It could have been hours. Minutes. Seconds, or perhaps several moonlit nights.

I wasn't sure for how long Zeph had been gone. My brain unable to the grasp the intangible concept of time. I was aware of soft whispers, vaguely familiar footsteps in the room I was in, leaving me food which I didn't touch and water which I drank. Multiple times I was tempted to ask whoever had come about Zeph's whereabouts, but I bit my tongue. Searing pain shot up my arm anytime that I tried to move but I couldn't get myself to look at the grotesque wolf. Would it leave a scar? A wolf shaped one? Marking me forever? Or atleast for a very very long time?

The thought sent a shiver down my spine. Like I was tainted.

A set of familiar footsteps made me sit up straight, interrupting my aimless wandering as I tore my eyes away from the mundane ceiling and glanced at the door. A few second later, it burst open and Zeph staggered in, limping.

"What the fuck?" I managed to croak out, a lump rising in my throat.

I rose to my feet, remembering about my injury only when a sharp pain shot up through my body so much so that I stumbled forward, catching my balance at the last second.

"Get back on the fucking mattress," he said, dragging himself over to sit on the floor against the wall. He sat down, his long legs spread in front of him as I finally saw how badly hurt he was.

His t-shirt was soaked with blood, dark patches on his chest and his arms. Blood trickling down his nose, part of trouser covering his shin had been ripped off to reveal a patch of skin, a deep gash embedded in it. Dark blood pouring relentlessly.

"What the fuck happened?" my heart wrenched in pain as I sat beside him, my stomach turning at the bloody sight. It wasn't uncommon for Zeph to get into fights, but I had never seen him beaten up so badly.

"Turns out...I forgot one important detail about the wolves," he grunted as he unrolled a strip of bandage, placing it on his leg and bandaging it deftly. "They always move in packs. Filthy fucking dogs." 

"They...did this to you?" Destructive rage bubbled inside me, coupled with a catastrophic helplessness.

"Yeah, but I got my revenge. They wont be hurting you anymore-" he paused for a second, a dark glaze in his eyes as he finished, "-or anyone."

I gulped. Had he done to them what he had done to that guy on that fateful night when I met him?

"I had an easier way to deal with them," he sighed, leaning over to study the wound on his leg. "But...it's not nearly as satisfying to watch them drop dead as it is to beat them to within an inch of their life."

"Did you...what did you do to them, Zeph?" It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that he could kill people so easily. Wicked people, that was true. But still living souls. With friends, families, perhaps. And as much as I tried to deny it, I didn't fully know what other crimes he had committed. I had never managed to look at Zeph in the light that the Peacekeepers had kept him under. Which truly was him?

"Not more than what they deserved," he scoffed. He finished bandaging his leg before he finally looked at me, wiping the blood from his face on a wet cloth. "What about you?" he furrowed his eyebrows, "How do you feel?"

"Zeph...you already have way too many enemies. You'll...you'll get in trouble," I said, panic rising inside my chest. What if someone had seen him? They had roughed him up so badly. What if they had hurt him even more? "You can't act on whims like these. You...everyone here looks up to you."

"Reminds me," he spoke urgently. "Don't mention this to anyone, okay? Least of all to Zia."

"You're just not going to tell her?" I asked, surprised.

"I can't let her see me like this," he explained, removing his tshirt to reveal his bloodied torso. Cuts on his chest, right under the breastbone, scarlet liquid trickling down. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, the wounds now clotting in a ghastly mass. "She's already seen worse."

"You...you need a doctor," I managed to stutter, my throat clogging up with what I couldn't quite describe. The rusty smell of blood overwhelming my senses. "You may have a broken rib or something. Zeph...why...why would you do this? What would this achieve? What if they had killed you?"

"What the fuck was I supposed to do then, Goldie?" he glared at me, his voice rising. "I can't let them get away with this-" he nodded at me. "Today they attack you, tomorrow they could attack one of us."

A sharp pain in my chest startled me. So much so that it took me half a second to realize why it hurt so much. His eyes widened for a second as he realized what he had said. "I meant...one of us here in the Nest. Not..." he sighed. "I'm...not really thinking."

"You're in pain," I said, trying to divert my mind from his words. The 'us' versus 'you.' That the only reason he did what he did was to protect the Hawks, not for me. "If you come with me, I know a good doctor who will fix you right up, doesn't ask too many questions."

"I'll heal," he said. "I always do. Faster than others."

We fell silent. I let him tend to his wounds slowly, not really knowing how I could help. He had removed most of the blood from his torso, applying a bandage around it. He stretched his right foot a little, wiggling his toes, as if checking if he was still in working order.

"Show me your arm," he said after a while. His request was so sudden that it took me a second to comprehend. He stretched his palm out, and not really knowing what to do, I placed my injured hand in his. He gazed at it silently for a while, his dark eyes studying intently. He stretched his fingers, leaving a fleeting trail of touch on my healing cuts. The naked touch was electrifying somehow, sending shivers down my spine.

"Are you okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Fuck.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. He didn't respond, his gaze lingering for way too long before his fingers travelled upwards towards my forewarn. He traced the wolf's mark gently, each touch igniting a spark in me. A glorious amalgamation of nervousness and searing pain. I shut my eyes, turning my face away from him and hoping he would be too engrossed to notice.

"You need to be marked by us," he whispered after a while and I opened my eyes to see he had stopped. I suddenly realized that he was shirtless. "The hawk. If I mark you with that...no one here will dare to touch you."

"The...hawk?" I asked stupidly as he stretched his forearm for me to see. The symbol of a bird inked in black on his arm. I had seen it multiple times before, but not so close up. 

"This means you belong to our clan. You'll be under my protection, officially," he said before smirking, "Not sure father dear would approve though."

Join the hawks? Officially? The idea was thrilling, but how could I ever match up to them? They had been toughened, fending for themselves since they were children. And it didn't matter how much ever I hated my dad, it was true that I had known an extremely sheltered life, save for a few altercations that I had had in the underbelly. It would be exhilarating, sure. But I would just be a burden on them. Someone Zeph would have to constantly protect, and with the eleven people living at the Nest, he already had a lot on his plate.

"You didn't tell me why you're here either," he spoke. "Argument?"

"Kind...of," I shrugged. I couldn't find it in myself to tell him the truth.

"Are you planning to go back?" he asked softly.

"I...have to, don't I?" I sighed. "It's...my home. I can't live here."

"I guess," he shrugged. "But...if you ever want to run. You'll..have a place."

The tenderness in his voice caught me off guard. His eyes were gentle, endearing. Was he delirious from the blood loss?

"So...what do you think about the hawk?" he asked again, gently tracing a finger on my arm in the shape of what I assumed was a hawk.

"I'll...think about it," I said finally.

"That's enough for now," he said, reaching to brush a few strands of hair off my forehead. I held my breath, my heart rampaging at his touch. He leaned back after holding my gaze for way too long and yawned. "I have to warn ya though, I might change my mind."

"About...what?"

He shrugged. "Having you join the Hawks."

"Oh," my heart sank a little. "Why?"

"Because I'm an indecisive bitch, Goldie. Why else?" he raised an eyebrow at me. I didn't respond to his rhetoric question. He yawned again, rubbing his temple. "Man, it's exhausting beating up shit bags. I'm gonna pass out for a while I think."

I nodded, my heart still hammering as I moved to give him space to lie down. He lay on his back, flinching slightly as he tried to find a comfortable position. His eyelids fluttered shut after a while and I watched as he drifted off into a blissful sleep.

I remained awake for a while. The pain had subsided to a dull ache. Enough for me to ignore it. I gazed at him, noticing the gentle rise and fall of his bare chest. His dark hair falling on his forehead with a careless elegance. His lips slightly parted. How could he have killed someone? It seemed impossible.

I lay down beside him, resting on my back as I stared up at the ceiling. But I remained wide awake. With the pain gone, my mind kept returning to the dark alley. The strange men. The benumbing pain.

The night was silent. I had no clue how late it was. As I reached instinctively for my wrist watch, I realized it wasn't there. They had taken it. I sighed as I tried to lie in a more comfortable position, but no matter how hard I tried, the flashing images seemed to be burnt into the back of my skull. I could still feel the sharp metal against my skin, the strange touch on my body. I shuddered, instinctively moving closer to Zeph.

In the stillness around, all I could hear was Zeph's gentle breathing, and if I stayed quiet enough, my own beating heart. Somehow faster than usual.

I tried to turn as a sharp pain jolted up my arm, almost making me cry out. The unexpected agony making me whimper softly.

The metal. The blood. The scent.

Zeph's wounds, they smelled similar to mine. The metallic whiff. The same light headedness when I saw the flowing scarlet from his pale skin.

I shut my eyes, realizing my grave mistake immediately as the torture didn't end.

Image after image flashed through my head. Restless. Ruthless. What would have happened if the hawks hadn't found me? Would they have killed me? Would I have been mauled by stray dogs? What was it about me that always invited such kind of assaults? Or was it just being alone in the streets? No way someone like Zeph, Zia or Ziv would ever have to go through something like this. It was me. What was wrong with me?

Got some change?

My eyes shot open and it took me a few seconds to realize it was my own harsh breathing that I could hear. Shallow. Panicked.

The metal.

The blood.

The scent.

The air around me was solid, my lungs refused to breath. The drab ceiling was suddenly a kaleidoscope of colours. I drifted away from myself, looking onto my trembling prostrate body through a hazy window. I couldn't feel my arms. My legs. Myself.

"Aster?"

I couldn't breathe. The air was too solid. My lungs too weak.

"Aster!"

Were they here again?

"Aster, you're shaking, can you hear me?"

Aster. Asteroth. That was a name. So he would have to respond and nod. I tried to, although I was no longer in control of my actions. I was in a vortex. Water rushing in from all sides. Drowning me. Suffocating me.

"Aster, breathe, okay? Just try to breathe. One...two.."

The air felt like sand in my lungs as I struggled to obey the simple command. But my lungs didn't want to cooperate. The room around me shrank, pushing me in.

I felt a warm touch on my back, incoherent words. As if I was under water, and the voice was from a shore. Far off. Muffled. Surreal.

"Slowly, okay? Just breathe."

Zeph.

I recognized the voice as a sense of rationality seemed to penetrate through my suffocating cocoon. And I followed his words, breathing a little easier.

"Good," he said, his voice no longer muffled. "Just keep doing that, okay?"

I breathed slowly, extremely aware of every movement as if I was simply learning. Something pulled me out of the never-ending vortex as the world around me returned to coherence.

"Aster, can you hear me?"

I remained quiet. Breathing was no longer a monumental task. But my ears felt hot, my entire body trembling, my fingers numb as a different emotion crashed over me.

"God..." Zeph whispered before pulling me close and I realized where my shudders were coming from. "You're okay now, alright? I'm right here."

I was enveloped by a strange, unfamiliar and yet strangely familiar warmth. The person I knew, but the feeling was odd.

His arms wrapped around me securely, pulling me against his chest as I became aware of the wetness on my face. He held me close. Tight, Gentle. Stroking my back, my hair, rubbing tiny, soothing circles on my wounded wrist. I could smell antiseptic, overtaking the smell of blood. Despite his state, his touch was firm, his chest sturdy. 

"Th...thanks.." I hiccupped. How much was I going to regret this messy break down in the morning? A lot perhaps. But maybe this wasn't happening at all. Maybe he was a figment of my imagination. How else could he make me feel so loved?

But if it was all untrue, I would bask in it while I could. I pushed closer into him, his intoxicating scent sending my heart in a frenzy, his bare skin against mine a forbidden feeling.

His lips brushed the top of my head and my heart fluttered, immediately crushed by a sense of guilt. He had a girlfriend, and I knew him enough to know he wouldn't cheat on her. All of this for him, was simply the act of comforting a friend.

And for me, it felt terrifyingly like falling in love.  

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Ngl I thoroughly enjoyed writing these chapters. Dialing the intensity up a bit as well. Hope you guys reciprocated my feelings XD And I wonder if anyone feels any differently towards Zeph?

Also huge news guys...I turn in my final engineering thesis on 23rd (hopefully) which means I can officially graduate. Yours truly will be a (kinda) qualified engineer. Biotech too, since I was way too indecisive to choose between biology and maths. 

Anyway, there's my little rant. I'm not a celebrating type of person, but thought I'd share that news here with y'all. It's supposed to be pretty big I guess. 

As always, thank you for reading and constantly supporting. I'm eternally grateful. Stay safe guys!