Chapter Eleven
Nero walked quietly through the forest, his thoughts still lingering on Nyx. He had planned on talking to her when they got a chance to be alone. He’d gone over last night over and over in his head, unable to fully understand how things had progressed so quickly. When he went to the cave, he never expected she’d follow him. And he never dreamed they’d make love.
He scrubbed his hand over his face. He knew his feelings. She knew his feelings. In the last few days, he’d made them very clear to her repeatedly. Whether she truly felt the same remained unclear.
Yes, the sex was great, but they had both been overwhelmed in the emotion of the moment. Maybe it hadn’t been good for her, or she didn’t feel the same things when they were together. She might want to fuck him, but not want be with him past that.
When he’d brought her back to her house, Nero lay next to her just enjoying the feel of her warm little body next to his own. She’d pressed herself to him and sighed in her sleep.
He’d waited for hours before deciding to leave. It would be best for them both if maybe things slowed down. He needed to give her time to figure out how she truly felt.
However, he hadn’t counted on the way she would smell and that the other hybrids would know just what had happened between the two of them. It seemed so obvious in retrospect, but he’d never paid attention to such things. When he’d been with the Horatius Group, mating had never been a concern.
Potential mates or Vestals were kept in different facilities than him. The Group wasn’t going to waste mating on a freak mistake like he had been. Those women were meant for the normal hybrids.
Still, even though he hadn’t thought much about mating, he recognized her smell instantly, the scent of a woman who had been marked. It was similar enough to the scent some of the other bonded in Rem’s group, but still distinct, still him.
“Don’t mind Marcus,” Lucas said, cutting into his thoughts.
“I don’t,” Nero said gruffly.
He looked over to the younger man. He’d been pleasant enough. Lucas didn’t seem to mind his past like so many of the others. When he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a single time Lucas had said anything rude to him.
He rotated his jaw a little. The twinge of soreness on his right side was only one indication that little shit Marcus had a mean right hook. “He seemed to be the one who minds, and he won’t shut up about it.”
Lucas laughed easily and ran his hand through his hair.
“Yeah, Marcus seems to mind everything right now,” he said. He followed with a quick shrug. “I mean it’s not like he’s not talked crap about a lot other people. Don’t take it personally.”
Nero raised a brow at how carefree the other man was with his words for his friend. “I noticed.”
“Yeah,” Lucas said and sighed.
Nero scanned through the darkness that had set in. Despite the smell of spring hanging in the air, the sun still hadn’t quite caught up yet. It was just past seven, and the night had already claimed the area. Their superior hybrid vision made that more of advantage for their mission than a handicap.
“You have to understand,” Lucas said. “I know this doesn’t excuse it, but this is hard for him. This is his second time out of cryo.”
Nero looked over at him in surprise. As far as he knew, all the blue-eyed hybrids that had been rescued had been frozen except for Nyx and Magnus. Rem had never mentioned it, and he’d heard nothing about it in his time with the Horatius Group.
“When?” he asked quickly.
Lucas shook his head. “He doesn’t talk about it. Rem seems to know, but no one asks, and he doesn’t tell. I… if they brought him back, I can’t think that it was a fun time.”
Nero nodded. The Group did everything with a purpose, but with little consideration for the suffering it caused. He grunted. Marcus was still a prick, but he could begin to understand why. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t beat his ass if the man talked more shit to Nyx.
“I think he’s just trying to find his place with us,” Lucas said. “To figure out where he fits in. So he’s gotta push the boundaries.”
Nero snorted loudly. “Yeah, I wouldn’t know anything about that,” he mumbled. “If I still looked like I did before, you probably wouldn’t even let me stay with you.”
He stopped when Lucas put a hand on his arm.
“You know where you belong,” he said firmly. “She knows it too.”
Nero frowned and turned away. He didn’t want to talk about her with him, not anyone really, especially when he wasn’t sure if he might have already lost her.
“They’ll all get used to the idea,” Lucas said and smiled. “Most of them are just pissed you beat them to her.” He turned and winked. “She’s been the talk for some time now. We’re not with the Group anymore, so it’s not like all the hybrids think about women in the same way.”
A rumble filled Nero’s chest as he stared at the other man. The idea that other men had been talking about taking his woman made him want to go back and beat them all down at the same time. He’d held back before. Maybe they needed to see the real him. He’d punch in the face of everyone, Remus included, if it meant defending Nyx.
Lucas held up a hand and stepped back.
“Hey, I think it’s pretty clear she’s made her choice,” Lucas said quickly. “You’re aren’t exactly the guy people want to challenge.”
Nero frowned. Except one of them had challenged him. If Marcus thought he was going to just stand by, he had another thing coming. Nyx was his. He would do what he need to make sure she wanted only him.
“Let’s get this over with,” Nero said gruffly. “We have a mission.”
Lucas grinned at him. The moonlight twinkled in his eyes. “Got a busy night, huh?”
Nero snarled as the other hybrid chuckled at his discomfort.