Kindred Spirit: Book Five of the Bound Spirit Series

Chapter 6

Callie

It’s an unseasonably warm afternoon that I fear has more to do with me than Mother Nature. At least the storms I call on when I’m upset match the local climate, but this newer development of sudden record highs is making news. Fortunately, it’s being attributed to climate change and not an overexcited, teenage, super witch. It’s so embarrassing, but totally not my fault. I blame the guys. Surely it’s a safety hazard to be shirtless when tearing down walls with sledgehammers. Connor is the only one who’s made the connection, flashing me heated looks with knowing smiles, while everyone else assumes I’m doing it on purpose to make it easier to work on the alpha house. I’m certainly not going to correct them.

Not knowing anything about construction, and with my magic more likely to tear down the whole building than a single wall, I’ve been put on water duty, ferrying cold bottles to thirsty members of the pack. It’s not the most important job, but it’s earned me some goodwill among those who still aren’t thrilled their alpha is mated to a witch. It’s been a challenging dichotomy. The wolves who feel the call want me around all the time because it eases something inside them they don’t fully understand, while the turned wolves, at best, see me as an outsider who has wormed her way into an influential position within the pack. Regardless of how they personally feel about me, I am pack. This has led to some tension when the natural-born wolves of Connor’s mother’s pack have shown confused interest. They are loyal to their alpha, but the call is stronger. I don’t exactly know what to do about it, so I’ve pretty much sequestered myself in the alpha house when visiting pack lands. Less exposure, less chances of the two packs turning on each other to lay claim to me. Honestly, I don’t know how my ancestors managed it.

My concerns over the two packs fade into the background when I walk from the kitchen—a soft cooler filled with bottled waters hanging from a strap across my chest—and find Connor, Kaleb, Donovan, and Nolan standing around a makeshift table covered in blueprints in the great room. Connor is pointing at different areas on one of the blueprints, and Kaleb is asking questions while Donovan and Nolan listen. Sweat glistens over their exposed torsos, droplets following the lines of their sculpted muscles, and smudges of dirt cling to their damp skin, attesting to the work they’ve done so far. Today appears to be a good day for Nolan, although he still appears tired around the eyes. Overall, it’s a view of very attractive male flesh, and I can’t seem to keep myself from staring. I’m not the only one. Others stutter in their steps as they enter the room before being hustled off by Sam. She seems to be the only one unaffected, busier with keeping dozens of people focused and on track than ogling.

To say I’m hot and bothered is an understatement, especially after what Connor and I got up to in the pond the night before. The experience awakened something inside me, or more accurately, turned my reservations into a heated curiosity. My fingers tingle with knowledge and a desire to be bolder with the others. There’s also a streak of possessiveness, and I have to fight myself to keep from walking over and claiming them in front of the onlookers. I want to run my hands over their bare skin and kiss them until we’re breathless, because they are mine, and it’s only my privilege to do so. It’s a powerful feeling that’s probably unhealthy for so many reasons, but especially since, technically, Kaleb isn’t mine. At least not yet. It’s unbelievably frustrating. I’ve seen into the man’s soul, and it only made me want him more.

I’ve also grown increasingly jealous of anyone who gets his full attention—particularly girls at school. It’s an unfair feeling, considering I’m involved with the others, and it’s an ironic feeling as well considering his jealousy is what keeps us apart. I promised to be patient, so I’m keeping all these thoughts and feelings to myself, but it’s difficult. The memory of his kiss still lingers on my lips, and it left a yearning inside me that only he can sate. Each of the guys carry a piece of me, some more literally than others, and I only feel whole with the six of us together. This line of thinking makes me wish Felix was here. It feels wrong to be without him. Granted, having another one of them half naked wouldn’t do my overactive hormones any favors.

“Staring at them will not get them any more naked,” Mei comments, startling me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I squawk, placing a hand over my thundering heart. It’s like she blinked into existence next to me, even though, as far as I’m aware, that’s not an ability witches have. “I don’t want—”

“You were undressing them with your eyes in front of everyone.” She shakes her head in mock judgment. “Really, Callie, there’s a time and place for these things. In the middle of a remodel is not the time for your sexcapades.”

Connor chokes on air, and Nolan presses a fist to his mouth, their super hearing catching the entire conversation, even over the sounds of demolition. If they heard it, so did the entire house full of wolf shifters—likely including Connor’s mother. That’s it. I’m finding the mole people and demanding they give me sanctuary… after I murder Mei.

“We don’t… I mean, it’s not like that… We haven’t…” I sputter, my face flaming.

“Really? Nothing? Even after reading the books?” she questions, her eyebrows rising to new heights. “Huh. I figured with four boyfriends, you’d get up to something.” Her gaze flicks to the guys, and then in a terrible stage whisper, she asks, “Is it because you’re waiting for the whole set? He’ll come around once he realizes what he’s missing out on.” This statement is followed by an awkward wink where one eye closes and the other squints.

“You sound like my nan,” I grumble, pushing damp strands of hair that escaped my bun out of my face.

“She’s a smart lady.” Mei nods like she’s full of sage wisdom. “No reason to hold back on his account.”

“I’m not… We’re not… It’s not…” I take a deep breath and whisper, “We’re taking our time and…” My words drop to a low mumble as the blush from my cheeks burns down the rest of my body. “I didn’t say we haven’t done anything.”

A Cheshire cat grin crawls over her lips. “Oh, really?”

“I’m not going into details in a house full of shifters with super hearing,” I insist, adjusting the strap on my shoulder. Bottles of water aren’t light, and I wonder if I can make the cooler float without also making everything and everyone else float too. I probably shouldn’t risk it.

“Sounds like we need one-on-one bestie time,” Mei suggests, redoing her ponytail so it sits higher on her head. “I must know everything. It’s in the bestie code.”

Shifting my weight to my back foot, I grip the underside of the cooler and lift it a bit to alleviate some of the weight on my shoulder. “I’m surprised you’d want the details considering…”

“I’m ace?” she supplies, unperturbed by my insinuation. “Some would be, but the ace umbrella is huge with all kinds of variations. From what I can tell, I’m aegosexual. I want to hear about it, read it, all those kinds of things. I just don’t want to do it.”

“Ah,” I reply, now understanding why she’s so invested in the intricacies of my love life. It’s all the juicy details without having to experience it herself. I really am her favorite soap opera. Since I’m no longer ogling my guys, I motion for Mei to follow me while I head to one of the rooms I’ve yet to deliver water to. “What about Rand?”

“What about him?” she questions, suddenly engrossed with the dirt under her fingernails.

Handing over a bottle of water to a woman we pass in the hallway, I comment, “I see the way you look at him.”

“He’s pretty to look at,” Mei states, her nonchalant delivery doing little to hide that there’s something more there.

“Bestie code,” I remind her as we plaster ourselves to the wall to let a man with his arms full of discarded wood go by. “No secrets. We tell each other everything.”

“Fine,” she hisses, and then she grabs my wrist to drag me into one of the few rooms not being demolished, slamming the door behind us.

It’s not currently occupied, but it’s definitely someone’s bedroom—a male someone if the decor is to be trusted. It makes me realize I haven’t really bothered to explore this house. It has so many bad memories for Connor that I haven’t been tempted to ask for a full tour. Hopefully, the renovation will help with that.

Mei paces back and forth, chewing on her thumbnail. “It isn’t what you think.”

“And what’s that?” I ask, trying to emulate the way Mildred leads me through confusing feelings. She has a way of being a calm presence while I feel jumbled.

Stopping in her tracks, she gives me a meaningful look. “I’m very ace, like no questions about it. One hundred percent do not feel sexual attraction.”

“I believe you,” I answer, pulling the cooler off my shoulder and putting it on the ground next to me.

She squints at me as if trying to decide whether I actually believe her or if I’m simply humoring her. “Just because I’m ace, that doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes. I can enjoy looking at attractive people without wanting to have sex with them.”

Reaching out to place my hands on her shoulders, I give her a gentle squeeze. “Mei, you don’t have to convince me. Have I said or done anything to make you believe otherwise?”

“No.” She sighs while shaking her head. “It’s just… It’s complicated. Rand is normal, and I’m not.”

“He’s a teenage boy who turns into a giant wolf,” I deadpan. “He isn’t normal.”

This earns me an exasperated eye roll but also a hint of a smile. “You know what I mean.”

Pulling her into an embrace, I rock her side to side. “You like him, don’t you?”

Mei nods into the crook of my neck.

“And you’re afraid if you do date, he’ll want something you can’t give?” I ask, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

She sniffs and nods again.

“Ever consider that it’s up to him to decide if it’s a deal-breaker?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I internally groan. I went from wanting to emulate my nan’s comforting presence to sounding just like her. We might as well be sitting at my kitchen table talking about Kaleb again. “Besides, he’s more than capable of entertaining himself when the need arises.”

Mei steps back and wipes the brimming tears from her eyes. “It’s one thing to say it, and another thing to live it.” She shakes her entire body like she wants to rid herself of vulnerability. Laughing without humor, she adds, “Besides, I’m getting way ahead of myself. He’s into Sam. I’m just a friend.” Her smile is tight when she quietly echoes, “I’m always just a friend.”

Gripping her shoulders, I give her a gentle squeeze. “Mei, you’re an amazing, badass witch, and I love you to pieces.”

This earns me another suspicious squint. “Why do I think there’s a ‘but’ coming?”

“Let me ask you something,” I begin, letting her go and placing my hands on my hips. “What makes you so sure he’s into Sam?”

“Because he’s always been into Sam,” she answers, crossing her arms over her chest. “When we first started hanging out, he wouldn’t shut up about how cool she was. They even went on a date! It was just once, and it was technically in return for a favor, but still!” She frowns. “He didn’t mention what the favor was for, just some comment about how he acted like a total dumbass, and he would have done things differently if he could have.” Her gaze shifts to her feet. “Probably because it didn’t result in a second date.”

“Or he wasn’t proud of using a favor to get a date, and the reason there wasn’t a second is because they weren’t compatible to begin with,” I counter, giving her shin a light tap with the toe of my tennis shoe.

Mei frowns up at me. “Did you just kick me?”

“Barely. I figured it was better than the kick in the butt you deserve,” I reply with one of my no-nonsense stares. “Look, I don’t know Rand and Sam’s history. What I do know is that he talks about how awesome you are all the time, he’s protective of you, and he’s at your side every chance he gets. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve been scent marked.”

Her frown deepens. “Scent marked?”

Before I can get too excited that I finally know something Mei doesn’t, the door opens and one of Connor’s older half-brothers stands at the threshold. He isn’t quite as tall as Connor, but I still have to crane my neck to look up at him. With his dark hair, sharper features, and well-toned body, he could be considered attractive until he opens his mouth. What’s worse is he has a twin who looks just like him. However, I instantly know it’s Bayne by his sleazy, shark-like smile. His amber eyes trail down my sweaty body like he’s trying to undress me before he looks at Mei. I grip my biceps to keep myself from punching the look right off his dumb face.

“It’s when a wolf rubs his scent on you to warn other shifters that you are under their protection,” Bayne answers, because doors mean nothing when it comes to wolf hearing. He sniffs the air, and then a look of disgust takes over his features. “Callie is right. You reek of that pathetic loser.”

Hating hearing my name on his tongue, I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but Mei beats me to it.

“He’s more wolf than you’ll ever be,” Mei challenges, her earlier melancholy dissolving under her instinct to protect those she cares for. She looks at him like he’s something stuck to the bottom of her shoe. “You’re just jealous that he’s part of the alpha’s inner circle, whereas Connor wouldn’t trust you to take care of a goldfish.”

“The alpha is a fool who surrounds himself with teenage idiots instead of more experienced wolves, because they won’t challenge him,” Bayne sneers, meeting Mei’s glare with a snarling one of his own. “It’s obvious he’s unfit for the role, leaving most of his responsibilities to an equally unfit turned wolf because he can’t be bothered to do his duties. He leaves another pack completely unchecked on our grounds—too busy begging on his knees for time with his mate who can’t be bothered to be faithful. Can’t be too surprised, since he chose a mate outside our own kind.”

Ice-cold guilt slices through my chest as I listen to his words. Logically, I know Bayne shouldn’t be trusted, but there’s a twisted truth to what he said. If Connor chose another wolf as his mate, he wouldn’t be competing with his friends for time with me. They would only have eyes for him. There’s also the fact that my relationships with the guys makes Connor look weak to the other wolves. He’s devoted to a mate who isn’t devoted to him. Bayne’s words are not his opinion alone. These are the whispers of dissonance within the pack.

“Not that I can completely blame him,” Bayne continues, stepping up behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. Leaning down, he breathes in my scent like it’s perfume, and I’m painfully aware that he, too, feels the call. “It’s unfortunate that you accepted him,” he whispers in my ear like we’re lovers. “If you were my mate, your every desire would be fulfilled, and you’d have no need for other males.”

My stomach rolls from his nearness. “If I were forced to be your mate, you’d be no more than splattered meat on the walls before taking your next breath.”

His fingers dig into my skin, and a low growl rumbles from his chest. My rejection wounds more than his pride. The wolf beneath wishes to serve, and I’ve thrown that back in his face.

Mei holds her hands out, facing the floor, and whispers a few words. The wooden slats start to creak and splinter beneath us. “Unless you have a strong desire to become mulch, I suggest you take your hands off my bestie right now.”

Bayne jumps back and shouts, “You crazy bitch!”

“Close. I’m a crazy witch,” she counters with a wild smile as the splintering wood follows him to the doorway. “Now run along before I change my mind about making you tree food.”

“This is my room,” he yells, his nails elongating into claws. “If anyone is leaving, it’s you… in pieces.”

Hot rage burns through my veins at the mere suggestion of him harming Mei, and before he can leap toward her, I slam my hand against his chest and push him away with a burst of raw magic. Bayne flies backward, smashes through the wall behind him into a bathroom, and remains motionless against the shattered counter. His torn T-shirt reveals a burnt handprint on his chest.

“I could have handled him,” Mei announces with an amused glint to her eyes as she examines my handiwork through the large hole in the wall, “but it’s always nice to know you care.”

“Ride or die, right?” I reply with a weak smile, my rage quickly draining as it’s replaced with concern on what this could mean for Connor. Smashing the next in line for alpha through a wall and knocking him unconscious is likely not going to do pack harmony any favors, especially with another pack to stand witness.

A crowd quickly forms in the hallway, mumbling in surprise. There’s wariness in their eyes as their focus shifts between Mei, me, and the barely breathing Bayne. I push Mei behind me, stand as tall as my five-foot-three frame allows, and meet their gazes. If anyone decides to retaliate, I want them to go for me.

Daveth, Bayne’s twin brother, is the first to approach, carefully pushing his way through the crowd. My muscles tighten as my magic builds in preparation for his inevitable need for revenge. Will he attack me here or challenge me in the ring? Will I be allowed to use my magic to defend myself? Not that I’m really sure I have that kind of control. An angry wolf leaping at me to rip my face off? Yeah, my magic is unlikely to just let that happen. Assuming Connor even lets me into the ring and doesn’t insist on taking my place. As the alpha, I would have no recourse to stop him without forcing my will as a spirit witch.

My mind is so caught up in what could happen that I’m dumbfounded when Daveth cautiously exposes his neck. “Mate of the alpha, I apologize for however my brother has offended you, and I humbly beg for his life.”

I blink stupidly at him, confused as much by his formal language as his request. “Come again?”

He’s careful not to meet my gaze as he repeats himself, waiting for my verdict. His Adam’s apple bobs heavily in his throat, and his body quakes. In contrast, the crowd is silent and still. Tension builds in the air like a vibrating hum.

Mei pokes me in the back when I stare way too long and hisses, “Say something.”

“Right, uh, yeah. His life is spared,” I stammer, still not quite grasping what the hell is going on. On the best of days, Bayne is an asshole and Daveth is an idiot sidekick. I expected more claws and fangs than what feels like a formal trial in the middle of a demolition.

“My mate has shown mercy,” Connor announces from down the hall, making me jump because I didn’t realize he was here at all. The crowd splits for him, slamming their bodies against the wall. When he reaches our little circle, he adds in a low growl, “But if he upsets my mate again, I may not be as merciful.”

Daveth makes a jerky nod of his head. “Yes, Alpha.”

“Get him out of our sight,” Connor orders, and Daveth immediately scurries into the bathroom via the door.

Bayne groans, slowly regaining consciousness, as he’s hoisted over his brother’s shoulder in a fireman’s hold. When they enter the hall, the crowd on my left divides like the brothers have a heavily contagious illness, and Daveth carries his twin into the next room without assistance.

The crowd of shifters breaks into noisy discussions, and I can’t tell if they are upset or relieved that I let him live. As much as I dislike Connor’s brothers, the idea of taking another life makes me sick. I’m still haunted by the last one.

Mei eyeballs the crowd with her hands fisted on her hips. “What you all saw is only a sliver of what Callie can do. As great as your alpha is” —her gaze flicks to Connor, who appears amused by her speech, then back at the crowd— “she doesn’t need a man to fight her battles. Don’t mistake her kindness as weakness. She’s a grade A badass witch who will fuck you up in ways you can’t even imagine.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but how about we don’t challenge the pack to prove they can outmatch a witch?” I whisper out of the side of my mouth. “I want them to like me.”

“Respect is far more important than likability,” Mei argues, flipping her ponytail off her shoulder. “Besides, where is the lie?”

“That’s not the point,” I mutter, squeezing the bridge of my nose.

While Connor seems pleased to hear Mei sing my praises, an amber-eyed shifter who appears to be in his early twenties glares at her like she burned down his home. “We wouldn’t dare harm our alpha’s mate,” he declares, and many others in the crowd nod fiercely in agreement. “She’s the heart of our pack.”

“I’m what now?” I murmur as all the blood drains from my face.

While I’m having a mini meltdown, Sam claps her hands together and shouts, “Alright, everyone, back to work. We still have a lot to do, and unless you want to be assembling walls in the dark, get a move on.”

“What the hell just happened?” I mutter, as I watch everyone get moving far away from this hallway. “What do they mean I’m the heart of the pack?”

Connor runs a soothing hand down my hair while he appears to choose his words carefully. “You’re my mate… my heart. I’m the alpha of the pack, which makes you the heart of the pack. Your will is my will. Only I can challenge your decisions.”

“I think I understand,” I murmur, my brows furrowing as I try to contemplate what this will mean going forward.

I’ve always been so concerned about what being mates meant for Connor, me, and the rest of the guys that I never stopped to consider what my role meant to the pack. I was the outsider, the interloper, so it’s always been about me trying to earn the pack’s favor, not the idea that they had to earn mine.

Fighting against the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream, Rand breaches our circle and races straight for Mei. I sidestep closer to Connor in order not to be run over by the anxious wolf. He grips her shoulders, and his eyes comb her body for signs of injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” she grumbles, appearing annoyed by his overzealous concern, but her subtle blush gives away her more tender feelings. “Bayne was getting all handsy with Callie, so I threatened to turn him into mulch. He didn’t appreciate that and got growly with the claws, so Callie bitch-slapped his ass, Supergirl style, literally into the next room. Watch the floor,” she warns as she pushes against Rand’s chest to get him to back up. “The structural integrity isn’t what it used to be.”

I whirl around to face her. “Speaking of, what’s with magicking the floor? I was standing on that too.”

Mei flaps her hand dismissively. “I would have made sure the tree caught you before you fell through.”

Relieved to hear that my self-appointed bestie wouldn’t have let me fall to my doom, I focus on the splintered floorboards. “How did you do that?”

“There’s a weight bearing branch beneath us,” she explains, stepping away from Rand so she can roughly indicate where it is. “I had it grow a perpendicular branch upward that broke through the foundation and into the floorboards. Had you not body-slammed him, that branch would have shot through the floor, grabbed him, and dragged him away.”

“Can you teach me that?” I ask, always excited to learn new ways to defend myself that don’t involve laser-beaming them out of existence.

“Sure!” Mei answers with a grin.

Rand looks on with a soft smile, clearly proud of Mei’s abilities, and it makes me want to kick her again for not seeing the obvious signs that whatever his feelings were for Sam, they are long gone. That boy is head over heels into her.

My instinct is to be happy for them, but there’s an odd rage building inside me. It’s fierce and unhinged, barely contained by self-restraint. I squeeze my eyes shut and grit my teeth, fighting this bizarre feeling. When I reach back for Connor, needing him to pull me back from the brink of whatever this is, I notice the muscles on his forearm feel like rock beneath my fingers. This rage isn’t mine. It’s his.

“Mi lobo,” I whisper, turning around and wrapping my arms around his waist. “What’s wrong?”

“He touched you without your permission,” he murmurs, a threatening edge in his low voice.

Recalling Connor’s promise never to hurt anyone whose touch I welcomed, I realize I’m now dealing with the very important loophole within that promise. “He touched my shoulders,” I explain quickly, reaching up to cup his face and bring his gaze to mine instead of focusing on the closed door down the hall, “and earned himself a concussion, likely a permanent scar on his chest, and a need for a bathroom remodel.”

His wolf is close to the surface, the whites of his eyes turning black. “You branded him?”

“In a bad way,” I clarify, trying to keep my mind clear under the flood of his instinct to rip him apart. “Everyone who sees it will know he pissed me off.” When that doesn’t seem to get through to him, I add, “I already chose to spare him. You agreed.”

Connor releases a low growl at the end of a deep breath and pulls me close. “Your will is mine, mi reina.”

“Well, now that that’s all cleared up, how about we get the hell out of this hallway?” Mei suggests loudly with a clap of her hands. “Maybe to someplace where nothing will growl at me just for existing.”

After allowing myself to release the breath I was unintentionally holding, I remind her, “You were the one begging to come onto pack lands.”

“Yeah, because giant freaking tree house,” she exclaims, gesturing with a grandiose swish of her arms as she walks past us. “How could I miss an opportunity to see it?” She sighs with envy. “I want to live in a giant tree house.”

Rand cautiously follows her after showing deference to Connor by lifting his chin and exposing his neck. When he’s close enough to Mei, he asks her something that I can’t hear over the barrage of demolition, but it gets her talking with even more enthusiasm as he subtly leads her away.

“Well, this day has been eventful,” I joke, attempting to lighten the heavy feeling still lingering in the hallway. “To think the day is only half over.” Taking my hand from his face, I step out of his embrace and begin tugging on his arm. “Since I’ve already blasted a hole in this wall, why don’t you show me one of the rooms that we’re actually supposed to tear down?”

Connor hesitates, staring at the closed door that hides his half-brothers from view, before acquiescing to my request. His expression doesn’t soften. “There’s one room I don’t trust to anyone but us.”

I’m unnerved by his ominous tone, but I keep my thoughts to myself as he leads me to a room on the bottom floor at the back of the house. Standing outside of a closed, unassuming wooden door are the rest of the guys armed with sledgehammers. Their expressions are as grim as Connor’s.

“What’s going on?” I ask, a nervous tremble to my voice. “What is this room?”

“The past,” Connor answers cryptically. With one hand still clutching mine, he reaches out with the other to open the door. A sickening sense of dread pours into me, and our emotions are so deeply intertwined, I can’t tell if it’s mine or his.

Kaleb gently reaches over, holding his hand above Connor’s on the doorknob, and says, “You don’t have to go in there. We can tear it down.”

“Or have Callie burn it to the ground,” Donovan mutters, swinging the sledgehammer up onto his shoulder.

The head of Nolan’s sledgehammer is on the ground, and he’s leaning his weight onto the handle. He looks tired, with deep purple smudges building under his eyes. I want to tell him to rest, but there’s a harsh determination in his expression that shows he isn’t stopping until this particular room is destroyed.

“What is this room?” I repeat more firmly, my gaze bouncing between them.

Nolan looks at me with deep sadness. “You had a basement…”

“Connor had this room,” Donovan finishes, glaring at the offending door.

Fear and hatred coil through the mate bond as Connor twists the handle to open the door. Through the opening, I see an all wood room with a single, rust-stained chair sitting in the middle.

Memories that are both mine and not mine flood my thoughts, superimposing on each other to become a screaming nightmare of blood and torment. My body butchered under cruel, unfeeling hands. Connor’s back shredded from lashes of a silver tipped whip. The frustrated complaints dripping from the bastard’s mouth as I endlessly burned. The disgusted sneer of the former alpha as he force-fed his youngest son poison to keep him weak.

There’s a sharp break inside me as horror after horror is carved into our flesh and onto our souls. My darker side takes hold, my rage so fierce it triggers a cool detachment. I’m the goddess of vengeance, of death, and all that has hurt the ones I love will not continue to exist.

Connor hisses in pain as my body grows so cold, sparkling ice frosts my skin and begins to spread underneath my feet. There is a cacophony of shouting and scrambling from the other shifters as a sudden hailstorm pounds against the roof of the alpha house.

“Move away from the door,” I command, my voice filled with an otherworldly hollowness.

Connor refuses to let go of my hand despite how much the cold burns his skin. “Renia, come back to us.”

“You will not return to the place where you were tortured,” I insist, lifting my free hand before me.

Kaleb and Connor stumble back as invisible walls of wind shove them away. Nothing will stand between me and destroying the location of Connor’s torment.

Nolan tries to reach me, letting the sledgehammer fall to the floor so he can wrap both arms around me, pinning mine to my sides. “Love, it’s okay. Connor is okay. The room can’t hurt him anymore.”

“And he has a right to face his past, just like you faced yours,” Donovan adds, meeting my cold stare with a determined one of his own.

“It’s my right to protect,” I argue while the ice at my feet spreads. It makes a path through the doorway and begins to climb the walls.

Kaleb appears momentarily shell-shocked, his gaze flicking between Connor and me before his expression gentles. He steps before me, and without looking away from my eyes, requests, “Let her go.”

Nolan hesitates, but he does as Kaleb asks when my attention shifts from the door to Kaleb’s outstretched hands. He doesn’t go far, stepping behind me.

Always my choice. I observe the glittering frost that covers my hands and frown. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Some people are worth the pain,” Kaleb replies, his hands as steady as mountains, waiting for me to decide to entrust mine in his.

Tears drip down my face as I close the gap, carefully placing my hands within his grasp. They feel almost blistering hot against my frigid skin, but the only sign of pain he allows is a tightening around the eyes.

“Columba mea,” he murmurs, holding my gaze as if the world only contains the two of us, “you protected Connor when he needed you most. The old alpha can’t hurt him now. That room is nothing but wood and memories.” He releases a shuddering breath as he squeezes the tips of my fingers. “Connor needs you to stand beside him now—not as a sword and shield, but as a comforting light while he makes his way through the darkness of the past. Can you do that?”

Nodding, I close my eyes and fight to get back to myself. With deep, steady breaths, I use the heat of Kaleb’s comforting touch as a beacon to become the person they need me to be. The hail tapers off, and I hear the drip of the ice melting from the walls into cold puddles on the floor. When I feel my skin thaw, I open my eyes again. Kaleb smiles softly, gives my fingers another squeeze, and then lets me go so Connor can take his place.

Guilt fills me as I look into his concerned gaze. “I’m sorry, mi lobo. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. It wasn’t fair to you.”

He gathers me in his arms, gripping me so tightly that it’s hard to breathe, but I welcome his shelter… his warmth. “Lo entiendo, mi reina,” he murmurs into my hair. “A rage born from love and pain.”

“Yes, it was,” I agree, and then I pull back far enough to look up into his eyes, “but today isn’t about me. You wanted support while tearing down this awful room, and instead, you’re comforting me because I had a bad reaction to your pain.”

“Just as we share our love,” he replies with tender sadness, “we also share our pain. You hurt because I hurt.”

“Like I keep saying, your shit is our shit,” Donovan interjects as he walks into the torture room, the sledgehammer clasped firmly in both hands. “And our shit is your shit.”

“You’re so sentimental,” Nolan jokes while bending down to retrieve his sledgehammer.

“It’s what families do,” Donovan states dismissively, followed by a grunt and the loud sound of wood breaking. Apparently, since I’m no longer going to go vengeful goddess on everything, heart-to-heart time is over. “Now are you all going to get in here and break some seriously fucked up shit, or am I going to do it all by myself?”

Kaleb sighs like Donovan is a wayward child he can’t control. “We were giving Connor time to mentally prepare himself. Perhaps give him the catharsis of the first swing.”

“Too late for that, so you may as well get in here,” he replies, his voice echoing from within the sparsely filled room. There’s another crunch of splintered wood.

Shrugging, Nolan drags his sledgehammer as he follows Donovan inside, the head scraping against the floorboards. Kaleb looks at Connor, asking with his eyes if this is what he wants or if he would like him to intervene. Connor gestures with his head that it’s okay for him to join them. Kaleb takes in Connor and me standing as one in our embrace, nods once with a tight smile, grabs one of two sledgehammers that I didn’t notice leaning against the wall, and disappears into the room. My heart is heavy as I realize he’s only now learning about my mate bond with Connor and how that might weigh on his decision about us.

Returning my attention to Connor, I press myself against him, unconcerned by the sweat and dirt transferring onto me from his bare chest. “You know, I don’t have to use fire to destroy the room. I could just tear it to pieces with a small tornado or something.”

His laugh rumbles underneath my ear. “Couldn’t that also destroy the house?”

“I don’t see that as a bad thing,” I reason, lifting my head so I can look up at him. “Maybe rebuilding from nothing is better.”

Connor raises a single brow as a smile tugs at one corner of his mouth. “What about your room?”

“I do like that room,” I answer with a sigh. “It has good light and that pretty bed the pack made me.” I scrunch up my face like it’s a great burden not to destroy the alpha house. “Fine, no tornado.”

“Gracias,” he replies, his smile turning into a grin over my antics, which was what I was hoping for. It doesn’t last long as he looks over his shoulder at the room, his expression falling into one of grim determination.

“Kaleb is right,” I say gently, running my hands along the base of his back. “You don’t have to go in there. We can take care of it.”

He shakes his head, kisses my forehead, and then releases me to retrieve the other sledgehammer. I’m about to ask how he expects me to help since I don’t have a giant hammer to smash through walls with when he hands me his.

It’s heavier than I expected, so it thumps to the floor even as I grip the handle with both hands. Deciding that I’m going to have to use this like a heavy croquet mallet because there’s no way I’m overhand swinging this monster, I ask, “If I’m using this, then what are you going to use?”

Connor squeezes his hands closed at his sides, and his eyes shift to his wolf’s. In a low growl around sharp teeth, he answers, “My fists.”