Dark Moon (ManxMan)
Chapter 7

Colson blinks himself awake, his hands stretching above his head and lips smacking lightly. He slid his leg down, loving the smooth feel of the sheets. Hey felt soft and smelt like ... Aetos. The nice smelling cologne he uses.

Colson jerks up and opens his eyes. Shit. He wasn't in his room and his mouth tasted like something had died in it, his head hurting like a bitch each time he blinked. He slowly got out of the bed, smiling a bit st the bottle water and painkillers near the bed before he made his way to the bathroom, he lets out a groan when he sees his reflection in the mirror.

His blonde hair was sticking out in all directions, his eyes a bit bloodshot, mouth and cheeks red. There was a flash of pain when he pressed a hand to his lips and it's like the scene plays out in front of him.

He was sitting on the counter, Aetos between his legs and the two of them kissing with so much passion, Aetos nails digging into his skin.

Colson wants to scream. What the hell had he been thinking? This was Aetos for crying out loud. His friend and nothing more. He looked around the small cabinet in the bathroom and took out a spare toothbrush.

He quickly brushed his teeth, took a bath and changed into one of Aetos' shirt that fell to his thighs and a pair of sweatpants with the legs rolled up to his ankles since Aetos was freakishly tall.

He ran his hand through his damp hair, thinking about how to play this. How could he tell Aetos that he was amazing but -

Shit!

He sat back on the bed and downed the painkillers, pushing it down with half of the bottle water. It'd be a lie if Colson said he didn't like the kiss. He remembered the soft feel, the tingles, the excitement shooting through him and ... he wants to try it again. Colson pushes a hand through his hair and sighs. He can't think on an empty stomach and if Aetos tries to say anything, he would just flip the conversation around, it's better to deviate.

Immediately he stepped out of the room, he was hit with the sweet smell of bacon. He followed the scent all the way to the kitchen where he found Aetos dressed smartly in a white shirt tucked into grey pants and sneakers, his hair styled off his face. He was piling the bacon onto a plate, a large tray of pancakes and waffles beside him as well as a fruit bowl.

"Good morning."

Aetos looks up at him and stops, his hand hanging a bit off the plate like he was frozen in place, hisbeyes trailing down Colson's body.

"Aetos..."

This seemed to snap the vampire back into existence. He smiles at Colson and slid him the tray of food. "Good morning to you too. I made you a bit of everything, you drank a lot last night and didn't eat much." "Thank you." Colson said as he takes his seat. His heart was beating fast, waiting for Aetos to bring last night up. The vampire doesn't, he just grabbed one of his flasks from the fridge and takes a seat across Colson. "You going somewhere?"

"I have a few things to sort in Granger City and in New York." Aetos said as he raised the flask to his lips. Colson watched as the vampire took a gulp of the blood. "How long are you going to be gone?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe two weeks."

Colson almost dropped the fork he was holding. Aetos was going to be gone for two weeks. What was he going to do? Where would he go when staying at the pack house with Gabriel and Michel becomes too much? "Oh..."

Aetos hums in reply.

"Have fun."

Aetos smiles and shakes his head fondly at Colson. He slid his hand into his pocket, grabbed what he needed and gently placed it on the table. It was a key.

"That's your key. I know you like to spend time here."

Colson stared at the key and then the vampire. The urge to grab Aetos by the collar and pull him into a kiss bursting through him. It made him grip his fork harder. He must have been silent for too long because Aetos got this light frown on his face.

"You sure you want to give me this? I snoop. Aren't you worried I'm going to look through your stuff or poison your blood supply with garlic?"

"Garlic doesn't hurt. We can't even taste it. I know you snoop but I also know how much you like staying here. So you can have the key, it's yours."

Colson reaches for the key and smiles at Aetos. Feeling very grateful, it seemed like the vampire noticed everything. It also seemed like the vampire was going to bring up last nights kiss. He couldn't have forgotten. He hadn't been drunk.

"No parties though."

Colson slapped a hand to his chest, eyes wide in faux innocence. "Geez, how did you know that was my plan? Now you've ruined it."

Aetos snorts out a laugh, his tense shoulders relaxing. The vampire looked good and smelt good too. Just being in his presence made Colson tingle. What did this mean? Was his entire body scrambled by just one kiss? "I sent Pytor to get some groceries."

"I'm sure that was not an easy task." Colson takes a big forkful of bacon and shoved it into his mouth. Aetos smirks at him but doesn't reply, Colson already knew the answer.

"When are you leaving?"

"After breakfast."

"You don't mind if I eat breakfast slowly then, do you?" Colson waves his fork at Aetos who raised his flask to him.

"Take your time."

Jade Bird's Uh Huh was playing through his earphone, Colson nodding along to the song as he made his way home, the key feeling heavy in his pocket. Aetos has told him before leaving that he had told Erik about what had happened to Diego at the Dark house and Colson had a feeling the Alpha was going to come looking for him.

The pack house was a loud house when Colson entered, pack members were littered everywhere and the entire sitting room was covered with wrapped gifts with Cobie smiling and telling them thank you for each present he received. His brother was in a large orange jumper and sweatpants, his dark hair falling into his eyes. Eyes that were a bright pink.

"Cobie..."

Cobie looksat him, relief clear on his face. Colson immediately made his way to his brother. "Sorry, I need to talk to my brother." Colson tells a couple who had a small wrapped gift.

The woman smiles and nods, her fingers moving swiftly. Her husband helped her translate.

"Thank you. We'll keep our gift with the others."

Cobie takes the woman's hands in his and pressed a kiss to her cheeks. Colson watched his brother, the Luna of the Silver Moon pack. He was always there, taking care of them, teaching, training, cooking and giving them counseling when they need it. He was good at it. Better than good even and Colson was so proud.

Colson led Cobie up the stairs to his and Erik's room. Colson made sure not to go into their room frequently. Randall had told him that, that was their den. No one besides them was to entire it, it has their scents, their memories and promises. And Colson respected that.

Today was an exception because his brother looked tired.

"Where's your mate?"

"The Dark house. I thought everyone dropped their presents last night but apparently I was wrong." Cobie says as he sits on the bed, letting out a sigh when he places his feet on the bed.

"I'm not giving you a leg rub."

Cobie glared at him. "I didn't ask you to."

Colson scoffed as he takes a seat beside his brother. "You were going to ask."

Cobie playfully punched his brother on the arm. "Is there a reason you're coming home dressed like a large mice?"

"Says the pregnant one who ate his cereal with ketchup before the party last night." Colson stuck his tongue out at his brother. Cobie quickly reached out and pinched it, earning a glare from Colson. "Are you five?" "You were with Aetos weren't you?"

"Yeah. I went with him to the dark house and sorted Diego out. The kid was freaked out and wanted to attack Aetos." Colson said. "Diego has a vision or a dream, I don't know. He apparently saw Aetos covered in blood and Baba telling him, he's coming."

"Aetos filled us in this morning."

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"He told me. It was quite freaky."

"Whoever this Baba is, if I replace him, I'm going to gut him and let the birds feast on him. He has injured two members of my pack, killed two, almost killed you and has everyone on their toes." Cobie growled, his eyes flashing red. "I'll offer you support."

"Of course. He almost got you to." Cobie said, anger bleeding through his words. A couple of things levitating, tiny bubbles in the air. Colson places his hand on Cobie's and tried to replace a way to distract his brother from the anger. "Aetos and I kissed last night."

The books and remote fell and Cobie turned to him with wide eyes. "You what?" Cobie asked and smacked Colson on the back of his head. "Why would you do that?"

Colson shrugged. "It felt right at that moment."

"Did..... did he ask you to dinner or something afterwards?" Cobie asked, his red fading away, leaving a gorgeous yellow in its place.

"Neither of hs brought it up this morning."

Cobie nods and murmured to hsimself. "He avoided rejection."

"What?"

"If he had asked you to dinner, would you have said yes?" Cobie asked his brother, stylishly turning a bit so he could place his legs on Colson's thigh. The twin began to gently rub his brother's leg. "He's my friend. I honestly haven't thought of him in any other way before yesterday."

Cobie nods, relief rushing through him. Colson pressed hard on Cobie's leg. "Ouch,"

"I told you I didn't want to give you a leg rub."

"It's not my fault. I just put my legs on your lap and you started rubbing." Cobie gives him a smug look and a shrug. Colson shakes his head at his brother.

"He gave me keys to his place and a job offer."

"What offer?"

"He was me assisting with coven business, kind of like an assistant." Colson said. "It was why I followed him to the dark house last night, I wanted to see what I would be getting involved in." "Is it something you would want to do?"

"Yes." Colson replied. "There are a lot more things involved I'm sure but from the glimpse of what I saw, it's something I'm interested in."

"Okay by if he steps one foot out of line..."

"Guy him like a fish with a stake?" Colson offered.

"Nah, someone might pull it out. Shoot him countless times with wooden bullets. I've got some made, we can never be too careful." Cobie said.

"I was about to even ask if we could get those."

"Yeah. Speaking of, when last did you use a bow?"

"Years ago. Too slow."

"True." Cobie nods. "Can you please get me something to snack on? We can watch Midnight Texas."

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Colson gives his brother a nod and slid off the bed. He made his way down the stairs. Cobie hadn't blinked when Colson had told him about the key and he wondered if Cobie knew something he didn't. Pack members were still here but Se Ju, Michel and Randall were helping.

Michel turns to look st him immediately he enters the sitting room. Colson bit his bottom lip, the urge to kiss Michel might have gone down a bit but it was still there. He quickly walked out of the room, to the kitchen. He grabbed a pack of beef jerky, heated up the left over fried rice he found in the fridge and took them up to Cobie who, true to his words had Midnight Texas up.

Cobie happily took the food from him and they both sat down to watch the series. Halfway through he fourth episode, Colson began to calculate. What if Aetos had run away for two weeks to avoid the kiss or to avoid him? Why was he so bothered by the kiss?

Colson brought a hand up to his lips, his teeth biting at his nail. He was thinking about to much and he needed to have a clear head.

"I'm going for a run." Colson tells his brother as he gets off the bed. Cobie raised a brow at him in question and Colson shrugged. "Be careful."

"Always am." Colson winks at his brother before leaving the room. It took him a few minutes to change into a sportswear and grab his earphones and go back out. He takes the back door so as to avoid the other pack members. Tiffany's I think we're alone now, played through the speakers as he started his jog, picking up his pace just a little bit. He sings along to the song as he continues. He by passes the road and takes off into the woods behind the house. Colson wasn't used to not watching his back and fighting off people who thought just because he was small, they could over power him. Astir was an all new experience, one that he was thankful for. Once Aetos gets back he's going to tell him about his decision to take up his job offer.

The air was fresh and cool against his skin, music flowing through his speakers as he jogged. He was halfway gone when he gets the feeling that he was being watched, shivers shooting down his back. He pulls off his earphones and looked around, eyes darting around.

There was nothing there.

He takes one last look before continuing. The feeling of being watched didn't go away. There was no one in the trees or behind him so where was the eerie feeling coming from? Colson picked up his pve, going from jogging to plain on running, his heart beating crazily in his chest.

He kept running and looked to the back to see if someone had appeared, he sees a black blue but before he could focus on it, he tripped and fell onto the ground. He lets out a loud scream of pain, he looked down at his leg and silently gasped when he sees blood dripping down his skin.

"Oh my goddess." Colson cries. He tries to stand up but if felt like he couldn't move. Running alone was a bad idea. Shit. He tries to reach for his phone but realized he must have dropped it while running.

Bad to worse.

He sits there, pain flowing through him, eyes stinging with tears and blood running down his leg to a puddle on the grass. He waves a hand in the air, a small bubble forming right above his legs as water began to fall onto the wound and washing the blood away. He was almost done when he hears a crunching sound.

He raised his fingers, ready to pelt who ever or whatever it was with ice shards when Michel burst through the clearing. The Beta stared at him and fell onto his his knees beside Colson.

"Are you okay?" The Beta asked.

"Do I look okay to you?" Colson snapped back at Michel who didn't move to touch him at all, just staring at him like he was a picture. "Do something."

The Beta doesn't move and Colson groaned. He creates the water bubble again and let it wash the blood off his skin. When he looks down the gash had healed and there were no red stains on his leg. He was about to stand up when Michel grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down.

"I forgot to calculate just how far you little fishies heal." Michel growled and Colson frowns. The grip Michel had on his hand tightened. Colson tried to scream out but nothing was coming, it was like the sound was held deep in his throat, something pushing it back.

Sensing the danger, the need to run getting stronger, Colson tried to flick his free hand so he could suffocate Michel by the Beta grabbed his other hand and snapped his fingers. Colson lets out a loud scream, tears rushing down his face, his nose running. The pain rushing through him like a vibration, fear in his chest, blooming like a flower.

"You all irritate me." Michel says as he flung Colson over to the side like he weighed nothing. Colson gasped out in pain as his broken hands hit he floor harshly. He tries to crawl away, the feeling of being vulnerable and weak scaring him as his life flashed in front of him. The wolves would have heard his second scream, they should be coming.

Michel squats beside Colson and trailed a hand down his face, a smile on his face as he plays with Colson's tears.

"W-Why?" Colson asked, his voice coming out broken and hoarse.

"So many reasons. The next time I come to meet you and you try to act up." Michel gripped Colson's hair and tugged back. "I will do this, every time." Michels gripped tightened and the ache became more, Colson's eyes pulsing like the pain was right behind it. His mouth was dry, a scream bubbling inside him as fear gripped him tight. He hadn't felt this scared in a while and he was thrown to the ground as Michel stood up.

The pain became too much and he last thing he sees before he surrendered to the darkness was Michel walking away.