Chapter 44: Of Elastic Hearts

[NOUR]

"Fuck, that hurts," Nour whispered when he regained consciousness. He could still remember the feeling of his mate's boots slamming him into a darkness he was never ready for. He hated how shit had turned out but what else could he do?

"Don't. Move," a stern voice interrupted him, as he tried to sit up, thinking he was still on the floor of the healing chambers. Well, he was definitely not there because there was a very pissed-off Lycan who was staring at him, disapproval written all over his face.

"Delbert? Why… What am I doing here? I should be at—" Nour began but the Lycan didn't even make a move. Instead, he just stood there like a statue, staring at the weak wolf in his bed, a man so powerful yet so broken at the same time.

"What happened?" Nour asked.

"I changed your clothes and prepared breakfast for you. Don't worry, I healed you, that means you can do whatever the hell you want, except leave this house. If you do that, I will kill Grant without thinking twice.

"Just so we are clear, his life is in your hands, little wolf," Delbert said, his smirk showing up when he was done. He looked scary and Noru wondered what the heck he meant by that.

However, he could tell that this wasn't the time for questions, so he just nodded, not being able to form coherent words. He could tell this wasn't the time to get on Delbert's nerves, so he stayed put, even when the Lycan warrior stepped out and left him there.

A few moments later Nour heard the front door close with an angry bang and figured that was his cue to take a look at what would be his new prison until Delbert was back from wherever he had gone.

"He's definitely crazy," Nour said as he got up from the bed he was in. He wanted to test out if Delbert had truly healed him, even though he was already certain of that.

One thing Nour had learned was that Delbert hated it when he was hurt. It made him feel loved, and wanted, even if his mate didn't want him and treated him like garbage. Maybe he truly was the man's erasthai, and it was comforting.

Looking around the room he was in, Nour could see how dark everything in the room was, hell even the bed he had been lying in had black bed sheets. The only proof of some life in the room was a light hint of dark gray.

It was the only other color here, which made Nour sigh. He hadn't really tried to figure out what Delbert's house would be like, but as he walked around and noticed the black in the entire house, he knew the man was something else.

"Are Lycans this dark?" Nour asked as he took the chance to give himself a tour of the house.

It was perfect, to say the least. Everything seemed to be in its place and while everything was dark, there were items from the olden times, things that could easily be considered treasures.

Nour smelled the house with every step he took as he stopped and realized that the only dominant scent was that of Delbert. Sure, there were mentions of him having a wife and family but so far, there was no one there, or maybe, Nour just didn't look enough, right?

"Don't open that one. He will know," a voice suddenly interrupted Noru when he reached the seventh floor of the house he was trapped in.

There was a huge door staring at him, though it looked more like a gate than a door. It was so huge, to the point that at least six full-grown warriors would go across horizontally, and there would be enough space for a possible fifth person.

"What?" Nour said as he took a step back and looked around.

There was no one there, and yet he could have sworn he had heard someone's voice. It was creepy, really and he wondered if he had been experiencing the side effects of being healed by the magic of a pissed Lycan.

"Maybe I'm just going crazy," Nour said and he had a deep chuckle that got him flattering and almost falling off the balcony. He looked so shocked at the emptiness he was met with, and maybe there really were ghosts.

"Darius, I forgot my staff again. Please take care of my little troublemaker, I wouldn't want him getting hurt because of his stupid ideas," Delbert's voice suddenly sounded in the room and Nour froze.

What the hell was with these people and who the fuck was Darius, more like where the hell was that Darius of a guy?

"No worries Zaire, I'll take good care of him and keep him in check. Remember not to kill the enforcer though. Or your troublemaker would reject your bond, which won't be good for you or him," Darius said from wherever he was, making Nour falter once again.

"Did you hear that?" Delbert asked when he heard the tiny shriek Nour let out.

"Just Sophia being a clutz again. Go, son, we wouldn't want you being late to your training sessions with the wolves," Darius said.

"Alright. Don't piss him off, he could be tempted to try and rip you apart. Whatever you do, make sure to keep him in check, even if you have to use magic," Delbert said as he stood at the front door, before adding, "And Darius—"

"I know, son, I know. I won't hurt him," Darius said with a chuckle and Delbert just left like it didn't mean anything.

With the Lycan gone, Nour finally let out a breath of relief. He wasn't sure if he was relieved because Delbert hadn't heard him, or if he was glad he wasn't insane because he had heard the voice communicate with Delbert.

"I'll go nuts at this rate," Nour sighed as he started walking down. He couldn't explore his curiosity anymore because of how creeped out he was. However, that didn't seem to be the end of his sudden misfortunes because the voice spoke again.

This time, there were two of them.

"He looks so different. Are you sure he's Soraya's son?"

"Whose son could he be with those pretty eyes? He literally looks like her."

"I'm just saying he looks like a piece of work."

"You wouldn't want Zaire hearing you admire his erasthai, Sophia."

"He should just kill the enforcer. That man is dumb as fuck."

"You like trouble, don't you?"

"Alanor is in Udrad, Zaire is here and refuses to claim his erasthai, and we're literally in a world filled with wolves all because of that kid. So, pardon me if I'm not feeling so ecstatic now that he's here."

"It's rude to talk shit about someone behind his back you know," Nour said, tired of the voices following him and him seeing none of them.

"Is that a challenge, little troublemaker?"

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I don't expect you cowards to show yourselves," Nour said and suddenly he was in the air, getting lowered to the ground, only to meet two very unpleasant Lycans who were staring at him like he had invaded their home.

"Just great. More barbarians in this house. What else is there? Throwing a party for the undead?" Nour said frustratedly. He wasn't worried about his safety, maybe because he heard them talk about Alanor.

His best friend may have been an unhinged beast of the midlands, but at least Alanor cared about Nour to burn civilizations to the ground if anything happened to him. Maybe that was also why Nour had kept his pain a secret from the beast.

"I'm Darius," the male said and Nour looked at him wondering what this was.

"And I'm Sophia, the house mistress, or as many know me, the junior warrior's wife. Our children are out there mingling with the lot of you," Sophia said, her voice bored as hell.

"Well, I'm—"

"Soraya's son," Darius said.

"The Ruby wolf," Sofia said.

"The mouthy omega in our house, how fantastic," Farah's familiar voice said when the doors opened.

"Master's erasthai," Anhora casually stated as he walked in after Farah.

"Anhora?" Nour asked as he looked at his omega best friend. This wasn't what he had expected, but then he hadn't expected a Lycan to be in Udrad, much less five of them in werewolf guises.

"Hello, brother."

"What the hell is happening right now? What is all this?" Nour asked as he slowly lost consciousness, again.

****

[A/N]

* Some of the characters mentioned were in the prequel, but will be reintroduced again, so no worries if you haven't read the prequel [Alanor the lycan king's prisoner]