Aline's POV

   "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" I screamed out at my son

   "Absolutely nothing is wrong with me. I, personally, think that the problem lies with all of you. You're all taking the side of a killer."

   "We are taking the side of a prisoner who has not been taught the way of the world. If you can't even see that, then there is something really wrong with you. But not only that, he is your mate and you whip him without hesitation? I might as well sign you into a mental institution. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go help Clara take care of that poor boy." I ranted before I walked away from him.

   "Umm, Luna?" Antone, Clara's mate, asked making me stop in my tracks.

   "Yes? Is there something that you need?"

   "Not me but Nassir." He said as he pulled a small container of salve out from his bag that I just noticed he had. "When we were in the Underworld, I was his designated doctor. I took care of all of his wounds. This is just some salve that will help his healing process a bit since it seems like it is slow for some reason." He put the container in my hand and then walked over to the window to watch Clara and Nassir.

   I didn't know what to say so I just walked into the room that held my friend and her son.

   "How is he?" I asked

   "He passed out. He's tired, hungry, hurt, and in need of a bath."

   "Well, Antone gave me some salve for his back so I thought that I could help you out."

   She just nodded so I walked over to him and bent down to see the damage. It was really bad. His back was full of bloody lines and the base of his wings looked to be hit as well. Since the wounds near the wings were heavy, I decided to start on them, but when I put the salve on it, I was all of a sudden pinned to the floor with Nassir holding my throat and snarling at me. To be honest, I was a little afraid.

   "Nassir, stop. She means no harm. She was just trying to dress your wounds." Clara said

   "You know this female?" He asked

   "Yes, her name is Aline. She wants to help you just like I do. She is like family to me."

   He held me like that for a few more moments and then released me. I looked at him shocked.

   "I do not know what the word family means. But you say you know her and I sense no harmful intent from her, only surprise that I did not kill her, so I shall listen to your words." He said before returning to his earlier position.

   "Why didn't you kill me?" I asked as I started working on his back again.

   "Believe it or not, but I do not desire to kill everyone. No matter how hungry I am at right now. Or ever really."

   "Then why do you kill?"

   "I killed someone of importance to you, didn't I?"

   Shocked, I stopped working before I answered "Yes" and continued.

   "I thought so. In a place where I can see only the general shape of things, my sense of smell is very important. So even though I do not remember those who I have killed, I remember their scents.

   "There was a man, once, who had a scent very similar to yours when I was smaller. He was a strong man who held out longer than everyone else did in the arena. He also did not beg for me to spare his life. To say I was shocked is an understatement. It was the first time that that has ever happened. So shocking it was to me that I remembered what he said. He said "If I die here, then I am content knowing that I died protecting what I hold close to me." So I told him something. Something that I had never told to anyone else."

   On the edge of my seat, I asked "What did you tell him?"

   "I told him that there were two choices in the Underworld if you were put in the arena. Death by me or be tortured until you lose your desire to live and wish for a death that will come only after they have killed your important ones right in front of you."

   "How did you know this?"

   "I used to not kill them. When I didn't, Thayer would make me watch what he did. But continuing on, he chose to die by my hand. Right before I killed him, he said two words I never thought I would ever hear. "It's OK." When I finished eating him, I tried to remember him because he was the first to not call me a monster and also the first person I desired to see live."

    When he finished talking, I couldn't help but weep not only for him but also for my brother.

   "I am now confused. You cry and yet you feel angered. Why?"

   "Because! How is it fair for him to only have the choice to die. And even then, did you have to eat him? Was there no other option? Even if you couldn't keep from killing him, you didn't have to eat him." I blurted out but immediately stopped when I remembered who I was talking to.

   "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it."

   "What does sorry mean?" He asked

   "You don't know what it means?" I asked in disbelief

   "No. I have never heard that word before."

   "It means that I feel bad for my actions."

   "Oh. Then I do not need your sorry because I don't see the harm in asking questions." He paused, took a labored breath, and began again. "I shall answer your questions. All of your people's questions. In exchange, I desire music instruments and rest. Staying awake is taking up a large amount of my energy."

   "Really? You'll really answer my questions?"

   "Yes. As long as you give me your word that as I try to regain my energy, that no harm shall come to me."

   "I give you my word."

   "Then I shall hold you to it." He said as his breathing evened out.

   I looked up to see him asleep while clinging on to Clara. I used this as a good opportunity to get a look at him. He was pretty tall, the same height as my son so he was about 6 feet tall. His skin was pale making the scars, tattoos, wings, and hair stand out against it. His hair was the darkest black I've ever seen and looked like it reached all the way to the ground. His wings were the exact same color as his hair and were about 10 feet long each. He also looked fit but not too buff. All in all, he was very good looking.

   "I am so glad to have him back." Clara said as she tried to pick him up. I quickly went over to assist her.

   In silence, we walked back to her room where we laid him on the bed. She went to go get bandages and I went to wet a cloth. Once it was wrung out to the point where you can't feel the water, I went over and started cleaning his skin that was covered in dirt and blood.

   When I was finished, Clara bandaged his back and the base of his wings. Then she just sat by his side.

    "Aline," she said after a moment of silence, "please treat him like a normal person. I don't know what happened in his twenty years of living, but if it has been anything like the way we found him then he has never been treated normally. I just want to give him everything that he never had. Even if he has killed people."

   I held her as she cried her heart out. I promised that I would try to treat him good until I smelled something. Something metallic. Blood. Me and Clara looked over to the bed where Nassir slept. His claws were out and clawing his chest.

   "Get off of me." 

   He mumbled that over and over again as he clawed his chest, his arm, and his back. Anywhere that was covered in tattoos. We tried to stop him but he just kept getting worse. He jumped awake with a scream, sprang off the bed, and huddled close to the wall as he continued clawing at his arm. His facial expression was that of a horrified person.

   "What should we do?" I asked Clara

   "We have to call the only two people who can help. Antone and Alessio."

   "We can't call Alessio! He rejects him completely."

   "Then let me reword it. We have to get Antone and Dominic."

Dominic's POV

   "You are an ass, you know that? You take him from a place where he's hurt and then you, the person meant to love and cherish him, whips him. Why can't you just accept him?" I lectured from inside his mind

   "Because he killed my uncle! Remember him? He took care of us and was like a second father to me. He was everything to me and he killed him. What else am I supposed to feel towards that thing but disgust?"

   "Love, you stupid fool! You're supposed to give him everything he wants. You're supposed to protect him from all the danger out in this world. You're supposed to genuinely love him from the bottom of your heart." I say trying to make him understand

   "Well too bad. Once I get the chance, I am rejecting him."

   "Wait."

   "No. I am going to do it no matter what you say."

   "No. I think something is happening to our mate."

   "Your mate."

   'Alpha? We have a situation that involves your mate. Do you mind helping us?'

   Hearing this, I immediately dragged Alessio's consciousness into the mental cell that I made and took control. I swiftly got up from the desk and ran to where my mate was.

   "Dominic! What is the meaning of this?" He yelled as he tried to get out of the cell I put him in.

   "This means shut up and watch. If your not gonna love him then I will." I said as I arrived at his room and muted Alessio. 

   I walked into the room to see Nassir huddled against the wall, Antone in front of him, and Clara and mom standing some distance away. I took my place in front of Nassir and next to Antone. As soon as I took my place, he lifted his head up and looked my way.

   "I don't know who he is. Get him away from me." He said softly.

   "Why don't you want Alessio here Nassir?" Antone asked him calmly

   "That is not Alessio. The body is the same but the presence is different."

   "That doesn't explain why you don't want him here." Antone persisted

   He clawed his arm up some more before answering "His scent. It is different than anything I have smelled before. It is appealing and calls for me."

    "If it calls for you then why do you want to get away from it?"

   "BECAUSE I CAN'T HAVE IT!!!!" He yells and then cries while digging even deeper into his arm.

   "In all my memories, there has been something that smelled appealing. I desired those things. Something that I could call mine and only mine. But, it was always taken away from me or outside of my reach. I could never have what I desired."

   I walked closer to him and held out my hand to him. I didn't miss the way he flinched as he continued to cry.

   "There is no reason to think that way anymore. I'm right here and not going anywhere. I'm yours."

   He looked up at me with tear filled eyes and asked "Really?"

   I just about died from the adorableness. 'He's just too cute.'  I thought.

   "Really. See? I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." I reassured him.

   He looked really hesitant to come closer so I moved my hand to his face slowly and wiped away his tears. He leaned into my hand and looked up at me. He took his claws out from his arm and reached out to touch my chest where my heart should be.

   "This isn't a dream, right? This real?"

   "Yeah. This is real."

   As soon as I said that, he latched his claws onto me and cried into my chest. I just sat there and stroked his head. Until I remembered what the original purpose of me coming here was.

   "Why were you hurting yourself?" I asked him

   "Disgusting. This mark that Thayer left on the right side of my body. I can feel it on me. I try to scratch it off but it won't go away."

   I softly shushed him and kept stroking his head as he cried himself to sleep. I picked him up and tried to lay him down on the bed but he had dug his claws into my chest so I just decided to sit down with my back towards the head board and Nassir in my lap. Once I was sure that he was settled and comfortable, I turned my attention to Antone.

   "Do you want to give me an explanation as to what just happened, Antone?" I said with all of my pent up anger.

   "Normally I would say that this is information that you should hear from him himself, but since he doesn't even understand the things that happened to him I guess I can't get out of it." He said as he walked over to the books that occupied a wall and a half.

   "What are you doing? This is no time for you to get a book out and read!" I whisper-yelled

   "If these were just ordinary books, I would not have insisted on bringing them with us when we could have been out of that horrid place. Here, in chronological order, is Nassir's life. When you read these you will understand his deep rooted anger towards Thayer. He wanted to kill him so much for everything that he had done to him. The fact that he couldn't tore at him so much, you could feel the frustration even when he was asleep. 

   But honestly, I think the tattoo was one of the more horrid things that he did to him. Thayer mixed the ink with some of his own blood and something else that I don't know. He used that mixture to tattoo him. Just imagine having the blood of the person you won't even eat being a part of your body. But it was all planned. He said that the purpose was to give him a mark that he couldn't get rid of. Sure enough, no matter how much he claws at it, the tattoo will stay the same and never damage. The only thing being damaged is his skin."

   "My poor baby. Is that what he had to go through?" Clara cried

   "That is just the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic. Now, since I was locked away for betrayal, I don't know what is in the volumes for the five years that I have been separated from him. In fact, the way we found him was the worst I have ever seen him. I just hope that you can help him as his mate Alessio."

   "Actually, I'm not Alessio. I'm his wolf, Dominic. Alessio was being a jackass so I took over for the time being. Not many people can tell the difference. Frankly, I'm surprised that Nassir could tell the difference."

   "Well, being brought up without clear sight has raised his other senses considerably. Speaking of, I got the darkest sunglasses that I could find. When he wakes up, have him put these on so that he can slowly adjust to seeing light." Antone said as he handed me the glasses

   "Umm, now that Nassir's grip on you isn't so tight, do you think we could talk to Alessio?" Aline asked

   "Sure. Let me just let him go."

Clara's POV

   Once Dominic gave control back to Alessio, there was a subtle change in the atmosphere. He looked down at his lap and huffed in disgust.

   "Could someone get this thing off of me." Disgust coated his words

   I don't even remember deciding to move. My body just went into motion. I grabbed a chair and gave him the high five that his face has been begging for. Sadly the chair broke on the first hit. So I used my fists instead until someone pulled me off of him. That someone being Antone.

   "Seriously, I don't get how I receive all the hate that the famous pampered killer over there should be getting."

   The next thing I know, Antone moves in and punches him. I quickly walk over to him to calm him and prevent more damage.

   "Pampered? What part of his life is pampered? If you compared all of us in this room to him, we would be the pampered ones. You have had your family since birth. People who give you unconditional love. You've always had food and never had to starve. You've had education, manners, humanity, a bed, even a blanket. All those things that you take for granted, he has never had. Did you know that he doesn't know what the words thank you, sorry, and nice mean? Before Clara hugged him, he didn't even know what a hug was. He thinks that human contact hurts so he will touch you but you can't touch him.

   "You kill to keep order, but he kills because if he doesn't then he will either be tortured or starved to death. He can't even look at things right now because his eyes are too used to the darkness of a cell that the light of a single light bulb that you would say is dull would hurt his eyes." He lectured him as tears started flowing from his eyes.

   "He doesn't even know what love is. How dare you say that he is pampered! Before you judge him, read all of those journals from start to end. Then if you still think that he is someone who should be hated for the things that he did then I'm gonna enjoy seeing you on Death's doorstep." He said then pulled me close and cried into my shoulder.

   "I think we all need some rest. We've had such a long day. Lets rest and regroup tomorrow." I said as I pushed everyone out of the room. 

   Once they were out, I guided Antone to the blowup mattress that I had out and laid down. He went to sleep before me but I kept awake as long as I could for fear of nightmares. Sadly, I was right. When I dreamed, the image of Nassir when we found him is all I can see. This made for one restless night of sleep.