I lunge at him. Both of us smash over the balcony toward the floor.
A loud growl erupts from Ezra as he grabs me and jerks me to his chest. He pivots in the air, and I land on top of him, knocking the air from his lungs and mine.
He groans, and I roll off him trying to catch my breath, but the air has been sucked out of my lungs. The shift makes me tremble, my body is contorting, twisting, and breaking as I fight against the urge.
When I get to my hands and knees, Ezra’s body rolls and covers mine, he flattens my face down on the floor. “Calm down, Kitty,” Maddox’s voice growls. It sends a shiver down my spine, and he thrums, the sound makes Ezra’s chest vibrate against my back.
The frantic footsteps above us make me turn my head and look up, and I spot Mateo on the top step. I blink, trying to make sense of what is going on before my anger slams back into me, and I toss Maddox off of me. He hits the stairs with such force, I’m surprised they stay intact.
My anger forces the shift, and I see black fur in my periphery as I take off and run though the door. In a state of pure rage I don’t notice that the door is closed and literally break through it.
Splinters of wood smash me, and not a moment before my feet hit the gravel, teeth wrap around my throat and there’s weight on my back, forcing me to the ground.
Maddox’s teeth are embedded in my neck but not hard enough to break the skin, just firm and pressing, letting me know he can take me down from our position.
I squirm, but my anger is already receding. Having completed the shift, the moon shines down on my fur, and the heat of my anger dissipates as my energy recharges, harnessing the moon and its calming effects.
I fall to my side-lying position. Maddox’s grip loosens as he licks my neck and nudges me with his nose.
He drops next to me, and I let out a breath as he rests his head on my neck. His warm body calms me.
I hear movement behind us, it makes my ears twitch. Maddox looks toward the house for a second and rests his head back on my neck. Ares comes over to us and flops down on the dirt next to us. He licks my cheek and Maddox’s before tugging on my ear.
“All better now, Kitty?” Maddox hums through the bond.
“The babies?” I ask them, and Ares answers.
“Marge has them, she is in the nursery with them,” he answers, and I nod, closing my eyes letting the moon work its magic.
The rest is something we will definitely figure out and argue about later, when I won’t be so volatile and at risk of biting one of them. One thing I know for sure is that I will raise hell for everything they did to me. No mate should be treated like they treat me, with or without the best intentions at heart.
Andrei
We are going to arrive home later than I expected, an accident on the highway leaves us stranded on the side of the road for hours while they clear the road.
We have been stuck here for ages already, and my annoyance only grows more potent as the minutes pass by. When I hear my phone ringing in the console, I retrieve it from the glove compartment before the noise can wake Sage.
She fell asleep during the wait in the traffic, her head pressed against the window, but thankfully, her sleep doesn’t seem as light as it used to be during the first nights in the house.
I quickly answer the phone, not bothering to check the caller ID, and am surprised when my father’s voice echoes to me from the crappy cell service out here. “Hey, son,” he greets.
“Yeah, what’s up, Derrick?” I ask him as traffic creeps past the crash site. It’s painfully slow, but still better than nothing at all.
I prop the phone on my ear as I steer around the barricades the police have set up. Looks like a tree has fallen across the highway and crushed a car beneath it.
“Kat had a meltdown, I was wondering if I could come over in a few days instead of tomorrow? I’m just a little worried about leaving her,” he tells me.
“What sort of meltdown? Is she ok? I am not far from her border. I can spin around if needed,” I offer as a wave of worry courses through me.
I knew she was struggling with everything, and her refusal to shift clearly didn’t help much, but I didn’t think it was extreme enough for her to have a meltdown.
“No, she is fine. Maddox and Ares got to her. She found out we had been monitoring her.” Derrick grumbles the last part. I furrow my brows, more than slightly surprised about the news he is sharing with me.
“Monitoring her? What for?” I ask. No one has ever mentioned that to me.
“We didn’t want to worry you since you have Sage to look after. But she has been exhibiting strange behaviors, I think she will be fine now. She finally shifted, but I still want to stick around to make sure before I head over to your pack. Do you think you can manage for a few more days?” He asks.
“Yes, of course I can. Call me tomorrow and let me know how she is, please. Kat hardly tells me anything these days,” I grumble.
I get that everyone is worried about Kat and her refusal to shift, I really do. After all, I am worried too, but I think the monitoring part is too harsh. It’s just too much. Kat is a very independent woman, one way or another, she will do as she pleases.
No wonder she had a meltdown after she found out. I mean, who wouldn’t? I bet it felt like shit to hear about it. To get slapped in the face with information like that, it’s like hearing a mate can’t trust you.
“Of course, I will see you in a few days. Love you, son.”
“Ok, talk soon.” I answer and hang up the call.
I toss the phone back in the glove compartment and Sage shifts in her sleep. Her body trembles, so I turn the heat up and reach over to the back seat to retrieve my jacket.
I toss it over her arms to warm her a little faster. Then focus on the drive, turning onto the twisting road that leads towards the mountain and our pack.
What should have been a quick drive home turns into hours of being stuck on the side of the road, and my ass is killing me from sitting on this leather seat for so long.