Chapter 24 #2
“Judging by your eyes, I don’t think you are.”
I cautiously reach up and turn Thane’s face toward mine. The last time I saw his eyes dilated was when he tried to force me out of that ridiculous cow costume, but this is different. They’re almost completely black.
“This is your last warning,” Thane threatens in his Alpha tone. He whips his head back to Kole with a fierce sound rattling in his chest. “Leave.”
Kole shakes his head. “Sorry, brother. I can’t do that.”
Thane takes a step toward Kole but stops his advance. In a split second, I’m in Kole’s arms while two vampires grab a hold of Thane, picking him up as his body goes limp and his eyes fall shut.
“What did you do?” There’s a hint of concern in my voice that surprises Kole just as much as it surprises me.
“He’s been sedated with a tranquilizer. It’s the only way I could keep you safe.” I watch the two vampires carry Thane away while Kole’s eyes wander down my body like he’s looking for an injury. “Did he hurt you?”
“No.” I pause. “Well, I mean he bit me and—”
“And?” Kole tilts his head down to catch my gaze.
“Nothing,” I mutter, taking a step away from him. “I’m fine, really.”
“I don’t like you being out here tonight. Even without Thane running around, you’re not safe.”
“What are you talking about? What did he do?” I demand, fear crawling along my spine.
“It’s the lunar eclipse. It affects the werewolves,” he says, nodding toward the sky. I look up, but all I can see is a canopy of trees.
“Affects them how?”
Kole signals to the other three vampires, who are waiting for orders. In a moment, they’re gone, and it’s just the two of us.
“The eclipse heightens their animalistic nature. They’ll act on instinct, dominated by things like hunger, lust, and the urge to hunt. The wolves won’t be in control, and if they come across a human, even one that has been marked by their Alpha, they won’t be able to resist the call of the wild.”
Kole’s posture is rigid, and his eyes keep darting behind me like he’s anticipating an attack.
I normally would assume this is all just some sick game the two of them have cooked up, but I saw Thane’s eyes.
Whatever is going on with the moon has Kole on edge, and I’d be an idiot not to heed his warning.
Kole reaches for my hand. “Come home. Just for tonight.”
“I have a home,” I insist, pulling my hand from him.
He lets out a laugh. “Oh, come on. You can hardly call that house you live in a home. It doesn’t even have heat or running water.”
“It is a home!” I bite back defensively. “It’s my home where I’m free to leave my room whenever I like and where I’m free of Alpha assholes!”
Kole releases a sigh, hanging his head. “You’re right. It is your home, but for tonight, will you please stay at Headquarters? Just so I know you’re safe?”
“Seriously?” I lean back on my hip, crossing my arms. “You show up after almost two months of radio silence and think I’m going to fall for this act again?”
The part of me that thought Kole might have been telling the truth when he said he cared about me has long since died.
If he really cared, he would’ve at least visited me.
He’s obviously known where I live this whole time, and yet he’s never once come to check on me.
After our last conversation, I thought he might at least do that, or even come to say goodbye. But he didn’t.
He takes a step toward me, but I retreat with one of my own. “Come on, Grey. Don’t be like this. Just come back with me.”
“Hmm, let me think. No.” I turn on my heel and head in the opposite direction.
“It’s not safe!” he calls out after me.
“I’ll be fine on my own, like I always am!” I shout over my shoulder, not bothering to look back.
A second later, he cuts me off. “It looks like we’re doing this the hard way then.”
He tosses me over his shoulder, and I scream as he takes off through the forest. His grip is so tight that I don’t even bother trying to fight my way loose. Before I know it, he’s got me strapped into an oversized SUV with the doors locked.
“Let me out!” I demand, pulling on the handle as we take off.
“I’ll take you back tomorrow,” he offers, turning to look at me. I ignore him, keeping my attention on the road. When I don’t say anything, he stops the vehicle, throwing it in park. “Fine. Let’s have it out then. Whatever you want to say, just say it.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” I dismiss, turning my head to look out the window.
“I thought it would be better if I stayed away,” he finally says in a voice so quiet, I wonder if he meant to say it out loud.
“Yeah, I got that.”
“No, I don’t think you do,” he continues while I keep my gaze fixed out the window.
“Thane letting you go was a damn miracle. He’s like a ticking time bomb when it comes to you.
One wrong move, and who’s to say he wouldn’t change his mind?
” I don’t say anything because he’s just telling me what I already know.
“He watches you,” he eventually adds in a whisper.
“What?” My head whips around so fast, I think I might have pulled a muscle.
“That’s why I’ve stayed away. You still mean something to him, and I was worried that if I went to you, it would trigger something primal in him. I couldn’t take that risk.”
“Why has he been watching me if he decided to let me go?”
Kole turns away, leaning back into his seat. “Because you’re not the kind of girl a guy just walks away from.”
“No,” I scoff. “I’m just the girl a guy tortures and then stalks apparently.”
“It’s not like that,” he mutters, still looking away from me.
“Then what is it like?”
I sit up, trying to draw his attention, but he whirls around suddenly, slamming his palm against my window.
“You wanna know what it’s like, Grey? It’s like being in a desert without water.
Like waking up from a nightmare, only to find you’re still in it.
It’s like clawing at your skin to scratch an itch you can never reach.
” His eyes fall to my lips as his voice drops an octave.
“And it’s like gasping for air as you’re being buried alive.
” He pulls his hand away from the window, resting it against my cheek.
“That is what it feels like to let you go.”
“Because of the mark?”
Kole pulls away with an exhausted sigh. “Yeah, sure. Because of the mark.”
He clutches the steering wheel and takes off down the road at a much faster speed, looking a hell of a lot like his brother despite their opposing physical features.
I’m not sure what’s got him brewing with silent rage, but I don’t press him for answers.
Instead, I just focus on processing the information I do have.
Even though Thane has agreed to set me free, the bond of the bite is still drawing him to me. Tonight, he showed up because of the eclipse, but what if next time it’s to take me as his pet again?
Sticking around here was stupid. Once Kole brings me back tomorrow, it’s time to get the hell out of here before the bond is too much for Thane to resist, and I end up right back where I started.