Captive: Hopeless

Chapter 63 - Complex

"Hi, can we talk?" Kay asked, sitting down beside Claudia on the bleachers in the gym.

"Is this the part where you try to talk me out of the thing you aren't supposed to be aware of?" the werewolf asked, glancing at her as she watched a fight in the ring.

"Only if you are doing this for Marcus and me and not for yourself."

"No, I am not doing this for you alone; I am doing it for me. As you avoided him after our marriage, I avoided him since you were together. He noticed, but I pretended to be busy, and he pretended not to realize what this was about. I am in heat and took out half the security force this morning to distract myself, but I can't. Nor can I allow him to touch me without seeing how you look at him in my head. It feels like I am trying to seduce my sister's lover," Claudia admitted.

"I am sorry," Kay said, not knowing what to say.

"About what? That you don't go into heat? That you don't know what it is like to not be in control of what your body wants and to get that magnified through a bond? That is not your fault, and it was my choice to agree to this. You didn't have a say in that."

"I am sorry I didn't realize you were suffering, but I avoided him too because I feel guilty. Just because I am in love with him doesn't make him any less your husband. It didn't matter as much when you were engaged, but now..." she turned toward Claudia, and they stared at each other for a moment.

"You can put some monster in a human, but you can't take the human out of the monster," Claudia said, smirking ruefully as she wiped her sweaty forehead with a towel.

"True," Kay agreed, itching to join the fight, but she had things to do, and at that moment, Hercules stepped into the ring against Perseus.

"That is one beautiful hunk of meat," Claudia sighed.

"I wouldn't know; he's my brother."

"And I am your sister. This will be a nightmare to explain to strangers if he is really my mate."

"But you are not my blood; he is."

"Let's tag-team with them. You can be on Hercule's side, and I'll be on Perseus' side." Claudia didn't give her a chance to respond as she called out to the men.

"Aren't you being a little obvious?" Kay asked mentally.

"About what?" Claudia pretended innocence, her wolf very near the surface. "Kay will be on your side, Hercules."

"We don't want to hurt you," Perseus said, and the wolf laughed.

"Worry about yourselves," she challenged.

Ten minutes later, Kay and Perseus watched a match so rough and tumble that it would be dangerous for them to join.

"I can tell where I am not wanted," Perseus said, and Kay shrugged.

"Me too. I have other things to do, anyway."

"Like tell Father that your wolf definitely likes overly muscled immortals?" Perseus asked. "And if they are not mates, they are certainly compatible."

"She's in heat, and her bonded mate seems to be off-limits. Claudia's blowing off a little steam."

"Not with me, she didn't. Admit it, little sister, she's got the hots for Hercules, and at least it's not Atlas."

The rivalry, although friendly, between Atlas and Perseus was obvious from the moment they greeted each other. Like Artemis and Persephone were always at odds.

"Do you understand what he wants to do?" she asked because he clearly did.

"We were always best friends."

"I don't want her to do this for the wrong reasons."

"Love, if she wasn't bonded, they'd be bumping uglies by now. Let's give them some privacy. I would expect you to be happy."

"I am," she said and realized she was.

"Then stop fretting about it. You both get what you want," he stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Cat going toward the boardroom. "Now, wish me luck for breaking a two-thousand-year-old dry spell."

"Good luck," she said to his back.

Cat would not be so easy to capture.

Guys were guys, no matter how old they were.

"Kay?" Marcus called, and she turned to face him.

He didn't seem too happy.

"Thane spoke to me about what Claudia has decided, and I went to talk to her about it and found her with that..." he hissed, "succubus all but..."

"My Father sure has a problem keeping secrets, and I would expect him to be better at it. Shut the bond down for a bit and consider Claudia," she suggested, and it took a minute or two for him to calm down from his rage. "I am glad you didn't confront them while your vampire was so close to the surface."

"It took everything in me not to, but the way they were looking at each other was so much like the way I look at you, and as much as my vampire wanted to rip that male apart for touching what was his, the rest of me told me to find you. You'd stop me from doing something stupid."

"Good choice. Now, what do you intend to do about this, rationally, without the vampire?"

"If Claudia tells me that he is her mate and she loves him, I will allow it. She deserves happiness, and I hate seeing those shadows in her eyes. Nor do I love the distance between us, and I miss my friend."

He meant it, and she nodded, ignoring his vampire, which it didn't like.

"Let's go get something to eat and talk this through. Did my father speak to Darius?"

"They are in there now."

"Maybe we should join them and give them our opinions."

"And what do you think?"

"Claudia is a grown woman who can decide her own fate," she said, nodding, and his vampire subsided.

"You are right, but Darius might not agree."

"Despite his political reasons for doing this, it bothered him that Claudia wasn't happy. Especially the last couple of weeks since the siege. He might initially protest but will do what is best for her, and she deserves it."

"You matter to him as well, as if you were really his daughter, which might sway him."

"I hope so, whatever Claudia decides."

She knocked on the door, and Thane bid them to enter.

***

"We were just about to go looking for you," Darius said, a lot calmer than expected, as Marcus closed the door behind them, and they seated themselves. "Thane just informed me of Claudia's request and convinced me I should allow my daughter to make her own decisions. I told him he wasn't very good at that and should not be dispensing advice. But he said that is exactly why he should be telling me what not to do. I concurred."

"We expected you to be much less calm about this," Marcus said. "I was."

"Do you think I am blind? I saw what my decision did to the three of you. The way I live is not for everyone, and sometimes, I wonder if I robbed one of my women of a future with some man who could have given her more than I can."

This revelation shocked Kay.

"They are happy," she said, and he shook his head.

"Claudia was happy until she realized she was missing out. What if they are missing out because of me?"

It wasn't a question any of them could answer.

"You are not the reason we are here, old friend," Thane said, and Darius nodded, seeming truly concerned.

"No, I am not."

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