Ascension - Book Eight - Man x Man

Chapter 64

Verando leaves me to go out on the front porch, lighting up a cigarette the moment he leaves the door. I allow him the vice, knowing how stressed he was from the near run-in with the river. We all had our trauma from all we'd been through and plagued by nightmares, we often suffered in silence. It was easy to forget that he was as broken as the rest of us. 

Randy watches him leave as Tyler's mother sets the multiple plates out on the table. "Where's he- mm.. I?" Shaking his head, he sighs. "Where's he going?" While he seemed fine with doing drugs, I hadn't really caught this version smoking.

I sigh as well. "To cope. I think he's irritated we didn't catch anything, he hates 'human' food." Watching the uncertainty creep onto his face, I offer a small smile. It used to bring me the same amount of discomfort to think of, especially considering most Lycans consumed meat raw. "Well, your adoptive mother has spoiled him with good food. Marisol has always been able to cook for him, but for the most part, he is a picky eater."

Cas smirks, grabbing a biscuit off the table. "Some things never change. Randy's more concerned about his appearance than feeding himself." Glancing me up and down, he takes a bite. Cheeking the piece, he raises his eyebrows at me. "Stress creates a need, looks like you are the happy beneficiary of that."

Watching Randy shrink away, I would call Cas out on his verbal assault if I had more evidence that it wasn't necessary to make my husband who he was today. In my head, I silently promise him that he wouldn't have to endure for much longer.

Flustered by being called out, I sit at the table and adjust my hair awkwardly, attempting to get my bearings after such a steamy encounter in the bathroom. Resting my hand over my stomach, it was the first time I'd really gotten to think much about the after-effects of what I considered a heat cycle. My mind drifts, considering the tree that had collided with my side in my fight with Helen. 

Any hope is dashed, my lifestyle was too chaotic, this was a silly dream and a dangerous one at that.

It never ceased to amaze me how he could insight such reactions in me, though as I watch the younger version of the man I loved pick at his dinner, I could see that the ability came from a long line of necessity. 

Verando didn't leap upon me in times like this because he was in a 'mood'. He did it because it was the only way he knew how to make sure I still loved him, still needed him. Keeping that to myself, I opt to shrug out the stares. Despite how I wanted to run away from these stressors, they were our responsibilities.

Waiting for him to return, I can only fantasize about a day when this is all behind us.

Caspian wrinkles his nose, sitting across from me at the family-style long table. A couple of Tyler's nieces had come into town, along with a sister, to meet us though I imagine their focus was Verando and his affiliation with Tiberius. The siren was still quite popular and while Verando seemed to fall in and out of favor, he was still a well-known musician. Youthful teenagers seemed to struggle with what they shouldn't desire, for they were on pins and needles to meet the warlord. 

Perhaps that's why he decided to smoke, deter anyone from getting too close. As he comes back inside, I note that he wears his politician's face. We couldn't afford to be rude given that our child had destroyed a good deal of property. 

I was glad Darrius was in bed, this whole thing might be more than I want to expose him to. 

"Darrius is asleep so let's keep the noise to a dull roar." I scold the chattering group, eyeing the distasteful look on Caspian's face. 

"Such a waste." He mutters, under his breath, only loud enough that the lycan variety at the table could hear him. As I watch Cas flex for the teenagers, grinning ear to ear despite Randy's embarrassment, I can't decide if his younger self is the reason for his sour grapes.