Origin

Chapter 34- Don't insult me.

Sebastian's POV

I knew Nick would stay put as long as he had a drink in his hand, so I took my time and enjoyed my separation from my confusing brother.

He says he wants me to find my roots. Be the man I was before Sapphire, but that man was a boy, a child who lashed out with violence and unnecessary torture. He was a boy I buried and refused to be once I realized Sapphire would not tolerate him, she would not fall in love with him.

Besides, I hated him.

I hated myself. I was tortured from sleepless nights; the souls of women, children haunted my dreams, sometimes they creeped back in, reminding me of my sins. The lack of compassion, mercy and patience rotted my soul. I believed I didn't have one.

The Raven way consumed me, until I was unrecognizable to my own brother. Did he believe that was the person I truly was? How deep did Alpha Rohan sink his claws into me? Why wasn't Nick strong enough to slap sense into me?

What was the Nomad way? Or did Nick lose his way too?

This was my karma.

I was an asshole to Star; throwing the fact she didn't know where she belonged in her face and here I am unsure of what my roots are, what path to walk and move forward. Without her, I felt unsteady, wavering and uncertain.

I took a deep breath, trying to conjure blurred memories of the past only to be frozen in a closet, seeing my parents' blood ooze into puddles on the kitchen floor.

Did Nick have this blockage? How was he so proud and mighty attempting to explain the ways of Nomads with a trauma lingering in the middle of it all? He wasn't that much older and he drank so much you would think he had a memory bank of a goldfish.

I was thinking towards exhaustion, my eyes closed and drifted to sleep in a tree no less.

I woke up blinded and heated in the sun. I squinted, seeing the sun rise in the East. The lesson Nick tried to teach me came suddenly and I knew we had gone the wrong way.

Witches to the West; Nomads to the East.

Being a child has consequences.

I gathered my bag and walked five miles to find a bar, dead-centered in the middle of nowhere. I couldn't sense anything in a hundred mile radius, but I was dealing with witches. I was out of my depth; out of my mind for walking into a bar as a wanted man to find my drunken brother who was unusually annoying this week. Despite common sense, I walked into the bar. Despite my better judgment, I sat down and charmingly smiled at the woman who owned the name tag Jewels on her shirt.

Her hair was sky blue, had eyes of a tropical paradise, hypnotizing and adoring. She wore the essence of a low-level witch; make no mistake no witch was harmless. They all had the power to turn your insides out with a swift movement of their fingers.

Be charming, be respectful.

"Are you going to sit there in silence, handsome? Or are you going to order something?"

I offered her my best smile. "I was actually looking for someone. My brother." I scanned the place, but there were no men in sight.

Packed with women, from what I could sense they were all witches.

"Was he about six feet tall? Staggering as if he only had one leg to walk with?"

"Yes, you have described him perfectly."

"Haven't seen him." Jewels shrugged as a woman snickered nearby.

"His name is Nick. He can be an idiot-a drunken idiot at times but he has been going through a bit of a rough patch. I apologize for what he may have said or done."