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"No," I whispered. "Fall back, now!"
"Too late," Mordred muttered as the smoke spread, covering the betas as they ran through it. Some of them managed to stop before they were consumed, but the first five weren't so lucky.
"What is it, what's happening?" Byron asked in alarm.
I didn't have to answer, because it was about to be revealed to us. The smoke began to clear, leaving the five betas that were caught in it standing still. When they turned to look at us, their eyes were glowing red. They were under his control now. It was the New Moon's Curse.
"You're going to have to do a lot better if you hope to beat me, Queen of Wolves," Mordred declared.
This was bad. Not only was Kai in his clutches, but now he stole five of our betas. Nothing was going right for us, and I didn't know what we could do to change it.
I tightened my hold on Byron as I glared down at the man. "You won't get away with this."
Mordred shook his head. "Oh, but I already am. I believe Pierce was foolish enough to give you a fair warning of what's to come. I hope you'll be ready for it, my dear. One way or another, you and your pack will pay for defying the laws of Fate."
"You and Fate can kiss my ass."
Mordred's eyes crinkled with amusement. At least I thought it was amusement. It was hard to tell with half of his face covered by his jacket. "We'll see what's stronger soon enough. Your fate, or your free will. Until then, I'll be taking these as my parting gift."
As if sending a silent command, the five betas he stole from us went to him, standing at both sides of him. My eyes widened when I saw them all sinking into the shadows beneath their feet. I watched in agony as Kai was slipping through our fingers, taken by a mad man who was going to do who knew what to him. Kao, in his last-ditch effort, took off running to try to get to his brother before it was too late. He leapt forward, his hand extended to grab him. It seemed as if he would make it, but to our utter heartbreak, Kao was a split second too slow. Mordred was gone. So were the betas, and so was Kai.
"No," Kao's voice shook as he hands rubbed the ground like he could find a way to down as well to rescue him. "No, no, no, this can't be happening!"
When Mordred vanished, so did the threads of shadows that bound Joaquin and Rowan. We all stood there in stunned silence feeling the pang of loss at seeing a few of our own taken. We failed. Now Mordred's army grew by five members, and one of my mates was gone... again.
"He's really gone," Kao's voice cracked before he choked on a sob. "I failed to protect him again. I failed him again."
In a brief moment of anger, Kao shouted as he brought his fists up and slammed them down on the ground. His newly enhanced strength caused the concrete to crack on impact. My eyes squeezed shut, tears running down my cheeks as I listened to my mate screaming for his twin brother and sobbed at his loss.
20
KAO
I was a zombie for the next week and a half. That was the best way to describe it. A lifeless zombie that couldn't eat, drink, or sleep. All I could do was curl up in Kai's bed and cry into his pillows. I didn't even care that I reached my Lycan form so soon. I welcomed it when I thought it would help me to save Kai, but even with a third shift, it still wasn't enough. We looked like weak fools facing someone that strong, and now Mordred had my brother.
Rosie and the others tried getting me to come out of the room, but I ignored all of them. I didn't want to see any of them. I didn't want anybody's sympathy, nor did I want to see Rosie right now. The only thing I wanted was my brother back. While everyone else was sleeping, I spent every night dashing out of town in my wolf form, going as far as I could in hopes of finding any trace of Kai. Maybe our twin connection or our mental bond could leave me to him? After ten days, I deducted that they wouldn't. There was no way for me to find him.
I was pretty sure Rosie and the gang relayed what happened with Mordred to the others and were figuring out what our next plan of action should be. I knew I should've been out there with them, devising a plan of action for when Mordred and Pierce would strike next, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not when I failed my brother again. By the eleventh day, I was sure I was permanently planted on Kai's bed, unable to move for a second. The lack of food had me and my wolf feeling weak. I probably lost weight because of it. Now Kai's bed smelled more like me than him, which made it seem as if there was nothing left to remind me of him, other than to look in the fucking mirror. Unfortunately, that wouldn't work because after seeing my reflection in the bathroom mirror on the second day, all I could see was Kai looking back at me. The pain-staking reminder of my failure to keep him safe had me punching the mirror. Yeah, I wasn't handling it well.
A knock sounded at the door, followed by Rosie's meek voice calling out to me. "Kao? Kao, can you hear me? Honey, please open the door. We're all very worried about you."
My only reaction was not to respond at all. I wasn't sure my voice worked anymore. Rosie tried to get me to let her in for another three minutes before calling it quits. I must've fallen asleep because I jolted awake from the door knocking again. I hid under the covers, praying to whoever it was to go away. They didn't. Instead, I heard the door unlocking and slowly swinging open. I squeezed my eyes shut, mentally praying to whoever it was to leave me alone. I felt the bed dip beside me, and a hand rested on the covers where my back was.
"Kao." My eyes shot open when the voice registered in my brain as belonging to Raph. "Kao, talk to me, buddy."
Raph pulled the covers off my head, so I was forced the face the evening light. My eyes slowly opened to see his somber smile. His long red hair was wrapped in a tight man bun. His deep green eyes glistening with unshed tears through those dark rimmed glasses of his. I never expected Raph and I to get along as well as we had when we first met. Del and her men were amazing, but we were from different packs. I guess we were considered family by extension since she was one of Del's mates and Del was also mated to Rosie's brother. What helped solidify our friendship was Raph's understanding of how important it was for me to look after Kai. So much so that he offered to help train me to become stronger. Having three younger brothers himself, he shared my feelings on being a protective older brother. He and Javier understood it better than anyone I knew. Raph was by my side since then, helping me adapt to working with my wolf, and honing my strength in battle.
All that training, and for what? I still lost him.
"R-Raph," I said, my voice coming out hoarse.
Raph nodded slightly with a knowing look in his eyes.
"I failed him. I-I couldn't protect him. I..." I began choking on the words as my eyes blurred with tears.
Raph didn't say anything. Instead, he helped me sit up before pulling me to him in a tight embrace. I didn't know why, but that was what broke me. My arms went around him, gripping the back of his red button-up shirt and let the sobs come out full force. I was probably wetting his shirt with my tears and saliva, but he didn't care. He held me, rubbed my back, rocked me side to side, and let me cry out my frustration. I didn't know how long I cried, how long Raph held me, but eventually my cries ended with me sniffling and whimpering.
"You're going to get him back, Kao," Raph finally said in a soft tone. "You hear me? You're going to get him back, and we're all going to help you make it happen."
