Angulus Humanaes

I paced back and forth, ignoring the headache that was building from thinking so hard about what happened, and the hollowed pain I felt from seeing Brandon leave looking so distraught...and knowing that I was the cause of his stress.

After Brandon left with Eoin, Beni, and Frederick, I called up everyone else and had them meet me at my place. I didn't understand what the fuck I did wrong, but no matter what the problem was, I was going to fucking beg for forgiveness if I had to. I wasn't going to lose Brandon after just getting him. Which was why I had called up everyone. They would help me figure out what the hell I needed to do.

"I think the best way to go about it would be to be blunt and straight forward, your Highness." Mirimele said softly. She was such a quiet girl, but a formidable opponent and fiercely loyal.

Amerasu, one of my best fighters and a brilliant strategist, snorted. "Blunt? Brandon is in a sensitive state right now. He's a shadow demon, your Highness, so your best bet is to do something that will impress him, then apologize once he's calmed down and gotten comfortable."

"I don't think so." Hunen said with a contemplative frown. He and Lin were my rocks, my pillars of support. "This is Brandon we're talking about. He's very awkward about things. Maybe you should keep it simple and plain, but thoughtful."

"I second that!" Lin joined in.

Visara, as I had expected her to, stayed quiet and glared at the wall behind me with her arms crossed.

I sighed and stopped pacing, putting my hand on my hip and pushing my other hand through my hair. Those all sounded like good ideas. But what would Brandon really like?

...Probably for me to leave him the fuck alone. He more than likely doesn't want to see me.

But this guilt I feel is fucking eating me alive. I need to feel him in my arms. I need to hold him, comfort him. Fuck it all, I need him.

Dammit, how the hell did I fuck up so badly?!

"Shit!"  I whirled around and punched the wall behind me, glaring darkly at the hole my fist created.

A small hand grabbed my arm and I looked down at Amerasu. "Calm down, your Highness. You just need to sit down and think things through. Talk to Brandon, and really listen to how he feels."

"And control your anger." Lin piped up and I glared at him. He put his hands up. "Sorry, sir, but it's well known that you have anger issues."

My shoulders slumped. "Fine...Fine, I'll fucking calm down. And I'll talk to him. Okay?"

~oOo~

"So, I called your mom and she said it was okay that you're staying the night as long as you go to school tomorrow." Came Freddie's voice, muffled because I had his blanket pulled over my head. "You are going to school tomorrow, right?"

I thought about it. There was a possibility that Rhao would be at school tomorrow, and I definitely didn't want to see him right now without my emotions being in check. Then again, he could also not go to school tomorrow. It was a fifty-fifty chance.

"I dunno, Freddie." I mumbled. "I guess it depends on how I feel tomorrow."

There was a pause, then I felt Freddie's hand land on my head. "Okay, Brandon. But will you at least tell me what happened?"

Tell him? What was I going to tell him? That I was acting foolishly? That I was angry about Rhao for such a little thing? I mean...I kind of did exaggerate a lot. I know Rhao now. I know that, truthfully, he didn't force me to do any of those things. Not with the way he hopped up to please me all the time. I knew that deep down inside, I didn't put up as much resistance as I could have. I couldn't put up that type of resistance. Not against Rhao. Not against my fucking mate. I knew that if I really meant it when I resisted against Rhao, every time I told him no or to stop, then he really would have. And so I made a big deal about it for nothing. I let my anger get the best of me. And now I felt horrible because I didn't know how to fix it.

But...Freddie would. So I sat up and pulled the blanket off of my head, looking at Freddie. I probably looked like shit right now, but I didn't care. Freddie just looked at me with compassion and warmth. Just like he always did. Even though our relationship had a little lapse, he was still there for me. I missed my friend. I needed him, someone to talk to who would understand and would help me come up with a solution. And so, I told him everything from day one, with detail about what happened and how I felt.

By the time I was done it was late, my throat was ridiculously parched, and Beni and Eoin had joined us at some point. Freddie was looking down at the floor with a contemplating expression, Beni was sitting next to me with one of my hands between both of hers with her head on my shoulder, and Eoin was sitting next to Freddie, also looking contemplative. I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my neck.

"Silly, right? I mean, I completely threw everything out of proportion for no reason."

"Well..." Beni said, "Not necessarily. You do have shadow demon blood."

I blinked. "Yeah, so? I was tested human positive."

She grinned. "But you still showed characteristics, such as your voice and your darker features even though your immediate family have lighter colors. And that was before you met Rhao."

"It's a high probability that, since you were already showing shadow demon characteristics, having contact with your mate, with Rhao, triggered some other buried things." Eoin said slowly, clearly still in his thoughts. "Even before you felt it, your blood recognized Rhao as your mate. And shadow demons are big on their mates. No matter how stoic and calm the shadow demon, when it involves their mate all rationality goes flying out the window."

Beni giggled. "Shadow demons are a bunch of drama queens, basically. Very strong, very crazy drama queens. And you, Brandon, come from the line of the strongest and craziest shadow demons of them all."

"But what does this have to do with me flipping out on Rhao?" I questioned with a frown.

"Everything." Frederick snorted. "You're a shadow demon whose bloodline is only just surfacing and with no prior knowledge of anything having to do with your heritage. Shadow demons are well aware of the fault they have when it comes to their mates. They train from a young age to have strict control of their emotions so that their not running around with insane notions circling in their heads. But you don't have this training Brandon."

"How do you know all that?" Eoin asked Freddie with a curious grin, who just shrugged and smirked in return.

Is there...something going on between those two? I was definitely pulling that out of Freddie when I worked out this shit with Rhao. But for now, I need to focus.

"So..." I cocked my head to the side. "You're telling me that it's okay that I flipped out on Rhao? That it's natual?"

"Basically, yes." Eoin said with a smirk.

"Also, so that you stop with these ridiculous thoughts going through your mind..." Beni said with an arched brow. "Brandon, Rhao literally cannot rape you or do anything against your will. It will cause him extreme physical and mental pain. He probably forgot about that in the heat of your argument, but our kind are just as insane about mates as shadow demons. Especially the royalty. Which is why Rhao came off so strongly."

I blinked as this weirdly strong sensation of relief rolled through my body. He physically could not rape me.

He'd feel horrible pain.

Which, yeah, meant that I was overreacting and all that when I yelled at him. Well...some of it was overreacting. The rest was the plain truth. He never cared about what I had to say whenever he wanted something. Of course, that was probably because he was a poncy prince spoiled little shit. But still true nonetheless.

A ringtone pulled me from my thoughts and I blinked, looking over at Eoin. He cleared his throat as he pulled his phone from his pocket. I frowned as his face paled when he looked at the caller id. He looked up at me apologetically, mouthing "It's Rhao" as he answered the phone.

"Rhao?" He asked carefully. There was a brief moment where Rhao spoke, and something that he said caused Eoin to look at me with wide eyes. "Um, okay I'll ask him right now. Hold on."

"What's he want?" I asked as soon as he put the phone on hold.

Eoin took a deep breath. "He wants to meet...And talk with you."

I blinked. He wants to talk to me? So then...why the fucking hell didn't he call me? He had to call Eoin, for what reason? If it's me he wants to speak to, then he better find the balls to fucking tell me that he wants to talk himself. I crossed my arms.

"No, I don't want to talk to him."

Freddie straightened. "Brandon, you should--."

"No." My voice was starting to get raspy. "If he wants to talk to me, then he better damn well tell me himself that he wants to talk."

"Very well." Eoin took the phone off hold. "He, um...doesn't want to talk to you if you're not the one asking yourself."

Rhao must've yelling, because the phone buzzed with the loudness of his voice, and Eoin winced.

"He doesn't want to fucking talk to you." Eoin suddenly snapped. "Not with the way you're going about it, you imbecile. Don't get mad at me because your stupid plan failed."

He snapped the phone shut and threw it on the bed with a look of disgust. Me and Freddie gaped at him. I mean...Rhao was prince. How could you talk so carelessly to him like that?

I didn't realize that I had voiced my thoughts aloud until Beni giggled and Eoin rolled eyes. My cheeks heated but I cleared my throat and ignored it.

"Well? Are you going to answer my question?"

Beni burst into another fit of laughter when Eoin snorted and stood, walking towards the door.

"You can tell him, Beni. I refuse to go back to those times. Frederick?"

At his name, Freddie looked up and stood, shooting me a sympathetic glance before following after Eoin. I arched a brow. Wonder what's up with those two?

"About Rhao and Eoin," Beni said, finally managing to calm down. "I guess the easiest way to say it is that Eoin is Rhao's...advisor. Well it's more than that, but it's really complex and that's the simplest way to explain it. Everyone of the Royal brood has one, chosen from birth. An advisor is raised from childhood to efficiently and effectively be everything their Royal needs them to be."

I snorted. "Sounds a lot like being a slave."

Beni shrugged. "It does. Because of that, Eoin has always resented Rhao. And Rhao is such a dick that he doesn't try to fix their relationship. I'm sorry, Brandon, but you really got mated to a spoiled asshole."

"I know." I groaned, rubbing my cheek.

A contemplative look came over Beni's expression. "It's curious, though."

"What is?"

She frowned. "Well, the typical shadow demon has two or even three mates, to help ground them. That's why not many Angulus Humanaes are mated to shadow demons. But you...you seem to only have Rhao."

"Oh." I looked down slowly and bit my lip. "Well, maybe it's because I'm only a little bit of shadow demon?"

"That's a possibility, but your shadow demon has been manifesting rapidly since you mated to Rhao." Beni shook her head and stood. "I'll go ask Eoin and Freddie. Those two are fucking geniuses. You get some sleep, okay? You've had a long day."

I nodded. "That's no problem. I'm exhausted."

"Thought so." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight Brandon."

"Night, Beni."

She left, closing the door softly, and I fell back on the bed. Man, I was exhausted. But I had too many thoughts on my mind. The thought of possibly having another mate. Rhao not physically being able to rape me. Rhao wanting to talk to me. Missing Rhao...

I missed him so much already. I didn't want to be away from him a second longer. It hurts. A lot. Not because we weren't together, per se, but because of the way we parted. I could...I could feel how he was feeling. He was confused and hurt and angry. I didn't like that.

"Oh great. The voice that either belongs to a real person or is a sign of me going crazy."

"Please, flattery will get you nowhere."

"Yeah, that makes me feel so much better." 

"Like you can talk." I snorted. 

And that's basically how it went until I fell asleep. Me bantering with the random voice in my head. God, maybe I am going crazy.