Nicon

XXX

                 

PREVIOUSLY ON NICON...

"You are going to revoke my position as Alpha because I have destroyed the villages nearby? How will your men treat you knowing you took my title because I followed your orders and you did not like the result?"

The King could not find a suitable response. "If you act as you did last night one more time, Cayn, your heart will adorn the Great Room wall for the Shifters to admire."

"Very well, Your Highness. Shall I return to the castle tomorrow for a full report?"

"Yes. I expect your presence by mid day."

As Nicon hung up the phone, cutting off the formalities, he could not help but feel anxious for tomorrow. No doubt Cayn would give the names of the villages that he had destroyed, and the King wished he would not have to keep news of another death from Elysie.

XXX

SHE SMILED AS she heard the familiar knocks and quickly called out a quiet come in.  Syd barged into the room full of excitement and Elysie was surprised he had the patience to wait for her permission to enter the room.

            "Syd?" she asked, "What is it?  It's been days since I've last seen you!"

            "I was away on orders from the King."  Worried, Elysie quickly looked him over to make sure he didn't have any obvious injuries.  The only peculiar thing she noticed was a small piece of paper folded in his hand and a crisp white envelope.

            "Are you okay?  What happened?" he rolled his eyes at her motherly actions and fell onto her bed, snuggling into the comforter. 

            "I'm fine.  You worry too much," he said, his voice slightly mumbled by the fabric.

            Sitting down on the small window seat and ignoring his antics, she opened her sketchbook to a fresh page before looking up and asking him why he was holding it. 

            He grinned and lifted his head up.  "Well, I know how much you miss your mother, so I thought we could write her a letter?  You write the letter, I mean, not me, I just brought the paper and the–"

            Elysie snapped her book shut.  There was a smile so large on her face; the tops of her cheeks started to ache after a mere few seconds.  "You'll deliver it for me?"

            "Of course I will, you just can't mention the Shifters, or where you are.  I told her you needed time away from home and not to worry about you, but that was over a month ago, and I know how much you're missing her."

            She smiled sadly thinking about how worried her poor mother must have been.  They were very close and it must have broken her heart when she found out her daughter wouldn't be returning home.

            "I can't thank you enough for this," she told him as he got up and handed her the small paper and envelope.

            He responded quietly and retreated to the bed, positioning his body so his face would be hidden as a sudden somber expression passed over.  He had been eager to accept the King's proposition of visiting the villages and tallying casualties for selfish reasons, it being a week since the death of Killian and it had not gotten easier, the ache in his chest still present and the smile on his face still frequently forced.  He had wanted to tell Elysie, but he could not find it in his torn heart to cause her desolation. 

            Every few words, Elysie's eyes would drift to a snoring Syd on her bed.  She had noticed the purple bags underneath his bright eyes that had been there since the last time she saw him.  Worried not only about his mission, but about his well being, she decided to let him sleep as she wrote the letter.

             She was in the process of addressing the envelope when Syd started thrashing in his sleep, nearly throwing himself off the mattress in agony.  He cried out, moaning in pain, and Elysie quickly jumped up and started to shake him awake.

            "Syd," she said, her voice laced with unease.

            He turned over and before Elysie had time to escape his hand, his claws scratched across the side of her face and down to her chin brutally. 

            Elysie gasped in pain and dropped the envelope, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud, and gently pressed her hands against her wound.  She felt the blood seep through the spaces between her fingers and she backed away from Syd in dismay.  She knew it wasn't his fault, but couldn't prevent the fear that crept up her spine at the sight of her friend losing control.       

            "Elysie," he gasped, holding up his hands and slowly stepping closer to her, "I didn't mean that.  I'm new – I have a hard time controlling – I didn't mean that!" 

            "No!" she held out a hand in front of her, ignoring the crimson liquid staining her pale fingertips.  "Don't come any closer, please."

            He made no move toward her.  "Elysie, I didn't mean it." 

            "I know."

            "Elysie?" Nicon asked, an edge to his voice as he opened the door hastily.  "Elysie!"

            "It wasn't his fault!" she yelled as he immediately stalked over to Syd with a fury in his dark colored eyes.

            "Who else could have done this to you, Elysie?"  His voice had adopted a nasty rhetorical tone as he grabbed Syd by the throat, slamming the back of his head into the wall behind.        

            "He was having a nightmare, it wasn't his fault!"

            "You're a human!  He could have killed you!"

            "He didn't!" her voice trailed off, growing softer.  "I'm okay.  Please, stop this."

            Nicon leaned closer to Syd's face until the stench of his fear was so great his nose twitched.  "You will spend a month in the dungeon for this intolerable behavior.  Maybe a few weeks down there will teach you some fucking constraint, you disgusting mutt."

            Turning back to Elysie, his wolf scratching the surface, Nicon stalked toward her like a wolf hunting his prey.  She took a step back, then another, until she had nowhere to go.

            "I cannot have this happen again, Elysie."  She didn't say anything, too scared to. 

            "It wasn't his fault," she muttered weakly, quickly losing her valiant attitude as her fear paralyzed her and her terrified mind sympathized for a distraught Syd standing behind Nicon with a guilty expression.

            Nicon stepped forward until there were mere inches between them. Elysie's hand drifted up to his face and she cupped his cheek with her soft palm. His eyes held such a cold gaze as he stared at her that her touch faltered and she dropped her hand just as soon as it reached him.  His anger overpowered his senses to the point where her touch could not calm him.  Nicon's wolf itched closer and closer to the surface with every second.

"I cannot let it happen again.  Forgive me."

Elysie choked back a scream as Nicon's canines elongated and sunk mercilessly deep into her neck, his dark eyes, the color of night, plaguing her mind.