My vision blurred as tears burned my eyes. Every muscle in my body ached from the strain of how tense my body had become. My back was flat against the wall as I tightly hugged my legs to my chest, trying to get as far away from Jaxon and the food he had specifically prepared with me in mind as I could. A familiar coldness made its way through my veins as fear immobilized my body.

Though the panicked thrumming in my chest let me know he was concerned at my actions, the memory of the malicious amusement that decorated his face at my pained distress last time he fed me had my mind screaming for Ares. My lips were sewn shut from fear of giving him an opportunity to force one of his dishes into my mouth. Not that my shut lips would do much to stop him if he wanted to inflict the torment he once had before.

Jaxon rose from his chair, turning in a panic as he searched for me. When his concerned eyes locked on me, his body stilled. He remained in place, his hand placed on the back of his chair and his face overcome with shocked disbelief as he stared at me. His expression would have had me snorting my amusement if fear wasn't so constantly prevalent in his presence. Instead of laughing at his shock, I found myself cowering away further as my mental cries for Ares grew louder, afraid of any repercussions swatting him away and soiling his clothes would have brought.

Jaxon's shock only lasted a few moments. He snapped out of it and rose from his seat, lips pressed in a tight line. His eyes focused on me with furrowed brows as he took a step towards me.

My hands tightened on my legs, my breath catching in my throat.

Before Jaxon could take another step, a loud crack of noise and a shock of vibration had me jumping in fright. I clenched the sheet wrapped around me to my chest tighter, clutching the sheets in my hand over my pounding heart as the door slowly rebounded back to hit the wall beside me again where the doorknob had left a decent-sized chip in the plastered brick wall. The damage only held my attention for a moment. It was hard to focus on anything else when Ares's naked and glistened body stood in the doorways, baring all to the world.

I was sure I'd be inappropriately focused on the wrong parts of him if my body wasn't in fight, flight, or freeze mood. Instead of staring at the dangling length that I could still feel the ghost of in a pleasant ache between my legs, I scrambled to my hands and feet, clawing at the floor as I ran for Ares.

Safety.

He didn't waste a moment to shield me behind him with a steadying arm. Just as I could feel his concern and anger in my chest, he could no doubt feel my fear and the relief that joined it at the sight of him.

He turned himself sideways keeping his body mostly pointed towards Jaxon before looking over me thoroughly. While he checked me over for injury, the door next door clicked open.

"What the hell was that?" Ryder slurred in a sleep-filled voice. He opened the door while rubbing his eyes, squinting against the morning light shining through the windows. He was quick to awaken, though, once he caught sight of the scene before him.

His hard eyes, suddenly free of sleep, narrowed on Ares. What looked like jealousy flickered across his face briefly, before he turned his gaze towards Jaxon. Though his eyes didn't look at Ares in a favourable light, at least they didn't hold the animosity he aimed at the blonde giant.

"What the hell's going on?" He asked, editing the question he had asked earlier. He stepped forward and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

"That's what I'm wondering," Ares replied, turning his head to narrow his eyes on Jaxon. The man who had so daringly awoken me now had a sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead, his confidence no longer in sight.

He glanced back over his shoulder to the mostly burnt spread of food. I could somewhat recognize a few dishes, but some were so burnt or such a mess that it was beyond my abilities to identify what they were meant to be. The smells filling the air did nothing to help my rolling stomach either. The sharp sting of spice in the air had my breaths growing faster and shallower as I recalled the agony the last 'food' Jaxon had fed me caused.

Despite the pain he had caused me when he looked back at us, I couldn't help the sliver of guilt his sorrowful eyes provoked. They glanced at me through thick lashes, eliciting responses they had no right to, before shifting to Ares.

"I made her breakfast," he said in a slightly defeated voice, his head hanging low. His sad gesture towards the spread had more guilt surging forth.

I clenched my fists together and ground my teeth, fighting against the feeling I knew I shouldn't have been experiencing. There was no other explanation aside from the bond messing with my perception of how dangerous the men I was bonded to were. The one actively trying to get me to play friendly with my tormentors. Luckily for me, my stubbornness acted as a defence at unexpected times. Knowing I was being manipulated only worked against any progress the underhanded methods the soulbond used to make.

I stepped further behind Ares, using his wet, naked body to shield myself from Jaxon's puppy dog eyes which tried to jerk more undeserved emotions from me.

Ares's hand tightened on my arm. "Ryder."

I jumped at the hard tone in Ares's voice. Ryder appeared unfazed, his eyes never leaving Jaxon as he nodded for Ares to continue.

"You still look a little pale. Take Nea with you and go visit the infirmary while I have a little chat with Jason."

It took a moment for me to process and understand what he had said. The fact that he had purposely called him Jason when I had already corrected him the previous night didn't help.

"Sure thing, Fairy boy," Ryder answered as he dropped his arms.

He disappeared into his room before re-emerging with a shirt in his hands.

"I don't-" I began to protest, but was cut off by Ryder's quick return.

He didn't waste a moment before stepping towards me, his eyes making me swallow nervously as they dared me to pull away in protest like he knew I wanted to. I didn't want to leave Ares with Jaxon, not with the unfiltered anger I could detect from Ares. If he started something with Jaxon, neither one of them would walk away unscathed. Sensing my terror after the calm last night brought must have done a number on him, I wasn't willing to risk him getting hurt because I overreacted to food because of a memory. The pain was temporary when it happened anyway, I tried to rationalize.

Ryder reached my side and grabbed my arm just as another door opened further down. Zev leaned his shoulder against the frame as he let his door swing open. His eyes darted from Jaxon to the table, before landing on me standing between Ares and Ryder. He didn't look surprised by the scene that greeted him.

I wouldn't either if I had helped prepare the shit show that went down.

"Come on, I didn't get to see the Doc yesterday given the chase you sent me on."

I sent a glare at Ares as Ryder dragged me to the door. I made a note to store away the nickname Ryder had used to refer to him.

Fairy boy.

A conniving smirk turned up the corner of my lips as Ryder opened the door, the remaining tremors from the scare Jaxon had given me were gone now that he didn't pose as great of a threat with Ares and Ryder present. The nickname unexpectedly complimented the one I had given his brother once upon a time so long ago. Tinker Bell.

Before Ryder could drag me through the door I stopped him by placing a hand on the frame. He stopped and turned around to see what the hold-up was. I glared at him before looking back over my shoulder at Ares. He was still unashamedly exposed, the water on his skin beginning to dry.

"Come find us when you're done, Fairy boy. I think we need to have a talk too." He couldn't just have me sent away because he wanted to. This wasn't how things were going to go and he needed to know.

Although I wanted to keep my face hard to show my displeasure at being dismissed, I couldn't help but crack when the narrowing of his eyes showed me a glimpse of the amusement the new nickname was going to bring me in the future.

The shitty nicknames could be a bonding point for the two.

The random line of thought had my back straightening and my eyes widening in surprise. My feelings towards Ares had crept up on me, letting themselves be known only when they had gone too far. It was no wonder that despite only having a small unproductive conversation about his past and his brother, I was already thinking of ways to help the two recover what they once had despite the atrocities one of them committed against me.

Making Ares happy apparently triumphed the trauma his evil twin caused. At least I knew, given his promise and how much he hated Zev, that I was safe from having my hand ground into glass or being set up in front of a crowd again anytime soon.

Feeling Zev's eyes heavily join the others as they watched me silently, my face grew red from the attention. It didn't help that all I could think about was how they probably felt everything I was experiencing to some degree through the bond. It only seemed fair that they did consider I could feel them, even if they were able to suddenly shut the connection off somehow.

My brows furrowed as I look at Zev. For a moment, his bond violently reacted to my attention, but a split moment later the line became strangely still. It felt unnatural and forced. I couldn't help but find myself transfixed by the action. How long had he been doing that? I had thought his bond was unnatural calm compared to the others. What was he doing to manipulate it?

And more importantly, how did I learn how to do it?

"You can't keep her away from me. I did nothing wrong- well, maybe I could have invited her to breakfast differently, but I didn't harm her in any way."

Ryder snorted a laugh, cutting through the thickening tension as he unexpectedly forced the shirt he held over my head from behind. "Yeah, because you couldn't get her to eat a single bite," he continued, jerking his chin at the stain marking Jaxon's once-pristine shirt. He helped me maneuver the shirt so it covered everything down to my thighs before yanking the sheet from beneath, balling it up in his hands. "Her instincts are strong enough to keep her from eating shit that will clearly make her ill."

He turned his attention towards Ares, dismissing the dragon who had a muscle jump in his clenching jaw as his eyes darkened. He threw the balled-up sheet towards the couch as I stood stunned that he had removed it so efficiently.

"I'll get her fed, too," he said to Ares before grabbing hold of my arm again.

The words had Jaxon clenching his fist, but he didn't deny Ryder's claim. Instead, I found him sneaking glance toward the dishes he has prepared, the look on his face making it clear he truly was unaware of how bad they were.

I once again found myself feeling for him. I don't know why, but it was something about the childlike innocence that shinned through his eyes. The raw pain of rejection they held so strongly over something so simple and easily explainable was... I rubbed at my chest where his bond left an ache that went bone-deep.

Old wounds. The pain was born of old wounds.

Tugging on my arm, Ryder pulled my attention back to him as he began to lead us down the hall. I couldn't help but take another curious glance back at Jaxon. His reaction was too out of sorts for what I was used to from the cocky asshole.

My eyes met with his golden orbs, and for once, I wasn't the one to look away.

His sudden avoidance had me swallowing in unexpected concern when I could no longer see as Ryder lead the way down the hall.