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Aksel shoved him aside, too. They might be twice his size and age, but they weren’t stronger. Being a Xeus was good for something.

“Grab it, let’s teach it a lesson!” Zinedine said, grabbing him from behind while his twin did the same from his other side. They yanked his arms behind him, making Aksel stumble forward and then step back awkwardly as he tried to regain his balance and free his hands.

“What are you doing? Let go of him!”

Aksel whipped his head up.

Lucien was advancing on them, a fierce frown on his sweet face. “Let go of the boy this instant,” he demanded, putting his hands on his hips and looking down his nose at the twins—and never mind that they were bigger and taller than him. He looked like a vengeful angel: fragile, beautiful, but so very brave and fierce.

Aksel stared at him in fascination and, right there and then, he knew he wanted him. He wanted him for his own.

“And who are you?” Zinedine said, leering at the omega.

His twin laughed. “Idiot, don’t you recognize him? It’s the slut who had a platoon of Pelugian soldiers between his legs.”

Lucien paled, flushed, and then paled again. His lips opened, wobbling, and closed again without uttering a sound, his scent becoming sour with misery and mortification.

Aksel’s vision turned red. With a growl, he slammed his head into Thoros’s stomach, and when the boy let go of his arm, slammed his fist into his crotch. Howling in pain, Thoros fell to the ground, and Aksel turned and pounded his fists into Zinedine’s body with all his strength. The older boy staggered and tried to retaliate, but he was no match for a pissed-off Xeus, the age difference between them notwithstanding.

“Hey, that’s enough,” Lucien said gently, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Breathing hard, Aksel straightened up and looked at the bloody, groaning boys on the ground.

He glared at them one last time before allowing Lucien to lead him away, toward the rocky beach behind the house.

“Are you okay?” Lucien said, pushing Aksel down to sit on a boulder as he examined Aksel’s knuckles. “You might need medical treatment.”

Aksel shook his head. “They’ll heal on their own. They always do.” He smiled proudly and boasted, “They badly bruised my ribs last month, but it stopped hurting the next day!”

The look Lucien gave him was tight, his pretty eyes infinitely sad. “It’s not right that a child has such extensive experience with injuries.”

“I’m not a child!” Aksel said with a scoff. “I’m almost five.”

Chuckling harshly, Luciensat down next to him.

They were silent for a while, watching the angry sea.

“What were you doing out there alone?” Lucien said at last. His voice was gentle and melodic. So soothing. Aksel liked it very much. He didn’t know anyone else who spoke like that. He also liked that Lucien’s eyes didn’t linger on the tufts of fur on his cheeks—everyone else’s did, and their scents inevitably tinged with disgust and wariness. He liked that Lucien’s eyes remained firmly on his. He didn’t seem to care that Aksel was a Xeus.

“I’m almost five, not a baby!” Aksel said again.“I can go anywhere I want!”

Lucien’s lips twitched, and Aksel felt inordinately pleased. He wanted to make him smile more.

“Your name is Aksel, right?” he said.

Nodding, Aksel shifted closer to him, and after a moment’s thought, climbed into the boy’s lap.

The boy tensed up a little, and then relaxed again, looking at him softly with his wide green eyes.

“You smell sad,” Aksel said, reaching up and touching the boy’s smooth cheek.“Thoros upset you. I saw—I smelled it.”

Lucien’s throat moved. “He didn’t upset me. I don’t care what people say about me.”

Aksel frowned. He could smell the lie in Lucien’s scent, but maybe Lucien wanted to believe it. Aksel understood. He always said that he didn’t care what people said about him, but... but it still made him angry. Sometimes, it still hurt.

“I don’t care neither,” he said.

“I don’t care either,” Lucien corrected him gently.

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