59. Kiron
Keith. The rogue was Keith. Keith who broke my mate. Tortured her. Raped her.
‘Release me,’ my dragon demanded blood and for once I was tempted to allow him control and to do whatever he pleased in the name of our mate.
He thought he could just walk into my territory and take her?
No. He was going to pay for what he’d done.
‘He will burn for this,’ my beast snarled.
A vision was thrust at me from my dragon—fire consuming him, skin splitting, screams tearing out of his throat as he burned alive. The sound filled my head, lodged there, vicious and unrelenting.
‘Kill him. End him.’
I shot to my feet, pacing Nik’s office while he and Elias talked about a plan. Backup. Calling others in. Wasting time.
“We don’t need fucking backup!” I bellowed. My throat swelled, fire clawing its way up, desperate to be unleashed.
“Calm your beast, Kiron,” Nik demanded. “I won't have you shifting inside again and destroying my office.”
“Fuck you!” I swept my arm across his bookshelf, books crashing to the floor. The petty destruction gave me a fleeting sense of satisfaction.
“Don’t punish the books,” Elias pouted.
Slowly, I turned my ire on the raven, but it was Harlow who spoke first. “Usually I’m all for making a joke, Eli, but right now is not the fucking time.”
I stormed across the room, my rage locking onto the one man who should have known exactly who this rogue was.
“How the fuck did this slip past you?”
I slammed him into the wall.
“Enough! ”
Nik was on his feet instantly, his hands closing around my throat.
I snarled, fighting him, fire roaring in my chest. His grip tightened until black spots danced in my vision.
Then he threw me back, hard . I hit the floor on my ass and stayed there, palms burning against the wood as I tried to fucking calm down.
Tried to leash the dragon clawing its way up my spine.
I was failing . Because this wasn’t just about me losing control.
Our fucking alpha was to blame too.
Nik straightened slowly, smoothing his jacket like he hadn’t just had his hands around my throat. Eyes cold as stone. Calm. Calculating. In control . That pissed me off more.
I barked a sharp, cruel laugh. “Calling reinforcements is stupid. We haven’t even laid claim to her, Nik. This rogue will be the least of our problems once other mate-less hives scent her.”
The room shifted. Subtle. Dangerous.
“He’s right,” Low agreed. “It’ll be an all-out war. Feral beasts tearing each other apart just to get close to her.”
I pushed myself up, bones screaming, my dragon pacing inside me like it was running out of time. “If you’d pulled your head out of your fucking ass for one second, Nikolai, she’d already be claimed.”
Nik’s eyes snapped to me, something sharp and lethal flashing behind the calm. “Watch your mouth.”
“Or what?” I stepped into his space. “You’ll choke me again? Not really my kink . I’ll let you save that for Eli.”
The air went dead. It was a low blow but the stupid wolf was pissing me off with his false calm bullshit .
“I am the alpha of this hive, Kiron,” Nik said evenly. “ And you will do as I command. ”
“Then do something !” I roared. “Because sitting in this office pretending control fixes everything is how we got here. ”
“He’s right, Niko,” Elias said quietly, stepping forward and putting a hand on Nik’s shoulder. “We need to eliminate the threat and solidify her place before this turns into a bloodbath.”
“We?” Nik shrugged him off. “Stay out of this, Elias. You said you didn’t want this hive. You don’t get a say in how I run things.”
Silence crashed down hard as the two lovers faced off.
“Stop being an asshole, Nikolai,” Elias snapped, using his full name for the first time ever.
Oh, the raven was serious. Good . Maybe he could talk some sense into his mate for once.
“I can see right through it. You want me back in this hive. I know you do. So stop avoiding this,” he gestured to the wrecked room, “and start taking an active role as our alpha.”
Nik’s jaw clenched. “I don’t want to repeat the past. You know that.”
Harlow laughed from across the room. Short. Bitter. “ Damn , brother. You really need to stop blaming yourself for Clarissa. We all had a hand in her death. And you know it.”
“I’m the one who killed her,” Nik bit out.
Harlow crossed the room and went toe to toe with him.
They were about the same height, but Nik’s hunched posture made him look smaller.
“You don’t get to wear Clarissa’s death like a fucking crown of thorns anymore.
She ran because of me , Nik. I scared her away.
You chased her because you thought she was the fix to all my bullshit. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me .”
Nik’s shoulders sagged. “I just wanted to fix it for you.”
Harlow dragged a hand down his face. His gloves were gone.
I smirked. “Sina’s already doing that for him.”
Both brothers’ blue eyes snapped to mine.
“So this is how it is now?” Nik said coldly, eying all three of us. “You all get to corner me?”
“Better than your way. Hiding behind a computer screen,” I shot back .
Nik turned on me fully then. “You think I don’t understand the cost?”
“I think you’re too fucking afraid to pay it.
You killed your first blood mate. And now you’re either going to do it again, or a threat to this hive will do it for you.
” My dragon roared, fire licking the back of my throat.
“Protect her this time. If anything happens to her because of your piss-poor leadership,” my voice shook with barely contained fury, “ I’ll end you, Nikolai.
Alpha or not. You know my beast is more dominant than yours. I’ll win. ”
“I’d let you do it.” The fight drained out of him completely. “I wouldn’t want to live if she wasn’t here.”
Harlow sucked in a sharp breath. “What the fuck, Nik—”
“ No ,” Nik cut him off without looking away from me. “If she’s taken. Or worse.” His gaze locked on mine, unflinching. “ End me. I won’t fight you.”
My dragon faltered. For the first time since this started, he hesitated.
“I would rather burn under your dragonfire,” Nik snapped. The rage in his eyes turned them golden, “then live another minute if something happens to her.”
“ No .” The word came out flat. Absolute. In an instant, my instincts kicked in and I had him by the neck, just like he’d done me. Only he didn’t resist, submitting to me. “If you fail her, Nik,” my voice low and lethal, “I won’t grant you the mercy of a swift death.”
He flinched. Nik’s face began to crumble, his shoulders folding in on themselves like something inside him finally gave way. His mouth opened. “I—”
“No.” I snarled, cutting him off. “It will be my life’s mission to see you suffer. For every mistake. Every moment you let your fear keep you from her. You’ll wake up every day knowing exactly how you failed her. How you failed us. ”
I stepped closer, heat rolling off me, my dragon pressing hard beneath my skin.
His gaze fell to the floor.
“You don’t get to escape this time,” I was relentless. Cruel even but I didn’t fucking care. “You don’t get forgiveness. You don’t get to turn her into your penance and disappear.”
A feminine gasp sounded from the doorway. I smelled her fear before I saw her. Nik looked up—and froze. War ripped through his expression. I grabbed him by the throat, just like he’d done to me. He didn’t fight me this time.
“Kiron, don't hurt him,” Sina said, rushing between us, her small hand wrapping around my wrist.
I didn’t look away from Nik. He needed to understand just how much control he’d lost.
“You better not fucking fail her.” I tightened my grip. “Be the alpha she deserves. Or I’ll dedicate my existence to make sure you suffer for eternity.”