Watch The Dark
II: six

Tana woke up in the master bedroom of the house with the door locked from the outside. Icarus stood in the crib she had set up in the room, a big grin on his face as if he were in on it too.

"They treat me like an animal that needs to be locked up, Icarus. But then they wonder why I ran away," she huffed.

"It's for your own good, doll! Talon is the only person who might know where Fang is and if you kill him we've got nothing," Bea hollered through the door, prompting Tana to get up and bang her fist against it.

"Fine. I won't kill him. Now let me out of here," she said back.

"I would if I had the key. I was just putting Icarus down for his nap and all of a sudden they dragged you in there and kicked me out. Locked the door and said that you can't come out until Declan gets back," Bea replied. Tana rolled her eyes. Of course.

"Stand back. I'm gonna kick it down," she said. She heard Bea sigh and step away, probably with her natural judgemental look on her face.

Tana drew a breath in and then reared back, driving her heel right into the door and sending it clattering off of its hinges onto the floor. Apparently the door opened in and not out. Though she supposed Declan deserved it for thinking he could lock her up again.

"Mama!" Icarus squealed, clapping his hands together with a bright grin on his face as Tana lifted him onto her hip and carried him out of the room.

"That was a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Bea huffed as Tana put Icarus down, watching the boy as he raced off to go explore.

"I think locking me in a room is a bit dramatic," she replied, following as her son began butt-scooting down the stairs.

"Who are you? Are you one of daddy's friends?" A familiar, childish voice said from the main room. Sincere.

"I wouldn't say I'm his friend. More like a roommate," Mika, who must have been down there as well, replied.

"So you live here now? With me and daddy?" Sincere asked.

"Er-yes, yes I do," Mika said.

"Well, ok. But my friend Asher comes here to play sometimes. And uncle Blake too. Sometimes Wynona brings her baby to the house. But Markus doesn't like to come here very often. He always looks sad," Sincere explained. Tana tensed up as Icarus continued going down the stairs.

"I have no idea who any of those people are, but I'm sure I'll meet them soon. Speaking of, where is your daddy?" Mika asked, just as Tana rushed down the stairs to scoop Icarus up to stop him from running to Mika.

"He's comin'. He and uncle Blake said I can run ahead. They walk really slow sometimes," Sincere said.

"Mi! Mi!" Icarus babbled loudly, turning both Sincere and Mika's attention over to Icarus and Tana.

Sincere, though she was older now, still was very small for her age. But she looked much healthier than she had before. Her blonde curls were pulled into a bun on top of her head and she was dressed in clothes that at least somewhat fit her.

But when her eyes met Tana's, all that was there was hurt and anger.

"You don't look like Tana. Tana left forever. Why do you smell like her?" Sincere asked, her eyes narrowed at Tana and Icarus. "And who is that?" She asked.

"I didn't leave forever, Sin. I just...I needed a break. From a lot of things. You wouldn't understand," Tana breathed. "And this is Icarus. He's...well, he's your brother," she said. Sincere's face instantly dropped. Even from where she was, Tana could see the tears welling in her eyes.

"I don't have a brother. You're a liar. You're a big liar! You always lie! You ran away from everyone. You didn't say goodbye," Sincere growled. Tana felt a familiar pang of guilt in her heart. She didn't realize how much it would affect her cousin.

"Sin, please-"

Sincere growled loudly again, the tears now streaming down her face. "No! I hate you! I hate you and I hate that baby! I want you to leave!" She screamed. Icarus whimpered and clung to Tana's leg, his wide eyes fixed on Sincere.

"Sincere. That's enough," Declan, who appeared in the doorway with Blake, rumbled. Sincere, however, was having none of it. Her breath was coming in quick pants and the tears kept on falling.

"I hate you too! I never want to see you ever again!" Sincere screamed, finally sending Icarus into high-pitched wails. He grabbed frantically at Tana's leg, but she couldn't move.

"Sincere!" Tana called, but the pup continued crying as she darted out of the house, Blake quickly following her out of the house.

"You alright, doll?" Bea asked as Tana picked Icarus up, effectively quieting his crying and reducing it to soft whimpers against her shoulder.

"I didn't think she would be so upset," was all Tana muttered. Icarus, who had quieted down, was now trying to get back down so that he could explore again. When she put him on the floor, he waddled over to Mika, where he hid behind her leg so that he could stare at Declan. It was actually quite cute to watch.

"Just give her some time. You're her family. She can't stay mad forever," Mika said. Declan slowly closed the door behind him as Icarus began to slowly creep towards him with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Icarus, if you bite him, you're going in the corner," Mika warned. Icarus looked at her for a moment before looking back at Declan curiously. Tana walked over to him and crouched down, earning another curious look from her pup.

"That's Declan. He's your daddy. You can go say hi," she whispered. Declan copied her and crouched down, his eyes fixed on Icarus. He gave him a look of complete adoration; like Icarus was the most precious thing he had ever seen.

"Da. Dadadadada," Icarus babbled, clapping his hands together as he approached Declan. Mika and Bea suddenly found somewhere else to be, because when Tana turned to look at them they were no where to be seen.

"Ah!" Icarus squealed happily, grabbing onto Declan's arm when he covered his eyes with his hands. Then, when he quickly flipped his hands away, Icarus screamed with happiness and clapped his hands again.

The sweet moment was short lived when Icarus grabbed Declan's hand and sunk his tiny fangs into it, causing Declan to quickly jerk his hand away. Probably more out of surprise than pain.

"Icarus! No biting!" Tana growled, grabbing her pup's arm and pulling him away. He fussed in her hold and tried to pull back to Declan, reaching out for him.

"It's alright. Pups in general do that all the time. Especially alpha pups. Jade and I actually had to be taught at home for the first year of kindergarten because we would bite the kids so often," Declan said. Tana chuckled softly, which brought a wide grin to Declan's face.

"I'm... I'm very sorry about what I said to you. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean any of it. Alec was my best friend. I miss him as well but I can't even imagine what you must be feeling," Declan said quietly, running a hand over Icarus's curls. Icarus looked completely taken with Declan, though Icarus wasn't really wary of strangers in the first place.

"I know. It's- it's fine. I've said my fair share of cruel things to you so I suppose it's only fair," she said. Declan looked as though he were going to open his mouth to reply, but just as he did, Markus crashed through the front door with wide eyes.

“Alpha, I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s something you need to come see right now,” he hissed hastily.

“What? Spit it out, Markus,” Declan growled.

“We located Fang and his pack. And they’ve put a bounty on his head,” Markus said. When Tana followed his finger, her heart nearly stopped.

He was pointing at Icarus. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Sᴇarch the FindNovel.net website on G𝘰𝘰gle to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.