I look at Jax, when his eyes widen, and a spark of recognition lights up his eyes.
“It can’t be…” he whispers.
You could hear a pin drop, right before the room erupts into chaos and loaded questions.
“How…”
“When did you…”
“Where have you…”
“How did we not?”
“The bracelet.” Rion is the first to realise why the bracelet had that spike of energy.
“A concealment spell.” I nod confirming his theory.
Axel frowns still looking pissed off, but also confused.
“What the fuck are you all talking about?” He was always the most stubborn of the group. Well, after me that is, so off course he wouldn’t see what’s right in front of him.
“It’s Kiarra….” Luka murmurs, a sadness in his eyes that never leaves me. I swallow the lump in my throat, avoiding his gaze.
Axels eyes bounce from Luka’s to mine. He looks at me, really looks at me.
“Well?”
His eyes widen, shaking his head as he stumbles back.
“No fucking way.” His voice is a whisper before he explodes, a crazed look in his eyes. Whipping his head to Kai, he points an accusing finger toward me.
“It can’t be her.”
“It’s her.” Kai’s tone is soft but sure, his eyes never leaving my face.
“Wait, that means—” Jax starts but Rion finishes for him, always three steps ahead.
“She’s our mate.” Rion’s stare is full of conflicted heat. He clenches his hands, his whole-body tense as if stopping himself from taking a step closer to me.
Luka leans back against the chair, his sad smile now a permanent fixture. “Always knew it.”
Jax looks beyond betrayed, the hurt on his face, a palpable entity. “What are you doing here?”
I didn’t have a choice.
The words were at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t set them free. What good would it do to tell them?
How could I tell them when their reaction to my so-called betrayal was this painful?
How would they feel if they knew the truth?
It was better that I was the villain in this story. I could, at least, spare them any more of the pain and hurt I left.
“Well?” Jax pushes. All the pain and hurt turning to rage.
“I live here.”
“Wait! So, all this time, you’ve been here, only fucking twelve miles away from us and you just what?! Couldn’t be bothered to even tell us?!” His voice is hard and hollow.
I stay silent, not knowing where to start or what to say that could help. Knowing deep down there was nothing.
Jax takes my silence as an admission of guilt. He swiftly turns, kicking a chair over and starts smashing all the furniture in the room, his shifter abilities tearing through the wood and metal like it’s nothing.
Jax’s frustration builds, making the atmosphere in the room swiftly turn to anger.
My chest tightens, burning like a sharp blade to the throat.
How could I tell them that I literally could not leave the city, or the damn building, even if I wanted to? Unless King gave his permission, the spell he used to keep us chipped, tracked our every movement. One wrong move and it was your end and no skin off King’s neck.
I hated that they thought I would ever betray them, but without being able to tell them the truth, it was what they would believe.
The weight of guilt set heavy on my shoulders making me slump.
“I’m—”
“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry! It means nothing! ” Jax’s outrage is as striking as his glowing turquoise eyes. His shadow wolf on the verge of taking over.
Kai steps in front of him, blocking his hard glare from me.
“Get it under control. Now!”
Luka walks over to Jax and pulls him to the corner of the room, his harsh whispers hitting him hard with whatever he’s telling him. After a moment, his wolf retreats leaving a hurt Jax behind.
Seeing Jax calm down, Kai narrows his gaze on me.
“Why did King send you as part of the alliance? What are you to him?” Kai’s body is stiff. His hands and jaw clenched.
The others tense awaiting my answer.
It takes me a minute to figure out where Kai was going with this. But surely not?
They couldn’t think I was… involved, in any way with that monster. I feel the bile rise up my throat at the thought.
How any of them could think that was beyond me. But I guess they never really saw the true side to King.
King keeps a pleasant facade outside his city walls. No one knows or sees the true monster that he hides inside.
“He’s my stepfather.” The words are like acid on my tongue. To associate with that monster in any way makes me sick to my stomach. But I was still stuck here for now, my role of the pliable stepdaughter still needs to be played.
The tension in the room eases slightly, though the anger is still ever present.
“So, you left because of money and titles?!” Axel seethes, filling in where Jax left off.
The blood in my veins boil, as I hold my tongue at his accusation.
Money never meant anything to me.
Having them think so little of me shows how far we have drifted apart these past few years.
“Good to know we never really meant anything to you.” Jax kicks the shattered table once more before giving me his back.
I never meant for them to think that. The guilt settles on me like a second skin.
“I didn’t—
“It doesn’t matter. None of it does.” Kai’s hard voice slices through the room, silencing us.
“Like hell it doesn’t!” Jax roars, his anger now turned on Kai.
“She fucking left us!” Jax’s eyes are wide as they circle the extravagant, yet broken, room.
“For this!” The disgust in his tone drips out of his mouth like tar.
Luka looks around the room, the lush red carpets, once expensive table and chairs, and comes to the same conclusion as the others.
“Looks like you and your mother did well for yourselves,” Luka says softly. The hurt in his eyes making my own burn, as I swallow hard.
“Lu—
“Furthermore, where is mother dearest?” Axel raises an indignant brow.
“Off spending more of stepdaddy’s money?” he taunts like the fucking prick he is right now.
If he only knew.
“She’s dead,” I whisper, but I might as well have shouted it, as silence cuts through the room like a whip.
Luka takes a step forward but stops himself.
“How?” He clears his throat looking down.
“When?”
I shake my head, not able to open that can of worms. The scars still too much to rip open.
Kai frowns, exhaling heavily. “I think we—
“We can’t trust her.” Axel sneers cutting Kai off.
“Agreed.” Jax walks away from the wreckage he caused to stand beside him. Their hate for me, forming a common alliance.
Kai cuts them both a hard look, about to rip through them, when Luka speaks up.
His eyes narrow on me, contemplatively. “She’s our mate…”
Not this again. I lean back on the chair behind me. It was going to be a long day if they kept this up.
“It means nothing. Another thing the cosmic universe fucked up when it came to us.” Axel shakes his head at Luka. But the truth to his words hit hard, feeling like a physical blow to the gut.
“No, I mean the bond itself, it might help us get out of here without…” Luka avoids my eyes pausing to clear his throat. “Buy us some time to get us out of here without breaking the agreement.”
My gaze zeros in on Luka and his crazy idea. “What—
Kai turns to him giving him his full attention, ignoring me. “I’m listening.”
“What if we start the bonding process?”
Oh, hell no!
“No fucking way!” Axel explodes voicing my opinion on the matter. There was no chance in hell I was starting any type of bonding with them. The thought of them being tied to someone like me, made the air around me feel thick and hard to breathe.
I could barely protect Alana from King; I couldn’t keep them safe too.
Luka raises a hand. “Hear me out!”
“I’m not bonding myself to that sell-out!” Axel shouts earning a nod from Jax. Kai gives Axel a hard look, quieting any further of his impulsive responses.
“Please continue, Luka.”
Luka looks to the others. “You all know the first stage doesn’t really form any physical attachment anyway.”
They nod their heads, agreeing with him, while I stare on in disbelief. Were they forgetting the emotional attachment that could be formed, should the process begin?
Then it’s just a quick jump to a soul bond. A few recited words, and that was it. It would be permanent, and they would be trapped.
“Along with a quick marking and it should look like we consummated the rules of the agreement.” He shrugs as if it is nothing, a simple everyday occurrence.
“A simple kiss should do it.”
They were all fucking crazy if they thought I was starting any type of bonding with them.
The guys grow quiet, passing me slight glances as they speak amongst themselves.
Rion and Kai turn contemplative, their gazes switching from each other to me. Axel and Jax seethe, firmly against the idea, but keep their mouths shut.
They couldn’t actually be thinking about going through with this.
Kai’s eyes narrow on me, a smirk tilting his lips, his decision made.
“Look, it’s our only option if we want to get out of here. Unless you want to go with King’s original idea and take her here and now?”
“Not happening.” Luka’s voice turns vicious as it slashes out at Kai’s words. Kai’s smirk grows getting the reaction he wanted.
“Then this is the only way.” Kai looks at me questioningly.
“No way! You’re all fucking crazy.” I shake my head taking a step back, the chair stopping me from going any further, but it might widen the space between us and hopefully their crazy ass idea.
Kai raises a brow at my dismissal, thinking he could change my mind like so many times before. But we weren’t kids anymore, and a bonding was a lot more permanent than a silly dare.
“It’s not fucking happening, Kai. I’m not forming a bond with any of you,” I scoff.
“I’m still not certain I’m your mate to begin with. You all could be mistaking the bond we formed as kids, nothing more.”
“You are most definitely our mate. That I am sure of.” His eyes turn soft for only a moment before turning hard again.
“You know it too… You can feel it.”
I say nothing, looking away. I could admit that there was some truth to what Kai was saying. I’d felt something the moment I walked into the room. Not only their powerful presence but also a feeling of being safe, of finally feeling the warmth only family can bring. “We need to do this. We can figure everything else out after we get out of here.”
“I want nothing to do with her. I sure as hell don’t want to touch her,” Axel grits out making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Dick.
“Then close your eyes and pretend she’s someone else. It’s the only way we can keep everyone happy while we sort the other stuff out,” Kai tells him.
Double dicks. And what other stuff?
Axel begrudgingly keeps his mouth shut.
What the hell did they want me to say? Yes?!
I shake my head to myself. They’re crazy. All out of their fucking minds. We couldn’t start a bond! I wasn’t the Kiarra they once knew. My soul was tainted now, too dark and twisted from King’s constant torment.
What happened if we bonded, and my darkness touched them too? What if King found out about them?
I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to them. It was bad enough, Alana already had to pay for my existence.
‘What. Is. That?’
Luka’s voice turns alarmed shaking me from my panicked thoughts. We all turn to look at him and what he’s pointing at.
Purple smoke wafts into the room from the vents above us. It slithers down the main wall making its way closer to us.
What was King up to now?
“What the fuck?” Jax tries kicking it like it’s a physical object, shaking his leg when it touches him.
“Don’t touch it. We don’t know what it can do.” Luka looks at him with disbelief.
“Too fucking late for that,” Jax murmurs.
“We can break down the walls and get out of here.”
I roll my eyes. We were surrounded by three feet of solid rock. Besides that, the wards would keep us in until King declared otherwise.
It starts to descend from every vent above us, surrounding us from every angle in the tightly sealed room. We end up in the middle of the room as the smoke heads for us.
Luka frowns, his eyes glowing as his shadow wolf comes to the front. “I’m not picking up anything… malicious from it.”
“Then what the fuck is it?” Axel turns an accusing look at me.
“How would I know?”
“Dearest Daddy obviously set this up. You have to know what that shit is!”
“Obviously not or I wouldn’t be trying to get the hell away from it.”
“We all know you’re a good actress, maybe you’re faking it.”
“Fuck you!”
“ENOUGH!” Kai’s commanding voice booms over us.
“We need to get out of here and fighting amongst ourselves isn’t going to help.”
“She’s not one of us.”
Axels words shock me silent. But he’s right. I’m not one of them anymore and the sooner I realise that the better.
“I said enough!” Kai’s roar holds no room for question.
“I don’t know about you guys, but this purple shit is getting close and I for one don’t want to know what its plan is,” Jax says, the alarm in his voice putting us all on edge.
Knowing King it could be anything.
The purple smoke slithers down the walls drawing closer.
Kai looks at me. “Unless you have a better plan, we need to go with Luka’s.”
I hesitate for a second.
That’s all it takes for the smoke to touch us.
