10 Months Later

He had been gone for long. Days had turned into weeks and weeks months. Time had gotten away from him, slipping through his fingers as he traipsed up and down the country in search of this hidden base. It had taken them four months, four months of living in sub par conditions and always being on the look out- to find this place.

Even then they had spent a ridiculous amount of time scouting the place to figure out what it was they were seeing and when they had entered mouths had hit the floor because it was deserted. Not a soul in sight but they had left behind a mountain of information. Information that had taken them another few months to decipher and then they had gone elsewhere. They hadn't stopped moving until his anger had been sedated and his need for revenge abated.

In the dark hours of night when he had lay beneath the canopy of stars, his soul had cried because his need for revenge had died a long time ago but he had clung to the past. It had dried up the moment he had begun to see how his consuming need was affecting his daughter, his mate. It had died and he hadn't realised it until it was too late.

He had made a commitment and so they kept moving, his feet running as his soul became heavier and heavier. Mornings became unbearable but the nights, the nights were worse because the moment his eyelids slid closed images of them filled his mind.

It was never the same image, they slid trough his mind like a kaleidoscope of colour and emotions. Flickering and flickering as he was haunted by the memories. He could feel them, he was with them. It was them but it wasn't because their skin glowed, they were radiant and so was he. There was a shine to his skin, a light to his eyes that he had never seen before. He looked like the Simeon of old, he was happy.

In his dreams he was happy and then the sunlight would shine through as nature called him to rise. They would flutter away from him, backs turned as they danced away.

He had let them go and he had no one to blame but himself, him and his selfish ways. Him and his burning need for revenge and where was it now? Buried like all those bodies, buried like his future, like his dying withering soul. He was lost, so lost. He was present but he wasn't because his mind was lost, he was lucid dreaming for months, weeks, hours, years? He didn't know but time got away from him.

He had lost himself out there without them and he didn't know if he could ever come back but he would try because the memory of them, of what could have been haunted him. He had never felt a loss like this and it was for more than just his daughter. He felt the heart wracking pain for Jana, the female that he had hurt time and time again. Beat down with his callous treatment of her all the while love had been growing in his heart.

How had he not known?

He was lost, drifting in the vast ocean as the current pulled him further and further away from the shore.

He was lost

So lost to himself but he wanted to be found. He needed redemption. He needed them and so his fist beat down on the heavy door, his head leaning against it as he waited for someone to answer. His eyelids fluttered shut as he heard his daughter calling him, her blonde hair whipping around her face as she waved him over. Jana stood in the background, her eyes open and loving as she smiled at him.

He felt his mouth moving into a smile as he staggered towards them, tears in his eyes as his hands outstretched and they ran to him. He tilted forwards, his body rocking as he fell through the air. His eyes jerking wide as his mouth hung open in shock.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A face cast in molten hot fury met him, a child who would grow to be the doppelgänger of his father because this was undeniably Khan's son. Not the eldest but perhaps not the youngest.

He was lean and tall, dark cocoa skin shining with youth as his strong angular jaw clenched at Simeon. Red climbed along his neck as veins strained along his forehead, nostrils flaring in that way of his father.

"This is home" Simeon grumbled, his body straightening to his full  height which was at least a head taller than the boy because that was what he was. He was perhaps a few years into his puberty and probably hadn't even shifted yet.

His hazel eyes deepened as he debated what to do, Simeon made that choice for him as he forced the door the rest of the way open. Staggering in as he took in the entryway of the compound, this place was as much of a home as he had.

"Where is everyone?" He stammered, body shaking with fatigue. He had pushed himself hard to get here, barely sleeping through the night so he could make it back to them, to his family.

"They are in the hall" he replied, his head titling to the side as he analysed Simeon. The gesture reminded him so much of Jana that he felt tears burning at the corners of his eyes, how had he let her go?

He was crazy,  delusional.

How could he have stood there and willingly watched his daughter and the woman who had slowly begun to open up his heart leave him. How? His shoulders shook with loss as he stepped towards the stairs but the boy blocked him off.

"Hey man, I don't think it's a good time for you to come in. Maybe you want to leave for a bit and then contact dad and see what he says?"

His hands were outstretched as if he would shove Simeon out the door if he stepped any further. It was bizarre, Simeon had never been refused entry into this compound. Khan had said he was welcome to come and go as he pleased so why was this boy stopping him.

"Mind out" he grunted, stepping closer to the stairs forcing the boy to back up a few more steps.

"Hey man, I'm serious. I don't think now is a good time" but Simeon didn't care because he had wasted too much time already and he would not waste another minute.

"Hey" shouted Micah as Simeon stormed past him, his body twisting as he tried to chase after the larger man. He toppled into Simeon as he abruptly stopped midway up the stairs.

"What the hell is he doing here Micah?" spat Reina, shooting Simeon a death glare that reminded him so much of Jana that his feet brought him higher up the stairs.

"I tried to warn him but he wouldn't listen" grumbled Micah, shoving Simeon in the shoulders as he walked around him and climbed a few steps up.

She stared at him, her brows arched as she contemplated the situation, turning to the side she leant down to the younger girl who had been hiding behind her. She whispered something in her sisters ear, Amirah shaking her head as she quickly peaked at Simeon over her sisters shoulder.

She cupped her mouth and whispered something back, something that sounded good to Reina's ears because her teeth sparkled white as she gave her sister a soft kiss on the cheek. Amirah looked at Simeon one last time her eyes cool as she assessed him, head shaking as she ran off in the same direction she had come.

"Simeon, right?" Reina questioned, her voice clear as she raised her head with regality and moved closer towards the steps. His head bobbed in agreement which caused her eyes to deepen into an almost black.

"Why don't you come with me," she murmured haughtily, her hand outstretching as she beckoned him to follow and he did. His sore body climbing up the last few steps and reaching the landing where she stood.

Micah cursed under his breath as he trudged down the stairs, head shaking in defeat as he pushed past Simeon.

Reina tilted over the banister, her short brown hair clinging to her shoulders as she called down to her brother, "Micah, make sure you lock the door" she grinned with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Her words seemed sinister, forbidding even but Simeon dismissed it all as he blindly followed her down the hall. Drowning out the younger boys mumbling as he followed behind them. His feet dragged along the floor as he headed down corridor after corridor until the big doors of the hall swung open.

A large breath eased from his lips as he stepped through, but his shoulders tensed as he realised his daughter and Jana were not inside,
"Don't worry they are coming" Reina grinned, her lips spreading wide as she began her duties as hostess.

She ushered him inside the large hall, all eyes stopping as Vanya peered up at him. Her brow raised high as she bounced the babies in her lap. A boy and a girl with light curly blonde hair and fat little cheeks, though the boy seemed to be chubbier than the girl.

Her face fell into a frown as she took in the sight of him and then Reina's expression. Quickly handing the babies over to Kai who sat beside her, she stood to her feet and made her way towards him.

"Vanya, it's good to see you," he hesitantly smiled, the grin falling as she failed to greet him back.

"What are you doing here," her head peering over to the door as she gripped him by the arm and pulled him further into the hall.

"I came back. I told Jana I was coming back back but she didn't believe me," his hands running through his hair as he took a seat in one of the chairs along the table. Reina entered back into the hall with a plate mounded full of food and a warm drink. She set it down beside him before heading over to Kai and picking up one of the babies.

"It's not that she didn't believe you would be back, you just didn't give dates. It's been 10 months Simeon, so much has happened in between that time! You missed your daughter's birthday and so much more! You should have been here" she shouted slapping the cup out of his hands, hot tea spilling down his chest as Vanya flew to her feet.

"I know that but I'm back now"

Vanya scoffed at his words, as if they were nothing because they were. What good were his words when Zosia had needed him to help assuage her nightmares, when she had called for her tata and had only found the warm embrace of a mother who was not even her own. What good was he now when Jana had suffered through months and months of pain and heartbreak. What good was he now that they didn't need him? They had learnt to be without him so what good was he now?

"Simeon" came a sharp voice by the door, the deep timbre vibrating as he stared with cold assessing eyes at the male before him. Amirah slid around him and made her way over to the children, her tongue sticking out at Simeon as she took a seat beside her sister. It was a good seat.

"Khan" he greeted back, a small smile climbing across his fade but it quickly dropped as Khans jaws clenched in that telling sign.

One minute he was seated and the next Simeon was airborne, flying across the hall as his chest was torn into ribbons. His head smashing into the tiles as crying and wails filled the air but they were drowned out by the growling and the wet sound of Khans fist meeting his flesh. His claws unsheathed as he pushed Khan of him, tearing into Khans shoulder as Simeon staggered to his feet. He tried to retreat to the door but he tripped over something and then he was thudding back down to the floor. Khan pinning him down as his fist pounded and pounded into Simeon, his words a garbled mess as a ringing noise filled Simeon's ears.

His knee came up as he kicked Khan in the stomach the man flying back as Simeon staggered towards him no longer retreating. His claws were unsheathed as he ran towards Khan, his canines bared as he tried to swipe at his face but Khan kicked him back, grabbing him in a headlock as he contitnued to pulverise his face. A red haze was over Khan as he battered the man before him, a man he had considered a brother.

His claws unsheathed as he grabbed Simeon by the neck, the male fell to his knees in defeat but Khan wasn't done. Gripping his hair in a tight fist, he yanked someone head back do the yellow of his claw could nestle between the soft skin of his neck. A red ribbon of obsidian bubbling along Simeon's neck as skin tore and flesh peeked through. Khan's claw bit into flesh and then he was being yanked away, small hands wrapping around his front as she rubbed along his heart.

"That's enough Khan, you did well" murmured Neema, kissing along his neck as she held him, her head resting along his back as his chest heaved.

At her words the haze of red fell from his vision and he was able to see clearly. The table was tipped on its side and the chairs were shattered to pieces, Simeon's limp body lay splattered on the floor. The babies were wailing, their faces red as they screeched for their mother. Kai and Reina's soft songs doing nothing to soothe them. Vanya was missing, perhaps she had gone to get Jana.

They had come quite far since a few months ago, what with Neema realising the depths of Khans deceit. He had out right hid his knowledge of Simeon from her all the while watching her and Jana's relationship deteriorate. He had withheld important information and because of him strain had been placed over her family.

Khan had been in the dog house for quite a few weeks because not only had he withheld information but his final admittance of the truth had sent Jana into a deep spiral. Jana hadn't believed that Neema hadn't known because Neema knew everything. She hadn't trusted Vanya at face value either. Relationships had suffered all because of Khan and his brothers need to hide things. Things were better now, but it wasn't the same for Jana.

His body vibrated with suppressed anger when he looked back at Simeon, the hunger for more still rumbling inside him but he pushed it down if only so the babies cries wouldn't grow louder. Heaving a sigh he consciously ignored Simeon's unmoving body, tears and blood mixing together as they ran down his swollen cheeks.

Kissing his teeth, Khan breathed heavily as he made his way over to the babies, Neema still wrapped behind him so his journey to the other side of the room was slow.

"Give them here" he grumbled, arms outstretched for them.

"Nova isn't going to go with you dad" and she was right because Nova was a finicky child who had never really taken to Khan. Luc was different though, his red scrunched up face began to smoothen out as he saw Khan. His arms outstretched as he buried his head into Khans bloody chest.

"What have you done Khan" spat Vanya as she came storming into the room Jana hot on her toes.

Vanya ran towards Khan and lifted Nova into her arms but Jana stopped, her eyes lingering on the bleeding man on the floor, his clothes torn and stained in crimson. His head raised from the ground, neck twisting awkwardly as deep black eyes met her browns. She stared at him for a short moment before she continued walking as if she hadn't seen him.

"Give him here" she murmured,  grabbing a sniffling Luc into her arms, his lips puckered together as if he wanted a feed. Big brown eyes staring up at her with hunger and love.

"He's hungry" chuckled Khan, his swollen knuckles stroking out to touch Luc's fat cheek but Jana turned away from him, her attitude standoffish.

"How many times do I have to say sorry Jana" he huffed, following her as she took a seat by Vanya but Khan didn't sit.

She didn't even look up at his towering body, her gaze stuck to the little chubby boy on her lap. His little pink gums peaked up at her as he pulled at her top, begging for a feed.

"Such a fatty," she grumbled as she took the blanket handed to her by Khan, still not looking at him. She placed it over her chest and Luc's head as she pulled out her breast. His mouth opened wide as he latched onto her in no time, suckling straight away as he took all the milk she had. He was such a hungry baby but she wouldn't trade him for the world. He was her little miracle.

Her little Lucjan

Her bringer of light

"Jana" coughed Khan, bringing her attention back to him and away from her suckling son.

"I will believe you Khan when you have remediated everything" and he knew exactly what she meant by that, her brow raising as she patted her noisy son on the bottom. His big brown eyes wide as he stared up at her, his hand placed over her heart as he drank her dry.

"It's not as easy as that Jana" he huffed.

She shrugged her shoulders not caring one iota how easy it was.

He had ruined Lian and Caillum's life and he needed to fix it. That was the only way she would truly forgive him and the longer he took the less inclined she was to forgive him. Especially now that Caillum was seeing that god awful hag, Jana couldn't stand her and when she had told Caillum he had told her that no one had liked Jeremy. That had shut her up good because when roles had been reversed, Caillum had been her only support and so she was forced to support Caillum's choice even though she hated the damn woman. Ruby or whatever the stupid devils name was. She was a sneaky little viper.

"Are we all going to ignore the dying man on the floor" shouted Reina, her finger poking at Simeon earning her a large grunt from the man.

Jana had actually forgotten that he was even here, she had shoved the image of him to the back of her mind the moment she had seen her squirming son but now she couldn't ignore him.

She looked to Khan, waiting for him to make his move.

His hazel eyes bore into hers as a deep sigh rattled through his chest, "Well at least he is still breathing," he huffed climbing to his feet in search of one of the other healers.

//--//

Lucjan - Pronounced Luwts- Yahn.