Gideon's Love

A Decision Is Made

Finn dreamed about the man again. He didn’t know who he was, but it was the same dream repeatedly. Dade calls him gross, and then his dad tries to kill him while calling him disgusting. Just as he felt empty and wanted to let go, the man with dark hazel eyes would pick him up, and he would feel warm and safe. That’s how the dream always started. After that, the man would hand him the cat from the alley, or he would tell him stories. Each story would be totally random. Tonight’s story, he could swear, was from a Kdrama he binged a year ago. Sometimes, the scary woman from the oracle would show up, but she was less scary in his dreams. Last night, she gave him step-by-step instructions on skinning and seasoning rats in case they lost him in a sewer. When that would ever happen, he didn’t know; it was ridiculous, but it made Finn happy and calm.

Gideon watched Finn relax as his nightmare eased. For the last two months, he’s been sitting close by manipulating Finn’s dreams. It’s the only thing he could do right now to help the kid. He didn’t know what else to do. It was important for Finn and his wolf to sleep deeply without fear so they both could recover, and he can’t do that with the dreams he’s been having.

Gideon sat back down and put his chin on his folded hands while he watched Finn sleep. He’s been in that head intermittently for the last couple of months. He knew it was an invasion of privacy, and in the beginning, it was just to find out what happened. He started that day and then continued to go back a few days later. He watched him take punches from his dad and cousins; he watched the kids at school ignore him on orders from Dade. He also watched his brother reject him. He saw the good, too. He made people feel like they mattered. He gave his full attention and care to everyone who needed him, even those who hated him. He gets why Achlys is so adamant about protecting him. After that, it was because he was curious. He wanted to know what made Finn tick.

He wasn’t sure what to do about Dade at first. He can’t kill him. He wanted to, and he could make it look like an accident, but it would devastate his parents. He wasn’t evil enough to put his family through that.

Achlys was the one to set the punishment. About a month ago, he found out when Dade started showing signs of insomnia and anxiety. She’s sent shadow demons to plague him in his sleep every night. They did a variety of things to him. Some nights, they screamed eighteenth-century poetry at him or made him watch as they removed the stuffing from his collection of bears, and on others, he gets pegged. They had to stop that last one since he started enjoying it. After that, Gideon asked her to stop telling him about Dade’s punishments. He set a time frame when the tortures had to stop even though he was a douche; he didn’t kill anyone. The day he leaves for college, he can regain his normal dreams.

Gideon reached over, lifted a small hand off the bed, and studied it while deep in thought. He didn’t know what they were going to do with him when he woke up. His parents helped a lot. They have already decided to become his guardians until he’s eighteen. He’s also going to stay in Gideon’s old room for now. His parents didn’t give a damn where the kid came from or what his lineage was. A kid is in need, and that’s all that matters to them. The problem was what they would do with him regarding Achlys and himself. Not only were they there to kill him, but one was a demon, and the other was the first child of the Moon Goddess. How were they going to explain all of that?

His mom told him to wing it, but that’s usually her answer for everything. She just goes with the flow, but he doesn’t know if it will work in Finn’s case. Gideon always has a plan and a plan for that plan in case it goes off the rails. He doesn’t know how to just wing anything.

He looked up at Finn’s face and sighed. This kid was giving him fits, and he wasn’t even awake. He didn’t want to face what this kid was making him feel; pushing all those feelings deep down and away was safer.

His eyes traveled over the scars on Finn’s face. He was lucky he didn’t lose his sight. Even his lycan blood couldn’t keep the scars away. Three long scars from under Finn’s hairline stretched to his cheek, nearly covering his right side. They lightened up into thin lines, but they were still visible. He knew without looking that the scars continued all over his body. If you could, he would bring Finn’s dad back to kill him again.

He stood up and stretched as his mom walked into the room; she gave him a fat smile that ended abruptly as she got closer to him. “Is that you that smells like that?” Her nose wrinkled, and she stepped back. “Sweety, Pooty. You said you were worried Finn would fear you when he wakes up.. If you smell like that, he definitely will be”.

Gideon’s eyes swung to Finn and back to his mom. He lowered his voice and whined, “Ma! You promised not to call me that in public....”

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. No matter how old your kid gets, you can still embarrass them. “Go take a shower, and I promised nothing, you demanded. I didn’t agree, so I’m not obligated to follow your demands. Mommy loves you; please go. You’re ripe.”

He lets out a low, non-threatening growl, showing his displeasure, and she gasps. Her foot comes in a sharp movement, tossing her flip-flop in the air. She catches it and throws her weapon at him; with a deadly accurate aim, she hits him square in the chest. “Don’t talk back to me; I’ll call your father in,” she hisses. He puts his hands up in defeat and slowly walks backward out of the room. She still has one more chancla, and he doesn’t want to take any more chances. As soon as the door closes, he turns internally, chuckling.

It didn’t matter that his mom was only five foot four against his six foot eight; you don’t mess with Emma Harker. And she was probably right about him needing a shower. He can’t remember the last time he showered with everything going on. It’s probably been a few days. He walks outside, and a slight breeze hits him, sending his own scent upward to him. “Oh damn, is that us?”

Orias chortles lightly. “Yup,” he answers, popping the p. “You’ve been pretty ripe since yesterday.”

Gideon stops walking. “You’ve known that long, and you said nothing? What the f**k?”

“I was busy thinking, and now you know, so go shower...Pooty.” Orias cackles and then shuts Gideon out before he can come out with a comeback.

Gideon stood there for a moment, enjoying the fresh evening breeze until someone in the near distance gagged on his downwind. He flushed ever so slightly and phased into the shadows, coming back out into his parents’ kitchen.

His dad and Dade argued over a car while sitting on the island. “You’re the man in this house. Just tell her you’re buying me a car!”

Gideon rolled his eyes, and Aldrick laughed, “Your mom owns me.” His dad pulled his shirt collar to the side, showing off his mate’s tiny mark. A small arrow was tattooed pointing to it, and under that were the words ‘This lycan belongs to Emma,’ scrolled in cursive. It’s something he shows off any chance he gets. “You want a car? You better convince her and watch your damn attitude when you talk about your mother. Don’t disrespect her again!” His dad pushed out his aura, making sure Dade was put into his place.

Dade shut his face and attacked the bowl of cereal in front of him. Gideon’s lips slightly twitched at the corner. If he could laugh, he would. Dade’s dark circles and red-rimmed eyes testified to Achlys’ handy work. He doesn’t seem to be winning wars, which soothes Gideon’s irritation with him.

No one bothered to tell Dade about Finn, not because they worried about Dade’s reaction. He felt it was necessary information his parents should know about, so he told them who rejected Finn and what happened to him afterward. His parents were disappointed, not necessarily with the rejection itself, since things like that were common nowadays. Still, it was the way he did it. They were grateful it didn’t turn violent, but he could have been gentle. No one cared if he knew or not or what his reaction would be if he did know that Finn was now under the protection of the Harkers. They kept it from Dade so he wouldn’t upset Finn.

Dade was leaving for college in two weeks overseas for the next four years, and saying that the family felt relieved to take a break from him would be an understatement. He was troublesome to live with, constantly complaining, judging, demanding, manipulating, and crying if nothing else worked for him. Combine that with a narcissistic personality behind a pretty face, and you’ve got yourself every girl’s red flag and every woman’s reason for divorce.

Gideon’s stomach growled, and he pointed to the pile of burritos in front of his dad. Without looking in his direction, his dad slid a burrito over. He grabbed it and downed it in a couple of bites. He could always count on his dad to have burritos close by.

His dad’s nose wrinkled, and he sniffed the air, turning towards Gideon. “Did you roll in something dead? Go take a shower.” his dad backed away and mumbled under his breath, “twenty-six-year-old man, and I’m still constantly telling him to shower.” He walks away, lightly shaking his head.

Dade looks up at Gideon. “Dude, you reek.” he grabbed his cereal bowl and left the room, leaving Gideon alone until he saw Kai watching him from over the back of the couch. His little brother shrugged his shoulders before turning back around and went back to watching TV.

Kai knew about Finn; they hadn’t planned on informing him, but they tended to forget he was in the room, so he heard all about it and promised to keep quiet. He went to the same high school, but since he wasn’t in the same grade and hid in the library studying, he was oblivious to what was happening there.

Gideon sighed and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge before walking down the hallway to his room. He removed his clothes, leaving a trail from his bedroom door to his bathroom. Now that he was naked, he got a better whiff of his body and shuddered. He turned the water on hot and waited for it to heat while he pondered the mystery of Finn. What was he going to do about him? He was definitely off the kill list now. No way would he allow anyone to hurt him.

He touched the water to ensure it was the right temperature and stepped in. He felt Orias opening up again to enjoy the heat of the shower.

He could tell Orias wanted to say something by the way he was pacing around. “What? You’re making me anxious. Sit still”.

Orias sighed. “I know what to do with Finn....”

“You going to finish that sentence?” asked Gideon. He was starting to feel nervous; he could almost feel what Orias was about to say and hoped he wouldn’t. Because for a brief second, it had crossed his own mind before he shut it down nice and tight.

Orias went silent briefly before spitting it out, “We can claim him.”

Gideon groaned. “Our family already claimed him; he’s fine.” He hoped Orias would leave it at that.

Orias let out a low growl, his irritation with Gideon sidestepping his meaning clear. “That’s not what I meant, you d**k. You know what I meant. You felt that zing. For a second, he was ours before you shut it down.”

Gideon let out a growl of his own. “And it’s going to stay shut down; he doesn’t know us, he’s seventeen, and we’re killing off his family.” he scrubbed his skin harder. “That’s one f****d up way to start anything.”

“So, if he’s not mad at us for taking out his family, we can have him? And it’s not like he can’t get to know us. You’re in his head way more than you need to be. You know him already. It’s only fair he gets to know us,” Orias huffed out, now thoroughly irritated. He sees no reason it couldn’t work. In his last life, you just took who you wanted. Of course, that was over a hundred years ago...but still.

Gideon sighs, “he’s still seventeen; I’m uncomfortable with that.”

“When he’s eighteen?” Orias perks up, feeling like he’s winning.

Gideon rubs his stomach, thinking, “No.”

“Why? Your mom had you at eighteen,” Orias points out.

“My mom was also much more mature for her age than most, and on her own, being a badass. Finn still believes in Santa and sleeps in a onesie. Not the same.” He turns the water off while he stands there for a couple more seconds. “And it needs to be up to him if he wants to be part of us.” Gideon grabs a towel and dries off. It’s not that he doesn’t like the idea of Finn as his mate, but it doesn’t feel like the right time, and so much was still standing in the way. And the kids are not even awake yet.

Orias stays quiet for just a moment. “So, when he’s nineteen?”

Gideon groans, knowing Orias will not give up. “Let’s put a pin in it and talk about this again when he’s twenty-one.”

Orias lets out a deep breath. “Fine. When he’s twenty-one, we court Finn.”

Gideon rests his hands on the bathroom counter, leaning forward towards the mirror, and sighs, looking at his emotionless face. Why would Finn want someone like him? He comes with a list of issues and a demon. “Fine, we court Finn when he’s twenty-one”….. s**t.