Saliou couldn't bring himself to call out Wren and Milou's names. It was as if his voice was caught in his throat.
The whole place was dark and quiet. He walked across the living room and made for the hallway to his left, leading to the bedrooms. His steps were silent yet certain. It's as though he knew where to go all along. Perhaps it was curiosity. Or perhaps he wanted to see, once and for all, what had instilled such fear and anxiety inside him.
It happened almost instantaneously. Saliou caught a whiff of Wren, his earthly scent lingering on his nostrils for a while. But then there was someone else's scent, too. Faint, barely lingering, yet undoubtedly sweet.
He had imagined darkness but was surprised to see faint light coming out of the half-opened door leading to Milou's bedroom.
The amalgam of sickly sweet smells hovered in the air, and it seemed to get stronger as Saliou moved closer to his brother's room.
He was standing directly in front of Milou's door now. For a moment he found himself frozen in place, his whole body shaking. He was afraid to take another step. Afraid of what he might see. He had a lot of fears, but he took the next step, anyway.
He instantly wished he hadn't.
The sight that greeted him had him stalling in his feet, frozen like a statue. Milou's stark-naked body stretched out on his bed. He was sleeping laying on his stomach, head turned against Saliou.
Meanwhile, a large lump was on the carpeted floor next to the bed, covered with a gray blanket which appeared to be stained with small streaks of blood. Saliou guessed by the scent that it was Wren.
It doesn't take rocket science to understand what had happened. In fact, it seemed like a clichéd scene from an afternoon soap opera. Saliou used to laugh at its triteness. So typical. So unoriginal.
Yet now, he couldn't bring himself to laugh at the scene that lay before him. It was real. It happened. How he wished it's just some cheap, tasteless soap opera!
"What the fuck is going on here...?"
The breath hissed from Saliou's lungs on a sigh of shock and outrage.
"Milou?!"
Hearing Saliou's loud and angry voice jerked the elder twin awake. He sat up, confused, and disoriented.
And then, his eyes fell on his brother who was standing in the doorway. He was struck with dread at the livid pallor of Saliou's face. He had never seen him look so angry before, and it paralyzed him.
"S-Saliou... L-Listen, we can explain –"
Saliou could hardly contain himself. The dam on his anger burst instantly. "What the fuck did you do this time, Milou?" He pinned his brother with a dark and murderous look, his voice booming around him like a storm. "You've crossed the line this time! How could you?!"
Milou tried to be as calm as possible. He slowly threw the blanket covering his legs and turned to sit on the edge of the bed to face Saliou.
It was then when Saliou saw the swollen, red area between his brother's legs; copious amounts of slick and semen dripping down his inner thighs.
Saliou looked down in absolute shock. "Milou, you...!" In the blink of an eye, he was directly in front of Milou. He'd moved so fast, the elder twin didn't have time to gasp, let alone retreat.
And then, he pinned Milou to the bed, flipped him over to the side.
Shocked and confused, Milou shrieked. "What are you doing?! Have you gone crazy?! Saliou, let me go!"
Saliou bent Milou's head to the side to expose his neck. And then, his hands stilled. He let out a soft sigh, eyes glistening as tears threatened to fall.
Milou quickly moved away from his brother and covered his neck with a hand. "What? He hasn't marked me, okay? At least not yet!"
He gave Saliou a defying stare, expecting an explosion. Instead, there was deafening silence.
A vein popped out on Saliou's forehead and a muscle worked in his jaw. There was a distinct hardening around his tear-stained eyes when he said, "You've seriously crossed the line this time...!"
"Saliou?"
The twins looked over their shoulder and saw that Wren was awake. A look of absolute shock and panic had spread over his pale face.
Wren crawled towards the bed and eased himself beside Saliou, who lowered his head and avoided his gaze. "Sal... Please, don't misunderstand... You... You need to listen to me first." His hands were trembling as he gripped Saliou's arms. "Milou here, he went into heat and... and he... I was – "
"Stop." Saliou placed a hand on Wren's. "No matter what you say, there's absolutely nothing right about this situation!" The muscles beneath his fingers gripped the other tightly as he tried hard to suppress his emotions.
Wren felt as though the world had vanished around him in an instant. "Saliou, please...! Hear me out!" He lost complete control over himself as he embraced Saliou tightly, crying uncontrollably, venting out his anguish and remorse. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I won't lie – I will never lie to you, Sal. I admit I was weak, I was quick to give in to temptation! But – But Milou – he was in heat and – and it was too overwhelming and –" He winced as he looked at the hand where Saliou was gripping him tightly. Bright red blood oozed from the fresh bite wounds on the back of his hand. The pain drove away any remaining drowsiness from his mind.
Saliou's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the violent-looking wounds. "Wren, you're –"
"Can't you see he's hurt?!" Milou interjected as he pushed Saliou aside and limped towards Wren. Grabbing the Alpha's injured hand, he said, "My poor Wren... Come, I'll take care of it. We need to disinfect it right now."
Wren figured it was still the heat talking. Even his rut hasn't completely waned either. He still felt shaken as Milou's lingering scent still gave him that delicate buzz, making his whole body feel warm. But sanity has returned, or rather, it was beginning to return to him.
"Milou, you've got to stop," Wren said almost pleadingly. "You need to take your medicine. You have to go see your doctor. This... This isn't –"
"What are you talking about?" Milou cut him off, ignoring the other's words. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. See? We need to disinfect your wounds."
Wren tried to pull his hand away, but Milou tightened his grip. "Let me go, Milou. I need to talk to Saliou. Please give us a moment. Alone."
His words still hadn't registered with the elder Omega. "Wren, what did I tell you? You should've just marked me... Then you could've prevented this."
"Have you lost your damn mind?" Saliou screamed at his brother in pure rage. He grabbed Milou's arm and spun him around to face him.
The older twin quickly yanked his arm out of the other's grasp and returned his brother's murderous gaze unflinchingly. "Do you really want to hear it? Fine! You will! Wren claimed me many times! Not just once, not just twice!" He paused to give his brother a mocking laugh. "And it sure as hell wasn't just thrice! 'Want to know something else? Wren is my mate now! The bond was forged and there's nothing you can do about it!"
Milou's words cut through Saliou like a knife. Hot, angry tears welled up in his eyes. His throat felt dry and constricted and he couldn't catch his breath. He felt like he was trapped in a nightmare and he desperately wanted to scream, but nothing came out.
Before he knew it, angry words had turned into violent action.
"You. Fucking. Slut!" Saliou seethed as he lunged toward Milou, hands flying to the other's face, fingers clawed. Milou fell to the floor with a loud thud. "You knew he was coming over! You were planning this all along!"
"Stop it! It hurts! It hurts! Saliou!" Milou started to scream as Saliou's nails dug into his cheeks. He tried to push Saliou away, but he jumped on top of him and locked his legs around his waist. Milou began thrashing around, trying to stop his brother from causing any more damage. "Can you hear yourself right now, you crazy bastard?! Did I plan to go into heat?!" He turned to Wren and cried out for help, which stirred the other to motion.
Wren crawled toward the twins and tried to help pry Saliou off of Milou. "Please stop it, you two!" He yelled out, still crying.
But Saliou was strong and began fighting him, screaming and hitting his chest with his fists. "You traitors! How could you do this to me?! You're killing me! You're fucking killing me!"
Wren went behind Saliou as he put his arms tightly around the other's waist, finally pulling him off of Milou.
The fight went on, but it was now one-sided. Both Wren and Milou just sat there tight-lipped and silent as Saliou continued to hurl insults at them.
Saliou turned back to Milou as he pulled out the zip-lock bag of heat suppressors from his coat pocket. "Why can't you just be fucking normal?" he cried out as he hurled the bag to Milou, hitting him in the face before it fell to the ground, the pills scattered all over the floor. "Why do you have to be like this, Milou?! I'm sick and tired of dealing with all your shit! I wish you were never part of my life! How can I fucking get you out of my life?!"
Saliou said the most hurtful words that could have been spoken to Milou. He finally released all that pent-up anger and disappointment that had grown inside him for years, poisoned his heart and mind. Those feelings that had grown so great he could no longer contain them, spilled forth and at that point, he didn't care what the other would think and feel.
Wren intervened again. "L-Listen. Sal, you shouldn't – you shouldn't talk to your brother like that. Pretty soon you'll regret you ever said them, and –"
Saliou's nose flared while his eyes darkened. The expression on his face told Wren everything he needed to know.
"Get out," Saliou said sharply.
"Sal, please, don't be like this..." Wren whimpered. "If you could only hear me out –"
"This is my house! Get out!" Saliou screamed, holding out his right arm, pointing wildly toward the door. He turned away from Wren and closed his eyes as tightly as he could.
With his eyes closed, he could imagine this wasn't hurting Wren. Wasn't scaring him. This way, he didn't have to see the pained expression on his face. He could hear him crying, but he could ignore it and just let his own anger drown it out. And it did.
He didn't care if Wren was hurting. He hurt him too, and in the most unforgivable way possible. Whatever pain he was feeling, it was nothing compared to his own.
After a long and intense silence, Saliou heard the rustle of clothing, followed by heavy footsteps moving toward the door. And then he heard the door creak open and then closed.
When he opened his eyes again, Wren was gone.
Milou was still kneeling on the floor, shedding tears, small streaks of blood trickling down his cheeks where Saliou had scratched him.
"You've lost it, Saliou Matisse," he muttered as he lifted his head, wiping away his tears. Slowly he pulled himself up, took his robe from a chair, and with great effort pulled it on to cover his nakedness. "I'm going after Wren and don't you dare stop me."
Saliou grabbed him by the arm and gripped it tightly. "Why did it have to turn out this way, Milou?" He looked at his brother, eyes swollen and bloodshot, lips quivering. He wore the face of a heartbroken man. "What did I do wrong? Why are you punishing me like this? I don't deserve this... I did everything for you, didn't I? For you, I would always have to settle for less!" He paused, struggling to compose himself but failing completely. "But this... this is too much, Milou...! You can go ahead and take everything away from me, but..." he choked out, "... but not Wren. God, why does it have to be Wren...?"
Milou slowly slid out of his brother's grasp as he made for the door. "I know I neglected your feelings," he said. "I was taken care of one-sidedly and for that, I'm sorry. I really am." He sniffled as he mopped his tears with the back of his hand. "But did I ever ask you to? You can stop doing that now. Don't make it sound like I owe you."
Saliou couldn't believe his ears and could barely think of what to say next. He exhaled so heavily that a grunting sound escaped his lungs. And then, he let out a low scoff. "... Always so prideful and unapologetic. Sometimes I can't believe we're brothers." He took in a deep breath and exhaled. "You have the gall to say that to me now because you finally got what you've always wanted. And honestly... there's nothing else I can do for you."
"I'm sorry," was all Milou could say to the other as he slowly walked out of the bedroom. And then, glancing back at the other as he walked through the door, he said, "I still love Wren, after all." And then, he closed the door behind him.
Saliou's heart clenched at his brother's words. He stood there for a while, leaning his body heavily against the wall.
He wanted to go after Wren and embrace him and just forget everything that had happened. He wanted to forgive him and beg him to stay. But he restrained himself from doing so.
And then there's Milou. It sickened him to know he had just been betrayed by his own twin brother, not caring about how it would affect them for the rest of their lives.
How can one even betray their own family – someone whom you're supposed to love and care for unconditionally?
Saliou exhaled a long and shuddering breath. And, with a cry of utter heartbreak, he sank to his knees and wept. He allowed himself to release the long-repressed agony in another flood of tears. It was not so much a sorrow for Wren and Milou, but pity for himself. Pity for having been taken advantage of.
But this was the final straw. The breaking point.
He's had enough of seeing Milou walk away from him constantly. Being hurt and disappointed again and again, no matter how much he loved the other, he could no longer push his heart out for him, only to be trampled again.
And Wren... Sweet Wren. He'd promised him the moon, made him believe they could have the perfect life together. But the beautiful relationship they had came crashing down to this, all because of one careless mistake.
Wren Dumont was everything he needed and is now, quite possibly, one thing he could never allow himself again.
That night, Saliou Matisse's world came crashing down on him. His heart broke in two, along with his soul.
And for all of them, the future was bleak. The only thing that was certain was that life will never be the same again.
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