Chapter 12 Melanie
Melanie
Igroaned as Sin’s presence left us.
I didn’t realise how much I needed his alpha energy to support me. But I reached over to Kai, burying myself as tightly into him as I could.
When the next wave of fury came, my body convulsed, jerking in Kai’s arms as my vision suddenly went red.
My thoughts vanished, and there was just an endless path of pain that drilled itself deeper and deeper into Caspian.
I couldn’t reach him through the haze. It was too powerful. I didn’t have a shape, or even an idea of who I was. I just needed him.
Even though I went towards him into the fire, he was covered in the dark red flames, and there was no way out.
“Brandy? Hey!” Kai’s shout burst through me as pain flowered in my neck, and his presence suddenly bloomed inside me.
I gasped as he sank his teeth in, biting me hard enough to pull me away from Caspian and towards him.
Kai’s love rushed into me, shaking me to my core as he dived inside and solidified our bond.
I whimpered as his hand rounded my stomach, bringing me closer, releasing the bite so he could lick at the wound and kiss my neck.
“Fuck, I’ve wanted to do that since Caspian bit you. Do you know how unfair it is that I didn’t get to see you bond? Absolutely terrible behaviour. You’re going to have to make that one up to me.”
He said it with a smile, but his fear pounded through me. He couldn’t keep the tension out of his body, and it jumped inside me, nerves skipping through my veins.
He squeezed me as he met me with another serious look. “You need to focus, okay? You’re connected to him, too. If you pass out, we’ll lose even more of a connection.”
“But what if Caspian—”
“No, fuck that. You just need to stay with me, okay? You didn’t do this to Caspian. This isn’t your fault. You shouldn’t have to save him.” Kai’s hands were trembling against me. “You need to bite me, too, okay? Here’s my neck, just bite into me like you always do.”
He pressed his neck against my lips, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t bite down when everything was so sore.
“I can’t hold on. I’m not strong enough for this,” my voice slurred as I pushed out the words. The red dark was taking over me again, even when Kai licked the bite he gave me.
“Brandy, you’re fucking strong, but you don’t have to be strong for us, okay? You took on the Risler pack and bonded with us in three weeks. Who the fuck even does that, apart from someone made of steel? No one’s done what you’ve done. And we wouldn’t feel this way about anyone but you.”
He leaned down, placing another bite on my neck, his energy zipping through me, his presence filling me. I was sure he was just talking to keep me awake, but I wanted to believe what he was saying as well.
“I’m so fucking sorry you got mixed up with us,” he groaned as his teeth scratched over my collarbone. “But we can do this, okay? I just need you to be strong one more time, and that’s it, I promise.”
I wheezed as my lungs tightened, and the fury took me. I could hear myself shouting, but Kai bit me again, and I moaned, his own pain mixed with Caspian’s. He poured so much of himself into me it was like he’d grabbed my soul and yanked me, demanding me to come back to him.
“I’m sorry, Brandy,” he choked out as he clutched me.
“I’m so sorry we’re not good enough for you.
I’m so fucking sorry you’ve scent matched with pieces of shit like us, but I’ll make it better, okay?
I’ll do everything to make you happy. I’ll make sure you’re happy, I’ll give you everything you need, I promise.
But you have to stay awake,” he gasped. “Just stay awake, please…”
“Why do you keep making me all these promises?” I sighed as pain beat in my heart like a drum as Caspian attacked me from inside. The red was getting deeper, and I couldn’t sense the shape of myself anymore. All there was was rage.
Kai laughed, even though panic was tearing through him, as my breathing slowed.
“Because I want you to keep us accountable.” He grinned through his worry as he brushed his nose over my cheek. “I don’t want our alphas to get away with anything after this. You have to stay awake to make them pay. And you can’t let me go, either, alright?”
Kai held me close as he buried his teeth in my neck again. He was going to chew me up at this rate.
“Please just stay awake,” he begged. “Don’t leave me. I need you too much,” he whimpered as he clung to me. “You can’t go when we’ve just found you.”
I flinched as another roar screeched in me. I didn’t think it could hurt any more, until my chest cracked and my whole body spasmed.
“I love you, Brandy,” he whispered so softly that I almost didn’t hear him as a low whine joined my pain. “So you have to stay awake, alright? Don’t let it take you.”
But my heart was squeezing so fiercely, I thought it was going to burst. Because I was so overwhelmed with the love that poured from him.
I wanted to hold him, to kiss him, to tell him how I felt too. But Caspian was fading. And Kai’s fear surged into a storm as the bond between us flickered.
“Kai? Where’s Caspian?” I moaned. I didn’t even know if I was talking or if it was my omega instincts demanding me to be with my mate.
I was slipping away, that last sliver of myself desperately holding onto Kai.
I didn’t want to go into the red dark and leave my omega with that look of horror on his face.
“Brandy! Hey!” Kai shook me, but it wasn’t enough. “Brandy!”
My head dropped forward. “We have to…” I trailed off, my nails burying into Kai’s arm. “We have to find Caspian…”
“Brandy! Don’t you fucking dare fall asleep,” he shouted so loud that his voice bounced around the corridor.
“I swear to fucking God I’ll follow you and haunt the shit out of you in every fucking lifetime.
Brandy!” He sank his teeth into my neck again, and I jolted.
I groaned as Kai’s presence filled me, but Caspian’s wildness was swallowing me, and the red dark pulled me under.
“Brandy?” Kai’s whimpering was too far off in the distance.
“Brandy, please, just stop. Come back to me. I love you, okay. Please, I love you, so don’t go.
” I thought hearing Kai cry would only happen once in my life, but my heart ached as he clung to me, trembling hard as he dug his teeth into my shoulder and strengthened the bond.
I thought my insides were being crushed. My throat dry, tears slipped from my eyes as he held me.
And so suddenly, lightness exploded through the bond like the sun. Kai and I gasped in shock as my chest released, and I dragged in the heaviest breath of my life.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Kai croaked as he grabbed his phone. His body went limp against me as the deep, aching pain that I thought would never disappear unlocked.
“I found him.” Sin’s cold tone cut through the air. “They’ve trapped him in the kitchens. I can keep him mildly stable, but we need you both.”
“How far?” Kai asked as he let go, pushing himself to his feet. I could just make out his hard expression through my blurry vision.
“Two minutes at the most in Melanie’s state.”
The call suddenly ended, and Kai shoved his phone back in his pocket, instantly grabbing me.
“Can you get up?” Kai asked me, tugging on my arm to help me stand before I even answered. “Just think about it, okay? We’re going to see Caspian. We’re gonna see our alpha, and then everything will be fine.”
My omega instincts perked up, and I was sure it was the only reason I pushed myself to my feet.
Kai put my arm over his shoulder as he grabbed my waist. “It’ll all be better when we find Caspian, so we just have to start walking, okay? That’s it, come on. Just one step at a time.”
My stomach roiled as I used the last of my energy to lean on Kai and let him carry me forward.
Sin must have been doing something to Caspian, because with every step we took, the red faded, the darkness opened, and the fearsome pain eased. But the haze stayed, so all I could do was focus on our bond to stay awake.
Kai kept chattering, his panic so clear in his voice as he talked and talked and kept me awake as we stumbled towards the kitchens.
I was so tired. But it seemed like all I was was tired nowadays. Maybe it would be over soon. I knew Kai was right. I could feel deep down that if we didn’t find Caspian, it would be the end.
The buzz in my ears and the way my vision kept fracturing told me it was tearing inside me, and I needed to stop it before it broke me forever.