Chapter 28
Havoc
Fuck, is this what a heart attack feels like? I know I’m getting older, but goddamn. I don’t think I’ve been this nervous since… ever, actually.
“Worst she can do is slam the door in my face,” I mutter, adjusting my grip on the present I spent far too long picking out.
It was a humbling moment to realize that I didn’t know my mate well enough to feel confident in what she’d like.
It’s one of the main reasons I’ve spent the last few days stalking her whenever she went into town.
Thank the Fates I did, too, or those bastards following her might have gone unpunished.
The giant, though, vanished without a trace.
By the time I circled back after disposing of the bodies, his room at the bed and breakfast had been cleared out, and he clearly checked in under a fake name.
I’ll keep an eye on the situation, but I’m not overly worried about him being a threat with the way he stepped up to ward off the men stalking Kiara.
No, I’m worried about him being a very different kind of problem.
He treated my mate like she was something precious, and then he left her. She was already suffering abandonment issues thanks to whoever has been stealing my letters to sabotage our relationship, and this new blow is only going to make it that much harder for her to trust I’m here to stay.
Hence the need for the secondary gift. Rome simply shook his head and walked away when he walked in on me putting the finishing touches on my first one, and after sleeping on it a few days, I can see his point.
Most women would freak out when presented with a bouquet of severed fingers, so I reluctantly left that one in the freezer, praying my plan B is good enough for her to forgive me.
Sucking down one final deep breath, I rap my knuckles on her front door, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Just as I’m reluctantly accepting that she’s not home, the door opens, and my heart starts racing.
Every line I rehearsed in preparation abandons me as my mind buzzes with anticipation.
It doesn’t matter that she currently hates me; all I can think of is that I’m finally going to be reunited with my fated mate at long last. She’ll give me a chance to explain that I never abandoned or rejected her, that this was all a huge misunderstanding, and we can move forward.
Until the King of Carnage is eliminated, she’ll still be at risk, but I can protect her from her side now that the rest of the threats have been eliminated.
One day, she’ll smile at me again like she did the day we met. I’ll accept nothing less.
All my plans screech to a halt when a man opens her door.
“Who the fuck are you?”
I clock every feature in an instant, already planning his murder.
Pitch black, wild hair, tattoos that run from the sides of his neck down his bare torso, and disappear beneath a pair of sweatpants slung low on his hips.
Eyes such a bright shade of amber, there’s no way he can pass as human.
I’m about to punch him in his pretty-boy face when my gaze stalls on his wrist, my chest tightening until I forget how to breathe.
For .2 seconds.
My next exhale is laced with ice as my wraith rises to the surface, fingers twitching with the competing desires to brutally eviscerate him, and rend his soul from his body slowly to make the agony last.
Fury darkens the man’s eyes, and his gravely voice roughs out the two words that drive the final nail in my coffin. “Her mate.” And slams the door in my face.
For a solid minute, I’m frozen in place.
Logically, I know that centers are going to have multiple mates.
I’m not even opposed to the concept; it’d be easier to keep Kiara safe surrounded by a solid bondgroup.
I just… thought I’d be there when it happened.
That I’d have time to get to know the men I’d be sharing a mate with.
“The center builds their bondgroup,” I remind myself, taking a slow breath before I do something irrational that I can’t take back.
Kiara’s needs come first; full stop. If she really thought that I rejected and abandoned her?
Of course she’d seek out someone else. The thought of Kiara suffering alone all these months has been eating away at me, so knowing she had someone there for her when I couldn’t be is a relief. A good thing.
Nope, still pissed.
Silver mist surrounds me as I step forward, dissipating as I land in her living room. The cold lingers, though, and I scowl at the blanket taped over a window. Why the hell didn’t this jackass handle it properly and board up the window?
Clearly, he can’t be trusted to take care of her and needs to be replaced. That could be a good bonding activity to help repair our relationship; shopping for new mates. Men that are worthy of standing by her side.
“What’s your name?” I demand, shrugging off the warning growl from the man mooching off my mate and currently giving me a death glare. When he ignores me, I start to get seriously pissed off.
“I wouldn’t test my patience if you want to walk out of this house in one piece.
Shifter, I take it?” Still, no response.
“Are you seriously going to stand there while a stranger breaks into your mate’s house?
Does her life mean nothing to you?” I hiss, ice creeping up the walls the more my control slips.
That’s it. Screw the house, I’m bringing Kiara back to the guild hall.
At least there I don’t have to worry about anyone breaking in to hurt her; my men would slaughter the intruder on principle alone.
Once I fill them in on her being my mate?
She’ll be far safer there than anywhere else on earth.
The only reason I sent her to Mercy Ridge was so she wouldn’t be trapped inside for months on end.
Kiara deserves to do whatever she damn well pleases, not be forced to live in a cage because of my enemies.
But now, only one remains. And not for long.
“Vic? What are you doing here?” I turn at the sound of her sweet, sleep-laden voice, watching her shuffle into the living room while rubbing at bleary eyes.
“Proving that your new guard dog is useless and needs to be replaced.”
This time, I know the second the words are out of my mouth that I fucked up. All drowsiness leaves her in an instant, and she opens her mouth to tear me a new one, but he interjects with a rough croak. “Zayd. And no. You wear my mate’s mark, so your fate is hers to decide.”
Kiara’s head whips to face him, stunned silent. Teary eyed, she slowly approaches him, making sure she's in his line of sight and takes his hand. When he intertwines their fingers, she positively beams, like he just gave her some great gift.
Is that how low the bar is? And I still didn’t manage to reach it? Fuck.
“It was a Z! Hot damn, we're getting this communication thing down. Welcome back to the land of the living, Zayd, I’m so freaking happy to officially meet you. How’re you feeling?” she rapid fires.
My jaw aches from how tightly I’m clenching it. “Hold on, let me get this straight. You let him live here, and you didn't even know his name?”
She flips me off without bothering to so much as turn her attention away from her pet project for a single second.
“I didn't know anything about you besides your name and was ready to move in with you the day we met, so I’m not sure why you're surprised.
Fated mates have already been stamped for approval, so it's safe to speed run the dating process. Well, usually.” She finally deigns to look at me, only to shoot me a withering glare.
“Looks like mistakes slip through the cracks occasionally.
Just goes to show you that nobody's perfect, even the Fates.”
I narrow my eyes. “Our mate marks aren’t a mistake.”
It makes sense now. This guy's been stealing my letters before she sees them.
The shifter’s chest rumbles in agitation, and Kiara takes it upon herself to pivot in his arms without letting go of his hand.
It leaves her facing me, but with their hands clasped over her stomach, making my own churn.
Zayd’s growl dies off as he tugs her firmly against his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head and sucking down ragged breaths.
“Says the man that didn’t speak to me for six months,” she scoffs. But I can hear the underlying current of hurt in her voice that she’s trying to hide under anger now that I’m looking for it.
My chest tightens with regret. “I never abandoned you, Kiara, I swear it. Why do you think I sent Rome to be your bodyguard the first few weeks while you were settling in? He ensured everyone knew that you were under the Shadow Knight’s protection, and touching you would sign their death warrants, without it tracing back to our connection and putting a target on your back. ”
“Yeah, and thanks to that, nobody would hire me. I had to make a deal with the gargoyles that run the city to open up the vet clinic so I could make enough money to get by, and even then, it’s not like business was booming.
Do you have any idea how hard these last six months have been for me?
I’ve had to play catch up on everything normal people grew up with.
Phones, computers, grocery stores, how to pay bills; even fucking street light signals.
I’ve been scrambling for six months trying to figure out how to survive in the real world. ”