Captivated

Love Thy Brother

To AishwaryaGupta532, happy very, very, very belated birthday. I hope you enjoy this and know there is another to follow ;)

He sat, fingers clenched tightly as he heard her retreating footsteps.

He had become weak. He should have sent her away the moment he first saw her, not play along with her.

Arya.

As felt her name leave his mouth, his chest burned as she grew further and further away. Her scent still lingered. On him, his clothes, it was imprinted in the very depths of his soul.

The way she said goodbye to him, it made his head hurt. There was a note of finality to it. A note of pain, anger and anguish. If she did go, it was for the best. She would be safe and free, able to live the rest of her life in peace. She wouldn't be shackled down to a monstrous beast.

But... he didn't want that. He wanted to be selfish and cruel. He wanted to snatch her away and hide her in a place where no one would ever find her. A place where no one would ever look at her again.

She was beautiful, painfully so. Those wide brown eyes were etched into his memory and his hands ached to caress her curly locks. Even her smile was full and inviting, tempting more and more with each passing day. He craved for her more than oxygen itself, needed her more than he could handle. She was like a candle and he a moth, he was drawn helplessly to her bright, warm flame, even if his wings scorched in the process.

Suddenly he felt the hair on his arms stand on one end.

He was here.

Mikhail was here.

His wretched, sadistic brother was here. Malik sniffed the air deeply but couldn't smell Arya's scent so he sighed a sigh of relief. Arya had left on time, she was safe.

He had kissed her. As that realisation dawned on him, he fought down his panic. She was gone, he couldn't sense her. But... but if Mikhail caught wind of her scent, he would have sealed her death warrant. He forced himself to calm down as he felt his brother's presence approaching and waited, apprehensively. Mikhail liked to brag, he liked to make it known when he had the upper hand. If he somehow knew about Arya, he would say it just to see Malik worry and suffer.

Then the door opened.

"Malik", Mikhail said with a smile, his deep eyes glittering with malice. "I've come to visit".

Mikhail lounged against the door frame, completely at ease. He looked down to where Malik sat, chained, with a mixture of satisfaction and smugness. Malik was a mirror copy of himself, except Malik was ever so slightly bigger. Malik's eyes were golden whereas his were diluted with brown. Malik was more imposing, more stronger, more of everything. Mikhail felt a wave of bitterness wash over him as watched his twin.

"I see that", Malik growled. "I don't particularly care for your presence".

Mikhail kept that wide smile on his face even as he turned to sniff the room. "Oh, you lucky bastard, you have a female worker? She smells delicious".

"They all smell the same to me", Malik grumbled, keeping his pulse steady.

"Do they now?" Mikhail said, uninterested. "I suppose the Aconitum is working".

Malik growled at him and stood, pushing his chair back.

"Careful now", Mikhail warned with a glint in his eye. "Respect your Alpha".