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Kao rumbled, taking a step closer to his brother. "Kao, wait," I said, stretching out a hand to him. Kao listened, but it took a lot of will power to go against his feelings, I could tell.
Kai brought his hands up at his sides while walking back into the cover of trees. "You want me back so bad, you'll have to come and get me, Queen of Wolves. Come find me, if you dare." With a laugh, he stepped into the shadows.
"Whatever we do, we need to do it now. Those flames won't hold forever," Byron warned.
Cursing under my breath, I quickly thought of a plan. "Rowan, Joaquin, Byron, and Roxanne, keep the other wolves busy. Kao and I will go after Kai."
"You sure it's a good idea? It seems like Kai's leading you to a trap," Byron said.
"We don't have a choice. We have to get Kai back or stop him before he does any harm." Bile rose in my throat thinking of having to put down Kai if there was no way to save him. No, I couldn't think like that, not now. Shifting back, I motioned for Kao to follow me into the trees. Kao jumped up into one of the high branches, while I ran through the dirt and grass. It was hard to tell where Kai was until he started laughing, his voice echoing further ahead. I ran after the sound, but no matter how close it seemed, Kai was still nowhere to be found. It grew creepier when Kai started singingRing Around the Rosie, but it sounded like it was coming from all directions. Like Kai suddenly multiplied and was now surrounding us.
I shifted back as his voice continued singing and laughing. It was making me crazy, and Kao didn't look any better. "Enough of this, Kai! Just come out and face us, so we can figure out how to help you!"
I thought he wasn't going to respond but when he started getting to the ashes, ashes, we all fall down part, Kai fell from the sky and tackled Kao to the ground. Taking action, I leapt for Kai to grab him. His now glowing red eyes glinted at me as he jumped back to avoid my grip, then vanished back into the shadows. His laughter once again echoed.
"You'll have to be quicker than that, Rosie." Kai sounded amused, which had my skin crawling. "But I'd be careful if I were you. After all, you wouldn't want to hurt me, your precious little mate, do you, Queen of Wolves?"
"What did Mordred do to you, Kai?" I demanded, shouting it to the sky since I couldn't tell where he was while looking this way and that.
"He freed me, that's what he did. Master Mordred knew my human side was too weak, so he used the New Moon's power to let me take full control."
I didn't know what he meant at first when he said Mordred knew his human side was weak, but then a theory came to me as I pieced two and two together. "You're Kai's Berserker Wolf," I declared.
"Give the girl a medal," Kai said. "Yes, I'm his Berserker Wolf, a better, stronger version of this weak specimen of a shifter."
Kao snarled, losing his patience and needing his brother back. He jumped up one of the high branches of a nearby tree, but something appeared before a puff of smoke overhead, knocking Kao off the branch before vanishing again with a jump. Kao landed hard on the ground. Kai then appeared from behind a tree in front of me, like he'd been there the whole time.
"I don't believe you're just his Berserker Wolf wanting freedom. You're still under the curse's influence," I said calmly.
"Maybe you're right," Kai admitted. "But what are you going to do about it, huh? Do you think your Wolf Moon abilities are strong enough yet?"
He brought up an interesting point. I could try to stall him and wait for the Wolf Moon to arrive, but it was still early in the afternoon. The sun wouldn't go down for another two hours. I don't think Kai was going to wait that long to kill us.
"I'm not going to do anything. Kai, my Kai, will stop you." I paused then tried to reach for my mate through our mate bond. "Kai, baby, if you're in there, you have to fight it! You're stronger than this, and you know it."
Kai's irritation grew. "I already told you there's no point in doing that. The curse can't be broken that easily."
Instead of responding, I kept trying. "Kai, remember what we told you. If control is your biggest weakness, then find the strength to control it. Don't let your wolf be the monster you don't want to be!"
"That's enough!" Kai launched for me, but Kao maneuvered around and intercepted his brother. Knocked to the side, Kai vanished again into the shadows, reappearing behind Kao in his wolf form and jumped on him. With an animalistic grunt, Kao reached behind him grabbing Kai by the tail and tried jerked Kai off him, sending him crashing into the ground. Kao jumped up from the ground and made to slam his fist into Kai, but his twin hid back into the shadows, leaving Kao to punch the ground, forcing it to quake underneath him.
I dropped to one knee, resting a hand on the cold grass as I closed my eyes. I drew out the Wolf Moon's gift, letting its energy vibrate around me, looking for where my mate vanished. I picked up the trail of his gift far off from my right.
"There!" I pointed in the direction and Kao ran for it. His fist punching through a tree forcing the whole thing to come down crashing. Dust and debris flew in a puff. Instead of hiding, Kai's wolf jumped over the fallen tree, tackling Kao in the chest and had him falling on his back. Kai ran past his mate, coming for me next. I jumped and rolled to my left to avoid Kai knocking me down next. Shifting, I braced myself for when his Berserker Wolf tried again. I tried pushing back, but his physical strength was greater than I thought. The impact had us both rolling. Kai's teeth grabbed the scruff on my neck and threw me into a tree. I hit it with a crack, my back felt like it was on fire. I tried moving away but Kai's wolf wasn't letting up as he struck my side and had me skidding back.
He would've come for me again, but Kao wrapped a massive claw around Kai's waist and tossed him back like a rag doll. Before Kai could crash into something, the shadows wrapped themselves around his form and made him vanish again.
I shifted back, my body stiff but it was slowly starting to heal. "The New Moon," I said with a strain to my voice. "Whatever it is, it seems to give Kai the ability to travel through the shadows."
"Very perceptive of you." Kai's voice came from behind me. He was back in his human form, fully clothed like he wasn't fighting the whole time.
Kao was ready to pounce again, but I pressed a hand to stop him. "No, Kao. Wait."
Kao looked down at me like he wanted to argue, but my hard stare back told him not to argue with me. Begrudgingly, he relaxed his hands.
Kai's eyebrow quirked in confusion. "What gives? Are you surrendering already?"
"Not at all, but I won't fight you." I stood tall challenging his resolve. "I know the man I love is still in there, and though he may not be confident enough, I believe he can break through Mordred's control over you."
