“Don’t take it,” she whispers again. I can see tears well up in her eyes, and fuck, does it break me.
Kaif is restless as he waits to see what I will do. He knows I need to; his drive to protect her is the same, but he is also selfish, he doesn’t want me to take it from her either, and I know his feelings for her are what gets her killed.
“I have to,” I tell her.
“Don’t you see, nothing you do will make it stop. The bond won’t allow it, so why try,” she whispers, barely holding back the tears.
“Because you die, I have seen it,” I reply with a heavy heart. I hope she knows this hurts me just as much as it does her, if not more.
“Maybe you saw wrong,” Marabella whispers as she looks away from me.
“Or maybe we are wrong,” I tell her, and she shakes her head. I watch how she closes her eyes, her lips quiver, and I brush my thumb over it. What I would give just to kiss her once, then I could let her believe I am her worst nightmare, let her think I don’t want her. Yet, the thought pulls at something deep within me, churning violently.
“Then do it, but if you do reject me. You want me to hate you, reject me, Kyan, reject the bond, and set me free of you.” As the words roll over her lips, she doesn’t face me.
Kaif growls, the noise escapes me before I can stop it, and she flinches.
“Sleep,” I whisper as my magic seeps out as my hand warms against her skin. Her eyes open and head snaps back to face me. I feel her fear before her eyes flutter shut.
Just as my fingers trail down the side of her face, Kaif growls in rage. “No!” he snaps, shoving forward, while shoving me back as I am about to pull the memory from her.
I fight against him as he shifts, tearing my skin off in sheets to shift faster. Agony floods me, and I scream in my head, my voice becomes fainter to my own ears, swallowed by Kaif’s soft growls. My worst fear comes true.
Kaif, unleashing on Marabella, killing her, and I have no way to stop him, no control as everything goes black.
HOURS EARLIER
Jonah
I feel the moment Kaif wakes within Kyan, the part of me that is connected to him tingles and burns with a ferocity that has me flying out of bed to get dressed. I stagger as I walk, ripping my jeans up my legs as I move toward my door. I do everything at the same time as I reach for the door handle while I stuff my feet in my sneakers.
Ripping the door open, my heart sputters as adrenaline courses through me, fear so pungent it covers my skin in goosebumps and sends a shiver down my spine. I have never felt Kaif in so much distress before, or ever, for that matter. But whatever is happening scares him, and that monster does not feel fear. Fury, yes, but fear? Never.
My feet barely touch the stairs as I jump down the staircase. I know I will crash and burn hard after this encounter with Kaif. Something is severely off, something sinister burns through him that has me worried. I have spent all day training with my father and now I’m about to go ten rounds with this big hairy fucker and come out on the losing end as usual. Fuck, I will feel it tomorrow.
“God, have mercy upon my ass for it is about to be handed to a fucking wannabe Chupacabra on a silver platter,” I mutter under my breath.
My father collides with me at the bottom of the stairs, startled, he grabs my arms. This is why I always stay at my cabin and rarely at the packhouse, just in case I need to rush off. Mainly because that way I can avoid being questioned as to why and also because it is so much quicker to the city from there.
Here I am, two hours away from the city, but I know I can make it there in an hour if I don’t slow down and ignore the speed signs. I just hope he isn’t tearing up the city because whatever has set him off has him murderous.
“Son?” my father asks as I brush his clutching hands off.
“Can’t talk, love you,” I tell him, picking myself up off the floor and darting for the rear door.
The front always takes too long to unlock because it has a complex multitude of locks on it. Why he is even up at this ungodly hour is beyond me. It is nearly midnight and my parents usually go to bed early, mainly because it takes Dad hours to settle Mom down.
Growing up, she was fine and is an exceptional mother, but once Rose hit around five years old, she went off the rails. She became paranoid about Rose, enduring the same fate she had to. It made her a little overbearing, and I know Rose hates that she is guarded twenty-four-seven. But I also understand Mom’s fears, even if she can, at times, be a little irrational.
Getting to my car, I fling the door open with such force, I nearly rip it off the hinges. The door swings back and smashes against my ankle, and I hiss. The keys are already in the ignition, and I start her up. By doing so, I am pretty sure I wake half the pack up as I tear out along the dirt road, heading for the highway. The car fishtails onto the asphalt road; the tires squeal as I floor it.
I am halfway to the city when my phone rings, yet I don’t remember grabbing it when I feel the vibration in the back pocket of my jeans. I pull it out to see Casen’s name pop up on the screen. What the hell has Rose done now? I do not have time for this shit. Answering it, I turn the Bluetooth on and drop it in my lap, waiting for the Bluetooth to kick in.
“Yep,” I answer hearing the Bluetooth finally click over and connect.
“Are Rose and Marabella with you?” Casen asks.
I nearly swerve off the road at those words. My mind races a million miles an hour at that one question because Kaif is in control and Marabella is missing. This new information has alarm bells ringing in my head.
Jax presses nervously against my skin, and I do the one thing I swore I never would do. I’ve always been content with never knowing what goes on in that bastard’s head, knowing it would terrify me if I did. Not only that, he always told Kyan he would kill me if he felt me tampering around and invading his mind. However, some nagging thoughts tell me I will find the answers about my missing sister and Marabella if I do.