"Brother, wait!" Faris desperately called out to Siroos, sprinting after him in the passageways. He caught up to him just outside Cassandra’s door. He was standing there, with his forehead pressed against the door frame, fidgeting, his whole body shaking as if spasming.
Every muscle, every vein, every limb was embroiled in pain as he contemplated and decided what he was supposed to say to her.
Faris slowly approached him, understanding how volatile his brother was, he could explode without knowing and blast Faris. His dragon could surface at any moment and that would be even disastrous.
Placing his hand very carefully on Siroos’s shoulder he squeezed and spoke.
"This is not the right time to see her, she is in pain and seeing you will make it worse."
Siroos flattened both his hands on the wooden door frame and leaned further in, muscles in his arms going so taut that they ached. They stretched and veins stood out as he hoarsely lamented.
"What would have happened if you hadn’t arrived on time?" He was lost in an ocean of misery and madness and couldn’t even breathe properly.
"But I did and you weren’t in your senses. Let me speak to her first," Faris asked, turning his brother towards himself. He seemed so broken, so vulnerable, so in angst. Faris had never seen him in such a state before.
His strong shoulders had sagged as if there was a ton of weight on them and his crimson eyes shimmered with unshed tears that were fast pooling in them. He seemed like a defeated man.
"Dragon spirit is going crazy inside my head and I can’t feel anyone else. He blames me and he is right. I have failed as her mate. Over and over," Siroos’s voice laced with his regrets and pain made Faris’s heart clench in agony.
"You weren’t yourself. I know. We will get to the bottom of this but let me handle this. Stay here," Faris instructed as if he was the elder brother in that instant and Siroos only glumly nodded. Opening the door, Faris entered the chamber and closed it behind him.
Siroos’s insides were throbbing as if someone was constantly stabbing him with a metaphorical dagger. His mate bond twisted inside his chest; even without his wolf, it pulled him towards Cassandra and her harrowing pain that travelled through him made his teeth chatter.
His knees gave way, making him hit the floor as he clawed at his heart. It was like being branded with a hot iron right over his heart.
"No! I don’t want to see him, Faris." Her weak voice, rich with her pain, hit his ears like an impending gong.
The dragon fiercely roared, hearing their mate’s woe.
’I am going to burn every person involved in drugging us and you won’t stop me, Siroos. And I will begin with Kela.’ Siroos quietly listened, not uttering a word as his brother pleaded on his behalf, but Cassandra refused to budge.
His heart could take it no longer, he had to get out into the air. His dragon needed a flight before he would burst out with force. Getting up Siroos rushed outside. As the light hit him, he transferred and soared into the air with a thunderous growl that echoed across their lands.
It levitated in his pain so raw that every pack member woke up with a jolt, wondering what had happened. They clamoured to their feet and rushed out of their chambers only to watch him soar away.
Outrage broke out as pack members murmured about what might have happened.
No one knew where he went or when he would return.
***
"I will stay right beside you, but just hear him out, please," Faris requested Cassandra, but she was shivering from the experience.
The red-hot pain in her heart wouldn’t subside. His hand burnt a hole inside her and now the wound lay festering. That touch was haunting her; those enraged gold and red-imbued eyes that had stared back at her were going to haunt her forever. She didn’t even have the strength to pick herself up.
"No, no. I can’t do this anymore, Faris. I just can’t. Whatever the reason, just keep him away from me. I wish to be alone," Cassandra’s voice shook and quivered. Tara held onto her shivering hand but her heart bled at this turn of events.
Cassandra laid down on her mattress and closed her red-shot eyes, the tears wouldn’t stop spilling.
And then the blood-curdling scream of his dragon reached her ears making her body jerk even more violently. Her head turned as his screeching tore her soul open.
"Shh! It’s fine, Luna. You are strong," Tara tried to keep strong and not crumble under her Alpha’s wounded call. She had to be there for both her Luna and Alpha.
Tara turned and sadly shook her head at Faris. He was staring into space with a haunting expression; his brother’s cry had shaken him. Tara spoke through the mind link.
’She has been through a very tormenting experience. Give her time. Let her sleep and you should also get some rest. Tomorrow we will deal with everything together.’
Faris bowed his head in defeat and nodded. He threw a forlorn glance at Cassandra, whose body was rocking with small tremors as she softly cried into her pillow.
He slowly exited the chamber, quietly closing the door behind him. Haylia’s voice came through the mind link for Faris.
’I am handling the Elders in your brother’s absence. Stay in your chamber, I need you away from them, I would be damned if I let them hurt you too.’
’They can try because I see right through their bullshit. But it’s better if I don’t face them, or I would flip,’ he answered his mother. Faris made his way to help Ranon keep the peace with pack members.
He knew they heard Siroos’s wounded roar and must have been panicking about what was happening.