Truly Ours ✔️

Chapter Twelve

trigger warning: brief mention of rape

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓣𝔀𝓮𝓵𝓿𝓮 / 12 / 𝓝𝓲𝓴𝓴𝓲𝓽𝓪

It had been nearly a week and a half later when Xerum returned, and a week before Taz was predicted to wake up. He'd immediately called Cadence, Pyro and Mikael after checking in with his frantic boyfriend. Xerum requested to meet with them sans Jamie as soon as possible. An hour later after a dinner of Chinese take out, the four of them were in Mikael and Pyro's room, the door locked behind them after Pyro had hollered that they were talking privately. The threat she'd made to any eavesdroppers made a shudder run down each of the three male's spines.

"So?" Pyro leaned forward, elbows propped up on her desk. "Did you find Nikkita?"

"I found him," Xerum said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Nikkita said something about owing Cerberus a favor. He left those details pretty vague, but I wasn't too bothered. I'm still surprised he didn't try to attack me when I first stepped foot in his territory."

"Does he usually attack?" Cadence asked, and Xerum grimaced.

"Most definitely. He's one of the most territorial beings out there." Xerum explained. "He won't hesitate to kill anyone who irks him, and he feeds on souls. He doesn't bat an eye when he takes another's life. He's a little..." Xerum trailed off, waving a hand in the air as if he couldn't find a word to define the hellhound. "Eccentric. Yeah, let's go with that."

"What happened, then?" Mikael asked quietly from his perch on his bed.

"He listened to our situation, and agreed to help. Then, he told me he was going to talk to Cerberus briefly for more details, and meet him at the forest outskirts then disappeared." Xerum said. "We met the next day, and Nikkita confirmed that he would be down to help, and he was excited. It was hard to tell though. If a menacing glow in his eyes counts as excitement, then he was excited. Anyways, it seems like he has some bad blood with this she-wolf we're trying to track and he's eager to get his revenge."

"That... sounds ominous." Pyro admitted, and Xerum gave a grim nod and half-smile.

"It is." Xerum seemed to hesitate, before he elaborated. "Nikkita's truly a bit of a terrifying force. I'm certain that I would not want anyone to have him hunt me down." Xerum shuddered. Cadence knew that if Xerum, one of Cerberus's top tier, top three bodyguards shuddered at the thought of this rogue hellhound, it was a big deal.

"He definitely isn't easy to distract or side track, and he knows how to avoid tricks or traps. He's extremely perceptive. In a fight, you could be excellent at masking what your next move will be, but you could blink once and this hellhound would have you on your back, jaws closed around your throat." Xerum tilted his head. "Once he's caught a scent trail he remembers it for life. If he's tracking, and someone gets in his way, well." He inhaled sharply. He didn't have to explain.

"I just realized that there's been a lack of activity." Mikael suddenly spoke up. "From the she-wolf." A chill ran down Cadence's spine.

"He's right. Soon after Xerum left, whoever had been harassing us about Taz, and killed Derek and his friends disappeared." Cadence said.

"Xerum, what color are the she-wolf's eyes?" Mikael asked, shifting. He looked uncomfortable.

"A really bright blue. Similar to mine, but neon." Xerum replied. "Why?" Mikael hesitated. "Mikael, if you know something you should speak up. Anything is helpful right now."

"The alley." Cadence filled in, suddenly realizing where Mikael was going with this. "The day that we found Derek and the others dead, Mikael saw a flash of blue eyes in an alleyway, before a piece of paper flew over to him, with the note."