Lunar's POV

Walking into the theatre, Mathis looked at me, her leg bouncing and agitated as she combed her fingers through her wig, "W-We have a small problem."

I looked at her, already knowing what she was going to say, as I rolled my eyes, "...Who's he playing as?"

Her voice got quiet, "He got into the office and switched people's roles... He convinced Ms. Osborn to keep your new role."

"I'm motherfucking Juliet, aren't I?" My jaw tightened and wiggled. Of all the roles, of course, I'm this stupid bitch and he's going to be fucking Romeo. This dope couldn't be any more predictable! Matty gave a hesitant nod as Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Hayes entered the theatre, seeing her distress.

I let out an irritated sigh, not bothering to say anything else as I pushed into the room of the stage, Anthien gave a grin towards me as he bowed, "Hello, my beautiful Juliet!"

We had spent weeks practicing for him to do this. Not all of us had practiced other lines in case of this mishap so chances were slim on our performance being flawless. I gave an annoyed smile, doing a courtesy at him, "My Prickly Romeo, you really shouldn't have. Does thou want to piss me off?"

He took my hand and kissed it after I joined him on the stage, "How could I truly resist a romance such as this being performed?"

"Oh, are you in for a treat, My Darling Lovebird," Smirking at him, I shot my hand away from him. Taking a calm, deep breath as I watched Mr. Osborn eye us.

"I do hope everyone knows their lines," She breathed, directing her focus to me, "Especially you as your role was drastically changed. You're all good, yes? I know you're amazing with memory, but I have to double-check."

I smiled warmly at her, hugging her with reassurance. Drawing attention to Anthien because I'd done my own little game. I had a feeling he'd do this, so I did some script editing, "Oh, I very much know my lines, I'm more worried about poor Romeo over here. Are we sure he knows his lines?"

"Don't worry about me, I practiced," He grinned deviously at me, watching me walk away, but yanking me back by my wrist as he kissed my ear, "Don't think I didn't see the script change, My Little Plaything. I left you a gift at your makeup desk, I think you'll want to look more into who 'Claims' you next time."

This made me look at him with a strange look, his smile growing from ear to ear as he waved over to Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Hayes. I looked over to them, heading over to where he was speaking as Mr. Lincoln hollered, pale-skinned as if he knew what was being spoken about, "Lunar, do not!"

"Keep him blocked," I hissed at Mathis as I lifted the papers that were on my makeup desk, flipping through them quickly. Mathis stayed in front of the door, watching me as I flipped through everything. At first, it just looked like silly, old papers. However, it escalated my heart rate at some phrases and paintings.

"Lunar ---," Mr. Lincoln pained, my hand tightening and loosening the more I flipped and read the papers. I kept rereading, analyzing every word and letter. It made my world spin, my stomach flipped, and my heart ached. My blood became vile and poisonous.

"It-It says you were married," I stared at the papers, my jaw tight, "with kids. Is that true?"

"Lunar, please, let me expla--," He became so hesitant and distant, it only sounded like he was going to feed me bullshit. Not a damn chance.

"IS IT TRUE?!" I wrenched and glared at him, clenching my jaw so angrily that it hurt, my yelling and tone even getting Mathis to flinch. She stepped back but remained to block him in case he tried to come near me. I couldn't tell if it was for my safety or his. I rarely got tempered, last time I was this pissed off I put some guy in the hospital.

"Y-Y-Yes," Mr. Lincoln whispered, his hands were shaking, one of them digging his talons into the wall and loosening repeatedly, "B-But I can explain--"

"Explain what, Ryker?" I started to whine at him, he didn't have my respect for this shit. He didn't deserve his titles, or my adoration, "Explain to me that you were married and had kids? Explain to me that there was a fire, they died, Mr. Tyler Hayes saved you? It's all fucking here in the history papers! Nothing more to fucking explain other than we weren't supposed to be together! You were supposed to die with a family you were never planning to tell me about."

He'd married a girl and they had three kids; a set of triplets that died at the age of six. They lived in some little house surrounded by tall grass. A fire started because it was a horrible drought, and some kids were playing near the home. They were out late at night, got spooked, and ran off after dropping a torch, he was the only one to make it out because Mr. Hayes pulled him out. They had no time to rescue the rest because the roof collapsed, crushed them, and burned them to death.

I felt bad for what he went through and ached for the lives lost, but it didn't excuse him for covering this up and hiding it from me. This should have been told to me in the beginning before Claiming me. I had a right to know and decide on this and he ripped that from me!

"I was, Lunar!" Ryker pleaded, speaking hushedly and glancing at Mathis, "I swear to Lady Elysium, Kitten, I was going to tell you!"

"When, Ryker? Fucking when?"

"Wh-When you were ready," He grew quiet, avoiding eye contact. This was the lie and my breaking point. Secrets are lies. This sentence was a lie. We were a lie. Goddamnit was my blood boiling.

"When I was ready or when you were ready?" I threw the papers at him. He flinched at the papers, raising his hands in defense to try and catch them but failing. His whole body was tense, sweating and trembling.

"...Wh-When I was ready," He swallowed, trying to find out how to say things, "...t-t-to move on properly."

"'Properly.'" I nodded, blinking at him as he looked at me, giving a curt nod as my teeth bit together forcefully, "Nice to know, Ryker. Nice to fucking know."

"Lunar, please, let me explain," He pushed. I was having known of it. He had a chance to speak about this to me the entire relationship but said nothing. Now it was goddamn my turn to order him around, I was done being silenced and the well-behavior Subby Bitch Boy.

"'Properly!'" I repeated, my pupils were daggers, stabbing him over and over and over, "You weren't supposed to be with me, EVER! You were supposed to fucking die! You were never going to fucking tell me! Tell me that I wasn't the one you wanted! You fucking lied this entire time while I was nothing but goddamn honest and loyal! I did whatever you wanted when you wanted! All I wanted was honesty, no secrets!"

"Goddamn it, Lunar, let me explain! For fucks sake shut the motherfuck up and let me fucking talk!" His tone was terrifying, turning Mathis paler than our script paper as the fear he had become volcanic anger. His eyes were cold and dark, his canine's sharper than all the previous times I'd seen them, and his hand cracked the doorframe. His hands clasped over his mouth as soon as the words and rage slipped out, his eyes wide with terror and misery, "K-Kitten, I---"

I stepped back when he reached for me, trembling as I held the mark on my throat. It was burning like a hot pan of burning vegetable oil had been placed there, my throat giving weak whimpers out from how bad it hurt. I had no more fight in me, I was dizzy and faint, ready to collapse. The universe around me was distant and fucky.

He froze where he stood, looking me over, staring as Matty came over to me. She took over the situation, daring herself because she was petrified her words would escalate the situation. I leaned against the table, my grip tight on my neck as she hid me behind her, "I-I think you should leave. Lunar and I have a show we need to rehearse for tonight, a-and there's been enough trouble."

***

Ryker's POV

"I-I should have told him when you told me to," I hit my head on the dashboard of the Cadillac before burying my face into my hands, my claws digging into my scalp. Kitten had every right to know, and every liberty to be as pissed off as he was. In his eyes, we were forbidden. To him, we were manipulating the laws of our existence. He was seeing himself as some dirty homewrecker and a fool.

What I hated most was the way he said my name and the way he looked at me. All the devotion and love turned to hatred and hollowness within a blink of an eye. I'd always wished for him to say my first name, to speak to me as an equal... Now, I was lower the damn dirt on our shoes, and I belonged there for this bullshit I caused.

"Yes, you should have," Tyler replied bluntly, watching as people entered the theatre, with no empathy whatsoever, "I told you this would happen if you didn't speak the truth. This is your own doing."

"I was hoping to forget, alright?" I grimaced, leaning against the car door, and staring at the theatre. The Cadillac was parked in a shaded spot where it was difficult to see from the theatre doors but standing by the car we could see inside perfectly. Lunar and Ms. Mathis were next to the doors, sitting on the ground. They'd stand up every so often to welcome those who entered, handing pamphlets to the guests. Lunar was slow, always looking at the ground and never smiling, even when Lady Leville tried to crack a joke. He kept rubbing his neck like it was bugging him.

I couldn't figure out why it was bothering him. I felt like I should know the answer, but I couldn't place it. Was he rethinking our relationship? I don't blame him.

"His mark is trying to reject him," Tyler soughed, reading my thoughts and posture, "Your lash out of power has confused his mark into thinking you are rejecting him. If we don't fix this issue, it'll grow far worse."

Those words only made me feel weak, hunching further into the seat. It was told our temper reaching a certain level manipulates the Claimed Marking and turns it into venom. It happens when the magic grows confused by your rage and believes you've changed your mind about the soul you bonded yourself to. It then acts as a poison, killing the body slowly because it deems them unworthy of life for failing to be the perfect Bond.

"He won't speak or even let me speak, Tyler," I ached, my throat felt like stone. Lunar said Jax held a powerful grudge, but he really undermined his own abilities. We had evidence to prove he was still holding a grudge over an old friend of his over some silly drawing from elementary school... I'm a lost cause. Part of me wanted to give up and leave him alone because my fate was sealed within his mind. However, my heartbeat for him was too much to stay away from. He could hate me all he wanted, but he can kiss my ass if he thinks I'm going anywhere.

"Then call Jax. He knows about being Claimed," Tye responded with a shrug, I didn't need to face him to know he rolled his eyes, boredom in his voice. We'd been through this a thousand times with others, he was probably secretly amused to see it happening to me, "I highly doubt he's mad enough to let his friend die."

***

Jax's POV

Leaning against the door frame, I watched Mathis come running over to me, "Ryker called me, how's he holdin' up?"

"N-Not very good but he's fighting it," She looked at Lunar. He was dealing with Anthien's bullshit and coughing up a storm. I could tell Ms. Osborne had taken him out of the Play because he wasn't dressed while everyone else was, "I-I don't know what's happening. H-He was fine this morning, b-but now he's sick."

"He's dying, Matty," I shrugged nonchalantly, probably shouldn't have been so blunt, "Ryker said his anger escaped from him. Improperly controlling it can confuse a Claiming Mark and make it think the Vampire rejected the Claimed Human. He has to bite him and help the Mark understand or Lunar will just get worse."

This wasn't the first time I'd seen this. I've seen too much shit for a fresh Vamp. Can't I live in peace? At least I can help prevent the death of this Claimed... Even if he's pissed me off and I want to deck him in the jaw.

"I-Is that why you're here?" Mat questioned, her hand rubbing and gripping the other. She was close to crying, her eyes glued to Lune as she swallowed and bit her lip, "H-He won't stop rubbing the mark, and he keeps coughing."

"Still mad at him, but not that mad," I reassured, pulling her into a tight hug. Ryker and Tyler stood at the doorframe as Mathis brought me over to where Lunar was sitting, moving her stuff so I could sit with him, "Hey, Shithead."

Hayes watched contently, unbothered and unphased. Lincoln was a nervous wreck, hiding it but his aura was screaming in agony and stress.

Floid wasn't even able to give a retort back, not only from coughing but because he was hurting...physically and mentally. He finally managed out through his coughing, the sentence alone making him start hacking all over again, "Wh-What are you doing here...?"

I noticed a few eyes on us so I stood up, holding my hand out to him, "How about we talk somewhere where a Play isn't about to be performed. I don't think people are going to be too happy about interruptions."

"Goddess Elysium, I thought somebody would never ask, I want to get away from Anthien's gawking eyes!" He took my hand, hitting my back repeatedly as I threw him up and over my shoulder, "I can fucking walk!"

"Too late, Princess Peach, I'm kidnapping you," I mocked, walking up the aisle. I wasn't going to let him be a slowpoke, especially when I knew how Anthien was. He was a psychopath. His aura was spewing out his thoughts on how Lunar was right now. He was turned on and thinking about too many disgusting things that made me sick to my core. I was taking us out of here for our sake, and because if I stayed near that sickening atmosphere I was going to vomit. Sometimes I hated being an Aura Reader...

"Ya know, Bowser," Looney Toons retorted through convulses, "If you wanted to marry me and replace Mario, all ya had to do was just ask."

"No, thanks," I laughed as I sat him down once we were out of the theatre, sitting on a bench with a roll of my eyes, "Princess Peach isn't my type. Not to mention she's a child, I'm an adult. I'm good."

"In 1985, her initial release date, she's fifteen-years-old, but in modern appearance, she's become twenty-five," He leaned against me, letting me drape my arm around him, "Thanks for coming... Even though you don't get to see me dressed as a girl."

"My point still stands, aging a child character up doesn't make it morally alright to sexualize them. Fiction affects reality, anybody who argues is condoning pedophilia and can die pissed," I spoke confidently and loudly, making damn sure I was heard. I just hoped he wasn't seen as if he were condoning the info he spoke of, he was just one to say facts or information he'd learned. He's a Geek that way. I earned a pathetic punch to my shoulder with my answering the other half of his response, "Besides, what do you call what you're wearing?"

"You're an asshole, Jax," He replied, sitting up and coughing onto the ground. A couple of people walking by became alarmed as soon as he coughed blood onto the ground, bringing my attention to getting him to an alley for more privacy.

"Ya know, I heard some conspiracy theory about Romeo and Juliet," I side-eyed, watching him, carefully. Telling this story felt wrong, even with Ryker's permission. He was the one to tell me to say it, but it still felt disrespectful. I think I felt immoral about it because he asked me to tell it without saying actual names, and in my head that made it feel like a joke or a parody.

"Oh, good Elysium," Lune shook his head, "Do I want to know?"

"Well, I mean, it's more of a story I heard and wanted to tell you about," I started as we sat down on the ground, rubbing his arm as he rested against me, "The story is about a young couple, a little older than Shakespeare's version, of course...and not so happy either."

"Was the original ever happy, though?"

"Shh, just listen. In this one, Romeo lived a content life. He was almost happy with his life. However, his family didn't seem to be happy with him. They wanted him to marry, while he did not. Then there was Juliet. She was raised in a strict home, doing what she was told. Over time the families found one another, finding that the two seemed like a perfect match. They saw them as perfect because the two had become very, very close best friends. So, the families arranged marriage, without the consent of the two souls...," I watched as he played with my fingers, my irises wavering around his settled aura, "Neither of them knew about the marriage and were going to church. When entering the church, the whole town had been sitting in wait with a priest in a wedding formal, waiting for them to step up. Turning to leave, the families stood in front of the doors, blocking the way out. 'You either do this or be disowned from us and the town.' Neither of the friends could speak or argue. How could their families do this? They weren't wanting to marry, especially not to one another."

"That's depressing," He wrinkled his nose, clearing his throat. The action had his aura shaken and aching, "Bigger twist than the original, though."

I rested my chin on his head, using my out atmosphere to calm his, "Knowing their place, the two friends headed for the altar, every step growing more pained than the last. Once married, it was off to the Honeymoon room, where they were ushered to have their happy moment. Due to the family knowing the friends' thoughts, they were told a doctor would check if they did have their happy moment--"

"That's gross, I don't need to know that information," He perked up at me, his face twisted in disgust, "But what period is this supposed to be in? People don't do that anymore, at least not around here."

"I'm going to say," My face went pale. Ryker had never told me his age. I thought about the way he use to talk and dress, swallowing as I bit my tongue, "the 1700s...?"

Ryker is going to punch me for that one.

"Big oof," Looney Toons chortled a little, mostly because I was laughing at my demise. I've known about Lincoln and Hayes for years, seen articles, and all that jazz. Things about them were dated way back so I truly think Ryker is from the 1700s. I'm not sure about Tyler, though... He's older, that I know. My laughter only grew as Lunar teased, "Poor Romeo old-old. Can't catch a break."