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Julian had seen a lot in his years spent on the path, but this was easily the weirdest place he had ever set foot in. And well, maybe he should have just listened to his gut and turned away, but now it was too late. His horse Pegasus had been taken to the inn’s stable even though he had been told that there would be no room for him.He didn’t like any of this and to top the list of red flags off the villagers were less than forthcoming with any kind of information about the monster they needed him to kill.Really this whole thing was a bad idea and he knew it, but he had been run out of so many towns by now that he needed the coin desperately. His armour had seen better days and his weapons could use some work too.Not to mention that he would love to spend just one night not camping in the wilds. It was getting late in the year and fine, he wasn’t actually getting cold, but the temperatures were dropping significantly.So against his better judgement he was wandering through a thickening forest, searching for an unidentified monster in hopes of getting paid. He wasn’t sure why he was even thinking they would actually pay him, but if they didn’t he at least had a proper reason to “borrow” a few things. When he saw a clearing coming up ahead of him, he pulled his silver sword and hadn’t even reached the edge of the treeline when something crashed into his side. He was thrown into a tree with so much force he could hear the wood crack when he made contact and for a moment the breath was stolen from his lungs. Just as he got back to his feet another impact catapulted him into the clearing, his sword ending up halfway between him and the trees.He quickly turned into the direction the attack had come from, but a growl from his right made him curse under his breath. Of course there was more than one, what else had he expected? And the worst part was he still hadn’t seen what was lurking in the shadows.This time he was prepared for the attack and jumped out of the way, shortening the distance to his lost sword. Turning again found him face to face with a wyvern, just about to take flight. He quickly blasted it with Aard and used its distraction to retrieve his weapon.A loud shriek caught his attention and he realised the second wyvern had just thrown itself into a dive aimed at him. He waited as long as he could before blasting the wyvern out of the air using its own momentum against it and it crashed into the trees with another shriek.Standing still even for the short time it had taken the wyvern to fall from the sky, had left him open for the second wyvern to attack and even though he jumped aside, he could feel sharp claws digging into his back. He hissed at the sudden burst of pain, but turned and tried his luck on a wild swing. Missing spectacularly, he realised too late that he was now between the two monsters.Apparently the one he had blasted out of the air had recovered and he felt another sharp burst of pain when it collided with his back. Before he had a chance to react he found himself lying on the ground with the wyvern on top of him, its teeth buried deep into his shoulder, which forced pained sounds from both of them and the creature pulled back quickly.Its confusion at the pain gave Julian enough room to move and bury his sword in its neck, almost decapitating it. The wyvern let out another pained shriek and its companion jumped to its aid, only to be met with another blast of Aard.Julian managed to pull his sword back and he was on his feet before either creature had recovered. His vision was slightly blurry, but he forced himself to chase the injured one to finish it off. When he missed another swing because his vision started doubling and he stumbled, needing to sidestep to stay on his feet, he missed his window and the second wyvern was on him again.The Quen he had pulled up on pure reflex shattered on the wyvern’s second attack and its teeth found their mark in Julian’s left arm, which he had raised to blast the creature away again. Now with the creature clinging to him he raised his sword and decapitated it.Julian dropped his sword to be able to force the dead wyvern’s mouth open and drop the head, before he fell to his knees. Picking his sword back up was easier than getting to his feet, but there was still the second wyvern and even though he was sure it wouldn’t survive, he had to make sure.Slowly he made his way to where he could still faintly hear the creature and finished what he had started. Grabbing the head, he slowly made his way back over to where he had dropped the second one and before he could pick it up, his legs gave out again.His hand went to where his potion bag was attached to his belt and he cursed when he realised that the vials inside had been crushed.To help ease his frustration he let out a loud scream and it may not change the fact that he had lost his last potions, but it helped nonetheless. After another moment of just breathing and hoping that his system would work through the wyvern-poison on its own, he forced himself back to his feet and picked up both of his trophies. If it had taken him a while to find the clearing, it took him even longer to make it back to the village and when he arrived something seemed to have changed drastically.“He’s back!”“The witcher’s back!” Voices were calling and suddenly he was surrounded by people.“What-?” It was all he managed to say before something struck him in the back of the head and everything went black.
Opening his eyes was a slow and arduous task, but when he finally managed it Julian was confused. The sun was setting and he seemed to be standing on some kind of platform that he definitely had not seen when he entered the village. His arms were twisted around a pole behind his back and his hands were tied with ropes biting into his skin at the slightest movement.“Gather around people, it’s time! Ah, you’re awake, just in time.”Julian looked down and saw the two dead wyverns lying at his feet, which were tied to the pole as well. His gaze slowly moved to the man that had just spoken and he cursed silently when he saw the man’s clothing. It was some kind of ceremonial robe and he was carrying a book that Julian was sure promised nothing good.Quickly the rest of the villagers gathered in front of the platform Julian was on and he was surprised to see someone stepping closer with a lit torch.Suddenly his muddled brain made sense of everything and he felt the sharp sting of fear for the first time in years. He wasn’t just on a platform, this was a pyre and they were about to burn him alive. The realisation kicked his instincts into overdrive and he started twisting his hands in a desperate attempt to free them.“The time has finally come!” The villagers cheered as the man’s gaze landed on Julian. “You, witcher! You will help us fulfil our ritual and rid this world of monsters once and for all.”“What?”The man turned away from Julian to address the rest of the villagers.“As the ritual demands we have gathered the remains of a monster killed by another! And now we will be burning those together with the surviving monster at dusk right before a full moon!”The villagers cheered and a low excited hum started coming from the crowd.The man’s attention moved to the book in his hands and he started reciting something in a language Julian didn’t understand.His vision was getting worse again as his body burned through the last reserves of his adrenaline-induced energy and he had to fight just to keep his eyes open, nevermind trying to understand what was being said around him. The light spot he could just barely make out in the crowd came closer and suddenly it was spreading rapidly around him. His mind didn’t have time to catch up with what had happened before his world went dark again.
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Eskel had been on his way to Kaer Morhen when he reached a small village. It was slowly getting dark and he decided to try his luck at getting a room for the night. His chances weren’t good, but this village was small so they might not see as many visitors. Before he even had a chance to locate a potential inn, he heard a loud voice.“Take this sacrifice and rid us from the monsters of this world! Light the pyre!”Eskel left Scorpion and hurried to follow the noises.When he reached a big square the fire was already spreading quickly and Eskel didn’t even think before he sent an Aard at the flames, extinguishing them in an instant. The crowd turned and their angry faces paled as soon as they located him as the source of their interruption.“No! How dare you?! This is a sacred ritual and you just ruined it!” It was the same voice that had led him to the square and now the man was coming closer to Eskel, anger pouring off of him in heavy waves. “You will pay for this, monster!”The man raised a hand brandishing a dagger and Eskel easily deflected the blow, disarmed the man and knocked him unconscious before any of the bystanders realised what was happening. Loud gasps went through the crowd and they froze, watching and waiting in fear.Usually Eskel tried to make himself look less intimidating, but right now their being afraid of him was probably the only way to get the tied up man to safety. Eskel growled, pulled the man to his feet and pressed the dagger against his throat.“Cut the man loose and bring him to me.”The villagers hurried to obey and Eskel watched closely, just barely managing to hide his surprise when he saw that their sacrifice was a witcher. A cat witcher.“Where are his things?” Another man ran off and returned with a grey horse that was carrying the witcher’s bags.“Is that everything?”He needed to make sure because he couldn’t risk letting go of his hostage. Not that he couldn’t fight his way out of this, but he would rather not fight the entire village, while needing to keep an eye on an unconscious witcher.“Y-yes… I took his horse when he arrived and didn’t touch any of his things.”“His weapons?”The man nervously put a bag he had been carrying over his shoulder, down in front of Eskel.“They’re all here. I swear we didn’t take anything…”Eskel nodded and considered his options, before deciding on his next action.“I’m letting him go now. Then I will take your prisoner and we are leaving. You will not bother us or you will regret it, understood?”The villagers were quick to nod and Eskel pushed his hostage away from himself.Picking up the bag with the other witcher’s weapons and tying it to the grey horse was one quick movement and he called Scorpion with a loud whistle. He secured the grey horse’s reins to Scorpion, picked up the unconscious witcher and got them into his stallion’s saddle without much effort. They left the village as fast as Eskel dared, he didn’t want to push Scorpion too much, but he didn’t trust the villagers. He also needed to check the Witcher in his arms properly, because now that he didn’t have to pay attention to a crowd of people he could smell blood and something else.When he finally dared to slow the horses down and take a break it was already dark. He carefully put the cat on the ground and dug out his potion’s bag. A relieved sigh escaped him when the cat reacted to the Golden Oriole Eskel slowly poured into his mouth, even if it was just him swallowing the potion.With careful movements he undressed the still unconscious witcher, so he could check for any injuries that might need stitching. There were fresh wounds on his back, made by claws if he had to guess, and nasty looking bites on his shoulder and left arm.Eskel cleaned the wounds efficiently and decided on risking giving the other a Swallow to help with the healing. The wounds weren’t bleeding too badly anymore, so he shouldn’t need Kiss, hopefully.He kept a vial of White Honey within easy reach, while he inspected the marks on the other’s back again. Swallow was already showing an effect and Eskel was relieved to see that he wouldn’t need stitches. The bite on his shoulder would definitely scar and the one on his left arm had already been reduced to mere angry marks.Eskel only allowed himself to relax when he noticed the cat’s breathing getting steadier and he bandaged his injuries before leaving him to make at least a small fire. There was still this lurking feeling of unease that refused to let him go and Eskel knew he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight. A soft groan pulled him out of his meditation and instantly his gaze moved to where the cat was still lying.When the other’s eyes slowly opened, Eskel’s breath got caught in his throat. Yes, he knew the cats had different eye colours than the wolves, but the shade of blue that landed on him was unlike any other he had ever seen in all his years on the path.The moment the cat’s consciousness caught up with what he was seeing, he was on his feet and bolting into the forest around their little campsite. Eskel cursed and hurried after the cat.It didn’t take him long to catch up with the brown-haired witcher and before he could really think about it, Eskel had wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s waist, pulling him flush against his chest.“Shh, I’m not going to hurt you.” Eskel tried to soothe the near feral cat in his arms, who was trying to scratch him with the limited movement he had. “Please, I really don’t want to hurt you, but you’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t calm down.”The cat kept squirming in his arms, throwing his head back onto Eskel’s shoulder and he didn’t know where the impulse came from, but Eskel turned his head and gently pressed his lips against the cat’s temple. He quickly pulled back the tiniest bit, when the squirming lessened and tried again.“You can relax, I will keep you safe…” His voice was merely a whisper and yet it seemed to reach the cat, who slowly turned his head and his blue eyes caught Eskel’s amber ones.“Promise?”Even though it was nothing more than a breath, Eskel knew it was so much more than a throwaway question. He took a deep breath and pressed a soft kiss against the cat’s forehead.“I promise.”
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Eskel was woken by a soft whimpering noise and he instantly checked the bedroll next to his. As expected Julian was shaking, curled into a tight ball and making himself as small as possible.He sat up and gently called out to the sleeping cat. By now he knew better than to touch Julian to wake him, the first two close calls were more than enough to learn the lesson.“Wolfling?”Julian’s movement slowed for a moment, before another whine escaped him.“Wolfling, wake up.” He raised his voice just the slightest bit, but it was enough and the cat shot up into a sitting position, only to start swaying at the sudden movement.Now that he was awake, Eskel had no qualms about touching Julian and he quickly pulled him into his arms, whispering into the cat’s ear.“It’s ok. I’m here and you’re safe.”Julian slumped against him and sighed.“I woke you up again… Sorry…”Eskel pressed a gentle kiss against Julian’s temple and just as he had hoped the cat relaxed further into his hold.“Shh, it’s alright, Wolfling.”Carefully guiding them both back down, so they were lying back to chest, Eskel tightened his hold on the cat and gently threaded their fingers together.“Go back to sleep, I’m here.” They packed up camp early in the morning, after a quick breakfast and only once the sun had fully risen did Eskel ask: “What was it about?”He didn’t need to specify and Julian sighed, his head dropping and he avoided looking at Eskel.“The village…”Carefully manoeuvring Scorpion closer to Pegasus, Eskel reached out and took one of Julian’s hands.“It’s ok, they can’t hurt you anymore.”“But if you hadn’t been there…”Eskel had to suppress a flinch at that, he didn’t want to think about that specific what-if.“Hush, I was there and I won’t let them near you again.”That got him a hopeful look from those blue eyes, Eskel swore he could drown in, if he only looked long enough. He squeezed the cat’s hand reassuringly and Julian all but fell against him, only staying in the saddle, because Eskel quickly steadied him.“I wouldn’t mind taking a short break. How about you?”The cat’s body grew tense and he sat up properly again.“We can keep going. I know we’re on a tight schedule.”Eskel let go of Julian’s hand and brushed a few loose strands out of his face. Instantly the cat pressed into the touch and Eskel indulged him by gently cupping his cheek.“Don’t worry about it. I can always send word that I’m wintering somewhere else.”That got him a low wordless grumble and he could only sigh.“I’m not leaving you alone. Especially so close to winter. And I really wouldn’t be any faster without you, if anything I might be slower because I would be worrying about you.”A faint blush spread across Julian’s face and a soft purr escaped him, before he slowly pulled away from Eskel.“I really don’t mind if we keep going…” He added, almost too quiet even for witcher hearing: “This helped, thank you…”Instead of replying Eskel gave his companion a smile and then they continued on their path. * With how close they were cutting it, Eskel decided to avoid towns or villages unless they really didn’t have another choice. But between the two of them they managed to use their rations sparingly in favour of hunting and only quickly stopped in one village to stock up supplies they couldn’t do without.Every night Julian left their camp to collect anything useful and light that they would need at the keep, even though Eskel had insisted that he didn’t have to do that. By now Julian had stopped reacting to that, instead putting in extra effort to catch any prey-animals that he came across for them. * Julian’s nightmares seemed to get worse the colder it got and Eskel decided one night to not just place their bedrolls next to each other, like he had been doing for a while now, but to pull the cat into his arms before they went to sleep. He just barely managed to suppress a relieved sigh when the cat turned in his hold and buried his face in Eskel’s neck with a soft purr.It was the first night that the cat didn’t have any nightmares and both of them woke up in the morning still curled up together and better rested than they had been in a while. From then on they spent their nights sharing a bedroll with Eskel staying awake until Julian’s breathing had evened out. * They had almost reached the base of the mountain and with enough time to make it to Kaer Morhen before the first storm. It would be close, but they could manage it.Eskel was caught in thoughts about the remainder of their travels, when a soft noise had him stop Scorpion. Next to him Julian had already pulled out one of his hidden daggers, snarling at the tree line slightly in front of them.“Well, will you look at that? A pair of travellers that want to donate their coin to us.”A low voice said with amusement colouring the men’s tone. Chuckles answered him and Eskel saw a group of bandits stepping out of the forest.“Are you sure you want to try that one?”Eskel tried, already knowing that they would have to fight their way out of this. Even from the treeline they were easily recognisable as witchers and the bandits had approached them anyway. They were desperate and now it would very likely cost them their lives.The two witchers dismounted their horses just in time for Eskel to pull up a Quen, blocking two arrows aimed at them. Julian let out an angry hiss and the moment Eskel dropped his shield a dagger was flying towards the treeline.Eskel couldn’t tell if it had hit the cat’s target, because the first bandits had reached them and he had to parry a swing aimed at his chest. Before Eskel could engage him further two more bandits joined their fight.They tried to space themselves out so he wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on all of them, but Eskel quickly pretended to attack the bandit on his right and then used the momentum of the bandit on his left running at him to throw the man over his shoulder and straight into his fellow bandit. Both went down with pained groans and Eskel blocked another strike from the third bandit, easily disarming the man.When the man instantly tried to attack again, Eskel didn’t even have time to think about his next move before the man fell to the ground face first, revealing a dagger buried in his neck. Eskel’s eyes landed on Julian, who was still kneeling over a dead bandit that had attacked him.The cat gave him a look that Eskel hadn’t seen before and for a moment he worried about if the ambush had triggered him. Eskel quickly turned to make sure none of the bandits would try to sneak up on them, but he got distracted when Julian was suddenly right in front of him. Blood was splattered over the cat’s face and armour, his hands stained with red but gentle when they touched Eskel to check for injuries.Once he was apparently satisfied with his inspection Julian’s hands cupped Eskel’s face and Eskel was caught off guard when the cat’s lips pressed carefully against his. It was soft, a flutter of a touch and over before Eskel had a chance to react.Julian pulled back suddenly and his eyes were wide in shock as he quickly backed away from Eskel. The wolf just barely managed to grab the other’s wrists before he was out of reach and Julian started mumbling:“I’m so sorry… Shouldn’t have done that, I know… I’ll-”Eskel interrupted him by gently tugging on his wrists, which had the cat stumbling back against him. When he leaned his forehead against the cat’s, he could feel Julian slowly relaxing.“Wolfling, please don’t tell me you’re sorry. Not if this wasn’t just a spur of the moment decision.”Julian gasped, looking unsure of what he should say, but Eskel didn’t wait for him to speak.“You don’t have to say anything right now. We can talk about this once we’re safe for the winter.”He pulled back just enough to kiss Julian’s forehead and the cat gave him a shy smile.
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Vesemir had informed them that the first storm of the season would be upon them soon and there was still no sign of Eskel. And Aiden could tell that it had all the wolves on edge.Even though the few remaining tables were not only used by wolves, but by a quite colourful collection of witchers, Aiden could still remember his first winter spent with the wolves, where the only outsiders were Coën and Aiden himself. Though the griffin had been basically adopted into the wolf-school years before Lambert had entertained the idea of Aiden being more than just an acquaintance.The year after Lambert had dragged Aiden along for the first time, Gweld had brought his lover as well. And considering Serrit was a viper, he had earned just as much brotherly teasing as he had dished out to Lambert before.This year Auckes and Zofia had joined them as well as Letho, who had brought Gaetan with him much to Aiden’s delight. Coën and Triss had cheated by portaling close to the keep and Yennefer had done the same, leaving Geralt to brave the Killer on his own.At least the two sorceresses had taken it upon themselves to get provisions up to the keep, which meant that the witchers didn’t have to worry about the additional weight.And even though their numbers had increased the absence of one of the wolves was more than obvious. Aiden just hoped he was alright and would join them or at least send a message. Because if he didn’t the wolves would spend the whole winter moping around the keep and that was no fun for anyone.Geralt, who was already starting down this road, had spent the last few days in the tower overlooking the valley and was only convinced to leave when Yennefer all but guilt-tripped him into joining them for meals. Yennefer was about to get up from her seat to go and fetch Geralt when the door to the Great Hall opened and the white-haired witcher appeared on his own.“I saw someone on the trail.”If he hadn’t already gotten all eyes on himself thanks to his quite dramatic entrance, this simple sentence would’ve done the trick. Before anyone could ask what they all wanted to know, Geralt spoke up again.“Should be here by nightfall.”Lambert was on his feet and growled: “Did you see who it is?”“Pretty sure it’s Eskel and Scorpion, don’t know the other.”“Other?”It was a surprised shout from a few different people, but Aiden just grinned:“You act like half of you didn’t bring someone here for winter.” They spent the rest of the day in a weird state of anticipation and hope, but there was also the smallest bit of doubt: Because what if Geralt was wrong?Aiden attempted to distract Lambert, but his wolf was too unfocused for most things unless Aiden wanted to risk him injuring himself. Or others… ‘Others’ was a strangely real possibility, considering the other wolves seemed to be in the same state as Lambert.Vesemir even dismissed them from training earlier than usual and as far as Aiden knew that had never happened before.Geralt and Lambert took up position at the gates, just so they would be the first to know when their brother finally arrived. And this time both of them refused to leave their post for food, even though Yennefer and Aiden tried their best. Aiden had decided to linger around the gate anyway and so he was actually the one to open the gate when Lambert shouted:“About time, Bastard! Couldn’t keep it in your pants long enough to get here earlier?”As soon as the gate was open Aiden froze in shock. Eskel had indeed brought someone, but it wasn’t someone Aiden had expected to see. Like ever again, if he was honest.“Julek?”The brown-haired witcher, standing next to Eskel, flinched and Eskel looked from one of them to the other with a raised eyebrow.Before anyone could say anything the rest of the witchers arrived at the gate and Gaetan called:“Kitten?”He sounded just as surprised as Aiden and Julian, because it had to be him, flinched again. Gaetan was in front of Julian and reached out to touch his face, but stopped himself right before he could make contact.“But he said you were dead… He brought one of your daggers as proof, claiming he couldn’t get your medallion…”That had Aiden moving and he grabbed Julian’s right arm, pushing his sleeve up to reveal a leather bracelet, which he all but ripped open to reveal an engraved ring of silver embedded into the inside of the bracelet.Julian had stepped back from both cats and only Eskel’s hand on the small of his back stopped him from turning around and fleeing back down the mountain.That reaction had Aiden on edge and Gaetan looked at the younger cat with clear worry in his eyes.“Kitten?”Instead of answering them, Julian turned to Eskel and whispered:“I can’t… Please…”Eskel turned to the cat and leaned in to press their foreheads together.“I promised you that you’re safe here. And I intend on keeping that promise.”“Why wouldn’t you be safe with us?”Aiden asked and he felt Letho stepping up to Gaetan, providing silent support. Lambert was hovering next to him and Aiden knew that he was trying to do the same in his own way.It was Vesemir that broke the awkward tension simply by clearing his throat.“Maybe we should let you two get settled in your rooms first. There will be plenty of time for conversation once we’re not all standing around in the cold.”Geralt stepped up to the two newcomers and took Scorpion’s reins from Eskel, who gave him a grateful smile. It took softly whispered encouragement from Eskel for Julian to release Pegasus’ reins and the others watched as Eskel led his companion inside, keeping one of his hands on him the whole time. Aiden turned to Gaetan as soon as the other two were out of immediate earshot, the bracelet still clutched tightly in his hands.“What the fuck?”“Is it really him?”“This is definitely the same bracelet I gave him after he passed his trials…”“But then…”“The fucking bastard lied!”“What the fuck are you talking about?”Lambert interrupted and both cats turned to the witchers still standing around them.“Remember when old Gux’ joined us three years ago?”Vesemir nodded and something dark flashed across his face as he remembered the state his lover had been in.“Well, before we left for Kaer Morhen one of our brethren returned to the Caravan and told us that he’d met another one of us on his way. He claimed they were ambushed on a cliffside and sadly our brother was lost during the fight… The bastard brought us one of Julian’s daggers…”“He swore my Kitten was dead…” Gaetan’s voice was nothing more than a growl and his eyes promised murder.Letho carefully laid a hand on his shoulder and Gaetan’s body lost the tiniest bit of tension as he leaned into the viper.“And you are sure he is not a doppler?”Aiden held the bracelet out for Vesemir to check.“It has silver hidden inside and I did those engravings myself. A doppler wouldn’t have known that, because I never told Julek about them…”
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Eskel hadn’t even thought about leaving Julian in a separate room and only hesitated once they were already standing in his.“Sorry, I kind of presumed you’d want to stay with me… But if you want your own room, we can definitely find one for you.”The cat instantly shook his head and threw himself at Eskel.“No, please, I don’t want to be alone.”Eskel was aware that they were developing a very unhealthy relationship, but right now he couldn’t care less. So he wrapped his arms around the cat and pulled him even closer.He buried his nose in the crook of Julian’s neck and took in deep lungfuls of his scent, letting the knowledge that they were both home and safe settle some of his nerves. Julian melted against him and he felt the cat’s hands clinging to the back of his cloak.They stood like that for what felt like hours and even when they moved apart Eskel kept Julian safely wrapped in his arms.The cat looked around the room and suddenly let out a small distressed noise. Eskel tensed instantly in response and tried to locate what had upset the cat.“We forgot our bags…”Julian said softly and Eskel deflated slightly with a softly huffed breath. He dropped his forehead against the cat’s and gave him a smile.“Don’t scare me like that, Wolfling.”Julian gave him a bashful smile and a slight blush coloured his cheeks.“Sorry…”“Silly little thing.”Eskel brushed his lips against the cat’s temple and moved them over to the bed, where he gently deposited Julian. The cat gave him a questioning look, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes.“You get comfortable and I’ll go to get our stuff.”“But I can help!”Julian was about to get up again, but Eskel gently pushed him back into a sitting position.“Do you really think you’ll get out of answering a lot of questions for the second time today if you’re caught outside?”Julian’s shoulders dropped and there was an unhappy frown pulling at his lips.“I’m sorry.”“Stop apologising, Wolfling. What happened to you is not your fault and I’m not blaming you for reacting the way you are. Just let me get our stuff and some food and then we’ll rest. The others can wait one more night before they get their answers.”Julian leaned up and Eskel didn’t even think about it before he united their lips in a soft kiss. His hands cupped the cat’s face and he moved closer to the cat, who met him halfway and both of them let out soft rumbles that were caught in their kiss. One of Julian’s hands got tangled up in Eskel’s hair and the other found an anchor in the other witcher’s waist, subconsciously pulling him closer.The pull wasn’t that strong, but Eskel’s body followed it and suddenly they lost their balance and fell backwards onto the bed. Eskel managed to catch himself on his hands before he could crush Julian but even though they were both surprised by the sudden shift, their lips stayed connected as if they were glued together. Julian gasped as his back made contact with the bed and Eskel used the movement to deepen their kiss. * Without thinking about it Julian spread his legs to allow Eskel to step even closer and the wolf did so instantly, leaning further into the cat’s body, earning a soft moan when he allowed some of his weight to press the cat into the bed.Shifting his weight so he could move one of his hands, Eskel opened the clasp on Julian’s cloak and brushed the fabric off of the cat’s shoulders, making sure to brush his neck as he moved.Julian reacted on pure instinct, breaking the kiss and throwing his head back, baring his throat to the wolf. It was an invitation that Eskel simply couldn’t ignore and he latched onto the soft skin, switching from biting kisses to soothing licks in a pattern that left the cat shaking because of its unpredictability.When he pulled back he gave the cat a smug grin and a possessive rumble seemingly started in his chest at the sight of the dark love bite he had left on his cat.Before he had the chance to say anything, Julian pulled him into another kiss, which he instantly deepened, while using his free hand to start opening the buckles on the front of his cat’s armour.As soon as he had managed to open the last of the buckles holding Julian’s armour closed, Eskel let his free hand brush underneath the leather and they both groaned at the first skin to skin contact.The wolf reluctantly pulled back and wrapped his hands around Julian’s waist, answering his cat’s whine at the loss of their kiss with a slight growl.Suddenly Julian was lifted like he weighed nothing and all he could do was wrap his legs tightly around his wolf’s waist as his hands clamped down on his shoulders. One of Eskel’s hands slipped under his cat’s loose armour and settled at the small of his back, keeping him steady as Eskel used his other hand to free Julian from the offending piece of clothing.The armour landed on the floor with a soft thud, but neither witcher cared, both of them too preoccupied with another breath-taking kiss.Julian wrapped his arms around Eskel’s neck to steady himself and allow his wolf to use both his hands to explore the newly bared skin. Eskel let his fingers brush over every inch of skin he could reach, memorising his cat’s scars as he did.Each soft noise caught in their kiss only encouraged the wolf to pay closer attention to the spot that had drawn the noise and Julian felt his world narrow done to his wolf and every point of contact between them.He wanted desperately to feel his wolf’s skin under his fingers, but he found himself unable to do anything but cling to Eskel’s strong shoulders and whine into their kiss.Eskel broke the kiss to let out a slightly annoyed growl when he had to stop his exploration because of the trousers his cat was still wearing. After stepping up to the bed and swiping the discarded cloak from it in one quick motion, Eskel dropped Julian back on the bed and all but ripped the remaining clothing off of him.Julian let out something between a whine and desperate moan, squirming under his wolf’s predatory gaze sweeping over his now completely exposed body. He was suddenly very aware of the fact that his wolf was still fully dressed and Julian couldn’t decide if he liked that or not.What he knew was that his wolf wasn’t touching him anymore and he needed that to change. He closed his eyes, bit his bottom lip and tried to entice his wolf to come back to him.The whine that escaped him was enough to get Eskel to move and when the bed finally dipped under the added weight of him, he didn’t hesitate to bury his cat underneath him.As soon as he was within reach Eskel caught Julian’s lips in a searing kiss and used one of his hands to guide one of his cat’s legs around his waist. Julian easily followed the guidance and used the leverage to lift his hips off of the bed and their combined moans were caught between their lips when their erections were pressed together.When Julian repeated the motion one of Eskel’s hands caught him and held him in place as he ground down, forcing them to break their kiss completely. Julian threw his head back, moaning helplessly as Eskel buried his face in his cat’s neck, silencing his own moans by biting more marks into his skin.Eskel knew his cat was close and as much as he wanted to draw this out, he wanted to see him losing control even more. It took all of his willpower to remove his face, even if it was only so he could whisper into his cat’s ear:“Come for me, Wolfling.”As if Julian had only been waiting for permission those few words were all it took to push the cat over the edge and the way his body arched further into Eskel’s with his eyes closed and mouth open in a silent scream was the final straw for the wolf.He buried his face once again in his cat’s neck, biting down hard to silence himself as his orgasm had him shaking on top of Julian, their cum mixing on the cat’s stomach, covering him even more in their scent. Once his breathing had calmed down a little, Eskel moved them so Julian was lying on top of him and Eskel could wrap his arms securely around his cat. Said cat was giving him a sated smile and curled further into him with a soft purr.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“I thought you said we would talk once we got here…” Julian rumbled against Eskel’s throat, when his breathing was almost back to normal and Eskel simply tightened his hold on him.“That was amazing but not what I would call talking.” The cat continued as Eskel let his hand gently stroke Julian’s back, seemingly innocently moving lower with each stroke.“Are you trying to distract me?”Eskel smiled at the accusation and helped Julian rearrange until they could look each other in the eyes.“Is it working, Wolfling?”Julian sighed and leaned up to catch his wolf’s lips in a gentle kiss. One of Eskel’s hands moved to Julian’s neck and carefully touched the biggest of the marks he had left on his cat’s skin.He had known he had fallen head over heels for the cat, but seeing his claim like this was something different.Yes, his intention had been to take it slow, help the clearly struggling cat to find his footing again and see where their relationship would go from there, but denying his very obvious interest now would be rather pointless. He remembered their first kiss after that bandit ambush and couldn’t help but smile.“Catmint? Come back to me?”Instead of answering Eskel pulled his cat down into another kiss, nipping at his bottom lip until Julian granted him access to his mouth. As soon as Eskel’s tongue touched Julian’s, the cat went limp on top of the wolf, allowing Eskel to tighten his hold the tiniest bit more.Only when they had to part, did Eskel realise what Julian had called him.“Catmint? Really?”The cat gave him a breathless smile that could easily rival the sun in its brightness.“Yes, because I’m a Cat-Witcher and you are…” He trailed off, burying his nose in Eskel’s neck and taking a few deep breaths. “Quite frankly addicting…”Eskel chuckled and started brushing his hand over his cat’s back again.“Does that mean I’m stuck with you?” He asked in a teasing voice and the glint in his eyes was easily matched by the one in the cat’s.“Yep, you’re not getting rid of me now.” “Good, I wouldn’t want to anyway.”Julian held his gaze silently for a long moment, before apparently coming to a decision and moving so his face was right above Eskel’s.“Maybe I shouldn’t say this. At least not yet, but our lives are way too unpredictable…”He took another deep breath and continued: “I love you, Catmint.”Eskel froze for a second, having hoped but not dared to hope at the same time. His hand stopped its movement and for a moment there was a flash of panic in Julian’s eyes. But then Eskel gently brushed a few sweaty strands of his hair out of Julian’s face and smiled at him.“I love you too, Wolfling.”Julian deflated as the last of his worries left him and Eskel guided him into a kiss that felt like they were sealing a vow. It was a chaste kiss, one of Julian’s hands moved to gently cup Eskel’s scarred cheek and Eskel’s fingers tangled in the hair at the back of Julian’s neck. * What escalated the kiss in the end was Julian gasping in surprise when Eskel accidentally pulled on a few strands on his hair. They separated and Eskel couldn’t help but give his cat a smug smile, before carefully tugging at the strands again.Julian moaned and bared his throat as he followed the pull and Eskel leaned up, latching onto one of his marks once again.He received another moan when his hand moved from the cat’s waist and wrapped around both of them. It only took a few strokes for both of them to be fully hard again and Eskel only removed his hand once his fingers were wet with precome.Julian whined at the loss, but Eskel simply caught his lips in a kiss, which he quickly deepened when his cat moaned at the first press of Eskel’s fingers against his rim.Even though he wanted to claim his cat desperately, Eskel forced himself to be patient and only pressed his finger into the warm body above him once Julian had relaxed against him again.To distract his cat Eskel released his hair and wrapped his now free hand back around them, stroking them in time with the gentle movement of his finger inside his cat.As soon as Julian was matching his movements Eskel eased a second finger into his cat and Julian broke their kiss to take in deep breaths as his body shook at the intrusion. Eskel moved so he could brush his nose against Julian’s neck, gently nipping at the skin.“I’ve got you, Wolfling. Just breathe.”Julian shivered, but the tension in his shoulders slowly eased with each unsteady breath he took. Eskel continued to soothe his cat with little bites and kisses, keeping his fingers still until Julian gave him a soft nod.Julian lost himself in the way his wolf occasionally tightened his grip on their members and the feeling of sharp teeth digging into his skin, moaning helplessly as he tried to chase the spark shooting through him every time Eskel hit that one spot inside of him.When Eskel removed his fingers, Julian let out a pitiful whine at the loss, but Eskel gently shushed him with a gentle kiss.Suddenly Julian was looking up at Eskel, who gave him a fanged smirk. Before Julian could say anything Eskel had gently lifted his hips and was slowly pressing into his cat. Julian threw his head back in a mixture of surprise and pleasure, his mouth hanging open and hands fisted into the sheets underneath him.The wolf only stopped once he had bottomed out and his satisfied growl at the tightness surrounding him, had Julian shaking in pleasure. Wrapping his legs around his wolf’s waist pulled him deeper into Julian and both of them moaned at the feeling.Eskel moved so he could catch Julian’s lips in a breathless kiss and earned himself another moan when he allowed his cat to take some of his weight.Julian encouraged his wolf to move with a soft whine and lift of his hips, which made Eskel’s hips snap against the cat’s and forced them to break their kiss. Instead Eskel’s teeth were buried into Julian’s neck again, helping the wolf to ground himself as he started moving properly.Julian’s fingers were holding onto the sheets as tightly as he could and he kept begging his wolf for “more, harder, faster” without even realising it. Eskel happily obliged, catching Julian’s hip with one of his hands, while the other kept his cat in place with a tight grip on his shoulder.Julian’s voice broke on a scream when Eskel buried himself as deep as he could inside his cat, drawing blood in his attempt to keep silent as his orgasm washed over him. The combined sensations were enough for Julian to come and he was so caught in the feeling that he didn’t even notice the sheets ripping under his fingers.
It was the feeling of something soft touching his neck that pulled him back into awareness and he let out a questioning sound, but was instantly shushed by a low rumble coming from the person next to him.“Don’t worry, Wolfling, I’m here. You can sleep.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Julian woke up he was slightly sore and hungry, but most importantly he was warm and felt completely safe. Eskel’s arms were wrapped around him and his wolf’s head was buried in his hair, soft breath ruffling the strands with each exhale.
Not ready to leave his newfound safety just yet, Julian burrowed closer into his wolf’s chest, who let out a soft rumble and tightened his hold on his cat, pulling him even closer in the process.
“Good morning, Wolfling.”
Julian whined and tried to hide his face in Eskel’s chest, but his wolf gently pulled away until he could nudge his cat into looking at him.
“I don’t want to get up either, but I really need to get some food into you.”
His fingers brushed gently over his cat’s cheek and he leaned in to capture his lips in a short soft kiss. When they separated Eskel slowly pulled away and almost stopped at Julian’s whine of protest, but there was something in his mind that demanded for him to take care of his mate.
He quickly got dressed and picked up their armour, putting it aside more carefully than they had last night and then returned to his dresser. After a moment of consideration he pulled out one of his softer shirts for his cat to wear, not bothering with even checking the trousers, since they would fall right off of Julian’s leaner frame.
Bringing the shirt and his cat’s trousers over to the bed, Eskel sat down on the edge, leaning over his cat and gently brushing his hair out of his face.
“Come on, Wolfling, it’s time to get up.”
Julian instead burrowed further into the covers that had their combined scents on them and let out a little happy sound.
“You’re really not making this easy, you know that?”
Another soft noise, that could easily be an acknowledgement, answered Eskel and he contemplated giving in, but once again he was stopped by the need to take care of his mate.
As much as Eskel wanted to allow his cat to stay hidden in their covers, they needed to eat and properly greet the others. Eskel had to admit he felt a little bit bad about all but ignoring his brothers last night, but his cat hadn’t felt safe and that had been more important.
Now though they didn’t really have a reason to stay hidden in Eskel’s room and the others would show up sooner or later if they didn’t come out on their own.
Ignoring the sad begging noise coming from his cat, Eskel gently pulled the covers away from him and Julian opened his eyes to give him a slightly angry look.
“You’re mean, Catmint.”
Julian grumbled, but sat up and Eskel’s gaze was instantly fixed on the visible marks on his cat’s neck, even though they had started to fade already.
He quickly pulled his still very much naked cat into his lap and latched onto one of the more faded marks, worrying the skin between his teeth and soothing his cat’s gasps with gentle licks over the tormented flesh.
“Does that mean we can stay in bed?”
Julian managed to get out between soft moans and Eskel’s hands used their grip on his waist to pull him further down into his lap, making Julian grind on his wolf’s awakening interest in the idea.
A loud knock on the door interrupted them a moment later and a deep voice growled:
"Stop this nonsense and get down to the Great Hall. Now. If I have to come back, I will drag both of you down in whatever state you are.”
They all but jumped apart, though Eskel pulled Julian back against him before the cat could really go anywhere. Julian was looking at the door with wide eyes and his hands were shaking where they had gripped Eskel’s shirt.
“Wolfling?”
“That sounded a lot like Guxart…”
The cat whispered and Eskel’s first reflex was to pull him even closer in an attempt to shield him from the world outside of their little bubble.
“I guess we should be getting dressed.”
He smirked at his cat.
“Or rather you should get dressed.”
The smirk turned into a frown when a thought hit the wolf.
“You really need to get dressed. I don’t want my brothers to see you like this.”
He buried his nose in Julian’s neck again.
“You’re mine and I have no intention of sharing you with any of them!”
Julian actually let out a soft laugh at that and Eskel counted it as a win.
“How did I not know you were this possessive, Catmint?”
“Didn’t want to scare you.”
Julian purred and moved, which earned him a slightly annoyed huff when it forced Eskel out of his favourite spot at his cat’s neck. But when Julian’s eyes caught his, Eskel couldn’t really be angry with him.
“You could never really scare me.”
“You make it sound like a challenge that I don’t want to win.”
Instead of answering Julian caught his wolf’s lips in a short kiss.
“Want to help me get my armour on?”
The cat asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes and Eskel groaned in frustration.
“I’d rather help you out of it, Wolfling.”
He reached next to him and with a rather shy smile held his own shirt out for Julian to take.
“Plus I’d rather see you in this than your armour. You don’t need to be prepared for a fight here.”
The cat looked at the offered shirt with wide eyes and then broke into the brightest smile Eskel had seen on his cat so far. Instead of taking the item, Julian simply gestured for Eskel to help him put it on and Eskel couldn’t help the happy rumble that escaped him.
Once Julian was sitting in his lap wearing his shirt, it took all of Eskel’s self control to not simply throw him back on the bed and have him again. From the look his cat was giving him he wouldn’t have gotten any complaints.
But there was still the threat of being dragged into the Great Hall with his pants down and Eskel really didn’t want that to happen. So he stole one more thorough kiss, before placing his cat back on the bed and grabbing his trousers to get him fully dressed.
It was a weird feeling to have Eskel not just help him with the shirt, but the rest of his clothing, down to where his wolf knelt in front of him to help him into his boots. But Julian couldn’t deny the fact that he enjoyed the closeness. It also helped that he could see nothing but love and adoration in his wolf’s eyes the entire time.
Before Julian had a chance to get up, Eskel held out his hand and pulled his cat not just up off the bed but into his arms again. His wolf’s hot breath ghosted over his ear and Julian couldn’t help but shiver, burying his hands in the soft material of his wolf’s shirt.
“Wolfling, if you start feeling uncomfortable or have had enough and want to leave, you tell me. I don’t want you to force yourself into anything and I will not let them force you to do anything you don’t want to. You understand?”
Julian’s breath hitched and he clung tighter to his wolf, but managed to give him a small nod in response.
“I understand that they want answers, but you’re my priority.”
Another hitched breath and his cat buried his face into Eskel’s neck, taking shaking breaths in an attempt to calm himself down.
Once Julian felt steady enough, Eskel could hear a soft whisper though really he felt it more than heard it.
“Would you… Would you tell them…?”
He tightened his hold on Julian without thinking and it just made his cat seem even smaller than he actually was.
“If you want me to speak for you then I obviously will, Wolfling.”
“Thank you…”
“You don’t have to thank me for this. If I can help then I will. Now, shall we?”
Julian hesitated for a moment, enjoying the strength of the arms holding him and taking another deep breath of his wolf’s scent, before he nodded and reluctantly pulled back.
Eskel didn’t let him go far, keeping one of his arms securely wrapped around his cat and slowly guiding them out of the room.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When they reached the Great Hall instantly all eyes were on them and Eskel couldn’t help the smug grin at the thought of all of them knowing exactly what they had been up to the night before.Aiden and Gaetan let out soft hissing noises and Vesemir simply raised an eyebrow when Eskel led Julian over to the table they were sitting at, placing himself between Lambert and Julian. “Fuck, you two stink! Have you never heard of baths?”Julian flinched slightly at the tone and volume Lambert used and Eskel turned to his younger brother and gave him a warning growl. Lambert instantly raised his hands in defence and rolled his eyes at the behaviour.“Wow, chill.”“Enough Lambert.” Vesemir stopped him before he could continue pissing Eskel off.He handed a bowl of porridge to Eskel, who put it in front of himself and then grabbed the last empty bowl to fill it and place it in front of Julian. The cat gave him a soft noise in thanks, but seemed to shrink in on himself as soon as he realised that most of the eyes were on him.Eskel growled again and leaned over his bowl, effectively blocking Julian from most questioning gazes.“If you have questions, you can ask me.”“What? If I want to talk to my Kitten, I damn well will do so!” Gaetan hissed and Letho placed a hand on his lover’s arm to stop him from jumping at Eskel’s throat.“He doesn’t want to talk and you will either respect that or we’re going back upstairs. Understood?”“And why do you think you can order me around?” Guxart asked, sitting next to Vesemir with his arms crossed in front of his chest.“Because that’s what Julian wants.”It was a simple statement that had all three cats flinching slightly, even if Guxart managed to almost hide it completely.Aiden pushed Lambert out of his way so he could look at Eskel and maybe get a look at his brother, which earned him a low annoyed rumble from Lambert.“Fine, whatever. Then tell me why my brother is unwilling to talk to me?”Eskel turned to his cat and even though no one at the table could hear anything, they seemed to be having a conversation, which ended with a nod from Eskel. He only turned back to them after leaning in and brushing his cheek against his cat’s temple, which they all took in in surprised silence.None of the wolves had ever seen Eskel act like this and the three cats couldn’t remember the younger cat ever being unwilling to talk, especially to them. “What exactly do you want to know?”Eskel finally asked and Gaetan spoke before anyone else had a chance.“I want to know why Jad turned up at the Caravan three years ago and claimed my Kitten was dead, when he clearly isn’t!”Julian flinched and Eskel wrapped an arm around him in response and Vesemir was sure that his son wasn’t even aware of doing so.“I wasn’t there, but I can tell you what Julian told me.”Eskel started and he had noticed the way his cat flinched slightly every time Eskel said his name. Quickly he turned back to his cat and whispered something the others couldn’t hear even with their enhanced senses.For a moment Julian was silent, but then he leaned into Eskel’s side and nodded, receiving a kiss to his hair in return. Eskel turned back to Gaetan, who was still looking at him like he wanted to cut Eskel down, where he sat.“Jad obviously lied about my Wolfling being dead, though he did have a good try at it.”His voice had lowered and taken on a dangerous growl that promised a brutal end to the offending cat if he ever crossed Eskel’s path. He continued before anyone could comment on it, but Gaetan’s gaze had softened the tiniest bit.“They ran into each other when my Wolfling was on his way to the Caravan and they decided to travel together. Until they reached a clearing next to a cliff where Jad suddenly attacked. He tried to beat my Wolfling but clearly he’s not good enough for that, so when Jad had him standing with his back to the cliff, he blasted him off the edge and left him to die.”There had been an obvious note of pride in Eskel’s tone that was quickly replaced by anger at Jad for betraying one of his brethren. Gaetan and Aiden hissed in anger and both looked like they wanted to get to Julian, but Eskel’s hold on the younger cat tightened and he pulled him further into his side.Julian used that to bury his hands in Eskel’s shirt, trying to hide the way his body had started shaking. Eskel brushed his cat’s temple again in a calming gesture and used his free hand to card through the still sleep mussed hair of his cat.Only once Julian had calmed down, did Eskel turn back to the others, who had watched them in silence, even though Lambert looked like it was physically hurting him to do so.“Obviously he survived the fall, but it was a close call. Since Jad just attacked without any reason or explanation, my Wolfling was too scared to return to the Caravan. He thought you all wanted him dead.”At that Gaetan made a distressed noise and Aiden tried to reach across Lambert and Eskel for Julian, but was easily blocked by Eskel.Guxart was still taking in everything in silence and only Vesemir knew how much he was actually struggling to keep quiet. He secretly put a hand on his lover’s thigh to help keep him grounded and Guxart threw him a short look full of appreciation and love, before his mask slid back into place and he turned back to Eskel.“After he was healed enough to move, he found a village that took him in in exchange for him taking care of a monster for them as soon as he was able to. Luckily it was a monster that was less active in winter, so he managed to take care of it without making his injuries worse.”There was a small note of reprimand in his voice at that and Julian let out a soft distressed noise that had Eskel looking at him and mumbling something into his hair, before his attention returned to the story he was telling.“Since then he’s been avoiding the Caravan and every place he knew any of you cats could be found, because he was worried what would happen if any of you found him.”“That fucking bastard! I’ll rip his fucking throat out when I find him!”Letho wrapped an arm around Gaetan, but the cat pushed him away and was out of his seat and across the table before Letho had recovered.Aiden had thrown himself at Julian’s back, completely ignoring the way Eskel was growling at him and when Gaetan joined them, Eskel had to admit defeat, though he kept watching them ready to use force to get them off his cat if he had to.Julian was shaking even more now and at first didn’t hear what his fellow cats were saying to him. Only when Guxart’s large hand settled into his hair in a way it had done so many times over the years, did something in him realise that he indeed was not in immediate danger.Eskel allowed them to pull Julian off of the bench, but only after his cat had calmed down enough to give him a shaky nod.A moment later Guxart was sitting on the floor with Julian in his lap, Aiden and Gaetan draped over the youngest cat in what they had mockingly called a “puppy pile” when the wolves had done it the first time countless years ago.Eskel was grumbling slightly at being separated from his cat and Gaetan gave him a challenging look.“Julian is my child surprise, my Kitten. So if you want my approval you better shut up.”Lambert patted his brother’s shoulder, though he was laughing along with most of the others on the table as he did so.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So how did you end up together?”Gaetan asked, after Letho had pulled him off of Julian and back onto the bench. Lambert had been forced to move aside so Aiden could sit next to his brother and Guxart had rejoined Vesemir, whose hand had been almost instantly placed back on the old cat’s thigh.Julian was caught between wanting to have Eskel’s arms wrapped around him again and enjoying the realisation that his brethren didn’t actually want him dead. With Aiden’s arm around his shoulders it was very hard to think that he had really believed that for the last three years.Julian looked up from his bowl that he had been eating from mainly because Eskel had gently nudged him into doing it. His wolf was a steady presence at his side and he nudged Julian again in question.Gaetan had clearly asked in a way that allowed either of them to answer and his wolf was leaving the decision up to him. And as much as he wanted to answer, the words got caught in his throat and he quickly shook his head, pulling away from Aiden and falling into Eskel, who easily caught him, clearly not surprised by the reaction. “Are you sure you want to know that?”“It can’t be worse than encountering that asshole.” Gaetan added in a quiet growl: “Who has a date with my dagger as soon as winter’s over.”“We can help you find him.”Yennefer threw in and Geralt looked at her a little surprised, but when their eyes met he didn’t have to question her comment.“I want in on that too.”Aiden growled, his eyes still not leaving Julian as the youngest cat was clinging to Eskel in a way he had never done with either Gaetan or Aiden himself.“As much as I would love to get my hands on the bastard I’d prefer if he never gets anywhere close to my Wolfling again.”Eskel added and Julian burrowed deeper into his arms. Gaetan watched them for a moment longer and turned his gaze on Eskel.“Are you going to tell us how you met?”There was something in his eyes that Eskel wasn’t sure he liked, but for the sake of his cat he would try and play nice, even though everything in him wanted to growl at Gaetan questioning his claim.He quickly turned to his cat and brushed his cheek so he could look him in the eyes.“Do you want to leave? I can tell them without you being here.”Julian looked torn, but ultimately shook his head and buried his face in Eskel’s neck again. The wolf tightened his hold on Julian and slowly turned to face Gaetan again.“I was on my way here when I came across a small village and thought I might get a place to spend the night. Instead I walked into some kind of messed up ritual that the villagers were trying to do. They had a damn pyre built in the middle of the village and were about to burn my poor Wolfling alive.”Julian had started shaking again and Eskel did his best to soothe him with gentle hands and quiet words.“Care to share more about this village?”Gaetan asked and no one doubted that he had just added this village to the same list Jad was on.But it wasn’t just Gaetan growling at hearing this. In fact it had the whole table looking angry and Eskel could understand that all too well. After all Julian had been a randomly picked witcher and knowing that it could’ve been any of them was not reassuring at all.Eskel looked from Gaetan down at Julian in his arms and gently shook his head. Gaetan wanted to argue, but seeing his Kitten like this had him stop and sigh instead. He would just have to get the information later when his Kitten wasn’t attached to Eskel, but he definitely would get it. After failing in trying to calm his cat down, Eskel had given up and coaxed him out of the Great Hall, much to the dismay of Gaetan, whose protests had been simply ignored.As soon as the door had closed behind them, Eskel had picked Julian up and carried him back to their room bridal style. The cat had let out a soft surprised noise, but instead of fighting his wolf, he had burrowed closer into the safety that was his wolf’s presence. Eskel closed the door to their room by leaning against it and some of the tension left his shoulders as soon as it shut with a soft thump. There was a rather nice chair close to the fireplace and Eskel gently placed his cat in it, pressing a kiss to his forehead before moving around the room to gather up spare furs and blankets he had stored in different chests.Only after he had arranged them into a perfect little nest on the bed, did he return to his cat, removing his boots and picking him up again. Julian was still too lost in his own head to do more than subconsciously press closer to the scent of his wolf.Eskel carefully placed his cat in their nest, kicked his own boots off and joined him, rearranging them so Julian’s back was to the door, while Eskel was lying closer to the wall. Before he had a chance to do anything else, Julian was already curled into his chest, making himself as small as he could.Eskel pulled one of the covers over his still slightly shaking cat, before wrapping his arms around him and all but hiding him from view completely in the process.One of his hands was buried in his cat’s hair, gently carding through the brown locks and earning himself a soft rumbling purr. Looking down at the small ball of cat in his arms, he realised that it was mainly instinct at the touch that had Julian doing this and he pressed a soft kiss into his cat’s hair, carefully arranging Julian so his face was closer to Eskel’s neck.It only took a few breaths before Julian pressed even closer, burying his nose in his wolf’s neck to get more of his scent.Slowly the tension seemed to drain from Julian’s body and Eskel couldn’t help but smile when he realised that his cat had fallen asleep. He tightened his hold on the smaller witcher, making sure he was wrapped up not just in the safety of Eskel’s arms, but in the comfort of their covers and their mixed scents. He had allowed himself to slip into a light meditation, but snapped back awake as soon as he heard footsteps coming closer to their room.It didn’t take long before he heard a soft knock and for a moment he considered telling whoever was outside to go away, but the very faint scent of Geralt reached him and he simply sighed, checked Julian was still mostly hidden from sight and told his brother to come in. Geralt opened the door as quietly as he could, fully aware of the sleeping cat in the room. When he had approached the room he hadn’t been completely sure which one of them was awake, but his brother’s voice had answered his suspicion. He closed the door behind him just as quietly as he had opened it and carefully deposited the bags he had brought with him next to the door.Eskel raised his head and gave him a questioning look.“Gaetan threatened to storm in here under the pretence of bringing them up, so you’re welcome.”Something flashed over Eskel’s face and Geralt saw the muscles in his brother’s arms flex as his hold on the sleeping cat seemed to tighten and he shook his head with a small huff.“Care to explain what’s really going on?”“What do you mean?”Eskel snapped but somehow still managed to keep his voice low enough to not disturb Julian.Geralt sighed and moved the chair so it was facing the bed before sitting down.“You’re acting very unlike yourself. I mean I’m pretty sure this was the first time neither Vesemir, nor Lambert or I got a hug from you when you returned for the winter.”Eskel sighed and looked down at his cat with an unreadable look on his face.“I’m sorry…”“Not looking for an apology, mainly an explanation.”A soft laugh escaped the dark haired witcher and he shook his head.“I wish I could explain it. Seriously.”Geralt raised an eyebrow and settled into a more relaxed position.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“So you just do what feels right?”
Geralt sounded slightly disbelieving and Eskel couldn’t blame him. He shrugged carefully as to not wake his still sleeping cat.
“Basically. I think it has to do with our first actual interaction. You know when he woke up after I rescued him from that cursed village, he saw me and ran. He didn’t really see me, only recognised me as a witcher and after what had happened in the village he panicked.”
“Hmm. Obviously you caught him.”
A smug smile pulled at Eskel’s lips and he squared his shoulders in obvious pride. But as soon as he looked down at his cat, Eskel’s eyes filled with something Geralt could easily identify as love and adoration. Something his brother’s scent made even more obvious once it hit Geralt’s nose.
“Do you even know who he is? As a person?”
Eskel’s gaze snapped up to meet his brother’s and he started growling.
“I’m serious, Esk. You can’t rely on instinct alone.”
Instead of replying Eskel just leaned forward, covering his cat as if he expected Geralt to pull Julian out of their nest at any second.
“Calm down, I’m not trying to take him from you. But you have to admit that how both of you are acting will not be good in the long run.”
Eskel was still giving him angry looks but at least he had stopped growling.
“I know he doesn’t believe it, but you have to know that none of the cats here would even try to harm him.”
Eskel grumbled, but remained otherwise silent.
“Tell me you know that. Vesemir would not allow anyone here that would harm one of us.”
“Vesemir didn’t know I was bringing him.”
“With your display the second you arrived here, you seriously doubt that Vesemir sees him as part of the pack?”
Eskel finally relaxed and stopped covering his cat completely, though he still looked ready to jump at anything that could potentially harm Julian.
A long suffering sigh escaped Geralt without him being able to stop it. He was supposed to try and get Eskel out of his feral behaviour, but instead he only seemed to make it worse. It wasn’t like he hadn’t warned Vesemir that this could happen, but the old wolf had insisted that he should be the one to talk to Eskel.
“Esk, please think about it. Why would both Aiden and Gaetan have been on the verge of going feral themselves if they didn’t care for Julian?”
Eskel growled and gave Geralt an annoyed look.
“He doesn’t like the name.”
“Well, then he needs to come up with a new one, because I don’t know what else to call him.”
“What?”
“You heard me. If your cat doesn’t want anyone to use his name, then he needs to pick something we can call him. And I’m assuming you don’t want us to use your nickname for him.”
He grinned when Eskel growled again and there was the possessive note again that had been obvious in his behaviour earlier.
“I won’t use it, don’t worry. Neither will anyone else. Though you might want to ask him about anything else he doesn’t want people to use.”
Eskel sighed and lowered his head to bury his nose in the cat’s hair and took a few deep breaths, to help himself calm down.
“Fine, I’ll talk to him. Later.”
Geralt raised his hands defensively.
“I wasn’t saying you should wake him. It’s quite obvious that he needs rest. But you can’t spend the whole winter locked in this room. Neither of you.”
Eskel whined and Geralt had to admit that it was weird to hear his brother communicate his feelings like this.
“It’ll be fine, Esk. But you have to remember that the people here are not trying to hurt either of you. We want to help, but you have to let us.”
Eskel looked up at Geralt and there was something in his eyes that Geralt was sure he had never seen before. A combination of him wanting to believe Geralt and being too worried about Julian to fully relax.
But there was nothing else Geralt could say to convince his brother. If he really didn’t believe it then they would just need to prove it to both of them. He let out another sigh and gave Eskel a weak smile.
“Trust me, it’ll be okay.”
When he got up Eskel instantly tensed again, but Geralt made a point of staying as far away from the bed as he could.
“Vesemir says you can have today to settle, but you’re expected for training and chores from tomorrow on. So enjoy your day off, I have to go, before he makes me run laps for being late.”
As soon as the white-haired witcher had left the room, Julian moved in Eskel’s arms and his blue eyes easily caught his wolf’s gaze.
“I’m sorry… I know I’m making everything more complicated for everyone…”
Eskel growled and wrapped himself more firmly around his cat.
“Nonsense, Wolfling. You had a rough time and no one can expect you to act like it didn’t happen.”
“But your brother’s right…”
It pulled an annoyed sigh out of Eskel and he buried his nose in Julian’s neck, while grumbling:
“I know he is, doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
His hot breath ghosted over the marks on his cat’s neck and he smiled at the soft hitch in Julian’s breathing at a more deliberately placed huff of breath.
Julian let out a soft laugh when his wolf’s scent took on a very specific note and he gently shook his head.
“Maybe you are a bit unbelievable…”
Eskel raised his head and pressed a soft kiss to Julian’s lips.
“What? Geralt said to enjoy our day off…”
He trailed off and tried to make his face look as innocent as possible, which failed quite miserably if Julian’s soft laugh was any indication.
“He did say that.”
“I thought you were asleep, Wolfling.”
Now it was Julian’s turn to play innocent, though he made it look a lot more believable when he said:
“It just seemed like your brother wanted to talk to you and not us.”
Eskel shook his head and captured his cat’s lips in another gentle kiss.
“What did I do to deserve you?”
Julian let out a chuckle and gently pushed Eskel until he gave in and fell back onto his back. Instantly the cat was looming over him and pressed another kiss to his lips.
“You literally rescued me from certain death. That’s more than good enough for me.”
Eskel’s arms wrapped around Julian’s waist and pulled him flush against his chest.
“Let’s not talk about that, Wolfling…”
“What would you want to talk about?”
“Who says I want to talk at all?”
Julian raised an eyebrow at his wolf and Eskel leaned up to playfully bite at his lip. For a moment he allowed himself to get lost in his wolf’s touch, but then he reluctantly pulled back and moved so he could drop his forehead against Eskel’s.
“As tempting as you are, Catmint, maybe we should do some-”
Eskel gave him a short growl before pulling him into a longer kiss, only pulling back when they were both slightly out of breath.
“You’re cheating…”
Julian pouted, which only resulted in Eskel claiming his lips once again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“How about a compromise?”Julian gasped out when they broke apart, both of them trying to catch their breath. Eskel raised an eyebrow at his cat and his hands clamped down on Julian’s waist, grinding their clothed cocks together.His cat let out a soft mewl and tried to push against him further but Eskel held him in place refusing to let even the slightest bit of control slip into his cat’s hands.“How about you be a good little Wolfling?”Julian let out a moan, his expression caught in between surprise and pleasure.“Sounds like you would like that. But I want to hear you say it, little one.”At the soft noise Julian made, Eskel pulled his hips down against his own again, moving one of his hands to slide under Julian’s clothes and giving his ass a teasing squeeze, which made Julian whine and attempt to grind further against Eskel.“Catmint…”Julian whined, when Eskel once again refused to let him move. The whine quickly turned into a breathless moan when one of Eskel’s fingers found Julian’s rim and teasingly circled it, applying only the tiniest amount of pressure.“I’m afraid that’s not an answer. Let’s try that again. Do you want to be my good little Wolfling?”For a moment Julian tensed, but Eskel simply increased the pressure of his finger and his cat melted against him, letting out another breathless moan.“Please…”“Please what, little one?”The room was filled only with their slightly irregular breathing and sped up heart beats until Julian buried his face against Eskel’s neck and panted out:“I’ll be good. Please, just…”Ignoring the disappointed whine he received, Eskel removed his finger and grabbed Julian’s waist again. To soothe his cat he pressed their cocks together again, giving the smaller witcher just enough room to rut against him.“Patience, Wolfling.”Julian whined and clung to Eskel’s shoulders, when he tried to rearrange them. Eskel gave his ass a sharp slap and Julian froze instantly.“Be good and get up for me.”He had to steady his cat as he almost fell out of their nest in his eagerness to follow the order. As soon as Julian was steady Eskel followed him, pulling him into a tight hug and uniting their lips in a deep passionate kiss.“Very good, little one. Now get out of those clothes.”He didn’t wait to watch, instead walking over to their bags and fishing out a vial he had picked up in the last village they had stopped in. When he returned to Julian his cat had shed all of his clothing and Eskel took a moment to simply look at the beautiful man in front of him.He pulled the smaller witcher back into his arms and let his hands stroke over the bared skin, keeping his touch light and relishing in every soft gasp he managed to pull from his cat.Julian was shivering under his touch and the soft little noises that escaped his cat were music in Eskel’s ears. His hands were back on his cat’s ass, squeezing the round globes and ghosting touches over his rim, catching Julian’s moan in a deep kiss.Only once Julian was weakly trying to push him away to catch his breath, did Eskel pull away and trailed a line of kisses down his cat’s neck. He startled a surprised scream out of Julian when he roughly bit into the skin where his cat’s neck met his shoulder and Julian responded by rutting against him in what was slowly turning into desperation as Eskel pressed his fingers against his entrance again.When the metallic taste of blood hit his tongue, Eskel released his cat and lavished the injury with soft licks that had Julian purring in his arms. The cat was clinging to Eskel’s shoulders and he grumbled a bit, when Eskel started moving lower, kissing every inch of skin his lips passed. Whenever he found a more sensitive spot he would latch onto it and only continue his journey after there was dark love bite adorning the skin.Julian clamped a hand over his mouth to silence himself when Eskel slowly sank to his knees in front of him, his sword-calloused hands grabbing Julian’s thighs as he let his hot breath ghost over the sensitive skin of his cat’s hips. Eskel allowed himself a moment to admire the sight in front of him and relished in the desperate whine he got at the delay.“Gorgeous, Wolfling… And all mine.”He growled and surprised Julian by licking a long stripe across his cock. Julian tried to press further into the touch, but Eskel’s hold on his thighs was unwavering and Julian could do nothing but whine into his hand.To tease his cat even further, Eskel pulled away and blew his breath on the glistening trail of saliva he had left behind. Julian shuddered and Eskel could see him shaking, which had him tightening his hold and looking up at his cat’s face.“You alright there, little one?”When all Julian managed was a softly whined “Please”, Eskel took pity on him and swallowed him down as far as he could.Julian’s hips jerked in Eskel’s grasp and he growled in warning around the length in his mouth, which only made Julian whine and bury his hands in Eskel’s hair in a desperate attempt to ground himself.He slowly pulled away, ignoring his cat’s hands trying to urge him to move closer again and instead he looked at Julian’s face, making sure he was watching before Eskel made a show of licking his lips.“You taste as good as you smell, Wolfling…”“Please…”“Shh, you’re doing so good for me. My perfect little Wolfling.”He caught the head of Julian’s cock in his mouth again and let out a pleased hum at the taste of his cat on his tongue. The hands in his hair tightened their hold and tried once again to pull him closer.This time he followed the pull and began slowly taking more and more of his cat, distracting him further by occasionally scraping his teeth over the hot flesh in his mouth.Eskel removed one of his hands to open the vial and slick up his fingers, before moving them back to Julian’s ass. The cat’s knees buckled when Eskel swallowed him down as far as he could and pressed one of his fingers into him at the same time.It was only Eskel who kept him standing and the wolf grinned when he heard the muffled scream his cat just barely managed to keep quiet.He gave Julian a moment to adjust before he started moving his finger, matching it to the movement of his head and just when his cat was starting to try and move against him, he added another finger, earning himself another barely contained scream.After only a few sharp thrusts of his fingers, Eskel pulled his fingers out of his whining cat and as soon as his hands had a steady grip on Julian again, he gave him another low hum before letting the hard flesh fall from his mouth.Julian’s frustrated huff was cut short by a sharp slap to his ass and Eskel growling at him:“Get on the bed, Wolfling. On your hands and knees.”Instantly Julian attempted to follow the order, but almost lost his balance when his legs gave out for a moment and only Eskel’s quick reflexes stopped him from falling.Eskel watched his cat scramble back on the bed and he wanted to make him wait, but just seeing him shaking and barely able to keep himself up, because of Eskel was enough to get the wolf moving instantly.His clothes were thrown on the ground just as carelessly as Julian’s and the cat buried his face in one of their pillows when Eskel grabbed his hips and pulled them flush against each other. He ground against his cat, pulling the sweetest noises from him before Eskel couldn’t wait anymore and in one swift move entered him.Julian sobbed into the pillow in relief and lifted his hips further, trying to take his wolf even deeper. When Eskel bottomed out he couldn’t stop himself from throwing his head back and letting out a guttural growl at the feeling of his cat around him.He needed a moment to stop himself from coming right there and then and just revelled in the feeling of the contracting muscles around his cock.Each deep breath filled his lungs with their combined scents, heavy with arousal and sex, and Eskel pulled Julian even closer, grinding into his prostate and leaving his cat a complete and utter mess underneath him.One of Eskel’s arms was wrapped around Julian’s chest and suddenly he was pulled up, pressed against Eskel’s chest and his head fell onto his wolf’s shoulder as he seemed to sink even deeper into Julian.Eskel held them both upright and started thrusting into his cat with hard and fast movements, relentlessly hitting his prostate. Julian was helpless against the rising heat in his body, which threatened to swallow him whole.Suddenly there was a hand around his cock and that was all it took to bring him over the edge. He shook through the waves of pleasure, his head resting on his wolf’s shoulder and mouth hanging open in a silent scream.Eskel buried his teeth once again in his cat’s bared neck and continued his punishing pace until all the tension left Julian’s body and he sagged against his wolf.Carefully guiding them both down on the bed, Eskel covered his cat completely, earning himself a pleased huff and weak press of his cat’s hips against his. Instead of pulling back, Eskel started grinding into his mate, rumbling soothingly into his ears when Julian let out a soft noise of overstimulation.It didn’t take long for Eskel to feel his orgasm approaching and he latched onto Julian’s neck, pressing into him as deeply as he could and making Julian groan as his release filled his cat.He couldn’t stop himself from continuing to grind into his cat until the last of his aftershocks had subsided and Julian was whining in protest.“You were so good, little one. Just perfect… I love you, Wolfling…”Eskel mumbled into his ear, but made no move to pull back.“Love you too…”Was the tired reply he got and he pressed a soft kiss into his cat’s neck.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They had barely left their nest all day and even then it had been Eskel who had hurried to the kitchen to get them some food and water, while Julian had been napping. And they had ended up talking about anything from the scars on their bodies, while the other covered them with soft kisses and gentle touches, to what they usually did during their winters.Eskel had already made plans to take his cat on a tour through the Keep and would make the library their last stop, now that he knew they both enjoyed reading. The thought of his cat reading to him, while they were curled up together made a happy rumble start in his throat and Eskel knew that he needed that in his life. “You owe me a nice bath, Catmint.”Eskel smiled at his mate and pulled him into a short kiss.“I think I can do you one better. We have Hot Springs that should be empty now.”He found himself suddenly looking up at his cat and smiled.“Why didn’t I know about that? You should have mentioned those while we were on our way here!”Gently brushing a few loose strands out of Julian’s face, Eskel pulled him into another kiss.“Should I now?”“Yes! That is vital information! Come one, I need to see these Hot Springs, right now!”“Impatient little Wolfling.”Eskel laughed and Julian was already out of bed, practically bouncing on the spot in anticipation.“You need to put some clothes on. Even if the others are already in their own rooms, I’m not taking any chances.”“But… Are the Springs communal?”Eskel sighed, already knowing where this line of questioning was going.“Yes, but that doesn’t mean that you have to run through the Keep naked. Now get dressed or I’ll dress you.”“That would be more of a threat if you weren’t so keen on getting me undressed.”Julian raised a challenging eyebrow at Eskel and he sighed, picking up the shirt and trousers Julian had worn earlier. It took him only a few steps to reach his cat and he quickly pulled the shirt over Julian’s head, not bothering to let him get his arms into the sleeves.“Hey-!”He stopped the complaints quickly with a kiss and pulled his cat against him, Julian melting into his touch instantly. When they separated Julian let out a soft laugh.“I thought we talked about this.”“So I’m not allowed to touch you in private?”The whine was instant and expected.“I didn’t say that…”“Didn’t think so.”Eskel grinned and pressed another kiss to his cat’s lips, before pressing the trousers in his newly freed hands and getting dressed himself. Once that was dealt with, he grabbed Julian and lifted him up, which earned him a surprised squeak from his cat.“What are you doing?”“Well, since we have to go down to the Springs I’m going to carry you. It’s the same as if I would fetch you a bath then, wouldn’t you say?”Julian flushed a beautiful shade of red and buried his face in Eskel’s chest, relaxing into his strong arms.“Fine, take me then.”Eskel gave him a smug grin and whispered:“See? You are just as insatiable as I am, Wolfing. But don’t worry, I will.”Julian blushed even deeper and the unmistakable hint of arousal entered his scent. Eskel brushed his lips against Julian’s hair and quietly opened the door to their room. They didn’t encounter anyone on their way down to the Springs and Julian gasped in wonder when he saw the big room with its different pools of water.“The water comes from a natural spring and flows through all the pools, getting colder the further you go. So the hottest ones are up there.”Julian smiled up at him and pressed his nose into Eskel’s neck, before mumbling.“Are you suggesting that I’m not hot enough?”Eskel tightened his hold on his cat and grumbled slightly.“Keep that up and I’ll throw you into one of the cold pools.”“You wouldn’t dare!”“Are you sure about that?”Eskel quickly stepped up to one of the pools he knew would be uncomfortably cold and dropped Julian, just as the cat managed to free himself of his shirt. The piece of clothing landed on Eskel’s head, while Julian hit the water with a splash and loud hiss at the temperature.As soon as he emerged from under the water’s surface he growled at Eskel:“Oh, you will regret that…”Eskel quickly moved away from the pool and shed his clothing a safe distance from any of the pools.“We’ll see about that.”He grinned and hurried over to his favourite pool, leaving a seething Julian to fight his soaking wet trousers.Watching his cat with a smug expression Eskel leaned against the side of his pool and let the warm water relax his body. Julian eventually managed to get rid of the offending item and turned to Eskel with a dangerous glint in his eyes.Before Eskel could react, Julian had cast a quick Yrden and locked him in place. The cat stalked over to the wolf with a predatory grin and Eskel could do nothing but watch in stunned wonder at the change in his mate.Only when Julian was right in front of Eskel, did he drop the sign, but Eskel found himself still unable to move, this time for a completely different reason. Julian placed his hands on the edge of the pool on either side of Eskel’s face and leaned in to whisper into his wolf’s ear.“You really shouldn’t have done that…”Eskel had to swallow twice before he finally found his voice.“And why is that?”Julian grinned at him and it was more a show of fangs than anything else.Suddenly his cat’s hands were wrapped around his wrists and pressing them into the side of the pool, stopping Eskel from being able to touch his cat. He let out a soft whine, but Julian just nipped at his bottom lip.“Do you have a problem, Catmint?”Even the nickname carried a hint of danger when Julian purred it against Eskel’s neck. Before Eskel could do more than whine again, Julian had buried his fangs in his wolf’s neck in the exact same spot Eskel had picked on Julian’s neck.The wolf groaned and lifted his hips trying to get some kind of friction, but Julian was too far away. He had simply leaned over, using the grip on Eskel’s hands to help keep himself up and out of reach.When his wolf tried to break out of his hold again, Julian pulled away from his neck and growled right into his ear, sending a shiver through his wolf’s body.“Don’t move.”A growl escaped Eskel and he pushed against Julian’s hold, only barely managing to get his cat to move. Julian hissed and the dangerous spark was back in his eyes.Before Eskel could even try to do anything else, Julian had pulled him away from the direct edge of the pool and spun him around, his cat’s body suddenly pressed firmly against his back.“I said: Don’t move, Catmint.”One of Julian’s arms was firmly wrapped around Eskel’s chest, keeping him in place while his other hand moved to his neck, settling with his thumb firmly pressed against the still slightly bleeding bite. Eskel groaned at the display and tried to regain control by grinding his hips against Julian’s. Having expected that Julian simply moved against his wolf and nipped at his neck, before settling his head on his wolf’s shoulder“Wolfling…”Julian let his hand move down Eskel’s body, leaving slightly red scratches all the way to his wolf’s hips.“I’m here, Catmint…”It was a happy purr in Eskel’s ear and Julian wrapped his hand around his wolf’s cock, while grinding against his ass with more strength this time.“Fuck, Wolfling…”Eskel couldn’t help groaning at the friction, thrusting into Julian’s hand even as he growled at the feeling of his cat’s hard shaft rubbing against his entrance.“We could arrange that.”Caught between trying to pull away, so he could teach his cat what exactly he thought about the idea, and giving in to the tight hold around his cock, Eskel found himself at a loss for words. Julian moved his arm to get better leverage on his wolf and pulled him further back, almost losing his grip on Eskel’s shaft in the process.Before Eskel could complain, Julian had readjusted his hand and settled into a rhythm that quickly had Eskel shaking in his hold. The wolf felt heat coiling up in his abdomen and he moved against Julian, momentarily abandoning his pride in favour of chasing his release.He was right on the edge, when his cat suddenly pulled away completely, going as far as to move to the other side of the pool and Eskel whipped around with a desperate growl.His cat settled in comfortably, grinning at the look on Eskel’s face and he growled again, quickly moving over to Julian. Before he could reach his cat, there was a foot pressing against his chest, keeping him at a safe distance.“Not happening, Catmint. I told you that you shouldn’t have thrown me in the cold pool.”He said with a smug grin and Eskel just growled at him again. Julian lazily wrapped a hand around his shaft and started stroking himself, while keeping his eyes fixed on his wolf. Letting out a loud moan, just to tease his wolf, had Eskel grabbing his ankle and pulling him close. Instinctively Julian reached out for Eskel to keep himself above water and the wolf was more than happy to oblige.His hands settled under his cat’s ass and Julian had just enough time to wrap his arms around Eskel’s neck, before his wolf was lining himself up. The wolf pressed into his mate in a hard thrust and both of them moaned loud enough for the sound to reverberate around the room.His cat’s teasing had left both of them close to the edge and their coupling was a rush of frenzied movements, biting kisses and clawing hands that left them breathless and slightly dizzy from the combination of their activities and the hot water surrounding them.When Eskel settled back against the edge of the pool Julian was resting securely in his lap with the wolf still buried deep inside him. Every time either of them shifted they both groaned and it didn’t take long for their lazy kisses to turn heated once again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Guxart watched as the younger witchers made their way to the Hot Springs after Vesemir dismissed them from training, leaving only the two of them standing outside. The old cat walked over to the wolf and let out a long sigh.
“Any ideas?”
“I thought having Geralt talk to Eskel would help, but clearly the boy needs more than that to get his head straight again.”
A smug grin spread across the cat’s face.
“I don’t think you can really scold Eskel for that. Remember that one time when we took a contract on a griffin and it turned out to be a mated pair of arch-griffins?”
Vesemir growled and shook his head.
“That was a completely different situation.”
“Was it? If I remember correctly you threw yourself on the second griffin even though you had a massive gash across your stomach.”
“Were you expecting me to just watch it kill you?”
Guxart gently put a hand on Vesemir’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile.
“We can’t force them apart, you know that just as well as I do.”
“Yes, but we would’ve been forced if this had happened close to winter.”
“Ves, we are not like the old trainers!”
“We ARE the old trainers.”
A sigh escaped the cat and he grabbed both of Vesemir’s shoulders in a tight grip.
“Maybe, but we don’t have to act like that anymore. There are only so many witchers left, why do we have to deny them a chance of being themselves and happy?”
“You saw how Eskel was acting during training!”
“Yes, he kept facing his opponents, isn’t that what you taught them?”
“He barely moved away from the obstacle course!”
Guxart lowered his head with the barest hint of an amused huff.
“If you dare to scold him for that, I will tell them how you insisted on walking at least a step in front of me for over a month-”
Vesemir pressed a hand over the cat’s mouth to stop him from continuing and Guxart simply licked his hand in retaliation.
“You are just as bad as your kittens.”
The old wolf grumbled, pulled his hand back and then decided to wipe it on the cat’s trousers.
“Well, look who’s talking? Didn’t Eskel just show a perfect copy of your behaviour? And from what Aiden has shared during winters with the caravan Lambert isn’t acting all too different from how you used to be out on the path. Nevermind that they are with my kittens and look at that: Here you are…”
Guxart leaned in and let his breath ghost over Vesemir’s lips, but pulled back before they actually made contact, earning himself a soft whine from the wolf. When he didn’t move closer again and instead released the hold he had on Vesemir’s shoulders the wolf grabbed him by the neck and hauled him into a bruising kiss.
Before Guxart could even try to pull back in an attempt to tease his wolf further, Vesemir’s other hand had found the cat’s waist and was pulling them flush against each other. The soft noise of surprise coming from the cat was all the invitation Vesemir needed to deepen their kiss.
When they separated Vesemir lingered close enough that Guxart could feel his next words against his lips:
“You know what I think about you teasing me, Kitty.”
He grinned and let his hands move under the wolf’s shirt.
“And what are you going to do about it?”
Vesemir nipped at his lower lip and slowly slid his hand from the cat’s neck to his waist in a gesture that he knew wouldn’t raise his lover’s suspicion. As soon as he had a safe hold on his cat Vesemir lifted him with way more ease than one would suspect and threw him over his shoulder.
“Don’t you dare! Put me down, right now, you old bastard!”
“I warned you.”
Vesemir didn’t say anything else and simply made his way towards his room with the scowling cat on his shoulder.
*****
Eskel had ignored Lambert’s growling for quite a while now, but it was getting on his nerves. His arm around Julian tightened slightly and the cat let out a questioning noise in response, but Eskel turned his gaze on Lambert instead.
“Do you have a problem?”
“Of course I have a fucking problem! You show up here with a cat that’s supposed to be dead and you’re acting like you’re high on a fucking wrong potion mix!”
Eskel growled, trying to shield Julian further from the other witchers in the spring, while Julian’s eyes widened and he let out a soft pained noise.
“How about you shut up about things you don’t understand?”
“Eskel…”
“No, I won’t drop it, Geralt. We accepted Aiden when Lambert brought him, but now he’s making a fuss about me bringing Julian?”
“I wasn’t acting like you!”
Eskel growled, but was hushed by Julian gently touching his cheek to get his wolf to look at him. It took a moment for Eskel to actually turn and Julian whispered something too quietly for the other witchers to hear.
Then he pressed a quick kiss to the wolf’s lips and slowly moved out of his arms, leaving both the pool and then the spring completely. Aiden and Gaetan had watched the exchange and before anyone could even try to stop them, they had followed their fellow cat.
Eskel watched them with a small growl, but didn’t comment on it, instead turning back to Lambert and Geralt.
“You have two options here: Either you can accept that Julian is mine and we continue to come here for the winter or you can’t and we find another place.”
“No one is trying to kick either of you out, Esk. We just want to understand what happened.”
Gweld tried to calm his brother and redirect his attention away from his anger.
"What happened is that I almost watched Julian get burned alive!"
The other occupants of the pool flinched at that and it was Geralt who moved first. He quickly wrapped his arms around Eskel, easily catching the other wolf as he collapsed like a doll whose strings had been cut.
“When I came to the village square they had already lit the fucking pyre… I saw someone was tied to it and simply reacted. Blasted the fire with Aard and demanded they release their prisoner…”
His voice was barely audible and he was shaking in Geralt’s arms, making it seem like the only thing keeping him together was his brother.
“Only saw he was a witcher when they brought him to me… He was unconscious and injured and all I could think about was that I needed to get both him and myself out of there. So I demanded for them to bring his things and horse, whistled for Scorpion…”
“And they just let you go?”
Gweld gently asked, fully aware that their brother needed to get this out after holding it in for however long he had been travelling with Julian.
“Their leader tried to attack me. I knocked him out and used him as leverage. I only released him once I was sure they would let me go with Julian… Put him on Scorpion, so I could keep him up, grabbed Pegasus’ reins and hurried out of the village.”
He stopped for a moment, focussing on his breathing and the soft whispered reassurances from Geralt.
“I only stopped once it got too dark and I was sure we were far enough away from the village, so it wouldn’t be an immediate threat. Julian had still been unconscious and I was so relieved when he reacted to me giving him a potion… Took care of his injuries and let him rest, meditated close by…”
“Obviously he woke up at some point.”
Gweld said, when Eskel remained silent after letting his last sentence trail off. Eskel’s gaze fell on his brother, but it became clear very quickly that he wasn’t actually seeing the other wolf.
“He did… Thought I would drown in his eyes when they met mine… Everything seemed frozen for a moment… And then he ran… Chased him without even thinking about it.”
“Fuck…”
Lambert cursed and the others quickly turned to him.
“Aiden told me to catch him if I was serious about us.”
His cheeks had taken on a slight shade of red and he growled in warning to stop anyone from commenting on it. Gweld sighed and gently shook his head at their youngest, before turning back to Eskel.
“You caught him?”
Eskel’s head shot up and there was a grin on his face as he answered.
“Yes, caught up with him, wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close to me. Wolfling tried to fight me, ignoring what I was saying to him.”
There was a soft growl in his voice at the last part and it was obvious that Eskel wasn’t fully in control of himself.
The other wolves knew the feeling all too well, each of them having been in a similar situation at least once while out on the path, but none of them had met their lovers like that.
“Followed my instincts when his head hit my shoulder and managed to calm him down. Promised to keep him safe…”
He trailed off again and it was obvious that whatever else had happened that night would not leave the wolf’s mouth.
“So you decided to bring him back here?”
“Safest place I know.”
Eskel was moving in Geralt’s hold and it was becoming more and more obvious that he was about to bolt in search of his mate. Gweld returned Geralt’s questioning gaze and slightly shook his head.
“Esk… I know you want to find him and make sure he’s safe, but I promise you he is perfectly fine. Neither Gaetan nor Aiden will hurt him.”
Eskel growled, but Geralt simply tightened his hold on him, refusing to let him go. Gweld moved over to them and helped Geralt in containing their brother.
“Your mate is safe here, but he needs to work through whatever happened and you’re not helping by shielding him from any confrontation. Trust him to find you if he really needs you and trust us to respect if he needs space.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Julian wasn’t sure where exactly he was going, but he knew that the wolves needed to talk to Eskel. As much as he hated walking through the Keep on his own, he was fully aware that he couldn’t rely on his wolf the entire winter. Somehow he had found his way back into the Great Hall and hurried towards the door that would lead him to the Training Grounds. The rush of cold air as he opened the door felt like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It was completely irrational but the stone walls of the Keep felt restraining and without Eskel it gave him a sense of being trapped.
Maybe it was because he had barely spent time indoors in the last three years or the presence of the other witchers, Julian wasn’t sure, but he also didn’t really want to think about it. For now it was enough that being outside soothed his anxiety and allowed him to have multiple escape plans if anything should happen. He moved to one of the walls surrounding the area and easily scaled it, gaining further reassurance from his new vantage point.
The door to the Keep opened and Julian sighed a little when he heard two sets of familiar footsteps coming closer. Sadly they weren’t the steps he wanted to hear, but there was not much he could do about it.
“Kitten… Can we talk?”
“Please?”
“What do you want to talk about?”
Neither of the two cats made any move to join him on the wall and Julian was grateful for that. If they really wanted to know then he would need them to keep their distance at least for now.
“Why are you scared of us? You know we would never hurt you!”
Julian could feel his anger rising and tried to take deep breaths to stop himself from doing something stupid.
“Thought the same thing about the other cats…”
“I’m not Jad! You should know me better than that, Kitten!”
“How about you try getting betrayed by one of your brothers, see how much you trust the rest afterwards!”
“None of us knew what Jad did…”
“And I’m just supposed to believe that?!”
“What do you want me to do, Kitten?! I can’t go find Jad, drag him back here and kill him for what he did right now! We’re snowed in and the Killer is unpassable!”
“I want you to leave me alone!”
Julian jumped off the wall and stormed back to the Keep only to collide with a solid body standing in the doorway.
“And where do you think you’re going, Kit?”
It was a voice and tone he had heard so many times over the years that the reaction was pure reflex by now. His shoulders slumped and he took a step back, but was stopped by a hand landing on the back of his neck, gently squeezing him and Julian’s knees buckled for a moment.
“It’s alright, Kit, I’ve got you.”
Guxart said his voice soft the way it had always been when Julian was teetering on the edge of going feral. And even with all his newfound distrust for his brethren, there was a part of Julian that had always held Guxart above any suspicion.
The old cat had always been there when Julian needed protection during his time as a trainee and with being one of the leaders of their school he wasn’t very likely to be bullied into following orders. Unlike Gaetan or Aiden, who even if they wouldn’t hurt him themselves could be attempted to be forced aside while others attacked him.
“They’re right, we need to talk and you know it.”
Julian grumbled but followed Guxart’s guidance back to the other two cats, who quickly sat down in the snow. Guxart gently pushed Julian down as well, before placing himself slightly between them, not in a way that would block anyone’s line of sight, but so Julian’s mind registered him as a potential source of protection against an attack.
For a moment they were all silent, Guxart letting it stretch purposefully to give Julian time to get used to being close to his brothers again.
“So… Tell us what happened with Jad. I heard his side of the story, but it’s obvious now that he was lying.”
Julian looked up at the old cat with pleading eyes, but when that did nothing to sway him, the younger cat sighed and dropped his head in defeat.
“I was on my way back to the Caravan for winter. Wasn’t entirely sure where it was since I hadn’t met any other cat for quite some time. I ran into Jad not far away from a village and he said he knew where the Caravan was and that we could head there together. Didn’t see anything wrong with that. After all, if we had the same goal, why not make the Path a bit more enjoyable by having company?”
He was clasping his hands in his lap, trying to soothe himself in any way he could as his voice grew more and more quiet.
“Everything was fine for a few days… Then we came across a clearing next to a cliff… Suddenly he attacked me… At first I thought something had happened or there was a threat that I hadn’t noticed, but when I saw his eyes… I knew he was fully aware of what he was doing… Defended myself the best I could and it looked like one of us would have to outlast the other to win… But then he managed to force me to turn my back towards the cliff… He caught me off guard when he suddenly blasted me with Aard and I was too close to the edge… I tried to hold on, but before I could get my second hand back up he was there… He looked down at me smiling and stomped on my hand hard enough to break my fingers… Last thing I know is that he watched me fall…”
The noise of sudden movement pulled Julian out of his story and he looked up to see Guxart easily holding back Gaetan, who had tried to get to him.
“Continue, Kit.”
Julian watched Gaetan for a moment, an insecurity in his eyes that had never before been there when looking at either of the cats present and Aiden let out a soft noise, almost a whimper, at seeing it.
“Kit.”
“I… I woke up… It was dark and everything hurt and one of my brothers had just tried to kill me… I-I forced myself to look around, found my pack, but all my potions were broken because of the fall… Don’t know how I managed to get to the nearest village, all I remember is pain and fear… A farmer took me in, tended to my wounds and let me stay the winter… Only asked me to take care of the monster plaguing them in exchange… Don’t even remember what it was… All I knew was that I couldn’t go home anymore… Because if Jad attacked me there had to be something I wasn’t aware of… And if he tried to kill me how could I be sure someone else wouldn’t finish the job if I showed up at the Caravan?”
His voice broke and he buried his face in his hands to hide from the looks his brethren were giving him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take the anger and disappointment.
Suddenly he was pulled against a strong body and before he could panic the scent registered in his mind and he relaxed as Guxart wrapped his arms around him. Gaetan and Aiden were quick to plaster themselves to his back and it was Gaetan who spoke next, his voice nothing more than a whisper, only meant for the four of them:
“When he told us that you were gone… I tried to attack him. Letho had to hold me back because I couldn’t believe he would leave you behind… Almost ran off to find you a few times that winter… I knew he had to be lying, but he never told us anything specific about the area…”
Guxart shushed him with a simple noise the moment Julian started shaking in his arms and that was all it took for the other two to tighten their hold on the youngest cat, trying to reassure him that he was safe and they would never hurt him without any more words.
It was only once Julian stopped shaking that they carefully pulled away, though Guxart kept the youngest cat in his lap, while the other two gently grabbed his hands.
“Kitten, I promise you that I would never do anything to hurt you or let anyone else hurt you. That includes your Wolf.”
He added with a soft growl and it earned him a small smile from Julian.
“I know it sounds weird but right now? Eskel’s the only one I trust blindly…”
Aiden let out a sad noise, but squeezed his brother’s hand in reassurance.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not watching him.”
Guxart smiled at the younger cats and gently shook his head.
“Can you tell us why, to help your brothers understand.”
Julian looked up at the old cat before turning to his brothers and tilting his head slightly in thought.
“I don’t know… Obviously he saved my life, but it’s not just that… Being close to him just makes me feel safe, like nothing and no one can touch me.”
Guxart let out a chuckle and brushed a few strands of hair out of Julian’s face.
“It does help that he looks at you like he would burn the world down to make you happy.”
*****
Dinner that night for the first time this winter resembled what it was usually like in Kaer Morhen and while Gaetan was still watching Eskel closely as he sat with an arm curled around Julian, he didn’t complain when his Kitten happily leaned against the wolf a small smile on his face.
It was obvious that things weren’t perfect or back to normal yet, but at least they seemed to be on the right track for now. And this winter definitely had the potential to continue to be one of the more interesting ones in the Keep’s long history.