself comfortable against a tree, he was fiddling with a piece of wood. Glancing up I watched as a drenched Cyrus pushed the food closer to me with his nose before shaking and splattering water everywhere.

'Eat' he told me through our bond.

My chest suddenly felt heavy as I stared at the bloody scaled creature.

It was considered one of the ultimate intimacy when you provided sustenance for your mate. It proved that you were forever in his care and he would make sure you were safe and healthy.

Living as I have, I haven't felt much love in my life and being fed something my mate had caught for me had set my emotions off.

'Thank you' I said roughly as I leant down piercing my teeth into the flesh.

"Oh, that looks delicious" Gale's voice sounded from above me as I heard him kneel down next to us. "So is everyone staying in their wolf form and leaving me the only talking being around here?" he gave us his charming smile.

I heard Cyrus growl slightly as he gave Gale a sideways glare. Shaking my head I finished my fish and shifted, Cyrus reluctantly followed suit.

"Ah there you are" Gale joked.

Something large was thrown over me from behind, a blanket, peeking over my shoulder I saw Cyrus's grim face as he stood naked above me. I snapped my head back, a blush flooding my cheeks as I gripped the edges of the blanket closer.

"Well damn I feel like I should be going in the buff as well." Gale said grinning. "I feel left out" and reached down to pull his shirt above his head.

"How about you don't" Cyrus growled sitting beside me, unashamed.

"I'm just joining the pack is all" Gale shrugged.

"We don't want you in the pack." I glanced up frowning at Cyrus's rude comment.

"Cyrus" I said softly but I was ignored of course.

I watched Gale's usual playful brown eyes were staring at Cyrus hard now.

Oh no.

"I believe you mean 'you' don't want me mated to Lakota." Gale retorted.

"You're right" Cyrus stood now, "I don't, and I don't want you anywhere near 'my' mate." I could see Cyrus's canines extending and none to my surprise I found Gale's sharp fangs elongating as well.

This isn't good at all.

"Guy's" I warned coming to my feet.

"Lakota has been with me for years and you think its fine for you to just swoop in and have the rights to take what doesn't belong to you?"

"You have some nerve wolf"

"Excuse me?"

"If you wanted him so much you should have marked him a long time ago." Gale snarled in Cyrus's face as he stepped up to him. "Don't think I didn't notice that your essence was nowhere to be found on him when we met."

In that moment Cyrus growled and push Gale out of his face I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Gale staggered back abruptly, his head down and his hair obscuring our view of his face from us.

"Gale" I whispered calmly, stepping closer to him when he snapped his head up and I had to step away as his gentle brown eyes were a deep silver and his lips pulled back over his glistening fangs. Then he was airborne, his body slamming into Cyrus's snarling form as they rolled together.

"No!" I screamed running towards them.

I could smell blood and my own ran cold.

"Stop!"

I heard the growls as Cyrus must have shifted biting any place he could get his canines into. Gale was under him suddenly holding Cyrus's head from getting any closer to his own before he balled up his fist and punched him, causing him to fall over. They rolled and rolled, each unable to get a good grip of the other.

When I saw Gale finally push forward and sink his fangs into Cyrus's furry neck. I watched in horror as Cyrus seized up, his eyes squeezing tight and I heard a whimper escape his mouth.

"Oh god" Connors voice said from behind me as both Connor and Teagan ran forward.

Teagan quickly grabbed Gale and tossed him aside and I ran over to him to find his mouth red and glazed silver eyes. Clenching my teeth I quickly turned towards Cyrus dropping to my knees beside him.

"Cyrus?" I said reaching out to pet his sable colored fur.

But the moment I touched him he flinched. I snapped my hand back in surprise as he shot to his feet suddenly running into the forest.

"Cyrus?!" I exclaimed.

"What the hell did you do?" Connor demanded as he came to stand in front of Gale's immobile body.

I glanced towards them curious of the answer myself. Cyrus had never been defeated in a fight before and he didn't easily run from one either.

"Hey" Connor yelled yanking Gale's shirt only to get an intense glare and a deadly growl.

"Let go" Gale warned.

Connor was snatched away as Teagan came to shield him from Gale.

"You don't threaten him." he snarled.

Frowning I walked forward mimicking Teagan's move as I stood protectively in front of my mate.

"Can you please just give us a moment?" I asked Teagan, staring him in the eyes. I watched as his dark eyes softened slightly before turning, placing his hand on Connors lower back guiding him away. 

Once they were gone I turned to face my motionless mate. On the ground he lay with his arms spread out and his legs spread apart slightly as he stared blankly up at the night sky. The moon was eliminating the sky with its bright light. I could see that it was almost a full and for some reason it gave me a nagging feeling like I was forgetting something important. But I couldn't remember at the moment.

"Gale" I said softly lowering myself to the floor next to him.

"Gale?" I placed my hand on the other side of his head and leant over his body to get in his face.

Finally his glassy silver eyes focused on me and I gave him a patient expression. His mouth was still cover in blood when I saw him smile up at me and reach his hand out towards my face. His cold fingers gently caress my face.

"What did you do?" I asked him softly.

"I didn't mean to but..." he stop.

"What?"

He sighed closing his eyes before leaning up and lightly touching his lips to mine. I felt the wet transfer of blood smearing on my mouth and I instinctually licked it away from both of us. Cyrus's taste exploded on my tongue and I gasped.

My shocked eyes met his calm ones, and he smiled.

*******

A while later I sat next to Gale as we waited for Cyrus to finally come out of hiding. I would have followed after him but he was the type of person that when he needed space it was best to give it to him. Gale was playing with my hand, caressing my fingers and palm but kept his gaze set intently out onto the tree line.

I knew what was wrong with him but kept silent about it. I also knew Cyrus was not going to be too happy about all this but to be honest it helped me understand our group a lot more.

I have marked both Cyrus and Gale and Gale had just bit Cyrus meaning the only thing left to do was for Cyrus to sink his canines into Gale now and we would all be mated.

But the problem is, even though we were all supposed to be together Cyrus was not a big fan of Gale. There was no way in hell that he'd willingly mark Gale without a fight.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Here's my present to all of you. A really long chapter! YAY! Hope you enjoyed it.

Robokitt =^.^=