Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr

°°°°°

Malcolm McLean

Prisilla stood on the top stairs landing. The moment she heard me step out she walked towards me. I walked right on by her. I had no intention of stopping and her hand came out to take hold of my wrist.

"What is it, Prisilla?" I questioned as I attempted to remove her hands that were tightly wrapped around my wrist.

"We aren't finished, Malcolm. I want to talk to you. What is happening? There is talk that a female lycan in your past has returned. Is she the reason why you have been ignoring me?" She pressed, tightening her grips on me.

"That is none of your concerns." I grounded out.

"Who is she to you? How come I haven't seen her?" She continued like she didn't hear a single word I just said.

"I don't know how to make this any more clearer to you." I pinched the bridge of my nose. Prisilla's eyes watered and she sniffled.

"Please don't leave me." She begged and clutched at my body. Her arms wrapping around my waist desperately. I started to remove her hands but she held on tight.

She pushed me up against the wall and started pressing her body up against mine. Pulling down my shirt and kissing my chest. This was too much. I pushed her away but her fingers dug into my waistband.

"For heaven sakes, Prisilla get your hands off me!" I roared.

The pictures hanging on the walls shook. I pushed her away. She scrambled back. Her back hitting against the metal railing. Her eyes flared up with rage.

"You can't just throw me away like I am just another one of your wh0res!" She screamed.

Other lycans stopped to see what all the commotion was. My gaze swept the great hall and I felt another surge of anger pulse through me. In a blink of an eye, I held her tightly by the throat.

"That's enough from you. I told you before and I will tell you now but let this be the last time or so help me god I will kill you. You are nobody to me." I snarled.

Her jaw ticked in anger. I shoved her aside and walked downstairs. I noticed her lingering in the hallway and her eyes looking at my door. I don't trust her. When I reached the lower landing, I waved a guard over.

"You are to guard my bedroom door. No one in. No one out. I don't care if it was our creator who decided to grace you with his or her presence. If that door is open, your head will be on a picket. Do you hear me?" I threatened.

The guard nodded immediately, rushing up the steps like I set fire to his pants. He got to my door in a second and stood firmly in front of it. Prisilla huffed and walked down the steps. Her eyes never leaving my back.

Damon appeared in front of me, eating a sandwich. His eyes looked back and a smirk crawled on his face. He probably saw how angry Prisilla was.

"Good afternoon, Prisilla." Damon said cheerfully.

She growled with irritation which only hyped Damon up some more. He turned to me and slung a brotherly arm around my shoulders.

"Ah, so did you have fun upstairs? You were there pretty long. I bet Izzy gave you a good time-"I jabbed my elbow into his side. He grunts and pulled away.

Prisilla screeched and stomped away upon hearing Damon's lie. Damon chuckled while grabbing onto his side. The grimace on his face told me I hit him pretty hard.

"Serves you right." I nodded towards him.

"It was well worth it. Did you see the look on her face?" He laughed while eating his sandwich. We walked outside to the courtyard.

"She is a persistent one."

"You must have given her some good D," Damon mentioned. I tripped him while we were walking. He stumbled but kept on a humorous front. He shoved me to the side.

"Can you stop being an ass? I thought we meant something." He mimicked a woman's voice. I am assuming he was pretending to be Prisilla.

"Can you shove it?" I snarled.

"Where?" His smile broadened.

"God, why am I stuck with you?"

"Brother, you need me. I am the only thing that makes your boring life vibrant." He laughed but then sobered up. "Well, second to Izzy but nonetheless I am still important."

I rolled my eyes at him. I needed to find the border patrol's captain. A message needs to be relayed that no one was to cross our border.

Damon and I found him giving a pep talk to a few border patrols before they head out for their next shift. I walked over and everyone's back straightened. He turned around to meet me.

He wasn't surprised that it was me. Any time his men shuts up he knows that it was me who was near. The captain was a longtime friend. He was here when my father was. He knows the territory better than anybody.

"Malcolm, what can I do for you?" He asked.

"Ethan, I need you to make sure no one crosses the border. I don't care if it is grandma Lisa—no one crosses the border."

"And if one tries?" He asked.

"Hold them, send a guard to me. I will speak with them." I said immediately.

"You?" Damon was surprised. I usually don't go out unless it was a real threat. "What's going on?"

I sighed and pulled both Ethan and Dylan aside, "There is a male Lycan leader by the name of Gregory. I don't know much but I know that Isabella ran into this lycan after leaving us. The lycan won't leave her alone. He chased her here. That was why we found her at the edge of our territory." 

Damon sighed, "So what are you going to do?"

"He's not getting her," I replied. "He can try, but he will have to get past me first."

Ethan and Damon nodded in unison, "We will protect her. I'll let all patrols know of the new changes. We will keep an eye out and alert you as soon as we see anything weird."

I felt like I could breathe a little. Now that I had that taken care of, I didn't have to constantly look over my shoulders. Gregory won't get to Isabella.

Damon and I finished our rounding with all the lycan warriors before we headed back inside the castle. I glanced up towards my bedroom and the guard was still standing by the door. Damon found his way back into the kitchen again and my uncle appeared from behind the door.

"So, are you just going to keep her up there?" He asked with clear displeasure.

"What I do with her doesn't concern you, uncle." I walked over to the fireplace and sat down.

My uncle scoffed but followed me, "You are always stubborn! Just like your father. He loved your mother will all his heart. Marked her! Made her his mate!"

Fury charged through me like lightning, I shot out of my seat and had my uncle by the throat so fast he didn't have time to blink.

"Don't talk about them." I snarled, squeezing his throat.

His face turned blotchy red. I growled in irritation and flung him to the ground. He collapsed and held at his throat where my hand marks were firmly imprinted.

"I am your uncle! You should listen to me! I am an elder, I deserve to be respected not tossed aside like a servant!" He roared.

My head whipped back to him, my eyes glowing yellow. "You will be treated the way you treat others. Continue that kind of talk and you will find yourself out of here faster than you can blink."

My uncle snapped his mouth shut but the fury in his eyes was clear. He wasn't happy with my decision but I don't care what others think. Isabella was of no threat to anyone. She was locked inside my bedroom. There were no weapons or anything. She had no way of communication.

"She will be the death of you, nephew," Uncle said hoarsely.

I didn't answer him. I continued to stand by the fireplace. Watching the flames consume the logs. It was partially how I felt. Isabella consumes me and I can't deny the fact that she will always have that effect on me. I don't know what it was about. I can't seem to never let her go.

"Mark my words, nephew. You think to keep her up there will keep you safe but it won't! You love the female lycan! I can see it! Why else would you have her in your bedroom? Can't you see what she is doing to you? She is making you weak. Enemies will know. They will come then what are you going to do?" He continued his rant.

I looked up from the fireplace to him, "What is it that you know that I don't know?"

Uncle's eyes blinked. He looked oddly taken aback. He shook his head and waved his hand in the air indicating he was done with the conversation.

"There is nothing to say. I just want you to be safe." My uncle replied. My eyes narrowed on him completely. Something was off. I lived long enough to know when something was. He was hiding something.

My uncle turned and walked away. I watched him leave the great hall but something nagged at me. My father never talked about my uncle very much. They weren't very close. I would hear my uncle's name here and there but he was barely around. Close family don't disappear and appear out of nowhere. Of that I am sure.

Something was wrong.

I looked back up at the second landing. The guard stood with his gaze straight ahead. He hasn't budged from his place at all. Sometime during their rounding, Damon had excused himself to go bring Isabella food. A part of me was extremely jealous. I wanted to be the one who did that but I also didn't want to show her affection. She might mistake it as a weakness.

Again, I will never show Isabella weakness again. I will never let her close to my heart. She had hurt me once but not this time. This time, she was the one who will get hurt in the process.