Chapter 23 #2
Kaelan was at my side in an instant, his hands cupping my face, his dark eyes searching mine with desperate concern, water still dripping from his hair onto my skin.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice rough with fear and fury, his thumb tracing over my cheekbone like he was checking for damage. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine," I said, and I was surprised to find it was true, leaning into his touch, feeling the tension in my shoulders begin to ease.
"I'm fine. I just want to go. Please, Kaelan.
Take me away from here." His eyes dropped to the bag at my hip, and something softened in his expression—understanding, maybe, or tenderness.
"You packed," he said quietly, his thumb still stroking my cheek, his dark eyes warm despite the chaos around us.
"Everything I own," I confirmed, my hand pressing against the worn canvas, feeling the small, precious items inside. "I wasn't leaving anything behind."
"Soon," he promised, pressing a fierce kiss to my forehead, his lips lingering there for a moment, warm against my skin. "Just let us handle this first."
I looked past him to where Riven had Cort backed against the mast. The alpha was trembling now, all his earlier bravado completely evaporated, his face a mask of pure terror, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.
"Please," Cort begged, his voice breaking on the word, his eyes darting between the four creatures surrounding him, his hands clasped in front of him like a prayer. "Please, I didn't—I wasn't going to—"
"You touched her," Riven said, his voice dropping to a growl that vibrated through the air, his claws extending as he flexed his fingers, his scarred face terrible in its fury. "You threatened her. You put your filthy hands on what belongs to us."
"I didn't know!" Cort cried, tears streaming down his face now, his whole body shaking, his voice rising to a desperate wail. "I didn't know she was—I didn't—"
"You knew she didn't want you," Vale said quietly, appearing at Riven's side, his silver eyes cold as moonlight, his beautiful face hard with fury, his voice carrying an edge that cut like ice. "You knew she was afraid. And you didn't care."
"Please," Cort sobbed, sliding down the mast until he was crumpled on the deck, his hands clasped in front of him, his whole body shaking with terror. "Please, I'll do anything. I'll leave her alone. I'll never—"
"No," Thane said, and the word was so unexpected—so hard and cold coming from gentle, tender Thane—that even Riven glanced at him in surprise.
Thane moved forward, his golden-brown eyes blazing with a fury I'd never seen in him before, his whole body vibrating with rage, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"You don't get to beg. You don't get to make promises.
You had your chance to leave her alone, and you didn't take it. "
I stared at him. At all of them. These ancient, terrifying creatures who had turned their fury on a man who had dared to threaten what was theirs.
My pack.
"Riven," Kaelan said, his voice sharp with command, cutting through the tension like a blade. "Not yet." Riven's head snapped toward him, a snarl building in his throat, his golden eyes blazing with barely contained violence.
"He touched her," he growled, his claws digging into the wooden mast beside Cort's head, making the alpha whimper with terror, splinters flying from the wood. "He threatened her. He—"
"And he'll pay for it," Kaelan interrupted, his voice carrying the weight of absolute authority, his dark eyes hard and unyielding. "But right now, we need to get her off this ship. The crew will have heard the commotion. Vale needs to deal with their memories before we leave."
Riven's jaw clenched so hard I could hear his teeth grind, his whole body vibrating with the effort of holding himself back. For a moment, I thought he would ignore the order, would give in to the fury burning in his eyes and tear Cort apart right here, right now.
Then he stepped back, his hands dropping to his sides, his claws retracting with visible effort, a muscle ticking in his scarred jaw.
"Later," he promised, his voice a low, deadly whisper as he leaned close to Cort's tear-streaked face, his golden eyes burning with anticipation. "I'll come back for you later. And I'll take my time."
Cort let out a broken sob, his whole body curling in on itself, his hands pressed to his face, his shoulders shaking with terror.
Movement in the corner of my eye—crew members emerging from below deck, drawn by the noise.
Their faces went slack with confusion, then terror, as they took in the scene before them.
"Close your eyes," Kaelan said urgently, pulling me against his chest, his hand covering my face, his heart pounding against my cheek. "Don't look."
I obeyed, pressing my face into his shoulder, feeling the rumble of his growl beneath my cheek, his arms tightening around me protectively. Then I heard Vale start to sing.
It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard.
Haunting and hypnotic, rising and falling like the tide, wrapping around my mind like silk.
Even with my eyes closed, even knowing it wasn't meant for me, I felt the pull of it—the desperate urge to listen, to obey, to give myself over to that perfect, devastating voice.
Kaelan's hand tightened on the back of my head, holding me close, and I felt him hum a low note that seemed to shield me from the worst of it. The shouting stopped. The footsteps ceased. The clatter of weapons being drawn fell silent.
When Vale's song finally faded, I opened my eyes. The crew stood frozen on the deck, their expressions slack, their eyes glazed and empty. Like puppets with their strings cut, waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
"They won't remember any of this," Vale said, his voice still echoing with power, his silver eyes glowing faintly in the darkness, his silver hair floating around his face like moonlight. "When I release them, they'll wake up and remember a storm. A girl swept overboard. A tragedy."
"What about him?" I asked, looking at Cort, who was still crumpled at the base of the mast, his face buried in his hands, his body shaking with silent sobs. Riven's smile returned, sharp and vicious and full of promise, his golden eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Him, I'll make sure remembers everything," he said, crouching down beside the trembling alpha, his voice dropping to a purr that was somehow more terrifying than any snarl. "Every single detail. For the rest of his short, miserable life."
Kaelan lifted me easily, cradling me against his chest as he moved toward the railing, his arms strong and sure around me, one hand securing the strap of my bag so it wouldn't slip.
"Are you ready?" he asked, his dark eyes meeting mine, fierce and tender all at once, his thumb stroking across my arm. I looked back at the ship. At the frozen crew. At Cort, sobbing silently against the mast. At the life I was leaving behind—the running, the hiding, the constant fear.
Then I looked at him. At Riven and Vale and Thane, waiting in the water below.
At my pack.
"I've been ready my whole life," I said and wrapped my arms around his neck as I held on tight, my heart soaring with joy and relief and desperate hope.
He smiled—a real smile, full of love and relief and desperate joy—and stepped off the edge of the ship. We fell together into the dark water.
I never looked back.