A Twist of Luck (Shifter City Fated Mates #2)

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

FINLEY

F aster. Harder. Faster. Harder.

My skates cut through the ice, digging in, destroying what had been a smooth surface, but for once I didn’t care. I wanted the ice to represent the chaos inside me, and for that, it must be destroyed.

Faster. Harder.

My breaths wheezed in and out. I’d be worried about my fitness and stamina, except this was my third or fourth hour of sprints.

Why was it so fucking hard to outskate my demons?

I hadn’t felt this way since the day my mom snapped and let her bear tear our family to shreds. After the week that broke me in more ways than one, I lost control and shifted, living as a bear for almost a month before Kenzo tracked me down. He’d risked his own life and coaxed me back to civilization. Back to sanity.

Even as an alpha wolf he was no match for my feral bear, and if not for advanced healing, he would still bear— pun intended —the scars of my rage. Another fucked-up event in my past I wouldn’t forgive myself for, even though my brother never held it against me.

“Fin!”

Like I’d conjured him with my dark thoughts, Kenzo’s voice rang through the arena. I almost ignored him, but in the end, he was still the only shifter in the world I pushed through my rage for.

As I slowed, the ache in my legs and overall fatigue grew stronger, and by the time I skated to the gate where Kenzo stood serious-faced and arms crossed, I could barely keep myself upright.

Food and water would have aided my healing, but since I’d brought nothing with me when I tore out of the house earlier, it would be a slow, painful process of repairing muscles.

“Brother,” Kenzo breathed, shaking his head as he looked me over. “You’re about to collapse. Get the hell off the ice.”

He unfurled his arms and reached out a hand toward me, which I had no option but to take if I wanted to stay on my feet. He grunted as he took the bulk of my weight, and I snorted. “You shouldn’t keep skipping arm day, bro. Or leg day.”

His hold on me tightened, and I barely suppressed a groan of pain. “You’re an idiot,” he said, shaking his head as he dragged me onto the mats. “How long have you been here? Fuck, I should have looked for you earlier.”

“Couple of hours,” I mumbled. “Got in about nine.”

The rumble of his chest surprised me; he wasn’t usually a rumbly shifter. “Nine this morning? Are you fucking kidding me. It’s six at night, you idiot. You’ve been skating for nine hours.”

Nine hours . Well, that was a new record . “Guess I lost track of time.”

Kenzo continued cursing me under his breath as he hauled my ass to the locker room. I’d have been annoyed to show another alpha any weakness like this, but it was Kenzo. He’d seen me at rock bottom many times, and was one of the two alphas I’d let myself crash in front of.

The other was dying in a bed back at our house.

Hunter and Slade were my brothers too, but they didn’t invite us to expose our weaknesses, while Kellan never judged.

I couldn’t live without Kellan and Kenzo, and if Kellan died from the witch magic, I would have to fight not to follow him. The only reason I’d stay was for Kenzo, who’d go down with me as well.

We were a fucked-up trio, far too dependent on each other, but such was life.

“Clean yourself up. I’ll find food and electrolytes,” Kenzo said, still sounding pissed as he left me in front of the showers.

It took a few minutes, but I got naked and under the water, which was hot enough to scorch my balls off. Not that it made a dent in the ice encasing my heart.

From the moment my brother was struck by magic, I’d been in a freefall of pain and misery, with skating doing very little to ease the frenzy inside me.

Perched against the wall, I must have dozed off for a few minutes, only startling awake when Kenzo returned. He held protein bars and an electrolyte drink, which he thrust toward me. “Eat and drink.”

Forcing myself to my full height, I downed the blue drink in three large gulps. My body screamed for more liquids, so I drank from the shower, uncaring it was gross. The protein bars were gone just as quickly, and I was relieved to find my strength returning. Within twenty minutes, I’d be ready for more sprints.

Or at least I would have been if Kenzo didn’t march my ass out of the shower, watch me like a hawk as I dressed, and then drag me to his rarely used Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Tommi Makinen. Kenzo was a lover of Japanese-made cars, but he mostly drove with me, so his collection remained nicely preserved in his garage.

He must have been worried about me if he took his red baby out this evening. She was for very special, rare rally days at our track.

“Come on, get your huge ass in the car,” he said, and he lifted his foot like he was going to kick my ass in to help. The Evo wasn’t modified to fit a shifter of my size, but I managed to squish myself into the passenger seat, after tossing my gear in the back.

When Kenzo was in the driver’s side, he locked all the doors, and I shot him a droll stare. “I’m not about to jump from a moving vehicle. For fuck’s sake, I had a breakdown, but I’m not ready to end it all.” Not that a jump from this car would do much more than scrape me up.

“I know, brother. And I’m here to make sure that you don’t reach that point again.”

We’d been here twice before, and both times he’d babysat me until I was stable again, and for that I’d forever owe him.

When Kenzo started the car, I fiddled with my phone and found myself once again opening the group chat. I’d had to ask Slade to add me back in because Kellan’s annoying ass wasn’t here to do it. I fucking hated that. I hated it more than I could express, even though I’d told him a million times to stop adding me. But that was my brother—he got off on ignoring my grumpy requests.

Now I had to figure out how to drag him back to the land of the living, because our pack needed him. I needed him. Even the omega needed him, and I couldn’t stand to see her morose expression for another day.

“How’s Emme?” Kenzo asked, as if he’d heard that thought.

I responded with a rumble from deep in my chest. “Our resident ice queen is the one responsible for Kellan being in a coma.” There was no heat in my words, and the ire was more from habit than any real anger. “Who fucking cares how she is?”

Kenzo shook his head, taking the corner fast enough that I had to brace against his door. “I find it ironic you call her ice queen as an insult, when you personally love the ice like it’s part of your soul. Could that name have a different meaning to what you believe, deep, deep down in your psyche?”

I shook my head, pretty sure my brother had finally lost his mind. “I call her that because she has a heart of ice, unfeeling and frozen. No other reason. No need to examine my psyche, you weirdo.”

Kenzo shrugged. “Look, we’re going to have to agree to disagree here. About everything to do with Emme. For real though, when it comes to Kellan’s condition, you have got to stop blaming the victim for the actions of others. Emme loves Kellan. I’d bet my life savings that she’d trade positions with him in a heartbeat.”

I actually didn’t disagree with him. “She should change places with him,” I murmured, even as the thought of it burned deep in my chest. My feelings toward her weren’t rational… or fair, but hey, life wasn’t fucking fair. It was time for Emmeline Anders to start adjusting her expectations about how she’d be treated through life. As an omega, she was a weakness and liability to a pack and should act accordingly.

Kenzo’s silence was heavy with his disappointment, which seeped into the well of anger and pain churning inside me. The fact that skating hadn’t given me a reprieve was a good indicator that I’d spiraled to the point of concern.

I needed to see Kellan. I needed his soothing presence for a few minutes, and then hopefully I’d be able to sleep. It had been days. Days of an inability to escape my thoughts, which would drive the sanest shifter to the brink of insanity.

It was quiet in the compound when we entered—a lot of our families had been up to check on Kellan already. His brothers had sat with him yesterday. Unlike most of us, Kellan had decent parents, but they hadn’t told them yet.

I hoped they would before it was too late for goodbyes.

When Kenzo pulled up in front of my house, he turned toward me. “I’ll be back in an hour with teppanyaki for you,” he said. “You will eat a proper meal tonight, even if I have to make choo-choo noises and force the fucking train-sticks into your mouth.”

A ghost of a smile hovered on my lips. “Like I’d ever turn down your cooking, Kenz. I’ll meet you at yours in an hour, though. It’ll be easier.”

Easier for me to be out of the house as well.

He nodded. “Yep, that works as well, but if you don’t show up, I will drag you there. Understand?”

I nodded, understanding all too well. My brother was generally unflappable, a cooling calm to my rage, but when he lost it… well, he didn’t do anything by halves.

He waited until I was inside before he drove off. I dropped my gear near the front door and padded up the stairs. I could hear Hunter and Slade in their offices, but wanted to check on Kel first.

Chocolate and honey encased me as I closed in on his room, and I wasn’t surprised to see the door ajar, the low light of the moon streaming in through his windows, highlighting the pair on the bed. Kellan hadn’t moved, still on his back, eyes closed, chest moving in slow and steady increments. Emmeline was curled up at his side, her left hand clutching his shirt over his heart, and her right gripping her battered phone, even though she appeared to be sound asleep.

The moonlight highlighted the long strands of her hair, which looked paler as it spread out around her face, giving her an angelic look. Feeling uneasy at being near the omega when she was asleep, I crept toward the bed.

Her phone was still lit up, like she’d just fallen asleep using it, and I could see the same group chat I’d been reading. Under her thumb was a message from Kellan, as if she’d brushed across it while she drifted off. My chest grew tighter, all the rage and pain fading under the evidence of our shared sorrow. She suffered with us, and for that I would make more effort to accept her presence here.

Here where Kellan would want her.

As I crossed to the opposite side of the bed to where she slept, I sat in the chair and reached out to touch Kellan’s chest, resting my hand beside hers.

It was reassuring to feel his heart beating strongly.

As I stared into her relaxed features and those freckles visible in the moonlight, I noticed silvery streaks tracing her cheeks. Even in her sleep she cried, and fuck, if that wasn’t enough to push me right over the edge.