RISEN: FORBIDDEN LOVE

Chapter 6 - Paintball

Matei POV

I arrived home, and everyone looked at me in a weird way. I knew I had ignored their messages earlier, but what was the point in checking them when I was on my way here? We already had a plan for tonight, so I had no idea what could be so urgent that I had a ton of unread messages on my phone.

“What is it?” I asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a cold beer from it.

“Now you care, read your f*****g messages…” Darius said in an angry voice. Most of the messages came from him, and some others were from the group chat we have between us.

“I was on my way here… I would like to hear it from you.” I said to him, getting annoyed by this whole s**t. I was busy and then I was on my way here. I had a s**t ton of things to do today, besides my Dad and brother coming into town… I was not in the mood for this s**t,

“Well, I went to campus today with Vicky and her friend, the one that is part of your family…” Darius said, and then my senses heightened. Is he talking about Iris? Who else?

“Anyways, we separated, she left for Student Services to gather her schedule, while I showed Vicky around…” He paused, so far there was nothing that would be urgent about what he was saying.

“Well, when we saw her back at Student Services, she was talking to a guy…” He paused and he waited for a reaction from me, and despite my Lycan growling inside my head, I kept my poker face in front of my friends.

“Well, he even asked her out…” Darius said and a small growl came out of my chest. This time I was unable to control my fury as f**k Lycan. I have no idea who the fucker is, but he will be as good as dead if he dares to get close to her.

“Alright, and?” I crossed my arms in front of my chest, pretending to be cool about this whole thing. Inside me, my Lycan and I were in raging anger.

“I thought it might interest you that Archer was going to go after her…” Darius said, and I immediately walked close to him and wrapped my hand around his neck.

“What did you say?” My voice was thick, and my Lycan was taking control of my body.

“Mat!” Cadmus yelled while Stephano tried to pull my grasp from his younger brother. Angelo walked into our home at that moment and he pinched my neck from behind, spreading white light from his fingers, helping me regain control of my Lycan.

Angelo is an angel. He arrived in the demon realm when the refugee crisis happened many years ago. Even when he studied business and is my partner in the restaurant chain, he has angel powers that can help turn nasty feelings into positive ones… He seldom uses them, but I was glad that he came in at that time because I wasn´t sure if I was going to be able to regain control of my Lycan before I killed Darius.

The whole thing was so wrong on so many levels. Darius was just telling me what happened, and I reacted against him, even hurting him, just because he told me that Archer, the f*****g asshole, wanted to go out with Iris.

“What the f**k, man?” Darius said between coughs and reaching his hand around his neck, trying to soothe the now-forming bruise I gave him.

“I am sorry, man… I lost it…” I said, ashamed of my actions.

“Anyways, she gave him her phone number…” Darius finished while flinching a little, expecting another outburst at my end.

“He won´t be calling her anytime soon if we beat the crap out of him tonight…” I smirked and Darius shook his head.

“Yeah, but what about later? When he saw me around her, he immediately knew she was someone important to us, and I am positive he will use her against you… after all, she is part of your family…” Darius pointed out.

“So, you suggest not beating the crap out of him?” I raised my eyebrows.

“I suggest defeating them just like any other time, but leaving Iris´ name out of it, because your care about her would make her even more attractive…” Darius was right. I never got along with the triplet assholes, and I never will. We don´t share the same values, and after seeing the aftermath of their actions, I completely withdrew any kind of contact with them.

I tolerated and was polite towards them, because of who their mother is, and because of my Aunt´s friendship with their mother… but after seeing the way they move around, and how they tricked, played, and drugged women to comply with their dark desires. I decided not to relate to them. They picked on it, and then the animosity began.

“s**t… You are right, if he believes she is of any importance to me. He will go after her with even more enthusiasm…” I said, “Is she coming tonight?” I asked Darius.

“No, just Vicky…” Darius said. I wanted to see her, but I didn´t want to seem too eager, so secretly I was hoping for her to tag along with Vicky to the paintball battlefield tonight.

“According to Vicky, when she asked Iris, she said, and I quote: ´I would rather swim in molten lava than hang around them…´” Darius said and I nodded.

“She still isn´t over it?” Cadmus asked and Darius nodded, confirming what we had always been afraid of. Iris will never forgive me for what happened years ago at the beach house.

“Well, after all these years, you have never reached out to her and apologized… so of course she is not over it… She is not one to grant you a free pass on anything…” Darius said. He was the one closest to Iris, given the fact that he was mated to one of her best friends. I know Darius has asked her for forgiveness and, after all these years, she talks to him politely, but she is still wary of him.

“Alright, let´s gear up… we can´t be late,” I said and gulped my beer in one go. I made my way to my room and changed from my suit to my combat gear.

A minute later, a knock on our door sounded and when Stephan opened the door, Vicky and Aisling were there. “I hope you don´t mind… I asked Aisling to tag along…” Vicky said and Stephan nodded.

“Of course, not… Where is your other friend?” Cadmus asked Vicky.

“She preferred to stay in…” Vicky said and I saw Cadmus lower his gaze. Yes, he was a rebellious child, and he knows he did wrong to her… It still bothers him, and I am sure he was expecting to run into her and hopefully talk things through… I knew we all hoped for it.

“Alright, let's go…” I said and we piled into two vehicles and headed toward the paintball battlefield.

The field was packed, there was a tournament going and today was the final battle, the triplets team against mine. They were teams of five contenders each, and on their team were the triplets plus the twin Fae friends of theirs, Aramis and Awan. They were King Arion’s Beta´s sons.

I didn´t need high-ranking friends, mine were the best. It was me, Angelo, Darius, Stephan, and Cadmus… We were roommates, friends, allies, and brothers. Our bond was a chosen one, a brotherhood forged in time. We were like a perfect old simmering scotch… all of our personalities brought out the best in each other.

“Alright, the first team to bring the flag from the mountain wins…” The referee said, “Remember the rules, no foul play, just the use of your paint guns… You have five minutes to strategize and then the games begin. If both teams retrieve the flag, the winner will be the team that has more members standing…” He said and we all nodded.

Archer gave me a smirk, the fucker knew.

I have to focus, he is of no importance now, my team is.

“On your marks, set, go…” The referee, a powerful wizard, called the beginning of the games.

We ran towards a safe spot and rounded up. “Cadmus and Darius take the right pathway to the top of the mountain…Stephan, Angelo, and I will take the left path…” I pointed at the map.

“We will keep our communication devices open and will inform our positions. Watch for the Faes, they play dirty… and we will meet on this spot in ten… If one of you can´t make it, let me know about your earpieces.” I pointed them out at the next meeting point. “We will move together from that meeting point to retrieve the flag.” I finished and we started moving around.

We moved at a steady pace. We arrived at a small clearing. This was our weakest spot. Once we crossed the clearing we would have coverage again from the woods. We found coverage in the brush right before the clearing. “Angelo, what do you think?” I asked him.

“Not sure, I feel some auras right up front… I am sure as soon as we expose ourselves, they will start shooting at us.” He said.

“How long would it take to round the clearing?” Stephan asked,

“It will take us 10 more minutes…” Angelo replied.

“Let´s try to move closer to our attackers, maybe we can get rid of one before we make the run…” I said and they agreed with my idea…

We silently started rounding the clearing, Angelo constantly checking for those auras and their positions. Apparently, the triplet fuckers decided to wait for us to make that rookie mistake. They never bother with training with the squads, they lack vision. We all, thanks to Dad, have trained with the Special Ops team since we were teenagers… we have a ton more experience.

We moved in a stealthy way, silently avoiding branches and trees. I signaled Angelo to check. We were not able to speak to one another, because we were closer to our enemies. Angelo looked at me and lifted 2 fingers. I lifted my finger and pointed at Stephan, then at me… We were the fastest of the three.

We pulled out our paintball guns, and silently we walked closer to our enemies, and then we shot them from behind. “You are out…” I said before pulling the trigger.

The surprise in the Beta twins’ faces was priceless. The wizard appeared out of nothing and took them away. Rules were rules. Once you are shot, you are out.

“Let´s move…” I said and then asked, “Cadmus, Darius… report”

“Coming close to the meeting point…” Cadmus paused,

“We need backup… how far are you?” Darius asked.

“What is going on?” I asked and started picking up the pace toward the meeting location.

“The triplets are raiding our meeting location… we had to go back a few meters to not be detected…” Darius said,

“Stay put, be safe.” I finished the communication, pulled my map out, and then found another location. A few meters away from the original, close enough to where we were.

“Darius, move to the location that is 300 meters to the south…We will meet there,” I instructed, and we changed courses to our new location.

The place was an old shack close to the mountain skirts. It was perfect… for an ambush.” As soon as Cadmus and Darius arrived, we rounded up again.

“Alright… we will lure them out… and bring them here…” I said and they nodded. “Stephan and Cadmus, you are the best snippers in the group… you will take the high ground…” I pointed out two locations, and they nodded.

“Darius and Angelo will take the ground behind the house… and I will lure them…” I gave them a mischievous smirk… Those idiots will fall for it.

“Ready?” I asked them, and they dispersed to their positions.

I made my way to the original meeting point, a few meters from the bunker location, I stood. “Why are you hiding here? Are you waiting for the twins? I am afraid they are out…” I yelled, and Alvar looked through a vent.

He took a shot, but I moved fast and dodged it. “Is that all you have?” I said and took a shot to my left, hitting Archer´s leg.

He grunted and tried to take a shot at me, but again I moved to the side, avoiding the hit. Archer looked at me and smirked, he lifted his hand and cleared the paint from his leg. The wizard appeared and looked around expecting one contender to show a shot, but he didn´t find any.

“Carry on…” He said and then disappeared. f*****g cheater…

I turned around and sprinted toward the ambush site. I dodged their shots. I made it, and as soon as they came out of the brush, three shots were fired, one aiming at each triplet.

Then, taking my paint gun, I shot them once at close range. There was no way they would be able to fool the wizard again. He appeared and took them out of the game. I laughed, it was so sweet to see their pissed-off faces.

We all ran towards the mountain top and reached the flag. We turned around and walked towards the center of the field, where everyone was waiting to cheer our triumph. It was amazing, the feeling of superiority.

I looked around and Darius quickly wrapped himself around Vicky. Aisling congratulated each of us, and then I scanned the place. I was missing something, or rather say, someone… Iris.

“She is not here…” Archer walked towards me, extending his hand to shake. I knew they were pissed and humiliated, but their Fae´s pride didn´t allow them to be sore losers.

“What?” I looked at him.

“Your beautiful cousin…” He said,

“By the way, she is mine…” he taunted me, and I struggled to have my Lycan under wraps.

“You hurt one hair of her head and you will have me to answer… She is family, and I watch over my family…” I said in a menacing way.

“Is it? Is she family?” He squinted his eyes, “Aren´t you the adoptive lapdog in the family?” He bit back.

“Watch it…” Angelo stood next to me, placing his hand behind my arm, and giving it a quick squeeze, spreading his power around. Helping me control my temper.

“I am not saying a lie…” Archer said,

“No, you are not… but indeed all of them are my family… as long as they see me as a part of them, I will be…” I said, and then pointed at him… “You are warned…” and with that, I strolled away.

The bittersweet taste of this triumph and the conversation after was evident in my mouth. “Let´s go, guys…” I said in a solemn voice.

“Aren’t we going to celebrate?” Cadmus asked.

“Not me, you go ahead…” I said and shifting into my Lycan I left. I need to think. This is not normal. I haven´t even seen her and she is already affecting me. For f***s sake, she is part of my family… she is forbidden.