Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Anne
“Are you sure he won’t get hurt?”
The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I’ve come to Darius’s office with a folder of budget reports that I’ve splayed out on his table. Documents that need his signature, though we both know I could have sent them digitally.
But I needed an excuse to come here. Needed to ask the question that’s been burning in my mind ever since the phone call with Rick earlier today.
Darius looks up from the page he’s signing, his expression carefully neutral. “Anne—”
“He’ll be in the fight, won’t he? In the direct path of harm.” My voice cracks despite my best efforts to keep it steady. “Please, tell me he’ll be okay.”
Darius sets down the pen and leans back in his chair, studying me with those sharp alpha eyes.
“I can’t do that,” he says quietly.
The honesty feels almost cruel.
“I’m not going to go out of my way to put Kain in danger,” he continues, placing the signed documents back in the file. “But this is war, Anne. There are no guarantees.” He hands the folder back to me, his voice measured. “Even I could get hurt.”
I take the papers with numb fingers, my mind reeling.
“No guarantees.”
The words echo in my head as I leave his office to go make copies of the documents. My feet carry me to the elevators, moving on autopilot until I find myself in the printer room.
I feed the signed papers into the machine with my heart pounding. I need a moment. Need to breathe. To process what Darius just confirmed.
Kain could die. In two days, he could be gone, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Nothing I can do to protect him.
The copier hums, spitting out pages, and I try to focus on the mundane task. Try not to think about worst-case scenarios.
The door opens behind me.
“Anne.”
I spin around and see David. I’m a bit surprised. Last time we crossed paths, he completely ignored me.
“Oh. Hi, David,” I say.
“Are you alright?” he asks tentatively.
Confusion furrows my brow. “What do you mean?”
He shifts his weight, looking uncomfortable. “I heard rumors about Kain being arrested. I decided to mind my business, but then, you two went missing from the office for over a week.”
“Oh.” My other thoughts halt in the face of this unexpected problem. I didn’t consider what it must have looked like to others.
David’s hand reaches out and grips my upper arm. Not hard, but firm enough to keep me in place.
“Did he hurt you?” His voice drops with genuine concern. “Is that what this is about? Because if he did something to you, if you’re in trouble—”
“What? I’m not in any trouble.” I try to pull away, but his grip tightens.
“Anne, tell me the truth. Did Kain—”
“Get your hands off her.”
The voice from the doorway is so frosty, I swear the room temperature drops.
Kain stands there, hands on hips. His expression is carved from ice, but his eyes are blazing gold. He has gone completely still in the predatory way that makes my wolf recognize the threat even if my human mind doesn’t.
“Now,” Kain adds when David doesn’t immediately comply.
David’s hand drops from my arm, but he doesn’t back down. “We were just talking.”
“It didn’t look like talking.” Kain steps into the room, and suddenly the space feels even smaller. “It looked like you were putting your hands on my mate without her permission.”
The word “mate” hits David like a bomb. His eyes go wide, and he looks between Darius and me. I witness the exact moment everything clicks into place.
“Your mate,” he says slowly. “She’s your fated mate.”
“Yes.” Kain’s voice is flat as he steps between me and David, shielding me behind him. “So, I suggest you keep your concerns to yourself. And if you touch her again, I’ll break your arm.”
The threat isn’t idle. I can see it in the set of Kain’s shoulders, the way his hands hang ready at his sides.
David stares at us for several seconds. Then, he lets out a laugh, but it’s bitter and hollow.
“It all makes sense now,” he says, shaking his head. “The way she looked at you from day one. The way she could never quite commit to giving the two of us a real chance. The way you followed her around like a goddamn shadow even when you were supposedly strangers.”
David looks at me, and beneath the anger, there’s hurt in his eyes.
“You should have told me from the start,” he says quietly. “Instead of making a fool out of me.”
“I didn’t—” I start, but he holds up a hand.
“Don’t. Just…don’t.” He leaves the printer room without looking back, all concern about whether I was okay having vanished.
Kain turns to me, and some of the hardness in his expression melts away, replaced by an almost sheepish look.
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “For claiming you like that. I know we’re not—I know things between us are still complicated.”
He’s apologizing, but my heart is racing from the possessiveness in his voice when he said, “my mate.” The way he stepped between David and me without hesitation. The protective fury in his eyes. It all makes need unfurl in my belly like a waking dragon.
“It’s okay,” I manage to whisper.
He studies my face for a moment, then nods. “We’re going home together after work. The organization will have sent scouts, so I need to act normally. They’ll be watching.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll meet you in the parking lot at five.” He reaches out like he wants to touch me, but he stops himself.
Then he’s gone, too, and I’m left standing in the printer room, my heart still pounding, forgotten copies spilling from the machine.
The hours run by quickly after that. Too quickly. I try to focus on work but keep catching glimpses of Kain through windows and doorways—bent over maps with Ethan, talking in low voices with Darius, his expression always focused and intense.
Before I know it, it’s five o’clock. I pack up my things mechanically and join the stream of employees heading to the parking lot. My heart pounds with each step.
Kain is already waiting by my car, his messenger bag slung over one shoulder. He looks tired—shadows under his eyes, his jaw clenched—but better than he did a few days ago. The medicine is still working.
“Ready?” he asks.
I nod, not trusting my voice.
“I’ll drive my car behind you,” he says.
The commute home feels longer than usual. My mind won’t stop racing.
In two days, the Covenant will come for Violet. And Kain will be on the front lines, fighting the same people who tortured him for ten years. The same people who lied to him, manipulated him, made him believe he was dying just to keep him obedient.
What if Kain dies fighting them? What if I lose him again, for real this time? What if the last words I said to him were angry ones?
My hands tighten on the steering wheel. I can’t think like that. Can’t let the fear consume me.
But the thoughts persist anyway, following me all the way to my apartment building.
We park side by side. Kain gets out first and waits for me by the entrance. We walk up to my apartment in silence, the tension between us thick but different than before. Not angry, just…heavy.
I unlock the door and step inside, holding it open for him.
He passes by me, and I catch a whiff of his scent—pine and earth and something that is only him. The smell hits me in my core, and suddenly, my adrenaline spikes. My wolf claws to the surface, desperate and needy.
What if I lose him?
The thought consumes me, overwhelming everything else. And then, suddenly, my fear turns into something else entirely. Something primal.
I need him.
This may be unwise. It solves nothing, I know, but my brain doesn’t care about logic right now. It’s listening to my heart—and my body.
“Do you want to wash up before dinner?” he asks, setting his bag down on the couch.
“Let’s shower together.”
His head whips toward me so fast, I’m surprised it doesn’t snap off his neck. “What?”
I stride over to him and kiss him.
For a moment, he’s frozen in shock. But his body reacts anyway—I feel him harden against me, his member poking my belly through our clothes. Heat floods through me and pools down low.
All of a sudden, his hands are on my shoulders, pushing me away.
“Anne, what are you—” He’s panting, his eyes wild. “You said that we—”
I shush him, my fingers going to his shirt buttons. “I don’t care about that right now.”
“But—”
I kiss him again, harder this time, and he makes a sound in the back of his throat: half protest, half surrender.
His resistance crumbles. His hands move from my shoulders to my waist, pulling me against him with bruising force. The kiss deepens, becomes desperate. Hungry.
We stumble toward the bathroom, hands tearing at clothes. My shirt comes off first, tossed somewhere behind us. His follows, and I run my hands over his chest, feeling the scars beneath my palms.
Evidence of what they did to him. What they might do again in two days.
The image makes me kiss him harder. I bite his lower lip until he groans.
“Anne,” he breathes against my mouth. “Are you sure—”
“Shut up,” I say, shoving his pants down his hips.
We crash into the bathroom. I twist the shower knob to hot. I know the water will stream out icy at first, but I don’t care.
Kain’s hands shove my skirt and panties down my thighs in one impatient motion. I kick them off. He shucks his own pants and boxers, and his cock springs free—heavy, flushed dark, already leaking at the tip. My mouth waters.
He backs me under the spray. The water is still cold, and I gasp when it hits my skin. He doesn’t give me time to adjust. He spins me around, pressing my front to the freezing tile wall. The shock of it makes me arch, my ass pushing back against him instinctively.
He growls low in his throat. One hand grasps my wet hair and yanks my head back so he can bite the side of my neck. The other hand slides between my thighs from behind, and two thick fingers plunge straight into me without warning.
I cry out, the sound echoing off the tiles.
“You’re soaked,” he rasps against my ear. “Even when you hate me, your pussy still wants me.”