Chapter 13
Tara
Please, let him be okay. Please, let him be okay.
“I can’t believe you thought I would let this happen.” In the shadows, Regina laughs with her partners. There was no time to fight before one of them grabbed me after the other one hit Kyran hard enough to knock him out. He’s so strong. It must’ve taken so much force. Please, let him be okay.
“We need to get this over with fast.” One of the guys seems like he might actually have a tiny bit of sense, since he looks downright terrified, practically jumping at every little sound in the woods surrounding the tree they propped me up against after tying my arms behind my back.
“We need to get back before anybody knows what happened.”
Regina flips her blonde waves and cackles. “Fine. You guys want to pussy out on me, be my guest. I’ll have more fun alone with her, anyway.” She eyes me like she’s hungry. In a way, I guess she is.
“I didn’t ask for this,” I remind her as gently as I can, considering she had me captured like this. “I wouldn’t have chosen this myself. I didn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“Liar!” she shrieks, and out of nowhere she charges at me. Now I see what she’s holding in her right hand, gleaming under the stars. A very large knife in the hand of a very unstable person.
“I don’t know if we should be here for this.” The guys exchange worried glances, because apparently, they haven’t lost their entire minds.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t have what it takes to see this through. But I don’t need you,” she crows, waving the knife at me while she speaks to them. “I’ve got her exactly where I want her now.”
The taller of the two steps up next to her and places a hand on her shoulder that tells me how she managed to talk him into this, at least. “This isn’t like what we talked about. You don’t want to do this.”
She flings his hand away before glaring up at him. “Don’t tell me what I want to do. You don’t have the first idea, Jax.” He’s clearly wounded by this, wincing a little. I would feel sorry for him if he wasn’t the one who hit Kyran.
Great. Nobody can talk sense into her. Maybe if I stare hard enough at Jax or his friend, one of them will get the message that I need them to get that knife away from her.
“This is what we need to do for the clan!” Regina’s eyes are wild, her voice shrill. “Don’t you get it? He can’t mate her! That’s not how it’s done!”
The other one grimaces. “Yeah, but…”
“No buts, Scott!” She waves the knife at him, and he takes a step back, focused on the blade. “You know I’m right! Everybody agrees! They just don’t have the balls to admit it!”
“But I do,” she adds in a sinister whisper before turning on me again.
“I’m sorry.” I’m sure it sounds empty, but it is the truth. “I didn’t plan on this. I wasn’t even sure what Kyran had decided when we left for the meeting. For all I knew, he would hand me over to my pack to be killed.”
“And now you will be.” Well, that was obviously the wrong thing to say, since now she’s smiling like a deranged person. That’s who she is.
Kyran was still breathing when we left. That much, I know.
But would I feel it if he died? Thinking back, I remember Mom freaking out a little, saying she felt like Dad was in trouble the night he died.
So maybe it is possible. I don’t feel anything like that now.
Hopefully, that means he’s alive and well and coming to rescue me.
Which means I need to buy a little time.
“You know my pack will retaliate for this, right?” I can’t even think about Declan and the others now.
Not if I want to keep it together and not break down sobbing.
“You saw how many there were tonight. You say you’re doing this for the clan, but you could end up destroying everything. Is that what you want?”
Jax elbows Scott. “She’s probably right,” he mutters. “And Kyran’s going to be pissed, too. We didn’t know he was going to claim her.”
“The two of you can leave, then!” Regina waves the knife again. She’s breathing hard, unraveling. “I can carve up her pretty face all by myself.”
She hauls me to my feet and leans me against the tree. If only I could shift now, but it’s three against one. And I’m sure she’s just waiting for the chance and the excuse to attack.
Another voice pierces the darkness. “Regina. Stop.”
Thank God. Kyran’s voice is the key that unlocks a flood of relief. Regina gasps, zeroing in on the direction he’s coming from. Thank you, thank you. He walks slowly, but with purpose, though he doesn’t look at me. He only has eyes for her.
“It’s the only thing I can do!” Suddenly, she hauls me in front of her, one arm around my chest, the knife at my throat. I don’t dare move an inch in case she decides to apply pressure.
“Just let her go,” he murmurs, hands raised, his voice low and even. “We’ll talk it out. I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
I feel her heart beating wildly against my back and can smell the sweat that’s starting to seep from her pores. “It’s not about me. It’s about the clan! How can you hurt the clan like this?”
“Regina. You know how this goes. I don’t have a choice.”
“That’s bullshit!” The blade presses tighter against my skin, and I suck in a gasp through my clenched teeth. “You had a choice. Mates get rejected all the time!”
“I had to make a choice, and I’ve made it. I’m sorry it hurt you,” he insists, creeping closer. “But I’ll tell you something. I’m not going to let you get away with killing my mate.”
All she does is release a burst of high-pitched, insane laughter. “Oh, well. The clan will thank me!”
For the first time, he looks my way. “Then don’t hold Tara accountable,” he insists, taking another step, then another. “This is my fault. If you want to hurt anyone, it should be me. Use that knife on me. I threw you aside as soon as she came into my life. Punish me for that.”
“You know what?” Her body goes still behind me, rigid. “That’s not a bad idea.”
Before I know what’s happening, she shoves me aside, and I fall to the ground with no way to catch myself, while she charges at Kyran with the knife raised.
That’s when a wolf lunges, appearing out of nowhere, and taking her down before she can reach Kyran. The rest is a blur of bodies and blood, screams and growls while I twist and struggle on the ground.
And Kyran. Kyran, who comes to me and unties my wrists so I can throw my arms around his neck. “Are you all right?” I ask through my tears once I have him close and know he’s alive and with me. It all feels so surreal.
“I am now.” He rocks me in his arms while I soak his shirt with all the pent-up emotion that’s been released. “I’m so sorry. So sorry for putting you in that position. I should’ve listened to you about her. I should’ve claimed you sooner.”
“It doesn’t matter now. Nothing else matters now.” I have the whole world right here with me. It took a little time, but I’m where I belong.
“I fully accept you as my mate. I wasn’t only trying to save your life earlier. You know that, don’t you?” There’s desperation behind the question. Like he has to be sure I understand.
I’ve never heard anything sweeter. “I do know.” And I’ve never been so happy. It doesn’t seem right somehow, being so happy after such a close call, but maybe that’s the point. I came close to losing him for good. That kind of thing has a way of putting everything else in perspective.
“You’re all right?” It’s Declan, crouched near a limp body. I’m assuming it’s Regina, but I’m not trying to look close at what he did to her. It’s enough to know she’s not a threat anymore.
“I’m fine. Thank you,” I whisper. “I love you.” Looking around, I find my brothers and Nora still in their wolf forms. They all came for me. “I love all of you. Really.”
“You’re still one of us,” Declan reminds me. “That’s never going to change.”
“I’ve been thinking.” Kyran turns toward Declan. “It’s way past time to revisit the old laws. What do you think?”
Hope sparks in my chest and burns brighter when my brother nods. “I agree. And thank you for protecting her. I know it couldn’t have been easy to call me in here.”
“Nothing matters more than she does.” Kyran takes my face in his hands and looks at me like I’m something precious. Something he can’t afford to ever lose.
Now, he doesn’t have to. We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives.
“Let’s go home,” I suggest. Home. Our home. We stand, and I take his hand, squeezing tight.
After tonight, I’m never letting go.