Chapter 11 Kai
Kai
“Kai,” Brandy groaned as we staggered through a fuckass corridor that stretched for miles. “I can’t go any farther.”
We’d walked for five minutes, but even when we were dragging Brandy along, she was in too much pain to move properly.
It was fucking heartbreaking. And it was all Zania’s fault.
Even though I’d built up a defence to Cas’s rogue state over the years, it was harder to keep my shit together when Brandy was fucking losing it.
I choked on her pain, desperation, her longing, and confusion over what was going on.
She was trapped in the post-bite haze where everything was supposed to be sunshine and fucking rainbows.
No matter how cathartic it was to shove my hairpins in those alpha’s throats, we would never be free unless we got rid of Zania. But we needed to find Cas first.
“It’s terrible to say, but the more intense the pain, the closer we are to him,” Sin said stiffly.
“Why does it hurt so much?” she gasped, pressing her hand against the wall as she forced herself to take another step.
“Because Cas’s mind is fucked,” I growled. “There’s nothing holding him back, so he’s switched to beast mode. We either gotta wait it out or go and rescue him.”
Sin sighed as he rubbed his hand over his heart. “But sometimes it takes hours for him to crash. The longer he stays in this state, the less chance there is that Caspian’s mind will be whole when he returns.”
Sin stared down the corridor, his brow furrowed as his aura bloomed around him.
I eased out a breath as the buzzing fury suddenly calmed. Brandy’s shoulders softened, but I had to tell her not to let her guard down in case—
Another boom, and Brandy screamed as the pain floored us, tearing through our bodies. She stumbled at the shockwave of anger that was way stronger than even me and Sin were used to.
“Shit!” I shouted as I tried to catch her. “Just grab onto me!”
“I can’t,” she panted, gripping my sleeve as she sank to her knees. “I can’t do it, Kai; it hurts too much.”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” I said, kneeling down next to her. I wanted to take care of her, but it was a struggle to keep my head on straight. “I forgot how messed up it is when he goes rogue. I’ve been through it enough times that I just roll with it.”
I glanced at Sin, who gave me a hard look. Because we both knew this wasn’t normal. He was barely holding his shit together as well.
“How can you—” she was cut off as pain ricocheted through my right fist, then my left, then my right again as Caspian kept punching.
“How can you just roll with this?”
“It doesn’t hurt as much when you’ve been bonded for this long,” Sin said as his gaze danced the line of her neck. “It’s simply because your bite is fresh.”
As if I couldn’t feel his jealousy, even though he was the one who sent Cas after her in the first place.
Our stunning omega was being ruined by us again.
If Sin wanted to bite her so badly, why didn’t he just do it?
She whimpered as she convulsed. Her head hit the wood-panelled wall as she fell back against it.
“Brandy! Fuck!” The pain was lost under another surge of power from Caspian.
She choked out a breath as I wrapped my hand around hers, feeding her energy.
But Caspian was too strong. It was like a storm battering against us, and we couldn’t stop him.
Sin kept staring off into the distance instead of helping her. Like he expected me to do everything, even though it was his aura and his bite that would help her the most. Stupid, shitty alphas.
Our throats burned each time Caspian roared from wherever he was. I could still feel him, so he had to be shut up in the building somewhere. Everything was screaming in my brain. She fucking seized when another surge of fury burned through us, and I clutched at her to keep her calm.
But her skin was losing colour, and her limbs were weak. She couldn’t move, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to take care of her when Sin wouldn’t help.
“What do you want me to do? Shall I go?” Sin looked directly at me, and I hated how I relaxed because Sin was putting me first.
Until I shook my head and scowled, because I wasn’t the priority.
“You just focus on Brandy,” I said through gritted teeth as another wave of rage and pain shocked us.
Sin could stay and use his shitty magic alpha powers to keep her calm, but nooo, that would be too easy.
I was the one she’d bonded with, so I was her connection to Caspian. She might be looking up at Sin, but I was the one she clung to.
“Where’s Caspian, Sin?” Brandy whimpered. “We need to find him.”
I scrunched my brow as my heart clenched. She couldn’t deal with anything else. Freshly bitten, her omega instincts only wanted one thing.
I could create a wall inside myself to stop Caspian and Sin reaching me through the bond, but I’d never blocked them from each other.
When Cas went rogue and Sin needed to concentrate to take him out, I could kind of push Cas back so he didn’t overwhelm Sin with his rage.
But Brandy was wide open and easy pickings.
Even when I got into our bond and set up a barrier for her, Cas smashed straight through.
“Don’t worry, Melanie. I will find Caspian.” Sin nodded to me, sweeping his hands over our shoulders to reestablish contact.
Brandy sighed into him as he kissed her, soothing her enough that she got some strength back.
We helped her sit up, and I twisted so I could lean against the wall with her. I put an arm over her shoulder, bringing her close to me. Because I was a fucking idiot and thought Sin had changed his mind and would actually help.
“Sin,” she rasped as she clutched at him. “Where’s Caspian?” she echoed. “Sin, where’s Caspian gone?”
Brandy was going to be a broken record for the next week, whether Caspian went rogue or not. I remember not being able to deal with Cas and Sin leaving for five minutes when they first bit me.
Sin couldn’t hide his fear as he pulled back, because he knew how fucked we were. This wasn’t just a case of shooting Cas and getting it over with—we needed to protect her even more now.
Even when Brandy held herself back, pain screamed through her, and there was only one thing that would help if we couldn’t get to Cas.
“She needs a bite, Sin,” I said as he peeled her hands from his jacket. “You have to bite her.”
Sin shook his head as he stood again. “I won’t bite her without her permission. Especially when she’s in that state.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? What state? Just bite her, and we can deal with it later!”
He straightened his jacket, giving us both a hard look. “Stay with her and make sure nothing happens to her.”
She was fucking gasping and panting, and he was assessing the situation instead of acknowledging that his omegas were screwed.
“Sin! Don’t fuck with us! She needs her alpha! You’re the only one who can do it right now!”
Another flare of pain tore through us, and she lurched, tipping forward as we winced. I fell against the wall, losing my grip on her.
She reached for Sin, but the asshole stepped away.
“Sin,” I hissed. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m also the only one who can handle Caspian when he’s in that state. I love you, and it’s not safe for either of you to approach him. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but you know he’s been rogue too long for your omega aura to help him.”
Panic slammed into me as I struggled to help her up. Brandy’s essence was growing weaker, and I was losing sight of her in the bond. We needed to call her back, and I wasn’t enough. Again.
I wanted to be fucking everything for her, but I couldn’t save her.
“Sin! Just let me go after him! Even if my aura doesn’t work on Cas, give me the fucking gun and you stay with her.”
Sin pulled it out of his pocket, and I sucked in a breath as he bent over me.
“It stuns, not kills,” he said as he cocked it. “But it will still protect you if anyone finds you. Do you have your phone?”
“Sin,” I croaked. “Stop fucking around. You have to stay; you can’t let her go like this.”
He spread his shitty aura over us, and Brandy moaned, her pain softening as he forced us to calm down.
“You know what will happen if I bite her now,” he murmured.
I shook my head because I didn’t want to believe it. Sin could still save her. He could make it better.
“Kai, we can’t risk it. With one bite, I will trap her in this state. Her mind will be broken; the pain may never vanish. You’ve already bonded, so your bites can bring her back.”
“You’re our fucking alpha, Sin,” I snarled. “You can fix this.”
“I will fix this by stopping Caspian and preventing our omega’s mind from shattering. A new bite will damage all of us.”
I pressed my lips together because it couldn’t be true. We loved her so much that a bite would save her. We could find her in the bond and fucking protect her, but he had to bite her.
“Sin,” she gasped, reaching for him. She couldn’t even open her eyes because she was in so much fucking pain. “Please, I… Sin, I need Caspian…”
It wasn’t me she was reaching for; I wasn’t the one she really wanted.
Sin rose before she could touch him, his voice like ice. “We’re running out of time.”
I had to bite down my panic. I needed to keep it together, but it hurt so fucking much, and she was slipping away from us, and I was useless.
“If you’re going, just give me the gun and get the fuck out of here.”
Sin sighed as he handed it to me, and I casually spun it in my right hand before aiming it straight at Sin.
Brandy grabbed my arm to stop him, but I growled.
“Stay still, Brandy.” I clicked the trigger as I pressed it to Sin’s forehead. “Give her a bite, or I’ll shoot. It might not kill you, but it’ll fuck your brain up enough to show you I’m fucking serious. And that will knock us all out.”
“Can you really afford to shoot me when I’m the only chance you have?” Sin asked coldly as he dismissed me, pushing the gun away with two fingers.
He trusted me to kill Cas’s dads, and he trusted me to be a fucking coward, just like him.
Sin scent marked her again just for good luck, but it wasn’t working when every second that passed, Caspian grew wilder.
“Sin, don’t go,” she pleaded. “I need you.”
“Melanie, please listen to me.” Sin stroked her arm as his face hardened. “If Caspian’s rogue state wins, we may lose you as well. If not for us, then please keep yourself together for the people in the pictures in your nest. For your family.”
“I’m her fucking family now,” I snarled as I pulled her closer to my chest. “And don’t chuck it on her. We’re all responsible here, especially you, for bringing Cas to this fucking dinner when he looked like that. You don’t even deserve to touch her, so give her a fucking bite, or leave.”
Sin nodded, one more brush of his aura sweeping over us, his concern beating out of him before he took off.
If he really fucking cared, he would have let me go instead.
“Brandy?” I gasped as I tried to make her look at me.
I was in fucking awe that he actually left us. His omegas were slumped in pain, stuck in a fucking corridor where anyone could get to us…and he left…
“Brandy, please, come on. Lift your head,” I begged. I could stop panic swamping me as Sin’s energy faded and Caspian’s took over.
I couldn’t cry. No matter how furious I was or how much despair ate at me, I had to be what she needed. I couldn’t let Cas or Sin steal it. I was fucking hers, and I’d show her by being the only one to keep her alive.