“You aren’t going to hurt her, are you?” Mateo mindlinks me.
I stay silent. I don’t want to hurt her, not intentionally, anyway.
“Do I need to pull over, Maddox?” Mateo threatens when I say nothing, and he glances at me in the mirror before I realize Kat has goosebumps rushing over her skin.
“No, I am fine,” I defend when Kat turns and bites me, trying to get my arm off her chest. I growl at her.
“Let me go, you big furry brute,” she snarls.
I pull my arm away, looking at it, her blunt teeth which barely break the skin. Growling at her, I enjoy the way she cringes when I press my canines against her throat. I’ve always found it amusing that she isn’t scared of me until my teeth come out.
She freezes, and Mateo’s eyes dart to me nervously, I can feel him debating with himself whether to pull over and get me away from her.
I run my canines over her shoulder, and her breathing hitches, her heart rate increasing, thumping loudly against my hand holding her against me.
“Maddox?” Mateo questions, slowing the car down. He is about to pull over. Probably the main thing I liked about Mateo before I marked him is as much as he feared me, he is always the first to react and jump in against me to protect Ezra from the damage I sometimes caused.
No matter how many times I have injured him, he always stays, even when Ezra told him to leave us. I know he would give his life for our mate, even if it means me killing him, though now just the thought of hurting him makes me queasy.
“I’m fine, keep driving. I find her temper more amusing than annoying,” I reassure him, as the car increases in speed.
“Not so smart-mouthed now, Kitty?” I ask her, and I feel her temper rise, her anger bubbles at my words. Mateo pulls into the driveway, and Kat tries to scramble off me. “Stop,” I warn her when I feel her elbow in my ribs. Yet she still struggles, making me wonder how much worse her attitude will get. Andrei said it is from her needing to shift. I find it amusing for now, but I want my good Kitty back. This side of her makes Ezra uncomfortable with himself. Ezra is calm while I am the storm, and yet he gave me control this time, which scares me. Fear isn’t something I often have to handle, but every time I have it has had something to do with Kat.
Mateo opens the door, and I climb out of the car, dragging a struggling Kat with me. She goes dead-weight, and I only just manage to grip her arms before she slides onto her butt and escapes. I pick her up, her entire body thrashing as she tries to escape my grip when I throw her over my shoulder. I grip the back of her thighs to stop her from kicking me. Mateo is watching her, and I can feel his concern, but even he is becoming annoyed with her erratic behavior. At least now we know it isn’t her fault and she isn’t being a brat for no reason.
“Put me down!” She screeches, I have never seen her so out of control before. She is almost manic as she tries to escape, hitting and scratching at my back.
“Don’t hurt her,” Ezra warns me, coming forward at the sound of her stressed voice.
“I’m trying not to, but she is fucking hurting me with her nails tearing apart your back,” I argue.
“What’s wrong with her?” Mateo asks, opening the door to the house, her breathing is increasing, and I am struggling to hold onto her as she continues to thrash wildly. I have no idea what is wrong with her, but the feeling oozing off her is out of control, as if she is losing her mind with the rage.
“I don’t know,” I answer, climbing the stairs. Kat thrashes again, nearly tumbling off my shoulder, and I barely catch her before she falls to the stairs. Ezra watches worriedly when she claws at her face and rips out her hair.
Mateo quickly grips her wrists and pulls them away from her face and hair. I suck in a breath seeing her eyes turn pitch black, even the whites, before they flicker between gold and black.
“We need to get her upstairs,” I order, becoming increasingly worried. This isn’t Kat. She is acting insane. Just as we reach the second level, she turns in my arms, managing to force Mateo to let her go, her nails scrape down my face before she knees me in the side of the head, making me drop her.
Mateo grabs her around the waist as she jumps up. Kat throws her head back, head-butting him, when I notice her golden eyes have turned completely black, no more flickering. She looks demonic and possessed. Her strength is astonishing as she tosses him off like he weighs nothing.
“Maddox, do something. Something is wrong with her!” Ezra yells at me, trying to wrest control back. Her breathing is so heavy she is almost panting when I spot her eyes dart to the door on the floor below. She takes off, and I realize she is going to jump off the balcony. Ezra shoves forward because I am too shocked at her behavior to react. Mateo screams for her, trying to get to his feet, Ezra forces control, shoving me back with blinding speed.
Not even Maddox can contain her. I have never seen her like this before or ever expected her to act like this. She is crazed, trying to hurt herself or anything that comes in contact with her. Maddox stares at her, stunned at her fury, when she runs toward the balcony. My heart damn nearly stops in our chest when I see what she is about to do.
“Kat, no!” Mateo shrieks, jumping to his feet, and I shove forward, gripping the back of her shirt and yanking her back. She falls on me, and I wrap my arms around her, holding her still before rolling onto my back. Her hands are clawing at any part of me she can reach as Mateo comes forward, offering me his strength, trying to hold her still as she flails around.
My heart is racing at the sight of her. The anger in her ignites mine, and I can’t understand how her mindset completely shifted so rapidly. She has been off for days, and I originally thought it was because Kora wasn’t talking to her.
I don’t think she even realized how much attitude she has been giving us, not necessarily what she is saying but the way she talks to us. She has been snapping and snarling at us for days, driving Mateo and me insane, but today, it is like a switch flicked in her head, and now this is what the result is of holding in her anger for so long.
She rolls beneath me, her nails digging into my leg as she tries to shove me off. Her nails scratch down my face and I try to pin her back to the ground. Mateo quickly grabs her arms and is holding them to the floor while she bucks beneath me. “Shh! Kat, calm down, babe,” Mateo tells her soothingly before looking at me. He looks terrified, not of her, but for her.
She turns her head, biting into my leg when she isn’t getting anywhere by hitting us now that Mateo has her arms pinned.