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So there were obstacles within our inner circle. Things we had to overcome if we hoped to stop Pierce and whatever he was planning. There was a lot I didn't know, but I had a feeling that Rosie could help me fill in the blanks. Once I was caught up, I'd know what we needed to do in order for us to have a better chance of surviving. I didn't know which of Rosie's mates was losing himself to his past--it had to be one of the twins--but whoever it was, I hope it wasn't too late to save him.
"I understand," I said sternly. "Thank you for the information. I'd like to return to my mate so we can prepare."
"Of course," Clotho dipped her head. "And Mr. Santiago, good luck."
Clotho waved her hand in front of me as she snapped her fingers. My vision was completely blinded until I sat up in bed with a gasp.
Panting, I took in my surroundings, finding myself in a room in the lodge. My body was coated in a thin layer of sweat, but aside from that, I felt no pain. Was I back? Was I okay now? I looked down at my wrists, at the pale, raw flesh that looked to have been lacking sunlight. I was healed like I thought, and I was home.
I huffed and ran a hand over my damp hair, thankful to be conscious and okay. My adventure with Clotho replayed in my mind, alerting me that now wasn't the time to relax. I had things that I needed to figure out. I needed to talk with Rosie, and I needed to find out which of the twins was in trouble.
As if Fate was throwing a bone, I felt something dark tickling my senses. A haze of anger that seemed to have been growing at a rapid pace. My eyes widened as I mentally reached for the bonds that tied me to Rosie and the twins. I felt her fear, and I felt Kao's horror. And Kai...
Shit!
I rolled out of bed and ran out of the room, hoping I could get to Kai before he hurt himself. Or someone.
7
ROSIE
So much has happened in so little time, I had no idea what I should react to first. Just when I was fearing for Kai's life, my mark burned with a sense of danger. It reacted to the red aura that consumed Kai. Whatever it was, it felt the heat of my mate's rage from where I stood. Then I saw it: red glowing eyes that looked beastly. Immediately, I thought back to the monster from my visions. The werewolf beast with red eyes that bore the Wolf Moon's mark. No, that couldn't be possible. Was this what Atropos was warning me about? Was Kai the monster? The one that killed everyone in sight? No, that didn't make any sense. This was Kai, my Kai. He was the gentlest among all of us. How could he be the monster that brought the end to all of us? What was even happening to him?
When Kai belted out a ferocious growl that didn't sound human, a shiver crawled up my whole body. Anger exuded off his body in heated waves. In the blink of an eye, Kai was on the attack. I looked to Kao to get a reading on what he was feeling. His face was paler than usual, watching as his twin brother moved with the aggression of a wild animal in human skin.
"This was what I was afraid of," Kao breathed with a shaky breath.
"What is it? What's happening to him, Kao?" I demanded.
Kao looked to be at a loss for words, but that wasn't good enough. Not anymore. Was this the secret they were hiding from me? Did Kai know about this... whatever it was, and didn't want to tell me? He said he would tell me when he and Del got back from rescuing Joaquin, but things were moving too fast to talk about it. Now it was staring me in the face. Or rather, I was watching it unfold as Kai pinned Reginald to the ground. I needed to do something. I needed to get to Kai. I took one step forward but was stopped by a grip on my arm.
"Rosie, don't." I looked back to Kao's worried gaze. "It's too dangerous to get near him when he's like this."
"What are you talking about?" I asked frantically.
"Kai's not in control right now. If you get close to him, he'll attack you. He won't be able to stop himself."
"We have to do something," Byron spoke up. "If he's as out of control as you say he is, then what's to stop him from going after innocent lives?"
Byron was right. Kai wouldn't hurt anyone that he considered an ally, but if he was no longer in control, nobody was safe.
"P-Please." I looked back over to the fight at the sound of Reginald's plead. "Let me go. I surrender."
"No," Kai growled in a deep baritone voice that mixed with a growl. "Kill!"
With that final word, Kai went to town on Reginald. His clawed talons whipped in all directions as he began shredding Reginald's body like an excited kid ripping off the wrappings to get to his presents on Christmas.I screamed for Kai to stop. I wanted to get to him, but Kao was pulling me back. I knew he didn't want me to get hurt, but I needed to get to Kai. I needed to try to snap him out of whatever control he was under. I was just about to push Kao off me when something flew out of the lodge and tackled Kai off Reginald. I gasped in surprise when I saw it was Joaquin, hunched over and ready to leap if Kai charged.
Holy shit, Joaquin was awake. How?
"Kai! Kai, that's enough! It's me! You can stop now." Joaquin tried talking with Kai, but whatever was affecting my gentle mate blocked out all sense of rationality. Uncharacteristically, Kai bolted for Joaquin, but he swerved to the side to avoid Kai's claws. Okay, I needed to sprint into action before they end up hurting each other, or worse.
"Kao! Byron! Drag Reginald out of there," I ordered, forcing myself to go into alpha mode. Bryon complied without arguments, but Kao looked frozen in place, watching helplessly as his twin and one of his friends were duking it out. I shook him out of his stunned posture. "Kao, move it!"
That seemed to help him get a move on. With Bryon's help, the two moved Reginald as far away from Kai as possible. I was going to need him for something later, but for now, I had a mate to help. I looked to Rowan next. "Rowan, think you can hold Kai down, so he doesn't hurt anyone else?"
Rowan nodded silently before shutting his eyes. The Wolf Moon's marking appeared on his forehead, glowing brilliantly as his body convulsed before shifting into his Lycan form. His clothes exploded when his height and build grew by two feet. His appendages were a perfect blend of human and wolf. His body hair grew drastically until he was cover in dark fur. His tail sprouted from his tail bone, and his face stretched out taking on the appearance of his wolf. Normally a shifter would drop to all fours, but in Rowan's Lycan form, he stood only on his hind legs. Even standing there, Rowan had an intimidating presence to him. I'd seen his Lycan form in action when he rescued us from a pack of rogues, and again when Pierce's pack attacked us. Now I was having him stop my mate.
Rowan sprinted to action just as Kai jumped onto Joaquin. Before he could do much damage, Rowan tackled Kai off Joaquin. My troubled mate hit the ground hard but managed to sprint back quickly. Now he was facing Rowan's Lycan form. Rowan blocked Kai's charge with his arm. Kai's teeth sank down, but from the looks of it, his sharp canines didn't break the skin. Grabbing Kai by his waist, Rowan slammed him to the ground with a loud thud before body slamming him in place. I winced, hoping he didn't break Kai. It was hard to tell if he was okay or not. Kai's wolf head was the only part of his body that was moving, but he was still acting like a rabid animal. At least he couldn't hurt anybody in that position.
