KANE WOKE UP with the biggest hard-on of his entire life and he knew exactly why.

He couldn't focus after getting flashed the night before. Not as he mindlessly shoveled deer meat into the hungry pup's mouth, almost losing a thumb in the process. Silver's words of a million omitted truths went in and out of his ears. He was left in a fog of dazed desire that he hadn't felt in a long time.

When the meal was over and he was clean and warm in his cot, his mind ran like a wild stallion. Weak growls reverberated against his broad chest where the baby slept. He liked the sound of heartbeats, Kane figured that out earlier. Even though he couldn't speak, he made it very clear there was nowhere else he'd be sleeping.

At first, it was nice. Kane wasn't lying when he said that kids made him soft. They did. They were cute and he even wanted a handful of his own when he was a little older.

Then his horny mind supplied him with images of Tempest's bare body. All hopes of getting decent sleep were shot to hell.

On a happier note, he now knew what hell was from Silver's endless supply of stories.

On a less happier note, he now knew what Tempest looked like naked. Her plump breasts were to die for which was saying something considering he was an ass man.

But she also had a nice ass so he was screwed either way. Actually, he was just screwed period.

The thirst refused to die.

So when he woke up exhausted after grabbing a few winks of sleep, he wasn't surprised with the raised mast down South. He was merely grateful that:

A) Tempest was nowhere to be found.

B) Silver had taken it upon himself to feed the baby breakfast.

C) He had enough time to peacefully think about wrinkly old men from the gym to kill his boner.

Afterwards they scarfed down what was left of the meat, packed their bags, and broke down the tent. Kane was fucking amazed to watch it fold into a pocketsized square that Silver tucked away under his armor. Magick was so cool.

It was a hop, skip, and a jump later that the three of them were following the brigade from the back. Tempest was yet to show her face. For that Kane was grateful. It bought him more time to kill his amatory thoughts for her.

Kane tapped against his armor as he watched the wolf prance around his feet. He remembered Silver's stories about werewolves and the horrors they committed. Yet when he watched the small runt chase moonbeams, he couldn't help but grin.

How could something so innocent grow up to become so bloodthirsty?

"I think you've got a few admirers."

Kane jerked his head away from the pup, seeking out the meaning behind Silver's words. "Oh." The hope rising in his chest died when he saw the comely fae women shooting him suggestive glances. The women whipped around, slender shoulders rising and falling with hushed laughter. "They're pretty."

Silver raised a brow, eyeing Kane in a way that made him feel like he was being looked into. "Not your type?"

"I said they're pretty."

"Yeah, in the most flat tone ever."

Kane shrugged, feeling a bit hot under his armor. "What did Death say to you?" he asked. "You still haven't told me."

The change of topic seemed to work as Silver's idyllic stare sharpened. "He told me to make amends with Tempest while I still could. He also told me that if I managed to kill Queen Mab my deal with her would be void. I'd get my soul back and he'd release me from being a ferryman."

"You waited forever to tell me that? Why? Isn't that good news?"

A coy smirk lifted Silver's lips. "Yes, that's good news. Why did I wait so long to divulge it? To toy with your curiosity for as long as possible. I enjoy seeing you squirm."

"You-" Kane whipped out Caliburn, smacking Silver on the side with the flat edge. "Why are you like this?!"

"I'm fae," Silver cackled, pushing Kane's blade away with his pointer finger. "Picked that up from Tempest, eh?"

"It's an easy move to remember," he replied defensively, sheathing his sword.

Silver hummed, cocking his head to the side, eyeing Caliburn then Kane. "Sure is. Look at you, you're even holding the hilt correctly. Half decent stance. Nice little footwork you did when you came at me too. Did you remember all of that from our lesson?"

Something gleamed in his eyes. Paranoia struck Kane like a whip.

He knew. He had to have known. Because why else would Silver be staring at him like that if he didn't know about Kane's thirst for Tempest?

Half of his brain surmised that it could just be Silver being Silver: a teasing asshole. The other half, the louder, paranoid side, already had alarm bells blaring. His anxiety skyrocketed. He scrambled for anything to throw Silver off his scent of desperate horniness.

"Where'd you go last night?"

Silver's clever gaze narrowed then slowly slid away until they were fixed on the ground. Kane released what he hoped was an inaudible sigh. He wondered if his heartbeat was loud enough to hear once he caught sight of the pup's eyes flicking towards him. If the baby could hear it from all the way down there, could Silver hear it from where he walked right next to him?!

Silver had introduced him to so many deities recently that Kane didn't know who to pray to. After going an entire life worshiping science, it was hard to keep track of everyone. He ended up throwing a prayer into the abyss, hoping Silver couldn't read him as easily as Kane thought he could.

If the gods were real like Silver said they were, then surely one of them would take pity on him and help out.

Right?!

"I had a bit of a disagreement with some old friends last night."

Kane's anxiety teetered once he heard that. Silver's tone alone made it easy to figure out what a disagreement meant.

"So, like, I'm pretty sure everyone here could kick my ass if they wanted to-"

"Agreed."

"However," Kane gave Silver the stank eye, "I've got your back. Deal or no deal. I know you messed up in the past but I don't think disagreements are going to solve much. The next time something happens, let me know. I dunno, maybe I can finesse them with my King Arthur lineage or something."

A delicate, small smile graced Silver's sharp face. "You really are a little too trusting, y'know that?"

Kane nodded. "My grandma used to say that I always end up trusting everyone I like even when I shouldn't. It's a flaw."

Silver's slippery smirk returned tenfold. "So, you like me?" he asked, wiggling his brows.

"Still hetero."

Silver placed a hand on Kane's arm. "Sexuality is a fluid spectrum-"

"My spectrum is undeniably straight."

Silver tipped his head back, cackling with his whole body. The commotion drew a few curious stares. None of them bothered to say anything once they saw the challenging glint in Kane's firm eyes.

Ok, so maybe they could all kick his ass. But he was still a big dude. Intimidation was the best weapon Kane had until he got better with a sword. And when they quickly turned around Kane knew he was going to abuse the shit out of that piece of knowledge now.

A loud bark caught Kane's attention. When he looked down he saw the wolf leaning towards the ground, behind raised and tail wagging. He yipped again, gray eyes shining silver under the moonlight. Kane watched as the energetic pup darted forward to nip at his armor then bolt away when he wiggled a foot.

"It's weird to think this kid is gonna grow up to become a cannibal. He's so cute."

"He won't if he doesn't consume human flesh."

"Really?"

Silver nodded, leaning down to scratch behind the pup's perky ears. "Many werewolves chain themselves in silver every full moon. It's to avoid going to other realms and eating human flesh. As long as he avoids eating it, he won't become a monster. This one though..." Silver's interested gaze tracked the pup's eager jumping, analyzing the runt as he played. "He's gotta be mixed with something else. Silver's a wolf's ultimate weakness but our armor doesn't even burn him."

Kane hummed, rifling through mental files of newly accumulated knowledge. "If being mixed negates a species weakness," he thought aloud, "why does iron burn me?"

"Maybe because you're weird."

Kane sucked his teeth, rolling his eyes at the vexing fae beside him. "Thanks."

"It could be anything," Silver said, relenting under Kane's unblinking stare. "When species mix the end result isn't always knowable. Like, sure, you have a weakness to iron because of your fae ancestry. But by mixing with humans do you know what you didn't inherit?"

"The ability to be naturally gifted in combat?"

Silver snorted, running his fingers through his long hair pensively. "Besides that."

Kane leaned down and the wolf hopped into his arms. His small paws scraped at Kane's armor when he perched himself onto Kane's shoulder, peering behind them. Kane let out a little aha, turning his head to avoid the fluffy brown tail slapping him in the face.

"I can lie!" he exclaimed. "Y'know, this makes sense now because not everyone in my family has an iron allergy. Some of them talk like you, evasive. It's actually what made you so annoying to me the first time we met."

"Ah, but my charm won you over."

"Oh, no, you're still annoying." Kane reached up, removing the hyperactive pup from pawing at his braided hair. "I'm just used to it now." Kane held the squirming pup up then glanced at Silver. "We should give him a name."

Silver made a face. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because," Silver sighed, removing Kane's finger from the gnawing pup's mouth, "it isn't. Once you name something you get attached to it."

"He's a werewolf-"

"That we can't keep," Silver said gently. "There's no room for him here and Tempest wouldn't allow it anyway. I wouldn't advise it either."

Kane clamped his mouth shut, looking at the pup with sorrow. "Right. I forgot about that."

Silver placed a hand on Kane's arm. "I think it's sweet that you wanna name him. But I don't want you to get too attached because then it's gonna hurt more when you have to give him up."

Kane nodded, petting the runt's fluffy brown fur. "I get it. I'm literally being prepared for war. There's no room for a kid. Plus, I have no clue how to raise a werewolf. He should be with someone that can actually take care of him."

"Exactly."

Kane's hand froze, slowly looking at Tempest. He gulped. They gazed into each other's eyes for a second before hers darted away. They flicked back towards Kane yet she adamantly refused to look at his face.

"The portal's coming up," she pointed at the large tree, twisted and split in the middle, "we leave for Eros."

Silver's groan dragged Kane's curious stare away from the swirling blue portal and he asked, "What is it?"

"I hate Eros," Silver huffed, kicking rocks. "Stupid sirens and their stupid songs. Fighting them is a bitch."

Kane didn't know what sirens were. "Are they bad singers?"

Silver chuckled darkly. "They're the best singers you'll hear in your entire life."

"Well, that sounds... nice?"

"It usually is nice before they sink their teeth into your neck then drag you into the ocean to die." Kane's pale face must've truly looked mortified because Silver was quick to try and reassure him. "Don't worry. As long as you're not harboring any feelings of lust or intense passion, you'll be fine. Their songs won't be able to enchant you."

Kane hummed, digging his nails into his palms to keep himself from freaking out. "Cool. Ok."

When Silver wasn't looking he dared to peek at Tempest. His brows raised when he found her quickly turning around. Pink tinted her high cheekbones.

"When we get to the portal, give the pup to Silver or I," she said curtly. "I don't trust you to not lose him between realms."

Kane rolled his eyes. "Fine. Silver can hold Kobe for me then."

It was silent before. But it became silent when Kane accidentally let that name slip out.

Kane walked like a robot, stiff and suddenly no longer sentient. He didn't look to his right because that's where Silver was. He didn't look to his left because that's where Tempest was. He didn't look down because holy shit the little wolf actually looked at Kane when he'd called him Kobe.

Kane fucked up and he knew it.

"Did you just-"

"I told him not to," Silver said hastily. "I literally told him not to."

"Oh, look," Kane said, weakly pointing at the portal, "it's almost our turn to cross."

He watched the siblings from his peripheral vision. Neither of them looked at the portal.

Tempest sighed, taking Kobe from his arms and lowering her voice. "We will call him Wolf in the presence of others. You are never to say his true name in front of anyone else. Do you understand me, Pendragon?"

"Yes," Kane said immediately, relieved when her scorching gaze finally left him.

As they stepped into the tropical portal, Kane could've sworn that Kobe was actually smiling.

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Vote and/or Comment if you enjoyed this part!

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QOTD: How do you think Kane will fair against the sirens now that he's plagued with desire and a crush? Do you think Silver knows? Or is he just being a fae and the paranoia is all just in Kane's head?