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I swipe the water from my face, ignoring his comment. Yells echo through the cave. Evander shoves Tristan underwater, calling him out for trying to kiss me. Splashing, Tristan swings his arm, missing Evander by a few inches.
“You know I like her, man,” Evander says, his voice deep with his annoyance. He punches back, getting Tristan in the shoulder.
“You don’t fucking own her. She made it clear already. If she wants me, you need to deal.” Tristan whips his head, sending water cascading from his hair.
Charging Tristan, Evander locks him in a chokehold and drags him under again. No one does anything, and Tristan thrashes, unable to break the surface. Evander doesn’t let him up, either.
“Stop!” I shout, thrashing to break from Kellan’s hold but he doesn’t let me go.
Evander doesn’t stop.
If I don’t do something, they’re going to kill each other.
Fuck. I can’t let that happen.
Not over me.
Chapter thirteen
Eliana
Island Fever
“KELLAN,PLEASE.DOsomething.”My voice cracks with my words. “Please.”
Sighing, Kellan helps Chase drag Evander off Tristan. Adam blocks Tristan from trying to retaliate.
“Evander, go find Davian and join him on watch. You need to cool off.” Chase shoves Evander toward the side of the pool. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but it needs to stop. Eliana made it clear. She wants things to stay casual. You can’t start picking fights now, especially because you weren’t even with her first. You don’t see me beating your ass for it, now do you?”
Evander flares his nostrils in silence, flicking his gaze from Chase to Tristan and finally to me. We stare at each other, and I try not to give anything away. Annoyance and sadness weigh heavily on my chest. I didn’t intend for things to be this way.
“I’m sorry, Eliana. I don’t know what came over me.” Evander plants his hands to the ledge of the pool and hops up, still facing me. He clenches his jaw and turns to Tristan. “Sorry to you too, man. Fuck, this place is making me lose it.”
He gets to his feet, not waiting for any of us to respond. Silence blankets the air, and I lean my back against the rock wall, trying to settle my racing heart.
“I think it’s best if everyone starts setting up camp. I’ll take care of Eliana and call the rest of you when it’s your turn.” Kellan grabs the bag he brought from the side of the pool and motions for me to cross to the other end, where the cave continues.
“Are you sure you don’t need me?” Chase asks, his muscles flexing as if he’s ready to argue.
“It’s best if I take this moment to care for Eliana alone.” Kellan climbs out of the pool and reaches down to lift me up. I don’t complain or try to argue.
I don’t know if it was the fight or what, but suddenly, I feel defeated. Tired and exhausted. So much so that I don’t realize Kellan sprawls out a blanket and helps me sit on it. It takes him kneeling beside me and touching my scalp to get me to react.
“Shit. Be careful. That hurts.” I try to swat his hand away, but he catches my fingers and closes his hand around them.
“I wish those men weren’t dead so I could make them suffer for doing this to you. The Windshore pack won’t get away with this. I’ll ensure it, even if I have to take care of things myself.” Kellan sounds like he’s talking more to himself than me.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about the Windshore pack. The men in the forest mentioned them. It brings up so many unanswered questions I have.
I inhale a soft breath and meet Kellan’s gaze. “You have to stop doing this. Every time you mention something, it only makes me angrier for the lack of answers. You keep saying that you can’t tell me, but I think it’s because you don’t want to. I need to know more. Give me a reason to trust you.”
“There’s no reason to trust me. That’s why I’m here and why I stay nearby. Trust is built on actions and not words, my love.” Kellan pulls out a bottle from his bag and shakes it, turning the blue liquid inside purple.
He has a point, but I still don’t like it. “Trust is also built with communication,” I say. I cross my arms over my chest, not allowing him to take my hand.
He groans under his breath and pours some of the liquid into the palm of his hand. “We’ll get to that. It will take time because some things are better left unsaid and shown instead. We have rules and laws to follow as well, and some things aren’t my place.”
“Where is your place exactly?” I ask, trying to pry without getting angry. I need to ask the right questions to get him to open up to me.
