Page 15

K ai

The room seemed to crackle with an electric charge as I watched Lily settle into bed, her body stiff, gaze fixed on me with curiosity. The shower had revitalized her, cleansing away the remnants of her ordeal, but now it was time to cleanse the connection between us. Too many lies. Too many half-truths.

“Feeling better?” I asked, my voice a low rumble, hinting at something deeper.

A subtle nod and a delicate smile. “I am. I needed that.”

When Lily’s pretty green eyes caught mine and held, it fueled my hunger. The mating would need to happen soon. My Yucilon side was about out of patience.

I sat on the edge of the bed, keeping the covers between us. A barrier. I needed it. “I should let you sleep. The sun is nearly up and you’re exhausted.”

She grabbed my forearm, holding on tight. “I don’t want you to go. I want to know about you, Kai. About your family.”

“Okay,” I replied. We were about to delve into the depths of my shapeshifter heritage, a secret that had remained hidden from the world. From humans. Until now.

“You said you shift. I saw the claws. Does that mean you have teeth like a wolf, too?”

The fascination edging her voice gave me hope that she wasn’t going to lose her shit the minute she saw me change. With her damp hair cascading like silken threads around her face, I allowed myself a moment to appreciate her presence, her beauty. A moment to steady myself before revealing the truth about my family’s extraordinary nature.

“We do have teeth like a wolf. Bigger, though,” I began, my gaze an unyielding anchor as it locked onto hers. “Our animalistic nature is intricately woven into the fabric of our being. Fostine has a slightly smaller body and lighter fur than the rest of us. But she’s just as capable as me, as any of us. Wyatt is our alpha, our leader.”

“That’s why you all defer to him,” she concluded. “I wondered about that.”

“Father was our alpha, but he left in search of Fostine. Wyatt took his place, kept us together, kept us whole.”

She frowned. “Now that your father is back, will he resume his place?”

I had wondered that myself. “I don’t know, but that’s a problem for another day.”

“You’re right,” she waved a hand toward me. “So, are there others like you? And what about your mom? I haven’t heard you mention her.”

“There are others. Other families.” My jaw stiffened as memories surfaced. “Our mom ... the virus killed her. It swept through our kind like a plague.” I sighed, remembering it as if it were yesterday. “Only the females. The disease spread quickly. No one knew how to stop it. It took them, one by one.”

Lily’s eyes filled with sympathy, as if her heart ached for the loss of my people. “I’m so sorry, Kai.”

I took a deep breath, my grip on her hand tightening. “Fostine is the last female. We’re not sure how she survived when so many others didn’t. She’s different somehow.”

Lily’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Different? In what way?”

“We don’t know yet.” I ran a hand over my face. “She hasn’t shown any signs of illness, and she seems ... stronger. But it’s a mystery. Creeg was trying to figure it out before she left here two years ago. Now that she’s back, I assume he’ll get back to work on it.”

Lily reached out, cupping my cheek in her hand, her touch a soothing balm for my pain. “You and your family have been through so much.”

I leaned into her touch, my eyes locking onto hers. “Our very existence hinges on secrecy. My kind goes back to prehistoric times. Sharing our world with outsiders is entirely forbidden. I’m sharing it with you because you’re my mate.”

A charged silence hung in the air like a promise yet to be fulfilled. Her gaze deepened, her lean toward me indicating a growing urgency. “But we aren’t ... can’t be.”

“I knew you were mine the moment we met. It’s a scent. To a mate, it’s unmistakable. And absolutely intoxicating.”

Her face turned a pretty shade of pink at my words. “My scent. Oh, God, what do I smell like?”

“Like peaches and vanilla,” I groaned, closing my eyes tight against the need to taste her. “I crave it. Crave you.”

“Kai,” she whispered.

“When two shapeshifters unite as mates, a potent bonding ritual is invoked,” I explained, as parts of my body reacted to the idea. “It’s an intimate exchange that fortifies our connection and weaves our abilities together.”

Her eyes widened, the weight of my words sinking in as she absorbed their significance. “But I’m human. Surely that changes things.”

“It does, but we’ll navigate that when the time comes,” I assured her. “Through this bonding, the shared essence sparks a profound metamorphosis. Our abilities mesh. Your aging process is altered. A prolonged life span will be one of the benefits.”

“And I’ll be able to shift? Into an animal form?” she asked, her brows furrowed.

“Possibly, there’s a risk that you won’t be able to shift,” I continued, my voice gentle. “No human has ventured into this bonding territory. The interplay between your humanity and our shapeshifter essence is an unknown, and that unknown carries with it inherent dangers.”

Lily clutched the blanket in a firm fist. “Could it ... could it kill me?”

“No, I won’t let that happen. I would never harm you,” I swore, reaching for a lock of her damp hair and teasing the strands. “There are unknowns here, but I won’t hurt you.”

Uncertainty played across her face. My own emotions intensified, as a possessive hunger clawed at the edges of self-control. The connection between us was undeniable, but now it was as if every nerve in my body was charged.

“I want you to understand something,” she began hesitantly, her voice soft, almost a caress. “My feelings for you are evolving. I think I might be falling in love with you. But I’m still afraid here.”

Her admission was like a symphony of desire ringing in my ears, setting every fiber of my being ablaze. I found myself aching to take our relationship to a more profound level. “There is no one more important to me than you. No one that I care for more,” I confessed, my voice husky, laced with longing. “But even amid these emotions, the uncertainties persist. Your concerns hold merit, and whatever your decision, I’ll respect it.”

Silence swelled between us, an unspoken dialogue of raw emotions hanging in the air. And then I knew it was time to reveal another truth, one that had clawed at my conscience. “There’s something else,” I admitted, my voice heavy with guilt.

Her left brow quirked upward. “More revelations?”

“The night of your accident—the one that altered the course of your life—it was my doing. I was the beast you were trying to avoid hitting, Lily.”

Her eyes widened. “You were the black wolf?”

I glanced away, unable to look her in the eye. “Yeah, I was on a hunt. I wanted to tell you before, but...”

“Kind of hard to explain that one,” she surmised, her lips twitching. “I seriously would’ve thought you were nuts.”

I winced. “Yeah, and then I smelled your blood and I knew.”

She stiffened. “Blood?”

“The scent I told you about,” I explained, shifting around on the bed to get more comfortable. The conversation was doing things to me. Things Lily wasn’t quite up to seeing. “When we mate, I’ll take a little of your blood, and you’ll take mine. It’ll anchor us together.”

“A blood exchange,” she repeated, her voice a tremor. “Okay, see, that’s starting to sound a bit scary, Kai.”

I cursed and ran a hand through my hair. “I know how this all must sound, but I promise it’s not as Bram Stoker as you’re imagining.”

She took a deep breath, then let it out. “How about we table the blood talk for now? What else should I know? Do you have abilities?”

“We’re stronger, faster, and our hearing is better than any other creature on earth. We can breathe underwater. And we can heal ourselves. It’s why Dad wasn’t killed by Patterson. A human wouldn’t have survived what my father endured these last two years.”

She touched an injury on her forearm. “So, if we mated right now, all these bruises and cuts would be gone,” she said, almost as if thinking aloud.

“Yes,” I bit out, hoping she’d say yes. I hated seeing her in pain. Hated seeing Patterson’s marks all over her. “They’d heal completely. And any other human ailments you suffer from.”

She yawned and laid her head against the pillow. “I think I need time to process everything, to understand my emotions, and to come to terms with all this.”

I nodded, my heart pounding with the need to claim her now. Seal our bond. Keep her from leaving me. But I refused to entertain that side of my nature. Lily would accept me in her own time. “I’ll let you rest. Come downstairs when you feel up to it or I can bring food up.”

When I started to go, to leave her to sleep, a delicate finger touched the back of my hand. “Don’t leave, please.” Her voice broke with unspoken pain. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Not tonight.”

Our bond was defined by desire, uncertainty, and a hunger that refused to be quelled. I walked around the side of the bed, then laid down on top of the comforter. I propped my head against the headboard and smiled down at her. “I’ll keep my hands to myself,” I teased. “Sleep, Lily. You’re safe.”

She let out a sigh and closed her eyes. Minutes later she was snoring, her hand resting on top of mine as if unable to let me go. As if needing the contact. I knew the feeling well.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Fostine, letting her know where I was. She offered to bring us food around noon and I accepted the offer. This was what Lily needed. To feel safe again. To recover in peace. There would be plenty of time to figure the rest of it out. For now, I would watch over her. And with any luck, Wyatt would find Trakker. We’d kill Patterson. Only then would Lily’s nightmare truly be over.

And yet something deep in my gut told me we weren’t going to be that fortunate.

****

L ily

The night was restless, fraught with shadows and echoes of what Patterson and his guard had done to me. I jolted awake, heart racing, breath ragged, my mind still trapped in the clutches of a nightmare. The memory of my ordeal with Patterson had sprouted new tendrils of fear, creeping into my subconscious and tightening its grip on me even in my sleep. The moonlight filtered through the window, casting ethereal patterns on the walls as if the night itself were whispering reassurances.

Beside me, a comforting presence stirred. Kai was there, his warm gaze focused on me, concern etched into the lines of his face. “Are you okay?” he murmured, his voice a soothing balm against the lingering echoes of my nightmare.

I managed a shaky nod, my throat constricting as I fought to calm my racing heart. I struggled to shake off the remnants of the dream, and hearing Kai’s voice dragged me back to reality.

A gentle stream of light spilled into the room, casting a golden glow that gently pushed back the darkness. I swallowed, my voice barely a whisper as I croaked out, “What time is it?”

Kai shifted slightly, his gaze still fixed on me. “It’s two in the afternoon.”

My eyes widened in disbelief. I’d slept for hours, the weight of emotional turmoil pulling me into a deep slumber. I couldn’t believe I’d slept so long, losing track of time in the process.

As realization settled in, the conversation we’d shared before I’d drifted off flooded my mind. The revelations Kai had shared about his Yucilon heritage, his family, and the intricate details of the mating bond. It was a lot to process, but strangely, the fear that had initially gripped me had softened. There was intrigue now, a growing fascination with this world beyond the ordinary.

He watched me. “You’ve been through so much,” he murmured, his voice gentle. “Rest was what you needed.”

I nodded, my head a swirling mess. “I ... I appreciate you being here.”

A glimmer of affection lit his gaze. “I’ll always be here for you, Lily.”

The sunlight streaming through the window infused the room with hope, a fresh start after the trials of the past. I took a deep breath, allowing myself to bask in Kai’s presence.

His voice was soft. “You know, we have a cabin not too far from here. It’s a private place, away from the world. I thought, if you’re up for it, we could go there. Spend some time away, just the two of us.”

My heart skipped a beat. The idea of a secluded escape sounded tempting, a chance to explore the bond we shared without the prying eyes of the outside world. Without the interruptions of his family.

I peered into his eyes, then proceeded to take the plunge. “I think I’d like that.”

A genuine smile blossomed on his lips, and he reached out to gently brush a strand of hair from my face. “You know what this means?”

As I nodded in agreement, a sense of possibility bloomed within me. “I do, and I’m ready.”

“I don’t want to rush you. If you need more time I—”

“I don’t,” I interrupted him. “The world is always going to be a place of uncertainty, but with you by my side, the journey ahead seems less daunting. I won’t let Patterson steal another moment of my life.”

His grin widened. “You amaze me. With everything that happened, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to lock yourself away and never leave.”

As the sunlight danced on the edges of their shared space, I thought of Kai’s words, his praise. “I could do that. But the whole reason I left my life behind was to start a new one. On my terms. I want to do that with you, Kai.”

“No more waiting,” he murmured, cupping my cheek in a gentle hand.

“No more waiting,” I repeated, lifting up so I could feel his lips against my own.

Our mouths met in a soft, lingering kiss. The tenderness was a balm for the wounds we both carried, physical and emotional. Kai’s hand gently grazed my cheek, as if he was worried about opening the wound in my lip. I leaned into his touch. I needed more. The world around us faded and our closeness provided solace.

As the kiss grew more passionate, a fire ignited between us. But just as our bodies responded to the rising heat, a flash of memory pierced my mind.

Gasping, I pulled away, my eyes wide with realization. The room blurred around me as the memory resurfaced, horrifying. I’d learned something during my captivity, something that could tilt the balance in our favor, something about Patterson that could lead us to him.

I pushed back a few inches, my heart pounding, lips tingling from the feel of Kai’s mouth against mine. I met his concerned gaze, my voice trembling as I found the words to speak. “I remember something,” I whispered, my voice barely audible above the rush of blood in my ears.

His worried gaze lingered as he reached out to me. “What is it?”

“Patterson,” I began, steadier now as the importance of my revelation sunk in. “I got him talking at one point. He revealed something I don’t think he intended to tell me. It might help find him, and, hopefully, Trakker.”

Kai’s eyes widened, shock mingling with caution. “Are you sure?”

I nodded, swallowing hard. “Yes, I think it could be essential. We should tell your family.”

“You need to get dressed first,” he said, staring at my nightgown. “No one gets to see you this way. Except me.”

My face heated. “You won’t get any arguments from me.” I shoved the covers off, then stood. The room tilted, but the pain wasn’t as severe. The sleep had done me good.

“You need meds, too.” He watched me, his brows furrowed. “We do that before we talk to my family. Your health comes first.”

“Text Creeg and have him bring them to the kitchen.” I went to my suitcase and pulled out a pair of black leggings and an oversized grey concert tee. “I don’t think this should wait.”

A sense of urgency hung in the air as I quickly dressed. Kai had to help me with the shirt. My arms were still too sore to lift above my head. Kai’s hungry gaze lingered on my chest, and it made me anxious to get to the cabin. To feel his touch everywhere. I wanted to make love to Kai. To erase the memory of Patterson’s hands against my flesh. I was desperate for it.

As we made our way to the kitchen, the warm light from the overhead fixtures spilled across the worn wooden table, casting long shadows on the faces gathered around it. Kai’s family. The ones who had rescued me. And now Trakker, their brother, was suffering. I felt responsible.

As we sat down, Creeg placed two pills in front of me, along with a cup of coffee. I thanked him and swallowed them down, my fingers traced the rim of the mug, my gaze distant as I recounted the information I’d gained. “Patterson was eager to know all about your family,” I began, not waiting another second. “He asked questions that made no sense to me at the time. At one point I decided to appeal to his conscience.”

Lucian snorted. “Bastard has no conscience.”

I sent him a look of understanding. “True, but I did get him to reveal something about himself.”

Wyatt sat at the head of the table, his intense gaze trained on me. “What?”

I swallowed hard. Letting my mind recall the moment was difficult enough, much less sharing it with everyone. “I asked how he’d feel if someone he loved was on that table. If his daughter was the one being tortured.” I sighed. “He gave me the strangest look. Almost as if he were afraid. Like I’d hit a nerve.”

“A daughter,” Wyatt quietly repeated. “I’d never considered it.”

“He was so angry with me. His interrogation technique was bad, but after that he dropped all pretense of kindness.”

Kai snarled a curse. “I want to feel my claws dig into his throat.”

“We all do, brother,” Wyatt muttered, then stared at Miggs. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Hell, yeah.” He leaped to his feet. “I’m on it.”

As Miggs rushed from the room, my control snapped. “What? Can someone please fill me in?”

Kai reached for me, then explained, “If Patterson has family, then it’s possible he’s put his new facility in their name. To keep us from finding it. Miggs can do a computer search. He’s a whiz with that shit.”

Silence hung in the air before I recalled another detail of my captivity. “Did you get the other guy out of there?”

Kai frowned. “Lily, there was no one else. Only you and Dad.”

I shook my head. “No, there was another man. On a different floor. He was chained to the wall.”

Kai exchanged looks with the others. “Did any of you—”

“No, and we searched that place well,” Wyatt bit out, his gaze on me. “What did he look like? Can you remember?”

“Long black hair and ... well, purple eyes.” I sighed. “I know it sounds crazy, but I’d swear he had purple eyes.”

Everyone fell silent. Fostine finally broke the tension. “That sounds a lot like Malachi.”

“No, the Georgionis are dead,” Lucian explained. “Look, I never saw anyone except Lily, but I suppose it’s possible Patterson had another there.”

I cleared my throat and all eyes turned my way. “The guard seemed afraid of this guy. Like really terrified.”

“Sure as hell sounds like Malachi,” Wyatt grumbled. “If he was there, then Patterson got him out before we arrived. We searched that place top to bottom.”

“Let’s hope he’s not still a prisoner.” Kai groaned.

“If he is, then he’s probably being held in the same place as Trakker. If Miggs finds anything, we’ll leave immediately. We’ll get them both free.”

Lucian placed a steady hand on my shoulder, his eyes filled with gratitude. “Thank you for sharing this with us.”

Around the table, the others expressed their commitment to bringing their brother home, their voices a resolute chorus. They were united in purpose, ready for battle. I’d never seen anything like it.

“Was there more?” Wyatt asked me. “More that could help us?”

“That’s all,” I replied, regret weighing me down that I couldn’t do more. “I’m sorry.”

Wyatt’s features softened. “You’ve provided us with more than you know.”

Surrounded by Kai and his family, I felt the warmth of unity. Something I’d never had before, not even with my own mother and sister.

A charged silence lingered as the information took hold of the room. Yet, beneath the table, Kai’s hand rested on my thigh, threatening to distract me. Hidden from the prying eyes of the others, a different kind of tension simmered. I glanced over and saw the heat in his gaze, the sexy lift to his lips. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Our shared kiss upstairs was burned into my mind. The heat in my veins intensified with every passing second, and I struggled to keep my focus on the matter at hand. How would I handle it when we were alone at the cabin? Kai was more than I’d ever known before. A kernel of fear surfaced at the thought.

****

K ai

My inner beast roared, and the sound nearly drowned out all rational thought. Instincts pushed me to claim Lily, to complete the bond that had been forming between us since day one. My senses were flooded with the feel of her soft skin against mine, her nearness, as well as her desire. It’d changed her scent to a deeper, stronger temptation, and I craved her. Every fiber of my being ached to respond to those primal urges, to yield to the raw intensity of our mating.

But I fought against it, my restraint a testament to my love for her. I didn’t want to add another layer of complexity to our already intricate situation. I didn’t want to hurt her or push her beyond her comfort zone, especially now, when we needed to focus on saving Trakker.

My grip on the mug tightened, knuckles turning white as I tried to channel my hunger into something more manageable. Lily’s green gaze filled with awareness. She seemed to sense the internal struggle I was grappling with, and her hand cupped my thigh under the table, a subtle reassurance that she was there with me. It cooled me down a notch.

As the conversation continued around us, I turned to find Lily watching me with longing. Her soft smile about did me in. She gave me tenderness, while a beast raged for release inside me.

I took a deep breath, focusing on the task at hand, pushing aside my Yucilon nature that threatened to consume me. I listened to the plans to rescue Trakker, and in the midst of it, Miggs returned. His voice rang out, capturing our attention. “Listen up, everyone. I’ve got a lead on Patterson’s daughter.” He waved a white sheet of paper in the air with a woman’s image printed on it. “Her name is Angel West. She’s taken her mother’s maiden name.”

My focus narrowed on the picture. She appeared to be in her twenties, with an ethereal presence that contrasted sharply with the darkness that her father had embodied. Her long blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders in gentle waves, framing a delicate face.

I frowned. “That’s Angel West?”

Miggs nodded, placing the picture in the center of the table. “Yeah, that’s her.”

My gaze went to Fostine, then our father. “Does she look familiar to you two?”

“No,” both said in unison. Dad leaned forward, his attention lingered on the photograph. “She seems so ... different from the man who raised her.”

Miggs tapped the picture, his expression contemplative. “Yeah, she seems so sweet. And yet her father is a fucking monster.”

I nodded slowly, my thoughts racing. “Could be she’s innocent in all this.”

Wyatt snorted. “Appearances can be deceiving. Her smile is soft, and her eyes have this depth that’s hard to reconcile with the evil shit her father’s involved in, but it could all be fake.”

My lips tightened in a determined line. “Then we find her. Use her to get to him.”

Fostine cleared her throat, and everyone looked her way. “Find her, find Patterson.”

“Seems to be the gist of it,” Wyatt muttered, running his fingers through his thick black hair.

“We have addresses—it’s something,” Miggs said, offering Lily a grateful smile. He continued, urgency lacing his tone. “Based on recent activity, I’ve narrowed it down to a few locations. She has an apartment about an hour from here, and there’s a warehouse in her name as well. She’s an administrative assistant. So, it’s unlikely she’s earning enough to purchase a warehouse the size of this one.”

As the room buzzed with conversation, my mind wrestled with an internal conflict. On one hand, the pull to complete the mating ritual and strengthen my bond with Lily surged through me with furious intensity. On the other, Trakker’s rescue weighed heavily on my conscience.

Lily’s knee nudged my leg. The reminder of our shared strength settled me a fraction. But my sense of responsibility gnawed at me.

Amidst the planning, a commanding voice cut through the air—Wyatt, our oldest brother. As always, the voice of reason amidst the chaos. “Hold on a moment.”

All eyes turned toward our alpha. My heart squeezed tight. Wyatt had been our rock after Fostine and our father had disappeared. Our leader. We all valued his guidance above all else.

Wyatt’s gaze settled on me, his tone firm yet compassionate. “Listen, little brother. I know how much you want to join us, but you have other matters to tend to here.”

I started to speak, but I knew that my internal struggle was plain for all to see. I wasn’t fooling anyone. Knowing that Wyatt’s words carried the weight of experience, helped ease my conscience.

Wyatt continued, his words resonating with authority. “We’ll handle the search. You focus on Lily. We’ll inform you the moment we find something substantial.”

As Wyatt’s directive settled over me, the tension in my shoulders slowly eased, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose. I met Wyatt’s gaze. “Understood,” I groaned. The weight of responsibility still bore down on me, but now I had a clear path. A clear purpose. Lily.

As the meeting dispersed and tasks were assigned, I turned to Lily, my gaze steadying. “How are you feeling about all this?”

She bit her bottom lip, a sign I was beginning to associate with nervous tension, and said, “Worried for you brother, frustrated that I can’t offer more insight, and I guess hopeful that Patterson might actually be caught.”

“Trust me, you’ve helped more than you can know. Besides, Trakker isn’t an ordinary man. He’s strong. Patterson might have drugs, men with guns, but Trakker is immortal. He won’t go down easily.”

“I hope you’re right. I pray your brothers get to him soon,” she replied softly.

I took hold of her waist with my right hand and squeezed, a subtle touch that conveyed my yearning. I could feel the energy between us, a magnetic pull that had only grown stronger over time. The thought of sealing our bond, completing the mating ritual, ignited a fire within me.

I leaned in closer, my breath mingling with hers, my gaze locked onto her lips. “I want you, now. More than ever.” My voice was low, charged with desire. The urgency of our situation had transformed into a deep ache, a need that demanded fulfillment. Passion burned between us, creating a heady cocktail.

My cock thickened as I imagined having Lily all to myself, away from the prying eyes of the world. I was ready to claim her, to solidify our bond in the most intimate way possible.

“Let’s go to the cabin,” I murmured, my voice a seductive whisper. “Seal our bond, complete the mating ritual. I don’t want to wait another moment. It’s now or never.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to go with them? I can wait. I’m not going anywhere, Kai.”

“No, my love,” I murmured. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned living for centuries is that we grab onto the good when we can. And we don’t let go.”

She offered me a shy smile, and it sent fire licking through my veins. “Okay.”

My heart pounded, not just with the anticipation of being with the woman I loved, but because our bond was about to reach a new level of intimacy that I’d never experienced before. The rush of adrenaline racing through my entire body wouldn’t be contained any longer. The time had finally arrived.