48. Kaia
Chapter Forty-Eight
Kaia
We dock the boat as the sun dips into the ocean, casting long shadows across the water.
The sky is painted in shades of orange and pink, with streaks of purple bleeding through the clouds.
Everything feels warm and golden, like we're living inside a photograph.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I can't stop smiling, my cheeks actually hurt from grinning so much.
This day has been everything I could have hoped for and more.
The kind of day you want to bottle up and keep forever—the kind that makes you believe in magic and second chances and all the things you thought you'd stopped believing in.
We pile into the car. I'm sandwiched between Finn and Lachlan in the back. Jonas and Adrian are in the front. My body still hums with the memory of the afternoon. The sun. The water. The way they touched me. The way I felt safe. Wanted. Loved.
"So," Jonas says from the driver's seat, his voice easy and relaxed. "When we get home, I'll start the grill. We can do burgers."
"Yes," Finn says immediately. "I'm starving."
I laugh. "You're always starving."
"Boat days require fuel," he says seriously. Then he leans closer, his voice dropping. "Also, I'm claiming you for a shower when we get back."
My cheeks flush. Jonas groans from the front. "Damn," he mutters.
Finn grins. "Looks like the Alphas get each other then."
Lachlan glances at Adrian and raises his eyebrows.
Adrian's gaze settles on him, calm and unmistakably dominant. "Careful, Lachlan. Keep provoking me and I'll remind you who's in charge."
Lachlan's mouth curves. "You say that like I don't enjoy making you prove it."
The car erupts in laughter. I lean back against the seat, my chest light and full. This is my life now. These men. This pack. This home. I never thought I'd have this, never thought I'd feel this safe, this loved, this free.
We turn onto our street. The sun is almost gone now, the sky deepening into twilight. I'm still smiling. Still warm. Still floating.
Then I see them. The cars.
The driveway is swarming with police cruisers, their lights off but unmistakable. Three black Escalades sit parked in front of the house. My stomach drops.
"What the…" Jonas starts.
Adrian leans forward. "Fuck."
Lachlan slows the car to a crawl, his hands tightening on the wheel, knuckles going white. His jaw clenches. I follow his gaze to the front of the house.
There are people standing on the porch. I squint my eyes to get a better look.
My breathing changes before I know why. Shorter. Shallower. I suddenly feel a million miles away from the car, from my pack. I’m floating, endlessly, hopelessly lost.
And then my brain catches up to what I’m seeing.
My parents.
They’re standing on the front porch like executioners.
My father is dressed in his perfectly tailored tan suit, the one he wears to intimidate people in boardrooms. Arms crossed over his chest. Expression cold as winter stone.
My mother stands beside him, draped in her usual pearls and practiced composure.
Hands clasped in front of her. Face tight with that familiar mixture of disappointment and determination.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
Air tears into my lungs. Sharp. Painful. Like inhaling broken glass.
"Kaia?" Finn's voice. Distant. Muffled. Like he's calling to me from underwater.
I can't breathe. My chest constricts around my lungs like a vice.
The air won't come, won't come in, won't go out.
They found me. They found me. How did they track me down?
I was so careful. So careful. My vision tunnels, the edges going dark and fuzzy.
I hear Jonas say my name, sharp with alarm.
Feel Finn's hand on my arm, warm and solid.
But I can't respond. Can't move. Can't breathe.
Can't do anything but stare at my parents through the windshield.
My father's eyes find mine through the glass.
Cold. Calculating. Certain. Like he already knows he's won.
Like this was always inevitable. Like I was foolish to ever think I could escape.
My body goes cold, then hot, then cold again, temperature fluctuating wildly.
My hands are shaking—no, not shaking, trembling.
Violently. Uncontrollably. Like I'm coming apart at the seams.
"Kaia, breathe." Lachlan's voice makes it through my hazy panic. Firm. Grounding. Authoritative in a way that would normally bring me back to Earth.
But he still sounds so far away. And I’m still floating. Gone. Unreachable.
Because they're here. Standing right at the entrance of where I thought I was safe. Where I thought I was home. They’re going to take me back.
Back to that suffocating house, to that prison of expectations and control.
They're going to—my vision blurs. The world tilts sideways, and suddenly I don’t know which way is up.
I hear voices, urgent and overlapping, crashing into each other.
"Pull over."
"She's hyperventilating."
"Kaia, look at me."
"Give her space."
But I can't. I can't see anything. Can't hear anything clearly except the roaring in my ears, like ocean waves crashing. The pounding of my heart. Too fast. Too hard. Hammering against my ribs like it's trying to escape. My chest hurts. Everything hurts. My lungs burn. My throat closes.
This perfect day. This perfect, beautiful, impossible day.
This perfect life I've been building, piece by fragile piece—it's over.
All of it. They're going to take it away.
They're going to take me away. Back to their world.
And I can't, I can't let them, I can't. The darkness rushes in.
Fast. Complete. Swallowing everything. The light. The sound. The fear. And then—nothing.