Chapter 19
NINETEEN
JUNIPER
My heart was hammering as I took another turn.
I could hear footsteps pounding inside this maze along with mine, and I wasn’t even sure there was a way out. I turned another corner and crashed into a solid figure. I pushed back, heart hammering, ready to fight, but it wasn’t one of the Carlisle pack.
“Vander?” I choked out.
He was real. I was looking into Vander’s ice-blue eyes.
The terror on his face likely could have matched mine, but his expression broke as he saw me. I could have cried with relief as his morning frost scent surrounded me.
I’d spent the whole day exposed to the alphas who were supposed to be mine, their scents powerful enough to obliterate all of my thoughts, but none of them compared to how Vander smelled in this moment.
It was safety and the promise of protection.
It was him claiming me in the park, him crouched above me as we watched the others fight over tea towels, him holding me after my nest was destroyed.
It was home.
“You’re mine. I’ll always come after you,” he snapped as he scooped me up against his chest and ran, ducking around steel beams. I wrapped my arms around his warm body, and then my tears came. A shaky purr broke from my chest as I squeezed him. My alpha, protecting me.
I looked up as we neared the edge of the maze and I saw Valerie whip around, catching sight of us. But Vander had me in his arms, and I was safe. We’d made it out of the maze. One step, two?—
“ Fight me, Alpha! ” Valerie screamed and Vander stumbled, skidding to a halt, his eyes flicking back toward Valerie with hatred. I slipped from his grasp, hitting the ground hard.
“ Run and hide,” Valerie’s voice was frantic, terrified, and I flinched, dashing back toward the maze, fear blazing through my veins.
I had to hide—now.
For a second, Vander’s hand brushed my shoulder.
“ Fight me, Alpha,” Valerie screamed again, and I heard Vander’s snarl of rage as he turned and charged at her.
I was running deeper and deeper into the center of the metal labyrinth when I realized what she’d done. Her laughter was ringing through the clearing.
She was using her voice to get us to do things we already wanted to do. Matching it to my fear, to Vander’s anger, and she’d separated us because I was here, in the maze again. While Vander was out there, charging at her and Lewis.
I clapped my hands over my ears as I struggled on. I felt so raw after being torn from Vander, after feeling so secure, only to end up right back here. I panted, trying to get a hold of myself, to think through the panic so I could get out?—
A thump sounded on my right, and I turned to see Rick, looking manic as blood trickled down his face. Two panes of warped glass separated us, distorting him so he looked exactly like the fucked-up monster he was.
I backed up—thank fuck, there was that glass between us. He’d have to go the long way around to get me. I stumbled as he surged forward, and his fist punched through the first panel, sending shards shattering everywhere. Shit.
I turned, looking for a way out behind me, and dove low. There was a beam curving up from the floor, the only way through, and he couldn’t smash that. I wriggled, removing my hands from my ears to pull myself through the gap. This hole would be way too small for him.
I could hear Valerie screaming at Vander, goading him, distracting him from Lewis as they fought.
I flinched as the sound of shattering glass repeated, scattering deadly shards all over the smooth concrete beneath me. Something grabbed my foot, and I screamed as I kicked back. A nasty crunch sounded, and my foot was free. I tugged myself on, turning to see Rick leering at me from the other side of the wall.
“You bitch ,” he spat, blood flowing from his nose. I scooted back on my butt, away from him. “I’m gonna make you regret that.”
He was bleeding from his arm, deep gashes where the glass had torn through his skin.
He grabbed onto two of the beams and slowly started to wrench them apart. The metal screamed and protested.
His aura was strong enough for him to bend them, forcing his way through.
I let out a shriek of frustrated rage and surged up. This little alcove I’d squeezed into wasn’t meant to be a path, and I had to squeeze through a narrow gap to escape.
I came out in a wide path, and blinked as I saw Jhin in front of me, just a thin pane of glass between us. Behind him, Vander and Lewis were locked together, and Valerie had turned her makeup-streaked face toward me again.
I clapped my hands over my ears and met Jhin’s eyes desperately. Thank fuck he followed suit, and then he stomped on the ground, shattering the concrete beneath him. He tipped his head to the side, and I ran out of the way as he kicked a loose piece of the ground at the pane of glass.
A burst of pride exploded through me as the stone obliterated the distorted red pane. That was way fucking smarter than punching it. I ran into the rain and to his side, but then we both froze as a tortured scream made its way through our makeshift earplugs.
We turned to see Vander on the ground, face contorted in pain. Lewis was snarling above him, and Vander twitched once before going limp.
“ Vander!” I saw Jhin’s mouth moving with the name, the sound muted but the anguish clear. He staggered, then stopped, eyes going back to me.
“ Fucking go ,” I snarled, furious he’d stopped. “ Go .” I pointed at Vander and Jhin gave me one more desperate look before he was gone in a blink.
I stumbled away, breaking into a run again. I looked at the art maze; Rick was now peeling back the second wall of metal, but his hand kept slipping from the blood that was coating his arms. A movement caught my eye, and I saw Valerie charging toward me along the side of the maze, her lips moving as she snarled something.
Then there was another figure charging at me, too, but this one wasn’t big; it was skinny and sodden, heading toward Valerie with single-minded purpose.
I blinked as I saw Kit— fucking Kit —smash into Valerie, tackling them both right into the delicate pane of coloured glass to their left. It shattered, and I moved faster, my hands coming away from my ears, but I couldn’t run?—
“ Kit! ” My voice broke as the terrified scream burst out of me. Valerie was staggering to her feet, blood dripping down her face, and lifting up Kit by his throat. His pink hair was plastered to his face and his glasses were gone, a gash on his nose where they usually sat.
“Juniper?” Valerie called, her voice a lot calmer than it had been. I could only stare as she lifted Kit higher, his legs kicking frantically, his face starting to turn purple. “Is this one here for you, too? Come back to me now, my little omega, and I promise I’ll let him go.”
I was already running toward them, fear and adrenaline shooting through my veins like fire.
I’d do anything, please, he couldn’t die?—
Kit twisted in her arms, and a glint of something sharp flashed in his hand. Valerie let out a sudden scream and dropped him.
I stumbled through my last two steps, catching Kit before he fell, steadying him. His eyes were blazing with feral fury as he looked down at Valerie. She had landed on broken glass, hunched over.
“She will never be yours,” he hissed, his voice barely more than a rasp as he dragged me away. Valerie didn’t seem to be able to follow. “She’s always been mine. ”
I sobbed, pulling him close, drinking in his comforting scent. The last dregs of the numbness melted away, warmth coming back into my world.
Kit.
Mine .
“Are you okay?” I frantically moved his hair out the way, trying to see his neck. In response, he pulled me into a kiss, his warm lips melting into mine as the rain trickled down our faces. I pulled him closer, feeling his arms wrap around me, his thumb stroking my side?—
The moment was ruined by a horrible, bubbly gurgling sound, and we broke apart, looking over in alarm.
My eyes found Valerie, and I realized she must have fallen directly on top of the jagged remains of the glass pane. She twitched, her hate-filled eyes fixing on us as blood poured from her mouth before she stilled.
“Oh, fuck—” Kit said, and vomited on the ground right next to her.
JHIN
It went against everything I had ever disciplined myself to do. I couldn’t—I’d never —allowed my feelings for Vander to influence my decisions, to make me give him special treatment. Yet as I felt Vander’s agonized connection open in our bond, I wasn’t sure there was any amount of self-control that could have kept me away. Whatever had hurt him, it was bad enough he’d released the iron gates that locked down his bond.
I could feel my control dissolving, too, seared away by the sheer terror that coursed through me.
There was an alpha still crouched over him, one of the pack hunting Juniper.
Scum.
I needed him gone. I channelled every single drop of my aura into my strike to his neck.
He didn’t even register I was there before he was gone, flung to the side with his c-spine shattered. I’d never wanted the aura I had. I’d always regretted the times I’d had to use it. But there was only visceral, raw satisfaction as his body crashed into the side of the mall twenty feet away.
I came down over Vander, my hands smashing through the concrete on either side of his torso like it was thin ice.
“Vander,” I said frantically, and he blinked up at me with his blue eyes. They were hazy, and his skin was too pale, the left side of his face covered in blood. My hands were moving, checking his pulse, his breathing, seeing where he was hurt. He was bruised and scratched all over; and the worst of it was his right arm; probably broken in two places, but no life-threatening outward bleeding and I could still get a pulse in his wrists.
“You’ll be alright,” I said, the relief flooding through me almost making me collapse on top of him.
His eyes met mine. Our bond was fully open, and he wasn’t rutting or lust-drunk; and that meant we could feel each other.
“You really scared me, Vander,” I said softly. He sniffed, looking away.
“Yeah, well, better me than the others,” he replied, looking to the side, where Juniper and Kit were standing—safe, thank god, as I saw Valerie, collapsed on the glass behind them.
Vander was flooded with sadness, tinged with a bitter resignation.
I frowned, moving his head back to face me.
“No, Vander,” I said sternly. “Losing you would have destroyed me as much as any of them.”
He managed a shaky half-smile up at me.
“Shit, Jhin, didn’t know you cared,” he said, and I could feel a longing, interspersed with an old, deep pain.
Oh. Oh no. I’d pushed him away to keep things fair but I never, ever wanted him to think… that I didn’t care.
“Then, I’ve failed you,” I said, and I leaned down and rested my forehead on his, my eyes closing as I leaned into the familiar position. I stretched the bond in a completely new way, trying to open it as wide as I could, trying to show him, because I cared so much it hurt. I was ready to accept that this may ruin us, may shatter me.
But I had to make this right.
So I poured it into him, a lump in my throat, everything I’d hidden my whole life. That he was intertwined with my heart, my soul. That as he’d slowly broken these last years, I’d been breaking, too. I opened my eyes again to see him.
His eyes widened as he looked up at me, his usually tense face now oddly soft.
“You fuckhead ,” he finally said, and pulled me down into a kiss. My shock quickly melted into a relieved, blossoming joy as I felt my love echoed back at me. His lips on mine were hungry and exploring, his good hand tangling in my hair. He tasted of frost and rain with a faint tang of blood, but that didn’t stop me from wanting more.
I blinked down at him, my head spinning.
“You can’t call me a fuckhead and then kiss me,” I said, with a half-hearted frown. He grinned and gave a shrug.
“Just did,” he said cheerily. “Might do it again.”
“You will not ,” I said, indignant. “It’s a gross violation of my wishes.”
“So?” he said. I could feel something through the bond, something mischievous and with a tinge of… lust? Maybe I was just not used to reading this stuff.
“Vander,” I said. “Stop being such a?—”
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘brat,’’ ” he said, patting my cheek.
That was definitely lust. I opened my mouth to reply, but then Adrian came over, carrying an unconscious Ez in his arms. He looked panicked.
“Is Kit okay? I looked up, and he was gone. I’m so sorry?—”
“I think they’re alright,” said Vander, looking over at them right as Kit vomited.
I stood up, taking Ez’s unconscious body from Adrian.
“Go get the van,” I instructed, starting toward our omegas.
JUNIPER
I helped Kit back to his feet after he was done heaving and looked around. Adrian was passing Ez’s limp form to Jhin. Vander was alive, thank god, looking at us as he got up.
“You came for me,” I said, and Kit slipped his hand into mine. My brain was whirring, because now the danger had passed—but where did that leave us, trying to catch up with what had just happened?
Kit… he’d just kissed me again. I looked at him, and he gave me his small, shy, smile.
“We didn’t want to lose you, Juni. Any of us,” he told me in a hoarse voice. “I’m in love with you, and Vander said—well—” He cut off with a cough.
“Shhh,” I said, wrapping my arms around him. A pure, bright relief was settling over me. “I love you too, Kit.”
Jhin ushered us over to the sheltered entrance of the mall and sat Ez down between us, instructing us to keep him warm. We managed to prop him up so his head was on Kit’s shoulder. Vander had limped over to sit next to us, too, while Jhin went to check on the bodies of Lewis and Valerie.
I couldn’t stop staring at where Lewis’ body had made a huge round imprint on the side of the wall.
“That’s kind of terrifying,” I muttered to Kit. “Was that Jhin?”
When Adrian parked their white minivan close by, Jhin wrapped me, Kit, and Ez in a thick, flannel blanket and knelt in front of us. He checked Kit’s neck, asked if I was injured, and then gave all three of us a kiss on the head and stood up.
“Shock treatment,” he told Adrian, who nodded and grabbed another blanket. Adrian seemed really worried, and swore when he saw the mess of bruising on Kit’s neck.
“I was supposed to keep you safe,” he said in anguish, his fingers gently brushing the purple skin.
“ I was the one who left,” Kit argued. He couldn’t speak much above a whisper.
“You’re in so much trouble,” I told him, squeezing his arm. “You could have died. ”
“You would have done it for me, Juniper,” he said hoarsely, his face sullen. “Besides, what about you? Going to get a scent match?”
I felt my face going red.
“Maybe let’s just say no one is in trouble.”
Jhin started splinting Vander’s arm, and Adrian took a look at where the glass had scratched up my skin.
“Thank god. I was worried when I saw all the blood on the glass,” he said.
“Yeah, Rick cut his arms up real bad punching through it.” I shuddered at the memory.
“He must have run when the other two died,” Adrian said. “Won’t go far with that much blood loss, though.”
“Jake?” I asked, nervously.
Adrian’s face darkened. “He had a pulse when I left him,” was all he said.
Jhin was walking over to where Valerie’s body was still impaled on the art display. His hands clenched into fists, and he took a step forward, but Vander caught his arm.
“You know,” he said, steering Jhin away. “There are a bunch of security cameras around here. Caught this whole thing. Which is good because it’s a pretty open and shut case of self-defense and really shitty luck. Even got me checking her pulse to try and save her. No foul play. No desecration of bodies.”
I gave a nervous giggle, and Vander winked at me.
A siren started in the distance, then another, coming closer and closer.
“Lovely. The authorities. Just in time to help, as usual,” Vander said.
“Should we go?” I asked.
“No. Everything was on camera, but we should stay and give statements.”
Kit closed his eyes and leaned on Ez’s shoulder, muttering, “Fuck. I need my vape.”