Control (Dark Romance)

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Ages
Hagen: 16, Nikola: 11

If you forgotten, the dot means this is a memory chapter set in the past!

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Julian's P.O.V

"You're being paranoid."

"I'm not being paranoid."

"Yeah, you are Jewels. I know your paranoid voice—"

"I do not have a paranoid voice—"

"And this is it–your super paranoid voice," Aiden insists, making my frown deepen. "I bet your forehead's all scrunched up." I immediately relax my forehead, but Aiden's already laughing. "I knew it!"

"Oh, shut up! You can't even see me," I grumble, glaring at the phone as though it were him. Maybe he'd see that too. "My forehead is fine!"

"Yeah, sure. Look, Jewels, I'll be back in a day, and you'll see that everything is just fine," Aiden replies, voice slightly distorted over the phone. "I know you can't live without me, but come on, babe— you got to get off my dick at some point."

"Seriously, Aiden, I'm going to poison you one day," I groan while I rub my brows. I swear he'd send me to the plains early. "This isn't about you or Levi; I feel like something bad is going to happen— here, at home."

"And you're always right," he says sarcastically, but I can hear the slight worry in his tone.

I wasn't always right, but most of the time, I was, and after all we'd gone through, I had a knack for these sorts of things.

It was always the same— a strange feeling that started within my fingers until it took over me entirely. It was like the bones in my body had been shifted out of place, making everything feel wrong and mangled. Nothing was wrong with me physically, but the sensation wouldn't go away until the 'bad thing' happened. It could be big or small, but I felt it like a warning every time, and even though the skies had been clear and the pack was happier than ever, I noticed it first thing this morning.

Something bad was coming.

"Want me to come home?" Aiden asks, seriously this time.

"No," I reply as I sit on the bed and pick up the phone, "I'm sure it'll be fine, and I'll handle it if it's not."

My leg still hurt sometimes, but I was still every bit the alpha I had to be for my pack. I could take care of us if I had to.

"Maybe I am just being paranoid," I mumble as my shoulders slump. "Maybe I just can't believe we're okay again after everything."

'Everything' seemed like such an insufficient turn of phrase for all that had happened over these last few years. They'd been... Goddess, more than tough– they'd been excruciating.

Aiden and I hadn't had pretty childhoods, and Goddess knew the start of our bond had its challenges, but I thought we'd overcome it all. I'd thought those amazing years after we'd started our family was our reward for doing just that, but maybe that was just me shoving more things under the rug.

As it turned out, we weren't exactly the amazing parents we thought we were. We were hardly better than our own, and we'd almost lost Levi and Damon because of it. But things were better now, thank Goddess. Damon and Will were living in the pack, Levi was strengthening his own with Jayson, and they were happy.

That was the best part of it all– they were genuinely happy, and that was all I'd ever wanted.

"It does feel like a dream," Aiden replies quietly, but I can sense the smile stretching his lips. "I've been here for days, and I still can't believe how happy he is, Julian."