Chapter 226 - 226

"It's a good thing that you don't have to fight that much in the war. We are winning but still I wouldn't want to risk losing you." Daniel said as Adam played with his hair. Both of them older now, almost in their thirties, they were sitting in Adam's office. 

It was actually his father's but since he had chosen to just go off and fight Adam had to burden all the responsibility and deal with their business and leading the pack. He was sure his old man was enjoying ripping elven throats while he was drowning in a pile of paperwork. From his point of view though it was actually better. Even though he could and he knew very well how to fight Adam didn't want to. He just wished for a peaceful life, spending his days lazily with Daniel on his side as they laid in bed. 

"Let's hope he will die there. I have a lot of things I need to do here and he is stopping me." Adam mumbled as he played with his lover's hair. Twisting the strands through his long fingers calmed him and silenced the storm in his mind. 

"We both know you don't mean that. The pack has progressed a lot. And that's all thanks to you. You need to remember that." Daniel told him. He cupped his face, pressing his cheeks as he kissed his nose and chuckled. Adam smiled and pulled him towards him, both of them landing on the hard sofa. 

"It's thanks to you too." He said when the door of the office was suddenly busted open. Daniel surprised, immediately jumped back, and away from the Alpha's son. They obviously hadn't said anything yet about their relationship. They valued their lives too much. They had found peace in that secret of theirs. Their bond was something sacred, precious and even if the whole world didn't know about it, it was enough that they did. 

"Why did you give me the spawn of Satan? Who said I would babysit so you and him could flirt?" Markus exploded and literally threw the six-year-old Luke to his father. The boy actually floated in the air and Adam stood up looking at him as he laughed. He grabbed him tightly, making sure that his son was alright. Adam was really worried about Luke. The aging process in wolves differed depending the person but as it seemed Luke was aging really slowly. He should look a lot older now but he just thought and acted like a six-year-old. He had consulted many healers in his pack and everyone told him the same thing. He was a late bloomer but he couldn't stop worrying about something being wrong with him. 

"I was flying!" Luke exclaimed happily and wrapped his small arms around his dad's neck. 

"Markus are you completely insane? That's a child not a ball!" Daniel scolded him. "Come here honey." He said and took Luke in his arms. He let him sit on the couch, the boy giggling while Daniel showed him a game with his fingers.

"If I see you throwing my son like that one more time Markus I swear…"

"Oh, come on the little devil is kind of immortal. An opened head wouldn't kill him. I mean he couldn't end up more stupid than his father." Markus said with a cough and Daniel smiled. The other man in the room did not take it that well. He sighed sitting at the chair on his desk, looking at the scarred wolf with a deadly glare. 

"I just wanted you to look after him for a few hours. Eve doesn't want anything to do with him and…"

"Adam! Not in front of Luke." Daniel said as he covered the ears of the small child. 

"This imp entered my library and ripped all of the pages of two ancient books. Take him, this drooling mess was the result of you forcing yourself to sleep with that woman. By the way I would have broken up with him Daniel that is practically cheating." Markus teased him and Adam shook his head. He hated hearing people talk about that night. It had been exhausting. 

"To be honest…" Daniel played along with a grin. "…I did think about it." 

"What? But we had talked about it! Come on now Daniel…" Adam whined and his mate laughed. 

"But really, look at those little grey eyes." He said and kissed Luke on the forehead. The boy wrapped himself around him in a tight embrace and snuggled at his nape. "I just can't." From the very first moment he was born Eve did not want to participate in raising the child so the burden had fallen to these three men. Staying awake till the crack of dawn, having meetings to learn how to change a diaper, they spent their years in an utter chaos smelling of poop and vomit. Somehow though every second was worth it. 

Adam stood up and called over Luke, who the moment he heard his father call him jumped off the couch and ran towards him, hugging his leg. Adam patted his soft hair and looked at him. He was so much like him, his eyes almost the same shade of gray. 

"Daddy can we go out to play?" the boy asked. 

"Did you do your reading with Daniel?" the man asked him back and the boy pouted looking away. 

"Pleaseee." He whined and Adam smiled. 

"Okay, okay let's go. Do you want to play hide and seek today? Markus will count." He told him and looked at his best friend with a grin. 

"When did I say that?" he asked as he pushed his glasses on his nose. "I came here to tell you something." 

"Hide and seek, hide and seek." The boy repeated happily, jumping up and down as he pulled on his father's pants. 

"It can wait." Adam said and began walking. He held his son's hand as they headed outside when a loud screeching burst between his ears. He closed his eyes and frowned, letting go of Luke and his hands covered his ears. "Shit! Shit. Daniel get Luke out." He said as he turned around. "Shut up, shut up, please." He whispered and Daniel placed his hand on his shoulder, concerned. 

"Adam?" he called out but the man just walked away, pushing Luke towards him. 

"Daddy?" the boy asked confused. 

"Take him out!" The man shouted and Daniel took Luke in his arms, running away. Only Markus stayed, closing the door. 

"You said you were getting better." He told him and examined his stance. He was still covering his ears, his eyes now open looking around like he was desperately searching for something before he kicked the chair in front of him. 

"Like hell I am. I am getting more freaking insane by the day. Like this I will have to kill myself before I see Luke grow up. Shit!" he shouted and kicked his desk, the heavy wood turning to the side and landing on the floor. The lamp and the papers scattering messily. "I can't sleep and sometimes I can't think. It keeps telling me to just kill everyone, destroy everything and then die. Why am I so messed up?" he said as he began to calm down from his small crisis. Sometimes the voices would speak to him for hours. He once had punched Daniel by accident and after that he hadn't left his room for days, he was only forced to because Luke had been crying nonstop, begging to see him. 

"You are holding on so well. Don't give up. I am sure if we do some research we can help you. Daniel has been searching his whole life. We can do something." Markus said and Adam smiled bitterly as he sat on the couch. 

"We both know that's not possible. I am paying the consequences of being so long apart from Daniel and hurting him. Slowly I will keep losing my sanity until the times I am in shock will be more than I am sane. I will kill myself then. I will not allow myself to ruin everything I worked so hard for, I will not make Daniel unhappy and I will not have my son see me as a crazy lunatic, dictator." 

"Adam…" Markus called him out, wanting to encourage him somehow. Give him even the slightest bit of hope but he couldn't. It was true that they both knew what was going to happen and it was inevitable. The fact that Adam had been holding on for so long was heroic already on its own. "Are you in pain?" 

"Sometimes I want to rip my own heart off to just feel a bit at peace." He simply told him and his best friend sighed. "I just want some time. I want to see Luke grow up, I want to help the people here a bit more and I want to accept Daniel one day, in front of everyone. Then I will leave happy." 

"You will be able to do that. I am sure, Luke and Daniel adore you." Markus said and Adam smiled. 

"Am I good father?" He asked his friend. 

"If you forget about that time you almost dropped him, as a baby off the balcony because you were pretending he was a plane I would say yes. You are a pretty good father."

"That's good. Markus I really hope that I get to see him. Grown up and happy. He will be really handsome don't you think? He looks like me!" Adam said proudly with a silly smile plastered on his face. "Luke, Daniel and you, you are the only family I have so promise me, even when I lose it, don't leave me. I am sure I will decide to put an end to it myself. So for that time, stay by myside." 

"My friend. No one would be able to handle me or Daniel's whining. I think you're good." Markus told him. 

"Thank you." Adam said. 

That was the reason why Daniel and Markus never left his side. Even when the strong Alpha started turning into a dark tyrant these two men never abandoned him. People were wondering why and how could they remain together even with Adam's unpredictable attitude. No one knew though, for centuries they had kept it a secter.  They always stood at his side, pulling him from his darkness just for a few hungry moments of clarity. Markus and Daniel had always kept their promise, both loving Adam in their own way. 

"I know this is an emotional moment and all but I am actually here to tell you that your father will be returning from the battlefield and he will be bringing the elf king with him for negotiations." Markus announced. "Surprise!"

"You just want me to kill myself here, right now. I know it." Adam said with a desperate look on his face.

...

I want to say that I cried while writing this. Just saying.