Page 5 of Forbidden

After a moment, Vagrippa sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just... You know how I hate being the subject of gossip. I understand that what happened to him wasn’t the boy’s fault, but his tarnished reputation will cast a shadow over my children too. Have you not thought about it?”

“They’re Cleghorns. They’ll live.”

It hadn’t been the only conversation Aksel had overheard. There had been others, between nasty people who said nasty things about this sad-eyed boy who flinched and became smaller every time he saw an unfamiliar alpha.

Aksel hadn’t understood everything he’d overheard, but he’d understood enough. People thought Lucien was dirty for something that was done to him. He’d asked Royce what the word rape meant, and his brother had gotten an uncomfortable look on his face before answering that it was a very bad thing good alphas never did. He’d refused to say more, so Aksel had asked his older cousin.

What he’d told him made something dark and ugly curl in Aksel’s chest.

He’d never felt anger like that before: so strong it was overwhelming. He wished he were a grown-up, not six. He wished he could find those sick people and hurt them.He wished he could protect Lucien better.He wished he could fix him.

He wanted to fix Lucien.

But he didn’t know how.And he hated it.

Lucien whimpered in his sleep again, curling his body into a ball under the duvet. He should have been hot—the room was warm and the duvet was thick—but he seemed to be shivering, as if he were cold.

Aksel thought for a moment before slipping under the duvet and pressing himself against Lucien’s back. He hugged him, burying his face in Lucien’s nape. A low, humming sound came from somewhere deep in his throat, and miraculously, he felt Lucien relax. His scent became sweeter, no longer sour with distress.

“Aksel?” Lucien mumbled, sounding half-asleep. “What are you doing here?”

“You were having a nightmare. I heard you from my room.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for waking you.”

Aksel scoffed. “Don’t be stupid, Luce. It’s not your fault that my hearing is that good. And I don’t mind.”

“You don’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night?” Lucien said, sounding doubtful.

“I hate it,” Aksel mumbled, nuzzling the back of Lucien’s neck. “I hate that you still have nightmares.”

Lucien tensed up against him. “Aksel…”

“I hate them,” Aksel said. “Those people who did that to you.”

There was a long silence.

At long last, Lucien’s muscles relaxed again. “Me, too,” he whispered, barely audibly.

He didn’t say anything else. But he didn’t pull away from Aksel, either.

Feeling pleased, Aksel tightened his arms around him and held him.

It took a long time, but finally Lucien fell asleep again, his breathing becoming even.

Pulling back, Aksel carefully climbed over Lucien’s body to lie on his other side and stared at Lucien’s face.

He wanted to sleep too, but he stubbornly kept his eyes open. He didn’t want to waste the night on something as unimportant as sleep when he could watch Lucien instead.

Watching Lucien was one of his favorite things in the world. Lucien was just sopretty. Like a picture. When he slept, his face became even lovelier. He looked like an angel when he slept.His angel.

His.

Aksel frowned. Sometimes these flashes of possessiveness confused him. He knew they came from the other him—the beast that lived under his skin. The beast liked Lucien as much as Aksel did. But it liked Lucien in a way Aksel didn’t understand yet. The beast wanted to—to possess Lucien. Aksel wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do it. The intensity of the beast’s instincts were a little too much, so Aksel usually just ignored them.

But it wasn’t just the beast’s instincts. Aksel simply liked Lucien. So, so much. He wanted to touch him all the time. To touch his fingers with his. To hold his hand. To hold him, period. He wanted to fuse them together, burrow his way under Lucien’s skin and soak up his warmth. Lucien was sowarm. Under all the prickly wariness he displayed to the world, he was so very kind. So very kind and sweet.Aksel sometimes felt like he wanted toswallowhim whole, as if Lucien were a candy.

It was stupid. Lucien wasn’t a candy.

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