Chapter 51
Madness and death. The words swirled around my brain in a brutal rhythm.
“We’re stronger than that,” Colt growled at Darius.
He shook his head. “Ones before you have tried. Followed their hearts instead of their sense. It ended in disaster.”
“What would happen?” I barely recognized my own voice. It was flat, void of any emotion.
Darius’s focus turned to me. “They are the chosen ones. The ones to lead our people. That means they have been gifted more strength and power than most. It makes them potentially unstable. An anchor becomes like a filter of sorts. She purifies their power so that it won’t pollute their minds and keeps them grounded to this world. ”
“That’s what I was supposed to be.” A pain so raw and real stole my breath, taking root in my chest. I hadn’t even known that was supposed to be my purpose, and yet, losing it was amongst the greatest pain I’d experienced in my life. I wanted that purpose, that belonging.
Sympathy filled Darius’s expression. “It happens sometimes. We don’t know why. Maybe there isn’t enough magic in your lineage. Sometimes trauma prevents that magic from taking hold.”
My fingers curled in, nails pressing into my palms. “And they can bond with someone else?”
“We don’t want to bond with someone else,” Dash cut in.
Darius ignored him. “Bonding to an anchor is always a choice. We’ve tested the others in their generation. Only one is strong enough.”
Sickness, thick, black, and insidious, coated my insides. “Chloe.”
It was the only thing that made sense. Her propriety over the guys even though none of them showed any interest. Her hatred of me on sight. Her sense of entitlement over the entire school. She thought she was going to reign supreme over everyone one day.
“Chloe comes from a long line of anchors on both her father’s and mother’s side. The amount of power she can withstand is the greatest among us.”
“My mother is human, isn’t she?”
Darius nodded. “Your father has an incredible lineage, but you came along as a bit of a surprise.”
I swallowed hard. “You knew him?”
“I did. He was an incredible man. And that meant, when he learned your mother was pregnant, he gave up our world to raise you somewhere you would be safe. If you didn’t manifest, he didn’t want you anywhere near this place.” The last part was said with a look of censure at Colt.
Colt stalked toward Darius. “You don’t know what she was going through. What her mother was putting her through. We had to get her out.”
“And you could’ve done that without any contact with her,” Darius argued.
My heart clenched at the idea of never being reunited with Colt. Of never knowing Ronan, Dash, Trace, and Declan. But maybe that would’ve been easier. Because they had somehow become mine, and now, they were going to be ripped away. There was no other option.
“She’s our mate,” Declan snarled. “No one is going to keep her from us. We will figure out a way to anchor our powers, but she’s ours. If you or anyone else tries to come between us, you will pay.”
Darius didn’t seem cowed by Declan’s threats. “You can have her in your life. Even have a relationship with her, but you’ll bond with Chloe.”
Nausea slid through me. Share them with Chloe? I wouldn’t be able to do it, even if the relationship wasn’t sexual. She’d have a part of them I never would.
“That’ll never happen,” Declan growled.
Darius arched a brow. “And what does your father have to say about that?”
There was a flicker of something in Declan’s eyes, a mixture of rage and fear. “This isn’t something he can interfere with either.”
Darius snorted. “Have you told Patrick that?”
“Enough,” Ronan roared. “You’ve made your point. You can go now.”
Darius bristled. “You might be our future leaders, but you aren’t there yet. Remember that, pup.”
Ronan stretched to his full height. “I’m not your pup, and you’d do good to remember that.”
Darius’s amber eyes flashed. It wasn’t the gold I saw in Colt’s or Ronan’s eyes, but they still glowed. He didn’t say another word, simply stormed out of the conservatory.
“That went well,” Dash muttered.
“What did you expect?” Ronan snapped.
Colt moved toward me. “Don’t listen to Darius. He’s stuck in the old ways.”
Colt took my hands, his warmth bleeding into me. That heat hurt. The pain of knowing it wasn’t mine to relish in. “Don’t.”
Colt reared back. “You’re our mate. Finding you is a rare blessing. The fates wouldn’t be cruel enough to bless us with this and then make us walk away.”
But I knew he was wrong. Fate was exactly that cruel.
Fate gave you the world’s most amazing father and then gave him a cancer that ate away at him in front of your eyes.
Fate gave you the best friend you could imagine and then tore him out of your life.
Fate gave you a mother that despised your very existence and left you with her to rot.
My gaze swept around the room, landing on each of the guys. My heart pulsed with each point of contact until I finally landed on Colt.
“I won’t be the reason you die.”
I’d rather live through endless lifetimes of my mother’s torture first. I wouldn’t cause their end simply because I selfishly wanted these stolen moments with them.
At the end of the day, I would always choose them over myself. Even if that left me completely and utterly alone.