---Cain's POV---

Rain clattered heavily against the window, sparingly disturbed by a loud clap of thunder that shook through the building, rattling the windows as the skies lit up for a brief moment.

And with each flash, I could see Fenris jump and startle, baring his teeth in a snarl as if he was being threatened.

I didn't have to think far for a reason behind his odd behavior. After all, Thor was the god of Thunder; I wouldn't be too surprised if Fenris feared that the God had found out he had escaped and was throwing a fit.

But there was no other godly influence on this plane of existence, no way of a god to enter my domain without my explicit permission.

Permission that I revoked from a certain pair of twins when I saw them in Fenris' memories.

I should've expected those two were up to no good, like usual. Their sudden interest in my personal realm, the wildlife that called it its home and the begging for access so that they could escape their duties, if only for a brief moment.

"Honestly, what possessed Eros to even risk bedding Eris?" I thought to myself, shaking my head at the offspring those two had created.

The God of love producing offspring with the Goddess of Chaos and Discord... The twins got their jobs done alright, but in the utter most chaotic way possible.

A sigh left my chest when Fenris jumped once more at the loud clap of thunder and the lightning forking through the sky.

"Relax, Fenris. This isn't a supernatural phenomenon, as I would've sensed it. Sadly it's just a really bad storm that will end on its own." I spoke in a soft, soothing voice, wishing I could reach out and hug the shivering lad.

But I refrained of doing so ; the first time I even attempted at reaching out, he had managed a partial shift and caught my wrist in his clawed hand with bone-crushing strength.

My eyes tracked his pacing form, the nervous twitching of his fingers and how they'd absentmindedly always found their way to the scars on his wrists.

"Tell me something about yourself Fenris." He snapped his head up to look at me incredulously, making me smile as I amended, "Can you give me a good memory from your human parents? A nice story, funny anecdote?"

His pacing slowed slightly, eyes saddening before a soft smile slipped on his face. "The good memories I have are hard to find and even harder to remember in between the horrible ones..."

Eyes landing on the quill still sticking in the ink bottle, Fenris smiled and gently caressed the feather. "Father was a blacksmith. One of the best, I was told though he always remained humble, telling me there surely were others out there who knew more than he did."

"He was a patient man." Fenris tilted his head, eyes clouded over and undoubtedly reliving his memory. "Strong yet gentle, always eager to help when help was needed. Though he wasn't afraid to stand his ground, especially with people who tried to push him around because they had the money to do so."

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "One day there was one of the richer men barking up at him, pissed that my father hadn't finished an ornamental dagger that he wanted to show off to his rich friends. He demanded Father to drop everything he was doing and even threatened to have all his materials taken away from him until he finished the man's order."

I was blessed with a slight grin from Fenris, eyes twinkling with mischief as he relived the memory. "That's when Father made me write down a letter, since Mum had tried and failed miserably to teach him how to write. Always said he wasn't so big on the letters, though he knew his way around the numbers."

"Anyways, he made me write a note to the head of the local army, which he was forging weapons for, telling them that one of the nobles was threatening to confiscate his goods."

A smirk started to pull at my lips as the formerly guarded look on Fenris' face softened, a sad yet content glint in his eyes.

He shot a glance at me and huffed, slowly walking around the room as he spoke. "As you can imagine, the army was not pleased at all and had the nobleman sing a few tunes lower."

A low chuckle escaped me as I shook my head. "That's rich people for you, thinking everyone around them should jump the second they mention it."

Fenris snorted and shot me a pointed look. "Same for Gods." His expression darkened, features locking up once more before he jumped when a loud clap of thunder rang through the sky.

Instead of fighting against his statement, I conceded and inclined my head. "Sadly enough, yes. But not all of us. Some of us gods at least have some form of decency."

Another, almost animalistic snort escaped Fenris as he ventured away from the windows, wrapping his arms around his body, as if trying to provide himself with some comfort.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He growled lowly and I nodded in understanding. After what, centuries of abuse, it was very unlikely that Fenris would trust a god on his word.

He'd need cold, hard proof that not all gods intended to screw him over. After all, they've proven him over centuries worth of time exactly how they thought of him.

I doubted Fenris, in his very long life, has ever met a decent god to begin with. It did make me wonder though, what happened to him when he met the Gods?

"Did you ever... meet your true father?" I asked hesitantly, watching as Fenris' eyes darkened slightly.

"I did. He was the only God who treated me well, back when I took my first steps in the realm. Always made sure I was taken care of until one day, he disappeared."

My brows rose in surprise. I wasn't that well acquainted with Loki, but from what I had heard, he was a devote father, especially so amongst gods, whom were known to be fickle with their offspring.

A sneer was on Fenris's face as he scoffed. "He appeared to me when I had been betrayed, bound in the belly of the world. Mocking me for my stupidity to believe the gods in the first place."

Looking up, Fenris locked eyes before averting them, but not before I could sense the betrayal and sadness in them.

"He was one of the Gods who took great pleasure in watching me squirm under their torture." Fenris spoke softly, voice cracking as I bolted upright in my seat with disbelief.

Shaking my head, I started to reply, "He wouldn't. I might not know Loki that well, but surely he of all people-"

A memory was thrust forward into my mind, showing me from Fenris's own eyes how Loki had taken a whip on his son over and over again, to the point where the boy was barely able to breathe, losing consciousness fast.

My eyes flitted over the image in disbelief before pausing, puzzlement filling my body as Fenris sneered, pacing back and fort in front of me.

"You see? You're so quick to defend the gods but when you have actual proof that they are the monsters-" I hushed Fenris mid tirade with a softly spoken sentence.

"That was not Loki."

I could see a twitch in Fenris' jaw as he slowly turned towards me, muscles flexing as undoubtedly the wolf spirit inside him was growing angry as well.

"Think back to when you first met him, Fenris. Loki's eyes are green. In your memories of torture, they were blue."

The boy blinked, stunned before he went through his memories, unintentionally sharing snippets with me until he realized from my reactions and snarled.

"That doesn't prove anything! He's a shapeshifter, I'm certain he can change his eye color on a whim." Fenris rebutted, making me sigh and shake my head slightly, troubled and wondering who the real captor of Fenris was.

"As a matter of a fact, he cannot. His eye color was always, always, in his many years he lived, the telltale sign of his alternate form. Someone else was using the form of your father and using it against you. In fact,"

I leaned closer, looking Fenris in the eyes as I asked, "I'd like you to think back of anyone else who visited you whilst you were down there. Because I have a feeling that they will all share that same eye color."

My feet slowly pushed me up, hands reaching out as I gently led Fenris to the seat I had just vacated. I didn't need to be in his memories to see the realization flash over his face, the absolute confusion and loss because who hated him that much, that they'd go to such lengths in order to torture him.

He had been a young boy after all when first brought to Asgard. As weak as a mortal, only knowing of the Gods from the tales told by his mortal parents.

There was nothing he could've done that would've slighted the Gods so badly, they'd torture him, molest him, all under the guise of being his father of all people.

The one god he trusted.

A niggling thought settled into my head, a plausible explanation to why Fenris was a target.

"Your father, Loki, had been banished from Asgard shortly after you arrived. A mere three years, if I recall correctly. Perhaps, whatever caused his banishment, made some god out there feel slighted, and take it out on you."

Fenris simply sat there as the rain kept pouring outside, lightning crashing loudly through the sky. And yet, the man didn't react at all.

He simply stared and shook his head, unable to process this new information. All the years he had spent hating his father, resenting a God for actions that weren't his own... It would be hard to find out that Loki, for once, wasn't the true culprit.

The most pressing question was however, who did. And why were they after Fenris?.