28. Kane
I’ve heard my parents recount the moment it happened to them a hundred times in my twenty-eight years. I know Eli and Annalise’s story just as well as Jagger does. Maddy’s parents are fond of telling their own during times of pack gatherings, but I hadn’t expected the mate bond to catch me by surprise when Kate turned around and I locked my alpha stare on hers, exuding every bit of strength and power within me to keep her from running.
When I pulled into the motel parking lot, my headlights shone directly on where she and Jagger were standing. My breath caught, and I had to slam on the brakes because my heart started to beat too fast.
It was after Trez bailed from the passenger side and stole her attention that I noticed the lifeless body on the pavement. Blood pooled around his nearly severed head, which told me it must have been Kate or Jag that sliced him from ear to ear.
Storm and I got out of the truck at the same time, her to run to her sister and me to move the corpse to a nearby dumpster.
I didn’t have to see the tattoo that had been ripped to shreds by claws to know he was a hunter. I make it a priority to know every single member’s face and commit them to memory. He’d been their newest recruit. Still young and too green. Dumb too, if he thought coming up to one of us alone was a brilliant idea.
The alpha in me recognized Kate as pack immediately, even with my wolf failing to show for the occasion. Like with Trez, I could feel her emotions as if they were my own.
Her heart hammered against her breastplate. Her anxiety was running at levels I’d never experienced before. She was scared and elated at the same time. The latter for her brother and Jagger, I’m sure, and the former because of me.
I could feel her anger too, but above all, it was her heartbreak that crashed full force into my being that hurt the most. The magnitude almost brought me to my knees right there in front of her, but I knew at any moment she was going to shift even with her clothes on to get away from me. I felt it before Trez told Jagger to tell me to do something to stop her.
I didn’t want to use my alpha power on Kate, not my Luna wolf, my mate. But I knew the second she flipped around to face me, her eyes glowing a dull orange, there would be no talking her into coming home with me. She would have shifted, and then she would have ran. I couldn’t let that happen when I couldn’t chase after her in my wolf form.
The only reason my alpha strength overpowered hers was because she hasn’t accepted her place in the Bloodmoon pack yet. When she does—if she does—she’ll be one of the strongest beings alive that walk the earth.
A Luna wolf is rare. I only know of four in the world, and that now includes Kate. There are likely more, but they’re coveted, and Monster Hunters are the least of their threats. Wolf shifters either worship them or want to use them. There are alphas who seek to mate a Luna wolf solely for the added power it’s rumored the mate bond provides, boosting a male’s dominance.
Other supernaturals fear them, while vampires have an addiction to their blood. Other shifter beings loathe them and think they’re an abomination when, really, it’s their power and strength they envy. Demons may not be able to possess the body of another supernatural, but they can feed off them. I don’t want to think what could happen if one were to get ahold of a Luna wolf. They’d be unstoppable.
“Couldn’t you have just talked to her?” Trez’s voice yanks me out of my thoughts, my eyes snapping to where he stands a foot from the front quarter panel on the passenger side of the truck, Jag on his other side. “You didn’t have to knock her out… or whatever you did.”
“She was going to run,” Jagger responds before I do. “Kane did what he had to do.”
I pulled her front against mine when she lost all bodily function. It was the only thing I could do in that moment to keep her from slipping from my grip. If my fingers hadn’t been wrapped around her throat so firmly when she and her wolf lost consciousness, she would have fallen to the ground, and that would have been yet another thing to add to the long list of shit I’ve failed as her mate.
I poured everything I had into Kate to get her to comply. It took every ounce of strength I had left without the added bonus of what my wolf provides as backup. At this point, it’s clear he has no intention of lending a paw to help, so now, my hands have a slight tremor to them and my vision is seeing double of my beta and brother.
“What did you do to her?” A voice shouts from my left, her chucks stomping the ground as she nears.
Without giving Storm’s sister my attention, I hook an arm behind Kate’s knees and hoist her into my arms. Half a breath later, stars dance in front of my eyes, and I’m hit with a sudden case of vertigo, so intense pain triggers behind my eyes, ringing stings my ears, and nausea churns in my gut.
“You’re her mate, aren’t you?” Ivy presses. “No wonder she didn’t want to come back. I get it now. You’re a?—”
“Ivy,” Storm scolds, embarrassment evident in her high-pitched tone. “You will not finish that statement, and you will not speak to Kane with such disrespect.”
Storm’s sister pivots, giving me her back to face her older sister, and even with dizziness surrounding me, the night air is suddenly thick with uncontrolled power floating all around us.
“You’ve been gone for more than three years. Don’t think for one second you get to tell me what to do. You aren’t my mother.”
Storm gasps at her sister’s mention of their mom, her eyes widening as they round.
“Ivy, Mom?—”
“I don’t want to talk about her right now. I’m not ready for that conversation.”
“But you know?” Storm says weakly.
“Yes,” Ivy bites out as her fists ball at her sides a heartbeat before a crackling sound snaps my gaze to where Ivy stands. Fatigue cracks spread outward around her.
“Shut it off, girl,” I order, my voice gravel, my patience worn thin.
I don’t know anything about Ivy’s magical abilities, but if I had to place a bet, I’d say she possesses the earth element inside her. It’s rare for witches to have all four like Storm, and it’s unlikely that sisters would have that in common. Most witches only have one element unless they turn dark, and if they do, then they have a treasure chest full of unbridled abilities at their disposal.
Ivy whirls around, her long hair brushing across Kate’s legs from where I’m holding her in my arms.
“As soon as Kate wakes up, I’m leaving with her. Don’t think because you’re the alpha that you can stop us,” she threatens.
A growl vibrates up my throat, but it isn’t my doing, proving that my wolf is still paying attention even if he’s hiding behind an invisible shield he’s erected deep inside me. My canines elongate, also his doing, but I don’t fight him even though I can see the fear in her eyes.
I don’t make it a habit to scare children, not even the ones in my pack. Sure, I demand obedience, loyalty, and respect, but I’d like to believe I’ve earned that from every member of the pack. I want to be their safe space, for each of them to know they can come to me about anything and I’ll listen without judgment, that I’ll protect them with my life. But Ivy isn’t pack, and spouting off that Kate is going to leave won’t win her points with me or my wolf.
My eyes dip when sudden movement draws my attention. Her fists unball, her fingers straightening at her sides, as a light breeze kicks up around us, quickly turning thick and suffocating at the same moment her eyes narrow on mine.
“Don’t make me repeat myself, little girl.”
My fingers tighten around Kate’s unconscious form, my instinct to protect her above anything and anyone else a reflex.
The bones in Jagger’s neck crack like he’s about to shift when Storm’s arm lifts in the air and her wrist flicks while her fingers, one by one in quick succession, fold into her palm. The wind vanishes, the cracks spidering in the pavement abruptly stop spreading, and judging by the surprise in Ivy’s eyes, I’d venture to say her magic was cut off.
She whirls around, knowing the only person capable of stealing her magic is her sister.
“How did you do that? It’s impossible. Not even Mom had that ability,” she shouts, it sounding like an accusation.
“I’m older than you, I’m stronger than you, and I have more magic than you do, little sister,” Storm informs, her voice thicker, more assertive. “Attempt to use magic against Kane again or anyone else in his pack, and I’ll do more than shut the faucet off. I’ll spell your magic where you can’t touch it without me allowing you to use it.”
And just like that, the sliver of my wolf’s presence disappears while Storm and Ivy hold each other’s stare. Whatever energy I had remaining within me flees with my beast, leaving me to run on fumes alone because the adrenaline I had minutes ago died out when Kate fell against me.
“You two, get in the damn truck,” I say to them while my stare holds Storm’s gaze for a beat longer. “Let’s go home. Trez, you’re driving.”
“Jagger can do it,” he says, then flips around to face his mate. Holding out his hand, he says, “Give me the key to the bike.”
“What?” Jagger jumps back. “No. You’re?—”
“Don’t fight me on this.” Trez’s head jerks from side to side in quick succession, his nostrils flaring. “Hand it over, or I’ll take it if I have to,” my brother promises.
“Then do what you think you have to do, mate. You aren’t getting it. We’re all going home, so get in the?—”
“I never said I wasn’t coming back to Moonwake. I just need...” He slams his jaw shut and tips his head back to look at the starless night sky.
“Trez?” I question, wanting him to tell me without having to ask what he’s planning to do. His emotions are all over the place, but I don’t get the feeling he’d run in the opposite direction without Kate, and no one is taking her from me. At least not while she’s unconscious. It’s still her choice to be with me or not. I’d never force her to stay, to be with me, but she is the one and only person I’d beg to choose me, to forgive me.
“I’m going to see Becca. Okay? Jesus.” He inhales through his mouth before blowing a harsh breath out. “Key,” he says through gritted teeth.
My head tilts, feeling too heavy for my shoulders, but I force my stare to move on to Jagger.
“He isn’t lying. Give it to him and let’s go,” I order, knowing that if I don’t climb into the backseat in the next few seconds, I’m going to crumple to the ground and be taking a nap along with my mate.
“You think I don’t know that?” Jagger says, his tone as angry as it is accusing. “I can feel him more accurately than you can, so butt out, Kane.”
Snapping my teeth together, my jaw hardens. I have to close my eyes so I can concentrate in order to drop the wall of my emotions for only Jagger to feel.
“Fuck.” Jag shoves his hand down the front pocket of his jeans, pulls the key out, and then slams it in Trez’s outstretched palm. “Here.” My beta goes to step away but turns right back and jabs his finger against Trez’s chest. “Don’t take all night. I’ll come drag you home if I have to.”
Trez rolls his eyes before turning his back on his mate without a reply.
Jagger turns toward me, but his head rolls to where Storm remains. “You’re in the passenger seat,” he informs her, but when he speaks to Ivy, it comes out more like he’s barking. “Go around and get in the back behind the driver’s seat.”
She crosses her arms defiantly, and I’m quickly losing my patience. She’s lucky I’m on the verge of passing the fuck out.
Storm grips her sister by the elbow and pulls until she complies. Continuing her adolescent behavior, Ivy snatches her limb from her sister and stomps around the front of the truck.
Jagger’s head rights, his eyes snapping to mine. “Hand Kate to me.”
If I had the strength to pull her closer to me, I would have done so, but instead, a growl works its way up my throat and out of my mouth.
“You can’t get in the truck while holding her. You know it, and I know it, so stop being a stubborn ass and give her to me.”
I know he’s right, but I’m not going to admit that out loud. I do, however, allow him to take her from me without gnashing my teeth at him. He should consider himself lucky. The fact is, he’s the only being I do trust with my mate.
It’s not that I don’t trust my brother, but with Trez, I’m not certain he wouldn’t leave with Kate if she chose not to stay in Moonwake.
Take us to the cabin, I tell him in my head. When he nods, I continue, Don’t alert the pack that Kate is back. If anyone noticed we tore out earlier, tell them Storm found her sister. That’s where we went.
Jagger purses his lips, followed by a strong huff of air flaring his nostrils as he exhales.
He doesn’t have to agree with me, he just has to do what I say. I’m the alpha above everything else except for when it comes to my mate. So much is about to change for the pack, for me, for us. But only when she’s ready.
Until then, my beta and the rest of them can keep their mouths shut. My sole responsibility isn’t just to the pack anymore. I smelled the change in Kate the moment I opened the truck door and was hit with Anna’s scent. The one I remembered from all those years ago, as well as the barely formed pup growing inside her.
When Kate is safely secured in Jagger’s arms, I step around them and pull the rear door open, not in the mood or the state of mind to argue with him. I know he wants to tell his parents—they have a right to know—but they aren’t my concern. If Kate wakes up and she wants others to know, then so be it.
The effort it takes to climb into the truck is shameful, but I make it. Once I have Kate on my lap and my arms around her, I sigh in relief with one thought in my head. Thank fuck, we found her.
Now that I can breathe again, my lights are out before Jagger rounds the truck to the driver’s side.