Esme's POV
My eyes fluttered open, blinking away sleep and the sunrays piercing my eyes. I raised a hand to shield my face but they fell limply beside me, and a groan escaped my lips.
I had never been this exhausted in my life, and it worried me. My uncle was still at the retreat and there's no Denim to alert me if someone came by. And as far as I could feel, none of those brothers were around me.
Unless…
"How do you hide your presence, then make it easy to identify the next second?" I said to no one in particular.
It was as if he'd rather stay undetected till I woke up, and then let me know I wasn't alone. I turned my head to look at him. It was definitely not Sora.
The ruby buttoned-down long sleeved shirt gave out more than he could say. Despite being slightly dimmed in the shadows, his sun-tanned skin stood out. And his hair tied in a rough bun. I remembered Sora's. Contrasting.
"Do you watch me like a son would watch their sick mother?" I asked, since he didn't have an answer to my first question.
"Do you feel sick? Cold?"
The wind invited itself in and shut the wooden windows above me. My forehead creased at the familiarity. There was a time in my younger years when I believed the wind followed my command.
"I feel… tired," I inhaled,"it seems you've been watching me longer than I thought. Creepy."
He let out a quick chuckle, breaking the tension I felt. I exhaled, pulling my blanket away from my body.
"Creepy?" His voice sounded like Uncle's while we were younger. He adjusted his stance, and I noticed the faint golden glow in his eyes. The scar on his left cheek reminded me of the imagination I had of Grandus. The 'seasoned warlord returning to his hometown' turned out to be another brother.
"I asked a knight to always keep a smile on your lips. He wouldn't overstep."
Wasn't I allowed to feel sadness without being harassed by the wind? I hummed. "For how long did he do that?"
"A year."
It was a lie. I knew, but I barely cared how long he had me on watch if it kept me safe and demonstrated their loyalty to me. I sat up. "Your hair is the same shade as mine." I changed the topic, holding out a lock of my red hair. "You could pass for my older brother."
He left the cranny of my room, his figure coming clearly to view. He strolled towards me carefully. I appreciated that because a person twice my size, with walls for shoulders, rushing towards me could send me to the Goddess.
"Do you want an older brother? I could be."
I was either lightheaded, or unafraid due to the ritual. "You wouldn't mind having a younger sibling?" I asked an immortal that already had five younger siblings.
"One more to the lot, and well-behaved." He gently moved my blanket to sit. "Yes."
I threw my head, laughing, at the 'well-behaved'. Uncle would grossly disagree. My hair was tucked behind my ears and I became conscious. Did he want to watch me laugh or thought it was an inconvenience?
Either way, I liked how our conversations jumped around and he followed, perhaps believing that's how I chatted, not knowing I needed to keep talking so I wouldn't faint.
"Should I transfer my blood to you?"
My eyes widened. Realizing I was deathly tired was one thing, but offering his blood? "You're an immortal and I'm a werewolf. We can't do that."
That was the politest way I could decline because who just exchanged blood with the next person? Was he still unstable?
He calmly flexed his fingers and his claws shot out. "I am a werewolf as well."
I inched away from him, though impressed. The moment I moved away, his claws retraced. "My apologies."
I waved in dismissal. I did see and feel the similarities. The oddly buffed up frame. Tight jaw line. Callused fingers. Prolonged eye contact. Humans would look away.
If I should throw in, stillness. Not common in every wolf I've met but for one who'd be stronger than three Alphas, how relaxed yet ready to act had spelt out the 'proper nature' of a werewolf.
Possibly what his father was going for when he created this son. I leaned on the wall, losing more topics for a conversation.
His bangs shielded part of his golden eyes but I could still feel them on me. I shouldn't stare back but he barely had any resemblance to the Third, and likely because they weren't the same species.
I exhaled again. Good-looking men were medicinal. I was beginning to feel better.
"How is Eidrin doing?" It went past my lips. I shouldn't speak of it but if we were something of a 'family', then we should talk about the others' problems.
"He has a lady's appearance again. The last time he did, our older brother had a 'lover'."
I tilted my head. He changed looks for his brother's lover? Was he jealous?
I looked at the rough drawing of a lady on my wall. I had drawn that because I was envious of how pretty a bride was, while I was taller and bigger than other girls at thirteen.
Possibly if I could, I'd have loved to look like her for a brief moment. The feeling left after Uncle assured me I still had more years to grow into.
"So Eidrin loves your brother?"
He tilted his head. "Shouldn't he?"
I clicked my tongue. "Not that. I mean, why is he jealous? Jealous of what?" If Uncle had a lover, I wouldn't be jealous. Jealousy meant wanting to trade places to be with the person you love, no?
"Eidrin was my brother's favourite. He lived with him during the first twenty human years of his birth, and our brother named him." He adjusted his sleeve. "They all had been closer to our oldest but Eidrin never moved on."
They? The younger brothers? Sora had mentioned he didn't associate with the oldest, which was odd because he'd be the most adorable nephew. Even grumpy Eidrin acknowledged him as his nephew.
"So your older brother stopped giving him attention." I nodded. "Why did he have to take it out on me?"
He paused, clearing his throat. "You would displease yourself." The wind moved my blanket towards me. "Shouldn't you rest more—"
"I have all day. Uncle closed the bakery and I'm alone at home."
"Do you want to be alone?"
He always handed requests like questions. He was truly polite to ask consent all the time. I smiled, nodding. "Will you keep me company?"
"Not in here."
And betraying my last thoughts, I found myself in an unfamiliar setting, with my butt on a soft bed, and the blanket in my grasp not being my washed-out red one.
"If you don't mind?"
Of course, the request came later this time. I slowly returned my head to the bed. "You don't want to tell me why Eidrin dislikes me? And the deal about this Father?"
His jaw tightened and he tilted his neck a bit. "Well… Lilin will come later."
I guess that's a no.
He adjusted the blanket over me. "You can make him talk but I'd displease myself if I did. I shouldn't be annoyed at Eidrin."
I knew that. Even if Eidrin was a menace with that temper. I had projected his four older brother's feelings towards him when I met him. The totem his knight brought was also a silver bracelet from the Third.
They loved him, even if they hated what he became. Perhaps his oldest brother couldn't repay what he accidentally broke. And Eidrin's pride wouldn't let him accept that his older brother replaced him.