63. Raine
63
Raine
He stares at me, statue-still.
It feels like a lifetime has passed since we last saw each other—since the last time I laid eyes on my fated mate and he abandoned me to a fate worse than death.
My wolf whimpers inside of my head, the pain of our fractured bond tearing into me. The tether binding us together has turned to barbed wire and razor blades, shredding my heart as it tightens the longer we stand here facing each other.
Aiden visibly winces, having felt it too just now.
“Come on, Raine.” Delilah’s voice is gentle. “It’s going to be okay. We’re taking you somewhere safe.”
I can’t move. I’m too stunned.
“Uh, you’re not taking her anywhere,” Rose says from behind me. “She’s a part of the Soleus pack. If you take her, you’ll all be hunted down by our pack alpha. Spoiler alert, you really don’t want that happening.”
Aiden’s eyes are mournful, watching me carefully as I struggle to even breathe.
How dare he come here now that I’m happy to try to claim me? How dare he waltz through packlines like he owns the place, like his authority somehow matters more?
My anger erupts from me, making it hard for me to see straight. “Leave.”
Delilah’s body startles. “Raine—”
“ Leave ,” I snarl at Aiden, who has yet to move. “You don’t belong here.”
“Neither do you,” he counters—his voice music to my damn ears.
I hate it.
I hate him.
My heart still yearns for him.
“No one is taking anyone,” Rose says, coming up to stand next to me. “You both need to leave.”
Delilah grabs at me again, her eyes pleading.
“Raine.” When Aiden finally moves again, he reaches his hand out toward me. “Come home.”
My mouth opens but no words come out, tears silently falling down my cheeks. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend like this male has never meant anything to me when he’s had the biggest impact on my life so far.
He’s been the driving catalyst behind everything—my entire future completely altered because of him and his choices. How can I forgive him for the things he’s done? And how can I hate him? My mind is a mess of emotions, so focused on the binding around my heart that is so tight that it chokes me.
I don’t want Aiden, yet my soul yearns to have him.
Fated mates are the cruelest gift the universe could’ve ever cursed us with.
As he comes closer, a small and soft whine leaves me. His eyes soften and his hand lowers back down to his side. When he gazes down at my belly, a small and relieved smile graces his face.
“You’re still carrying,” he says.
My hand flies over my belly protectively as I step back from both him and Delilah. None of this is her fault—she’s only trying to help, and getting my fated mate involved would’ve been the only way to track me down.
I’m not angry with her at all, but that doesn't mean I can just pack up here and go. I have a life here now. I have Nyx .
Guilt shakes me as soon as thoughts of him break through the mess in my head. Leaving him isn’t an option. Not when we’ve finally gotten to where we are.
Just as I’m opening my mouth again to tell Aiden he needs to leave, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. For some reason, instinct kicks in and I reach out to grab Delilah’s wrist, yanking her toward me.
The next second, a large male shifter slams into Aiden, taking them both down onto the ground hard.
Another appears right behind him, teeth bared at Delilah. My protective instincts flare as I pull her behind me, shielding her from Wren. Loud snarling catches my attention from over my shoulder, just as Aiden shifts and is body slammed back into the ground by Nyx.
Oh gods.
This isn’t supposed to be happening. My two lovers aren’t supposed to be clashing together in a fight to the death, let alone meet in the first place.
But I’m frozen in place with no way to move in order to break them up. The second I do, Wren will go after Delilah, I have no doubt about that. Nyx’s orders would’ve been to kill on sight, regardless of who the intruders happened to be.
Rose steps back from me, her head shaking while her eyes are wide. She moves back toward her brother, giving him room to take down Delilah once he gets the chance to.
Delilah lets out a choked sound, her hands clutching my arm. Our alpha kings rip through the overgrown brush in their brutal fight, leaving blood and fur in their wake.
They’re going to kill each other.
“Delilah…” I’m so sorry.
“Go,” she says, squeezing my arm.
When I catch her eye as I turn, I tell her, “You can outrun him. Don’t stop until you’re past the border.”
She swallows thickly and nods.
At the same time, we both shift, bounding off in opposite directions. I head toward the alphas and Delilah for the tree line she came from. Wren lets out a deadly snarl and chases after her, both of us leaving Rose behind.
I don’t bother looking back to see if she’s following me. She won’t hurt me, even if her brother has mindlinked her to capture me and drag me back into town.
That won’t be happening anyway, even if she somehow is able to catch up to me.
Running as fast as I can, I come upon a wider berth in the brush that’s farther away from the creek. Howls echo in the fading light of the rapidly darkening sky, the torturous sounds of two shifters trying to kill each other.
It sends chills down to my bones, as I’ve never heard anything like it before. I’ve seen plenty of border disputes or scuffles between packmates growing up, but none have sounded as vicious as this.
Does Nyx know who he’s fighting? Will that change the shaky agreement between our sides? My stomach is sick with knots.
When I finally reach them, Nyx has his teeth buried into Aiden’s pelt and is yanking him through the brush while blood pours over his golden fur. Aiden twists in the hold, his nails clawing at the space by his opponent’s head, trying to hook him somewhere vulnerable.
Unfortunately, the angle he’s being dragged in won’t help him. Seeing Nyx this way is shocking and nothing like how he’d been at that border dispute.
This display is what the rumors about him are born from—a true testament to his ruthless nature.
Aiden shouts in pain while managing to rip himself out from the hold. Rolling back to his feet, he shoves himself forward to shoulder-check Nyx onto the ground and away from him. It barely phases the other alpha, only putting him back a few more seconds in recovery before he’s launching himself at Aiden again.
Shifting, I scream, “Stop!” and run for them.
Neither of them hears me over their fight, too concerned with their fatal blows. They both crash back into the dirt, narrowly missing me. This time, Aiden has his paws dug into Nyx’s chest while the other’s jaw is snapped around his leg.
Deep long gashes are sliced across Nyx’s chest, earning Aiden a howl. The sight nauseates me, to the point where I feel myself wanting to double over. Forcing it back, I dodge forward the moment Nyx tosses Aiden off of him.
“Stop!” I say again and throw myself across Aiden’s back once he rolls back onto his feet.
He freezes under me, his weight shifting unsteadily from the blood he’s lost. My arms grow tight around his neck, forcing him to actually focus on something other than the other alpha.
“Please.” Begging them.
Nyx pushes himself up from the ground slowly, his dark fur caked and tacky where he’s bleeding. He shifts on unsteady feet, his breath coming in and out of him harshly. He stares at me with wild eyes, confusion laced in his expression.
I hold my hand out to him and slowly slide off of Aiden’s back. He crumples to the ground and shifts too, the wounds around his neck deep and horrible looking.
“You…” I stumble forward. “He’s not just some alpha. He’s—”
“I know who he is,” Nyx says, tone flat.
At my feet, Aiden coughs wetly, causing my heart to sink.
“Step aside,” Nyx tells me.
His own wounds are a harsh red, scraped down his chest where blood cakes his pale skin. There’s another wound that I didn’t see earlier due to his dark fur, one right across his cheek that curves up toward his temple.
“I can’t.” My feet won’t move, even if I try. The instinct to protect my fated mate is ingrained into me from generations of all of the fated mates who have come before me.
“Raine,” he growls.
Pleading, I say, “I can’t .”
Aiden coughs again. “She’s…mine.”
Nyx snarls in response, stepping forward with his fists clenched at his sides. I hate the way my body moves in front of him, blocking Aiden from him. I don’t want to do this—I don’t want Nyx to think that I’m choosing Aiden over him. But that’s exactly what’s happening. My wolf won’t allow anything else.
He stops short, anger snapping away instantly to be replaced with confusion.
Aiden lets out a rough laugh. “My…fated mate…Calloway.”
Instantly, my eyes squeeze shut.
Nyx is silent. So much so that I can’t even hear his labored breathing. Has it stopped? Is the news shocking enough that he can’t possibly bear to move at all?
I’m so sorry, I want to say to him. This changes nothing.
But it does. With Aiden here, it all changes. Fate won’t allow anything else.
“Is this true, Raine?”
His voice is so quiet and vulnerable—a tone I’ve never heard from him before.
Opening my eyes again, he’s still in the same spot. Anger is no longer present and has been replaced by something else. Mourning? Loss?
He already knows the answer—he’s just waiting for me to confirm it.
“Yes,” I say, regretting it instantly.
His eyes glance down to Aiden still on the ground behind me. There’s a subtle nod that he gives me, acknowledging my answer.
“I see,” he finally says.
“Nyx.” My voice is rough with emotion.
I never wanted this. He shouldn’t be feeling like I’m choosing because I’m not, even if my body is incapable of listening to me right now. I’m desperate to reach out and touch him, anything to make him see that I still have feelings for him.
Nyx turns away from me, moving back toward the way we all came from.
“Come,” is all he says.