"Verando." I touch his back as I near the bed. The ability this man had to sleep the day away at the first opportunity never ceased to amaze me. During our time in Dezna, he was an early riser, and when he did sleep, it was for only a few hours before he was up and running again. 

Oftentimes, I felt he would lie with me as a formality rather than to get any actual rest. But, given a lack of responsibility or the assurance that his presence wasn't needed, he would happily sprawl across the bed and sleep until near lunchtime. I found it quite endearing to wake up with his body tangled with mine, holding onto me as if I were the only thing in his world. 

It was making it increasingly more challenging to get up in the morning. 

Chuckling as I brush his hair back, the thick tangle falls into his forehead, nearly covering his eyes. "Randy. Really, you sleep like the dead." 

He yawns in protest of my attempts, burrowing into the blankets to hide from me. "Go away." He grumbles, pulling the covers over his head.

I know Marcello had been tough on him, but it was nice to see he was finally able to find a routine that challenged his current fitness. Since the battle with my sister ended, the need for the extreme regime of a lycan leader was in small demand. We had spent so much of our time on the road, traveling from city to city, country to country. 

Verando had been able to relax, slowing down to a fitness level that most normal men would be thrilled to wield. Yet, it was challenging for him, as it was difficult for him to accept the leaner muscle tone and less definition. While I hardly noticed that he carried a minimal percentage more body fat than when I had first met him, I could tell by the way he hesitated and twisted at every mirror that it bothered him. 

"Can you take a break from Marcello today and help me?" I trail my finger down his back, following the line of one of the longest scars, admiring the dense muscle that flows along both sides of his spine. 

"No." His tone is noncommittal, an attempt to get back to sleep. 

I roll my eyes, folding one leg over the other as I sit on the edge of the bed. "One would get jealous if they looked into how much time you two have been spending together lately. Are you even letting Tonic and Reid play?" 

It's enough to make him appear from under the depths of the comforter, offended. "It's not a bloody game of 'house,' Nic." 

I make a sound of acknowledgment, raising my eyebrows at the seriousness of this matter.

 "What can I do for Your Grace today?" Flopping back onto his back, he runs a hand through his hair, acknowledging that he won't be getting any more sleep. His voice is rougher than usual, heavy with sleep. I skirt my fingers over his abdomen as I start to knit together the words in my mind.

I think it over, losing my nerve in a sense of what I was genuinely hoping to ask him. I want his help. To remind him of his promise that he'd do this with me, and remind him that I need him. Pulling my lips into a thin line, I glance towards the dark comforter, plucking at a stray string.

"Are you happy?" The look of concern crosses his face, and I'm quick to clarify. "Being 'retired'. Do you miss it? Running a pack, the guard, having things to do?" 

Propping himself up on his elbow, I've earned his full attention as those eyes bore into me to decipher my hidden meaning. As a peace offering, I hand him a mug of coffee, which he reluctantly accepts. 

"Can I not worry about your happiness? You aren't exactly known for being a ray of sunshine. I've been worried that this lack of community and barren wasteland is weighing on you. I know that you and Marisol didn't end on good terms the last time you spoke. I'm just checking in. Besides, I miss you. Is that so wrong?"

That familiar suspicion crawls onto his face as he considers my questions. "It has its perks and weaknesses." He allows, allowing for nothing as he keeps his gaze on me. "You can worry all you like, but you've got a terrible poker face. What are you actually after?"

Verando isn't sharing today; he's on to me. Every morning, I rush out of the room to meet Rhea and Tyler, making arrangements for the day ahead. But, I need more, I need experience, I need him. 

"What do you need, darling?"

"You." I sigh. "I need your mind, your guidance, your challenges... your vision. I want to ask you to help me, even if you think it's not a worthwhile cause."

"Alright... If you'd like my help, convince me." 

His answer caught me off guard, for I was expecting a solid yes; I imagined he would do almost anything for me, but it seemed that he had limits when it came to his beliefs. 

Reflecting on it, I try not to take offense at his decisiveness, reminding myself that this is what I love about him. "I'm planning on taking over a building to create a cloud. Artifice can hack into the system, but I was hoping you could get me to the top and keep me there until the cloud is formed. If I'm correct that we're being targeted, the cat morphs will surely show up, and that is where I'm going ot need protection.

Tonic and Reid are ready to fall back in line.. but.. I was hoping you could also talk to Marisol and get her crew to help?" I hedge, his expression is unreadable, and I feel my pulse quicken. 

Why does this make me feel so wrong, as if I'm asking him to move mountains? 

I swallow as he sighs, sipping his coffee, mulling over my lackluster proposal.

After what feels like a lifetime, he glances at me from the corner of his eye. "You want me to persuade Marisol to help us after she's convinced herself that I let cats trash her house? Do you want me to be castrated?"

"Verando, she loves you. I'm asking you to do whatever it is you do to make people love you and help me make this happen. I'm not blind, I know how she feels about you; she's told me as much; if you ask her, then maybe-" 

He rolls his eyes in a dramatic fashion that I'm impressed leaves him intact. 

"I know it's shitty to ask you to talk to your ex-wife, but we need her. Nobody else has any influence over her. I don't like it either, not after what she said to you, but this is the reality. Sometimes we do things we don't want to do, some asshole lycan told me that we did what we had to for our people. These are our people." 

I had only told our group a few days ago that Marisol wasn't who I wanted to continue dealing with, but after examining it from as many different angles as I could, it seemed we were out of options. We needed the numbers if we wanted to guarantee our safety, and the only way to do that would be with footmen who were familiar with the city. 

Verando slides out of bed, and I try not to gaze too longingly at his naked form. 

How could someone gain definition in such a short amount of time? 

Predictably, he's upset with me, pacing the room like a caged animal with an intensity that insists I remain still and not go to him. "I don't think it's right to involve these people in this. It feels like it should be our problem; the more we involve, the more inexperienced targets we provide for whoever is hunting us. You're building an army, and drawing attention with so many bodies on the ground."

"We don't have the luxury of time and close quarters, I need eyes and bodies." I retort quickly. "I'm asking you to do what you've done from the beginning. Convince people to join our side by any means necessary. Randy, I need both of you. We need Marisol."

"At the cost of my very manhood. Groveling to that woman after she called me a damned pet!" Verando wrinkles his nose in disgust, glowering at the ground. "Is there no limit to the depths I must go? You heard her, she's furious with me. I would have to literally beg. Is that what you want? Is that worth it to you?"

I dig deep, knowing I need to press him, knowing that I can't leave here empty-handed. "Am I not worth more than some ex-lover's opinion of you? You are at no risk for a lack of manliness, not with that physique. I get it, she's pissed, but if this is a matter of our safety, I think it's worth the ask." I manage, my eyes lock with his as he measures my commitment; the thought of him going to Marisol at all made my stomach flip. 

That low growl resonates in his chest as he crosses his arms in frustration. Finally, he nods.

 "You'll do it?"

"Yes. For you."

I smile as I hop up and go to him, but Verando holds up his hand to stop me. I feel the heat melting off his body. Knowing the price for my ask, I accept the boundaries, folding my hands in front of me as I restrain my hungry fingers. 

"And you'll lead them? To infiltrate the building?" I conclude, gaining the look of disbelief, coupled with another eye roll that is fit to put the first to shame. 

"While we're making requests, is there anythin' else I can do for ya? A massage? A rug made from the leader of the cat's hide? A sculpture carved from the moon itself?" 

It's my turn to glare. He's upset with Marisol, and I know I'm asking a lot of him, but it's nothing he hasn't done before. While part of me does feel guilty for dragging him out of his vacation and into the fray, I can't do this without him, and I thought I had been clear from the beginning that his hiatus as my partner was only temporary. 

Truthfully, I had hoped he'd warmed up to the idea, but it seemed he was enjoying playing hooky from his duties as my acting advisor. 

There was one more thing that I knew would be the most difficult to ask, and while he hadn't expressed it openly, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. "Yes, now that you mention it, I have one more request. I'm asking you to do this one as a personal favor to me." 

As Verando turned to face me, it was apparent he was at the limit of his patience. Holding firm to my conviction to get the most out of this as possible, I swallow back my guilt for asking the world of him.  "I want you to teach Helen how to shift and control her wolf."

"No." The answer is so short and clear, I almost don't believe he answered.

"Verando," I respond, trying to comprehend the blatant refusal. "She is lost, and she has no idea who she is; she needs an Alpha-."

"She needs her father." My warlord growls back, speaking through his teeth. "Have you not learned your lesson on meddling where your nose doesn't belong? Nicolas. You have to stop this. That is not your family."

"It is!" I shout back. "They are your family, and by that extension, they are mine! You know how I feel about this; you know how much helping Tyler means to me. Randy, this is as close as I'm ever going to get, and that girl needs you. She needs an Alpha, she needs guidance."

"From her father!" He repeats once more, struggling to keep his tone level. "I will not go against Legardo's wishes. He hates me enough as it is without him finding a reason to go savage as Marcus did. I will not be forced to kill my son to satisfy this urge of yours to right all these wrongs. It is not any of our business what goes on in this home; your job is to fix the planet, not Helen. Stay out of it." 

I can't believe him; he's being absurd. I didn't ask him to kill Legardo! I asked him to help Helen.

"Then control yourself like a civilized creature?! Why on earth must you kill him? Why is that so hard? Why is that even an option?" 

He snorts at me, shaking his head at my terminology. "Civilized. Legardo has never accessed his wolf; he is not civilized; he is a damned ticking time bomb. That is four hundred years of a repressed wolf that will not want to return once it's out. He could expose us all, Rhea would step in, her wolf could surface, then what?!" 

Verando lowers his tone, getting closer to me so as not to alert Artifice to our argument. "It is not my job to play clean-up crew to everything you wish to remedy. I'm telling you, as their sire, leave them alone and stop involving yourself in things that are not your concern." 

"You're being a complete asshole!" I hiss back.

So he'd rather Helen suffer for Legardo's psychotic need to oppress her wolf? "It is my concern that her wolf is dying every day! What does Alpha think of this?"

Verando laughs at me, shaking his head in disbelief. "Alpha?! What, is this a three-way conversation now? I run this vessel; dividing me and Alpha is not how you get what you want! There was a time when we wanted to cure this thing, remember? It is a curse; you can't force it on those who don't want it."

"It's not a curse!" I spit back at him. "I think it has something to do with being a Solomonari." 

He pauses, watching me with uncertainty as I try and collect my words. 

"If you look back at the texts, at the art, the dragon on the flags of the Solomonari have a wolf head. I think the wolf and the Solomonari have a connection. Why else would another Solomonari end up with Helen, a descendant of yours? Why have we been so drawn together?! At every turn, we are brought back together.

I think it's your celestial being, I think it's this lineage of wolf, I draw power from it, and maybe that is the key to fixing this whole thing? With a few tries, with Tonya standing by to revive you, of course, we could master this and possibly have an unending power source. We could fix this planet if Helen could control her wolf; maybe Tyler could do the same thing?!" 

But the expression that meets me is terror, not understanding and excitement. He steps back from me, a caged animal, a concerned bystander. It's me he is afraid of; it's me who incites the look that makes me return to reality. 

"I thought we were drawn together because we loved each other." He goes to the closet, pulls on a shirt, and fumbles into a pair of jeans. 

I laugh nervously, not used to being looked at in such a way, unsure of the air falling between us. "Of course, it's because we love each other, but there may be more. Fate? Purpose?"

"A fucking battery?" 

I cringe at his term. 

"No!" I snap back quickly. "A partner, the other half of the puzzle-"

"The half that dies? That gets to be revived when you're done with me?" 

My hands fall to my sides, and I glance at the ground, thinking back on my words. 

"That's not what I meant."

"It's what you said, and you spoke loudly and clearly. I will not damn Helen to this life; I'm not your fucking power source and-" Verando sets his jaw as he pushes past me, and I reach for him only to get a low growl in response. "Don't. Touch me-" He can't stomach me; he can't bear to be in the same room as me. "Get your shit together. I'm going to talk to Marisol."

I can't let him leave like this, not when he doesn't understand me or thinks I don't love him. I was just excited; I just wanted him to see the possibilities that I had been conjuring up to use our abilities. 

We could save the planet together, but he was too busy wallowing in self-hate to see the potential. 

"Artifice, lock the door." The door slams shut, and his body locks rigidly in shock. "Randy, you're not running away. I want to talk about this! This is just a total misunderstanding!"

"Nic, I don't want to hurt you. Artifice, open the door." The AI chimes in.

"There seems to be a lot of anger. Would some soothing music help?"

"Artifice, open the damn door!" 

I hear the desperation in his voice, and the door slides open with almost reluctance. 

"You don't get to choose what I can and can't do. I don't need you to 'help' me understand anything; I see this for exactly what it is. Protect you, serve for you, obey you, die for you; you sound just like your father." 

With that, he storms out, and I want to run after him. I want to throw him to the ground and show him what it means to be a true oppressor. 

Would he prefer I lash him? 

Or just let him do whatever he likes while I do all the work? 

I back up until my back is pressed against the wall as I try to comprehend what happened; how could I have incited such anger in him?

 Did he want to be out of the business that badly?

Was I totally out of line? 

I replay the conversation in my head, yet I can't see the fault. It was my suffering, too. I didn't enjoy what taking magic from the celestial being did to him, but I was willing to do it if it meant this world could continue. 

Tonic appears in the doorway, and for a moment, I hope beyond hope that it is Verando. Yet, once I saw the scar and the limbs, I knew it was my secret admirer. 

"What happened?! Verando just left-" 

I slide to a sitting position, and he quickly sits before me. 

"Are you okay?"

"No." I managed once I can speak. "I think I just said something I really shouldn't have..."