AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sky, baby you have to bring it back.” I wait for a response, but I don’t get one, I know shit is bad when a slow smile begins to grace her beautiful face. “Skylar, you fucking stop this now! Come back to me Sky, don’t fucking go out like this.” I’m pleading with her now, the mist begins to circle us again and I worry this time it will be aimed at me, I can hear the erratic beat of her heart and know she doesn’t have long before the magic consumes her. Out of ideas I decide to go with the only one I have; I smash my lips against hers.
This isn’t a kiss of passion or love, this is kiss of panic and distraction, I’m hoping by doing this, she siphons enough from me and use my strength to fight off this evil inside herself. She opens for me and when her tongue invades my mouth a small groan escapes me, a small voice in my head is telling me how wrong this is. I hate that I’m agreeing with the voice, kissing Sky before, I never felt bad or guilty, even when she got with Callie, but as I stand here and kiss her, all I can picture in my mind’s eye is Belle. I don’t break the kiss as I open my eyes and look around us, the wind is starting to ease and the tension in her body is lessening, I band my arms around her and hold her close. It feels like hours but is only mere minutes when the wind stops and the power she pushed out stops pulsing out of her. Her magic pushes the bullet from my shoulder, I tense from pain but know that my shifter healing will kick in. I break the kiss and peer down at her, her eyes are closed, I bite my lip hoping and praying that when she opens them, they are back to her normal muddy brown color.
“Skylar, come back to me.” I whisper as I lean my forehead against hers, she blinks her eyes a couple of times and sways slightly on her feet before meeting my gaze. I sigh in relief when I see her eyes are back to normal, I smile sadly. I know this one took more out of her than either of us comprehended. A muffled sob has me pulling away and shoving Sky behind me, my mouth drops open in shock and my eyes widen. Belle stands there with her hand covering her mouth and a devastated look in her eyes, Sky moves hesitantly out from behind me and stands by my side. It takes me a second to realize why she looks so betrayed; she saw me kissing Sky!
“This isn’t what it looks like.” Belle scoffs dropping her hand to her side as she glares at Sky.
“Spare me your bullshit.” Belle turns and runs back toward the house; I stand there stunned and confused as to what the hell I should do.
“Go to her Ro. Explain everything before she conjures up more shit in her head, she’s your mate and you need her.” I don’t reply, I take off after Belle, my long legs eating up the space between us, she is only a few feet in front of me when I break through the trees. She bolts toward the cabin, and I know as soon as she is inside, I’m going to have to fight her brothers in order to get to her, I quicken my pace and tackle her to the ground, she lets out a scream of surprise, I flip her over and rest my legs either side of her waist, I’m not quick enough to stop her when she smacks me across the face. I grip each of her wrists and pin them above her head on the grass, I lean down so our noses touch and growl. Her shock quickly wears off and is replaced with sheer rage.
“The next time you slap me beauty, I’ll chain your ass to my bed.”
“Oh please, you don’t have the balls.” I smirk at her futile rebuke, I can hear how breathy her voice is, the idea turns her on.
“Baby, you and I both know I have the balls and the stamina to back my shit up.”
“How about youback your shit upthe hell off me!” I glare at her.
“You need to listen and let me explain.”
“Explain what? You fuck me and then hook up with the chick you are in love with only hours after declaring I’m your mate? Oh, pray tell Mr. Cruz, did I get anything wrong?”
“Yeah, you did actually.”
“Bullshit, I saw you kiss Sky!” She screams at me, but I snap my head up when I hear a gasp and curse under my breath. The cavalry has arrived and of course they heard what Belle just said, the looks they shoot me promise pain.
Chapter twenty-one
Belle
Ifightagainsthishold but his grip on my wrists tightens, I feel the others nearing us and with each step they take the more and more Cairo grows tense. I’m behaving irrationally right now but see it from my point of view for a second. I have dreamt about this man for months, for well knowing who I am to him, and I guess I came to have feelings for the…idea of him. Seeing Cairo for the first time took my breath away, I didn’t expect him to look so…perfect. I know he has a lot of issues from his childhood, I hoped I might have been able to help him work through it, but things went south real fast between us. When I realized he could touch me, all thoughts of helping him flew out the window, everything I had planned went to shit. I thought if we came and helped him win this battle and saved Sky, he would take me as his mate, and I don’t know…live happily ever after? I never expected or even saw that he was in love with Sky until it was too late!
“You better hope to God that she is lying Cairo, if I find out that you put your scummy ass lips on my mate, I will fucking tear you to shreds!” The anger that coats each of Callie words has Cairo flinching, but it’s the hurt I also hear that has me feeling like shit. I shouldn’t have blurted that out, I knew they would come running when they heard my scream, but I was so consumed with anger, I just didn’t…think. Cairo turns his gaze back to me and I can see the threat in his eyes.
“IfI let you up, you gonna keep your hands to yourself?”
“You gonna keep your lips to yourself?” I deadpan. He doesn’t respond as he releases his grip on me and stands, I dislike the submissive position I’m in, but I refuse to show him that. He shocks me when he extends his hand, I stare at it for a beat before accept and allow him to help me to my feet. I dust myself off and fix my shirt before facing the others, Creed, Jess, Cole, Callie, Zeke, Cass, Blake and Hunter all stand their wearing varying looks of confusion, anger and hurt. I feel Cairo shift, till he is standing beside me, Cass glares at our close proximity but I shake my head subtly urging him to remain silent. Callie steps forward and darts her gaze between me and him, then behind us, it’s then that a sinking feeling settles in the pit of my gut.
“What the hell did you––.” I cut Callie off as I turn and run back toward the woods where I spotted Sky and Cairo.
“Belle!” I ignore Hunter and push on, seconds later I feel his presence at my back with Cass and Blake.
“Where are you going?” I’m panting and don’t have the lung capacity to talk and run, so I ignore Cairo and keep going. I skid to a stop when I notice all the men that littered the ground are gone, but so is Sky. My brothers spread out around the area and stare in awe at the carnage that Sky caused, I never got the opportunity to see Sky at her peak, but my god, what I did see, took my breath away. No vision could have prepared me for that.
“Sky?” I cringe at the worry in Callie’s voice. “Skylar, get out here now, this isn’t funny.” I drop my gaze to the ground; the others join my brothers and begin to scan the area for Sky, but they won’t find her. “Sky?” The watery tone in her voice is like a knife to my heart, I turn around to tell her but come face to face with Cairo, he’s a couple of steps away but his gaze spares me. He has an inkling that I know where she is but he’s too scared to hear the truth, I take a step toward him, but he takes one back shaking his head.
“Just tell me beauty, what did you see?”
“I didn’t see anything per se, this is new to me but it’s a feeling of sorts.”
“What does that mean?” I turn and see Jess standing near us with a look of concern. I meet Cairo’s gaze as I answer his sister.
“It means that I’ve been getting thesefeelingsin the pit of my gut and not a vision. Sky isn’t here, whoever those men were had someone else with them.” I close my eyes and try to focus, I have only managed to do this a few times with my dad and brothers. I take some deep breaths and open my mind, concentrating on blocking out all the noise around me, I don’t tense when I feel my brothers surround me. If need be, they will pull me out of it, entering someone else’s mind isn’t easy, and it’s risky for me. The pain that follows is very intense, one hundred times worse than a vision.
“You have five minutes and then I’m ending it Belle, you don’t owe this fucker shit.” I nod with my eyes closed, Blake is overprotective, and I love him for that.
“What is she doing?” My brothers growl.
