Their Desired Luna

FATED SERIES
BOOK SIX
JESSICA HALL
Copyright © 2020 by Jessica Hall
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without the express written permission from
the publisher or author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Design by Zhandre Dex G. (MC Damon)
 Contents

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Epilogue

Authors I suggest
Also by Jessica Hall
Fated Series
 Chapter

One

J onah
Two weeks later
Argh, what the fuck? What in the actual hell am I supposed to do
to get a whole fucking night’s sleep around here?
The decision to suffocate the little sod couldn’t be taken lightly, under
any circumstances. However, only this time, I am pretty sure suffocation is
the only way I can get some rest, some alone time, and an actual full night
of sleep. No fucking interruptions or whining about anything. Just sleep,
blissful, calm and wonderful sleep. Just the thought of a good night's sleep
is turning me on, which I have never experienced before. Who would have
thought I could get hard on over the thought of restful sleep?
“Sleep is the new wet dream,” Jax mutters.
A rather annoyed growl slips from my lips as I gather enough strength
to roll onto my side. I close my eyes and try to force my mind to listen to
my voice as I whisper the fucking never-ending mantra. “Breathe in,
breathe out, breathe in, breathe out,” I whisper it for another three times and
groan.
I bring my hand to my face and barely restrain from facepalming
myself. Instead, I pinch the bridge of my nose and swallow the growl that is
already forming in my chest. “Nope, I still want to fucking suffocate him,” I
mumble, completely defeated. I am so fucking annoyed that I flip off the
tent ceiling.
Why, oh why, did Kat have to make me his partner? I don’t understand,
all my life, I have thought she loved me like her family, but apparently,
there is some hidden hatred if she thought this is a good idea. God fucking
damn it, this has to be a punishment for whatever sins I have committed
against her. Nice, now even my mind is losing any freaking sense - that’s
for the lack of sleep.
I can nearly feel the frustration radiate off me as I glare at the sleep
thief. Every night, every goddamn night, he keeps stealing my dreams
away. I swear, he is doing it on purpose.
At the beginning, maybe not. Perhaps then, it happened here and there
by accident, but I believe since he knows how easily he can get under my
skin - now, he’s doing this on purpose. Bitch.
“Don’t do it,” Jax growls in warning just as I sit up and grab the pillow.
By the time I reach his bed, I am already clutching the pillow and I hold it
over Eziah’s face. My wolf’s warning sounds like nothing but a distant
memory, floating through the darkest tunnels of my mind.
Don’t do this. Don’t do that. But, mom, I really want to! I really, really
fucking want to smother the little shit!
Jax refuses to step back. He goes as far as trying to nudge to the surface,
well aware that he can take over control with ease since I’m too tired to
remember how to breathe properly, let alone stand against a full-grown
asshole. I mean wolf. Yes, my wolf.
He growls at me and pulls on my hands to pull the pillow against my
chest. I grit my teeth, refusing to let him have his way. I’m ready to kill,
destroy and sleep over the corpse of this snoring, whimpering fucker. “I am
putting him out of his misery and mine,” I bark at Jax. If my wolf won’t let
me be, by the end of this adventure, I’ll dye his fur pink and make him look
like the gayest wolf in the woods.
I know Jax has something to say, but his attention, the same as mine, is
caught by the sleeping beast himself, lurching upright in his sleeping bag.
Eziah’s breathing is hard. His whole body is drenched in sweat and he
keeps blinking his eyes as if he’s trying to click through one of those old
cameras that holds photos.
His head snaps to me and Eziah finally stops blinking like a maniac
when his eyes go extra fucking wide. I don’t know, I’m too tired to think
anymore.
“What the fuck, Jonah?” he snarls and smacks the pillow away while he
still struggles to catch his breath. Asshole. First, he takes my precious
moments of rest, and now he’s abusing my pillow. The nerve of this guy is
unreal. I’m so telling his mom!
 “What the fuck? For your information, I was about to do a goddamn
public service, cost free. If not me, who else would sacrifice their sanity to
get rid of the sleep thief?” I snarl at him, my voice low and dangerous. He
has to catch on the damn warning, because later on, there will be none. The
next time he takes my wet dreams from me, I will kill.
Eziah glares at me. I don’t care how dangerous he thinks he looks. This
is the guy who fears my little sister, so no way in hell am I going to feel any
emotion, other than amusement, whenever he glares at me.
I raise an eyebrow as he puts his head between his legs and focuses
back on the stupid attempts to catch his breath. Serves him well. Maybe
now he will understand how hard my life has become after the shit he is
pulling on me. A little loss of breath will never compare to the hours and
nights I have lost because of him.
With a groan, I flop back down on my sleeping bag, trying to fall back
to sleep. I don’t think this smartass understands how amazing my dream
had been before he stole it. Just minutes ago, I was in my dreamland,
watching the beauty of Mara bobbing her beautiful, perfect, sinfully sexy
little head. What makes the dream even better is that she was sucking on my
cock, licking it and dragging her tongue across my length like it tastes
better than her favorite lollipop.
A deep, almost painful sigh leaves my lips. It was perfect, so goddamn
euphoric, but of course, this bonehead ruined it.
I barely shut my eyes and prepare to fall into death deep sleep when my
alarm blares.
All I can do is snarl and growl like a grumpy old fuck.
“Ah fuck! This is ridiculous, Jonah! It’s already been two bloody weeks
and we have still not found her!” Eziah snarls next to me.
Wait, does this bitch think he has the right to snarl and act like he’s
tired? He is tired?!
I let another growl slip from my lips, but this time, Jax joins me, just as
annoyed with Eziah. “What is ridiculous is the fact you keep waking me up.
I was having an awesome dream, and you… You fucking ruined it all!” I
snap at Eziah as I sit up.
He rolls his eyes at me. God, this little shit! “What was so awesome
about it?” He glances at me, and ‌I wonder if he’s asking only to distract me
from the anger I feel.
 My eyes follow his movements as Eziah runs his hand through his wet
hair, clearly a little nervous. Ah, maybe he did realize I would have killed
him if it weren’t for Jax and his sudden need to wake up.
Since I can’t fight his annoying presence in any other way, I decide it's
best if I tell him the truth. A sly grin spreads across my lips as I turn my
head and look Eziah in the eyes. “It was about your sister, my dick, her
mouth-”
I’m more than ready to share some more details with him, but Eziah
stops me by smacking me in the head with his goddamn pillow. What the
fuck does he have inside it - an entire brick building? Sure as hell feels like
that. I swear, his pillow has secrets deeper than a woman’s purse.
A shiver runs down my spine at the thought, while Eziah stares at me
with a disgusted look crossing his face. “What did I say about talking shit
about my sister?” he growls at me.
I grin even wider and shrug. “Well, you asked. What was that saying…
hmm… Oh, right - ask and you shall receive. All I did was answer your
question. No need to act like a needy bitch in heat.” I wink at him.
I get the lack of sleep and he gets some delightful moments to discuss
the dreams I’m having about his wonderful sister. Not my problem if he
can’t stomach the truth.
Eziah replies to my sarcasm with a growl. I almost expect something
more, but when a miserable groan leaves his lips, I know I won the battle.
Don’t worry, buddy, I will win the war too.
He shakes his head. “I give up, Jonah. It’s been too long already. I say
we call it. Time of death, whatever your phone says.” Eziah waves his hand.
“She is not dead!” I snap back at him.
Eziah just shrugs, and I kind of understand his frustration. I mean, he
can’t understand mine, because the motherfucker has gotten a decent
amount of sleep after all. But honestly, it seems like we are wasting our
time here. It’s been damn weeks since we entered the forest for the search
and yet, there is still no sign of her. Not even a footprint or a piece of
clothing - nothing.
I bring my hand to my chin and tap it with one finger, just to look like
I’m deep in thought. While I do, Eziah looks at me like I hold the answers
to any question that might pop into his mind.
An idea pops into mine, and I grin. “Well, if you would get these
supposed gifts working, instead of fingering your asshole, we would have
found her by now.” I shoot him another wink.
“Dude,” Eziah growls and sucks in a deep breath. He holds it for a
moment, as if he needs to gather some goddamn patience. Why don’t you
go outside and gather some mushrooms instead, smarty pants? I’m about to
reply with something extra saucy when he takes my moment to shine and
speaks. “I already told you I got nothing. And the lack of sleep is taking its
toll,” he growls.
This. Little. Shit. The audacity!
I roll my eyes. “Don't whine to me about lack of sleep unless you want
to tell me why you wake up at all hours of the night, screaming like a damn
banshee. Eziah, you do it at all bloody hours, throughout the goddamn
night, for fuck’s sake. If you won’t tell me, I don't want to hear about your
lack of sleep!” I snap at him.
I stand up, more than ready to get out of the tent and leave little miss
‘scream my head’ off behind.
“Nevermind,” Eziah finally mutters. I look at him over my shoulder and
he’s already tugging on a shirt. I frown as I try to read his facial expression.
For once, I almost break out in laughter as Eziah clutches his shirt and
brings it to his nose to take a good whiff of it. As soon as the stench hits his
nostrils, he pulls a face.
His eyes narrow as he glares at me. “I thought you did the washing the
other day.”
I chuckle. Fuck, this is significantly better than any revenge I could
think of. Unintentional game with lady karma over here. I nod my
head.”Yeah, my washing. Do I look like your laundry lady?”
Eziah’s frown deepens. Clearly, he isn’t happy with me. Honestly, the
frustration he has brought over my existence is even fucking worse. The
somewhat amused mood fades, and once again, is replaced by pure
annoyance. “Do it yourself,” I snap at him and move to undo the tent zip.
Once it’s open, I step out. Barely, but I hear Eziah. “Prick,” he mutters.
“Asshole!” I call back.
I force my hands into the pockets of my pants and stride off towards
Casen. He’s already awake, making some coffee over the fire. Good, at least
there is one decent person in this hell.
“Bro, have you ever slept? Do you have any idea how sleep works,
aside from the concept that is described in the books?” I ask him, a little
worried about his sanity.
 He doesn't answer, just stares back at the fire. “I know she is close; I can
feel her,” Casen whispers. I feel like he’s talking to fire, like he is trying to
find answers in that flame, and not holding a conversation with me.
I shake my head, unsure of what to say anymore. All I can do is repeat
the same thing I’ve been saying for the entire time of our search. “We will
find her,” I tell him as I sit on the log around the camp. I fucking hope we
find her soon. Mom is struggling with her absence. We all are. As much as
my brat sister pisses me off, she is another constant playing on my damn
mind and I would do anything for her.
Eziah stumbles out of the tent. He is trying to pull on his camo shorts
and falls flat on his face in the dirt. Casen nudges me and nods toward him,
and I chuckle.
“You right, princess?” I ask him. I blow a kissy-face at him. Eziah flips
me off before he gets back to his feet and yanks his pants up.
Another point for Jonah. Eziah, yeah, still zero. Ha, take this.
Casen nudges my side again, pulling my attention from the little miss
perfect. As I return my gaze to him, he has already set out the map. The
search teams are all over the forest, in every direction possible, yet
somehow I am stuck with Casen and Eziah.
I shake my head to get rid of the thoughts that slowly consume me. I
look over the map at all the highlighted sections. We have been radioing in
all coordinates from each camp in our pursuit of her.
At first, I thought this search would be a piece of cake, given how
openly we communicate and ensure every area is covered, but I was in for a
surprise. This forest is the size of an entire state, and in two weeks, we
hadn't even made a dent.
“I want to search this area.” Casen announces, pointing to the map. I
frown at him. He is trying to move us back somewhere where we already
were. We searched that exact area yesterday and found nothing.
“We did yesterday.” I remind him, just to ensure he isn’t losing his
goddamn mind.
Casen shakes his head and sighs. “I fucking know, but my wolf wants
me to go back there, so that is where we are going first,” he snaps at me.
Eziah appears by my side and joins me in watching Casen’s outburst.
It’s so out of character for him. His shoulders slump and he sucks in a deep,
shaky breath.
 I exchange a glance with Eziah. I slap Casen’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,
dude. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Casen glances at me. The poor guy looks broken, absolutely fucking
devastated, and I fear to even think of how he feels in this situation. I know
he’s apologetic about the outburst, but the last thing I need is for him to
actually say the words out loud. I squeeze his shoulder a little. “All good,
bro. We have been stuck together for weeks; it's fine.”
Eziah nods his head in agreement. For once, he understands he has to
stand behind me and support the shit I say. It doesn’t matter what Eziah or I
might say, Casen is the one we need to worry about now. Just like we worry
about Rose.
“I know she was upset, but she didn't have to run,” Casen whispers as
he hides his face behind his palms. I bite my lip, thinking if I have the right
to offer any words and stop myself when I see him rub his hands down his
face. Clearly, he thinks there have been enough words already.
Both me and Jax wonder if Casen would ever elaborate on this
argument they had. Only he knows why she ran, and yet he has told us
nothing, just that they had a fight. “I'm a fucking idiot,” Casen says, shaking
his head.
Now, this looks like he might give us some inside information, so I take
my hand off his shoulder and raise an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?” I ask
him. Casen’s eyes flick to Eziah for a second, and I glance between them,
but Eziah quickly looks away.
“I can't, I just can't lose her,” he mutters as he places his head in his
hand. Yeah, that’s not much of the answer I sought, but I guess I need to cut
the guy some slack.
“You won't. We will find her,” I tell him.
Casen has already lost so much. First, he lost his family. All he had left
was Vince.
However, since Vince went missing about a year ago, Casen was left
completely alone. Vince just up and left without saying a word or leaving a
warning, and nobody has seen him ever since. Every time I asked dad if he
could send out scouts to look for Vince, dad shut me down and said the
same thing - he would come back once he was ready.
“I shouldn't have told her. Your father told me not to. But I was an idiot.
I couldn’t resist, so I did. And now, because of that, because of me, she ran
from me.” Eziah and I stare at him for a second, both acting like our lips are
glued shut.
As I turn my head and glance at Eziah, I wonder if he already had one
of his grandiose visions again. He shrugs, so I turn back to Casen, but he
gets up, chugging the rest of his coffee and dropping the mug next to the
fire.
I raise an eyebrow as he walks off, wondering what he wants me to do
next. “Let's go,” Casen says as stomps off among the trees. I chug down the
rest of my coffee and jump to my feet to follow him.

I feel like I am breathing in water. If it isn’t water, it has to be some liquid

of unknown origin, because whatever it is, it’s fucking hard to breathe,
though.
That’s exactly how steamy and hot the forest feels right now. I have no
other option but to shrug off my shirt and tie it around my head to stop the
goddamn sweat from getting in my eyes and burning away the remaining
bits of my vision.
It is already lunchtime as we still try to navigate our way through the
trees. Casen is running ahead of us while we follow him like shadows. I still
don’t want to shift yet, and neither does Eziah. First of all, if anything were
to happen, I need Jax at his best to ensure we can get out alive, and besides,
we are running low on clothes.
The thing is that usually, when we shift, we stuff our clothes in logs, but
when we return, all of them are missing from where we know we leave
them. Not only that, I am worried about Jax eating something. My stomach
has been turning all day, and the last thing I want is to throw my guts up to
bring up whatever he chews on. I swear, sometimes Jax is lacking in
survival instincts. The moron would gladly munch on Legos. Eat a brick,
build a ship in your gut.
I barely avoid the tree in my way as I glance at Eziah. He appears to be
deep in thought, completely out of reality. “Oi, are you searching or just
walking around half asleep?” I snap at him.
 “I was thinking,” Eziah retorts and shrugs his shoulders.
Yeah, as if being deep in thought is a good enough excuse for not
looking for my little sister. I roll my eyes at him. “Well, don't think too
hard. I wouldn't want you to give yourself a headache.”
Eziah growls.
“Actually, I take that back. A head like that should ache,” I chuckle. I
really need to think about the surroundings in which I talk shit because the
smartass starts pelting rocks at me.
“Chill, I was only playing. Man, you have been a real dick this entire
time,” I snarl at him as I rub the side of my arm which caught the fucking
rock. The little shit has a good aim.
“Between you and mom, always breathing down my damn neck, I
wonder why,” Eziah growls at me. Wow, isn’t this great? Now, I will have
to deal with a temper tantrum too.
“Is that why your mother put you with us?” I ask him.
“No, I asked to be placed with you and Casen,” Eziah mutters.
“You're telling me she wanted you to stay with her, but you hand-
selected us to be sleep deprived?” I ask.
Before Eziah can part his lips or even think of an answer, pain ripples
through me. I clutch my side and freeze in my step, waiting for it to pass.
“You okay?” Eziah calls out.
I wave him off. “Just a stitch from walking,” I tell him. The crunch of
twigs and leaves tells me he is making his way through the thick bush to
me.
"I'm fine,” I force the words through gritted teeth as I try to catch my
breath and see his outstretched hand reaching toward me.
“You have been getting them for hours,” Eziah says as he shakes his
head. Truth be told, he doesn’t look any better than me either. His body is
overheating the same as mine.
“It's fine,” I repeat.
I don’t think Eziah will get a chance to feel the same as me, honestly.
The aches and pains started early this morning. Kaif is still under control,
but Kyan is anxious. I can also feel that Kaif is very fucking angry, but what
worries me the most and makes me feel sick is Kyan’s distress. I’m pretty
sure the pain is somewhat connected to that.
“This is pointless,” Eziah whines as he stretches his back. I ignore his
whining, but clearly, he doesn’t think that I should. “I can't believe he still
hasn't told us what is going on and why she ran. Don't you think it is a little
odd?” he asks.
I just look at him and shrug. “That's Casen and Rose's business.”
“Yeah, but I don't get why it is a secret,” Eziah keeps pressing the issue.
“Probably the same reason you won't tell me about your nightmares.
They are a secret,” I deadpan.
“They aren't nightmares,” Eziah blurts out, and I raise an eyebrow at
him. He brushes his fingers through his hair, but I’m unsure if it’s because
he’s uneasy or uncomfortable. “They are like some out-of-body
experience,” he adds.
Alrighty then. So, I knew the guy didn’t have quite a full deck before,
but now I can see how fucking bat shit crazy he is. He must have gotten that
bit from his mother's side.
“Okay then,” I tell him.
“No, I am being serious. This is why I have told no one. No one would
believe me.” he shakes his head and mutters some words under his breath as
he kicks a rock. Damn, dude, no need to hurt the poor rock. It’s innocent.
I raise an eyebrow at him. I hate to admit this, but he managed to plant
the seed of curiousness within me. “Fine, I will give you the benefit of the
doubt here and say you aren't nuts, so explain.” I keep my eyes set on Eziah
for a moment until he starts walking again and I walk by his side.
I probably look like a right idiot as I swat at flies and insects every step
I take. This goddamn place is full of them, like there is a whole birthing
factory for the tiny buzzing fuckers somewhere near. And don't get me
started on the blood-sucking mozzies.
“I become her,” Eziah suddenly says. Wait, wait, waiiit… Did he just
say he becomes her?
 Chapter

Two

J onah
“You become a woman?” I gasp out.
All jokes aside, holy shit… Holy truck fuck shit, the dude’s
actually crazy. And I mean crazy, looney bin type of crazy, not the regular
type. Whatever that type might be.
As shocked as I am, I still struggle to keep my face neutral. Well, aside
from the shock, of course. I really don’t want to hurt his feelings. Or am I
supposed to say her feelings now?
Wait, does this mean Eziah can shift between both genders? Is this a gift
he just stumbled upon recently?
“I am being serious, Jonah,” Eziah says, and he stops in his tracks.
I glance at him and frown. The thing is that Eziah looks genuinely
bothered by whatever he claims is happening to him. He shakes his head
while I watch him.
“Forget it,” he says as he stomps past me. I stop him by grabbing his
upper arm.
There’s no way I’ll let him drop this now that I know he’s a gender-
shifter. Is that a thing? Shapeshifter is, so maybe I just discovered a new
species. Damn it, my name might go down in history for finding the Gemini
gender shifter.
I take a deep breath and focus on Eziah. “No, I can see it is bothering
you, so tell me.”
He rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in front of his chest. I know he’s
trying to close up, so I keep glaring at him until Eziah drops his arms to his
sides and looks down at his feet. “You will just laugh,” he mutters.
 “I won't, promise,” Eziah looks up at me with a raised eyebrow. But the
doubtful look disappears from his features as soon as he notices I am being
serious. He sighs and glances away. “I can feel her. Everything she feels, I
feel like I am trapped in her body. I can even see what she sees. Well, sort
of,” he whispers the last part.
Alright, for clarification, I thought I could get some information, put
two and two together, connect some missing dots or whatever bullshit.
However, I’m not a freaking detective, and although I am not stupid, I’m
not the megamind either. He needs to give me a little more information here
to work with.
“Who?” I furrow my brows.
Eziah’s shoulders slump even lower. His eyes focus on something in the
distance as desperation and pain radiate off him. Well, call me fucking
worried now.
“My mate and I can't help her.” Eziah’s voice breaks mid-sentence. The
poor guy looks like he is about a second away from breaking down and
bursting into tears.
I squint at him. I understand that some of his words have to be true.
There’s no way someone could fake the look on his face or the aura shifts,
but he still sounds a bit balls-deep mental. “But you haven’t met your mate
yet?” I blurt out before I can stop myself.
He shakes his head. “Not in person. I don't know how to explain it, but I
know she is my mate because my wolf goes berserk whenever we’re… You
know… He wants to help her. He is desperate to get her out of that place.”
Eziah pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and huffs, as if even he finds
this conversation unreal.
“What do you mean, and how long have you had these out-of-body
things for?” I ask.
If anything, what he tells me is even half true, once we find Rose, I need
to think of how to help him. Regardless of how many times he steals my
sleep or how often we argue, he still technically is my brother-in-law.
“They appeared about two years ago. The thing is that they weren’t
frequent, just some fragments here and there. Trust me, I thought I was
going crazy myself. At least at the beginning. But lately, they happen more
often. And now, they are constant every night,” he explains.
“Have you told your mother? Maybe she can help?” Kat might be able
to help him. No, she definitely would. Eziah has to seek help there, because
she is his mother first and foremost, and after that, she is the Moon
Goddess.
Eziah’s eyes snap back to mine. “No, I can’t.” He shakes his head. “You
know how the future changes. I probably shouldn’t even tell you. I know
mom will interfere and put me on medication to help me, but I can't lose the
connection to her. Besides, if I tried to ask my mother, she would tell me
nothing, except that apparently she mated me to a German Shepard!” Eziah
tells me, and I try not to snicker.
Eziah sighs. “I can’t tell her; it is my only connection to her. I need to
know she is at least alive,” he says.
“So, what happens in these dreams?”
He just stares at me, as if he is trying to find something in my eyes. He’s
possibly looking for a glint that will give out how I think he’s crazy. I mean,
I do, but he already knows that.
Those bits and pieces aside, I believe it will be better if he tells me.
Whatever happens in his dreams has to be something bad, especially if it
affects him like this.
“It’s so dark where she is, but it’s… I don’t know. Sometimes they drag
her out and hurt her, but mostly she is in the dark, scared.” Eziah looks
away again. I think he’s ashamed to show more weakness than he already
did.
For the record: no fucking shame of being weak when it comes to your
mate. The Goddess didn’t pair me with Mara, but I would cry and leek for
that woman. No shame whatsoever.
I chew on my lip and furrow my brows, more than a little confused
about his words. “So, she is being held by her pack?” I try to guess.
The bits he told me remind me of something very fucking close to the
home, and I freaking hope it’s not the same. No one deserves that. She
never did, and neither does Eziah’s mate.
Eziah groans in frustration and throws his head back to stare at the sky.
“I'm not sure. I can just see glimmers, like last night. It was the same place.
They were torturing her, waterboarding her. That's why I woke up gasping,”
he says, rubbing his face.
“You have to tell your mother, Eziah,” I insist.
He looks at me, wide-eyed, as if I’ve lost my mind, and shakes his head.
“I can't. She will make them stop. I need to know she is alright.”
 I pinch the bridge of my nose. I think his frustration is rubbing off on
me, and I really don’t like the feeling. “Your mother will help. Surely, there
can be a way to find her. Your mother is the Moon Goddess.” I can’t believe
that I have to actually say that out loud, to remind him of his mother's
status.
“And she can't interfere, you know that. If she does, it could end worse
than it already is. They could kill her,” he insists.
I understand that she can’t interfere, but what she can do is try to locate
her. Then Eziah can grab some of his friends, go there, play the hero, and
get his mate home to safety.
“Tell your mother,” I repeat the same thing, this time in a snarl, as I grip
his arm tighter. He parts his lips, I know to argue with my insistence, but I
shake him. “If they are torturing her and what you are seeing and feeling is
what she is now enduring, death would be a blessing. Tell her, at least let
her try to help. Because by doing nothing, you are torturing yourself and
her. Let the future change. Any fate would be better than the one she is
stuck in,” I tell him.
This situation really hits too close to home. Dad has told me some bits
and pieces about mom’s past and if Eziah can see, and feel, all the same
things happening to his mate, he is a fucking coward if he refuses to act.
Fuck fate, fuck changes - we are talking about his mate. If it were Mara
in her place, I would turn heaven and hell upside down, fuck the fates
sideways and get her out. No matter what it cost me.
“But what if I lose her?” he suddenly whispers.
A grin that forces its way on my face, along with the murderous spark
that dances before my vision. “Then you hunt down the bastards that
touched her.” Eziah stares at me.
“No one should be forced to live like that. If what you are seeing is real,
you need to stop it even if it ends there,” I tell him.
He glances around as if the answer to his prayers is somewhere near, but
as soon as he realizes it isn’t, Eziah sighs and nods. “Fine, I will tell her,”
he whispers and returns this gaze to mine.
If not more, at least now I know he has taken my words seriously, and
he isn’t saying this just to put my mind at ease. I offer him a weak smile and
slap my hand on his shoulder. “Good, come on then, let's find this sister of
mine. Then we can focus on finding your mate.”
His eyes widen again as he gasps out, “You want to help?”
 I shrug. “We may not see eye to eye, but we are still family. Family help
each other,” I tell him and gently squeeze his shoulder.
“You seemed pretty pissed off about me getting involved with Mara and
Kyan. Even though she is my family,” he says.
I roll my eyes and huff. “Yes, because you all treat her differently.”
“I don’t,” Eziah argues, raising a challenging eyebrow at me. There it is,
the little shit is back, goodbye insane-sane Eziah, who was actually nice to
talk to.
“You do, Eziah.” I let go of him, take a step back, and stare at him.
“None of you realized she was hurting, but then Kyan fucks up once, and
suddenly, you all want to be there for her? Did you forget that none of you
were there for her before that happened? Then, you dare to upset her more
when she voiced how she felt, and don't think I forgot what you said to her
at the house.” I lay it out for him to take in.
“That wasn't my intention. I love my sister. Kyan isn’t good for her, and
I didn’t mean what I said. I was just angry she chose his side. Kyan is bad
news, I mean it. I have seen it.” He forces the last part through gritted
teeth.
I wonder if we’re talking about the same person. The same person as in
my best friend, Kyan. Because if we are, he sure as shit hasn’t seen it yet. If
anyone, I am the one who has been there for the better and worse, and I can
tell you now everyone is wrong about this entire Marabella Kyan situation;
including Kyan.
I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Oh, really? Isn’t it funny how
you are the brother of the year and suddenly, you can see her entire
relationship with Kyan, while you couldn’t see how your own friends
treated her? Isn’t it convenient to be blind when it fits you best?”
Eziah frowns. “What are you talking about?”
I scoff. Is he seriously in this much denial? “Were you all that blind?”
“Mara never told us,” Eziah defends himself.
“We didn't know. You do not know how hard she is to read! Not even
mom can get a grasp on her or me. We have both tried, but when we tried to
look, all we got was a blank slate,” he states as if it was an excuse good
enough to write off his own mistreatment of his sister.
Sure, leave it to Eziah, the golden son of the Moon Goddess, to twist
and turn everything until all odds are in his favor. And he still fucking
wonders why he couldn’t read Mara? Fucking pathetic.
 I shake my head, still holding the same stance as previously. “She
shouldn't have had to. It was obvious. Did you know she was cutting herself
for years?”
Now, we’re getting somewhere. The question seems to have moved
something in him as Eziah looks away and refuses to meet my eyes. “I
heard. We all just thought she was depressed because of the darkness. She
kept it from all of us, just like Kyan has been hiding everything from you.
You think he is good for her, but he is the death of her?”
“Hiding what, Kaif?” I chuckle. Yeah, that beast isn’t exactly that tiny
to be easily hidden away from everyone. Just because my best friend chose
to keep his secret with the majority of people doesn’t mean he didn’t share
it at all.
Eziah’s eyes snap back to mine as he gasps, “You know he is, Lycan?”
I chuckle at the look on his face. “Of course, I know. How do you
know?”
“I saw it, the day of the Alpha challenge. That’s why I escaped mom.
He will kill her, Jonah,” Eziah takes a step closer to me, as if less distance
between us will convince me he’s right.
It might be one of his tricks he can use on his friends, or someone who
actually fears him, but it won’t work on me. Right now, he is trying to
convince me about something he imagines and I know isn’t right. Kyan and
I have been best friends for years. We grew up together, and even Kaif, that
furry fucker, has grown on me.
“He won't. Kyan is aware of what Kaif is capable of,” I state.
“So he told you he killed her? I saw it, Jonah. I saw it all. She was in his
arms. It looked like he strangled her to death-” I raise my hand to stop him
from talking.
What he is saying right now sounds suspiciously similar to what Kyan
once described to me. I believe it was one of his visions, the very reason
why he kept pushing himself away from Mara and feared Kaif might get
out.
“You had the same vision as Kyan?” I blurt out the question and
immediately mentally facepalm myself. The worst thing I could have done
is to tell someone who already hates Kyan that he saw a vision the same as
Kyan.
“What?” Eziah gasps.
“As Kyan, he had the same vision,” I tell him.
 “You knew and left her with him?” Eziah raises his voice at me, visibly
outraged.
“He is her mate, Eziah. Her mate - she already marked him. Kaif won't
hurt her. I know it's hard to believe, but I think you have the visions wrong.
I have told Kyan the same thing. They don't add up.” I shrug.
“What do you mean?” The anger fades from his features, now replaced
by confusion.
“Kyan has had two visions of how Kaif supposedly killed her. You can't
kill someone twice, so you are both missing something.” I scowl at him.
Since personally I see no point in this conversation anymore, I turn
around and trudge further through the thick brush. Eziah is talking behind
me. After a while, we finally reach the tiny clearing.
Finally, I can see Casen ahead of us, and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
Be blessed, my savior. Since he doesn’t seem to notice us, I call out to him.
“Oi, wait up-”
I freeze mid-sentence and stop in my tracks as I notice we aren’t alone
in the clearing. A group of men encircles us. As I try to take them all in,
Eziah comes up behind me, talking some crap, and my hand smacks into his
chest to stop him in his tracks.
Finally, he looks up and notices my stare as I turn around to notice that
we were too distracted and managed to walk into some sort of ambush. Men
are holding spears, aimed at Casen and now, us too.
“Woah. What the fuck?” Eziah mutters as he glances around and scans
the not-so-friendly faces that surround us. “Hey, those are my fucking
pants!” Eziah snaps as he points his finger at one man. The man
immediately points his spear toward Eziah, and the smartass puts his hands
up in surrender. “Geez, fine. You like them that much. Keep them then,” he
says.
“WE…COME…IN…PEACE…WE…” I motion to Casen, Eziah, and
I. “MEAN YOU NO HARM,” I call out a little louder.
“They speak English, you knob,” Casen snaps at me. Well, could’ve
mind-linked me and told me this shit sooner, couldn’t you, Sherlock?
“Oh, okay then. Seriously, I was about to bust out the charades or an
interpretive dance. Saves me making a fool of myself then.” I shrug and
then clap my hands and rub them together.
I peer around at all of them. All are nearly naked, but they don’t smell
like wolves. Definitely not rogues or the lone travelers. However, there is
something off about them. So much so that it feels nearly disturbing to
stand here, surrounded by them.
“Well, in that case… Have you seen a girl, nose piercings, heavy eye
makeup? Rolls her eyes constantly. Ah, she is about yay high.” I hold my
hand up to my shoulder to show how short she is.
My eyes scan the men again, none of them react, so I carry on. “Has a
bad attitude and rainbow-colored hair. Parents named her after a flower, but
she is more like algae. You know, the sort you want to get rid of it, but keep
it around to feed the fish. Or maybe she is more like an obnoxious weed.
Major pain in the ass, but a pain I kind of want back, so perhaps you have
seen her around?” I joke. None of them laugh, just stare at me.
Eziah leans toward me, and they raise their spears and step closer.
“Looks like we are doing this the hard way, then,” Eziah mutters to me.
“Oh, so you have a plan?” I perk up, more than happy to see if his big
brain can come up with any way we can get out of this. I still kind of don’t
want to shift in front of humans, even if the humans in question are clothing
stealing, spear pointing, not-so-talkative assholes.
I glance at Eziah as he raises an eyebrow at me and whispers. “Why, do
you?”
I grin and lean a little closer, keeping an eye contact with Casen. “Yeah,
I say bail and leave Casen to fend for himself,” I offer Eziah.
“I heard that asshole!” Casen calls out.
I grin. “So you're fine with it then? Good to know, buddy. Have fun with
your new friends.” I wave my hand as if I’m saying goodbye.
However, when another spear is thrust toward me, right at my family
jewels, I freeze in my step. I look down at it. Nearly my entire life flashes
before my eyes, and then I tilt my head at the man.
All jokes aside, if I don’t get to use this thing on Mara because some
fucked-up wannabe caveman breaks it with his spear, someone is going to
fucking pay.
“Were you really going to leave?” Eziah whispers as his eyes zero in on
the spear that is still pressing against my precious nuts.
“No, of course not!” I hiss back, and the man, who is holding the spear,
grunts at me. I glance over my shoulder at Casen and growl, “I thought they
spoke English?”
“They do. Honestly, I think we should have gone with the charades.
They aren’t big talkers, it seems,” Casen calls back.
 With a heavy sigh, I turn back to the man holding my nuts hostage. My
eyes lock on him while I sniff the air again. I need to make sure if they
really are human, but once I get a whiff of something else, I frown. It isn’t
human… or wolf… Why do they smell like bears?
“So, which one is the mate killer?” calls out a strong, low voice. My
head snaps in its direction and I see a man stomping through the long grass.
Once he gets out of the grass, I finally realize he is barely clothed. Maybe
they need the clothes more than us.
The silence becomes a little uncomfortable. I wave my hands and grin.
“Ah, not mate killers, but he is her mate. I am the brother, and the short one
is the cousin,” I tell the giant of a man that has approached me. He looks
between us all, grunts, and points his finger at Casen. “That one, take him,”
the giant orders as I peer up at him.
“Nope, no can do, Bigfoot. He is staying, and nobody is going
anywhere,” I tell him while the other moron is still poking my crotch with
his goddamn spear. I growl at him and he instantly jumps back. I snatch the
spear from him, tossing it away.
I swear, if he has the gall to pick it up and poke me with the damn thing
once more; I’m going to shove that thing so far up his ass, it’ll tickle his
tonsils!
“You dare come into my forest and challenge my men and destroy my
land?” the man all but snarls at me as his eyes flicker.
“You saw that, right? I’m not imagining this, right?” Eziah whispers.
I nod my head and lean a little closer to whisper, “Yep, not human.”
He stiffens next to me, uncertainty in his voice. “You're not really going
to try to fight that big bastard, are you?”
I chuckle as I recall every goddamn time I had to go one on one with
that royal furry asshole Kaif. Yeah, this one doesn’t look half as bad. “I
have seen bigger,” I chuckle. Eziah gives me a funny look.
“No need to fight. We come for our little Rose’s mate killer,” the man
says as he slowly removes his pants. “But if you insist,” he adds with zero
emotion.
“Are you sure you have seen bigger?” Eziah asks. Nervous energy
radiates off him, while all I do is roll my eyes. Getting beat up by Kaif or
some random Bigfoot fucker. What’s the difference?
“Mate, he is not a mate killer,” I correct him as I grab the bottom of my
shirt and pull it over my head. If a fucking fight is to happen, I need to save
my clothes, especially if these asshats insist on constantly stealing them.
Eziah will have to hold on to them, so none of these thieves can run around
the forest, looking like me from a distance.
“No?” The man frowns and looks around. “So where is her other mate,
then? Vince, I think she said his name was?” he asks as his eyes zero in on
Casen.
He hangs his head, and his shoulders instantly slump. What the fuck?
My eyes go from Bigfoot fucker to Casen and then back to the same man in
front of me. Well, this shit is a little too juicy for my sanity. “Casen, care to
explain what the fuck he is talking about?” I call out as I keep my eyes set
on the giant.
“Oh, you didn't know?” the man asks with a knowing grin spreading
across his lips.
I look at Eziah, who seems just as oblivious.
“Vince isn't missing. I killed him,” Casen calls out loud enough for
everyone to hear his confession. Eziah and I stare at him wide-eyed. What
the fuck?
“So what shall it be? We take the mate killer, or…” the man doesn’t
finish up whatever he was about to tell us when he suddenly shifts.
And no, this massive motherfucker isn’t a wolf. He is a fucking bear. Oh
God, just what I fucking needed. Note to myself - if I get out of here alive, I
need to find my to-do-list and get rid of a fight with a goddamn bear. Lycan
and bear off. Now I’ll have to find a goddamn mermaid next.
“You best still have power in your bank?” I mutter to Eziah, “Because
we are gonna need it.” I tell him and shift just as the bear comes rushing at
me. Fuck. My. Life.
 Chapter

Three

J onah
The moment we clash, all hell breaks loose. Even though, initially,
I assumed this would be a one-on-one fight; I realize far too soon that
bears have no knowledge about what the fuck honor or fair fight actually
is.
While I try to claw at the big motherfucker and attempt to take him
down, the rest of his Winnie the Pooh relatives shift and prepare to come
after our throats. Very fucking funny - an entire pack against three must be
my goddamn luck.
I turn my focus solely on the one directly in front of me, hoping Eziah
and Casen will fend for themselves. Besides, it is clear that this Winnie is
the one in charge, so I’m taking the toughest cookie on me. If any of them
ever again try to say I don’t pull my weight, I swear to God…
Were-bears, who the hell would have thought those exist and what are
the chances of us stumbling upon them? Trust Rose to find the only other
monsters that exist beside us. I’m so giving her a piece of mind after I drag
her bratty ass home.
His paw swipes at my face, and I sink my teeth into it, which makes him
roar as Jax’s teeth slice through the pad of his paw. His claws scratch out to
me as he waves his… arm? Shit, I need to read Winnie the Pooh again to
refresh my memory of what I’m supposed to call bear body parts. I wonder
if I can bribe this one with some honey…
“Jonah, focus, for fuck’s sake!” Jax screams at me.
Oh right, we’re fighting a bear now! I don’t think he enjoys my running
commentary like Kaif does. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Eziah taking
his sweet ass time as he gets undressed.
I glare at Eziah through Jax’s eyes as he folds his clothes and the bears
circle around him. He doesn’t seem even a little fazed by the threat looming
close by as he keeps his leisurely pace of getting unchanged.
Casen is already fighting two and has a spear stuck in his side while the
rest circle around, watching, with their spears ready. These bitches really do
not know what a civilized fight is supposed to be.
My attention is pulled back to the highest rank Winnie impersonator as
he roars and swipes at my back. His claws rake through my fur, down to our
tail before he grabs it and flings me across the tiny clearing.
We hit a tree, and Jax gets back to his feet with a vicious roar. He shakes
out his fur, spraying blood everywhere as we turn back toward our target.
The bear stands up, towering over and growling on us. He then drops
back down and charges ferociously. Jax growls as he does the same and
charges at the bear. He springs off his feet and onto the bear’s back with a
sole intention of tearing into his neck. I can feel warm flesh under our
teeth.
“Fucker’s got thick skin,” Jax growls at me.
“Make a good rug. We need a new one,” I tell him.
The one thing that isn’t on this bear's side is that we have speed. He
can’t possibly match it with his fat ass. Besides, after years of handling
Kaif, this is child’s play for us. We have plenty of tricks under our sleeve he
doesn’t expect. Or should I say under our fur?
He tries to toss us off, but Jax sinks his teeth in deeper, making him
whine. He abruptly stands up and leaves us hanging from his neck by our
teeth. In the meantime, Winnie with Rabies is trying to fling his arms
blindly, all to get us off his back.
Jax snarls as he realizes that it’s either we lose a goddamn tooth or let
go. He is forced to let go and slide onto his feet across the grass, about ten
feet away from the force of being tossed off.
Casen has already managed to kill a smaller bear, who bit into his flank,
and now, he is fighting another one while three stand around Eziah’s naked
form. His hands glow and they stare, completely mesmerized.
“What the fuck is he doing? Showing them a magic trick?” Casen snarls
through the mind link at me.
The bear Jax tried to take down just moments ago also turns his head to
look at Eziah. He cocks his head to the side.
 The light in Eziah’s hands grows larger and the bears back up as a wide,
nearly vicious grin spreads across Eziah’s lips. “Always enjoyed hunting,
but I must say you have a lovely pelt,” he says as his eyes zero in on the
bear with a malt color fur.
I knew this guy was crazy, but now he looks like a maniac as he smiles
and scans the furs of the bears. I must admit, as useless as he has been so
far, now, at least for once, he’s doing something.
The bears back up some more, while their eyes focus on his hands.
Eziah rolls the sphere between his hands and lets it grow bigger while his
power surges through it. The enormous bear I was fighting against suddenly
roars and runs at him. Jax is quick on his heels, about to rip into him, when
Eziah raises his hand and slams the ball of light at the ground, right under
his feet.
The ground lifts like a wave, and my eyes widen when I am suddenly
blasted backwards. All I see is black fur coming at my face as the bear I
was about to attack flies toward me and we both hit the ground. Holy shit,
how much does this fatass weigh? The air is expelled from our lungs in a
quick wheeze, and I feel some of Jax’s ribs crack. The bear lands on top of
us and Jax struggles to get out from under the big bastard.
Jax squirms, but the bear suddenly gets off us and shakes himself. I
glance around at the other bears, who start charging straight at Eziah. He
tosses a sphere of gold in the air like he is about to play a game of
dodgeball.
Nearly all the trees around us have fallen, completely uprooted, except
for the spot where Eziah stands - it is perfectly intact and looks untouched.
He and the patch of dirt beneath his feet look so out of place. Everywhere
else looks like a tornado has passed through.
He smiles, and the beast charges at him, snarling and growling - all
claws and teeth. Eziah raises his hand, and then, suddenly, he disappears as
fur engulfs my vision of him, and all I can see is only the black bear.
The huge black bear roars and stands up, raising its paws as the other
bears slide across the ground and come to halt at their leader’s order. The
bear’s shoulders drop in what looks like submission, and the black bear
turns to face Eziah, who waves to him.
“Do you mind stepping aside? I don’t want you as a rug, I want that
one,” Eziah says as he peers around the giant bear and points his finger to a
malted brown bear. I’m sure the bear already shit himself, but when Eziah
sends him a wink, I’m sure I hear a whimper.
The black bear suddenly shifts back to his overgrown human form, and
honestly, I didn’t ask for the full view of his naked ass. Jax and I frown as
the man drops on one knee. The fuck?
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were the Moon Goddess’s kin, your majesty.”
He keeps his eyes cast down as he apologies and all the bears drop on their
paws and bow to him.
Eziah huffs and taps his foot, clearly annoyed. Whatever for - I have no
idea. It isn’t he who was nearly made into a bear snack just moments ago,
so I honestly have no idea why he is so upset.
“Mom always ruins my fun!” Eziah whines. Oh, that’s what he is so
upset about. I swear, Kat has spoiled him too much. He’s acting like a
spiteful kid, even at this age. “I was really looking forward to skinning that
one,” he pouts and winks at the same beat he pointed at earlier.
The bear shudders and backs up, bumping into one of his friends as he
does. Alright, so first of all, this is a brand new development, but what
really breaks my freaking brains is how the heck do they know about the
Moon Goddess.
Casen shifts back, drenched in blood, with a massive claw swipe down
the center of his chest. He rips the spear out of his side and blood gushes
down his abs and leg as he covers it with his hand while it heals. He snarls,
stalking toward us.
“Well then, you best show me to my mate,” Casen growls as he grips
the leader's shoulder and turns to face him. The man glares at him but Casen
flashes his canines at him, clearly over this run-in and ready to prove to
everyone just how over he is. “My mate, where is she?” he growls in pure
rage.
Eziah also stares at Casen, and I have no idea what to think of anything
anymore. I just want this shit over so I can go home to my mates.
However, as my mind runs though so many questions, now I’m not sure
why I feel the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I’m not sure if it is
caused by all this drama with bears or if it’s coming from Kyan and Kaif.
Perhaps it’s a mix of both.
Once I shift back, the first thing I do is double over and throw up next to
a tree. There is something seriously wrong with me. I clutch my stomach as
a new, more intense wave of pain ripples through me.
 “Jonah!” Eziah calls out, but I just shake my head and wheeze. Barely,
but I manage to raise my hand, just to keep him at a distance. I feel like
something is crushing my chest and just a few moments later, I find it
extremely difficult to breathe.
“I will take you to her,” the bear-man-leader says after Casen shoves
him forward with a loud snarl. The man gets back to his feet without paying
Casen a bit of attention. Meanwhile, those who came here with him shift
back to their human forms.
I try to catch my breath, but everything suddenly aches and the pain
intensifies. A dulling throb resides behind my eyes, and I stagger to clutch a
nearby tree trunk.
“Can your friend walk?” the leader asks, I assume, to Eziah.
I wave him off and force myself upright. We have to get to Rose and
bring her home. However, as I turn around, vertigo washes over, and I
suddenly see everything is doubled. Just a few seconds later, everything
goes black.
 Chapter

Four

K yan
A few hours earlier
Marabella keeps struggling to contain the shadows. So today, we
have created a dome so the shadows don’t have a chance to escape her grip
as I try to coach her to pull them back in. Her hands glow a smokey gray as
the shadows engulf her.
“Just draw on it,” I tell her in a gentle whisper as I wave around the
dome of my magic. I know how much she struggles under a lot of pressure,
so I try to approach this part of the training with as much ease as I can.
While I round the dome, I can see her better through the transparent
shield I created around her.
“Kyan, I can’t,” she cries out as the frustration sets in. I see the shadows
shake a little, clearly affected by the emotions she feels.
“You did it before. Just focus on them and try to pull them back. Try to
feel for their energy and will it to draw it toward you. You can do it, nice
and easy.”
Sweat beads on her forehead as she concentrates on her task. The dome
that surrounds her slowly fills with mystical mist and thick shadows.
“Kyan!” she shrieks as panic sets in and completely takes over her
senses. Marabella unleashes the shadows entirely and lets them roam freely
in the dome.
Stepping closer to the dome, I try to calm her, let her see I’m still here
with her and she isn’t alone in this. “Ella, I need you to calm down. Don’t
panic, just breathe,” I tell her.
 Kaif’s unease settles over me as we watch the shield obscure her and go
completely dark. I raise an eyebrow at the sight. The last thing I expected
was to see the shield turn black as coal.
And then I hear her cough. My heart starts beating faster in my chest so
violently, the sound deadens me and the organ threatens to break through
my ribcage. “Ella?” I call out to her, but all I get is a shuddering rasp of a
response.
Kaif shoves forward with me, reinforcing the shield. It shudders as the
darkness swirls inside and tries to break out. As her own power mingles
with it, Marabella makes the same choking noise.
“Kyan, this shield won’t hold much longer,” Kaif warns me a second
before an intense wave of pain slices through my neck and Kaif quivers
inside me. My heart starts beating even faster as the bond to Ella falters.
“Ella?” I rasp out. In pure panic, Kaif drops the shield. He wants to get
to her. He doesn’t care about the shadows we release.
“Kaif, no,” I scream as the shadows burst free.
Kaif finally recognizes his mistake. He tries to pull them back, and I let
go of control, letting him take over. His hands glow a silvery blue as he tries
to place the shield around them again, but it is like grasping air in your
hand. There are so many shadows, it is near impossible to catch them all as
they swirl like a tornado above our head.
Marabella gasps, and he turns his head toward her to see her clutching
her neck. She looks pale, as if all this time inside, someone has been
choking her. She crawls to hands and knees as her eyes blaze white for a
second.
“She hasn’t let go of them,” I murmur to Kaif, and we glance up.
The shadows are swirling above us, but they clearly aren’t unleashed.
Marabella raises her hand, and I can see the black tendril around her throat
from where the shadows have tried to kill her.
Marabella grits her teeth and then, a vicious scream leaves her lips as
she tries to draw them back in. Thunder and lightning suddenly crack across
the sky. A storm comes out of nowhere and the winds pick up speed.
“They are fighting her,” Kaif whispers.
“What?” I gasp at his statement. Can that be possible?
“The shadows, they don’t belong to her, so they are fighting to break
free of her,” he mutters as he watches the shadows and Marabella, as
astonished as I am.
 “You are making no sense,” I tell him as I watch, horrified.
“They belong to the Octavian bloodline, Kyan. Now that they are out,
they want to go home,” Kaif murmurs.
“But?” I ask right as Kaif glances at Marabella. She falls backward as if
the tether to her shadows suddenly snaps or gives way.
Kaif looks up to see them, suddenly whisking with alarming speed
directly at her. It all happens so fast, I scream in horror as they fly toward
her just as she sits up. She shakes her head. Her eyes return to normal, and
Kaif moves as the shadows rush toward her.
He tosses himself in front of her, and he tenses as they smash into him.
So cold and loud. I can hear the dying screams of those trapped within
through my soul. Icy cold and Kaif jolts as he takes it, absorbing it. He
gasps and stumbles forward. I peer out of his eyes to see Marabella cup her
mouth with her hand as he steadies himself on his feet.
“Thank god,” I murmur to Kaif, but I get no answer.
I try to push on the barrier that is separating us, but it feels as if he is
locked in place. The barrier between us is rock-solid, and I can’t seem to
reach him either.
“Kaif, give me back control!” I try again and push on the barrier once
more. Just as I do, his back arches and Kaif collapses on the floor.
I am swallowed by darkness, and yet I can hear my heart beating. The
sound is so hollow; it scares me. Just as unexpectedly as the darkness
appeared, the lights flicker. Memories flash through me, rows after rows of
them, but none of them are mine.
The shadows are angry and at first; I don’t understand what is
happening as I watch those foreign memories as a bystander.
A woman stands by a cradle, humming some melody under her breath.
The door to her room opens and I look over at it.
The man says something to her, but the woman doesn’t turn or
acknowledge his presence. I don’t understand why I can’t hear whatever he
is saying, but I could hear the tune she hummed. That fact alone is rather
odd, aside from my presence here, of course.
Her voice is so clear, it rings loudly and echoes off the room walls. “Do
you know what creates a monster?” she murmurs as she leans into the
cradle.
I look at the man, who looks just as confused as I feel.
 “Another monster,” the woman whispers the answer to her own
question as she turns to him with a baby in her arms. I can see tiny black
spots of hair on the baby’s little head. Surely the child can’t be older than
weeks, months at tops.
“Monsters create monsters, Kaif. I won’t let you make him one,” the
woman whispers as she looks down at the baby in her arms. She brushes her
finger down his nose and a black tentacle appears out of nowhere. It rushes
under her skin, making it ripple and break like a porcelain surface.
“Mommy won’t let him ruin you. Isn’t that right, sweet boy?” the
woman says as her lips turn up in a snarl. What I find strange is that this
snarl, the anger — it isn’t aimed at the man, but at the baby, while she
clearly voiced that the man is a monster.
I watch in horror as the woman raises the baby above her head and the
man, who I now know is an ancestor, one that contained Kaif, rushes
forward, hands out. His eyes are set on the baby in her arms, his hands
tremble as he appears to plead with the woman.
“I won’t let you turn him against me! I won’t allow him to be a
monster!” she sneers as her eyes turn an unnatural pitch black.
The man shifts and Kaif rushes forward, just as she turns and is about to
throw the baby out the window. Kaif’s hand snakes out just in time to grab
the bundle of fabric while his fist connects with the side of her head.
He clutches the baby to him while the woman goes sprawling. She
staggers back and Kaif reaches for her, trying to stop her from falling when
she smashes her head on the corner of the dresser.
Kaif stares at her in panic, and the baby starts crying. I watch as he
soothes the screaming baby and my eyes move to the woman. Blood starts
pooling around her and across the floor. Kaif looks down as the trail reaches
his feet. He jerks, startled and then, he glances over his shoulder, to see her
bleeding out.
It looks like he screams. I assume, but I still can’t hear a word that
leaves his lips. The man places the baby back in the tiny crib and rushes
toward the woman.
He clutches to her with desperation as he tries to wake her. But I believe
it is too late already. Her body lies completely lifeless in his arms.
The memory fizzles and I am tossed into another one, and another, the
same cycle repeating as I watch them all try to kill his child. And the worst
part is that those he didn’t kill, the women Kaif managed to stop, they all
tried again and again. They never gave up on the idea of killing their
children until Kaif was forced to kill them.
I close my eyes, unable to witness the never-ending horrors. I can’t
watch the awful things each woman is trying to do to their own young as
the shadows overtake all of them.
The shadows - they change and destroy the women. I can’t take it, I feel
sick to my stomach. As I am startled by Kaif’s growl, I open my eyes to see
that Kaif is now standing upright.
He growls at Marabella who looks at him, clearly horrified.
“Kaif?” She whispers
The problem is that he doesn’t see Marabella. It isn’t her, Kaif is
looking at someone else.
I gasp as I realize who he sees before his eyes. Instead of our Ella, it’s
his last mate, the same woman who tried to drown their four-year-old son in
the bath. I know that he thought he managed to break the curse with her. So,
he marked her the night before. But now, his burning anger vibrates through
him and I try to shove through the barrier.
I scream at him that it isn’t her. It’s Ella, our mate, not the woman who
tried to kill his son.
Marabella scrambles backwards on her hands and feet, trying to get
away from him. Kaif slashes the air, narrowly missing her face with his
claws. A high-pitched scream leaves her lips as Marabella scrambles to her
feet.
He growls right before he chases after her as Marabells shifts, and Kora
takes off. My surroundings blur out as she races toward the forest,
everything turns into a blur as Kaif chases her. She darts amongst the trees
and a sense of Deja-vu washes over me.
The trees zip by in a blur as we chase her. Kora darts between the
tombstones and along the track as she tries to remain on the path. But Kaif
is faster and she is forced to divert away from it.
She is forced to flee into the thick brush but it is no good as Kaif lunges
forward. Just seconds after, her deafening scream infuriates him more. Kaif
commands her to shift back. I try to push on the wall with more strength,
but no matter how much I push, punch and scream, it doesn’t affect him.
Not in this state.
“Shift,” he yells in her face as Kora squirms and thrashes in his arms,
trying to break free.
 Her body tenses in his arms. She shudders and her ribs crack as he
squeezes her tiny wolf form, Kora refusing to give in tries to fight the
power of his command. However, eventually her bones start snapping and
she is forced to shift in his arms.
His grip never lessens and Marabella’s screams, rattling off words
that… if they were used on just me, they would disable me, but a monster
like Kaif is unstoppable. One that holds the power he has, filled with rage
he feels - the words have no effect on him at all.
Now, I finally understand it. I understand it all. The shadows of our
ancestors have never been the Octavian bloodline at all. Those are his past
mates, ghostly shadows of the past. Now, I know why they refused to go
back to Marabella. All of those shadows knew that Kaif would do anything
to protect her. Instead of killing their off-spring, the shadows now want to
kill the very source, which is Mabella.
All of his past mates want revenge. They are using Kaif, that’s why I
can’t get to him. They know that they can end the bloodlines by ending our
mate. By killing Marabella.
An unnatural, forgein laughter leaves Kaif as he squeezes her. Marabella
gasps as she thrashes against him and tries to break free.
I almost freeze, but manage to force out a scream as I shove forward to
stop him right as Kaif aims to rip her throat out. The shadows, and crazed
past mates, they won’t stop until they kill her. Making him kill her,
somehow realizing Marabella can for the most part contain them, seemed to
anger them.
“Kaif No!” I scream in terror as I smash my hands against the barrier
that separates us. His body jolts and his teeth miss her throat, and instead of
killing her, he marks her.
His teeth slash and tear through not only her neck but chest and
shoulder blade. She screams loudly as an immense amount of blood runs
down her body. The scream all but stops my heart, but it beats insanely fast
as I watch through Kaif’s eyes how her body goes limp in his arms.
A newfound need to get to her surges through me as I push the barrier
again and finally manage to smash through it, forcing Kaif back.
Her head falls forward as I carefully scoop her. Marabella’s body is all
floppy in my arms as I notice I am still in Kaif’s body, not my own. I sniff
her, and her head rolls back in his furry arms. Blood drenches her, and her
mark looks more like she has been mauled by a bear.
 Blood oozes out of her, dripping off our arms, and the color fades from
her face right before our eyes. I listen to her heart rate, but it slows to a
deadly beat as I look on, horrified by what he has done.
My body has a mind of its own as I start shaking Marabella, but she
doesn't wake. Although just a moment ago, I still listened to her heart, now
there is no sign of life within her.
My eyes fall on the markings around her neck. There are thick lines
etched into her skin from the shadows of the past. I look around, unsure of
what I’m trying to notice, but then I feel Kaif surge to life and stir within
me. “What have I done?” he gasps as the shadows evaporate and fizzle.
A cold, nearly freezing, feeling seeps out of me and down our arms,
forcing the shift as they go. I grit my teeth, refusing to drop Marabella’s
body as the shadows leave me, and once again, seep back into her.
“The ruins! Get her to the ruins!” Kaif screams at me, and I look up the
hill. I don’t risk wasting the time we don’t have so I take off and run
towards the ruins.
 Chapter

Five

K yan
We lay Marabella down on the ruins. Intense pain courses
through me at seeing her like this. My eyes take in her lifeless-
looking body. Blood still gushes out of her neck. It doesn’t heal, and the
wound looks as fresh as if she received it only a moment ago.
I feel how the weight of this place is suffocating Kaif. It is forcing him
down and away from the surface, deep in a place where he is the safest,
caged within me.
Marabella is still bleeding profusely, but since the very moment I
brought her here, the moment we stepped in, I could feel her healing. If
only a little, it is happening. I can feel the pull on Kaif as he is desperately
clawing at her injuries and pain, taking it all away from her.
Since we brought her back all those years ago, the bond is strong, far
stronger than that of some fully mated werewolves. However, just because
of that, we can feel not only Marabella but also Jonah. My heart skips a beat
as I feel him drop.
I know he has dropped - out cold, by the freezing feeling that settles
over me. Kaif can feel it, too, as we lose our other mate.
It’s like a domino effect. As Marabella bleeds out and Kaif pulls on her
life force to keep her here, Jonah is taking it from Kaif. That’s exactly how
the bond between us works.
It’s at moments as such that I truly realize and accept that I am not a
human, not a person, not someone with a heart, capable of love and feeling
emotions, but purely a vessel for a bigger monster, and by loving Marabella,
I’m also killing her.
 But now, I have gained a new view of Kaif, a different understanding of
how he is. After I witnessed his past life through the memories, after I
witnessed the shadows of his crazed past mates try to kill their children and
now Marabella, now I understand him better and why he did the things he
had to do.
Whatever it was, the state that brought me to his memories, it gave me a
chance to see all those memories firsthand, as if I was there to witness it all
from the get-go. As if my eyes never left him, life after life, I was there with
him. An endless cycle of suffering and pain.
My chest squeezes as I think of the things his past mates tried to do and
the heartache that still surges through me, the one Kaif felt every time he
was forced to kill them. All of them.
As carefully as I can, as if I’m handling the most delicate thing in
existence, I pull Marabella into my lap. I bury my face in her neck and start
running my tongue over her wounds. Slowly, I manage to seal them closed,
along with his mark. It doesn’t work as good since I’m not in his form, but
it helps a little, and I feel her stir as she comes back to the world of the
living.
I stay silent as the shadows that fill me from Kaif become tortuous. The
darkest parts of his past will forever haunt me. All of those inhumane,
sickening things he had to endure, and all of that for his curse of choosing
his children over his mates.
“That happens every time you mark them?” I ask Kaif.
His voice is muffled, but still it is here, with me. He can’t reach the
surface here, not that he is willing to come out, anyway. Kaif is rightfully
terrified of the possibility of hurting Marabella again, especially now that
we are barely holding onto her essence to keep her alive.
It truly breaks my heart. As horrifying as the things that I saw are,
especially what he did to Marabella, I understand it wasn’t him, and feel
bad for his fear. Kaif couldn’t stop. He was captured by those shadows,
controlled by the very women who dragged him through hell over and over
again as each tried to kill his children.
“Yes, I believe when Luna was trapped in the stone, Hades cursed all
mates to share her hate, share her heartache at losing her son, forever to
live with the darkest parts of her once marked. I have tried, and a few times
we thought we broke it. Turns out each mate becomes a little wiser. It is my
punishment for turning her son against her, for taking her as my mate, for
Celeste’s sins.”
“But you didn’t,” I tell him and raise an eyebrow. How does this make
sense?
Kaif shrugs. I barely feel him. “I didn't defend her either; I let him
believe his mother was dead. We didn't think she would come back. So I let
him believe she was dead.”
“So there is no way of breaking the curse?” Although I think I know the
goddamn answer already, I don’t let the hope inside me die. Maybe, just
maybe, if we try hard enough, we could find a way to break the curse and
free ourselves. All of us.
“No, it's an endless loop, my Karma. No one can live with the shadows
once released. No one is strong enough to block out their hate. No one can
live with what I have done,” Kaif says. His voice nearly breaks, which is
enough proof that even he, himself, can’t accept the things he has done. The
things he was forced to do to protect his children.
I force down the lump that forms in my throat and look down at
Marabella in my arms. She stirs, and I brush her hair from her face. Her
nose wrinkles as she frowns. She looks like she is stuck in a nightmare, but
a moment later, her eyes flutter open.
“Kyan?” she murmurs my name, still weak, and it is too much for me to
handle.
I sniffle and look away from her. “You will be okay, Marabella,” I
whisper to her as I scoop her body up in my arms. Fighting against the
emotions that rush through my entire body. Before I take the risk and step
out of the ruins, I need to make sure she is secure enough to be moved
elsewhere.
I never thought my life would come to this, but I am terrified that Kaif
might come back and finish the job he started. If the shadows try hard
enough to push him again, if they escape her. History will not repeat, I
won’t allow it.
It still makes no freaking sense to me. None at all. Those women, the
very women who became the shadows - they tried to kill their sons, all of
them did.
The shadows and the ghosts of Kaif’s past mates are unable to live with
the shadows, while they know that what they became is nothing but their
own fault, yet Luna has them convinced that Kaif is the reason for all this.
The shadows have grown so strong over the time, those women who came
next couldn’t take the pressure and gave in to their demands, became as
insane as the curse placed. What truly freaks me out is that all this time,
they tried to kill the children, but now, they are going after their vessel. It’s
more than confusing.
I trudge through the forest back towards the manor. I can feel how the
heaviness of his guilt is eating Kaif, and sorrow fills me. Getting closer, I
mind-link Lucas to open the door as I walk across the lawns. On my way
home, I hadn’t noticed how it started to rain, but the one thing I know is that
I need to get out of here for a few hours. At least a few hours. I need to get
away from everything so I can think.
Marabella already looks way better and actually manages to fall asleep,
and she remains asleep until I put her in the bath with me. As soon as her
body sinks into the water, it turns red, and‌ I start to clean her, the color
becoming darker along with my thoughts.
I can hear my phone going off somewhere in the background, but I
don’t need to check it to know that Jonah, no doubt, has to be on his way
home right about now. After what happened earlier, I know he has to be
worried about us both.
The moment that thought crosses my mind, I block him out. It’s unfair. I
know he will be pissed, but the last thing I need is to feel his worry. It is
enough that I have mine and hers to deal with already. No need to add more
to the pile.
“It doesn’t look that bad,” Marabella says as she glances down at her
neck and her shoulder.
Although her skin is healed, I can’t look at it. We have permanently
mutilated her. I look over her shoulder, block out the skin from my vision,
and nod at her. I can’t force even a word from my lips, let alone think of
anything I could say that might fix this situation.
What the fuck do people say after they almost kill their mate and leave
them with scars as proof to live with till the end of their days? I will never
forgive myself for what happened to Marabella. And I know, for a fact, that
neither will Kaif.
We both know that this shouldn’t have happened. The attack, the
marking, the near-death situation.
And yet, what baffles me the most is her reaction. Marabella seems
unfazed by his savagery that is branding her skin now. She turns her face to
look up at me over her shoulder and offers me a gentle, yet weak smile.
Since I don’t return one, she leans up to kiss my lips, but I turn my face
away from her. I can’t bring myself to look at her, to look at what we did to
her.
“What’s wrong?” Marabella asks as her brows furrow and a frown
slowly slides on her face.
Marabella watches me with wariness. I feel her worry. She’s scared I
might actually be Kaif, not me. I feel the tug in the bond as she tries to
mask how terrified she is of us. Both of us.
“Nothing,” I tell her as I lean closer to her face and kiss her softly.
All too soon, I pull away, and I can feel her confusion at my distance.
Marabella wants to be as close as possible, despite how she fears us, she
still loves us. And what is worse, she truly seems to believe that everything
can go back to normal. But the issue is that I know fate will come for her.
Sooner or later, it will, and unless I figure out how to break the fucking
curse, there’s nothing I can do to stop it.
We made the mistake. We attacked her and brought her back, kept her
alive, while the shadows of the past wanted to kill her. Marabella doesn’t
know this, but mistakes like these come at high cost. We barely got her
back. Maybe next time we won’t be able to, and that thought scares me
most. Ultimately, she is the one that pays for our mistakes.
One I’m not willing to let her pay for. While her eyes still follow me, I
grab the loofah and continue to wash the blood off her body. She squirms
on my lap as she tries to reach out and touch me, but I am quick to
maneuver her and stop her wandering hands. As soon as I finish and ensure
there is no speck of blood on her skin, I help Marabella out of the bath and
wrap her body in a towel.
“Have you heard from Jonah today?” Marabella asks me.
“He is fine. I think he found Rose. He should be back tomorrow, or
maybe tonight,” I answer.
I feel like my body is operating on some autopilot system. Worst of all, I
know she can sense my strange mood as her eyes watch me as I step into
the room. Her eyes don't seem to leave me even for a bit, and at one point, I
have to raise an eyebrow at her when Marabella stops blinking. As if she
thinks I might fade while she blinks.
I retrieve some clothes, more than ready to change, and go to work. I
need a distraction, something else to focus on and think about, literally
anything, and work seems to be the best option.
Just as I place my shirt on the bed, Marabella’s arms wrap around my
waist and she hugs my back. Her fingers slide down as she tries to undo the
buttons of the pants I am painstakingly trying to do up with my shaking
hands.
“Marabella, stop,” I tell her as I pull away from her.
I might have sounded a little too harsh, even if I don’t intend to, but I
can’t do this now. Instead, I watch how she retrieves her pajamas. The
weight of her hurt from my rejection nearly crashed me down through the
bond. It sickens me to know that I will feel it even worse in a minute.
Kaif remains quiet, yet I can feel him too, and I know he hates what I
am planning to do. He hates me for it. But at the same time, he feels guilty
for hurting her and after he did that; it opened his eyes to the reality of the
inevitable future that awaits her if she stays with us.
Kaif knows there is no escaping it, but I refuse for her to become the
next Octavian woman to pay the price for a feud they weren't part of.
“Tomorrow, I will take you back home. It is too late now, and I need to
get to work,” I tell her with a sharp nod, as if I need to reassure myself I’m
doing the right thing. I know I am.
“What?” she gasps out the question as she shakes her head and pulls her
nightie on. “What for?” Marabella frowns as the question slips out of her
lips. I can hear it in her voice, how confused she is.
I turn around to face her. She truly seems confused as she slowly climbs
into my bed and pulls the covers over her naked legs. Marabella pats the
spot beside her, urging me to sit down, but I just shake my head and remain
glued on the spot.
“Did I do something wrong? I will learn to control shadows, Kyan. I am
fine,” she says, sounding desperate. It has nothing to do with her control
and it pains me that she instantly finds fault within herself, instead of seeing
the situation I have put her in. While I am not sure if she is trying to
convince me or herself, I stay silent and move closer to the bed while
Marabella looks up at me. I hate how pleading her eyes are. It makes
everything so much more difficult.
“It's safer this way, Marabella, it is the only way,” I whisper as I shake
my head and fight against the bile that is rising in my throat. I have no idea
how long I will be able to keep it down, but I must. I must remain strong for
her, do this for her. As much as this pains me, I need to set her free of me.
 “Why do you keep saying my name like that? So formal?” She pulls a
face.
My heart twinges and squeezes with the horrid, sinking feeling she is
sharing with me through the bond. At this moment, I fucking hate that
bond. Sometimes, it’s better to pretend to be clueless than to be in the very
place the person you love is. Especially if the said place is dark and bloody.
Her eyebrows furrow as I stop a couple of steps away from the bed. “I'm
fine, see it's just a scratch. You don't have to send me home, and Jonah will
be back tomorrow.” She tries to convince me as she tugs at her nightie to
show off the so-called scratch in question.
I look away. I can’t look at it without thinking about what we did to her.
What those shadows will keep forcing us to do, over and over again, until
eventually, we will lose her for good. Besides, the monstrosity that covers
her once beautiful and flawless skin isn't a scratch. It is a scar, a proof of
our vile, and unstoppable nature. Proof of the terror we can cause her, I still
can’t stop seeing the fear in her eyes or unhear her screams of pain.
“I won’t let you be the next life claimed,” I whisper as I finally
approach the bed and stand right next to it. Slowly, I bend down to peck her
lips. One last time.
Marabella tries to deepen the kiss and tug me closer, but I unwrap her
arms from around my neck and press my forehead against hers. “I love you,
don’t doubt that,” I whisper, and close my eyes. I can’t look at her
anymore.
“I know you do; I love you too,” she says as she tries to reach for me
again, but I quickly straighten my body and step away from her.
“Kyan?” Marabella says my name as her fear trickles through the bond.
She tries to climb out of the bed, and I know that if I don’t do this now, I
will never find the strength within myself to do it.
I close my eyes and let out a shaky breath. “I, Kyan Dominic Octavian.”
“Kyan, no, just wait, we-” she tries to stop me, but I force my eyes open
to look at the aftermath of our doings to force myself to go through with my
plan. If not now, then never. Marabella tries to jump to reach me.
“Reject you, Marabella Pierce, as my mate and Luna,” I finish, and she
staggers back at the same time I do. It feels like my soul just shattered apart,
into millions of pieces, its sharp edges slicing my soul to pieces.
Tears trek down her face as she chokes on her sobs and claws at her
chest. Kaif wails in my head. He screams and claws himself in anguish as
he feels what I have just done.
“You can take it back,” Marabella begs me, her lips quivering.
Her heartbreak nearly destroys me, but I refuse to show it now. I will
suffer for what I did in my own time, on my own terms, as far away from
Marabella as possible just so she doesn’t see how much this pains me too. I
try to silence a sniffle as I look away from her. This is for her; I need to
remind myself that I’m doing this for her - for her own good and safety.
“But I won't,” I choke out and shake my head, willing myself to leave as
soon as possible. “I can't. I won’t be the reason you die,” I tell her, turning
my back on her, I escape the room. It’s fucking painful to leave her behind,
let her drown in pain and sorrow while I run away like a coward, but I need
to keep her alive. Even at the expense of all the love I feel for her, I need to
set Marabella free.
“Kyan, please!” I hear her scream as she runs after me, but I don’t stop.
I refuse to give her time to talk me out of saving her life. Finally, she stops
at the top of the stairs, and I know the weight of the bond severing is tearing
her apart.
I can barely keep going myself. There is nothing I want more than to rip
my own chest open and yank my heart out, just so I don’t have to feel this
pain. Anything to make it stop.
Lucas comes out of the kitchen and looks at Marabella, fallen on her
knees and sobbing as she keeps whispering my name, over and over again.
“What have you done?” he murmurs, his shock evident on his face.as I look
at him.
“What I had to do,” I tell him as I leave him behind to look after her. At
least until Jonah comes back and can soothe her. Jonah will make it all
better, he will protect her and make Marabella happy. And most
importantly, he won’t kill her.
But for now, I need to get out of here. Need to get away from her. I can’t
bear watching her like that, in such a broken state, especially since I am the
one responsible for it. I have created a nightmare out of this day - we ruined
her, we nearly killed her, and now, I have rejected her.
So, after everything I have done throughout the day, I run. Like a
coward I truly am, I get in my car and drive away.
 Chapter

Six

M arabella
Kora howls in my head as the pain of her own amplifies mine.
The extra weight of hers makes the pain ten times worse.
I feel like I can’t breathe, like the air is being crushed from my lungs
agonizingly slowly. I have never thought that a feeling like this exists, but I
believe it’s similar to one, suffocating inside a burning building with no
chance to escape as the oxygen slowly burns away and you do with it.
Somehow, I believe the flames would hurt less.
Everything was fine, and then, all of a sudden, it wasn’t. I knew
something was up with him because he was blocking the bond. He had been
quiet all night. Yet, I didn't expect him to reject me. As hard it might get
sometimes, we knew there was a risk and Kyan knew I was willing to take
that risk. Anything to stay together and work through the issues.
A person can only take so much before they break. Everyone has a
lifeline they try to hold on to and take power from, but the more often it’s
used, the thinner the thread becomes. Sooner or later, the thread snaps and
sends them into oblivion.
One person can suffer for so long until the suffering becomes nothing
but a burden to carry. In the midst of so much darkness for so long, so much
loneliness in your life, you realize it is no longer worth it, that you can't live
with the heartache.
Everything around me has turned into chaos. As I look at what has
come to pass in my life, I wonder how the hell I got here.
What is the one part of my life that determined it would get to this
point? Where did I go so detrimentally wrong that I ended up here at this
exact moment? Is it because I’m not strong enough like they all claimed?
Were they all right, and I was too blind, stuck so deep in my own delusion
to notice it?
I notice a movement from the corner of my eye and look at Lucas. He is
frantically calling my name, although I wish he would forget it. As I look
around, at the surroundings and the house I somewhat have managed to
grow attached to and love, I wonder if this is it…
Is this… This moment… All it will ever be? Will I always be this
unhappy? Stuck in a moment of great happiness for a short while, just to
have it all destroyed and crash around me?
Unhappy in love, disappointed with my life, and miserable with how
things turn out. I still see Lucas, but I can’t hear a word he is saying. I see
his lips move, but that’s all. He stands there like a mime, frantic and
desperate to be heard while he can’t utter a word.
I am sure he means well, but I am deaf and mute to my surroundings as
I slowly drown in my grief. I want to give in to the pain, to the calling to
end it all once and for all. I should’ve known better… If I never started it,
my life wouldn’t come to this point. As always, there is no one else to
blame but me. And the most painful part is that I don’t blame Kyan. This
fucking hurts and I know he hurt himself too, but what’s the point of having
a mate as weak as me? I can’t even hold the shadows.
My shoulders slump, and I struggle to hold myself upright as my mind
goes into overdrive. Over the years, I lost the perception of seeing myself
clearly. Kyan let me see who I am, who the real me is, only to take it back
from me the very moment he understood the fight isn’t worth fighting. I’m
not worth fighting for; I will never be good enough for him. Ever…
I thought my life was changing. Perhaps that is another delusion I
created in my mind, but I did hope that this time it would be different. This
time… I could be happy.
After years of life, trapped inside a shell of a person I once was, I finally
started giving value to myself, and I allowed myself to see a future with him
and Jonah. I think this is where I made the biggest mistake - I thought I can
get it all, both of them. People are considered lucky if they meet their
mates, and here I am, acting like a greedy parasite, wanting more than I
deserve.
But now, the dream is gone, and I stand back right in the same spot
where I started. This is the price I pay for being so egoistic, for demanding
far more than I deserve.
Standing up, I feel nothing. It almost scares me that I realize how empty
I am all over again. I feel nothing at all, as if somewhere along the lines, I
switched off to life, pulled the plug and turned the life support off.
A bitter chuckle leaves my lips as I recall a detail I have ignored for far
too long. Something I refused to acknowledge over the years, even though
it’s always been there, always stood next to me, like a massive, red flag.
And all I did was look the other way, just to ignore it even further, feed the
hope and delusions. There’s no point in doing that anymore. I have been
dead long before I recognized that I was dying.
Now, I am alone, completely alone and grieving for a life that will never
be. A happily ever after, that will never come true.
I thought we would work it out. I had envisioned the possibilities of our
future, all of them positive, mapped out in my head.
Now, there is no map, not even a fraction of the bigger picture I tried to
follow before everything crumbled right before my eyes. And now, I am
stumbling around blindly, without wanting to grip on anything to hold my
head above the water as I fall into the abyss of myself.
This isn’t the life I wanted or would choose for myself. I have tried so
hard. All my life I have known nothing but effort - attempts to fit in,
attempts to please everyone and make them happy while my needs,
thoughts and feelings were left aside. I shoved them so far away so no one
could notice I ever felt hurt. But this time, I am the one who can make the
choice. This time, I will take my life in my hands and choose for myself,
not others.
If the shadows want me that bad… if they are so desperate to have and
consume me, they can have me. They can have all of me, even my last
breath with that, so I choose death.
How foolish of me, how silly of me to believe I ever could be anything
but another burden. No matter where I go, with whom I go, I become the
same old burden I’ve been my entire life.
I won't be the burden anymore; I won't go back to that place. I can’t do
it anymore. They’re right, I am not strong enough because I can’t even be
bothered to try to fight again. I can’t build something from nothing just to
have it all crash right before my eyes.
I can't go back to living on autopilot. The very thought sickens me. I
can’t go through motions and never allow myself to live in the moments. I
can’t keep doing what is expected of me, while I never expect anything in
return.
No. That isn’t life. Everything, how I have led my life so far, every
moment and day, it isn’t living. Existence, painful and miserable, maybe,
but not life. I can’t live like that anymore, I can’t let myself try to do that all
over again. Can’t drag Kora through the flames of hell again; I can’t force
her to endure me, can’t force her to go back to living for me because I am
too weak to do it. If that is living, I want no part of it.
I am vaguely aware of my phone ringing beside the bed as I enter the
bedroom. At least Lucas isn’t following me; he has enough understanding
and decency in him to realize I need to be alone. I don’t need anyone near
me, or hear the lies they want to tell to make me feel better about the
complete destruction that my life is.
No ‘it’ll pass’ or ‘you are strong, you will get over it’ could ever make
this, whatever it is anymore, better for me. No words, whispers, and hugs
could take it back and make me happy again.
The phone keeps ringing as I approach the bedside table and glance at
it. I watch his name pop up on the screen as the device vibrates off the
bedside table and starts ringing all over again.
I release a shaky breath as I bend down to pick it up and unlock the
phone. Kora is long gone, and I have no idea where she went. All I know is
that she isn’t here anymore. She left me too, like everyone else has done.
I’m not sure what hurts me more - the rejection or the fact that even my
own wolf can’t stand to be with me anymore.
I don't realize I am typing out a message until I hit send on it. Blinking,
I stare at the message until the phone starts ringing in my hand again. I’m
not sure if I do it because I’m surprised or because I don’t feel my hands
anymore, but I drop the phone. I can’t tell what I am feeling, if I am feeling
anything at all.
Slowly, I walk to the door and lock it before I sit down on the bed. I feel
like I’m a bystander, watching myself walk and move. Kyan’s scent is
everywhere and as I close my eyes to inhale it, I hear Lucas, who is trying
to talk to me through the door. So much for giving me space.
I must have said something back because he leaves shortly after. I have
no idea of the words I tell him; I don’t hear any that escape me. But I do
hear his footsteps that echo in the hall as he leaves me. Now, finally, I am
alone again. Whatever I told him must have convinced him I’m okay. If not
anyone else, at least I know that I am anything but that.
Nothing new. It always ends in the same cycle - everyone believes I am
fine, I pretend that I am, and then I bring my pain away from everyone who
might see it and suffer behind closed doors.
This - the feeling, the soulless motions, it’s exactly what depression
does to a person. Your life slips by without you realizing it is passing. And
I… I can’t go back to that. I can’t enter another void. This is depression,
pure and simple. A disease I can no longer live with and refuse to.
I can identify the traits because they have been mine for so long.
However, even though I have been embracing and accepting it for such a
long time, now, I refuse to live like that ever again. I refuse to give it my
everything.
I refuse to let the state of my mind and pain make my family suffer
again, especially if they are forced to watch me turn back to an empty shell
of a person. Once again, I face the risk of going back to my parents like the
daughter they never wanted, instead of the daughter they deserve.
No. I would rather be free of that. I rather drop my walls and free
myself from the invisible chains that have kept me in the darkness for so
long. The very chains that never allowed me to escape the abyss of my
darkness and the shadows.
If my freedom, the only I can reach, is death… So be it.

J onahSomething must have happened. And it has to be something

important because I can feel yet another intense wave of pain rattle through
my chest. It’s pure, raw agony that is coming from only one source, and
surprisingly, that source is no one other than Kaif.
Since Kyan hasn’t bothered to answer his phone, no matter how many
times I try to call him, I try the one person I know will take my call -
Lucas.
As expected, he answers my call after the first signal and fills me in on
everything that has happened. Apparently, Kyan had already left home and
gone to work. At first, I thought it was odd for him to work while he was
not obligated to, but once Lucas told me the part he should’ve started with,
I understood why he left.
 Kyan rejected Mara. I can’t fucking believe it…
I am about twenty minutes out of the city and driving like a madman,
trying to get back to them. The issue is that I am torn between two
decisions. I need to check on both Mara and Kyan. Also, there is something
that keeps nagging at me as the uneasy feeling sinks deeper each time I
redial her number and try to reach her. No answer.
Some gut instinct is telling me something is wrong. I know Kyan
rejected her. There is no doubt that fact alone is the utter, crippling pain I
feel coming from him and tearing Kaif apart.
Honestly, I have no idea how many attempts to call any of them and
receive no answers at all; I give up and continue driving. I curse under my
breath, but the row of colorful words is cut short as I feel a cold rush course
through me. It’s so sudden, so freezing that it makes every single hair on
my body stand up.
Jax whines restlessly, and I grab my phone to see a text message has
popped up without me noticing. Relief floods me when I see it is from
Marabella. All too soon, because the message itself makes my blood run
cold, and I’m pretty sure it freezes up my heart and crushes it into
crumbling pieces.
It should have been you. The message reads. I try to stay mindful of the
road ahead of me as I read the message over and over again. But as I try to
dial her number again, my hands are shaking so badly that I nearly swerve
off the road.
I wait until the call brings me to her voicemail and try again, but she
still doesn’t pick up. “Pick up, Mara, for fuck’s sake, I’m begging you,
please pick up!” I mutter under my breath as I grip the steering wheel so
hard my knuckles might have bruises. That is if I won’t bend the damn
wheel before that happens.
No matter how many times I try, she doesn’t answer, so I tap on Kyan’s
number, and finally, he answers. “Where is Mara?” I ask, louder and more
aggressively than I’d like, but I don’t give a shit at this point.
“At home,” Kyan answers.
I swerve off the road, sending dust and debris everywhere. “Where are
you?” I shout out the question.
“Heading back home. I went to check things at work,” Kyan answers as
I kick the door open and get out of the damn car.
 Jax is already on the very edge. He keeps telling me that he has a
feeling we need to trust his instincts, and I would be damned if I ignored the
primal instincts of my wolf.
“You need to get back home,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I am on my way back,” Kyan says, and then groans as I hear the
sound of metal hitting metal in the background. The very next moment,
pain smashes through my chest.
“No!” I gasp out as Kyan’s suffering intensifies.
I can feel it all through Kaif. He is alive and breathing even though he
has gotten into an accident. I know that much because I’m still alive, even
though this has to be the first time I truly wish to be fucking dead.
As I grit my teeth, my eyes widen in surprise. At that very moment, I
feel the pain of her tether to him disappear. Jax shifts what seems to be ages
before I have enough time and brainpower to register what it is. I feel it rip
through Kyan and we are already running. We are running through the
forest, heading straight toward the manor.
We have never run so fast. Not even when rogues tried to get into our
territory. Now, we run on fear and adrenaline. And I can feel that Kaif has
taken over Kyan too. They’re on their way to her too. Kyan has lost control
and is also trying to get to her, but I know it is too late. It’s far too fucking
late for him to try to he knows that. The worst of all is when it becomes
clear… Kaif’s wailing scream reaches me as I get closer to the manor.
Everything blurs around me as we smash through the place and up the
stairs. Kaif is on his knees, and my legs give way when I see her in his arms
as he untangles the rope from around her neck.
“What have I done?” Kaif murmurs, looking down at her. Lucas stands
horrified as he looks in the doorway. Tears trek down his face as he cups his
mouth in horror at her lifeless body. I still can’t accept what is happening
when Kaif suddenly shifts and gives up control as Kyan takes his place.
I just stare at the markings that wrap around her throat. Her limp,
lifeless body is in his arms. She can’t be gone. I can’t lose my Mara.
“Do something,” I choke out.
Kyan’s face turns and his eyes meet mine as he swallows and tears
stream down his cheeks. “I killed her,” he whispers. His bottom lip trembles
as his eyes focus on me. I see nothing but desperation and helplessness in
them. Nothing but fear and pain, the same fear and pain that mirrors my
own
 Chapter

Seven

K atya
I let out a deep sigh and shake my head at how crazy this shit is.
We just arrived at the damn camp in the wildness, and now, we stand
surrounded by barely clothed men. Their lack of clothing doesn’t throw me
off. I’m used to being around more or less naked people, but these men reek
of bear.
It’s hard to explain how bad they reek. All I can say is some rogues
don’t stink as much as these guys. And what’s even weirder is that I keep
catching Eziah, glancing and winking at one particular bear for some
reason.
I frown as my eyes study the men. Of course, I knew of their existence.
I have seen them in the fountain of the past, but let’s be honest, there are far
too many fountains for one person to keep track of. Besides, when I first
caught a glimpse of one, I thought it was a trick of the light.
Mateo sits next to me and scoots a little closer as we take places around
the campfire and watch the chaos ensue.
“Did you know?” Mateo leans in and asks as he nods toward a group of
men that are huddled around Casen.
I glance at them and frown again. Every move Casen makes has these
men on edge. I can’t believe the mess we have found ourselves in because
of my niece. I love her, but right about now, I would really love to kill her.
I shake my head to focus on Mateo’s question and whisper. “Yes,
Celeste cursed them. I didn’t think literally, though. They were a rival
village or something, and they stole her bear skins, so she cursed them. She
had quite a temper,” I chuckle.
 “You can fix it, right? I think that is what they want in return for Rose,”
Mateo whispers, and I scrunch up my face at the thought. Since when can I
undo the doings of someone that came before me? First of all, has everyone
forgotten that I never asked for this role?
I turn my head to face Mateo and raise an eyebrow at him. “Do I look
like I am running a damn circus? Not my circus, not my monkeys. I have
enough shit to worry about without chasing after Winnie the Pooh because
they stole someone else’s honey. They need to figure it out themselves; I
didn’t curse them. I sure as shit can’t un-curse them.” I huff.
Mateo raises his hands in surrender and pulls a face. “Woah, settle love,
just asking. No need to get your panties in a knot.”
“I’m not wearing any for them to be in a knot!” I whisper-hiss at him.
The last thing I need is for these bear guys to find out that their praised
Moon Goddess isn’t wearing underwear.
Mateo wiggles his eyebrows at me and the next moment, I hear a
gagging sound on our right. My eyes narrow in on our son. Just in case, I
give him a warning look to see if he has anything he wants to share with his
parents.
“I do not want to hear about your panties or your private bits. You’re my
mom. Dad, it’s my mom you’re talking about,” Eziah whines.
“You came out of my private bits!” I growl at him.
Hands fall on my shoulders, I jump in my seat and I look up to see Ezra.
An irritated sigh leaves me the moment I notice Maddox come forward.
“Lose the mood. You have been insufferable lately,” Maddox snarls in a
warning.
“Well, if you and Mateo here didn’t chase our daughter off, I might have
lost the attitude and mood by now!” I snap at him.
He rolls his eyes. “How many times do I have to apologize for that? She
freaked us out. We didn’t realize how powerful she was,” Maddox says as
he bends down to nip at my neck. Maddox growls, feeling my anger
brewing and nipping my mark, breaking my skin.
“Stop, I am fine.” His teeth press harder and from any other angle they
might think he is being affectionate, but I know better. He feels I’m losing
control, and willing to take control if needed. But I am fine,
“Cut it out, or I will feed you to the bears,” I tell him.
Maddox sighs loudly and I feel the change in the air around us as he
hands the control back to Ezra. At the very same moment, his aura fades a
little and doesn’t remain as potent anymore.
I raise an eyebrow at him as I glance up at Ezra again. “Have you found
out anything remotely helpful?” I ask. The sooner we figure out how we
can get my brother’s wild child of a daughter out of here, the better.
God, sometimes my family acts like I don’t have shit to do. Do they
forget the Moon Goddess has responsibilities?
Ezra nods and glances at the men who still surround Casen. “Yes, they
keep calling Casen the mate killer, something about Celeste and if we want
Rose back, you need to help them,” he mutters the last part. Clearly, my
mate knew I wouldn’t like that part, so I’m pretty sure he’s doing damage
control around me, trying to keep me calm.
“They are holding her hostage?” I huff and cross my arms in front of my
chest as I too, look back at the men. Have they lost their mind? Do they
want to see just how much patience I can have with someone once it comes
to my family? As much as I want to leave Rose here…
“Kind of, but not really. From what I gather, Rose wants to stay,” Ezra
explains.
“Not my monkeys, not my monkeys,” I mutter the reminder under my
breath.
“Pretty sure they’re were-bears, Love,” Ezra chuckles.
“Same difference, they’re not my responsibility!”
Just as I part my lips, I feel Sage’s aura getting closer. A wide,
mischievous grin spreads across my lips. Now we are getting somewhere.
This is going to be so bloody good.
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned, or in this case, a mother. If I can
feel her from afar, I’m sure she is a raging inferno with one goal on her
mind. I have never, ever seen her so goddamn angry. And to be fair, I never
thought she could be so infuriated. Sage almost scares me, that is until I
remember who I am.
“Why are you grinning like that? Kat?” Mateo asks, nudging me.
“Sage,” I chuckle.
Ezra and Mateo look at me. Confusion crosses their facial features. But
as I look at my brother, I watch how Andrei spins around and looks in the
same direction I feel her coming from.
“Now you have done it,” Andrei tells Rose.
“She has done it alright.” Eziah chuckles. “I don’t think I have seen an
angry bone in that woman’s body, and she is fucking livid,” Eziah chuckles
and smiles, as he also feels her coming closer. Her aura is like a glowing
beacon.
My son has a warped sense of humor. He really enjoys watching
people’s horror, and this time is no different when he feels Sage on the
verge of losing her shit.
I glance up just in time to see Rose’s eyes look past us. “Mom?” she
says, obviously shocked.
“You little brat! You wait until I get my damn hands on you.” Sage is
furious. I’m surprised I don’t see smoke coming from her ears as she pulls
leaves and twigs from her hair and stomps toward her daughter. Sage’s
clothes are torn from her run in the forest. She looks like a cute, but angry,
homeless person.
Rose yelps and jumps up. I roll my eyes when she darts behind Casen.
Isn’t this nice? The brat didn’t want him earlier, she actually ran away
from him, and now, she is trying to use him as a living shield just to hold
her mother away from her.
I almost smile when I see Casen push Rose away. Clearly, he isn’t
happy with her either, and I can’t say that I blame him one bit.
Andrei tries to intervene when Sage grabs their daughter by the ear. The
tribe elder or chief, whatever the heck he calls himself, stands up, but he
raises his hands in surrender when Sage points a shaking, angry finger at
him.
Wow, he backs down plenty quick enough, so at least we don’t have to
jump in to protect Sage. I think she has the right to be furious and show just
how angry she is with Rose’s doings. That girl keeps getting away with far
too much. I blame my brother.
My eyes focus on the biggest bear as he sits back on his log, looking
like a scolded little boy. Eziah cackles, and I kick him as he laughs at
Rose’s embarrassment.
“You brat, how fucking dare you? Do you have any idea how many
people are looking for you? This is no behavior for a future Alpha!” Sage
screams at the top of her lungs as she drags Rose away. In the meantime,
Rose actually has the gall to try to pry her mother’s fingers off her.
“Hours. We spent fucking hours negotiating with them. And my mate
just walks in, no care in the world, and rips her out by her ear.” Andrei puffs
out his chest, and I see the leader get up.
“Sit down!” Andrei and I both snap, and he does.
 “Seems Sage spooked him,” I chuckle.
“More like bluffed him,” Andrei says, and I snicker.
“Sometimes that is all that is needed,” I shrug as my words reach him,
and my brother nods. Then he slowly walks over to Casen.
“I know you’re upset. Don’t blame him. Rose will see the truth soon
too,” I mutter, but he still hears me.
Andrei looks over his shoulder and meets my eyes as he raises an
eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”
“I kept my mouth shut, didn’t I? You know, when Vince’s wolf returned
to the fountain, I helped, didn’t I? We fixed it!”
Andrei nods and seems to be deep in thought until something happens,
and his eyes widen a little. “Sage?”
“I would hate to be you when you get home,” I warn him, a little too
joyful for the current situation. My brother needs a beating or two from
time to time to get back to the right mindset. He has improved massively,
but sometimes, I feel like he is starting to take Sage for granted and
prioritize Rose’s temper tantrums more.
Besides, after I got to see how this situation played out the moment she
stepped out into the clearing, yeah, I wouldn’t hold high hopes for
everyone’s safety for as long as Sage is like this.
“More about Rose or Vince?”
“Vince,” I tell him, and he nods.
Andrei calls Casen over, and I watch him get up from the ground.
Everything seems somewhat okay until I feel the familiar, cold rush of a
message in the Moon Goddess realm.
I click my tongue, annoyed - always right when we are in the middle of
something. Eziah suddenly gasps, and I look over at him to see him doubled
over. Eziah staggers and Mateo tries to grab him when he throws up against
a tree.
“Eziah?” I shriek as I rush to his side. Just as I do, I feel the realm suck
me in. I reach out for him a moment before Eziah grabs my arms.
“Marabella,” he chokes out, and we are ripped through the realms. My
surroundings fade and I am pulled into an extra dimension. It feels like a
brief moment until I find myself in front of the fountains.
Eziah still holds his stomach, one hand on my arm. He lets go and
rushes to the fountains, swirling his hands in the water while I go to check
the bonds.
 I desperately look for what it is that pulled me here, and then I notice
Kora, floating around in the abyss of mist, in limbo. I race back to the
fountain of the past that Eziah is sifting through when he stops. His
thunderous growl is blood-chilling. My eyes snap to his arms as black
tendrils sliver up them. The darkness taints him. It is desperate to take over
anything he is willing to give as his hands glow brightly.
“Eziah?” I whisper.
I know what he is about to do. It’s not only what the mother feels, it’s
not the instinct to read my child - I am the Moon Goddess, I see. And yet, I
can’t bring myself to stop him.
“I can feel her dying; I can feel it,” Eziah gasps as the light in his palms
becomes brighter. His anger and pain mix in a vortex of emotions so strong,
I fear he won’t be able to stop himself. With or without my help.
“I know,” I whisper as I try to step closer.
His head snaps to the side, and he looks at me. Tears stream down his
cheeks. “I am bringing her back,” he grits out. Eziah is hurting badly, and
though he sounds angry, I know it is his desperation and pain that is
speaking to me now.
Gemini Twins can’t live without each other. Eziah could never handle
her darkness only knowing light, and she wouldn’t be able to handle the
light having only known darkness. They are entwined in ways I will never
truly understand. But now it makes sense as to why Marabella’s future was
so dark, yet Eziah had remained. Once again, a vision twisted, the
information given without the facts.
As my eyes look at his arms again, I swallow. I have seen this before,
but I never realized that this type of darkness is linked to Marabella. I
always thought his mate brought out the darkness in him, that he pulled it
from Temperance, or maybe her wolf Shadow. Now seeing it here, I wonder
how much of it he pulls from his mate, but also from himself. What is Eziah
truly capable of if, by chance, he mastered both? What would that make
him if he broke the curse of being a Gemini?
I don’t get enough time to react as Eziah shoves me and reaches for the
dagger on my gold desk. I watch him move as my eyebrows pinch. “Eziah,
what are you doing?” I ask.
“Making sure he fucking feels it,” Eziah snarls and disappears.
I turn to the fountain to peer inside it and move it to the present. I watch
how my son portals into the room.
 “Hang on, Kora, he will bring you back to her,” I whisper to her wolf,
who I know is in as much pain as Eziah is now.
My eyes focus on the scene. Eziah stalks toward Kyan and Jonah.
In this very moment, the true meaning of the Gemini twins is revealed.
Power shared between my twins can’t be balanced out with one of them
gone. Eziah is absorbing it all.
I feel sick. The rage that emanates out of the fountain, the very rage of
my son, is so powerful it washes over me in waves. However, I never could
have expected what he would do next.
“I will make him feel it,” Eziah snarls through gritted teeth and my eyes
widen as he steps over Marabella’s lifeless body. She’s in Kyan’s arms. As
soon as Kyan realizes there’s someone else in the room, he looks up at
Eziah. At first, he looks confused, but then his eyes widen.
Everything happens so quickly, I almost miss it, let alone believe my
eyes. I feel sick to my stomach when Eziah plunges the knife into Lucas’s
neck and places his hand behind Lucas’s neck to pull him in for a kiss.
As soon as their lips part, Eziah turns his back on Lucas, drops to his
knees, and kisses his sister, while Lucas sways in shock and desperately
clutches his neck. Eziah gasps and falls backward on his hands when Lucas
crashes to the floor.
Marabella lurches upright with a loud gasp and looks around, while
Jonah just stands aside, frozen, watching the scene in pure, unmistakable
horror.
I watch how the darkness backs up and leaves Eziah. It looks like mist
in the air as it flows back to Marabella and seeps into her. The very
moment, a cold rush runs through me, a new life that returns to the fountain.
I peer over the rim to see Kora is already gone, and in her place stands
Lucas’s wolf.
“He killed him,” my voice breaks as I gasp out the words. Unable to
look away, I turn back to the fountain just in time to see Kyan explode in
rage and attack my son.
Tears stream down my cheeks. I have no idea how I am going to break
the news to my brother. Andrei has just lost his best friend. Whoever thinks
being the Moon Goddess is easy has no idea of the crap I witness, the
choices I get wrong every day. This is one of them. But also without his
death I would have lost my daughter, break my brother, or break my son?
An impossible decision. Sometimes it is better not to choose, sometimes it’s
better for fate to take its course no matter how much damage it causes.
I can’t forget my responsibility even despite the hurt and shock I feel. I
wander over to the fountain of life. Carefully, I move Lucas’s wolf into the
fountain to re-home him when an appropriate vessel comes through.
It is sad to think I have become desensitized to death at this point.
Gripping the fountain, I stare down at Dominic’s wolf. His dark, mystical
aura swirls around in limbo.
No matter how much I have tried, I can’t pull him from this state - stuck
between shadows and light, forever lost in the sea of mist. For sixteen
years, he has been trapped here. He refuses to go home and stares back at
me, and honestly, sometimes I feel like he is waiting for something.
“You wanna come up with a plan, Dominic? Because I can’t see a future
out of this,” I tell his wolf. “I trust you do,” I tell the mystical aura floating
in the mist.
I have kept this secret for sixteen years, and I am sick of carrying it. No
wonder she gave up, no wonder she wanted to rest. I have barely done a
smidgen of the time she did, and I am exhausted of the choices, exhausted
of being the Moon Goddess.
 Chapter

Eight

M arabella
Death… It is… Well, it is, I guess. But it is nothing like I
thought it might be. Nothing that I imagined for it to be.
I expected oblivion, nothingness, peace, and solitude. Silence, at the
least… But this?
It’s something else, so far away from everything I craved when I
thought of the escape I desperately need, it makes no sense. Nothing makes
sense anymore.
This experience is something else. I know, for a fact, that I am dead.
After all, I felt how my heart stopped moments ago. I heard the last thump.
But even while I know that there is no more me in the world I came from,
why do I still feel? Where is the numbness I sought?
I still feel like I can’t breathe. Like something keeps tightening around
my neck and blocking off my airways. I still feel how painfully my lungs
burn, desperate for the tiniest bit of air to put out the fire spreading through
them.
And what is worst of all, I feel like my body is tingling all over. Like
tiny pins and needles are thrust into my skin, just to disappear and come
back with double the force a moment later. The only comparison I can find
for the unpleasant sensation is the same as not moving for so long. The limb
dies for a bit and then comes back to life with the same feeling all over
again.
It is horrid. Always has been. I’ve always hated this very feeling, and
now, just to spite me, it wraps around my body while I deserve nothing but
the numbness I welcome more than anything.
 My subconscious feels like it is floating in space, but the feeling doesn’t
fade. I give up and tell myself it’s about time I get used to this torture
because that must be what I will feel for eternity. But right as my mind
repeats the words for the second time, I feel a tug on my chest, right where
my heart is supposed to be.
I feel like something is pulling at me, my entire body is pulled
towards… Something new?
Light flickers ahead of me as my body is thrust forward so suddenly, I
barely realize how fast my surroundings move. And then, just as quick as it
happens, it stops and I come to a halt.
I squeeze my eyes shut at the motion, take a breath, as silly as it seems
since, hello, I’m dead, and slowly open my eyes again. Once my vision
adjusts to the new surroundings, I notice a man.
And then, my eyesight sharpens enough just to notice that he isn’t alone.
There are hundreds of people. As I squint my eyes at the scenery, I frown.
No, those hundreds, they aren’t people after all.
They are almost translucent, like ghosts, but the man in front of me is
flickering. I hold out my hand and look at it. I, too, appear to be just as
transparent as those ghosts.
Just the man I am as transparent, but I flicker the same as the man
before me. We look out of place amongst the shadow beings. Especially
since I am surrounded by the abyss of shadowy mist.
“Hello Marabella,” the flickering man suddenly greets me and I jump.
That voice… I recognize it immediately. I couldn’t mistake it for anything
else.
I blink and look over at him. He is just as tall as Kyan. His hair is dark
black, and he is wearing a finely tailored suit, the buttons undone, revealing
his chest and stomach. As my eyes slowly take him in, I notice that he has
shadow marks all across his chest and arms. They are the same as Kyan.
There is no mistaking who he is. Even if I want to deny it, I know better
than that.
“Dominic,” I whisper his name and a lump forms in my throat. As I try
to force it back down, Dominic nods his head and steps closer to me.
It’s like an instinct, but I don’t hesitate to reach my hand out to him.
However, I jump when I do, because my hand goes straight through his
chest.
 My brows crease in confusion as I look around again, taking in as many
shadowy figures as I can. And yet, while I do my best to notice something, I
can’t seem to understand why these figures don’t flicker as Dominic does.
Like I do…
“Where am I?” I ask as I peer into the mist.
“In the shadow realm, where all Octavians go,” he answers.
“Shadow Realm?” My eyes snap back at him.
A slight smile spreads across Dominic’s face and it reminds me so much
of Kyan. It pains me. At this very moment, some memories decide to
assault me. For example, how this man gave up his life for mine, and I
didn’t appreciate it. I gave up and completely disregarded his sacrifice. I
took this man from my own mate, even if I had no idea it was because of
me.
I nearly allow my mind to push me into another oblivion of darkness,
but before it happens, Dominic saves me again. His voice is all I need to
focus on him. “Yes, there are many realms. Like the Moon Goddess realm,
prison realms like this one, which is reserved for Octavian descendants and
their mates, exist. There are more realms than anyone could fathom,” he
explains.
I am amazed at how soft-spoken Dominic sounds considering his
intimidating appearance.
“But I am not an Octavian, Kyan rejected me,” I tell him and shake my
head. This has to be a mistake. I’m dead, yes, but I must be elsewhere. I
can’t go where Kyan’s bloodline rests or wanders, for I am nothing to him
anymore.
Dominic shakes his head. He turns his back to me and starts walking
somewhere. Even though he doesn’t tell me to, I feel like he wants me to
follow, so I do just that.
He walks through the mist and through the people who aimlessly
wander around this place. In the shadows, there are so many of them here
that I can’t see any end to them. We walk through many, just to move ahead
and see even more.
After a while, I can’t stop my wandering eyes as I peer at all the
women. Those are the same women from my dreams. No, they are from my
nightmares. The same women who have haunted me all my life whenever I
dared to close my eyes.
 My body shudders and a cold shiver runs down my spine as the very
scenarios I had to witness play out in my head. These women… They did
unspeakable things. Things that would horrify anyone, even those who
claim that they have seen hell.
“I have seen them before,” I whisper to Dominic as I stop to gaze into
the sea of people. “I have heard their voices, their screams, seen what they
have done,” I add. The shadows of the past in the form of these women
move through me as if they can’t see me here. Each of them passes through
me colder than the last.
“They contain Luna’s anger,” Dominic suddenly speaks next to me, and
I look up at him.
“Who are they?” I ask him.
Years after years of torture that was brought over me by the very women
I watched in my dreams, I find I now need answers.
Why was I the one that had to bear witness and watch over their
madness?
“Kaif’s mates. Each one he killed, they are forever stuck in the
shadows,” Dominic mutters as his eyes set on the bunch of women, the
same as mine.
“I heard their whispers. They tried to make Kaif kill me.” I whisper. For
some reason, I feel like I can’t speak freely, even if the shadows act like
they can’t see me. Keeping this a secret is like an instinct.
Dominic nods, his eyes still focused on the crazed women. “Yes,
because they know you can break the curse.”
“Don’t they want the curse broken?” I ask him.
He shakes his head as he pulls his gaze away from them. “They want
Kaif punished for his sins,” Dominic announces, and walks off again. He
moves through the shadows of nothing but emptiness as if he knows the
secrets it holds, and is moving toward one he needs to share now.
It has no end, nothing, just shadows of ghostly figures lost to the mist.
“My family has been trying to break the curse for centuries, each of us
doomed for history to repeat, but each generation we keep track. We record
and learn,” Dominic speaks ahead of me.
“I don’t understand how any of this helps me now I am stuck here,” I
frown as I try to keep up with him. It must be his long legs that let him walk
so fast. Kyan’s father is a giant. No wonder I struggle to stay close.
 “But you aren’t. Just like me, we are floating in the abyss. We aren’t a
piece of it yet,” Dominic says, stopping again.
“Ah, I’m dead,” I tell him.
Dominic chuckles as if my words truly amuse him. “No, my dear, not
yet. Or not for long anyway, I have seen it.” He looks at me over his
shoulder. I’m not sure if I like the glint in his eyes.
“Do you even have visions here?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Dominic nods. “Yes, I have seen it all, and Kaif will break the curse,
and you will help him. That is why they tried to kill you,” he says,
motioning to the sea of shadowy figures.
“Is that why I am flickering and they aren’t?” I ask him as I look down
at my hands.
“Your soul is still tethered to earth because you are a twin, a Gemini
one. Your power when you died lives on through your brother. Light can not
exist without darkness, balance. You and Eziah are half of a whole. When
you were born, the shadows became worried. Because you were born when
darkness arose, Kaif arose and they knew, because darkness attracts
darkness, just like it seeks light,” Dominic explains.
If I thought my mother has a weird habit of speaking in riddles, then
Dominic here is going after that title pretty strongly.
“So I am not dead?” I ask, still struggling to wrap my head around this.
It’s a little too much. But then again, is it possible to get a headache if
you’re truly dead? Because, I swear, I can feel one charge at me at the speed
of light.
“No,” he says.
My eyes snap at Dominic. Although I am aware of the fact, once again,
I notice how out of place both of us are here. He keeps flickering the same
as I do. And as I glance around again, all I see are ghostly figures, but no
flickering at all.
“Then why do you look like me?” I frown again. If he claims I haven’t
died yet, and I flicker… He flickers too… Does that mean?
“I was wondering when you would realize,” he laughs. “My soul may
be trapped here. But witches are tied to their magic. It’s part of our souls, so
I am neither here nor there. In a limbo of sorts, waiting for my magic to die
out or return to me.” Dominic shrugs.
He acts like this whole die or don’t thing isn’t serious. Like it’s all just a
game. And once again, my eyebrows furrow at his words once I force
myself to pay more attention. “But you gave me your magic,” I tell him,
and he nods.
“I did. I also gave you my shadows and anchored my magic to you. My
body is dead, but my magic lives on. Our bodies are vessels, vessels for
Lycans, a vessel for life.”
“You speak in riddles, you know that?” I tell him, once again thinking
of my mother and the same dirty habit those two share.
Dominic chuckles darkly. Dang, he and Kyan really are two peas for
one pod. “Don’t we all,” he offers.
“Well, I was never any good at riddles,” I mutter, but Dominic doesn’t
seem fazed by it. Since it looks like he’s not getting ready to tell me more, I
peer up at him. “So how do I free them?”
As soon as the question passes my lips, my eyes snap back to the lost
souls that surround us, as if they are a magnet and I am obligated to watch
over them. I won’t deny that I feel sorry for many. They are trapped in a
time only they can see.
“You set Luna free, free of her anger,” Dominic says.
“And that will break the curse, give Kaif his redemption?”
“Redemption is a strange word, it means we have done something
wrong that needs to be forgiven,” Dominic says as he side-glances at me.
“These women, though, were going to kill their children. I don’t believe
he did anything wrong,” I admit.
“Ah, see, that is my point. To break the curse, you must set Luna free.
But redemption was not something Kaif needed to seek from someone else,
it was something he needed to find within himself. He has to forgive
himself. Only then will he have the freedom he desires.” Dominic explains
with a loud sigh.
“Again with the riddles, can we speak like I don’t know the modern-day
language? I think I would find it easier deciphering emojis,” I whine.
“What is this emoji you speak of?” Dominic asks.
“Come on, you aren’t that old, you haven’t been dead that long,” I
deadpan. “The little pictures in text messages,” I offer.
“You mean those funny little faces?” Dominic pulls kissy lips and sticks
his tongue out. I didn’t think it was possible, but this massive, intimidating
man looks like he is goofing around with me.
“I never understood the meaning of those things, especially with the
eggplant and cucumber one that Jonah likes to send you. I think riddles are
a much cleverer thing, makes you think, makes you wonder,” Dominic
adds.
While his face is completely set in stone, my face flames up and burns
in the infernos of hell. Thank god this man can’t speak emoji.
“He meant salad, eggplant, and cucumber salad,” I lie.
“I will have to remember that,” Dominic says.
“So is Luna here too?” I ask to change the subject and look around.
Dominic glances at me.
“No, she is trapped within the stone. Find that, set her free, and that will
also set me free,” Dominic tells me.
“If you saw the future, why did you die for it then? Why not alter it?” I
whisper, a little afraid to hear the answer.
“Because fate is a funny thing, like a domino effect. Change too little,
change too much. It all follows a sequence, sometimes better, sometimes
worse. I saw two ways this went. Kyan kills me and I die for not saving
you, or I save you and fate kills me and you live. I chose the option that let
us both live, the one that sets him free.”
“But if I go back, I will become like them eventually,” I whisper and
stare into the nothingness.
“No, don’t you see Marabella, I figured it out. Us, men, were bestowed
with the horrors of our mate’s pasts. We saw what they became, yet the
women were bestowed with Luna’s rage because they thought Kaif
betrayed them,” Dominic stresses.
“Again with the riddles. I think you just enjoy speaking nonsense,” I
laugh.
“You are different, Marabella. When I died, I gave you the shadows.
You would be tainted with Kaifs when you return, but you are stronger.”
Dominic turns his body to face me.
“How? It makes no sense,” I whisper as I look up at him.
“Because you lived with them, see, that is where we went wrong. They
all saw the future of what could be. They were filled with Luna’s rage at her
betrayal. Her own son killed her, so that is what they saw. They saw Luna’s
end and then end for each other, and saw Kaif turn on them. You, though,
have seen why he killed them. I didn’t just give you my magic. I gave you
my shadows so you could learn to live with them and understand the action
behind what Kaif did. The shadows know this: they are filled with so much
hate they don’t want Kaif free. That is why they tried to kill you. They
know you can break the curse, they are stuck in the time in which they died,
they see no error in their ways, you, however, have seen the darkness that
becomes of them, the shadows can’t touch you, twist you, because you have
always lived with them.”
My skin begins to flicker brightly, and Dominic smiles. “Your time is
up.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, wide-eyed.
“We will meet again,” Dominic tells me.
I try to reach my hand for him as panic surges through me. I’m not done
yet. He has to tell me what I need to do. “But wait, I need to know how to
break the curse.”
“Find the talisman,” Dominic states right before suddenly. It feels very
real when he grabs me. His hands no longer pass through me like a ghost
while I look down, where his hands clutch my arms.
“Break the curse, Marabella, don’t forget what you are. You don’t just
harbor my magic, you aren’t just an Octavian woman, you are Gemini, you
are the darkness of your brother’s light,” he says each word louder than the
previous one, and then, he shoves me.
I feel like I am falling for a quick moment, and then my eyes shoot open
wide as the feeling rushes through me. Like wind passes through everything
and I suddenly can’t breathe again as I fall through the abyss. I fall until I
am in the comfort of darkness once again.
I try to suck in a breath, try to find my sense of self, and then I notice a
glowing orb in the distance. I close my eyes, aware that the orb was about
to crash into me, so I brace myself for the impact and suck in a breath.
When I gasp, I am choking.
Air fills my lungs. I lurch forward, gagging and choking on air. I cough
as I try to catch my breath and clutch my neck. Eziah is in front of me. A
dagger falls from his fingertips and Lucas… I blink. What is going on here?
Lucas’s face falls, and an immense amount of blood spurts from between
his fingers as he desperately clutches his neck.
“No!” Kyan screams beside me the moment Lucas collapses and
crashes to the floor. He lands in a pool of his own blood and Kyan explodes
in rage.
 Chapter

Nine

M arabella
My eyes widen in horror as Kaif bursts free of Kyan. The sight
is as impressive as it is bloodcurdling. A deep, thunderous growl
leaves him. It is so loud and sudden that it makes the hair on my arms stand
on end. Jonah rushes forward to stop him when Kaif turns and flings his
hand, blasting Jonah backward and at the wall.
Jonah crashes into the wall, the entire thing rattles as books and the
shelves’ contents fall to the floor. A scream of fear leaves me, and I rush
toward Jonah, to help him sit up where the wall dents from the impact.
“I'm okay, but you need to move if you want me to stop him,” Jonah
gasps, then groans as he sits up. My heart twinges now, realizing how
foolish my actions were. Even after what I did, Jonah would still fight for
me without question.
When I killed myself, I thought I was ending my pain, yet seeing Jonah,
it is clear I was only giving it to him. My mistake is clear to me now. I
ended my life without thinking of its effect on him, which is obvious from
the tear streaks on his face. Even now, he is still fighting for me, even after I
gave up the fight myself.
Jonah cups my cheek with his hand and goes to get to his feet; I turn my
head just in time to see Kaif stalk toward Eziah. Eziah is just as eager for
this battle, a battle that seems to be set in stone since the moment I found
out Kyan is my mate. My heart lurches when Kaif swings at him, his claws
raking down his chest, which earns him a snarl from Eziah. His shirt is torn
open, and his blood stains him red as it spills on the floor. Eziah’s face
twists with rage and I can feel it coming off him in waves.
 “I warned you about hurting my sister; I fucking warned you, Kyan. It
was either Lucas or Jonah, a life for a life. To give, I must take first. You
did this, not me, you did, and now you pay for it,” Eziah screams at him,
clutching his bleeding wounds.
“This is your Karma! I did this to save her, save you! Even though you
don’t fucking deserve saving after what you have done!” Eziah snarls at
him. I want to question him, want to know what he means and what he has
seen. But I am distracted by the anguish clear on Kaif’s face.
His words seem to stun Kaif for a few seconds. His rage dissipates, and
Kyan returns before collapsing next to Lucas on the floor. “I didn't know,” I
hear him whisper, and my stomach sinks as tears trek down my cheeks.
A domino effect; this is what Dominic meant. Every action has a
reaction, and by killing myself, I not only ended my pain briefly, I caused
Kyan more. Eziah staggers and leans heavily on the door frame, his hand
clutching his chest. Blood pours out between the gaps of his fingers. His
skin goes pale and his lips turn blue as he sucks in a harsh, shaky breath.
“Eziah?” I whisper, and he looks over at me. His face is clammy, and he
smirks.
“I'm alright, sis, but we need to go,” he rasps out, holding out his other
hand to me. At his words, Kyan lifts his head, glaring daggers at my
brother.
“She is not going anywhere with you,” Kyan snarls at him, and Eziah's
eyes flash gold before flickering oddly. He pulls his hand from his chest and
the blood pouring from him is a mixture of red and blue. Fear etches onto
my brother’s face as he peers down while my mind is trying to conjure
myself to move, to help, anything.
“Come, Marabella,” Eziah hisses, trying to stand upright. He sways on
his feet, then stumbles forward and trips over Kyan.
Kyan moves with a speed that would have shamed Kaif. His rage still
burns hot like a raging inferno, and I watch the tattoos of his darkness that
cover his back, chest, and arms ripple with the power he exudes as he grabs
Eziah's throat and pins him against the wall.
Kyan smirks, his lips twisting coldly. He wants to kill my brother, the
pain he feels at his loss is turning into hatred so deep and palpable, I can
feel it in his power as he fights to remain in control and not give himself to
the shadows.
“You don't scare me, Kyan,” Eziah growls.
 “I don't need to scare you, but if you try to take her, and I will fucking
kill you,” Kyan snarls while his eyes flicker to a demonic black. “You’ve
taken my uncle; I won't allow her to leave with you. You’ll be lucky if I let
you leave with your miserable life!”
Eziah’s eyes narrow, his canines slip out as his wolf, Malachi, comes
forward at the threat. “Good thing it's not up to you, then. Marabella can
decide for herself!” Eziah retorts as Kyan’s grip tightens.
Eziah’s face changes color, and I watch as Kyan’s claws break free of
his fingertips slowly as a warning. Razor-sharp and digging into his skin.
Kyan growls, turns his head to look at me, a clear warning in words.
“Choose wisely, Ella,” Kyan says, not removing his eyes from mine.
Eziah laughs just as Kyan turns, slamming his head against the wall.
Eziah only smiles mockingly. Caught in between, I can only watch. I want
to help my brother, but Kyan is clearly on the verge of losing control and
also wants me to remain here.
I have taken so much from him and can’t bear the thought of taking
more, yet at the same time we wouldn’t be in this situation if Kyan didn’t
reject our bond. My brother saved me from myself and is now paying the
price of doing so. It makes the decision painfully impossible. But one thing
my mother has always drilled into us, never risk a bond, and Kyan did
worse than that. He broke ours.
“What, now you suddenly want me?” I scoff.
Kyan's jaw clenches and his knuckles turn white. Eziah chokes, clawing
at his hands and I whimper. “Fucking choose Marabella, either you stay or I
fucking kill him!”
I swallow and look at my brother, who doesn’t want me to give into
him. “Kyan!” I growl, feeling Kora finally come forward; I actually
wondered if I had lost her. Though groggy and out of it, relief floods me as
she takes in our surroundings.
“Choose Ella; what will be?” Kyan snarls, finally turning his head to
look at me again.
Eziah’'s eyes flash, and his hands let go of Kyan’s wrist and smash
against his chest. Eziah’s eyes bulge from his head, and I see his hands
glow brightly. Kyan looks down at them when his eyes meet Eziah’s, and he
smirks.
Eziah’s magic tries to burn and taint Kyan. But Kyan is something else,
and now, he is showing in a clear display just how little of a match my
brother is against him. He chuckles as Eziah’s power grows with his anger.
“You may be a Gemini wolf twin, but you are no match for a Demi-god
witch hybrid,” Kyan snarls.
Black tendrils suddenly sliver up Eziah's arms as Kyan's shadows seep
out. Darkness taints Eziah, making him gasp and I rush to get to my feet so
I can help my brother when I am ripped backward and into Jonah's lap as he
grabs me.
“Agree, you need to agree with him. Kaif won’t allow you to leave, and
neither will Kyan. You need to agree, Mara,” Jonah whispers as his arms
wrap securely around my waist, and my back meets his warm chest.
“Kyan, let him go!” I plead. I just want to go home; I am sick of
rejection, sick of the drama. And with how furious Kyan is, I am afraid to
remain with him.
He needs to calm down and grieve before I allow myself to try this
again. Kyan has made it clear he doesn’t want me, made it clear that he will
do whatever is necessary to keep me safe. Even if it means destroying both
of us in the process.
“He’ll kill him, give in to him,” Kora begs in my head, urging me to do
what he wants, no matter how much remaining here with him would torture
us.
“What’s it going to be, Ella? You try to leave, I kill him. You stay and
he lives, so pick. I have lost enough tonight, and I won't lose you a second
time!” Kyan warns as my brother chokes.
“Kyan, please,” I whisper in my last attempt.
Kyan shakes his head. “No, a life for a life; that means yours is mine
now!”
“Say yes, I won't let him hurt you again,” Jonah murmurs below my ear
while my heart thumps erratically. Kyan snarls as his grip grows darker and
his hands become engulfed in shadows.
“So be it!” Kyan snarls, and my eyes widen.
“I'll stay, I'll fucking stay!” I scream, thrashing in Jonah's arms as he
tries to keep me away from Kyan, who looks like he has let the darkness
take him over. Kyan, however, doesn’t let go. Instead, the darkness creeps
into my brother, poisoning him, tainting him, and snuffing the light from
him.
“Kyan! She said she will stay, release him!” Jonah growls at him,
holding me tighter, and Kyan glares at Eziah, his breathing harsh before he
huffs and lets him go with a shove.
“She’s not staying here, with you!” Eziah roars. Eziah goes to attack
him but I move quickly thanks to Kora, also lending me her strength and
elbow Jonah and rush forward, and get between them.
“She fucking stays,” Kyan snarls him, unfazed by my brother, who
looks like he is on the verge of passing out.
Kyan reaches for my arm. “Try it Ella, you’re not leaving with him!”
Kyan threatens, but I pull away just before he manages to lock his fingers
around my wrist and instead grab my brother’s as he sways.
Eziah leans into me as he staggers, then rights his balance. The moment
he does, Kyan’s hand grabs my shoulder, his fingers digging into my skin.
“Stop, I will be fine; Jonah's with me,” I whisper to Eziah.
I glance at Kyan, who is still glaring at my brother, and his eyes go to
mine. “I’m staying,” I tell Kyan who growls
“I know,” is all he says, like the decision was never mine. It wasn’t
Kyan bends down to grab Lucas. My eyes move to Jonah, who nods to
us both. I owe Jonah to stay, and I prefer to stay with him over going home
to tell my mother that Eziah is dead because of me.
“You're not safe here,” Eziah sputters, and I hold my hand against his
chest, trying to stem the bleeding.
Ignoring his words, I look up at him. “What did you do to him?” I snap
at Kyan, who only glares at Eziah. But he says nothing. “Why aren't you
healing?” I ask, looking back at Eziah.
“Guess that gene I got from mom,” Eziah huffs.
“Kyan, help him,” I plead, but he ignores me. Instead, he grabs Lucas’s
body, tosses Lucas over his shoulder and shoves past us.
“He can help himself,” Kyan growls, walking out of the room naked,
carrying his uncle down the stairs. Tears brim in my eyes. Everything is so
fucked up. Kora is no help; I only have the ability to kill things, not heal
them, and my brother is bleeding out because of me, and Kyan refuses to
help.
“The dagger, it transfers power, you have power Mara, you can help
take it from him,” Dominic's voice suddenly appears in my ear, and I turn to
look for where it landed. My eyes spot it on the floor where it has been
kicked under the dresser, and I rush over to grab it and Jonah pounces on
me, instantly trying to rip it from my hand.
 My body hits the ground as Jonah lands on me, wrestling with me, and
pinning me. He tries to unravel my fingers from around the hilt and pry it
from my grip. I lift my knee, connecting with his balls, and he grunts in
pain but doesn’t let go.
“Jonah, stop,” I beg him, trying to shove him off.
Jonah slams my hand down, trying to make me drop the dagger, and I
cry out. Eziah is screaming in the background for Jonah to get off me. “You
won't be hurting yourself with that thing,” Jonah snaps. “Give it to me now,
Mara,” he orders, reaching for it.
“I'm helping my brother now move,” I retort, and he looks at the dagger
in my hand, then his eyes dart to my brother. Jonah’s breathing is heavy as
he looks between us before finally looking down at me. The worry on his
face is obvious, but I’m not stupid enough to try it again. No one else would
die for me.
“Fuck,” Jonah curses and steps aside but hovers nearly on top of me as I
scramble to my feet. Jonah towers over me like he thinks I will turn it on
myself.
Eziah has collapsed, sliding down the wall, his legs going out straight in
front of him as he wheezes. Kaif's claw marks seem to have poisoned him. I
have seen nothing like it before. Black veins sliver beneath his skin like
some dark plague is eating away at him from the inside out.
I know what Dominic is saying and feel the rightfulness of his words as
I look at my brother, his eyelids droop. “Where’s Mom when you need
her?” I mumble, and Eziah laughs.
“Trying not to interfere. But I bet she is screaming at that damn fountain
right about now,” Eziah laughs weakly.
“She is in the Moon Goddess realm?” I ask him as I slice his palm, and
he hisses from the stinging pain it causes.
“Yeah, she got pulled there when you-” he doesn't finish.
Jonah stands over my shoulder, and when I go to do the same to my
own palm, he grips my wrist and snatches the dagger from my grip. I growl
and Jonah grips my wrist, turning my hand and slicing my palm, making me
hiss. “I don’t trust you,” Jonah murmurs, and my stomach sinks; he then
takes the dagger.
Blood pools in my palm before I turn to my brother and grip his hand. I
gasp, feeling the power the dagger holds in it. The effect is instant, and the
moment my hand connects with Eziah's, I siphon the darkness out of him;
the darkness rushes out of him, and the coldness of Kyan's stigma moves
into me.
Eziah gasps and his back arches off the wall. I watch as his chest heals
and in return, I can feel his hand healing in mine as mine heals in his. I let
go and look at my palm.
“That is one crazy dagger,” I murmur, opening and closing my hand
while examining it.
Eziah pats his chest as he looks down to find himself healed. “Nifty
little thing, will be needing that back, though,” he says, clicking his fingers
at Jonah.
“You could try saying please,” I tell Eziah, and he rolls his eyes.
“Only for you, sis,” he says before turning to look up at Jonah, who is
still standing behind me. “Dagger, please,” Eziah says, holding out his hand
in Jonah's direction.
“Nope, neither of you can be trusted with knives; I will give it to your
mother when I see her next,” Jonah says, and Eziah glares at him.
“Where do you think we are going?” Eziah snaps at him, about to push
up from the wall.
Jonah steps closer, a threatening growl escapes him, which makes me
jump. “Mara stays. Kaif isn’t of a rational mind for her to go anywhere, and
neither is Kyan.” Jonah tells him.
“I am not leaving her here,” Eziah growls at him.
“I am with her, Eziah. Suck it up and go before Kyan comes back,”
Jonah tells him, and Eziah glances between us. I’m not willing to risk Kyan
or Kaif going postal over me leaving, so he is best doing as Jonah said.
“You fear him,” Eziah laughs, reaching for me, but I pull away. The hurt
that shines in Eziah’s eyes at the movement makes tears brim in my eyes.
“And you're an idiot if you don’t, now go!” Jonah says with a glare.
Eziah looks at me, and his brows furrow. “Marabella?” Eziah murmurs,
but I look up at Jonah when his fingers lock around my arm, and he helps
me to my feet. Jonah places his hand flat against my stomach, tugging me
closer and away from Eziah.
Jonah presses his face into my neck, his breath warm against my skin
despite the obvious defiance directed at my brother. “She will be fine,
Eziah. I won't let anything happen to her.” Jonah tries to reassure him.
“No, she is coming with me. They are no longer mates. She has nothing
holding her here, and I am not leaving my sister with that fucking
psychopath,” Eziah snaps.
“He is her mate,” Jonah argues, pulling me flush against him with an
impossibly tight grip. I go to tell my brother to go, but he cuts me off,
yelling at Jonah.
“Not anymore; he didn't want her!” Eziah growls, reaching for me.
His words sting me more than he will ever know. I know he is
defending me, and means well, but hearing that makes my chest ache at the
memory. Jonah moves quickly and at first I don’t understand the look of
fury on my brother’s face when Jonah speaks.
“Kyan made a mistake, but she was right about one thing.” Jonah snarls,
his arms snaking up higher and moving across my chest. “It should have
been me, and now it will be,” Jonah states.
My brain doesn't have time to process his words when his teeth sink
deeply into my neck. Searing pain spreads across it before the tingling
sensation overrides it. I gasp and blink as he holds me against him, pulling
me closer and tighter against him. I fear my ribs will break. My eyes roll
into the back of my head just as Kyan stops dead in his tracks when he
walks back in the door, his eyes on Jonah, and I see them flicker to Kaif.
My eyes flutter, and sparks rush over my skin as my surroundings dim and I
fight to remain conscious. The bond snaps in place, sending euphoria
through me, and I feel vertigo wash over me. The room flickers and my
limbs go numb.
“Looks like you have a little competition, Kyan. May the best man
win,” I hear Eziah laugh from somewhere in the room just before
everything goes black.
 Chapter

Ten

M arabella
I awoke at Jonah’s the following day, three days after the
altercation with Eziah. My parents have been annoying the hell out
of me, and I swear if I get one more positive affirmation meme from my
father, I may just drive up there to shove his phone up his ass. Every day is
like clockwork, they all video chat like they are worried I would try to kill
myself again.
Although, I am way more concerned about Kyan’s state of mind than
my own. We haven’t heard from him since Jonah brought me here to the
apartment. Not one word. However, today is Lucas’s funeral, so I will get to
see him.
As I climb out of Jonah’s car, he grabs my hand and pulls me to the
burial ground of Kyan's family, weaving us through the cemetery to the
back. It is odd. I half expected the service to be held at the manor, since it
has its own graveyard.
“I thought more people would show up,” I whisper to Jonah. Looking
around, only Kyan and Andrei are standing beside the grave that has
already been dug. Not even Sage is here, which I think is odd. Lucas and
Andrei were best friends, so I thought she would have come.
“Kyan only invited dad, mom, and us. Mom couldn't handle it. Stress
has gotten to her bad, and dad has been having to sedate her again,” Jonah
whispers, and I glance at him.
“Why, what happened?” I ask, worried for Aunty Sage.
“The whole Vince and Casen thing, you know mom’s fragile and not in
a good place right now. She thinks Dad is keeping things from her, and her
anxiety has been playing havoc,” Jonah tells me.
“Well, he did, kind of keep it from her,” I mumble, and Jonah sighs.
Walking through the small fence, a shudder runs through me as we enter
his family plot. Suddenly, an electric current rushes through me and stops
me in my tracks. It is an unnerving sensation. Taking a look down at the
ground, I realize I have walked right past the grave of his father. My brows
furrow, and my footsteps falter as if something is halting me from going
any further.
Andrei, noticing us, walks over, and he grips his son's shoulder. Yet, my
eyes go to Kyan, who stands silently next to his uncle's coffin. Kyan is
wearing a dark blue navy suit, the jacket is open and his hands are fisted in
his pockets. His jaw is clenched while he stares blankly ahead. I peek up at
Jonah, who is talking to his father.
With one last glance down at his father's tombstone, I let go of Jonah's
hand and wander over to Kyan and stop beside him. He still has his hands
in his pockets. Without thinking, I slip my hand into his and grab his hand
in mine. He looks down at his pocket before pulling his hand back out and
squeezes mine gently.
“I didn't think you would come,” he whispers.
“Kind of owe my life to him; it would be a bit rude not to. Plus, he
made good scones,” I tell him, and he chuckles.
“He did and jams,” Kyan laughs to himself.
Jonah walks up behind us and grabs Kyan’s shoulder and pulls him back
against him. Jonah wraps his arm around his chest from behind, and rests
his chin on Kyan’s shoulder. Kyan, surprisingly, reaches up with his free
hand and grips the back of Jonah’s neck.
“Love you, bro,” Jonah says, smacking Kyan’s chest softly.
Kyan nods, then lets him go and grips Jonah’s hand on his chest; he
squeezes Jonah’s hand before letting him go. Jonah moves beside me, his
hand goes to my waist, as we listen to the man holding the small service.
Andrei says a few words, but Kyan just nods and clenches his jaw as the
coffin is lowered. When it is done, he turns to me, leans down, pecks my
cheek and lets my hand go. I peer up at him, but Kyan looks away from me,
so I step closer, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my ear
against his chest. His heart stutters but Kyan remains frozen for a second
before one arm goes around me while his other hand goes to my hair.
 We stand there like that for a few moments, and I don’t want to let him
go, but eventually he pries my arms from around him. “Kyan?”
“Not now, Ella,” Kyan murmurs, before he walks away. I stare after
him, and so does Jonah. Jonah’s brows furrow with worry as he pulls me
closer to him.
“Want me to check on him before I go home?” Andrei asks Jonah, and
he nods. His father quickly hugs him before hugging me and walking out of
the graveyard after Kyan.
We follow, although the same thing happens again when I pass
Dominic's grave. The same violent shudder runs up my spine, and Jonah
stops looking down at me when I pause. I try to make sense of the strange
sensation that has once again overwhelmed me.
“What's wrong? Your emotions are strange,” Jonah murmurs, leaning
down.
I shake my head and suck in a breath. “Nothing, just got a strange
feeling when I walked past it,” I answer.
Once we are back home, Andrei rings to say Kyan went to work, and I
move to the couch. My phone starts buzzing as my parents try to ring me.
Shaking my head, I toss it on the sofa beside me and ignore it. I am not
really in the mood to feel like talking and I’m definitely not in the mood to
hear about pack drama.
Jonah comes to sit with me, flicking on the TV and scanning through
the apps for something to watch, when we hear a knock on the door. I
glance over the back of the couch when the sound of keys turning in the
lock reaches my ears. Jonah tugs me against him, kissing the side of my
head.
“It's just Kyan; I thought I felt him getting closer,” he whispers, and the
door opens.
Kyan steps into the apartment and shuts the door. I watch him and he
moves toward the kitchen. He drops his keys on the bench, then walks into
the living room. He says nothing, just sits down beside Jonah and me, and I
wait for him to say something, but he doesn’t.
Kyan just stares vacantly at the TV, not really watching it like he is
stuck in his own thoughts. Jonah orders takeout when it is dinner time.
Kyan looks over the back of the couch to where Jonah stands in the kitchen
on hold with someone downstairs.
“Can I stay here the night?” Kyan asks.
 “Yeah, you don’t gotta ask, you know that,” Jonah says before whoever
he is talking to picks up. Kyan nods before turning to face the TV again,
resting his chin on his hand. Kora watches him worriedly. Despite the bond
being gone because he rejected us, I still feel the overwhelming need to
touch him to ensure he is okay.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, and he glances at me.
“Yep, the house is just too quiet,” he answers, and I chew the inside of
my lip before scooting closer to him. Kyan watches me warily, clearly
wondering what I am doing. He lets out a breath when I stop, laying down.
I put my head in his lap and look up at him.
Kyan’s hand cups my cheek, his thumb brushes along my bottom lip
and jaw. “You don't hate me?” he asks. His hand moves, dropping on my
shoulder while his other pulls my hair back from my face.
“I never hated you, Kyan, and I'm sorry about Lucas,” I tell him, and he
nods.
“I have no one left now,” he murmurs, staring away at the wall.
“You have Jonah and me,” I tell him, and his eyes flick down to me, his
fingertips trail over the scar left by Kaif's old mark, and he smiles sadly.
“I have Jonah, not you. You belong to him now,” Kyan whispers as
Jonah sits back down, lifting my feet onto his lap.
“You two kiss and make up yet, or are we still being the awkward
throuple?” Neither of us say anything, and I’m not exactly sure what any of
us are anymore. Everything is different now; the bond is gone, however, the
feelings remain. My love for Kyan remains, yet I know how toxic that love
can be, and so does Kyan.
“Awkward throuple it is then,” Jonah sighs, pressing play on the movie
we are watching.
 Chapter

Eleven

K yan
Marabella squirms, and I try to tug the blanket up to cover her.
She rolls into me, and I exhale, giving up on trying to keep her
covered. “Where do you want her?” I ask Jonah as I scoop up Marabella off
the couch where she has fallen asleep. Jonah chews his lip, his eyes dart to
mine as I wait for him to answer.
“Ah, in the bed,” Jonah says awkwardly, while scratching the back of
his neck as he stands.
I shake my head at his strange behavior. I figured they would be
sleeping together but thought I would ask if they weren't sharing a bed on
the off-chance. Carrying her to the bedroom, I place her in the bed and
nearly walk into Jonah as he comes in the door.
Kaif writhes beneath my skin, wanting to stay. The bond may be
broken, but that doesn't mean we stopped loving her. However, I find it
strange being the third wheel, making me wonder if this is how Jonah felt
when she was still mine.
“She didn’t even wake; I expected her to when I picked her up,” I admit
to Jonah. His eyes flick to her and darken. “What’s wrong?” I question, and
he looks up at me.
“I made her go back on her medication,” Jonah says, which makes me
look over at him.
“She is retaking her antidepressants?” I ask.
“Yes, her mother had the doctor refill her script, and he faxed it to the
pharmacy down here for me,” I nod at him before glancing down at her
again.
 “Are you sleeping in here too?” Jonah asks, tugging his shirt off over
his head.
I’m not even sure if I can sleep. The manor stinks so heavily of bleach I
haven't slept since the night Lucas was killed, the urge to keep myself busy
prevents me from sleeping. Looking back at the bed, I shake my head. “Na,
I might head home,” I tell him, feeling a little awkward, suddenly.
Especially now that Jonah has claimed her. And with Kaif feeling
uneasy inside me with his burning jealousy; I’m not sure it would be safe to
stay.
Jonah throws his shirt at me, making me look at him. I raise an eyebrow
at him, tossing his shirt toward the hamper in the corner. “Kyan, get in the
damn bed,” Jonah growls at me before climbing in himself.
Kaif presses under my skin, wanting to sleep here and not go back
home, but I am slightly worried. Everything feels different now. Off. I no
longer know what to do with myself. I have spent years fighting the bond,
and now I just want it back. Only that she is no longer mine now.
Staring down at her, I want nothing more than to hold her, but is it safe
to do so?
“I will behave, please,” Kaif whines while peering longingly at the bed.
“Kyan, get in the damn bed; I know you want to. She is your mate, too,”
Jonah snaps, which gives Kaif a boost because he also wants her.
“Was my mate,” I remind him. I really don’t like how those words
sound when they roll off my tongue. Kaif growls at me but says nothing.
“She is still your mate; nothing is preventing you from remarking her.
Preferably you this time, though, and not Kaif,” Jonah says before yawning
and covering his mouth with his hand. “And you're still standing there like a
damn creeper; if you want I will spoon you,” Jonah offers with a laugh.
Although that actually doesn't sound half bad, not that I will admit it to
him. I’m not exactly known for liking cuddles. Sighing, I move toward the
bed, toe off my shoes, and shrug my jacket off.
Jonah watches me while he tucks the blanket around her and sweeps her
hair from her face. Her medication really knocks her out. Removing my
belt, I let my pants fall when Jonah reaches into his bedside drawer and
tosses me a pair of his boxer shorts.
“Seriously?” I ask, catching them. “I would rather go pantless,” I tell
him.
 “Suit yourself,” Jonah says before rolling on his side and tugging Mara
closer so I can squeeze in next to her.
“Ah, are you going to turn the lamp off, or are we sleeping with it on? I
promise not to let the bogey man get you,” I tell him, rolling on my side to
face Marabella. Jonah sighs, and I peek over the top of her to look at him.
“Jonah, what?” I ask, feeling he is hesitant to ask about whatever is
bothering him.
“Marabella wants to mark me. I have been putting it off,” Jonah tells
me.
“Why?” I ask him. I half expected him to jump at the idea; Kaif presses
forward to find out why he would hold off. Still, he is also jealous, which
makes me a little uneasy knowing he is actively listening in.
“One, because of you. I don't want to upset you. I know you were a little
peeved that I marked her,” Jonah states.
“I wasn't angry; I don't know what I was feeling. Still don’t know.” I
admit, still unsure how I will fit into this bizarre relationship they have
going on; it was different when she was mine. I was willing to share; maybe
I thought Jonah wouldn't be now that he has her to himself. “The other
reason?” I ask him when he doesn't continue.
Embarrassment washes through the bond, making me sit up on one
elbow to look at him. I have never seen him embarrassed before. He didn't
embarrass easily, usually, he is the one embarrassing me.
“Oh god, what is it?” Kaif mutters, feeling his discomfort too.
“She wants to have sex,” Jonah blurts, and my eyebrows rise almost to
my hairline as I peer down at her. My eyes flicker at the thought of him
fucking her, her wanting him to, yet it is more jealousy that she wants to be
with him than me being jealous of Jonah.
“So, how do you expect to mate her if you don't have sex with her?” I
ask him with a shake of my head. I can't believe I am actually having a
conversation with my best friend about fucking my mate.
“I like Jonah, but I am not listening to you give him the sex talk so he
can fuck our mate,” Kaif growls, feeling uncomfortable and pissed off.
“But it would be her first time?” Jonah sighs.
“Everyone has a first time,” I tell him. Lying back down and getting
comfortable, I watch Marabella.
“Yeah, and I would rather forget mine. Thank you very much,” Jonah
states.
 “Can’t have been that bad,” I say.
“Ah, you took me to a damn brothel. The woman was old enough to be
my mother, and she was panting over the top of me; that shit traumatized
me for life.” I feel him shudder, and I snicker at the memory of horror on
his face when I took him to it on his eighteenth birthday.
“You picked her, not my fault,” I chuckle. “You could have said no,” I
state with a shake of my head.
“I did. Then we played cards, the most awkward experience of my life,
one I would like to forget.”
“Then why did you pick her again when we went back? You always
picked her?” I ask, wondering why he would choose the same woman every
time we went if she was so terrible. Although it did make me wonder if he
had a granny fetish a couple of times, because she was fucking old.
“We played cards while waiting for you,” he says, and my brows
furrow.
“Every time?” I ask, sitting back up.
“Every time. Although I am shocked you even went to them being such
a clean freak or with any of the girls you were with from the club,” Jonah
chuckles.
“Had no choice. Kaif was always unsettled wanting his mate, kind of
like a deterrent to stop him from hunting down Ella,” I answer, looking
down at her.
“And yet you eat pussy,” Jonah laughs.
“That's different,” I chuckle.
“Ah no, it's not; I drank from your drink once by accident, and you
threw it out,” Jonah laughs.
“It's different, I don't know how, but it is; just sleep with her, Jonah.
Pretty sure it is more to do with the person than the act itself,” I tell him
with a yawn.
It would be impossible for me to understand some of the strange
compulsions I have. I know they aren't rational; I believe they are more of a
control issue or, at the very least, feeling in control.
“Here, I thought you would be jumping for joy having her to yourself,”
I tell him, and Kaif growls; if he didn't have her, his mindset is nobody
could.
Jonah hums but never answers, and I know it is because he is still pissed
off at me because she killed herself. He flicks off the lamp, sending the
room into darkness, and I roll on my back, trying to get some sleep.
It is Marabella’s voice that wakes me in the early hours of the morning;
it is still pitch dark until Jonah groans and turns on the lamp beside him.
I squint at the sudden brightness as my eyes adjust to the light.
Marabella mutters, squirming in her sleep, and Kaif presses to the surface,
peering out of my eyes. Her heartbeat is thumping loudly, and Jonah sits up,
rubbing a hand down his face.
“She’s dreaming; I think her medication makes them worse,” he says
with a yawn, turning to wake her. Curiosity is getting the better of me, and
wondering if I am the main reason for her nightmares, I reach my hand
toward her before I even realize what I am doing. I place my fingertips on
her face.
“What are you doing?” Jonah yawns again, pulling his hand back.
“Just want to see something,” I whisper, feeling my magic fizzle to the
surface when I am sucked into her dream. The gasp that leaves me as new
surroundings materialize is loud. Suddenly I am inside her head and dreams
as a bystander.
I recognize the room. It is one from the manor, and my heart thuds
loudly as I watch. Peering around the room, I think it is different. However,
it isn’t until I realize I have never been in this room with her before and that
confuses me.
A woman walks in, one of Kaif's shadow mates from a different time;
she carries a baby in her arms. Kaif follows a few seconds later, walking in
behind her, a worried look on his face. Only now do I know why he is
concerned, why he kept it from me for years. “Why is Marabella dreaming
this?” I whisper to myself.
“Because I gave them to her,” comes a voice I never thought I would
hear again. A voice that has been etched into my memories, ingrained deep
within me because I have longed for nothing more than to hear his voice
since the moment he left me.
Spinning around, I look toward the door to see my father standing there
exactly the way I remember him the last time I saw him. The shock of
seeing him has me stumbling back as he walks into the room toward me. He
looks exactly the same. Age has not touched him in her dreams.
“Dad?” He nods to me sadly.
“Hey, son,” he murmurs.
 “Wait, how? Are you real?” I ask, shaking my head as I try to get my
bearings. The sound of his voice, how I have longed to hear it again.
“In a sense, but physically, no,” he says, moving toward me.
“But you're really here, like in her dreams?” I ask, wanting to touch
him.
“She is scared; I am her guardian, just like Jonah is yours. The pull to
go to her when she has heightened emotion drags me in sometimes,” he
explains, and I nod.
He watches the shadow memory play out, moving around the room, and
I follow the man who has always been bigger than life, someone whose
footsteps I would follow to hell and back if it meant I could keep him with
me.
“Why?” I murmur, unable to help myself. One thing that has constantly
plagued me is why he would choose to leave me.
“Why did I leave you?” he asks, and stops. My father’s head tilts to the
side as he watches me, his dark reddish black eyes the same. “I never left
you, Kye, but it was the only way to break the curse,” he says.
I look away and nod as emotion chokes me at seeing him like he was
that day. The same and no different, stuck in a time when he was still with
me. “She is strong enough to survive the curse, Kye; I made sure of it. It's
why I gave her the shadows,” he tells me, motioning toward Kaif, who has
just killed his mate, and I look at him.
“How does this help you being dead? How does any of this help?” I ask.
“Because they become filled with rage, Luna's rage, they can't explain it
and only act on it. Marabella CAN live with the shadows, Kye,” he repeats,
and I look at Kaif’s dead mate lying on the floor.
“Because she always has. She knows why he killed them. She has
watched it repeatedly all her life. Lived their lives on repeat through her
dreams; she’s strong enough to endure them, and that’s exactly why the
shadows tried to kill her. Marabella’s not like them. I made sure of it.” My
first thought is all the nightmares she suffers from; here I thought it was
because of her depression when she was really living with the ghosts of
Kaif's past.
“She will forgive you, son,” my father murmurs.
“She killed herself because of me,” I tell him.
“No, she killed herself because she couldn't bear to be alone. Marabella
has you, she has Jonah, the only one that needs to forgive themselves is
you. Marabella never blamed you, Kyan; she blames herself.” My brows
furrow.
“Forgive yourself, Kyan. Forgive yourself for breaking her, because you
never did. The shadows I gave her broke her. So that is on me, not you. I am
the reason for her depression all these years; I broke her, so you didn't have
to,” he whispers. “I broke her to fix you,” he adds, making me look at him.
His words make me stumble back as I scoff, how does him abandoning
me, fix me, how does breaking her help me, her, any of us? “Fix me. You
fucking destroyed me!”
“What I did destroyed you. If I didn't, you would have destroyed
yourself when you killed Marabella and me. I gave you a chance to break
the curse, to set us all free. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made, son. It
doesn't mean they are permanent, but they are needed,” he says. I shake my
head. How could he say that when I was a child? His words replay in my
head; it doesn’t mean they are permanent?
“I'm not gone; break the curse and set me free.” His voice is but a mere
murmur before the dream fizzles as Marabella starts to wake.
“No, Dad,” I gasp as he begins to fade out. “No, wait. You can’t leave
me!” I stutter.
“I'm still here,” his voice is barely audible as the dream breaks, and I try
to cling within the remnants, only to be ripped out as she wakes up.
“Kyan?” Marabella whispers before I feel her fingers run through my
hair. I squeeze my eyes shut tighter before sucking in a breath. Opening
them, Marabella stares at me worriedly. “Kye?” she whispers, cupping my
cheek with her hand. The tingles that I used to get from her touch are now
gone, just like our mate bond.
“I have to leave, Ella. Sorry, but I cannot be with you right now,” I tell
her, pushing up off the bed.
I grab my clothes, pull them on, and leave. I hear her call out behind
me, hear Jonah too. But I can't; I can't trust myself to stay in control when
so many things are out of my control.
 Chapter

Twelve

M arabella
Kora is the one who wakes me the following morning. Vague
memories of Kyan abruptly leaving and freaking out last night
come to mind. The heartbroken look he gave me before he walked out plays
on my mind still. My mind is still foggy with sleep as I try to replay last
night's events, to figure out where everything went wrong.
I stare up at the ceiling, and I can hear Jonah on the phone. I turn to my
side and try to hear what is going on. Kyan's voice is muffled coming from
the other end. Jonah hangs up with a sigh, before laying back down and
rolling toward me. He tugs me closer, burying his face in my neck.
“Morning,” Jonah mumbles against my shoulder. Goosebumps break
out over my skin as the sensation sends pleasurable tingles down my spine.
“That was Kyan?” I ask softly, stroking my hand down his arm that is
draped over my waist. Jonah stills for a second, rests his head against my
shoulder and nods, followed by a hum.
“He dream-walked into your dreams last night,” Jonah explains, and I
roll over to face him. His eyes roam my face with tenderness, and I place
one hand on his chest, the other traces his jaw.
“That’s why he left?” I ask, and he nods, tugging me closer. His hard
body presses closer to mine, and I can feel his warmth bleeding into me.
Tingles and sparks ignite and dance across my skin where his skin touches.
“Yes, he spoke to his father, and it upset him. But he is okay; he said he
will come over later,” Jonah explains, which baffles me. I frown. I don't
understand? I have no idea what to think about what he had just said. Kyan
spoke to his father through my dream? How is that even possible?
 It puzzles me, until my train of thought is interrupted when Kora purrs
loudly, yanking me from my troubled thoughts as the noise emanates
embarrassingly loud out of me. Jonah chuckles, burying his face into my
neck, enticing her to purr louder.
I roll my eyes at her. Kora is not holding back, and I try to think around
the embarrassing noises she is making. Oh god, I have no control of her, so
I just give in. With a sigh, I press closer to him, enjoying the tingling
sensation that runs up my spine, the warmth of his skin against mine, and
his scent as it envelopes me. I want him, and I have to pull myself back
from leaning into him even more. So, I quickly dismiss the need to grind
against him like Kora wants.
My fingers trail over his chest, and I twist the bar that goes through his
nipple, turning it between my fingers. I never thought I would find a man’s
nipple so sexy. I lock eyes with him, and he smirks while watching me play
with the small bar that goes through it. He shivers and at first I think I may
have hurt him or tugged too hard on it. However, looking up, I see he finds
my actions more amusing; he doesn’t appear to be in any pain. His eyes go
to my lips before my hand moves lower. My fingertips graze down between
the valleys of his abs, down to the waistband of his pants as I toy with the
waistband of his boxer shorts. As soon as he doesn't pull my hand away like
he usually used to do, I chew the inside of my lip. I want more. I want to
feel him.
Jonah moves, and I sigh, becoming a little annoyed that he never lets me
touch him. Jonah always stops me before anything progresses. We never do
anything, even though our bond craves it. Kora growls, just as annoyed. His
rejection always leaves me distantly numb, I’m so used to it from everyone.
Yet his rejection makes me feel shame for wanting more.
I roll onto my back. My heart rate is picking up, and I can almost smell
my arousal. I am about to sit up, intending to get up and shower to help
wake up a little, when Jonah rolls into me, pushing me back down.
“And where are you trying to sneak off to?” he growls against my lips
before nipping them. I feel him smile against my lips as his lips brush
against mine, startling me when he kisses me. But Goddess does it feel so
good; I want this so bad! I give in to him as he takes the lead and kisses me
gently.
His tongue traces the seam of my lips, demanding access as he presses
his knee between my legs, forcing my legs open. Jonah moves and settles
between them. I happily give him access. His tongue plays with mine when
I part my lips, kissing him back as he tastes every inch of my mouth. I
squirm beneath him and wiggle my hips when Jonah thrusts his hips against
me gently. Fuck, this feels good! A moan escapes me, feeling his hardened
length press between my thighs.
My hand trails down his side to his hip, tugging him closer, while his
warm hand goes to my breast, squeezing and palming it gently through my
thin cami. My nipples harden at his touch, and his lips muffle the moans
that escape me. Kora purrs loudly, excitement pools in my belly that he isn't
as hesitant as he usually is. Everything becomes hazy, and I want more. No,
I crave more. Crave him.
Jonah groans when I arch my hips against him, grinding myself against
his hard erection. Fuck, it feels good; the bond urging and demanding him. I
can't even help it if I want to. His teeth nip at my lips before his hot mouth
moves down my chin to my neck, leaving open mouth kisses. He stops at
the crook of neck. Jonah sucks on his mark that lay etched into my skin.
Oh, fuck! Sparks zap and zing up my spine, and warmth pools in my belly
as desire coils within me. This feeling is breathtaking, and I want to stay in
it. Remain in this pleasure state of bliss and euphoria.
His fiery vanilla scent overwhelms my already heightened senses, and
my skin buzzes under his touch. I crave his touch on every inch of me.
However and wherever I can have him, as long as his hands remain on my
body, I will always be content.
The bond flares to life, and his touch becomes rougher as he pushes my
top up. I shiver at the chill in the air as it caresses over my heated skin.
Gripping my cami, he peels it off, tossing it on the floor, then pressing his
weight back down against me. And I won’t lie that he looks so sexy doing
that!
The warmth of his hard, defined pecs against my chest makes me shiver
in contrast to the frosty bite of the cold morning air. I’m set ablaze with lust
as his lips travel lower. His tongue flicks over my pebbled nipple before his
lips wrap around it and he bites down on it, swirling his tongue around the
hardened bud.
“Ah,” I moan loudly, unable to suppress the pleasure rippling through
me as my pussy throbs and clenches. Fuck, this is heavenly. Don’t stop! I
would drown in disappointment if he does. Kora may actually bite him if he
denies us.
 His hot mouth teases me as he continues his descent, moving lower, his
tongue licks and teeth nip as he tastes my skin. My breathing becomes
ragged, louder and harsher, as arousal sweeps over me. My desire is
uncontrollable and bordering on painful with my need to touch him. I arch
into him. His fingers toy and tease the waistband of my pants before he
freezes, pulling back to look at me questionably.
“And you’re sure you wouldn't rather Kyan?” Jonah asks me gently, and
I don't miss the strange expression in his eyes, or worry lacing his tone. My
brows furrow at his words, wondering if that is why he has been holding off
on letting me mark him.
“Why would you ask that?” I reply gently, cupping his jaw with my
hand. Jonah shrugs and bites his lip, looking unsure. I don't like seeing him
doubting our bond or himself. Jonah has always been so confident and
direct.
“I think it is because he isn't as experienced as Kyan,” Kora murmurs
to me. Her words make me feel bad that he would think that way. I want
him for who he is. Jonah is perfect in his own way, and I would never even
compare him to Kyan. Not that I can, we barely did anything. But seeing
the worry on his face upsets me. I hate seeing Jonah so insecure and
vulnerable.
“Yes, Jonah. There is no one else I would rather be with,” I assure him,
and I mean every word of what I tell him. Jonah has never let me down,
never judged, never abandoned me. He has always loved me, for me. And I
have always wanted him to be mine.
He leans forward with a smile on his lips as he presses them to mine
softly. I smile against his lips; I want him to know that I want him wholly,
that there is only one Jonah, and he is mine.
Jonah grips the waistband of my cotton shorts and quickly sits up
between my legs as he tugs them down. His eyes are still locked with mine,
and I bite my lower lip, watching him take control of the moment, only
lifting my hips slightly to help him.
He tosses them aside. Once again, I find him so enticing, his lustful eyes
on me, when he leans down and kisses my knee. My legs tremble as he
leaves sensual kisses down my thigh, his warm breath skating across my
skin, makes goosebumps rise on my skin, before he settles between my
thighs. His teeth graze my inner thigh as he nips his way down, then buries
his face between my legs. My breathing hitches and became labored at the
heat of his mouth nearing my core. His hand pushes against the back of my
thigh, forcing my legs open further, and I oblige with eagerness. He growls
as he moves lower and settles between them, his grip on my thighs
becoming firmer.
His mouth teases me, as his hot breath caresses over my lower lips. I sit
up on my elbows; his eyes watch me as I watch him before they flicker and
flash back at me. I can tell he is smiling by the way his eyes crinkle slightly.
He sweeps his tongue flat across the seam of them, making me moan. My
skin tingles and burns with desire as sparks rush everywhere. That's it! He
growls softly at my reaction as his tongue slowly peels my lips apart. He
runs his tongue through them to my clit and I fall back onto the bed. His
tongue applies the perfect amount of pressure to make me writhe with
pleasure. Moans fill the room as pleasure consumes me.
My pulse accelerates, throbbing uncontrollably in my veins as heat
surges through me. His tongue swirls around my clit skillfully, before he
sucks on it, making me whimper and mewl at the building sensation.
He continues to torment me with his tongue, slowing and speeding up,
bringing me to the edge only to let the building sensation drop only to bring
me back to the precipice. Tasting and licking every inch of me, his hand
skims down my thigh as he pulls on my thigh, angling his face to the side,
and dipping his tongue inside my tight channel and lapping at the moisture
spilling from me.
My legs tremble when I feel the first slivers of pleasure curling and
squeezing in my belly. His lips move back to focus on my clit, and he slides
his finger inside me while still sucking and licking my swollen clit.
His finger quickly becomes drenched in my arousal, sliding in and out
effortlessly as he adds another, stretching me open. My inner walls squeeze
as the friction builds, and I move my hips against his mouth, unable to stop
my own chase of the bliss he is creating. “Ah, that's it baby,” I moan. Heat
washes over me, and I moan as my sensitive nerves pulsate, making me cry
out.
My walls flutter as my orgasm pulsates through me, his fingers plunge
deeper and faster. My inner walls clench as he continues his relentless
sucking and licking. Everything tingles, my thoughts solely consumed with
the euphoria washing through me, before my mind blanks, and I see white,
it steals my vision. My moans echo around the room as I come hard. And I
have no care about who hears me. I’m lost in ecstasy as the waves of
euphoria sweep through me.
The slickness of my release spills out of me, and my body tenses, then
relaxes, as the ripple of pleasurable waves wash over me, leaving me
breathless. Jonah slips his fingers from me as his hot tongue laps at my
release. He crawls up my body, settling his weight against me. His lips, wet
with my juices, mold around mine, his tongue forces its way into my
mouth, as he forces me to taste myself on his tongue.
I pull him closer, deepening the kiss as our tongues dance together,
reigniting another wave of desire within me. His hips thrust against my
entrance, making me jolt at the overused nerves as his erection presses
against me. My hand moves down his side, and I push the waistband of his
boxers down and over his hip. He tugs them down, using his feet to remove
them altogether to kick them off the bed. Kissing him deeper and harder, I
pull him closer.
His thick, hard shaft presses against my lower lips, and I can feel his
piercings roll over my heated flesh as he pumps his hips against me. Oh,
that feels good. I moan into his mouth while he coats his shaft in the
slickness of my heat as it slides through my folds.
I arch my hips, rolling them against him, and moan at the sensation
before reaching between us, my hand strokes his hard length as my fingers
wrap around his thick shaft. He groans in pleasure, thrusting into my hand.
The sensation of his piercings running across my palm makes me gasp as
they roll over my palm and fingers, worried I would hurt him. But he
pushes harder into my hand before sucking my bottom lip into his mouth
and nibbling on it. He is perfect, and I want to feel him inside of me. I want
to be one with this amazing man, my Jonah.
I wiggle my hips, my core rubbing against him, and he kisses me harder
and moves his hand between our bodies. He takes his cock in his hand,
positioning himself at my entrance. Moving my hand to his hip, I lock my
eyes with his, tug him closer, kissing him with passion. My hips rock
against him.
He presses the tip against my entrance, his cock sliding into my wet
channel burns, and I hiss. Instinct to pull away from the pain makes me
squirm. Jonah grips my hips, holding me in place as he stills, partly
sheathed inside me. “I can stop?” he breathes the words out, and I shake my
head. I wiggle my hips, trying to adjust to the size of him stretching me.
 Jonah kisses me harder, biting down on my lip as he sinks himself
deeper, making me gasp at the painful sensation. Jonah stills. “You’re
okay,” he whispers, as his lips move down to my neck. He sucks on my
mark, making my toes curl as a hot tingling current consumes my entire
body. All pain slowly subsides as pleasure takes its place, his teeth nipping
and tongue laving over my mark, forcing the pain to abate.
I roll my hips against him as his teeth tease the mark on my neck, my
juices coat his shaft as he rocks his hips gently and slowly against me. The
burning sensation now eases,with the extra lubrication, and I chase the slow
friction to stave off the remnants of any lingering pain, rolling my hips
against him and meeting his slow thrusts.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?” Jonah whispers gently, pulling back and
searching my eyes. Instead of answering, I kiss him harder, my hand on his
hip tugs him closer, and he moves quicker, harder, building up the friction
as he slides his cock out before slamming back in and bottoming out.
I gasp into his mouth at the pain before it turns into moans, muffled by
his lips as they devour mine. The only noises in the room are my cries of
pleasure and the wet sounds of our bodies coming together. The ecstasy
builds, the sensations becoming overwhelming when my canines elongate.
My vision flickers briefly as my senses take over me, and I pull my lips
from him, tasting the metallic taste of his blood coating my lips as my teeth
nick him.
“Jonah, please!” I mewl, moaning as he drives his cock into me harder.
Jonah pulls away, his hand goes to my face, his thumb presses against my
lips, feeling the sharp points of my teeth that ache and throb to be
embedded in his flesh, making him mine.
His other arm slides underneath my lower back. He sits up, sitting back
on his knees with me on his lap straddling him. His hands grip my ass
firmly, squeezing as he moves me up and down his hard thick length. His
piercings only add to the pleasure as our position changes, and I readjust
my legs and lock my arms around his neck.
Jonah nips at my collarbone with his teeth, making me gasp at the sting
when he breaks the skin. His tongue chases away the pain as he traces his
tongue over his bite, and I grip his hair, tugging his head back to kiss him.
Our bodies move as one, like a synchronized dance. Jonah groans into my
mouth as I roll my hips against him, his hands squeezing my ass in a
bruising grip. But damn, does it feel amazing.
 My skin heats, tingling sensations rush over my body when I feel the
pressure in my lower stomach increasing. My inner walls squeeze,
clamping down around his cock, as I reach the precipice of bliss. I can hear
my heart pounding when I feel the pulse of my walls squeezing as I lift my
hips. His cock drags along my inner walls, sending me over the edge with
one hard thrust as he shoves me down on him.
My entire body spasms and tingles. My breathing is ragged as I reach
my climax and scream out. The waves are brutal as my desire coats him,
and spills into his lap while I ride my orgasm out. Jonah tilts his head to the
side. My movements become sluggish, and Jonah rolls my hips against him,
chasing his own release.
Instinct and an urge so violent overwhelms me. A growl of
possessiveness tears out of me as my need to claim him becomes too much.
My teeth pierce his skin, sinking into his flesh deeply, and his blood rushes
into my mouth and over my tongue. Jonah jerks at the sudden pain, his grip
tightening painfully, and I feel the warmth of his release spill into me as he
comes with a groan. His movement stills, and I feel the heat move through
my chest, expanding, the sensation swelling as the bond snaps into place.
I pull my teeth from his neck, running my tongue over the mark I laid
there. Jonah shivers, clutching me closer; his lips pressing against my chest
as we both try to catch our breath. His fingertips trace up my spine gently as
Kora purrs content in my head, the sound vibrating out of me and against
his chest.
My entire body relaxes; I feel boneless and putty in this man's hands.
Jonah lifts his head, his lips going to the side of my mouth before nipping at
my lip. “I love you, Marabella,” he murmurs against my lips. I smile,
kissing him back. He loves me. I knew this, but hearing it now, it feels like
so much more. He is mine, and I am his.
“And I love you,” I tell him. Jonah growls, and my back hits the
mattress as he leans forward, pressing his weight against me. His chest is
warm against mine, my heart swells with the love writhing through me from
our newly made bond.
Jonah chuckles, thrusting his already hardening cock into me. “Again?”
he chuckles against my lips. I already feel dead as he slowly moves his hips
against mine. Jonah buries his face in my neck, nipping at my jawline. I
wrap my legs around his waist, unable to deny him, moving my hips against
him, and he chuckles. As exhausted as I am, I could never get enough of
this, enough of him.
Feeling content and never so loved before, I don’t think I would ever be
able to deny him anything. How much easier it feels with Jonah, despite
still loving Kyan, too. Jonah is my light, and now I realize Kyan is my dark.
I am not their Gemini, together they are mine. It took destroying everything
to see that, especially feeling the remnants of Kyan's link to Jonah. The
longing through the bond and acceptance of Jonah, while Jonah holds
nothing but love for both of us. They are both two halves of a whole, my
whole.
“Is that a yes?” Jonah laughs as he thrusts into me again, his cock once
again rock hard, making me smile.
“Always a yes,” I tell him, tugging him closer so I can bring his lips
back to mine.
 Chapter

Thirteen

K yan
Time is not something I really pay attention to anymore. I felt
Jonah with Ella earlier, and I have been fighting the urge to go to
them ever since. Yet, I welcome the pain from my link to Jonah. I don't see
it as betrayal, just that Kaif was stupid enough to mark him as our mate. He
was never intended for us, but for her.
However, the pain is a distraction from the torment of grief rolling
through me. The guilt, anger, and profound sadness that ebbs and flows
through me is relentless as I sit in this silent house. A house that is much
too big for an entire coven, let alone one person. The coldness of this place
becomes one with how I feel inside, cold as ice, none achingly cold that the
numbness it leaves becomes painful despair.
Working just serves to piss me off even further, so I gave up on that idea
the moment it arose. Our employees don't deserve to put up with my
attitude, or an uneasy Kaif rearing his head and snapping at someone. Yet
the bottle in my hand doesn't serve its purpose either of drowning my
sorrow, it just makes me think more about it. I am consumed by my
emotions, thoughts of what is happening, and trying to stay put.
“We could always go home,” Kaif growls at me. I scoff at his
suggestion, shaking my head. Dumbass!
“We are home, idiot!” I snap. All this because he had to dip his wick in
Hades’s daughter, I think with a snarl, earning a growl from Kaif at my
thoughts. Oh, how one mistake can have a domino effect falling into the
next generation and so on, destroying an entire bloodline, the same loss and
heartache again and again. A never-ending loop of repetition of loneliness,
unhappiness, failure and death.
“Home is wherever they are. This is just a house,” Kaif says, and I raise
my eyebrows at his words and let out a breath. I know what he means, but I
can pretend I don't know. Yet, I am scared and conflicted.
“No, this is our prison to your past,” I spit at him bitterly. I am angry.
Why should I have to pay for the mistakes of others? Why should I have to
give up my mate, love and a chance at a normal life for mistakes I never
made?
“This isn’t a prison, Kyan. You have a door you can walk out of. Your
father doesn’t. None of them do. They don't get a choice. You still have one,
so make the right one!” I shake my head in disagreement, probably looking
like a mad person if anyone had to see me right now arguing with myself.
He makes it seem and sound so easy. When it is anything but! “It is that
easy Kyan, you’re making it hard!” It can't be that easy, can it?
“Yeah, because you were so accepting of Jonah when he was talking
about fucking our mate,” I retort. I’m not going to put Jonah at risk and, in
turn, put Ella at risk by going over there, even though that is all I want to
do.
Fuck, the urge to just go. I am drawn to them, like a moth to an open
flame, I would walk through fire for them, let it consume me and eat the
flesh from my bones if it meant I could keep them, death wouldn’t faze me
if they were my afterlife. It is taking all my restraint to not give into the
temptation, to not ruin this moment for them.
Kaif sighs. “I didn't disapprove, Kyan; I was just uncomfortable with
the topic in question when I knew it should be us, beside her, too.” I shake
my head. To me, it is the same difference.
“Doesn't matter if the fact remains, we are destined to be on our own, at
least then no more curse because no one will follow on the name, or our
cursed blood, and I won't have to abandon any kids, so we are good,” I tell
him, swigging from the bottle, trying to bullshit myself into believing that
shit. Because deep down, I fucking want it. Deep down I know either way
with Jonah bearing my mark, any child he fathers with her will have the
remnants of my DNA, too.
“It's not just about following the Octavian name or bloodline Kyan, and
he didn't abandon you; Mara still loves us. You just refuse to allow her
too!” Kaif snaps back. What does he know? He is a seven million-year-old,
oversized, walking mutt. I scoff. He’s the one that started this all and should
know better than any of us that her fate is set by keeping her, her death
warrant signed by loving her. My anger returns.
“Yeah, because you loved your mates so much you killed them!” I spit,
instantly regretting the words when I feel his hurt and anguish. Kaif falls
quiet, yet remains at the forefront of my mind, pondering the words that left
me and hurt him immensely. After what feels like the longest stretch of
silence, he finally speaks just before I am about to apologize for the cruelty
and anger that erupted from me. I don’t need to punish him; his own mind is
torment enough, and I only add to it by saying those words.
“When I met Luna, I loved her instantly,” Kaif whispers in my head.
That is how I feel about Marabella. Even as a child, before our bond
turned to love, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her by my
side. A feeling back then, as a child, I couldn’t identify what it was. My
underdeveloped mind mistaking it for less than what it was, not knowing
the meaning of such words, only knowing the feeling that came with it. But
now I know, it is exactly what Kaif spoke of moments ago, that feeling of
home. A feeling of vulnerability without judgement, love without
conditions, and a feeling of contentment like no other.
Kaif sighs. “Then, her father took her away, leaving me with a son to
raise. I was bitter and angry at Hades, but I still loved Luna with everything
I had. She broke me when she returned, because she didn't return for me.
That crushed me the most,” he murmurs. I roll my eyes, not wanting to
listen to his life lessons, the same old story over and over again. Just like
fucking old people, though Kaif is still determined to give me these so-
called life lessons, no matter how rational he can sometimes be. However,
at this moment I want nothing more than to wallow in my own self pity.
“Then Hades cursed me, and as much as I hated him, she was his
daughter, and I probably would have done the same if our roles were
reversed. Yet, even with him cursing me, I still found I loved her, despite her
hating me, and you know why?” Kaif asks, and I roll my eyes and exhale
loudly.
“Why?” I ask mockingly.
“Because she was the mother of my son, that was one thing I could
always love her for, for giving me a son, giving me Kage,” Kaif answers.
My irritation grows, but I am still trying to understand, to see the point he is
trying to make.
 He keeps giving me reasons on why it is okay to love her like I don’t
know them already, but what he fails to give reason to is why loving her is
so dangerous. Not for us but for her. It would be selfish to subject
Marabella to the same fate bestowed to those before her.
“And the others?” I ask. I don't understand why he just keeps going
with the curse. Why not just remain on your own and let it die out
naturally? Stop the torment and future sufferings, when would enough be
enough, when would he finally allow an end to it?
“I loved all of them, each and every single one of them. Even after they
tried to do what they did. It wasn't their fault, and I knew that. Yet, I loved
our children more; I picked them over and over again, even if it meant
destroying the women I loved repeatedly. I loved them, and I loved all my
kids, Kyan. Why do you think I always made sure to keep them safe, to set
their mothers free and their future kids free… I couldn't just give up and die
and let them rot in the shadows, not even Luna when she rejected me. Just
because they were gone didn’t mean my love for them died with them. I
couldn’t just abandon them.”
“But you didn’t abandon your sons?” I ask him.
“No, but I made a sacrifice just like what your father did, only different.
He chose your life over him, he chose your future over his and Ella's
because she was an important part of it. He did what a parent is supposed
to do. I get you're angry and sad, but if the tables were turned, what would
you have done?” I think his words over, and no matter how much I try to
refuse to believe it, or try to find another logical solution, I know that no
matter what - I would have done the very same thing. Or, if I did do
something different in the end, the guilt would have made me do the same,
anyway.
“Lucas was the same, Kyan; he didn’t have to take your father’s place
and raise you. He did it because he wanted to. You were the last piece of his
sister, his nephew. Your mother’s child, he could have hated your father for
taking your mother as his mate. Especially knowing the bloodline was
doomed; your father never hid it from her or Lucas. He made sure they
knew what she was getting into. Your father was always upfront with him;
that much is clear because Lucas always knew more than he should,” Kaif
explains. Yet that doesn’t make me feel any less guilty for his death, and it
certainly doesn’t make me change my mind about risking Marabella’s life
or Jonah’s.
 “Lucas did it because your mother loved your father, and he respected
the mate bond. He then honored her by being there for you long after she
died; he didn't have to be. Lucas was always helping raise you, and he did
right into adulthood. He took the place of your father, so you had one. You
became his son too, and once you were grown, he still stayed when he could
have left,” Kaif continues.
“Lucas could have had a life, instead he wasted it raising me out of
some twisted obligation!” I scoff. He would be alive still if he walked away,
as he should have.
“Yes, but you became his life because he chose you over himself; you
were more important. Lucas stayed despite being petrified of the future your
father told him would come true. The future he kept hidden from even us,
and why is that Kyan? What do you think the future was that your father
saw for Lucas?” Kaif asks.
“You believe Lucas knew Marabella would kill herself because of me?”
I ask him.
“I know he did, because he stood right there and didn't flinch when
Eziah plunged that knife into his neck. He had plenty of time to move Kyan,
but he remained where he was, accepted it and let it happen. He chose his
son because you were as much his as you were your father’s. Lucas chose
Marabella over himself because you needed her more than you needed him.
Lucas didn't need kids; he had you, and he was content with that because if
he wasn't he would have walked away, but he didn't. A child doesn't have to
be made by you for you to love them like your own. Look at Jonah,” Kaif
says and I know he’s damn right, but it’s still hard to wrap my head around.
Kaif continues prattling on. Though I’m not going to admit it, I am actually
paying attention to the old fossilized Lycan.
“You think you lost your father, but you gained two more. Andrei always
treated us like his, just like he treated and loved Jonah the same as Rose.
You lost your father but gained two others in Andrei and Lucas. Your
father's sacrifice was necessary for his son to live, just like mine was to
ensure my sons did; even if it meant breaking my own heart and losing my
mates. Your father and Lucas gave their last breath to ensure you took your
next one. Just like I broke my own heart repeatedly by killing them to ensure
my sons kept beating, you can't have everything without losing something in
return, Kyan.”
 “But I have already lost everything, Kaif. Look around. No one is
here!” I retort, unable to keep my anger and frustration in.
“Yes, because they're waiting for you to pull your damn head out of
your ass and stop wallowing over things you can't change!” Kaif growls,
and I scoff bitterly.
“Yeah, from the feelings earlier, they sure aren't waiting, they are
clearly too busy with each other,” I deadpan.
“And you call me jealous!” Kaif huffs.
“I'm not jealous; I am… happy for them?” Though those words taste
wrong on the tip of my tongue as I say them. It is somewhat true, I am
happy, just… I am struggling too.
“So happy that you are here and they are there waiting for you?”
“They aren’t fucking waiting,” I snarl, shaking my head as I massage
my temples.
“If they weren’t waiting, why did Jonah ask you about sleeping with her,
knowing she was our mate? Why would they both ask you to stay?” Kaif
breathes, shaking his head at me.
“Whatever,” I sigh in dismissal when he forces control of my drunken
body, making me stand up; I face-plant the moment he stands me up.
“Should have done that slower,” Kaif laughs as I shake my head,
getting on my hands and knees. The glass bottle in my hand shatters as I
land on top of it. I look down at my ruined shirt and growl.
“Stop crying over wrinkled shirts and spilled whiskey. You already look
like shit, so you can't look much worse,” Kaif growls, forcing me to my feet
again. I stagger to the door, snatching my keys.
“You can’t drive. We have to walk. You’re drunk,” Kaif snarls at me,
shaking my hand out until I drop them, and I growl at him.
“If you can bend down and get them without falling on your face, you
can have them!” Kaif taunts, knowing full well I will face-plant the ground
again.
“I am not walking there!” I snarl.
“Then call Jonah to come to get you,” Kaif retorts, shaking my head. I
clutch it with my hands. His quick movements are going to make me puke.
“Damn weakling, learn to hold your liquor. Back in my day, our piss
was more intoxicating than that prissy crap you’ve been drinking,” Kaif
growls, forcing control of my hands as he reaches into my pocket.
 “Back in your day, you wiped your ass with gum leaves and thought the
world was flat,” I deadpan. He shakes his head at me, well my head,
because he has control still. His fingers fumble with the phone for a few
seconds before he manages to call Jonah.
“You should text first; he could be asleep. It's late now!” I snap.
“I don't text; I don’t know how to use this stupid device! Though they
are handy and far faster than sending a letter in the mail or by pigeon,”
Kaif retorts before a sleepy Jonah answers the call.
“Hey, Kyan? Is everything ok?” he yawns into the phone before Kaif’s
voice spills from my lips, and I feel Jonah’s shock through the bond.
“You need to come and pick his drunk ass up and take him home,” Kaif
orders him.
“Ah, okay, where is he?” Jonah yawns again, but I can hear him getting
up and moving about.
“At home,” Kaif answers in reply.
“Give me twenty minutes, and I will be there. Do you want me to wake
Mara and we stay there, or am I bringing him here?” Jonah asks Kaif.
“Pick him up, us up. Let Mara sleep. I don’t want to wake her.”
“Yep, be there in twenty, walking out the door now,” Jonah replies, and
Kaif hangs up before abruptly giving me control. The moment he does, I
fall on my ass with a grunt.
“Ha, I got my keys,” I chuckle, only for the keys to go flying the
moment I grip them as Kaif takes control, tossing them over my shoulder.
“Nope, you don’t,” Kaif laughs, and I shake my head before using the
hall stand to pull myself up and stagger to the kitchen in search of another
bottle.
“What are you doing?” Kaif snarls as I grab another from the shelf.
“If I have to listen to your life lesson crap and whatever shit you're
spouting about, I would rather be drunk off my face,” I tell him.
“You already are drunk!” Kaif yells at me as I unscrew the cap.
“Ah, don't yell. You hurt my brain,” I tell him.
“That would imply you have one. You either don't or don't know how to
use it from my standpoint. But fine, you want to make a fool of yourself. Go
for it,” I mimic Kaif’s words back to him while falling into the wooden
chair and sitting on the dining table chair, only to miss it and end up on the
floor. Tipping whiskey on my shirt.
 “Oh, what's wrong, Kyan? OCD kicking in, that is a terrible stain, oh
no it’s an atrocious stain,” Kaif taunts.
“Shut up,” I tell him while trying to wipe it, only spilling more on my
pants.
“Oh my gosh, what would the neighbors think if they saw you like
this?” Kaif continues to taunt me.
“Good thing we don't have neighbors then!” I tell him.
“Is that a wrinkle?” Kaif asks, and I snarl at him but can't help looking
for the wrinkle he speaks of. There are lots of creases. My clothes are
ruined and seeing them heightens my anxiety.
“What's wrong? Can't walk to your room to get changed?” Kaif mocks.
“No, but you can,” I mutter.
“Not a chance. If you're drinking, I am going on strike!”
“You can't go on strike. We are the same person, idiot. What will people
think of seeing us like this?” I snap.
“I don't care what anyone thinks. I used to wipe my ass on gum leaves
apparently and thought the world was flat. Clearly, that means I don't think
at all!” I growl at him. “My oh my, haven’t you found yourself in a pickle,”
Kaif laughs.
 Chapter

Fourteen

J onah
By the time I get to Kyan, I feel woozy from his drinking. I pull up
out the front expecting him to be waiting outside, only he isn't. I try
ringing him, but when he doesn't answer, I get out and unlock the door with
the spare key.
“Kyan?” I call out, but get no answer as I step into the foyer. All the
lights are off when I hear garbled talking coming from the kitchen.
I walk over and push the door open to find Kyan sprawled out on the
floor, talking aloud to Kaif. I chuckle and walk over to him and stand above
him. Kyan lifts the bottle he is clutching before it bangs to the floor with his
clumsiness as I peer down at him.
“My shirt has creases,” he slurs. I look him over and shake my head in
amusement. It is rare to catch Kyan this vulnerable, rare at all for him to
allow himself in such a state where I can see his vulnerability.
“Yes, it does,” I laugh while bending down and grabbing his shoulders. I
pull him to sit up.
“Kaif is being an asshole,” he slurs, and his eyes flicker to Kaif’s
briefly, making me smile.
“Come on, let's get you home. Why have you been ignoring my calls all
day?” I ask him. He mumbles about not wanting to disturb us while I try to
haul him to his feet.
“A little help, Kaif, would be great,” I groan, taking his weight. I feel
Kaif’s presence as he moves to help me get him upright, and I toss his arm
across my shoulder.
“You fucked my mate,” Kyan slurs his accusation.
 “Our mate and I tried to call you all damn day. Marabella has also been
trying to call you.”
“My shirt has creases; can you get me a blue one?” Kyan asks.
“Seriously, let me get you home first; I will get you tucked in bed where
you should be.”
“It has creases, and I want a blue one,” Kyan mumbles, and I sigh. I
place him on the dining table chair before prying the bottle from his grip
and placing it in the sink.
“I will get you a shirt, stay,” I tell him, walking out and up to his room.
Partway up the stairs, I hear a thud.
“Don't think he stayed,” Jax chuckles in my head.
I click my tongue before pushing his door open. Everything is spotless,
like the rest of the house. This entire floor stinks heavily of bleach. I move
to his closet and find him some clothes and grab his pajama pants and a
tank top for home.
“Blue shirt!” Jax reminds me, and I groan, seeing I grabbed his usual
black. Going back to his closet, I find a light blue button up and toss it over
my arm.
Grabbing his wallet off the bedside table, I stop, looking at the photo. It
is of him, his father, and Lucas from when he was a kid. My heart sinks for
him as I set it back down. He has obviously been through his photo albums
because these weren’t here the other day. I find one of me and Marabella,
also in a small frame next to his bed, along with one of him and me from
when I was around sixteen. I chuckle at it, setting it down and flicking his
lamp off. Sighing, I grab his clothes and wander back downstairs.
Going back to the kitchen, I see that he has fallen off the chair, his legs
in the air, and he is muttering incoherently. I set everything down and pull
him back onto it, trapping his legs between mine, so he doesn’t topple off
again.
“I spilled my drink on it,” Kyan murmurs, leaning his head against me.
“I have seen you in worse states; it's fine,” I tell him, leaning him back
against the chair. I start unbuttoning his shirt before grabbing the new one
off the hanger. It is like trying to dress a child. He is that uncoordinated, and
Kaif is no help.
“Better?” I ask him.
“You ironed my shirt?” Kyan slurs.
“No, I just got a new one,” I laugh at his rambling.
 “Come on, let's get you home to our girl,” I tell him, hauling him
upright.
“Kaif tossed my keys,” Kyan growls.
“That’s a good thing; you’re drunk and probably would have killed
someone, or yourself,” I say.
“But you came to get me,” he mumbles, leaning against me while I try
to hold him upright and struggle to carry him and the spare clothes with his
belongings.
“Always, you know that,” I tell him, dragging him to the car. I put him
in the passenger side before racing back to the house to turn all the lights
off and lock the place up. Climbing back in, he is leaning his head on the
window. My hand reaches over to help him clip his belt.
“Ready to go home now?” He nods sluggishly, and I shake my head.
Starting the car, I take off down the long driveway and onto the road. The
first half of the drive, I listen to ramble on about how much he loves Ella
and me. Then, he abruptly stops talking, making me glance over at him to
see him heave.
“Don't you puke in my car!” I scold.
“I'm gonna be sick,” Kyan mutters before burping.
“Not in my car, you’re not,” I tell him, ripping the car off to the side of
the road. He heaves again, and I jump out, opening the passenger door and
grabbing his shoulders as he nearly falls out from leaning against it. I grip
his shoulders, only for him to puke on my feet. I sigh, jumping back and
keeping a hand on his shoulder while he empties his stomach.
“Are you good now?” I ask him, and he nods before shaking his head
and puking again. When I am finally convinced he is done, I push him back
into his seat and groan, seeing his ruined shirt and removing it before
grabbing the T-shirt off the backseat. He would kill me tomorrow if I hauled
him through the hotel looking like that. Using his ruined shirt, I clean his
face.
“I love you, Jonah,” Kyan mumbles, then laughs.
“I love you too. You’re really drunk; I think you have confessed your
love for me a million times now,” I tell him, chucking the shirt along with
my shoes in the trunk.
“My teeth feel furry,” he says before grabbing my water bottle from the
cupholder.
 He drinks some, and I blink at him. He never shares drinks or anything.
But I assume his mind is so far obliterated that he doesn’t seem to notice he
is drinking out of my drink bottle from yesterday. I let him go, not
bothering to point that small fact out, and continue driving home.
By the time we finally arrive and I park in the underground parking lot,
it is a little after 1 AM. I have no idea what the time is when I finally get
him out of the car and haul him into an elevator.
Getting him to the top floor, I have to get Kaif to help me walk with
him. His dead weight is becoming too much, and he is killing my lower
back. Unlocking the door, he is rambling about needing to brush his teeth
and needing a toothbrush. I laugh, dragging him into the bathroom, trying to
keep him quiet, so he doesn't wake Mara. He would be mortified if she
found him in this state.
Digging around under the sink, I find a fresh toothbrush and open the
packaging, handing it to him while I turn the shower on. Then, I turn around
and find him stuck between the gap of the wall and the toilet. I heave him
out, then quickly strip my clothes off and drag him into the shower with
me.
“You owe me big for this; I never thought I would have to shower you,”
I tell him.
“You're a good friend,” he mutters as I set him on the shower floor and
lean him against the wall. I remove the showerhead and retrieve the soap,
and he raises a hand. “My only friend.”
“You have lots of friends. You just don’t like them,” I laugh. He
snickers, chewing on the toothbrush as he tries to brush his teeth. I roll my
eyes, watching him struggle. Crouching down in front of him and prying it
from between his teeth and out of his grip.
“You know, Kaif, you could try to help him,” I growl. I know that Kaif
is punishing him.
Kaif can perfectly handle Kyan’s human form, so I know he is simply
refusing too.
“You look like you have it mastered,” Kaif laughs, his voice echoing off
the tiled walls.
“Quiet, he will be upset if Mara sees him like this, not that she would
care. She has been asking for him all day,” I tell Kaif.
“And this idiot has been pining for her all day,” Kaif mutters, while
trying to brush his teeth for him.
 “Wake up, buddy,” I tell him, tapping his face. “You need to spit. You
can’t swallow it,” I laugh.
“That's what she said,” he laughs.
'“And who is she?” I laugh, pulling him forward so he can spit the
toothpaste out.
“Huh?” he says mumblingly to my question, clearly too intoxicated to
remember what he said when the door opens. Marabella walks in. I stare at
her over my shoulder. Mara’s eyes widen as she sees me naked and in the
shower with a very naked Kyan. Awkward!
Yet she doesn’t comment on my getting naked with him or the fact my
dick is right in his face, which by the way makes this situation look like I
am some pervert taking advantage of him.
“Is he alright?” she asks, rushing over and opening the shower door.
“He is fine, just drunk,” I tell her, and she sighs.
“I woke up, and you were gone. Are you sure he is okay?” she asks,
prying his eyelids open, his eyes roll around in his head.
“Yep, I was about to bring him to bed,” I tell her, and she leans over,
grabbing the soap from my hand. Marabella helps me finish washing him,
but now he is comatose. “You did not see him like this,” I tell her.
“See what?” she laughs, wrapping a towel around him while I hold him
up.
“She definitely did, and I will make sure to tell him what an ass of
himself he made,” Kaif says, coming forward.
“Hey! Kaif, there’s no need to do so. And don't be mean,” Mara scolds.
“Never, my love,” he purrs at her, and she chuckles.
“Well, can you help us dress him and get him to bed, please?” she asks
Kaif, and he does, coming forward. Wow, isn’t this so damn surprising?
Anything for Mara and not a bit of help for good old guardian buddy Joanh,
right?
“You damn well come forward for her, you twat, but made me drag him
up here!” I hiss at him.
“She said please,” Kaif laughs, and I shake my head. I just brushed his
damn teeth and washed him, but he comes forward instantly for her. Kaif
also helps us get Kyan in bed before I feel him leave, going back into the
deepest parts of Kyan's mind.
Kyan snores, and Mara pulls the blanket over him, while I grab some
shorts and climb into bed behind him. After yawning, I flick the light out
when Mara giggles, and I lift my head to look for Kyan in the dark. Kyan
has pushed his nose into her neck, tugging her to him.
“You’re home now, Kye, where you belong,” I whisper to him as I sigh,
and roll over, tossing my arm over both of them, and fall asleep.
 Chapter

Fifteen

M arabella
Upon feeling someone move and hearing Kyan groan, I am
roused awake as he tucks me closer to him, burying his face into my
neck. He slowly rolls me toward him, and I am enveloped in his heady
fragrance. The warmness of him seeps into my skin, covering me in his
scent. Jonah, in turn, pulls him closer. His arm lay across Kyan’s waist, his
hand resting on my lower back. And this feels perfect. This is how it was
meant to be. How it should have been from the very start.
“I feel like shit,” Kyan groans against my chest. I run my fingers
through his dark, tousled hair, my nails making circles on his scalp, and he
groans in approval. I blink, wondering what time it is because the sun is
already pretty high in the sky, from what I can tell through the light filtering
into the room between the cracks of the blinds. Damn, how long have we
been sleeping?
Jonah tugs Kyan closer, and Kyan lifts his head, looking down at
Jonah's muscular arm pulling him closer. I chuckle, and Kyan grips his
wrist, raising his arm, before sighing and placing it back down.
As Kyan turns back to face me, he looks down at me, squashed against
him. And I can't help but smile, finding it rather cute. His hand moves to
my cheek, and he cups it with his hand, then drops his head back onto my
chest, burying his face in my boobs. His hand rests on the side of my face
and the other is on my shoulder. The realization dawns on me that Kyan is
actually leaning his head on my chest. This big, powerful man that has done
everything to shut me out. The very man, who has refused us both from
having one another - he is here, pressed flush against me.
 As I run my fingers through his hair, messaging his scalp, I can feel his
breath on my skin when he finally looks up again.
He stares at me. “I'm sorry, Ella. If I could take it back, I would,” Kyan
murmurs. His thumb strokes over my bottom lip softly as he hovers above
me, his eyes search mine, and I can see he means every word. His emotions
are raw and displayed across his face. This time, Kyan isn’t trying to shut
me out or hide anything from me.
“Damn, those words must have tasted so salty on your tongue,” Jonah
laughs behind him, and Kyan clicks his tongue and turns his head to glare at
him. Kyan chuckles softly. Goddess, I love his smile, his laugh, and I can’t
help but smile at seeing this side of him.
“That erection you have best be for Ella and not me,” Kyan retorts,
shooting Jonah a pointed look.
“What?” Jonah says and his eyes widen. He jumps back, falling off the
bed with a thud. I snicker at him before Jonah stands up, his hands cover his
crotch awkwardly. Not that he is able to conceal that huge thing. Jonah
clears his throat awkwardly, his face flames with embarrassment, his eyes
look everywhere but at us. And I have to suppress laughing at him.
“Fucking Kaif,” Jonah mutters with a growl.
“Please don’t,” Kyan says, and Jonah’s face reddens even more. “No, I
didn't.” Kyan raises an eyebrow at him. Which only makes Jonah’s warm
cheeks redder.
Jonah clears his throat, coughing. “I will, um… go take care of this,”
Jonah says, rushing off into the bathroom and shutting the door. I can feel
his embarrassment and frustration through the bond. I laugh at Jonah’s
quick departure, and Kyan shakes his head, staring at the door where Jonah
disappeared, before looking back down at me.
“Next time, you can be piggy in the middle,” Kyan laughs, the sound is
like music to my ears, and that smile makes him even more handsome. I
smile, just happy to see he is okay after last night.
“I never should have rejected you, Ella. Though, I am glad that you
have Jonah, but if we-” he stops mid-sentence and sighs, and shakes his
head. We… that little word… silently, hope starts blossoming within me.
Kyan chews his lip. “If we.. I mean… if you want..?” He sighs,
dropping his head before trying again, and I can see the tinge to his cheeks,
like he has no idea what he is trying to ask for. And I find his awkwardness
adorable and so endearing. I know what he is trying to say, but seeing him
try, seeing him take this moment, seeing his raw emotions and this gentle
side of him, I want to savor it. A flicker of consciousness from Kora within
me makes my heart beat faster as she presses forward with me. Peering at
our mate.
“Damn, it must be really salty tasting,” Kora laughs. “So cute, look at
him stuttering,” Kora snickers, and I bite the inside of my lip, trying not to
laugh at her words while watching Kyan try to spit out the words he wants
to desperately find and voice.
He isn’t usually someone who struggles with words. He has a bad habit
of using them as weapons. But this is like seeing a different Kyan, one I
know would be reserved for his mates. My eyes roam his handsome face
while he tries to form a damn sentence that makes sense.
“I say go cave dweller style, just mark him and make him your bitch,”
Kora says, growling and shaking her head, urging me to claim our mate, not
wanting to waste another moment while he stumbles over his words. She
doesn't care that he already rejected us. She wants him anyway, and so do I.
Him, leaving me didn't change that. “Just give him a big old love bite,” she
snickers.
I roll my eyes at her before turning my attention back to Kyan, who is
still stumbling over his words. Okay, that's enough. Let me help the man out
of his misery. I know what he wants to say.
With a sigh, I grip his shoulders and yank him closer, pressing my lips
to his. Kyan’s blabbering words cut off from whatever gibberish he was
speaking or trying to speak. His shock only lasts moments before he kisses
me back. He closes his eyes, his breath hitches as he heaves in a shaky
breath. He forces his tongue between my lips, tangling it with mine as his
lips dominate my mouth. He purrs, tasting every inch and making me tug
him closer. Something wet touches my cheek as his arm slips under my
back, pulling me on top of him, so I am straddling his lap. Oh, goddess, this
feels good. His strong, muscular body pressing against mine.
Kyan sits up, his hands grabbing, his fingers digging into my flesh as he
kisses me with passion filled hunger. His hands roam over my body before
one escapes, slipping inside my shirt and going to my breast. He palms and
squeezes it. An approving growl escapes him and I arch my back and throw
my head back as pleasure ignites, setting my body alight with desire. I pull
away, hearing Jonah's voice coming from the bathroom.
 “You are not helping my situation here. Hello, stop doing whatever you
are doing, or I will end up rubbing the damn skin off it,” Jonah calls,
making me laugh.
I look at the bathroom door over my shoulder. Kyan chuckles, and I turn
back to him, his eyes all bloodshot, tear tracks bleed down his cheeks. I
wipe them away gently and kiss his eyes. His thick black lashes flutter
slowly as he looks at me and he smiles sadly before his gaze moves to the
ceiling as if he is embarrassed to be caught looking so vulnerable.
“I don’t deserve you or Jonah,” Kyan breathes out, pressing his
forehead against mine.
“Says you,” I tell him, running my fingers through his hair and grabbing
a handful.
I jerk his head to the side, sinking my teeth into his neck. His blood
spills into my mouth and coats my tongue. His emotions flood into me as
the bond stretches and merges with Jonah’s, expanding and making room
for him, too. How it should have been all along. His regret, guilt, shock, and
sadness mix with happiness - all of that bleeds into me at once. And it is so
intense that it nearly brings me to tears.
Kyan clutches me closer; his grip is tight, like he thinks I will disappear
from his grasp at any moment, his strong arms engulfing me. I pull my teeth
from his neck before running my tongue over it and sealing the mark. I
vaguely hear the bathroom door open when I mark him, before feeling the
bed dip behind him. I look up to see Jonah with a towel around his waist.
He climbs onto the bed behind Kyan. His hair is still wet as he crawls over
to Kyan who drops his head against my chest.
Jonah leans over, gripping my chin and tilting my face up to his. He
kisses my lips softly over Kyan’s shoulder, and groans into my mouth,
deepening it for a few seconds, then reluctantly pulling away.
Jonah then settles behind him, his legs going either side of his. Jonah
then sinks his teeth into Kyan’s neck over my mark. Kyan jumps when
Jonah’s teeth pierce his skin, and Kyan’s grip on me tightens, his chest
heaving heavily as Jonah marks Kyan as his before pulling his teeth out and
sealing it with his saliva as he runs his tongue over it. Kyan shivers at the
sensation.
“Welcome home,” Jonah tells him, wrapping his arms around us both
and squashing Kyan between us.
 I feel their bond snap into place, and the warmth coming from within
Kyan makes Kaif press forward. And Kyan indeed feels like he is home, or
at least has one for the first time in ages, like he finally belongs somewhere
and that place is with us. It has always been with us.
His body ripples against mine and his eyes flicker to the darkness that is
Kaif. “Just so we are all clear, no donutting. I will not be touching your
donut, and you will die before you ever touch mine. Are we clear? We are
mates, just not those sorts of mates. We are, what is the term... friends but
with no benefits,” Kaif states, making me snort as Jonah climbs off the bed
to dry himself.
“Wow, you have a way with words,” I laugh.
“Thank you, love; I have no issue touching your donut, though,” Kaif
says, and I pull a face at him.
“Yeah, not happening,” I mutter.
“That's what she thinks,” Jonah chuckles, and Kaif laughs while I raise
an eyebrow at Jonah.
I feel Kyan return as his hands trail up my side, peeling my shirt up and
tugging it off over my head. The feel of his warm hands traveling over my
skin to the sides of my breasts makes me shiver. The sparks I missed return,
making my nipples harden.
Kyan pulls me closer, lifting me higher, his lips wrapping around the
hard bud as he flicks it with his tongue. I sigh, gripping his hair, enjoying
the warmth of his touch and the feel of his hot mouth on my body. Hands
grab my hair, tangling in it, and tug my head back before Jonah’s lips mold
around mine. His tongue invades my mouth, playing with mine. Fuck. This
feels like heaven and sin. Both my mates, wanting me and loving me. The
heat of their strong bodies fills me with warmth as it consumes me.
Their touch lights a fire I would happily burn in just to keep their touch.
Sparks rush everywhere as the bonds flare to life. Kyan’s lips move higher,
and Jonah lets me go, leaving me breathless as Kyan runs his tongue over
Jonah's mark on my neck. The sensation makes me moan before he kisses
the spot, and I feel his lips part, his canines raking over it. My eyes fall,
closing when he sinks them into my flesh. Sparks race over me everywhere,
and goosebumps rise on my skin, my toes curling, and I gasp as pleasure
courses through me.
Within seconds, weightlessness crashes into me, and I blink as he pulls
his teeth from my neck, blinking up at the ceiling as the room starts to grow
darker. My body feels like it is liquifying, and Kyan's fingers grip the back
of my neck as I have no control over it, and it lulls to the side. He turns my
face toward his. His tongue traces the seam of my lips.
“I love you, Ella,” he whispers softly against my lips before kissing me
tenderly. I blink at him to see him smile softly as darkness steals my vision.
 Chapter

Sixteen

M arabella
Weightlessness consumes me, the oblivion fades when I am
suddenly somewhere else. A place I have never seen before, in a
time that no longer exists. A woman stands next to a huge square stone, a
man on the other side. His resemblance to Kyan and all Octavian men is
uncanny. Witches circle around, chanting, their hands in the air as storm
clouds swirl above. Their clothes and dresses tell me this is a period of time
that existed centuries ago, long before my existence.
“Once this is done, it cannot be undone, Kaif,” the woman says. He
peers over his shoulder at the young woman, who stands off to the side but
within arms reach of Kaif. She has the same regal air to her as the woman,
who holds out her hand to Kaif, a dagger is in her hand, the same blade I
saw upstairs yet no gemstone is in its hilt.
“It's the only way, Celeste; I will not lose her,” Kaif tells the woman,
her dark flowing curls pick up in the wind, blowing behind her like a dark
veil as magic surges around, making the wind stronger.
“Very well. Luna, come forward, dear,” Celeste calls to her daughter.
Kaif smiles tenderly at her, though I can see the dangerous glint in his eyes.
A glint that tells me he is no longer human. Kaif is a Lycan, a beast.
Looking around the vast village, I notice the Lycans chained down, caged,
yet here Kaif stands in control, and by the look on his face as he stares
down at his future mate, she is the one that helped him keep that control.
And I recognize this to be the seance that binds them. Celeste cut both their
palms before drawing the blood into the stone.
 She murmurs a few words as their blood mingles together. And then, all
of a sudden, it catches fire and turns to tar before she raises her hand,
drawing the tar-like substance off the rock and into the air. The flames of
the torches stab into the ground, flare high into the sky while the tar-like
blood drops fall back into a goblet Celeste holds in her hands. I watch as
Kaif and Luna drink from the goblet; it appears to be some ceremony.
“Correct,” Dominic’s voice says, answering my thoughts when he
materializes beside me.
“This was the first pairing; she tied their souls. Now watch,” Dominic
says, and I turn my gaze back to the memory playing out in front of me. Kaif
drinks from the goblet and heaves in a breath, his eyes flickering black
before he roars, suddenly shifting, and out comes the beast.
Celeste jumps back away from him and tries to tug her daughter away,
who just stares. Kaif’s breathing is ragged, and he truly is the monster they
portray him to be at this moment. Luna, however, holds no such fear despite
her mother trying to pull her back. Instead, she reaches her hand up and
cups his giant furry face, her hand runs down his neck to stop as it falls
over his heart.
“Right here, this where you are,” Luna murmurs to him. His trembling
stops, his breathing slows, and finally, he begins to shift back; it is so weird
seeing a Kyan look-alike in a time period that ended eons ago. Back to
himself, he grabs Luna around the waist and sinks his teeth into her neck.
She clutches his arms and her back arches as he marks her before she
passes out. “Mine, forever mine,” Kaif murmurs as he scoops her up.
“That was our first mistake, taking a god’s daughter for a mate,”
Dominic whispers as my surroundings swirl and fade before it morphs to
another time and place sometime later.

L una is holding a baby boy in her arms. She sits in a rocking chair, her
son is suckling at her breast on the porch of their home. It is a clear day
as I stare at the vast homestead. Kaif, I could see in the distance, is in the
fields sowing seeds by hand, working the land while Luna watches on with
a smile on her face.
I watch Kaif, and it isn't until I hear Luna's scream for him do I turn
back to the house. A man appears out of nowhere. He stands on the step. I
find him imposing; this man commands attention, and the vibe he gives off
sends an ice cold chill up my spine and threatens to steal the air from my
lungs.
“Father!” Luna gasps, clutching her baby boy in her arms. Hades tilts
his head, observing his daughter, looking her up and down with judging
eyes and a sneer of disapproval.
“Your mother was a fool for thinking she could hide you from me,”
Hades speaks as he walks up the steps slowly. His steps are calculated and
his eyes fall on the baby boy in her arms. Hades sneers and glances over at
Kaif in the fields before glaring at his daughter.
“You dare disrespect me so, to breed with the mutts your mother
created,” Hades snarls. Luna backs up, and I hear Kaif’s roar behind me,
but he is too far away. Hades tries to grab his daughter, but she is helpless
with her arms full with their son. She could only run, which is what she
does.
“Kaif!” Luna screams, the sound so petrified, it hurts my ears and
breaks my heart and makes it clench as she runs from the man who she calls
father. She doesn’t get very far before Hades materializes in front of her
and blocks her path of escape. Her feet falter as she stands on the hem of
her dress and trips. Luna manages to pivot just in time before she lands on
her baby. Her screams for her mother, for Kaif, are pointless as Hades
advances. Her cries for him to let her go fall on deaf ears.
“She has brainwashed you against me!” Hades’s roars, gripping her
arm, while trying to rip the baby from her arms. “You're not keeping that
mutt!” he snarls at her as his hands yank at the baby’s blanket.
Kaif races toward them, screaming for his mate and son, while Luna
struggles to protect her boy from her father. Kaif's feet creak on the wooden
floors of the porch when Luna screams. My heart lurches in my chest when
magic surges in Hades’s hands, aiming straight for the baby in her arms.
Luna screams, and Kaif shouts as Hades goes to deliver a lethal blow to
their son. In sheer panic, Luna does the only thing she can think of. She
throws his bundled up little body. Kaif’s feet falter as his eyes follow his
son, wrapped in his white crocheted blanket flying through the air.
 “I’ll come back for you both,” Luna yells just as Kaif catches the
bundle in his arms only to look up to see Luna slam her hands into her
father's chest, her own magic slams against him. Hades grips her arms and
snarls before they vanish into thin air. Kaif wails, shifting back into his
human form. His son is tucked in his arms as he unravels him, checking on
him.
His shoulders drop with relief as his son lets out a loud scream.
Moments later, Celeste appears frantic, looking for her daughter as she
runs across the field toward him. She stops on the steps, and her eyes go to
Kaif, who is on his knees. “I'm too late,” she sobs, stumbling over to him.
Her hands grip his shoulders as she peers over him to look at her grandson.
“I didn’t make it,” Celeste wails for her daughter. “I failed her.”
“I’ll fucking kill him. I’LL FUCKING KILL HIM!” Kaif roars with a
fury so strong I am surprised he doesn’t break into a million facetted pieces.
“Revenge, it does nobody any good,” Dominic speaks, appearing
beside me once again.
The memory speeds along, and suddenly it is night. The magic in the air
is electrifying, and the sky is now dark. I gasp when I realize we are at the
ruins. This property belongs to Kyan. The thick dense forest surrounding it
is dark and eerie. Giant flaming torches send billowing clouds of black
smoke into the night sky.
“We call on our ancestors, to kill a God, I must make you one,” Celeste
tells him.
“It's the ruins,” I tell Dominic, who has been wandering with me
through the memories, remaining silent but here.
“Yes, our second mistake, thinking we could kill a God and get away
with it,” Dominic murmurs.
Celeste produces two identical daggers, along with two huge rubies.
The cauldron that sits in the middle bubbles as she tosses them in. Celeste
cuts her palm, bleeding into the pot before cutting Kaif’s.
“To give life, we must take it,” Celeste states.
“We are only taking life,” Kaif says to her, looking confused.
Celeste shakes her head. “He will kill her if she disobeys him, Kaif. He
would do it out of spite.”
“What are you saying?” Kaif says, tilting his head.
“There are two daggers, one to kill a God, one to give life to one,
balance,” she whispers.
 “But I only possess dark magic; I can't use the light,” Kaif tells her.
“No, but I can. I am bestowing a gift on you. I am making you a God.
Only a God or Goddess can wield these daggers. Only a God can kill
another God, are you understanding me?” Kaif watches as she slices her
wrists.
Holding them out wide while turning her face to the dark sky, she
murmurs words in a foreign tongue, and storm clouds brew violently. Kaif
takes a step back from her as veins of darkness sliver across her milky skin,
her eyes turn black as coal, and she cracks her neck. Her voice echoes
louder as she chants. Her blood spills onto the ground when a lightning bolt
breaks cutting across the sky, hitting the ruins and striking the next rock. I
gasp, looking at the pattern above, as the lightning strikes each one,
forming a surge of infinite power.
A pentagram of light and electricity hangs overhead before I shriek.
Dominic grabs my arms, and I watch the lightning smash into Kaif’s chest.
He screams as the lightning spears him to the ground, and he collapses. My
heart pounds at what I just witnessed as he lay limp. Kaif’s breathing stops,
and Celeste looks toward the trees. Darkness taints her, and black veins
streak her skin, moving as she walks into the trees before returning.
Only when she does, she doesn’t come alone. No, she comes with a girl;
her hands and feet are chained, a gag in her mouth. Celeste drags her
thrashing body toward the cauldron before bending her over it. My heart
pounds in my chest as the young girl thrashes.
Celeste murmurs a word, and I watch as the girl’s eyes flickered black.
She is a Lycan. Celeste then plunges a knife into the artery in the girl’s
neck. Her blood spurts and pours out, and I feel sick watching her sacrifice.
She is barely a teenager.
The girl falls limply at Celeste’s feet, and Celeste turns, cutting the girl’s
heart out. She stands above the cauldron and squeezes the heart in her
hand. Murmuring some spell that makes lightning hit the cauldron and
smoke before she drops the heart in.
She then dips a ladle into the cauldron before taking it to Kaif; she pries
his lips open and pours it down his throat and leans down and kisses him.
Kaif sucks in a breath and lurches upright, breathing heavily. Shadows
sliver across his skin, etched into it like tattoos, the same markings that
shadow Kyan’s arms and Octavian bloodline.
 His eyes go to the girl, and his eyes open in horror. “What did you do?”
he gasps.
“What I had to,” Celeste says, walking back to the cauldron. She
motions Kaif to follow, and he growls, moving the girl’s body away; before
giving his hand to Celeste. She cuts his palm. The flames flare higher as
they chant together, and eventually, the smoke clears. Celeste moves,
dipping her hand in the cauldron. She hisses, pulling the stones out and
dropping them in Kaif’s hand, then she pulls out the daggers.
“One to transfer life and power, one to trap and kill it,” Celeste
murmurs. She cleans the daggers on her dress and cleans the stones,
popping them into the hilt onto each dagger.
“Why do you need one for life?” Kaif says.
“Because when you kill Hades, he will kill Luna, and when he does, I
will trade my life for hers,” Celeste states without hesitation.
“So the other dagger is not meant for Seline, but her daughter?” I ask
Dominic. He nods his head.
“Yes, but then Luna was killed, which altered the path we now all live
on,” Dominic explained.

T he memory moves once again to Kaif’s son, killing Luna with the dagger
instead of Hades, trapping her soul forever in the stone’s portal. I can
feel her rage that her son didn't recognize her, didn't know who she was. It’s
heartbreaking to watch as she begs and pleads with her son to remember
who she is to him.
He looks confused and torn before Luna turns on Kaif, who begs her to
stay before she tries to kill him. In turn, her son chooses his father and the
man who raised him over the woman who birthed him.
Then, I watched the curse Hades bestowed on him before I watched Kaif
kill each and everyone one of his mates. His curse turned him darker with
each one, and for a while, he gave up. He killed the last three before me
when they gave birth and didn't even allow the mother to hold their
children. Just let them give birth before ending them, unable to endure the
torment of keeping them, unable to watch them try to hurt their children.
Now, I can understand why all his mates lost their minds. With this, I
can only see him killing them, the monstrous side of him. The only
difference is I know the reason behind their deaths. Why he did it, he
wouldn't allow the woman he loved to kill the child he helped create.
The last one is brutally horrible to witness, and I clench my eyes shut as
Kaif quite literally rips her apart. Her screams will forever haunt me. For
years, I lived with their attempts to kill the children, but never saw the
outcome of whether they succeeded.
“It's nearly over, Marabella, but you have to mark Kaif now; when you
wake, you will obtain their madness,” Dominic mutters.
“What?” I gasp.
“You’re strong enough to endure it, you have before,” he tries to assure
me.
I choke and sputter, staring at the woman's dead body. I shake my head,
not wanting to suffer their fate, not wanting Kaif to suffer for killing me.
“I know you can endure it. You did for Rose, that hatred, that darkness;
you’ve always contained it, but now it will be unleashed. Remember who
you are, Marabella, remember what you are,” Dominic urges.
“I am darkness; I can't be more than that. What sort of monster would it
make me?” I ask, petrified.
“The sort that can kill a God, you are the Moon Goddesses daughter,
you are the key to breaking this curse. You just have to remember what
comes with darkness, is light,” Dominic says.
“I don't understand, just tell me. Why is everything a riddle?” I furrow
my brows.
“I can't; I would if I could. What. Comes. With. Darkness. Is. Light!
Think Marabella,” Dominic says. “Find the balance! You are one part of
it!”
One part of it? My brain tries to dissect the hidden meaning in his
words.
One part.
Balance.
Light.
But I am darkness incarnate, the darkest parts of the Moon.
 My eyes widen with newfound clarity. I may be dark, but my other half
is light. Balance. Light and Dark. Together we’re whole, infinite. Together
we are the Gemini.
“Eziah!” I gasp.
“For you are the Gemini twins,” Dominic says with a smile.
“Get the stones, break the curse, set me free, and I will take care of the
rest. I just need Celeste grimoires. Get me the grimoires!” Dominic says.
“From where? How do I give them to you?” I ask him.
“Break the curse, set me free,” Dominic says, vanishing.

I gasp at the sensation that rushes through me. Like I am falling off a steep
cliff, the air flows so fast around me that I scream. Clutching at air, my
head aches as pain rattles through my skull. I scream before slamming back
into my body. My scream is deafening and I lurch upright. Only to be met
with the sounds of glass breaking and a dark room. Glowing eyes peer back
at me. The glowing eyes of my mates.
“You’re okay, Ella, you’re okay,” Kyan whispers, clutching my arms in
his warm hands. I suck in a breath, looking around the room, and Jonah gets
off the bed when the lights start flickering.
“Generators are kicking in,” Jonah murmurs, looking out the window.
He steps closer to the window and peers out. “But she knocked the power
out to the entire city,” he says, and I gasp.
 Chapter

Seventeen

M arabella
The lights flicker a few times before the generator kicks in, and
they remain on. An ominous feeling settles in and surrounds me.
Both Jonah’s and Kyan’s phones start ringing loudly, breaking the silence,
and I am startled by the noise. Kyan snatches his phone off the bedside
table and glances at it before chucking it to Jonah.
“Floor Manager,” Kyan says as Jonah catches it. He picks up his own
phone that is on charge. He looks down at the screen, cocking a brow, and
looking back at Kyan.
“And I get security,” Jonah says, quickly answering it. He rejects the
call on Kyan’s phone before walking over to the closet and pulling a shirt
on. He talks to whoever is on the phone with him, before hanging up and
coming out of the closet dressed in black slacks and a button-up shirt.
Despite the current situation, I take a second to appreciate how good he
looks, my Jonah, my mate. Mine!
“I’ll handle this. Will you be alright alone with Mara?” Jonah asks,
eyeing me worriedly. I can feel his concern and hesitance through the bond.
Kyan nods and waves him off before Jonah comes over and kisses me on
my forehead. He moves back and gives me a wink, before placing his hand
on Kyan’s shoulder and giving him a nod. Jonah then leaves the room and
the apartment. Kyan watches him go before turning back to face me.
“You had the visions?” Kyan asks, his voice is low and his brows crease
down the middle, while he is biting the corner of his lip. He tilts his head to
the side and watches me worriedly.
 “I need to speak to Kaif,” I tell him, staring him straight in the eyes. I
need to do this! His brows furrow in confusion once again, and I can feel
his emotions start to build.
“Why do you want Kaif?” Kyan questions, his anxiety peaks as fear sets
in.
“I need to speak to him alone, Kyan. I don't want you listening in,” I tell
him seriously. This is between Kaif and me.
“You’re not going to reject him, are you?” Kyan asks as his voice
trembles. His eyes are wide and almost pleading. This man, who fears
nothing, now looks at me with vulnerability and fear is edged on to his face,
his eyes unmasked.
“What? No, of course not. Please, I just need to ask him something,” I
reassure him, while cupping his face in my hands, reaching for his hands. I
squeeze them gently, and I give him a small smile.
“I’m not going anywhere. I saw what Kaif did, but I know he had his
reasons. Kaif did nothing I wouldn't have done if our roles were reversed,” I
reassure him. Kyan’s anxiety through the bond is loud and clear; he fears
why I want to speak to Kaif, yet is also scared Kaif would do something to
me now that the darkness of his curse has been awoken and given to me.
But darkness was always a part of me. I was born with it. Lived and
breathed it. It can't taint what is already stained and made of darkness. It has
always been a part of me, nothing new. I’m used to its crazed madness, and
the cold, unsettling voices. I’ve endured them all my life.
“I can handle Kaif, Kyan; I am not worried about Kaif hurting me.
Besides, I will just kick his ass with your father’s magic,” I chuckle, trying
to lighten the mood. I need Kyan to trust me with this. Kyan seems to think
for a second; he rubs a hand over his face before nodding and standing up.
Is that a yes?
“And you’re not leaving me?” Kyan questions, and my heart breaks to
see him like this.
“I swear on the Moon Goddess,” I promise him sweetly, and he laughs.
His laugh feels so foreign coming from the broody Kyan, but honestly, his
smile has me swooning, and I silently vow to cherish each of those
gorgeous smiles, as I know they are reserved just for me and Jonah.
“Just try to be quick; I don't enjoy being in the dark with him,” Kyan
tells me. He leans down and grips my face in his hands. His eyes search for
any deceit in my words from earlier. “I don’t like this,” he murmurs.
 “You have nothing to fear, Kyan. I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper.
Kyan presses his lips in a line before exhaling and nodding his head. He
kisses me softly. I return his kiss instantly, knowing he needs my
reassurance. I know he is still disbelieving of my intentions with Kaif. He
lets me go and stands up.
“I want Kaif in his form,” I tell him.
“You want me to shift completely?” Kyan asks hesitantly.
He is a little taken aback. But I know Kyan can press forward and rein
back control in human form. Kaif's form, not so much, and I know Kaif can
block him out entirely in his true form.
“I will be quick, then I will make him give you control back, I promise,”
he sighs and reluctantly shifts. I watch as his clothes shred. His skin turns to
fur. His bones crack and elongate until his head is scraping the low roof.
Kaif tilts his head, peering down at me.
“Couldn’t have picked the living room?” he asks, knocking on the roof
with his fist before lowering himself to the ground and sitting with his
knees bent.
“Sorry, I forgot you're nearly right feet tall,” I chuckle.
“Eight feet one,” Kaif corrects, while leaning back against the bathroom
door frame where the wall is strongest. Kaif watches me, his eyes
calculating, like a predator watching its prey, looking for some weakness,
some fault. Looking for some sign that the madness has tainted me and he
needs to kill me.
“Are you looking to see if what I saw changed me?” I ask him, and he
nods, looking away guiltily. I feel sorry for him, the fact that he's even
feeling like that about himself.
“I am not like the rest of them; I'm aware of your reasons, Kaif. You
don't scare me, and I'm not scared of our future, so you shouldn't be either,”
I tell him softly as I climb off the bed and approach him. I mean every word
of it too.
Kaif watches me, his eyes grow darker and I move nearer. “It always
repeats, love. Forgive me if I am a little skeptical,” Kaif says, and I bite the
inside of my lip. He tilts his head to the side and I stop beside him. Even
with him sitting, his frame is at the height of my chest. His eyes roam over
me, blood red and shadowed with wariness. Seeing him watching me so
closely makes me nervous; I’m very aware of how easily he can kill me if
he chooses.
 “We haven't had a baby yet. I'm not looking to be a kiddie killer anytime
soon,” I tell him, trying to lighten the mood but it doesn't work, instead his
eyes darken, his thoughts turn clouded as he stares at the floor for a few
seconds, deep in thought.
“But the ghosts of my past know you are different. They could try other
ways… But I don't believe you would let them win,” he says after a
moment.
“Then why are you worried?” I ask as confusion flits through me.
“I guess I'm worried you would hate me, especially for the last few,”
Kaif answers hesitantly.
“Because you never even marked them? You killed them without even
trying to break the curse. Because they weren't tainted yet?” I ask him, and
he nods.
“It still would have been the same with them; I just eliminated the threat
before they became one,” he says, his eyes flicking to me again. The look
he gives me makes me swallow, and I can feel my heart beating faster at his
words. A sliver of fear flits through me before I regain myself.
“I have a few theories after everything I have witnessed or envisioned. I
picked up a few things, but first, I want to ask you a question.” I bite the
inside of my cheek, a little worried.
“I'm all ears,” he says, wiggling his ears on top of his head. I laugh and
shake my head at him.
“Kyan can’t overhear us?” I ask him, and he nods.
“He can't hear anything, but I am curious why you don't want him to
hear what you want to talk to me about.” He tilts his head to the side, as if
he’s trying to read me again.
“I don’t want to get his hopes up, and until I know for sure it needs to
remain between us, not even Jonah is to know. So promise me you will say
nothing about it to either of them. Kyan has enough heartache. I don't want
him to suffer anymore; I think we have all suffered enough, don't you
think?” Kaif sighs and nods.
Kora presses forward, getting a feeling for what I want to ask him, and I
feel the recognition hit her and her reservations about it.
“Are you sure?” she asks me.
“I am pretty certain. I am just not a witch, so I don't know if it is
possible,” I tell her.
“And the other thing?” she asks.
 “It's worth a shot. Something tells me not to ignore my intuition about
that one,” I respond.
“Yeah, I got the same feeling the moment you thought it,” Kora agrees.
She remains forward to listen, but she is also reeling with this odd sense of
clarity we both now share.
“Dominic told me my magic anchored him. That's how I have a
connection to him because he gave me his magic, anchoring him to me,” I
tell Kaif, who seems to think my words over. “Is it possible that he isn't
dead?” I ask.
“He is dead, love; I watched him be buried,” Kaif says. I sigh, trying to
figure out what I am asking. It is complex even for me, but the gut instinct I
have makes me continue to push forward. It can’t be that an instinct so
strong means nothing.
“Okay, give me a second,” I tell him, rubbing my temples and
remembering what Dominic has told me. Trying to find the correct way to
put this into words Kaif will understand.
I blow out a breath when a thought occurs to me, making me look back
at him. “Lycan’s need vessels to come back, right?” I question him. Kaif
nods.
“Yes, but not just any vessel. We can't last in a human body. If that
makes sense, only a werewolf's body is strong enough, human Lycan
hybrid?” Kaif tells me.
“Is that possible for witches too?” I ask him, and he seems to think.
“Depends,” he says, and I can tell he is really thinking hard on that one.
“Why?” he eventually asks, lifting his gaze to meet mine.
“I don’t think Dominic is dead. He keeps saying to break the curse and
set him free. The last visions, your past visions, he walked through them
with me. He said the same thing he always says, but to get him Celeste's
grimoires, he would take care of the rest,” I tell Kaif and he whispers
something under his breath. “But how would he return if his body is dead?”
I ask Kaif, uncertain of that part.
“Easy, with a preservation spell. Witches used to do them to remain
young, which would be easy without a consciousness. Witch power
deteriorates the body and the waking mind faster than humans,” Kaif says.
I mull over what he says, it makes sense. As weird as it seems, it really
does.
 “So it is possible to preserve a body, yes. But how long for? I’m not
sure exactly,” Kaif adds, then shrugs.
“The longest I have seen someone leave their body was Celeste when
she was first forced into the Moon Goddess realm. Her body physically
stayed in this realm. It took years before she could break the barrier on the
Moon Goddess realm to force it open so she could portal between, but at
first, we had guardians that protected her body until she returned to it,” Kaif
tells me. His brows furrow as he lets out a low growl.
“That’s where I got the spell to make Jonah my guardian, a blood tie,
we couldn’t trust just anyone to guard her body, they could have destroyed
it so she blood tied them to her. If they killed her body it would kill them,”
Kaif explains scratching his chin.
“Dominic said he is my guardian in a sense, that he anchored himself to
me with his magic,” I add slowly. For some reason, I feel like this is starting
to make more sense.
“Yes, because a witch isn't truly gone if their magic has been set free…
That's why witches can channel power, the essence of their magic remains
long after the body is dead, however, they are dead just their magic lives on
not the person,” Kaif says and he sits up straighter.
“What about their life force? Can that be preserved?” I run a hand
through my dark hair, staring at the Lycan before me. I think we both are
moving toward an answer here.
“I suppose, in theory, but they would need a lot of magic to do that. No
one could harness that sort of power alone. It would need a strong-” Kaif
pauses and looks at me. “It would need a strong anchor and an infinite
power supply,” Kaif finishes slowly, and I can tell he is trying to put this
puzzle together as well, so it makes sense.
”So it is possible. It would also explain why he said he wasn't really
dead, not here, but not part of the shadow realm. When I…” I look at Kaif,
who growls. “When I killed myself, I could feel I was dead, but something
was holding me still,” I admit.
“Yes, we were trying to revive you,” Kaif answers with a growl.
Clearly, he doesn’t like the fact that I brought up that moment. Mate or not,
no one likes to listen about the time someone tried to kill themself.
“In the shadow realm, I flickered, while the rest of those trapped were
ghostly transparent figures. Dominic was the same as me; we both looked
different from the rest of them. Now, Dominic said he gave me the shadows
and his magic. What if I am the vessel just like Kyan is yours, except
instead of a vessel for a Lycan, I am the vessel for his magic which
anchored him to me?” I ask.
“You think he is alive?” he asks.
“Is it possible?” I ask.
“Well, yes, but he has no physical body to return to unless he preserved
it, and I am not sure a body can be preserved for that long, Marabella. Then
there is also the question of where he would get a power source from that
could tether his life force to it?” Kaif mutters.
“But is it possible?” I persist.
“Well, yes, but unlikely,” he sighs.
“Is there any way to know for sure?” I run a hand though my hair again,
growing a little impatient to learn the answers I need.
“Yeah, dig up his body…wait... His coffin was spelled shut. We tried to
get into it years ago but couldn’t,” Kaif gasps.
“What do you mean?” I raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“The talisman. Kyan dropped it in there when he was a boy. We tried to
get it back; the talisman in the past has also been used to keep me in line. It
can drain me of energy and keep me weak when worn. We thought the
talisman spelled it shut, but what if we were wrong?” Kaif murmurs.
“How so?” I furrow my eyebrows, unsure if I’m following.
“We couldn’t open it. Usually, only the person who locked it can open it
when something is sealed. We couldn't and thought the talisman locked it.
But what if it didn’t?” Kaif says, looking at me. I smile, finally figuring out
what he is getting at.
“I have Dominic’s magic,” I smile, feeling like we are getting
somewhere. Finally! Now, it makes more sense and we could find the
answers we seek.
“You can open it, but that means Dominic had to have spelled it shut
before he died, meaning had to have known Kyan would chuck the
Talisman in there,” Kaif seems thoughtful.
 Chapter

Eighteen

M arabella
“What if the talisman was the key to locking it? Like, I don't
know a timer, waiting for it to be placed inside with him to seal it?”
I ask him as I start pacing before him. This could be possible, right? I might
be getting at something.
Kaif hums. “That is possible, but we have no idea how he sealed it. Did
he tell you the spell?” he asks me, and I can see the glimmer of hope in his
eyes.
I stop in my step and turn to him. “Wait, you said you thought the
Talisman sealed it, meaning it has power that could be channeled? When
Dominic died, where was the talisman? Could that be enough power to
preserve his life force?” I ask. The more we talk, it feels like puzzle pieces
are clicking into place. We need to figure this out.
“Kyan was wearing it, his father put it on him.... that morning,” Kaif
whispers the last part.
“Then you have a power source and the tether,” I tell him, crossing my
arms thoughtfully. We are getting somewhere.
“That damn prick, I bet he is real smug at pulling that over me,” Kaif
laughs. “But we still have no idea what spell he used to seal it, so if he
didn't tell you, we may struggle to open it?” he adds.
“No, we don't have the spell, but I have a link to him. Just gotta pull
him forward, I guess?” I shrug. I don’t think it would be so easy, just go to
Dominic and get an answer, but this progress is already more than we have
ever had, so I dare not to complain. “But I need that talisman; it is out of the
dagger, isn't it?” Kaif nods. “And I need that stone and Celeste's grimoires,”
I say, pursing my lips as I look over at Kaif again.
Kaif laughs. “Grimoires, I wouldn't know the first place to look for
those. Celeste kept them hidden even from the coven.”
Where would she have kept them? “Moon Goddess realm?” Kora
offers, and I have a feeling she is right. The only issue is, I can't enter the
Moon Goddess realm for long enough to be able to search for them. “But
Eziah can, or Mom,” Kora suddenly suggests.
“Grimoires, I think I know where I can find them, but I need that stone.
Dominic keeps saying I need the stones, so I need the one my brother has
and the one Kyan tossed in with his father,” I announce and Kaif looks at
me curiously.
“This is why you didn't want Kyan to know, isn’t it? You don't want to
disappoint him if it is all for nothing?” I nod in agreement. A sliver of guilt
washes over me for hiding something from Kyan, but I need to make sure
first.
“Okay, but how does this help with the curse?” Kaif asks, and I am
actually thankful to have him here, someone who knows the ins and outs,
without Kyan knowing the plan.
“We have to break the stones,” I state with determination.
Kaif shakes his impossibly massive head. “Impossible, nothing will
break those stones; they are indestructible. Believe me, we have tried for
centuries to break that damn talisman,” Kaif adds.
Although what he says makes sense, I have another theory. “Yes, but did
you have both of them?” I ask him, wiggling my brows, and he seems to
think.
“Balance,” he whispers, as if he is having a lightbulb moment, before he
becomes serious again. “Right. Everything has a balance, but I don't think
that is all there is to the curse! There is more to it, I can feel it,” Kaif
mutters the last part and looks away. For a brief moment, he is deep in
thought, and then, his eyes snap back at me. “No, the stones are only part of
it.”
“Hades cursed you to find your redemption, right?” I ask and he nods in
agreement.
“Yes, but Dominic told Kyan I have to forgive myself, which I don't
have any reason to hate myself in my opinion that requires forgiving myself
for,” Kaif snarls.
 “What if it isn't forgiveness or redemption, which leads to another thing
I have noticed; that I wanted to tell you about… I wanted to try anyway.”
His claws scratch over the carpet, slicing it as his eyes flicker dangerously. I
can feel he is slightly untrusting of my intentions, so I explain, hoping for
the best.
“As you said, balance,” I tell him as I switch my weight from one leg to
another as I take a deep breath. I walk over to him, and he looks up at me
when I stop in front of him. My eyes trail over the beast before me, yet I
feel no fear. My gaze softens, and I hope he will feel my intentions are
pure.
“What do you mean?” he asks, looking at me with nothing but
confusion in his eyes.
“One thing I have noticed in all your past lives, your vessel was never
marked. I marked Kyan. However, they always went crazy before you let
them mark your vessel,” I begin.
“No one did mark my vessel, but she still went mad anyway,” Kaif
corrects me.
“Okay,” I tell him before climbing into his lap. He puts his legs down,
and I straddle him. I lock eyes with Kaif; asking the question that has been
burning in my mind. “But did any of them mark you?” I ask him, tilting my
head and gently tracing my hand over his furry jaw.
“Why would they mark me? They mark the human side; that's what the
Lycan's are bound to,” he answers in confusion.
“Yes, but maybe that's where they went wrong; the others always got
Luna’s version of events, the anger, the hatred; they never got yours. I did
because Dominic gave me the shadows. I know the history behind your
actions. But what if the key to that was not you marking them or your
vessel? You give them your biggest regrets when you mark them. What if
they mark you? What if it gives them Luna’s?” I tell him, while searching
his eyes, hoping he will understand. I need him to understand me and my
intentions more than I need my next breath.
“You think if they marked me, they would know why I killed them?” he
asks.
“I don't think your curse has anything to do with your redemption. I
think it has to do with your rejection. You don't need redemption Kaif, you
need acceptance,” I whisper, letting my canines elongate. Kaif cups my face
with his huge hand, his thumb brushing over the sharp points of my teeth.
 “You want to mark me?” Kaif asks, surprised.
“Yes, because to accept Kyan, I must accept you, and I do accept you,
Kaif. I don’t hate you for what you did, and I certainly don't believe you are
the monster all your other mates thought you were. So yes, I want to mark
you, but then, I want you to mark me too,” I tell him.
I feel with every fiber within me that this is exactly what I need to do...
Every word I spoke, I mean to the fullest extent. And deep down, even
more, I hope he sees how truthful I am. I open myself to him like I have
never opened myself to anyone before. Not even Jonah. This is the side
only Kaif gets.
If the first part doesn’t shock him, the last part does, because he pulls
his face back to stare at me. His eyes go to the wound he caused the last
time he marked me, my skin destroyed and scarred, yet it is his mark, and I
love it anyway. But since the rejection, one thing I have noticed is that it
constantly itches, and now, I think I know why. It all makes sense now.
Deciding not to give him a chance to fight me on it, Kora shoves
forward at blinding speed, and I grip the back of his neck and yank his head
to the side before sinking my teeth into his neck.
Electricity zaps through me. A power surge so strong it makes my entire
body heat up like it is being recharged, like a high-frequency buzz. My hair
stands on end like static. Kaif clutches me to him, his arms wrap around me
firmly, and I feel at home.
The darkest parts of him are bleeding into me, along with his power, and
when I feel the bond slam into me, it is heartbreaking, gut wrenching. I can
literally feel his soul healing, only now realizing how broken he truly is
inside, living with ghosts of his past, the demons that have haunted him for
centuries. It is like all the bad parts leave and bleed out of him. And when
the last remnants leave, everything shatters and the power surge is so strong
everything starts exploding around us. Kaif moves as the windows burst,
shielding me with his body. Car alarms blare loudly, and the entire building
starts shaking. I gasp at the power that flows into me and my teeth pull from
his neck.
The room is in total darkness again, and Kaif stares down at me, wiping
my lips that are stained with his blood and fur. He looks around, and I can
feel the cold draft coming from the burst windows. The curtains are
flapping in the breeze, and alarms and sirens can be heard outside. Yet, on
the inside, I feel the complete opposite of the icy exterior surrounding us.
 “Would you blame me if I said I am a little hesitant to mark you after
that?” he chuckles, looking around the room then looking back at me. He
licks my cheek and I offer him my neck, tugging the neck of my shirt to the
side, granting him access. I offer myself to him completely. His tongue rolls
over the spot, and I relax, giving myself over to his mercy. I want this! Kaif
needs this!
“Hopefully we don't bring the place down around us,” he murmurs
softly.
“You didn't last time,” I tell him.
“No, I just nearly killed you, which isn't much better,” Kaif says and his
voice drops lower. Yet, I know what he means, everything is always done in
the wrong order, he claimed when he needed to be claimed himself.
“Well, let’s bring the building down, shall we?” I laugh.
“Kyan would kill me,” he chuckles. I stroke his face, winking at him.
“Good thing you're indestructible then,” I tell him, offering him my
neck again. He hesitates for a second, but I am ready. I close my eyes, and I
sense him leaning in. He sinks his teeth into my neck, over Jonah’s and
Kyan’s marks. The moment he does, I gasp, and my eyes shoot open!
His teeth slice through my flesh and go straight into bone, though I am
given something else, instead of nearly dying or a power surge. I am given a
glimpse of who Kaif was before he was made a Lycan. Given a glimpse of
his humanity before it was stripped away from him.
Kyan is the reincarnation of his true self, strong and a dominant
protector. Power oozes from him. Even then, he was a gentle giant of a man
before becoming a savage beast. I am given a glimpse of when he was just a
man, and a warlock.
No power is given. Instead, he gives me something far better. He gives
me, himself. His entire life flashes before my eyes. Every thought, every
memory, everything that makes him, he gives to me, and no one's soul is as
beautifully dark as his. He truly is magnificent, but one thing remains even
after his humanity is long gone. He protected those he loved, even if it
meant killing pieces of himself to do it.
Tears prick my eyes at the relief as he lets go of the hurt and anguish he
carried for all those years. Eventually, he pulls his teeth from my neck.
“Thank you,” Kaif whispers. Before I have a chance to say anything, he
shifts and Kyan is suddenly hovering above me. Kyan looks around,
startled, and I can feel Kaif just as clearly as I can feel Kyan and Jonah.
 “You broke him,” Kyan murmurs, feeling sad for Kaif.
I shake my head, and Kyan looks down at me with so many emotions in
those beautiful blood-red eyes. “No, I set him free,” I tell him gently,
cupping his jaw. I can feel the wholeness settling through Kaif and I can tell
what Kaif is feeling is foreign to Kyan.
Kyan’s eyes go to my neck, where Kaif has marked me. He brushes his
fingers over the mark and it tingles. “You set him free,” he whispers.
I nod my head before glancing around nervously before my eyes go
back to Kyan’s. I cringe at the state of the place. “I will admit though, I did
break something,” I say pouting, giving him doe eyes and I'm sure he can
see guilt on my face, damn I hope he buys into it.
He cocks a brow. Kyan peers around the room and his devastation, his
eyebrows raise and he bristles. “I broke your casino, and I am pretty sure
the entire main street,” I admit. His eyes go to the shattered windows and
the cracks in the ceiling.
“You definitely did that,” he says, shocked. I chuckle before pressing
my lips into a line. “You think this is funny?” Kyan chuckles, looking back
at me, a playfulness written over his handsome face.
“Just a little,” I tell him, giggling again.
“I should punish you, the cleanup will be horrendous,” he laughs.
“You could try, but I am pretty sure I can overpower you now?” I shoot
back at him.
“Is that right?” he says in a low, seductive tone, leaning down.
“I can think of a few other ways to punish you,” he growls, his lips
touching mine as he speaks.
He kisses me deeply, with so much passion and hunger, his emotions
bleed into me through the bond. I wrap my legs around his waist, tugging
him flush against me. Goddess, I want him!
“Punish away then, Sir,” I say seductively against his lips, before
licking the seam of his lips.
“Sir?” He cocks a brow, a devilish smile playing on his face.
“I ain’t calling you daddy,” I laugh.
“Ah, I guess sir, it is then,” Kyan growls against my lips, before his
tongue delves between them.
 Chapter

Nineteen

M arabella
Kyan growls, pushing off the wall behind him and standing,
forcing me to grip his shoulders or fall off his lap. I wrap my legs
around his waist tightly. He is now carrying me, and I can feel his chiseled
hard body against my core. The crunch of broken glass under his feet makes
me cringe, but he seems unbothered.Thankfully, the alarms sounding
outside have stopped, yet I can hear it is chaos downstairs, but my only
focus is on the sexy god of a man carrying me in his strong arms.
He nips at my neck, his hand squeezing my ass, sending ripples of
pleasure through me, and I feel my pussy clench. He moves toward the bed,
which is covered in glass from the explosion. He grips the blanket, ripping
it off and flinging it away, and tossing me on the bed, making me bounce. A
shrill shriek leaves my lips at the sudden motion of falling, and I land on the
bed on my back, my breasts bouncing with the impact. Kyan’s eyes roam
over them, earning an approving growl from him.
Kyan stands at the end of the bed, and my heartbeat quickens at the look
he gives me. Those dark eyes filled with carnal lust, and a seductive smile
tugging at his lips. His eyes flicker dangerously, making me gulp when he
leans over, gripping my underwear. He places a kiss above my knee. He
drags his teeth down my leg a little, then his canines bite into my soft flesh,
making me hiss as he slides my underwear down my legs.
I wait for him to toss my underwear aside, but he doesn’t. Instead, he
twirls them around his finger, giving me a flirty smile, one eyebrow raised.
“You don’t think he was being serious about punishing us, right?” I ask
Kora, not liking the mischievous glint in his eyes.
 “I don’t know, but glad it’s your ass and not mine,” Kora howls when I
feel his fingers wrap around my ankles.
Oh, shit! My eyes widen as I’m ripped toward the edge of the bed. Kyan
grips the front of my shirt, tearing it down the middle, ripping the front of
the shirt clean open, the action makes me gasp. He grabs my hips and flips
me onto my stomach in one swift movement, causing me to shriek.
“I'm out,” Kora purrs, leaving me, the bitch. Kyan tugs the rest of the
shirt away and gets rid of it. I feel the heat of his hard chest seep into my
back as he leans over me. The feel of his large muscular body against mine,
sends another jolt of pleasure through me. God, this feels good, I have to
suppress a moan.
“You don’t look so sure of yourself now,” Kyan chuckles, as he runs his
nose across my jaw to my ear, his breath fanning my neck, making me
shiver. I close my eyes, savoring the moment. It feels surreal that there is no
more doubt, no more fear about being rejected, no more unresolved
feelings. We are finally one. But I’m pulled from my thoughts when I feel
him grip my wrist.
The bed dips between my legs where he places his knee, sparks rush
between my legs when his knee brushes against my bare pussy, setting my
body ablaze with arousal. He sits up before gripping my other wrist. He
jerks my arms behind my back. The slight roughness makes me gasp, but I
somehow like it too.
I roll on my side, his knee between my legs, preventing me from turning
fully over, and his hand grips both wrists. I look into his eyes while he is
manhandling me with a cocky smirk on his face. “You do know destroying
the hotel wasn't my intention?” I ask him.
“I'm not punishing you,” Kyan laughs, winking at me, and dammit, that
small gesture has my stomach doing flips. “Unless you want me to,” Kyan
purrs, leaning down and brushing his lips against mine. Oh fuck, yes, I want
anything and everything!
“Say no!” Kora hisses in my head.
Kyan bites my bottom lip, tugging at it and making me moan. That's it.
Oh god, I want more. My wrists are still trapped in his hand behind my
back, and I try to wiggle them free of his tight grip.
“But I will let you go if you want me to,” Kyan says against my lips, his
voice low and sexy, and I snort.
 “Pfft, your so-called punishments don't scare me,” I tell him confidently,
even adding a little sass, and he smiles darkly.
“You idiot!! Have you seen the size of that man's hand?” Kora growls
in my head. Why is she being such a scaredy-cat today?
“What? I have seen ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’,” I tell her.
“Yeah, a movie, Marabella. A movie! You know, with an actress making
that shit look fun. He isn't really hurting her. I hope you know what you are
getting yourself into,” Kora laughs. I roll my eyes at her internally.
Whatever, can't be that bad, right?
“Can’t be that bad. Who doesn’t like getting their hair pulled? Besides,
Kyan won’t hurt me,” I tell her. A giggle escapes me as she puts her paws
over her eyes and shakes her head.
Kyan grips my chin, tilting my face up, as his eyes search mine,
amusement clear on his face.
“Something funny?” he asks.
“Oh, just waiting for this … punishment,” I chuckle, winking at him.
“Oh, is that right?” Kyan growls, pressing his erection against my ass.
His cock slides between my cheeks. “Ah!” I moan, unable to stop my
reaction to his massive cock sliding between my ass cheeks.
“Is this what you want?” Kyan purrs as his hand slides down to my neck
as he grips my throat and squeezes. “I wasn't going to punish, but maybe I
should now, seeing your reaction?” he growls sexily, and I can hear that he
is trying to suppress laughing. I purse my lips, thinking.
“Don’t do it! That man got the devil in his eye. We have seen him clean
a bathroom with a toothbrush. Who has the patience for that? There is
something not right upstairs in the psycho lobe of the brain,” Kora growls
at me. I roll my eyes at her, silly wolf.
“Let's see what you got then,” I taunt for Kora’s sake as she shakes her
head.
“Are you sure you know what you're asking for, Marabella? I haven't
even told you what I’m going to do?” he challenges and sits back up. I try
to sit up, but he shoves me back onto my stomach.
“Pretty sure you’re tying my hands behind my back. Maybe with my
panties?” I try to guess. I can’t deny the mess of butterflies in my stomach,
or how sexy he looks as he hovers over me. Kyan smirks, dangling them
next to my face.
 “These ones?” he asks before laughing. I try to tilt my head to see what
he is doing when I feel him slip them over my wrists.
“Kyan!” I gasp.
A deep chuckle leaves him as he secures my hands behind my back, and
the bed dips again as he climbs off it. He grips my hips, pulling me to the
edge of the bed. My feet are placed back on the ground when he uses his
foot to kick my legs apart before tugging my hips away from the bed. Now
only my top half is resting on it.
I bite my lip, thinking it is funny until his hand slaps my ass so hard I
forget how to breathe, and tears burn my eyes while he chuckles loudly.
Suddenly, I want to beat him to a bloody pulp. He smooths his hand over
the mark he left before pressing his erection against my ass.
“Is this what you were expecting?” Kyan asks, yet words fail me; it
fucking hurt!
“Told you so! Can't chicken out now,” Kora drawls. When I feel his
hand leave my ass, I snarl at him. When his hand comes down on my ass
again, I try to escape. Kyan grips my tied wrists, tugging me back. I take it
back. I take it back! “Kora, swap places with me,” I beg her.
“Nope, his hands are huge!” she laughs in my head.
“I did warn you, though I had no idea you were into this sort of thing?”
Kyan laughs, pinning me back to the bed, his hand on the center of my
back.
“She lied,” I whimper, my ass stinging as I wiggle, hoping to dodge his
hand.
“Huh?” Kyan asks, stopping. I relax and sigh.
“That bitch Anna.” I feel his confusion through the bond when he leans
over my back, his nose skimming across my shoulder.
“And who is Anna?” Kyan asks.
“Off the damn movie! She lied. It fucking hurts!” I shriek, trying to
wiggle away when I feel his hand move down my side to my ass. He rubs
his hand over the spot, tingles rushing everywhere, and I sigh.
“What movie? What are you talking about?” he questions, standing up
and admiring his handwork on my flesh, his fingertips tracing over my
raised handprint.
“‘Fifty Shades Of Gray’, it was a lie.” His hand stops.
“Huh?” he murmurs. “I'm not sure about ‘Fifty Shades of Gray,’ but
your ass is about fifty shades of pink,” he laughs. Gosh, my ass stings. “I
can't believe you based your answer off a movie!” he says, clicking his
tongue and stepping away from me.
“You were the one who said you were going to punish me?” I squeak.
“I was mucking around Ella, I’m not a Dom. What would give you that
idea?” Kyan chuckles.
“Well, he does kinda give off those vibes,” Kora chimes in, and I growl
at her. This is her fault!
“Though I am pretty sure that was more my father’s thing, I remember
walking in on him with some woman when I was like six he–” Kyan
shudders.
“Yep, not an image I want of Daddy Dom in my head. Stop.” I shudder,
not wanting to picture that side of my father-in-law.
I look at him over my shoulder, wondering what he is doing, and he
smiles darkly, and my eyes widen. “I swear to god you slap my ass again, I
will slap you back,” I snarl at him.
“What was that?” Kyan taunts, tugging on my restraints. I close my
eyes, expecting my ass to burn again when he kicks my feet back apart.
“I must admit, though, I do like seeing you tied up,” Kyan chuckles
before jamming his fingers into my ribs. My eyes widen and I shriek when
he starts tickling me. I squirm, trying to get away from his prodding fingers.
Rolling onto my back, I glare at him. My shoulders ache from being tied
behind my back. Kyan smirks, climbing onto the bed.
This time, he smacks between my legs. I whimper at the sting until he
cups my pussy with his hand, rubbing his fingers over my folds before
parting my wet lips with his finger, shoving it inside me.
A moan escapes my lips as he drags it back out slowly before plunging
it back. My hips rock back against his hand, chasing the friction he is
offering when he pulls his finger out and adds another, curling them inside
while his other hand smoothes over my ass before his hand comes back
down hard on it. My inner walls clench his fingers as I jump. Yet, the pain
is dull compared to the sensation his fingers are building up inside me.
Kyan grabs my ass, pulling my cheeks apart, and I know he is watching
his fingers drenched in my arousal slip in and out of me. He curls them
inside me, earning a moan before pulling them out and adding a third. I
squirm at the stretching feeling his fingers cause and wiggle up the bed,
only for him to grip my hips and tug me back.
 “Stay still!” he growls before he kneels, and I feel his lips press to my
ass cheek as his fingers slip out of me. Both hands grip my ass, his elbows
pushing against my thighs, forcing my legs further apart when I feel his
warm breath fan over my pussy. His tongue delves between my folds, and I
squirm, my cheeks burn at how humiliated I feel with my ass in his face.
That is, until his tongue flicks over my clit, and he sucks it into my mouth.
A moan leaves my lips as sizzling pleasure rushes through me.
 Chapter

Twenty

M arabella
A moan escapes me, and despite the uncomfortable position I’m
in, my shoulders pressing against the bed, I don’t care. I push back
against his hot, fiery mouth that is devouring me. His fingers dig into my
ass cheeks, forcing them apart, yet the feeling of euphoria that rushes
through me makes my mind blank. I couldn't care less about what he is
doing, as long as he doesn't stop.
“Kyan…” I whimper, gasping when his hands slide down the backs of
my thighs, pushing my legs further apart as he tilts his face to a different
angle. His tongue slips inside me as he laps at the juices escaping me,
making my legs tremble. My breathing turns to pants as his hot tongue
moves back to my clit. He sucks on it, swirling his tongue around the
swollen bud, making me cry out.
His hands squeezing my thighs are the only thing keeping me upright,
my legs shaking terribly when I feel my stomach tighten, my hips rock
against his mouth, chasing the building sensation. My toes curl, digging
into the floor as I reach my climax and shatter. My legs go weak, and his
grip tightens as he forces me to remain upright, his tongue relentless as I
ride out the waves of my orgasm that ripples through me, leaving me
breathless.
“Fuck, you taste good,” he groans huskily before he runs his tongue
slowly down my slit one last time . I whimper at how tender I feel, still
getting my breath back. My knees buckle beneath me when he grabs my
wrists, yanking me upright. His hand wraps around my throat, his chest
pressing against my back as he tugs me against him, his other hand presses
flat to my stomach.
“Now I’ll show you how a real man fucks,” he whispers seductively in
my ear, and a shiver of pleasure rushes through me.
He nips at my mark before his tongue trails up the side of my neck to
behind my ear. He flicks my ear with his tongue, tugging it with his teeth.
His hand that is on my stomach moves to cup my oversensitive pussy, his
fingers teasing me. The cold draft from the broken windows is welcomed.
My skin flushes and burns while his teasing fingers drive me insane.
The cool air is pleasant as it caresses my heated skin. Kyan growls,
sliding two fingers inside me again, pumping them in and out of me slowly
while his lips nip and lick my skin before he abruptly pulls his finger out
and turns me to face him.
I frown at the loss of his touch, and he simply chuckles, earning a growl
from me.
“Relax Ella… I’m going to fuck you, but let me enjoy this sexy body of
yours.” His gaze trails over me before he shoves me backward on the bed.
He crawls on the bed between my legs, his arm going under my waist as he
lifts me further up the bed toward the headboard. His lips cover mine, and
he forces his tongue between my lips, tasting every inch of my mouth
before laughing again, making me giggle.
“What?” I laugh.
He shakes his head. “Nothing, I will tell you later,” he says, shoving me
on my back.
I squirm, my shoulders ache even more now, that I lay on my back. I tug
on my wrists, which are rubbing together painfully. Kyan’s hand goes under
my back to my wrists, and I feel him undo them. I sigh, rolling my
shoulders, only for him to grab my wrists again.
I glare at him, and he chuckles, sitting on his knees. He grips my hips,
dragging me closer to him and pulling my legs over the top of his thighs
before reaching into the top drawer of Jonah's bedside table. He pulls out a
rolled-up silver tie and a black one.
“Kye?” I want to touch him, but clearly, he has other plans as he ties my
wrists with the silver one before looping the black one through them and
securing my wrists to the headboard.
“There is something wrong with you,” I tell him, and he smirks,
palming my breast. His finger swirls around my areola, making my nipple
harden under his touch when he pinches it, rolling it between his fingers,
making me hiss.
“No, there is something wrong with you for agreeing to something you
have no idea about, just because you saw it in a movie,” he teases sexily.
“But I’m not complaining. I like to see you completely at my mercy.”
“Kyan… what are you-” I’m cut off when he twists my nipple, making
me cry out. I bite my lip, trying not to make so much noise.
“I don’t want you holding back,” he growls before dipping his head and
sucking on the nipple he just assaulted. My back arches, loving the feel of
his tongue on my body when he sits up. His hand runs over my thigh, his
eyes between my legs while the other strokes his hardened length. Kyan
runs the tip between my wet folds before smirking. He grips my hips,
dragging my ass higher up on his lap.
Kyan grabs the back of my left knee, forcing it to my chest before
leaning forward, so the back of my knee presses against his shoulder. He
leans down and presses his lips to mine. I answer his kiss instantly as he
settles his weight against me, hooking my other leg around his waist. His
erection is pressed against my slit, and I roll my hips, coating his length in
my arousal.
Kyan groans before his hand moves between our bodies, and he adjusts
himself, the tip of him pressing against my entrance, and I gasp, pulling my
lips away, looking at the rather odd position I am in. Kyan kisses my knee
before pressing his lips softly against mine and he shoves inside me with
one, hard thrust, making my lips part as pain ripples through me.
His cock smashes into my cervix painfully. He stills, giving me time to
adjust to his size, nipping and licking at my lips, his pelvis flush against me.
He pulls out slowly and groans, pressing his forehead against mine and
gently pushing back in. Kyan moves slowly, letting me adjust to the
position and him.
I go to wrap my arms around his neck, forgetting they are tied above my
head when he kisses me. His tongue invades my mouth and tangles with
mine, and I rock my hips against him, desire flaring violently when he pulls
out, ramming back in, making me gasp with the brutal momentum. My
walls flutter around his cock, squeezing him as he builds up friction.
Kyan growls, plunging in harder, impaling me on his cock, hitting
against my cervix painfully, but the pain is overridden by the sensation that
pools in my stomach from the friction.
 My airy cries of pleasure fill the room. I push my restrained hands
against the headboard, pushing against Kyan as he pounds into me. Warmth
courses through me when my stomach tightens, my inner walls start
clenching.
Our eyes meet as he fucks me hard, and I see the emotions clear in his;
the love and hunger combined. His gaze moves down as he admires my
body. I am so close…. So close….
I moan loudly as I reach the precipice and am shoved over the edge
violently. Kyan slams into me harder, and I cry out, my pussy pulsating
when he stills, warmth fills my stomach, his cock twitching inside me, and
warm ropes of his release bathe my insides.
He reaches over, his lips meeting mine in a rough, deep kiss, as I gasp,
trying to get my breath back. But he doesn’t stop kissing me. I can hear his
heart thudding as he tries to catch his breath. After a moment, he moves
back.
He groans and my leg slips off his shoulder as he drops his weight on
me, and we both try to catch our breath. Kyan kisses my jaw, his hand
palming and kneading my breast softly. When I tug on my hands, he
reaches above my head. Claws slipping out from his fingertips, slicing
through the tie holding my wrists together, and I wrap my arms around his
neck.
He smiles when I tug his lips to mine and kiss him gently, my tongue
tracing his bottom lip before he growls, nipping at it; I sigh softly as Kyan
pecks my lips tenderly. “I love you,” he whispers, the raw emotions obvious
in his voice.
“I love you more,” I tell him, feeling sleep coming down on me. I yawn
as I snuggle against him. Kyan kisses my cheek before pulling out of me,
and I stretch, rolling onto my stomach. Kyan laughs, and I turn my face to
him on the pillow and raise an eyebrow at him.
“What is so funny?” I ask.
“Jonah is?” he laughs, making me furrow my brows. I stare at him,
wondering what he is talking about; Jonah feels fine through the bond.
“What is funny about Jonah?” I squint at him.
“He gets to lay in your wet spot,” Kyan laughs. I sit up, looking at
Jonah’s side of the bed.
“Kyan!” I hiss, but he just laughs, pulling me down into his arms.
 “It doesn’t matter,” he murmurs, kissing the top of my head as he holds
me close. I relax in his hold, feeling completely content.
 Chapter

Twenty-One

J onah

I knew the moment she marked him, I’m pretty sure the entire city did, I
felt it. And I also felt Kaif stir and shove forward, though not out of
anger, more curiosity, so I know she marked Kaif.
The bond surges and my mark heats on my neck, tingling, making me
shiver as the bond grows stronger than ever. I have only just stepped out of
the fire exit when it sounds like a bomb goes off. The windows are blasted,
bursting and raining glass down everywhere. The power goes out, causing
absolute chaos. Screams ring out from every direction and cause a stampede
in the foyer as people flee.
Panicked people scream and rush out of the building. Some scream
about terrorists while one of my smartass employees, Ben, screams out “it’s
aliens,” to frighten them more. I click my tongue and shake my head.
Humans are so gullible! Walking over to the foyer desk, I see security staff
rushing everywhere. I have already mind-linked to let them know what is
going on.
“Get all First Aid officers out here. They will be needed,” I quickly add
through the link. No doubt people must have been injured by the exploding
glass. Sirens blare loudly outside. Even the Tornado signals are blaring in
the street, not that we ever get Tornados here.
 When I stop next to Ben at the foyer desk, he is talking to staff on the
walkie-talkie. It is a waste of time if you ask me, with all employees being a
werewolf and part of Kyan’s Pack. Yet, we have to keep up appearances, so
it is also kind of necessary.
“Kyan’s lost the plot?” Ben asks. His white button-up shirt has minor
tears, and blood drops from where he was sprayed with glass. Although he
is already healed, he looks like a bloody mess. His sandy blonde hair is
sticking up in every direction.
“Nope, Marabella marked Kaif,” I tell him.
“Kyan will have fun explaining this one away,” Ben states. Nothing that
can’t be put down to natural disasters. I can already see earthquake
headlines. “He’ll handle it. Money talks, something he has plenty of,” I tell
him, and he nods.
“Ambulances are on the way, and so is an electrician. Security is
monitoring the Casino. All the machines went down. And everyone else is
playing medic. I sent Scott to assess the damage,” he tells me, and I nod just
as the backup generators kick in and light up the place. Now, with better
visuals, I can see the destruction at total capacity.
Walking out the front of the casino, the street isn’t much better.
Buildings are cracked, signs broken, and cracks in the road. It is complete
chaos. I walk back inside with a sigh, deciding authorities would take care
of everything outside the Casino. They are all in Kyan’s pocket, anyway.
Just another thing he will have to handle.
“Alpha?” Ben calls from the foyer desk, waving me over with his hand.
Glass crunches under my shoes as I make my way back to the white
counter. He is looking at a laptop, and I walk around the counter to see what
he is looking at.
“We have nine hundred and eight patrons staying in the hotel tonight.
What do you want me to do?” he asks, clearly a little worried.
“Send someone to check their rooms and make sure everyone is
accounted for. Send security and medics up to each floor. All those staying
issue refunds, and give vouchers for next time if they ever return. Also, see
if there are any available hotels off the main street that have vacancies for
those wanting to leave,” I tell him. Ben nods, writing everything down on a
sticky note while I turn to go check the bar area, walking away from the
chaos.
 Despite the explosion, most of those in the bar area think it is more
reason to keep drinking. Macy is working behind the bar with Soyer. Both
of them are still serving. Macy smirks as I approach.
“What’s up, boss?” Soyer asks as I approach. I walk around the counter
to the registers, which have been opened manually since the generators
won’t run them. They mainly only power the elevators, lighting, fridges,
and security cameras.
“Call the last round on the house, get the cashboxes to the safes and
start to clean up.” They both nod, and Macy slides a glass of whiskey across
the counter, full to the brim. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she whistles,
nodding toward my crotch.
I look down at the front of my pants and curse. “Fuck!”
Macy laughs, serving someone before waving their money away. I scull
the glass hoping it will help mute the bond, but now she has pointed it out; I
am smashed with the feelings through the bond. Their arousal is going to
the forefront of my mind.
“Suppose I know where you are going then,” Soyer laughs while I try to
readjust myself. Why didn’t I wear underwear? I tap the counter, and Macy
laughs, sliding another glass over to me.
“You’re not heading up?” Soyer asks when I scull the glass before
walking over and grabbing the bottle.
“No, they only just sorted things out. I will let them have a moment,” I
say, tipping the bottle to my lips. I chug a few mouthfuls and shake my head
as heat rushes through me, burning down my throat and into my stomach.
“Well, I am off to hide somewhere no patrons are,” I chuckle, about to
walk out of the small bar door when Macy rushes over to me. She takes off
her apron and tosses it at me, and I groan at the tent I fucking pitched.
“It won’t hide it,” I tell her, tossing it back to her.
“Worth a try,” she laughs, flicking her chocolate brown hair over her
shoulder and pulling it in a bun on top of her head. I head out to the staff
areas toward the security office.
I instantly get laughed at by Daniel as I walk past his desk. He is the
head of security, an older gentleman with graying hair and a beard that goes
to the middle of his chest that is always braided. His eyes crinkle as he
laughs and snorts at my erection.
“Fuck up, you old fossil,” I snap at him.
 “Hey, Midnight Delight is down the street. I’m sure someone there will
take care of you; don’t come in here with that. I ain’t helping ya out,” he
laughs. I growl at him.
“Marked and Mated! Idiot, and have you seen the girls in that place,
should be called Midnight Fright, not Delight,” I tell him, with a disgusted
shiver, as I flop into one of the chairs with my bottle of whiskey.
Daniel shrugs. “I don’t mind them; they get the job done,” he laughs.
“Yeah, probably because they are all about your age, went once, and the
lady had more wrinkles than my nutsack,” I tell him. He laughs and shakes
his head, going back to monitoring the screens.
A few hours later, I head back to the apartment, becoming distracted by
the shit storm the explosion caused. Exhausted, I make my way back
upstairs, unlocking the door. The breeze from the busted windows makes
me shudder.
I shower quickly before walking around to my side of the bed. Mara is
tucked under the blankets, and I can tell she is still naked as the blanket is
pushed down to her waist, giving me a marvelous view of her perky boobs.
Jax licks his chops in my head, wanting to chew on one of them. Damn
pervert. I shake my head at my horny wolf, pull the blankets back, and
climb into the bed to hear Kyan snicker as I roll on my side.
“Fucking asshole,” I tell him, feeling the dampness of the mattress.
“You don’t even seem fazed,” he says, sitting up on his elbow and
peering over at me.
“Some random I would be, but my mates. Na, I’m all good,” I laugh,
and he scrunches his face up. “I am surprised you’re not spring cleaning,” I
tease him. His aggravation is clear through the bond about me mentioning
the room’s state.
“Don’t, I am pretending the room is in order,” he growls, and I shake
my head and tug Marabella closer. She rolls into me and sighs. Like a
magnet, Kyan moves into her and drapes his arm over her waist and my
arm.
“We will have to go back to the manor while this place gets fixed up,” I
tell him while yawning.
“Yeah, you should probably just move your stuff back home,” Kyan
says, pressing his face into the back of Mara’s neck and inhaling her scent.
“Can I have a drawer too?” I laugh at his invitation to move in with
him. Not like he has much choice now.
 “You do have a drawer in my damn room filled with all the crap you
leave at my place,” he says, and I shrug. I usually help myself to his shit,
anyway. Moving in with him wouldn’t be much different. I spend the
majority of the time in the city there with him, anyway.
“You better get a bigger bed. Yours is a little squishy,” I tell him,
yawning again and closing my eyes.
“Already ordered one. Should arrive tomorrow assuming Ella didn’t
blow up the factory as well,” he laughs. Closing my eyes, I nod. I should
have realized he would have everything sorted. The man; I swear he has
files in his head of everything set in place, and heaven forbid something
doesn’t line up with his schedule or on time.

M arabella
Waking the following morning, I feel the freezing cold morning air.
Jonah is asleep beside me, although Kyan is no longer in bed. Tugging the
covers back, I climb out of bed. It is still early in the morning.
Stretching and yawning, I place my feet on the floor before I lift them,
remembering the broken glass, only to open my eyes to find the room
spotless.
“Kyan!” Kora sighs, and I nod, walking to the bathroom to pee. When I
am finished, I steal Jonah’s dressing gown and his slippers and step out into
the hallway. Besides the broken windows, everything seems to be in order.
The curtains are blowing inward from the slight breeze, but everything is
spotless. Turning the corner into the kitchen, I run into Kyan who is
carrying coffee.
“Woah, fucking scared me. I was about to wake you,” Kyan says,
holding a mug out to me. I take it from him and he pecks my cheek,
wandering off down the hall while I wonder what time he got up to clean all
this.
“Jonah, I am leaving,” I hear him say to Jonah.
Jonah grunts when I hear the sound of flesh on flesh, and Kyan snickers
as he comes back down the hall. “Coffee is on the bedside table, now get
up!” Kyan calls out to him over his shoulder as he comes back out to the
kitchen.
“What time did you get up?” I ask him.
 “Not long after Jonah got home, we will be going back to the manor
today, so grab what you need. I have to go see the mayor and a few
officials. So I will be there for a while.” He says, pulling his suit jacket on,
over his black button-up shirt. He buttons it up. “Shit, my car isn’t here,”
Kyan growls.
He spots Jonah’s keys on the microwave and snatches them off before
grabbing me and kissing me. His tongue invades my mouth, and I try to pull
away, worried about morning breath, but he doesn’t seem to care. My mug
is clutched tightly in my hand as I try not to spill it over him. He lets me go,
glancing behind me toward the bedroom. Lifting my gaze, I look over my
shoulder to see Jonah walking toward us.
“I am taking your car,” Kyan tells him, and Jonah waves him off with
his hand, looking exhausted. He kisses my head as he walks past me toward
the kitchen sink. He yawns loudly, leaning on the bench and sipping the
coffee Kyan made him.
“I’m up, happy, boss?” Jonah groans, and Kyan nods, turning his
attention back to me.
“I love you, but I need to go. I should have already,” Kyan groans,
peering at his Rolex before walking out in a rush. I shake my head while
Jonah glances around the place.
“Kyan!” We both say simultaneously, looking at how clean the place is
now. Jonah shakes his head, then dumps his mug in the sink, pouring the
contents down the drain.
He then walks back toward the room. “Where are you going?” I ask.
“Back to bed. I didn’t get in until after 2 AM,” he states.
“Well, I am calling my brother. We are…” I call out to him, pausing as I
try to think of a reason to go with him. “We’re going to lunch,” I tell him.
“My card is in my wallet,” Jonah sings out, and I nod before
remembering he can’t see me.
“Thank you!” I get no reply but feel him fall asleep, which will
undoubtedly anger Kyan that he went back to bed. Heading into the room, I
retrieve some clothes and put them in the main bathroom, not wanting to
wake Jonah before stealing his phone and dialing Eziah’s number.
He answers after the second ring. “Marabella?” he says.
“How did you know it was me?” I ask.
Eziah chuckles. “Inkling I had, what’s up?”
 “Don’t suppose you could help me with something?” I ask him,
remembering to keep my voice low, not wanting to wake Jonah and have
him overhear.
I feel a little awkward talking to my brother after everything that has
happened lately. But quite frankly, I’m glad he isn’t making this
conversation uncomfortable. If anything, Eziah is acting like… well, Eziah.
Thank the gods nothing has changed between us.
He groans and I can’t help but smile. “If it’s buying you pads again, the
answer is no, get one of your boy toys to do it,” he says.
Alright, he’s definitely acting like he always does. I roll my eyes at his
assumption. “No, but it is important.”
Eziah sighs. “Fine, where are you?”
“The casino.”
“You want me to come to the city!” he groans. “That’s hours in the car.
When you said you wanted help, I thought you asked because you were at
Uncle Andrei’s or in town!” he whines.
“Please?” I whisper and drag the word to emphasize that I need him.
Pleading with Eziah has always been somewhat easy, he is true to his word
- always doing everything for his sister.
“Ah fine, I will be there in a few hours,” he says.
“Can’t you just use the portal to get here?” I ask him.
“Ah, I can’t. Do you think I can just portal whenever I want? I can only
do that by leaving the Moon Goddess realm,” he mutters.
Yeah, because I am supposed to know all of those things while I’m the
one who can’t stay in that realm for long enough before I’m sucked back to
reality.
“Then go to the Moon Goddess realm,” I tell him.
“And what do you want me to tell mom? Ah, can you drop me into the
realms so I can take a shortcut to the city?” Eziah laughs.
“Yep, besides, I need you to go there anyway to look for something,” I
tell him.
“You’re lucky you’re my twin, or I would disown you for making me
your little bitch all the time,” he growls, and I laugh.
“So, is that a yes?” A grin spreads across my lips as I ask the question.
Today, I feel unusually giddy and too happy for my own good. It’s weird to
feel like this, not depressed and down, but honestly, I like the feeling. I
really do.
 “Yes, Marabella. Now, what am I looking for in the realm?” he asks,
pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Celeste’s Grimoires and I need that dagger,” I announce without any
hesitation.
“You want me to steal Mom’s dagger and an old book?” Eziah asks in
surprise.
“It’s not stealing. We are borrowing.” If he were here, I would make
sure to bat my eyelashes at him, just to pursue Eziah.
“Did you ask mom?” he groans.
“No, but you can,” I chuckle.
“Of course you didn’t. Fine, where am I meeting you?” I bite the inside
of my lip, knowing this will definitely raise questions.
“City graveyard,” I tell him, cringing as I speak those words out loud.
He falls silent on the other end of the phone.
“We are not raising the dead, Marabella! I ain’t kissing no dusty old
corpse!” I laugh at him.
“No, we are just digging up a grave,” I tell him.
“So I suppose I gotta bring a damn shovel, too?” Eziah mutters
something under his breath that I can’t understand. All I know is that he’s
clearly unhappy about this new development.
“If you don’t mind, it may look funny if I carry one through the main
street,” he growls.
“Anything else? Do you need a bodily organ, maybe an alibi?”
“I will let you know about the organ and Alibi is already sorted. I told
Jonah we are having lunch together.” I laugh at how funny it sounds in my
mind. Lunch among the corpses.
“Great, I am bringing a picnic basket too,” Eziah says, and I chuckle.
“Thank you. I love you,” I tell him, and he growls at me.
“Love you too. I’ll see you in an hour,” he says, and I hang up. I place
the phone down before turning on the shower. Now, to just dig up my
father-in-law’s grave and hope to god we can break this curse before the
madness comes for me.
 Chapter

Twenty-Two

E ziah
Ah, Marabella and her odd requests, I think as I force myself out
of bed. Malachi stirs angrily, not wanting to wake from his slumber.
He growls in my head; he has become a temperamental bastard lately. Last
night, he tried to take on Maddox, but mom was able to control both of us.
We have been clashing about anything and everything, something
shocking. So it is no surprise that my wolf growls when I open the door and
spot my father walking past my room.
Malachi is good at holding grudges, and when Maddox and he clashed,
it was like a war of Gods.
“Fucking stop it,” I snarl at my wolf, and my father stops in his tracks.
His back tenses as he looks at me over his shoulder, stopping at the landing
by the stairs.
“Are you good, son?” He asks, raising an eyebrow at me with a cross
look on his face. Clearly, he is still angered over last night, too.
“Sorry, we just woke up. Have you seen Mom?” I ask him.
“If this is about yesterday Eziah…”
“No, something else. I need her to take me to the Moon Goddess
realm,” I admit. Maddox presses forward as I approach my father. His
warning is clear as I stop beside my father. We are now the same height and
same build, and as each day passes, I can see the similarities between my
father and me.
Looks-wise, Marabella looks more like my mom and my father, Ezra.
While I look more like my other father yet, I am undoubtedly built like the
monster of a man I stand before.
 Features similar, though my hair is a little darker and longer, my
features are not as sharp as his, but both of us are equally matched now in
height and bulk. For now, and my father knows it. Maddox only just
managed to restrain us last time, and soon he will be no match for me.
“Why do you want to go to the Moon Goddess realm?” he asks.
“Marabella needs something from there.” My father’s face instantly
softens at the mention of her name.
“How is she?” he asks, draping his arm across my shoulders as we head
down the stairs.
“She is fine. I know she has marked Kyan and Jonah now. I can feel her.
She feels stronger,” I tell him, and he lets out a breath, nodding his head
while he leads me toward the kitchen where I can hear mom laughing, and
my father’s deep baritone voice reaches my ears.
We stopped in the doorway to see my father chasing my mother around
the kitchen. Cream is smeared across his face. She squeals as he catches
her, spreading a massive glob of cream on hers while she cringes, trying to
get out of his grip. Dad laughs before licking her face, making her cringe
more as she tries to shove him away.
“Ah gross,” I mutter, averting my gaze from the public displays of
affection. My father laughs, and they both freeze, not having heard us come
in. Mom straightens up, and Dad wraps his arms around her waist, resting
his chin on her shoulder.
Walking to the kettle, I turn it on, needing coffee, and I grab a mug
down when dad sets another beside mine before messing with my hair,
making me sweat his hand away.
“You’re up early,” Mom says, grabbing a tea towel from the oven door
to clean her face. I can tell dad is in the middle of making pancakes by the
huge stack on the bench, and I reach over to steal one of the top. He clicks
his tongue at me.
“Fucking wait, geez, you are so much like your father, impatient!” he
scolds just as I watch Maddox come forward and lean over the bench to
steal one of Dad’s giant fluffy pancakes. My father slaps his hand away, and
Maddox pouts at him.
Seeing my father’s wolf act like a puppy around his mates is always
odd. It is easy to forget the monster he can become. Anyone who dares to
touch one of his mates is almost a certain suicide attempt on their behalf.
God help them, for not even Marabella and I are safe from him.
 Sure, my father wouldn’t intentionally hurt us, yet he nearly killed me
when I lost control of Malachi the other day and challenged mom. His claw
marks still mark my ribs and I know they will leave a terrible scar. He
refused to allow mom to heal me.
No doubt mom would have kicked my ass if it came down to it, but dad
didn’t like the disrespect of how I spoke to her, which sent Maddox flying
forward to try to put me back in place. I wonder if I will have a mate bond
like my parents or if I am destined to just watch her in my dreams and listen
to her screams.
Mom watches me carefully. She is pretty observant. Lately, her sole
focus has been on me and Marabella; I have caught her more times than I
can count watching Marabella in the fountains. My parents feel guilty for
not noticing her depression.
However, I didn’t even see how bad it was, and I am her twin. I could
feel her, and I know she could feel me too, linked as Gemini twins. Mom
said her depression is what is affecting me, and my anger is causing her
depression.
However, that excuse can only be used for so long; my anger has
become uncontrollable of late. Malachi is turning savage, and at first, I
believed her when she said maybe it is our twin connection. Her depression
bleeds into me, coming out in rage, and my anger has the opposite effect on
her.
Our energies constantly feed off each other, two halves of a whole, yet
opposites. I am fun and outgoing, and Marabella is quiet and reserved. It
makes sense to some point, but now she is marked. I notice I am feeling her
less and less like she is no longer feeding off my aura and me hers.
How had I not noticed before that she was suffering is beyond all of us,
me the most. I was so consumed with my dreams and the girl in them I had
forgotten Marabella also needed me.
I was focused on my own feelings and not watching her as I should
have. I failed my sister, and that guilt gnaws at me. Gnaws at all of us! We
assumed it was the darkness, the madness we both know could come for
us.
“You want to ask me for something?” my mother says, her eyes
watching me, and I know she is scanning my aura. I look at hers in return.
The gold is bright, and darkness taints the outer edges. But she seems
curious, and her eyes bleed white, something I know over the years as her
visions.
Her lips part, and my fathers watch her. Dad steps behind her and
presses his chest against her back, trapping her between the counter and
himself. It wouldn’t be the first time mom has fainted from her visions.
“Come back to me, Kitty,” my father purrs, and moments later, she
does, blinking rapidly, and her lips tug at the corners.
“What did you see?” my father asks, scooping another pancake from the
frypan before sighing. Mom rarely speaks of what she sees, but I can tell
whatever it is has made her happy. It is rare that you would see mom smile
after a vision. Usually, they only mean a warning of something terrible.
“That sly wolf,” she chuckles.
My father purrs into her neck, kissing her mark, and I pull a face. It is
bad enough to hear them from the floor below; I don’t need to witness how
they melt into each other, especially before coffee. Shaking my head, I turn
back to the coffee I am making right when mom comes over to me and
grabs my arm. I feel the pull of her dragging me to the Moon Goddess
realm.
“My coffee!” I groan as the room fizzles. My father picks up his
already-made mug to sip it, but I reach out, plucking it from him. I laugh at
his outraged face before being sucked into the moon goddess realm, along
with my mother.
I am still laughing as I materialize in the fountain’s room. Mom moves
around the vast room, moving behind her huge gold desk to the bookshelf at
the back.
“Grimoires?” she asks.
“You saw?” I ask her.
“I saw what you needed, and I saw something else, and for once, I hope
what I see is true,” she says, scanning the shelves. “Dagger is in the top
drawer,” she says, pulling books down. “None of these are it,” she murmurs
as I retrieve the dagger.
“Can I take them? They might come in handy for whatever Marabella
has me doing,” I tell her, and she places a stack on the desk. I look at the
leather-bound covers and shake my head. “Don’t suppose you have a bag?”
I tell her, looking at the stack before I groan, dreading having to cart them
around. “Ah, I also need some shovels,” I add.
 “And a picnic,” she laughs. I have never seen my mother look so
excited about something, and I know she won’t tell me, so I don’t bother
asking. She always keeps her visions close to her, only letting slip what she
can, not wanting to alter the future.
“You aren’t going to tell me anything, are you?” She smiles brightly.
“Nope, this is one future I would never tamper with, not even slightly.”
“Why?” I ask, still a little annoyed about our argument the other day.
Her smile falters. “Eziah?”
“I know, you can’t meddle, but…” I shake the thought away, knowing it
is no use, and I don’t want to argue with her right now. “Tell me why you
are excited, then?” I ask her.
“I have many skeletons, son, but one has haunted me the most.”
“And that excites you?” She shakes her head, moving toward the
fountains and I follow her.
She gazes into one; it is the same wolf I have seen many times before.
Always floating aimlessly. Mom and I have tried to put him in the fountain
of life multiple times, but he has always eluded us. We have wanted to set
him free for so long, yet he refuses, like he is waiting for something.
“Because he has a chance to go home,” she whispers, touching his dark
little blob. A tear slips down her cheek. “You’re going home; I promise. No
matter the cost, I owe you this much,” she whispers to him.
She gazes at him a bit longer and I know Mom loves all her Lycan
blobs. Sometimes she seems almost crazy with how she speaks to them as if
they are her children.
“Right, shovels, picnic, dagger, and books,” she counts on her fingers
before disappearing, and I groan.
”Clothes, get me clothes!” I call after her, hoping she hears me, or I am
going in my boxer shorts. I shake my head, hoping she doesn’t take too
long.
I stare at the wolf in the fountain, floating in the abyss of mist,
flickering and moving in its shadows. My brows pinch, trying to remember
who mom said it belonged to or if she ever told me.
Shaking my head, I go to the other fountain and wave my hand through
the strange murky mist, clearing it away to see mom rushing about in the
other realm. My father asks her why she needs a shovel before asking if she
is trying to bury my body.
 I shake my head but am relieved when she sends my father up to my
room to retrieve some clothes for me. Turning from that fountain, I move
toward the fountain of bonds. Mom always keeps me away from this one,
so while she is distracted, I move to take a glimpse.
Moving the mist again, I spot Marabella’s, Jonah’s bond has fully
merged with her and Kyan’s, and I am glad I am right in the feeling I picked
up earlier when I spoke to her. However, her aura is no longer pitch black. It
has lightened as Jonah’s bond bleeds into both Kyan and hers.
“Jonah marked Kyan?” I gasp, shocked. Neither of them are gay or
bisexual. I shake my head but am happy to see a change in their auras. I
scan for mine, moving the auras just as mom appears, her hand catching my
wrist as it wades through the mist.
“Eziah?” she says, dropping a bag at my feet, the shovels hitting the
marble floors with a clang.
“Please, I just want to see,” I tell her, and she looks at the fountain.
“It could alter her future,” she whispers.
“It can’t get much worse than it already is because right now, my mate
has no future, not one worth living!” I snap at her. Mom purses her lips,
looking down at the fountain. “Please mom!” Mom bites her lip, staring at
the fountain before looking at me.
“You would risk losing her?” she tells me.
“I wouldn’t be losing her. I’d be setting her free. The things I hear!”
Malachi growls angrily. The noise emanates from me and echoes off the
walls. “It’s so dark. She doesn’t like the dark,” I tell my mother.
Mom nods, her eyes softening, and she smiles sadly. She washes her
hand through the mist. My bright gold aura floats in the fog, and for the first
time, I see hers attached to mine, only it is blood red.
“Why is she red?” I ask her.
“It’s why I didn’t want to tamper with her fate, why I have kept her
from you. Your mate is fragile,” my mother says.
I stare at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I get when I see her bond with yours. I
don’t know what it means, but the colors usually mean something. And I
have never seen an aura quite like hers,” she tells me. Mom washes her
hands through the bonds, and Mom is right. There are no bonds the color of
my mates.
 “Why do you think hers is red?” I ask, staring at her glowing aura,
fighting to get inside mine, wanting to merge with me completely.
“Mathias and I discussed it. He helped me go over some old books
looking for answers,” she murmurs. I turn my head to look at her, and her
eyes glisten with tears.
“What did you find?” I ask her.
“Not much, but there was a mention of red aura, meaning not of sound
mind,” she tells me. I think of my dreams, the way my mate screams, and
how she talks to herself in the dark.
“So you mean fragile like Sage?” I raise an eyebrow.
“No, Eziah. I mean fragile as in crazy, asylum crazy. Barely
functioning,” she answers, and I gape.
“That’s all you found, that my mate is insane?” I gasp. I had a feeling
something is terribly off with her… But I couldn’t have imagined a scenario
like this even if I freaking tried.
“We aren’t sure it was the only mention we found of a red ambiance. It
could be wrong, though. The person who wrote it wasn’t of sound mind
himself,” she shrugs.
“What do you believe? I mean, when you feel her aura?” I ask my
mother. My mother looks away and bites her lip to stop it from quivering.
“Mom! Please, I can’t keep living without knowing.”
“You don’t want my answer,” my mother tells me, and Malachi growls
at her. “Eziah? Just...”
I shake my head at her. “No, for once in your goddamn life, don’t hide
this, don’t hide her from me,” I growl.
“She can’t be saved. You can’t save her, not from herself. Temperance is
not of sound mind. She is too far gone and…”
“Temperance?” I ask.
“That is her name,” my mother tells me. I go to ask something else, but
my mother waves her hand at me.
“I can’t tell you anything else. That is all I know. I don’t get to see your
futures, not like everyone else’s, and after getting Marabella’s wrong from
the dribs and drabs I received, I am choosing not to judge what I have
received,” my mother tells me.
“Seline really messed everything up,” I mutter.
“We all did, me especially. But right now, you need to get to your sister
and maybe fix her future. For now, focus on that. Marabella needs you. It is
about time we put her first.” I nod.
Yet, as I glance back down at my mate’s aura floating around mine, a
strange feeling overwhelms me. My mother grips my arm.
“She’s an Alpha’s daughter?” I question her. My mother chews her lip
but nods her head. My eyes snap to her again. “Can we see which pack?”
“Eziah,” Mom exhales a heavy breath and looks away.
“Mom!” I whine. Only this once, that’s all I’m asking for. It can’t be too
much.
My mother sighs and grits her teeth. “You know I can’t grant you a
second chance, right?” she questions.
I nod my head, and my mother sighs, moving to the other fountain. “I
can show what she sees right now?” my mother offers.
“You can’t pull up where she is?” I ask.
“No, I can only see what she sees, and I have tried to look, but all I see
is…”
“Darkness,” I breathe out, and my mother nods sadly.
“That's all she has known,” my mother states in a whisper.
“What about her wolf? Can you see what her wolf sees? Her wolf
should have better vision.”
Mom shakes her finger in the air. “That I might be able to do,” she says
before moving her fingers through the water.
A picture slowly emerges, but it isn’t much better than what I see in my
dreams. I squint down, peering into her surroundings, seeing a basement.
Though the picture looks pixelated.
“It’s not pixelated. She is in a cage,” Malachi snarls and it takes me a
few seconds to see her tiny fingers poking out the mesh as she peers into the
darkness.
“Can we hear?” I whisper to my mother and she clicks her fingers. A
door opens somewhere but offers no light. The stomping sound of footsteps
is loud in the room she is in.
“Nova, who is it?” I hear my mate’s voice speak for the first time as she
speaks to her wolf.
A whimper is heard, and her head turns to the side. Another voice of
someone also locked down there with her rings out loudly.
“Who is it?”
“Shut up! I’m trying to listen!”
“You’re on your own then!” the voice snarls in the background.
 “I expect nothing less from you,” her wolf, Nova retorts.
“It’s my brother!” my mate whimpers. A growl slips out of me, and I
peer into the fountain when it fizzles out.
“No!” I gasp.
“I can’t show you anymore,” my mother murmurs and I look at her. Her
hands cup her mouth in horror and tears brim in her eyes.
“Why?” I ask, as confused as ever. What is she trying to hide from me?
My mother shakes her head. “You don’t want to see. I can’t show you,”
I swallow, wondering what has her so upset.
“Is he— the man is he?” I hold my breath.
“She isn’t a sex slave to him if that is what you’re asking,” she mutters
and I exhale.
“To him?”
“The brother, he doesn’t use her that way,” my mother answers, but that
doesn’t mean he doesn‘t let others use her.
“At least she isn’t alone,” I mutter, recalling the other female voice in
the background, yet they didn’t sound too nice, probably just trying to
survive themselves.
“I’m sorry Eziah.” I look at my mother.
“She’s not alright is she?” My mother shakes her head and my stomach
sinks and I suck in a deep breath.
“You’ll find her.” She places her hand on my shoulder, probably
offering her support, but that doesn’t help much. In fact, it doesn’t help at
all…
“And when I do, I will kill every bastard that touched her!” I snarl.
“But first you need to help your sister,” my mother says, and I nod my
head.
 Chapter

Twenty-Three

M arabella
I catch a taxi to the graveyard before spending a good twenty
minutes trying to remember where Kyan’s family plot is. Once I
have found it, though, I get the same strange sweeping feeling as I stop in
front of Dominic’s grave. What took me twenty minutes takes Eziah only
minutes to find. Eziah appears behind it with a not-so-happy expression on
his face when he drops the duffle bag that is hanging from his shoulder onto
the ground at my feet.
“Got everything but the kitchen sink,” he growls at me, tossing a shovel
at me. I snatch the handle out of the air.
I stare at him. “Are you okay?” I ask, sensing something has upset him.
“I’m fine!” he speaks through gritted teeth. I go to question him when
he speaks again. “By the way, dad is on to us. Apparently, he questioned
Mom,” Eziah says as I rummage through the bags to find the old books.
None of them resemble any of Kyan’s family grimoires. However, I find the
dagger and a brown paper bag. My brows pinch together when I see a
smiley face drawn on it and recognize my father’s handwriting.
“Dad packed you lunch?” I giggle.
“Us lunch, and yes, mom told him we are having a picnic,” Eziah
mumbles.
“That involved a dagger, shovels, and old books?” I laugh, and he
shrugs.
“You know our fathers won’t ask questions. They trust the fates, seeing
as mom is now one,” Eziah says, leaning on his shovel. I examine the
dagger. It is identical to the one back at the manor.
 “So are you going to tell me why we are digging up Kyan’s father and
why mom is so excited she was nearly peeing her pants?” he asks before
reaching out and touching the headstone.
He gets a peculiar expression on his face, and I watch him, wondering if
he gets the same funny feeling that rises in me, and I bite my lip.
“Well, first we have to dig him up and see if my assumption is correct,”
I say, struggling to sound as unaffected as ever, despite how hard my heart
is beating in my chest and how scared I am to see whatever is hidden under
the ground.
“Care to share this assumption, sis? If I am defiling a grave, I want to
know what for,” he questions.
“I think Dominic is alive,” I tell him, and Eziah snorts. I raise an
eyebrow at him. “Oh shit, you are being serious?” he asks, and I nod,
looking down at the gravesite.
“Well, that explains the strange feeling I got,” he says, patting the
headstone. Ah, so I’m not alone in this and it’s not the edge of insanity
peeking over my shoulder after all.
“So, this is why mom is so excited?” he asks.
“Dominic gave his life up for mine. He also gave me his magic. So grab
a shovel,” I tell him with a wide grin across my lips.
“You know if he is dead, I can’t bring him back, though?” he asks.
“I know, and I wouldn’t ask that of you.”
He nods. “If it was you, I wouldn’t think about it, but he has been dead
a while, it would kill me to try to, and it isn’t like bringing back a dead
lizard,” Eziah says, making me remember when we were kids, and I
accidentally killed the poor little thing, and he brought it back.
“I wonder if it is still alive?” I chuckle, knowing the chances are slim.
“Maybe, but his buddy ain’t,” Eziah says as I stab the shovel into the
ground. I stop looking over at him.
“What?” I ask.
“To save a life, I must take one, sis. I gave you back the lizard you
killed. However, you didn’t see the other one I had in my other hand I killed
to bring it back,” he chuckles, and I frown.
My eyes widen at my brother. “You killed a lizard to bring my dead one
back?”
“You were crying! I hate when you cry,” he says and shrugs. I click my
tongue, turning back to my shovel to start digging.
 An hour in, and we have barely dug a hole. “Man, I am not built for
manual labor. Can’t you, like, I don’t know, wave a wand with Daddy
Dom’s magic and magic him to the surface?” Eziah whines.
I pull a face at him calling him Daddy Dom after remembering what
Kyan told me about his father. “Ah, no, and since I have come back from
the dream revelations, I haven’t been able to reach him,” Eziah sighs.
“Can’t you like, move the dirt or something? You have elemental
powers!” I suggest.
“Yeah, I do not have control of those yet, so unless you want me to
uproot the entire place, I suggest we keep digging! Besides you are
darkness, can’t you raise the dead? Make him claw himself out of the
earth?” Eziah keeps whining.
I roll my eyes at him and groan. “I don't know how to do that, and I
highly doubt Kyan would teach me how, apparently raising the dead when
tainted by darkness is not recommended unless you want a zombie
apocalypse!”
“Shovel it is!” Eziah snaps, stabbing it into the ground.
“What about Dominic? Can he tell you if he can be resurrected?” Eziah
asks.
“I can’t reach him,” I mutter, repeating myself again.
“At all? He is gone?” Eziah questions.
“No, I just think I am having trouble connecting with him because I am
calm. I will figure it out,” I tell him, and he sighs.
“Well, this sucks,” he whines, stabbing the shovel into the earth while
looking around suspiciously for anyone. Luckily, we are at the back and
hidden pretty well from anyone that may drive by. Eziah curses, and I
laugh.
“Ah, finally,” Eziah says, and I glance over at him. He tosses his shovel,
and seconds later, mom appears, only this time she brought both of my
fathers, and all have a shovel in hand.
“Need a hand?” my father asks, his wolf Maddox, pressing forward, and
I smile, chucking my shovel into the dirt and rushing over to wrap my arms
around him. He squeezes tight, burying his face in my hair.
“You told them? What about not wanting to change fate? Not that I am
complaining…” Eziah says.
“Got sick of listening to you whine, and as long as we get out of here
before you open that casket, I think the future will be fine!” my mother tells
him.
“You came to help?” I ask, looking up at my father.
“Well, if you are going to hell for disrupting a grave, I am coming with
you,” my father Mateo says. I let go of my father to go give him a hug.
“But we open it, and there are ghosts or something. Call your other
father though, I don’t do ghosts. He will bring the sage and holy water,” he
chuckles, kissing my head and hugging my shoulders. “I missed you, and I
am sorry,” he whispers, kissing my cheek.
“I missed you too,” I tell him, letting him go and looking at my mother.
She reaches over and squeezes my fingers before grabbing a shovel, and we
all start digging.
It doesn’t take long, especially with both my fathers, who know how to
work and when I hear the shovel hit metal, we all stop and use our hands.
Now, we have the issue of getting the casket out of the ground. Digging it
up is one thing. Getting it out is another thing entirely. I let out a breath and
huff. Now what?
“Now, how do we get it out?” I ask, looking around at everyone.
“Dig the sides out, so we can stand either side, and we are gonna have
to lift it,” my father Mateo says, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
“Why did he have to be buried? I figured he would have a crypt or
something. Why the damn ground if he wanted to be exhumed?” Eziah
says, grabbing his knees and trying to catch his breath.
“No, point whining, keep digging,” my mother snaps.
“And where do we put the casket? We can’t leave it here?” Eziah asks
and I glance around to find a CRYPT! Which is part of Kyan’s family plot.
I point to it.
“You are fucking kidding me. He has a crypt! Was it for shits and
giggles? Why Daddy Dom, why?” Eziah whines.
“You really gotta stop calling him that,” I tell him with a shudder.
“Yes, please do not refer to him like that. Dominic actually gives those
vibes off,” my father Mateo shudders, and mom chuckles and clucks her
tongue.
“Okay, enough now get him out to see if they can open it,” Mom says,
clapping her hands and ordering us back to work.
We continue to dig. After half an hour more, we have dug enough out
that we can lift it out. However, nearly the entire day has passed, and my
phone rings. Mom motions for everyone to remain quiet when she checks
the phone and shows me the screen. It is Kyan. I reach for it, dusting my
hands off before answering it.
“Hey,” I answer, shooting everyone a nervous glance.
“Where are you at?” he asks.
“Out with my brother. Where are you?” I look at my family and bite my
lower lip.
“Heading to the manor, if you are still in the city, I can come to grab
you, or is Eziah going to drop you home?” he asks.
“Actually, can you pick me up in an hour from the Casino, or is Jonah
still there?” I ask.
“He is. I will call him and tell him to wait for you.” Kyan falls quiet for
a second. “Are you bringing your brother back to the manor?” he asks and
my eyes move to Eziah briefly, and I can feel through the bond that he
doesn't want to see my brother right now.
I don’t blame him; it would be hard seeing someone who killed your
uncle. Eziah shakes his head and mouths Jonah’s. I nod to him. “Can he
stay at Jonah’s in the casino?”
“Yes, I just don’t want to deal with him. I’m sorry, Marabella, but not
yet,” I chew my lip, as I watch my mother open the crypt while my fathers
and Eziah carry the coffin over, placing it inside.
“Sure, I will be home soon,” I quickly mutter, ready to be done and over
with this.
“Love you,” he tells me.
“Love you too,” I tell him before hanging up.
I race over to my parents, grabbing the duffle bag Eziah brought with
him. Eziah tries to open the coffin, and so do I. We try for about ten
minutes, but nothing works, and mom becomes increasingly nervous.
“Stop. Your fathers can’t be here; it wasn’t part of my vision. And you
have a brown leather,” she closes her mouth.
“You will find it; I can’t say anymore. I don’t want to interfere when I
only have glimpses,” she says.
“You saw it, am I right?” I raise an eyebrow at her.
Mom’s lips tug up. “I can’t say, and I don’t want to jinx anything,” she
mutters, but I know that is her way of telling me I am right. We quickly
push all the dirt back into the grave, which still has an enormous hole, now
that it is empty of the casket. We say our goodbyes and lock the family
crypt up.
 My parents leave, and Eziah and I wait for our taxi. And man, do we get
some strange stares from the taxi driver? We didn’t think that through very
well. Leaving the cemetery covered in dirt looks pretty guilty and
suspicious.
We get out at the back of the casino to sneak into the underground car
park and use the elevator to go straight to the apartment.
Once inside, we both shower and get changed into fresh clothes. I give
Eziah some of Jonah’s before I chuck our clothes in the washing machine.
Within seconds of hiding all the evidence of our outing, Jonah steps in.
Eziah is going through one of the books taken from the Moon Goddess
realm.
“Kyan said you would be here,” Jonah says. He looks at Eziah
nervously. The windows still haven’t been fixed, but I know they would be
worried about the hotel room first since this room isn’t supposed to be
occupied with us going back to the manor.
“Eziah,” Jonah says, nodding his head at my brother.
Things are a little strange between them and I’m not sure if it is because
of Kyan’s unease knowing Eziah is here or if he is suspicious. I go with
suspicion as he plucks the book from Eziah’s hand.
“Why are you looking at spells and curses?”
Eziah shrugs. “Mom gave me homework,” Eziah lies smoothly with a
shrug before snatching it back off him.
“Did you pack what you wanted to take with you?” Jonah asks, and I
shake my head as he moves toward his room. He grabs a few changes of
clothes and packs them, along with our phone chargers. He is awfully quiet,
which makes me worry. Grabbing my pajamas, I place them in his bag
when he leans down next to me.
“You’re up to something,” Jonah whispers.
“I will tell you when I am sure,” I tell him.
“Eziah knows this secret obviously,” Jonah murmurs, and I nod. “Kyan
knows you’re up to something. He called me earlier, wanting to know why
Eziah was in the city,” Jonah says, slinging the bag over his shoulder.
“What did you say?” I ask him.
“That you were having lunch and hanging out? I trust you, but if you
need help with something, please ask,” Jonah says.
“Just not yet. I want to be sure,” I tell him.
 “Come on then, I want to get to the manor before Kyan comes looking
for us. I don’t think it is good for him to see your brother right now, not so
soon after Lucas,” I agree and follow him out.
“Stay away from the windows. You know where everything is, so help
yourself. I will drop Mara off in the morning so you can do whatever it is
you are both up to,” Jonah tells him.
Eziah smirks and nods, grabbing the remote from the coffee table and
turning the TV on. Jonah walks out and I give my brother my key in case he
leaves to go anywhere.
“Had a thought,” Eziah says, and I stop while Jonah continues out the
door.
“What?” I ask him.
“Dominic did the spell right, from that grimoire?”
“I think so,” I whisper, raising a suspicious eyebrow at him.
“Then wouldn’t he have it? You need to check the manor?” Eziah says,
which makes sense. For him to have used the spell, he had to have known
it, meaning he had to have a grimoire.
“I’ll find it,” I tell him.
“I will see if I can find anything in these books tonight. And I will see
you in two days, maybe see if you can borrow a car,” Eziah says, and I
sigh.
“Jonah works tomorrow. He will let us... wait, why two days?” Eziah
chuckles.
“You will be preoccupied, you’ll see,” he laughs, waving me off to go
home. I purse my lips, annoyed he won’t tell me. Shaking my head, I leave
to find Jonah waiting by the elevator.
“Ready?” he asks.
“Yeah, let’s go home,” I tell him, grabbing his hand.
 Chapter

Twenty-Four

M arabella
When we return home, Kyan is in a strange mood, and I know it
is because Eziah is in the City. Walking into the manor, I can hear
the vacuum going upstairs, and Jonah sighs, taking the groceries Kyan
asked us to grab on the way home into the kitchen. Carrying the duffle bag,
I start walking up the steps to the second floor.
Lucas’s bedroom door is open, and I can see an extension cord running
from the power outlet in the hall leading into Lucas’s old room.
Taking the duffle bag to the bedroom, I place it on the bed, knowing
there is no point in putting anything away because Kyan will just wait for
us to sleep before undoing everything I folded or hung up, only to redo it or
hang them in a particular way. So I wait for him and help him.
Hearing the vacuum cut off, I wander back down the hall and over to
Lucas’s room. Stopping at the door, I find Kyan is cleaning the room. The
bed is freshly made, and I can smell the furniture polish. The old dusty
curtains have been replaced with fresh ones, yet the old furniture that Kyan
despised so much remains and is polished to look brand new. All of Lucas’s
knick-knacks are set back in their original places. And Kyan is now
cleaning the window tracks with a microfiber cloth.
Even while cleaning, he is in pristine condition, with not a speck of dust
on him, yet he looks different with his white button-up shirt, the sleeves
rolled to his elbows. So odd seeing a man of his status doing ordinary,
mundane tasks like cleaning window tracks. I knock, not wanting to enter
Lucas’s room while he is upset. I have been in here plenty of times when
Lucas was alive, but feel it would be wrong to enter without Kyan’s
permission.
Lucas was very proud of his baseball card collection and liked to show
me them and his comic books that still sit in their plastic wrappers, never
opened. It makes me wonder which one is Dominic’s room, though. I know
it isn’t on this floor, and there are two more floors. Maybe I can ask Kaif
later if he comes forward. If not, I might have to explore a bit. Kyan never
minded when I looked around, although I never went to the upper floors
unless I went to the Seance room. Kyan looks over his shoulder at me and
pulls his latex gloves from his hands.
He drops them in his little trash bin. “You’re home, finally. I was
becoming bored. Where is Jonah?” he asks, walking over to me. He grips
the front of my shirt, pulling me into the room and kissing me briefly.
“Are you alright?” I ask him worriedly.
The emotions through our bond are all over the place. “Fine, where is
Jonah?” he asks, glancing over my shoulder.
“Putting groceries away,” I tell him, and he nods before rushing around
the room, picking up his cleaning supplies. I grab the vacuum, unplug the
cord, and pack it back in the storage closet in the hall. Kyan steps out of the
room behind me. Turning to face him, I watch him lock the door with a key
before pocketing it.
“Did you have fun with your brother?” he asks, though I know he is
only asking not to be rude. He doesn’t care to hear about what Eziah and I
got up to.
“Yes, it was good to see him,” I tell him, and he nods while I follow him
downstairs to the kitchen.
Jonah is still putting groceries away, removing everything from the
packets, and placing them in their designated containers. It is bizarre seeing
how close they are. They are best friends, more like brothers, yet Jonah
never complains about how set in his ways Kyan is and does things Kyan’s
way despite it being time-consuming.
Seeing him like that makes me wonder if it would come naturally to me
after a few years. Jonah doesn’t even seem to think about it, whereas I
would have just stuffed the boxes in the pantry. Jonah takes the time to
remove them from their packaging and place everything in their designated,
labeled containers.
 “I broke the pasta jar lid. You didn’t have a spare lid, but I found this
one,” Jonah tells him.
Kyan visibly tenses, and I know his OCD is running rampant today.
“I never labeled it. Figured I would leave the label for you,” Jonah tells
him, which surprises me further that Jonah knows that would be what Kyan
would worry about. Kyan sighs, and his shoulders relax as he takes the
labeling device from the drawer and grabs the tall jar from the counter.
Jonah gives me a look of worry as he watches Kyan try to get the label on
straight.
Kyan’s hands shake in frustration, and I chew my lip, wanting to help
him, but I’m not sure if I should touch him while he is in this sort of mood.
His strange mood is making me uneasy.
“Kyan? Are you alright?” Jonah asks, but Kyan appears to be absorbed
in the task as he mutters under his breath. Jonah, however, nods toward
him, and I move, coming up behind Kyan and wrapping my arms around
his waist. He stiffens before relaxing and lets out a breath. His hands stop
shaking, and he finally gets the label on straight.
I rest my cheek against his back and look at Jonah. His worry for our
mate is clear and etched into his face. I know Eziah, being here seems to
trigger something in him because he was okay before finding out I was with
Eziah. It makes me realize I have made the right decision about not telling
him about Dominic.
I couldn’t bear to see him get his hopes up, only for them to crash down
on him if I am wrong, no matter how strongly I believe I am right.

T he night went by quickly. We did very little, just sat around watching
TV while Kyan read over work documents. It took hours for Jonah to
convince him to come to bed.
However, heading to our room, I finally notice the bed is different. How
I missed it earlier is beyond me. I have been in here multiple times during
the night, and not once did I notice the bed is bigger. It is the same bed, but
bigger. I only notice when I suddenly am not squished between them both.
 Kyan falls asleep instantly, while Jonah actually has trouble sleeping.
He tosses and turns all night but eventually falls asleep, much to my relief.
With them asleep, I want to see if I can find Dominic’s room and I know
Kyan would ask questions if he caught me looking around, so now seems to
be a perfect time. I know he won’t mind, but I don’t want to upset him with
how he was earlier.
Climbing out of bed, the floorboards are cold under my bare feet. I can
see the perspiration from my footprints on them. I thought their body heat
made me feel like I was sweltering pressed between them, yet even walking
around the house, I feel overly hot. Closing the door behind me as I leave
the room, I walk down the dimly lit hallway to the thermostat to check the
heating. It is stifling in here.
Checking the screen, I see that it is sixty nine degrees. I must be coming
down with something. Shaking my head, I look up to the third level before
quietly climbing the stairs. A shudder runs through me, and goosebumps
rise on my arms as unease rolls over me when I reach the top.
Staring at the door to the seance room, I get a strange urge to head down
to the left of the corridor. I stop at the front of a set of double doors,
twisting the handle just to find it is locked.
Yet, something is telling me this is the room that belongs to Dominic
and his wife. Chewing my lip, I know I will have to get Kyan’s keys, which
I saw Kyan place on the key hook by the front door before he came to bed.
I am about to turn around and go grab them when I feel a warm naked
chest press against my back. My heartbeat thumps in my chest as his breath
moves across my mark. Sparks burst across my skin as his scent wafts to
me invitingly, making my mouth water.
“Just me, love,” Kaif’s voice whispers below my ear, and I relax when
his hand moves in front of me to place a key in the door. He unlocks it
before pocketing the keys. Twisting the handle, he opens the door.
I let out a breath and peer up over my shoulder to see Kyan, yet Kaif’s
demonic eyes are peering back at me. He pecks my lips gently and growls
softly, the noise turning to a purr. When he pulls his lips from mine, he
buries his face in my neck, inhaling my scent deeply.
Another moment passes, and he growls. His arm wraps around my
waist, pulling me flush against him, and a strangled noise leaves his lips as
he lets me go. I turn to face him, only to see him dig the keys out of Kyan’s
shorts pocket again. He fumbles with the fob key on them and presses it.
 “Be quick. I won’t be able to stay in this form long; I need to give Kyan
back control,” Kaif murmurs when he growls, pressing the fob key again,
but more viciously. Suddenly I hear the groan and rattle of roller shutters,
making me peek into the dark room that belongs to Dominic to see the
roller shutters block out the night sky.
Kaif nudges me into the room, and much like Kyan’s room, this room is
spotless, despite being locked up, nothing is out of place, and not a speck of
dust has settled on anything in the room, making me wonder if Kyan cleans
it regularly. The room looks untouched, just like Lucas’s.
Photos of Kyan when he was little hung on the walls. Frames are also
on the dresser, even some of his artwork Dominic must have had framed. It
is clear he was a proud father. Moving toward the large closet, his clothes
are set out like Kyan’s. Everything has a particular spot as I rummage
through, looking for anything that might resemble a grimoire.
Finding nothing, I walk out to find Kaif breathing heavily as his hand
clutches the door frame. I move toward the dresser beside the bed and open
the drawers. Sweat forms and beads on the back of my neck. The
temperature in the room rises dramatically.
I wipe a hand across my forehead and pinch my nightie’s front, which is
becoming drenched in my sweat. It is at this very second that I realize why I
am so hot, and why Kaif is struggling with control.
Glancing over at him nervously, he is watching me like a predator
would watch its prey. The thought sends a shiver down my spine. My entire
body is beginning to tingle, and I sniff the air. Shit! I am going into heat!
Kyan’s scent is potent and enticing, and I have to shake the urge to go to
him away as I pull the drawers out and search through them. Nothing.
Moving around to the other side of the bed, I pull the bottom drawer out
and find socks.
Closing it, I move to the next, and also nothing. Opening the top, my
heart races quicker when I spot a brown leather-covered book. A leather
strap is buckled around it, and it has a strange marking that is partially
obscured by the buckle. Pulling the book out, a ripple runs over me when
my fingers touch it, and I know I have found what I was looking for.
Grabbing the book, I look around the room and grab a shirt, wrap the
old book in it before rushing past Kaif. Careful not to touch him, or I risk
attacking him. I swallow when I feel how slick my thighs are becoming.
 Racing back to the room, my vision blurs slightly. I stuff the book in
one of my oversized handbags and place it under the bed. Pain twists in my
belly and my vision blurs further. Getting up, I am about to run to the
bathroom to have a cold shower when hands grab me from behind.
Kaif purrs and pushes me toward the bed, where I can see Jonah moving
around like he is uncomfortable. He pushes me onto the bed, climbing on it
behind me and flipping me onto my back.
The moment he gives control back to Kyan and my skin touches him, I
am done for. Jonah rolls into me, and sparks rush everywhere, and I moan at
the feel of their skin on mine.
Kyan’s eyes open, and he blinks, confused. He sniffs the air, and his
eyes flicker, his pupils dilating. He looks at the windows to see the roller
shutters locked in place. Kyan growls before his lips crash down on mine
hungrily.
His tongue moves between my lips, his tongue brushing against mine,
and I hear Jonah groan beside me as he rolls into me. Kyan pulls his lips
from mine and stares at Jonah as he leans over, kissing me with the same
desire Kyan has.
Jonah’s hand grabs my breast through the thin nightie when I hear fabric
tearing as Kyan rips through my nightdress and his lips wrap around my
nipple. At the same time, Jonah fondles the other with his hand, making me
moan against Jonah’s lips.
 Chapter

Twenty-Five

M arabella
Heat consumes me, my skin is heating up to the point I’m
worried my blood will boil in my veins. My pussy develops a pulse
as arousal coats my thighs. The more they touch me, the hotter I become.
Jonah kisses me, and I feel Kyan’s knee push my legs apart. His lips travel
down my ribs and side. I squirm as his teeth graze my oversensitive skin.
My entire body buzzes with the sensory overload as sparks rush
everywhere, Jonah’s tongue tangles with mine, and I grip his hair, kissing
him harder as desire courses through me.
Kyan nips at my hip when I feel his hand push my thighs apart and he
settles between my legs. His hot breath sweeps over my pussy and makes
me shiver and gasp. Jonah pulls his lips from mine and glances down at
Kyan just as his tongue parts my lower lips, making my back arch as his
tongue runs over my clit, sucking it into his mouth.
He swirls his tongue around the sensitive nerves, making me cry out.
Jonah’s eyes flicker and darken as he watches Kyan drive me to the edge,
only to slow down when I am about to push over it.
“Like that, I love that look in her eyes. Whatever you’re doing to her,
don’t stop,” growls Jonah, his eyes watching my face that is heating under
his intense, smoldering gaze.
My hips rock against Kyan’s mouth when Jonah’s lips wrap around my
nipple, teasing with his tongue and teeth before turning his attention to the
other one, making it harden to a peak.
Their mouths on my flesh drive me insane as Kyan devours me, his
tongue swirling and mouth sucking relentlessly and I feel my skin prickle
with overwhelming heat, arousal saturating my thighs. Heat washes through
me, their fiery tongues licking my heated flesh and their nipping teeth
driving me to the brink.
Flames of desire course through every nerve ending, pure bliss yet also
pleasurable torture. My entire body trembles as I give into the pleasurable
feeling they are enticing out of me, my moans of ecstasy filling the quiet
room.
I cry out as my climax washes over me in waves, Kyan grips my thighs
holding them in place as they tremble, forcing them flat against the bed, and
my hips rock against his mouth as I ride out the orgasm, his tongue lapping
at the juices leaving me and coating his tongue.
My heat diminishes briefly when he kisses my inner thigh. I feel the bed
dip between my legs as Kyan moves, hopping off the bed only for Jonah to
push his knee between my thighs before settling his weight down above me.
I tug at his tank top, wanting it off.
Using one hand, Jonah pulls it off, and my lips go to his chest. My
tongue swirls around the bar, running through his nipple. Jonah growls, and
my other hand moves to his cock.
I wrap my fingers around him, running my hand up the length of him.
Jonah groans, his hand going to my hair. He tugs my head back, his lips
hungrily devour mine as he thrusts into my hand.
Kyan, I can hear, is rummaging around in the bathroom when Jonah’s
lips move down my neck to my mark. His teeth graze over it and tease my
mark, sending tingles everywhere. Moving my hand, I roll my hips against
Jonah, his cock gliding through my wet lips before he moves a hand
between our bodies and positions himself before sheathing himself in me. I
gasp and my back arches at the feel of his hard cock gliding and brushing
my inner walls.
Jonah nips at my jaw, working his way back to my lips. He groans
against my lips as he kisses me, and I tug on his hip, letting him know he
can move faster as I wrap my legs around his waist. He does, picking up his
pace. My stomach tightens as my skin heats when he suddenly rolls, pulling
me on top of him.
I sit up, my fingers splayed on his chest, his cock pressing in deeper.
Jonah grips my hips, his fingers dig into me as he rolls them against him. I
moan at the feeling of following the rhythm of his movements and meeting
them. His hand goes to my breast, and he squeezes it.
 The bed dips behind me as Kyan climbs back onto the bed and moves
behind me. Kyan grips my hair, his fingers tangling in it as he tugs my head
back, making me gasp. His lips move from my jaw to the side of my mouth.
Turning my head slightly, his lips capture mine, his tongue moving between
my lips, and his tongue tangling with mine when I feel his erection press
against my ass; Kyan’s hand moves from my hair to my throat.
He squeezes, but not hard enough to cut off my air completely when I
feel his fingers prod around my entrance. He slides his finger inside
alongside Jonah’s cock that is buried deep inside me, his fingers stretching
me further while his tongue invades every inch of my mouth. My inner
walls squeeze his fingers as he gently slides them in and out. Jonah’s nails
bite into the soft skin of my hip while Kyan continues to stretch me.
“Fuck, that feels tight,” Jonah growls when Kyan slips his fingers from
me completely, and I feel Kyan press the tip of his cock to my soaking-wet
entrance. I cry out when he thrusts all the way in, his cock hitting my cervix
painfully. My body tenses, and I forget how to breathe as my body locks up.
Kyan lets go of my throat and kisses the side of my face.
“Breathe, Ella,” Kyan whispers, and I force myself to breathe, gritting
my teeth.
“You can take us both. We’ll be gentle, just breathe,” Kyan murmurs
before I feel his arm wrap around my waist, his hand moving between my
legs, and he rolls my clit between my fingers.
My hips jerk at the sensation, and my inner walls squeeze them as he
teases my clit. “That’s it, Ella,” Kyan purrs, nipping at my mark with his
teeth.
Rocking my hips, my inner walls stretch, trying to accommodate both of
them. I feel overly full, and I move my hips, letting myself stretch around
them.
Planting my hands on Jonah’s chest, I see his jaw is clenched tight as he
fights against the urge to thrust up into me, letting me move my hips slowly
against them. Jonah pulls back, looking up at me before kissing me. Kyan
pulls out slightly and pushes back in slowly. He keeps his slow pace,
worried about hurting me when I move my hips to meet his movements.
“Tell me if I hurt you,” Kyan whispers, making my eyes snap open. I
feel his thumb press against my ass, then he pushes it in. The sensation is
strange, yet I am relaxed. His thumb slips in easily.
 He moves it in and out of me. My stomach tenses and my toes curl as
the desire for more courses through me. He pulls his thumb out. Kyan
reaches beside Jonah, where I see a bottle of lubricant, and I don’t even
want to know what the other thing is, though I have a rough idea. It isn’t
very big and is pointed at the tip. I look away from the little black butt plug.
Finding just staring at it is daunting.
I move my hips against them, loving the stimulation when Kyan pulls
out slightly. I feel something cold and wet move between my cheeks, and I
know it is the butt plug, making me freeze. He presses the lubed toy against
the tight muscle of my ass before pushing it in, making me gasp as Kyan
leaves it there before thrusting into me.
Jonah thrusts up to me, and I moan when Kyan’s hand moves back
between my thighs. He pinches my clit and then rubs it with his fingers,
letting my orgasm build. My entire body feels overstimulated and overly
full; I was full before, but this is an entirely new level of overfull.
I move my hips, getting used to the feeling, and I feel Kyan kiss my
shoulder before he grips my neck, pulling my head back and kissing me.
Jonah rolls my hips against him while Kyan moves in time with Jonah and
lets me go. I put my hands on Jonah’s chest, meeting his thrusts, my toes
curling as the friction builds.
My inner walls squeeze his hard length as I move, chasing my orgasm.
My breathing becomes heavy, and I cry out as I am thrown over the edge,
my nails digging into his shoulders as my pussy pulsates and flutters.
Jonah’s grip on my hips tightens as he thrusts in slowly, letting me ride out
the rippling waves when Kyan removes the plug. His hand falls on my
shoulder, and he pushes me down toward Jonah, who grips my throat and
captures my lips with his.
Jonah kisses me, his tongue tasting every inch of my mouth, and I roll
my hips against him when Kyan pulls out of me. Reaching back, I wrap my
fingers around Kyan’s cock. It twitches in my hand, and he leans his face
closer, the warmth of his chest pressing against my back as he flicks my
hair over one shoulder. His lips go to my mark, sucking on it.
My toes curl at the pleasure rolling over me as my heat continues to
build. Kyan’s fingers move between my cheeks, caressing the tight muscles
of my ass before I feel the head of his cock press against it. I tug on his hip,
wanting him inside me, and he moves closer. Jonah’s movements speed up
as he grips my hips and slams me down on his cock, his hard length
smashing against my cervix.
Kyan thrusts inside me in one movement before stopping, his arm
wrapping around my waist as he pulls me against so my back is pressed to
his chest, his hand moving between my legs, and his fingertips brushing
against my clit before he rolls it between his fingers, making me moan.
I feel so full, full to the brim, but it feels so good, feels right as I feel
both of them slipping in and out of my body, building up the friction inside
me.
Kyan’s nails dig into my ass as he holds me, and I nip at Jonah’s chest,
my teeth grazing the hard muscles of his pecs, and I flick his nipple piercing
with my tongue before tugging on it. Jonah groans. My lips travel higher,
and he offers his neck to me.
Without hesitation, I sink my canines into him and he moans loudly.
When my canines leave Jonah’s neck. I lick the blood as it runs down his
chest when he grabs my chin, bringing my lips to his as he kisses me. My
skin heats and tension builds in my belly.
My pussy flutters around Jonah’s cock when he grips my throat with his
long fingers and turns my head, exposing my neck to him. He growls,
sinking his canines into my neck deeply, his teeth to my mark, and my walls
flutter, milking him as he finds his release.
Jonah gasps, pulling his teeth from my neck, only for Kyan’s hand on
my stomach to pull me back against him. His hot chest is slick with sweat
as he stills behind me, his teeth sinking into my shoulder and neck, over my
mark, prolonging my orgasm and making me moan loudly. I feel Kyan slip
from my body and I collapse against Jonah’s chest, trying to catch my
breath as the heat abates.
Jonah rolls my body limp as he hovers above me. He kisses the side of
my mouth, pulling out of me when I feel a warm cloth move between my
legs as he climbs off the bed. My eyes lazily flutter open to see Kyan
leaning across the bed, cleaning me. He leans down as Jonah moves toward
the bathroom to clean up.
“Love you, get some rest,” Kyan mumbles against my lips as my eyes
flutter closed.
 Chapter

Twenty-Six

K yan
I watch as Ella falls asleep. As I place my hand on her head, I
make sure her temperature has gone down rapidly, and her potent,
intoxicating scent is beginning to dissipate. “She is fine, Kyan,” Jonah
murmurs behind me.
“You weren’t wearing protection,” I mumble, looking down at her.
“Point being, she would have said something if she was worried.” Jonah
shrugs.
“She may not be worried, but my DNA is in your veins. If you knock
her up, it will be mine too!” I tell him.
“Ah, am I missing something? We are mates, maybe not like Mateo and
Ezra, but still mates. We have marked each other. Isn’t that the point?”
Jonah asks, and I sigh. He isn’t getting it.
“The curse Jonah, if you knock her up, and she has a baby!” I remind
him.
“If she has a baby! Mara may not even want kids first of all. Secondly, I
don’t think you have to worry about Kaif killing her, and as for the
darkness, Kaif has marked her already. It has no effect on her,” Jonah says.
“I am worried about the curse continuing,” I tell him. Jonah growls, and
I can feel his frustration through the bond.
“Kyan, this curse has no effect on her. She has proven that!” he mutters,
a little too aggressively for my liking, but at least he’s not being loud, so he
won’t wake Mara.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “May not affect her, but it affects Kaif
and any children we have.”
 “You are worried Kaif will still kill her? After everything, seriously,
Kyan?” Jonah asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer honestly.
I really don’t know. Everything I assumed when it comes to Marabella
so far has been wrong, but it still scares me. However, something has
changed within Kaif. I feel at peace, and so does he, since she marked him.
Like the world’s weight has lifted off of him. She accepted him, not just me.
She accepted Kaif, and I feel that is what he needed all along. However, if
past timelines are any indicator, it is consistently repeated.
“You are. You’re worried that if she gets pregnant, Kaif will kill her?” I
nod, looking down at her.
“Not this time. Ella is different,” Kaif says, dismissing the idea
instantly.
“She isn’t just your mate, Kyan. I am yours too, and hers. If you don’t
trust yourself or Kaif. Trust that I won’t let harm come to her, but I know
Kaif won’t hurt her,” Jonah says, gripping my shoulder.
“How?” I whisper the question.
“Because I felt it when she marked him,” he says. “Mara set him free
when she marked him and he freed her. Mara was right. Kaif didn’t need
redemption. He needed acceptance, destined to live the same fate over.
Rejection, Kyan. It was never redemption. It was them, turning against him.
They turned away from him like Luna did. Mara turned to him. She didn’t
run from him,” Jonah says, and I nod.
I hope he is right. But something has been nagging me. Kaif is hiding
something, and it is making me uneasy. I know he had control earlier
tonight, blocked me out, and now, he refuses to tell me what he and Ella
spoke about or were doing.
“You can trust me, Kyan,” Kaif tells me. But why is it a secret? It has
me worried that something more is going on. I just don’t know why Kaif
would keep it from me, and despite having marked and mated, I am waiting
for the world to come crashing down around me. It always did. Shaking the
thought away, I head for the bathroom to shower.
“I must say I like the extra showerheads,” Jonah says, stepping in
behind me.
“Jonah!” I tell him.
“Dude, we were just sword-crossing. Get over it,” he says, turning the
other showerhead on. I grab the soap, moving over for him.
 “Don’t say it like that. You make it sound dirty,” I snap at him.
“Fine, we were rubbing dicks then,” Jonah laughs and I shoot him a
look at his vulgar use of words.
“And that sounds even worse. Just stop!” I growl, and Jonah laughs.
“I would have thought you would have taken a disinfectant bath,” Jonah
chuckles, snatching the soap from my hand.
“I told you sex is different,” I tell him.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I was trying to understand it,” Jonah
says.
“Well, I don’t even understand it,” I admit.
“Well, try to explain it,” he says while dropping the soap in my hand
and turning to face me while he rinses the soap off.
“Doesn’t that hurt?” I ask, glancing at his dick. I still can’t believe he
made me go with him when he got that done.
“You know it didn’t hurt. You were there, and stop looking at my dick!”
Jonah laughs at my question.
“No, I mean, I don’t want to know,” I tell him, shaking my head.
“Curiosity killed the cat Kyan, I’ll answer, but you have to explain
about the sex thing,” he says. Sighing, I nod my head.
We have always been pretty open when it comes to talking, not that we
have any secrets from each other. It seems pointless when he is my guardian
and can feel everything I feel and Kaif. Now that is just stronger with the
mate bond now in place.
“And no, it doesn’t hurt. They move under my skin, not pull, the bars
roll with movement. Why? Did it hurt you?” he asks, genuinely sounding
concerned as he glances over his shoulder at me. I shake my head.
Mara seems to like his piercings, and so does he, so I suppose I could
live with him having them. “No, just like a rolling sensation along my
shaft,” I admit, pointing to the shampoo behind Jonah. He passes it to me.
“Your turn,” Jonah says.
“I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t understand it myself,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I know. I am just curious about why you think about it.” Jonah
shrugs as we are having the most basic conversation ever. Definitely no
dicks and OCD.
“I’m not sure. I think it is more to do with sensation than anything.”
“What’s the difference?” Jonah asks, and I think.
 “It’s expected to be messy?” I shrug, trying to find the right way to
explain. “Like the labels, I can see they aren’t straight, like a compulsion
thing. I can control it. I like order, so I straighten them.”
“Sex you can’t control?” Jonah asks.
“No, I can, but as I said the sensation overpowers the mindset if that
makes sense, maybe because I don’t want control over it,” I try to explain.
We have had this discussion plenty of times over the years, but it is hard to
explain, let alone why some things trigger certain compulsions.
“Mom is the same with locks. Drives dad up the wall,” Jonah laughs.
“Spose it is the same, though. I asked Ma that once,” I tell him.
“What did she say?” he asks.
“It’s the same with me. She gets up and checks them because she can’t
sleep. If she hasn’t, it will play on her mind until she does.” I shrug, then
press my face under the water.
“Yes, but she does it repeatedly,” Jonah says.
“Yes, I can be the same. I get it, though. Your mind tricks you.
Repetition is predictable. Your mother checks the locks, she lies down but
then wonders if she really checked the lock or wonders if she is
remembering yesterday when she did, so she checks again. And sometimes
again, I do the same sometimes. It can be consuming and annoying, but I
am not at ease until I have convinced myself it is correct. Even if she knows
she checked it, that slight doubt makes her recheck it. Does that make
sense?” I tell him.
“Kind of,” Jonah mutters and shrugs.
“Maybe because you don’t suffer from anxiety as much,” I tell him.
“Much? I don’t have anxiety,” he says and I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Ah yeah, you do. When Kaif moves forward, you do. You go into
fight-or-flight mode. You also do when it comes to Mara.”
“What do you mean?” he asks, setting the soap back on the niche beside
me.
“I mean, you keep thinking you’re the third wheel,” I tell him. He sighs
and nods. “You’re not. You are the one person that is constant in both our
lives, the glue. You’ll keep us all together,” I tell him.
“But no donutting,” Jonah laughs, and I smile.
“Definitely not donutting,” I tell him, turning the shower off. I grab a
towel, tossing him one before walking back into the room. Marabella is still
asleep, and I retrieve some shorts before climbing in bed beside her, and
Jonah climbs over both of us to lie on her other side.
Looking down at Marabella makes me think back to Kaif, blocking me
out, and her weird mood earlier when I rang her. “Mara is hiding
something, and so is Kaif,” I tell Jonah. Glancing at Jonah, he is nodding
his head, and I wonder if he knows something, yet his following words tell
me isn’t sure either.
“And Eziah, he was weird when I saw him at the apartment,” Jonah
says. “But I trust Mara, so let her. If she is hiding something from us, she
would have a good reason, to,” Jonah adds, trusting blindly.
I say nothing because whatever it is, Kaif also wants it kept from me,
yet it keeps nagging me. Jonah is right though curiosity killed the cat, so I
have to trust whatever it is, that she will come to me over it, or I have to
trust that Kaif will step in if something goes wrong.
“It is nothing bad, Kyan. Just let her do this,” Kaif tells me.
“So you know what she is up to?” I ask him.
“Yes, and she is right to keep it from you, so leave it be for now. If
everything goes fine, you will know. If not, you are none the wiser,” he
answers cryptically.
“As long as she isn’t putting herself in danger?” I worry, chewing the
inside of my lip as I peer down at her.
“I wouldn’t allow that, Kyan, and neither would Eziah,” Kaif answers.
With a sigh, I roll over. I chuck my arm over Marabella at the same time
Jonah does, both of us snuggling closer to our mate. “Trust the bond: she
won’t jeopardize it,” Kaif tells me as I drift off to sleep.
 Chapter

Twenty-Seven

M arabella
One week later
Jonah drops me off at the hotel; my brother is still here, and we
are still no closer to finding a way to open that damn coffin. It has become
stressful, and I feel like time is running out. Kyan has been on edge and
very observant. I have even had to be careful with my thoughts and control
my moods, knowing he is constantly watching.
He is suspicious. The more time I spend with my brother, the more he
questions me. Yet now, we aren’t sure we can even open the coffin. I am
now debating this entire thing. Is this attempt futile?
I am anxious, and it feels like everything is slipping from my hands, one
side of me is wondering if the whole thing is doomed, the other side is not
ready to give up, ever! I really want this to work. Not just to prove I am
right, but for Kyan. I know how much his father means to him. And if there
is a chance to prince him back, I need to make sure I have exhausted every
avenue.
The grimoires offered nothing, and Dominic’s presence has become less
and less. I don’t like it. His voice, which has been with me for years, is now
almost completely gone, and barely heard. I miss him. This in itself is the
reason I have to make this work. I need to figure this puzzle out. I can’t
stand the thought of failing and losing him forever.
Dominic is having trouble coming through to me, and half the time is
spent trying to decipher what he is telling me as of lately, it is like static
interference. I live for those moments, yet they are short-lived and
frustrating given the little moments we have, and the pressure and weight of
figuring this out.
He can never stay long, and he tries to tell me it is because my bonds to
my mates are sealed entirely now that his bond is slowly being repressed. It
makes no sense to me, but he explains the more I rely on my mates, the less
I need him, which is quite bothersome because I need him to figure out how
to open the damn coffin. I fear he will be completely gone before I get to
make this work.
Stepping out of the elevator, the apartment door is wide open. The hotel
has been shut down since the incident while it undergoes renovations and
repairs. Jonah and Kyan can’t obviously risk someone falling out a window,
but most of the repairs are done, and as I step into the apartment, men are
finally fixing the windows on this level. It has been a weird and long week.
Eziah sits on the couch with one of the grimoires in hand, flicking
through the pages. He has been different the last couple of days, his moods
change rapidly, which isn’t helping me. We have been clashing, and then I
get home only to argue with Kyan about when Eziah is leaving, which is
driving me insane.
I hate being caught up in the middle, yet nothing I say puts Kyan at
ease. He wants my brother gone, and doesn’t understand why he is still
here. Yet I can’t tell him the truth, at least not until I know for sure.
It is exhausting, and I feel like I am putting little fires out the whole
damn time. He hates my brother, which is understandable, but if he knew
why he is here, maybe he would have a change of heart. Yet, if I can’t open
the damn coffin, it is for nothing, and he will be even more angered that I
dug his father up for nothing and disturbed his grave. Ugh, this is becoming
too much. We need to figure this out now!
Mom has also been fiddling with the fates, trying to see ahead, but
besides the occasional nosebleed and headache, she can’t see much because
Eziah and I are directly involved in that future, our futures she can’t see
clearly. Though I appreciate her help, it has led to yet another dead end.
“Hey,” I tell Eziah, falling onto the couch and sitting next to him. His
aura radiates out angrily, and he stinks heavily of liquor. I glance at him to
find his eyes bloodshot and huge dark circles under his eyes. A frown falls
on my face as I look at my brother.
Why did I never notice this? I am concerned about him. Something has
changed in him lately. Gone is his normally bubbly, carefree attitude. To be
honest, he looks as depressed as I used to feel.
“Are you okay?” I ask him gently, nudging him with my shoulder.
“Yeah, just not sleeping well,” he mutters, glaring at the workers who
are nearly done and are now cleaning up the mess from replacing the
windows. The strange expression on his face makes me wonder what is on
his mind. He is clearly not okay. Should I try asking him again? But I shoot
the idea down. Maybe later when no one is here, and he is in a more
talkative mood.
“Find anything helpful,” I ask instead.
“No, it is mostly in old Latin.” His reply is followed by a heavy sigh.
“You mean Italian?” I ask.
Eziah shakes his head. “No, Latin is similar, but it is mostly a dead
language. Few speak it anymore, and then some are in old Gaelic, which
makes no sense since they are completely different languages. Don’t
suppose Dominic is around to translate,” he asks, looking at me expectantly.
I shake my head, and Eziah sighs. “Why couldn’t it be ‘Open Sesame,’
or something easy?” Eziah laughs darkly, and his eyes flicker oddly. That’s
weird. What’s going on with him?
The men leave and shut the door behind them, and Eziah gets up off the
couch. “Fucking finally,” he groans, heading to the cupboard and pouring a
drink. His behavior is so off. When did he get like this? I take a look at the
time and I frown.
“Eziah, it isn’t even 10 AM,” I scold, watching as he sniffs the bottle he
just opened. He makes a face, and the smell of potent vodka reaches my
nose. Ugh, gross. Not ideal on an empty stomach, especially so early in the
morning.
“Leave me, I have hardly slept, and if I have to sit here trying to work
out what the heck those stupid symbols mean and whatever language that
crap is, I will do it drunk,” he says, raising the glass. “Cheers,” he says with
a wink, before downing the glass. I shake my head, looking at the open
grimoire.
“How are your boy toys?” he sneers, and I shrug, not bothering to
answer since he is in a bad mood, and I know it will only lead to us having
more arguments.
I am tired of arguing, and I also don’t have the time to waste. Two
things I have come to learn about Eziah in the last week. That he has a
drinking problem and depends on his mood, depends on what sort of drunk
he is. I have questioned him multiple times over the last couple of days
about what is wrong, but he never tells me.
Or flat-out tells me it is none of my business. It is frustrating to see him
clearly dealing with something, yet his walls are up. I can only help him if
he lets me in. It feels like we have drifted apart. Both changed. Our bond
feels like it shattered, which makes my heart squeeze with a dull ache. And
when he is like this, he feels like he is a stranger to me.
He falls onto the couch and leans forward, placing the jewelry box we
have been practicing trying to open, yet it isn’t the same. Kaif had sealed it
shut with his magic for me the other night, but not even he is sure how
Dominic sealed the coffin.
His only answer is that Dominic must have locked it so that only his
magic can open it. Just fucking great! Magic I have no idea how to use. Not
only that, but Kaif is also becoming wary of taking over. Kyan has been
questioning him relentlessly, and I am at the point of seriously considering
what I am willing to tell him.
I know eventually, I will have to accept and take Kyan’s wrath, but at
the same time, I don’t want to hurt him if we can’t open it. I could never
live with myself, knowing I gave him hope, just for it to end in failure and
disappointment.
His suspicion has become so bad that Kyan lost it the other night when
he woke up while I was snooping in the basement with Kaif. He forced
control back, which scared the living daylights out of me. Especially when
he grabbed me, demanding to know what I was doing down there. Kaif
managed to force back control, and I managed to convince him he dreamed
it.
However, I know that excuse won’t work again. I am pretty sure he
knows I was lying to him through the bond. Shaking that thought away, I
turn back to look at the Grimoires. I sigh. Noticing the symbols Eziah is
talking about, I find the symbols and emblems make zero sense to me,
either. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Eziah and I set to work trying to unlock the jewelry box and decipher
the old language using google translate, which does not work. Going
through different spells, the day passes by quickly, and by the end of the
day, I am becoming exhausted; I manage to channel absolutely nothing. So
I am not feeling very victorious…
 Feeling defeated, I take a last look at the pages before me, slam the
book shut, and heave a deep sigh. Magic is hard, and I’m not a witch, so the
feeling of power isn't the same to me when I don’t understand what I am
feeling for. It requires concentration and natural ability I don’t have.
Eziah is half-tanked as he grabs another spell book. He snickers,
laughing at me, and I shake my head. Whatever dude, stop pissing me off. I
give him a look filled with annoyance.
“Okay, I will stop laughing. Try this one,” he says, squinting at the
book. His energy is making me feel drunk. He can’t even walk straight, so I
have no idea how he is able to read.
“Give it here and let me try reading it,” I tell him, reaching for the book.
Eziah chuckles, pulling the book from my reach and hugging it. “I am a
spell advisor. You is the spell caster,” he slurs, and I roll my eyes. With a
huff, I sit back down next to the coffee table.
“So you need to channel your inner power,” Eziah says, and I shake my
head.
“Just tell me the damn spell, Eziah, or give me the book,” I snap at him.
I don’t have time for this shit!
Eziah slurs his words, and I get annoyed, intending to go home. He is
wasting my time. “Wait, wait, Musculus sphincter ani,” he slurs.
“What? That doesn’t sound like a spell,” I tell him, reaching for the
book, but he pulls it out of my reach.
“I’m advisor, you spell caster, now cast away,” he says, gesturing with
his hands from me to himself as I glare at him.
“Time is ticking, and Jonah will be here to get you soon,” Eziah warns,
and I shake my head. Sitting back down, I look at the jewelry box, holding
it in my hands. “Musculus sphincter ani,” I murmur. Eziah laughs, and I
glare at him. He has been fucking laughing at me for the past hour every
time I try.
“With more enthusiasm and speaking it louder, I got a good feeling
about this one,” he says excitedly, a mischievous look in his eye. I raise an
eyebrow at him.
“Are you being stupid? Show me that,” I tell him.
“I know what I am doing. Maybe if you had listened better, you would
have opened the damn box. Now, do your magic, and you let me do the
translating,” Eziah tells me, giving me a stern look.
 I grab the box, feeling for Dominic’s magic, and repeat the phrase
“Musculus sphincter ani.”
“Louder, clearer, pronunciation, is that a word?” Eziah asks, frowning
slightly.
“You fucking try then,” I snap at him, my irritation already rising, and
he shakes his head.
“Do you want to open the box or not?” Eziah says, swigging from his
bottle. Gone are his glasses, and now he is resorting to drinking straight
from the bottle.
“Musculus sphincter ani,” I repeat, and still nothing.
“Are you sure you are saying that, correct? It sounds like some disease,”
I tell him, and he snickers. I eye him suspiciously, but he raises an eyebrow
at me.
“Now, would I waste your time? Your time is my damn time. Now try
harder,” Eziah snaps.
Shaking my head, I keep repeating the spell; however, nothing happens.
When Jonah walks in, he stands behind Eziah while I glare at the box
having been set back on the table. The box moves on the table, and I gasp.
My heart skips a beat. I am making some progress!
“See, try again,” Eziah snickers.
 Chapter

Twenty-Eight

J onah
Eziah and Mara had been practicing spells. That is all she would
give me, no reason, nothing, but she seems to like having her brother
around, so as long as I know where she is, I am happy with that. On the
other hand, Kyan isn't too happy but accepts it.
Near dinner time, Marabella still hasn’t come down, so I decide to get
her before Kyan comes looking for us. I also want to ask her about maybe
spending the day with Kyan tomorrow instead of her brother, hoping it will
keep his festering anger down.
Walking into my old apartment, I notice they have finally fixed the
windows, and I let out a breath of relief. Marabella told me Eziah has spent
the last couple of days drunk, and I am seriously worried about him falling
out that damn window. Marabella sits cross-legged on the floor, staring at
some small box.
“Musculus sphincter ani,” Mara says, and my eyebrows lift almost into
my hairline as I stare at her before she gasps when I notice Eziah nudging
the coffee table leg with his foot.
“See, try again,” Eziah snickers as I come to stand behind him.
Marabella's excitement bubbles through the bond as she keeps trying to
repeat the exact same words as I lean down next to Eziah.
“Eziah, why have you got my mate screaming out anus?” I chuckle, and
he puts his finger to his lips, trying not to laugh, and I shake my head.
Marabella, utterly oblivious to her brother making her speak nonsense,
continues repeating the so-called spell.
 He even nudges the table a couple of times, egging her on while I try
not to laugh. She will be pissed when she realizes she isn't saying a spell
and that he is making fun of her.
Marabella, becoming angry, grabs the box. “It's useless,” she says,
trying to pry the box open with her fingers.
“If you told me what it is you are doing, I might be able to help,” I tell
her. I have no magic but I have helped Kyan for years going through his
grimoires and have seen enough magic. I know a few things, though she
would be best off asking Kyan.
“Besides touching hers, I don't see how,” Eziah mutters too low for her
to hear as she examines the small trinket box. I nudge him with my elbow
as she tries again.
“Muscular sphincter ani,” she says just as Kyan steps into the
apartment. I straighten up, and so does Eziah.
Marabella, completely unaware and focused on her fake spell, hasn't
noticed, and I swallow, feeling his burning anger when he sees the spell
books lying on the coffee table. I know they are doing something with
magic, but Kyan didn’t, and by the look on his face and his blistering hot
anger through the bond, he isn't happy about it.
Kyan stalks over to Eziah and snatches the book from his hand, and
Marabella jumps, looking over at him, finally noticing him.
“Why do you have this?” he growls at Eziah.
“Woah, calm down,” I tell him as Marabella leaps to her feet. Kyan
looks between us all.
“Is this what you have been doing this past week? Why the fuck is my
father's grimoires in your brother's hands, Marabella?” he growls. Eziah
remains quiet, probably best since he is drunk.
“I knew something was going on. Why do you have these, fucking
answer me?” Kyan roars. Mara looks at me, yet I’m not sure what they are
doing, so I can't exactly defend her when I don't know.
“She was trying to open the box,” Eziah sighs. Kyan’s eyes flick to him
on the couch.
“Doesn't explain why you have this, and that wasn't even a fucking
spell. Do you think this is funny?” Kyan growls.
“I was messing around with her. No harm done,” Eziah says while
Marabella glares at her brother.
 “I knew you were up to something!” Marabella snaps at Eziah, and
Eziah snickers, which in turn, makes Kyan growl again, returning their
attention back to him.
“Where did you get these?” he says, looking at the coffee table covered
in old books.
“Those are mine and from the Moon Goddess realm,” Eziah says,
snatching one out of Kyan's hand. Kyan snarls, grabbing it back and
glancing at it. Marabella, I can feel is petrified as he opens the other book,
the one Eziah was holding when he walked in.
Kyan looks it over before looking at Marabella. “You went into my
father's room?” he asks, and I feel his betrayal hit through the bond.
“I can explain, sort of,” she offers.
“What do you mean, sort of? You will be fucking explaining what the
fuck is going on here?” Kyan roars, and Eziah jumps to his feet as Kyan
raises his voice at her. “Sit down,” Kyan bellows at him.
The lights flicker with his anger, and the buzz of electricity in the air
shows how betrayed he feels. I know it isn't the issue of her being in
possession of them more that she let her brother touch them.
“Kyan, she wasn’t doing anything, just trying to open the box. They
have been practicing with magic,” I tell him because that is all I know and I
can’t think of anything else to say.
“You knew?” Kyan asks me, and I glance away feeling guilty that I
have kept it from him.
“Do you think magic is fucking joke?” Kyan asks, turning on Eziah.
“I was messing around with her,” Eziah retorts. It was funny, but at the
same time, I understand where Kyan is coming from. Magic is sacred to his
family and not delved into without caution or to be made a joke of. Not his
family’s magic anyway.
“We are leaving,” Kyan snaps at Mara, grabbing her arm, and Eziah
pushes him while I move to get between them. Kyan’s entire body trembles
with rage as he stares at Eziah.
“Don’t,” I warn both of them while Mara looks like a deer in headlights.
“Mara, grab your things,” I tell her. She quickly nods, picking up a couple
of the books and stuffing them back in her handbag.
“I will come to see you tomorrow,” she whispers to Eziah, which
doesn't go unnoticed by Kyan.
 “No, you won't be,” Kyan says, looking at Marabella before turning his
attention to Eziah. “And I want you out of my city,” Kyan snarls at him
before turning for the door with his father’s book in his hands. He nudges
Marabella toward the door and she takes the book, placing it in her bag.
Instead of letting her leave Eziah has to open his damn mouth and keep
going. “That won't be happening, Kyan. Marabella needs me here, so you
need to get over yourself,” Eziah says, and Kyan freezes, his entire back
tenses before he turns to face Eziah. Kyan's hands glow as he fists them at
his sides.
“Get over myself? You killed my fucking Uncle,” Kyan growls.
“Yes, because your actions killed my fucking sister. She needs my help.
I am staying until she can open that damn box,” Eziah tells him.
Kyan looks at the jewelry box. Shoving past Eziah, he snatches it off the
coffee table, and I feel his shock hit me. “Kaif sealed this,” Kyan murmurs,
looking past me at Marabella, feeling his own magic inside the box. I look
at Marabella questionably. Yet, she remains quiet, dread fills the bond
coming from her, and Kyan growls.
“Necessitudines quod separaverit,” Kyan murmurs before stalking
toward Marabella. He shoves the box in her hands. “It’s open,” he snaps,
looking over his shoulder at Eziah. “Now get out of my city,” Kyan snarls,
but Eziah sighs, looking at Marabella, who shakes her head, and I suck in a
breath at Eziah's following words.
“You opened that box. That is not what we are trying to open,” Eziah
tells him. “So, since you feel so fucking helpful, do you have any ideas on
how to open something spelled and sealed shut by your father?” Eziah
snaps at him.
“Eziah enough. Come on, Kyan,” Marabella says, gripping Kyan's arm.
“Excuse me?” Kyan asks, looking at Eziah, and so am I as I try to figure
out what is going on.
“It's nothing, Kyan. Let's go home,” Marabella says, trying to pull Kyan
from the apartment, but he shakes off her hand that grips his suit jacket.
“No, I want to know what he means,” Kyan snaps at her.
“He is drunk. Let's just go,” Marabella says, pulling on his arm. But he
shakes her off again, and I can feel her fear through the bond and Kyan's
rage as he stares at Eziah.
“Your father isn't dead, Kyan,” Eziah says matter of factly. Kyan seems
shocked by his words at first before he laughs looking between Marabella
and Eziah. In response, he snarls, his face twists in anger and pivots and
punches him. Marabella screams as Kyan attacks her brother.
Eziah smashes into the coffee table shattering it before Kyan pounces
on him, hitting him repeatedly. I grab his shoulders, trying to rip him off
Eziah, who laughs maniacally. At the same time, Kyan explodes in rage, the
windows shatter, the light bulbs explode, and the power flickers on and off.
His energy surges along with his anger, and so does Eziah's.
Kyan is suddenly thrown backward as Eziah’s glowing hands smash
against Kyan’s chest, sending him hurtling into me and we crash into the
wall. The wall dents the support beam behind it jarring my back. Kyan
growls, pushing off the ground. The shadows that taint him ripple out of
him like a pulse, and my eyes widen in horror as black mist engulfed his
hands, forming a sphere. Eziah's eyes glow gold brightly as they face off.
Darkness and light emanate out both of them when Kyan throws the sphere
of mist directly at Eziah.
Time seems to slow as I sit up to see Marabella run directly into the
path of their explosive magic before tossing her hands out. “Flataska
Potenza,” she screams. Yet, it is too late as both of their powers hit
simultaneously, and she covers her face-recognizing she is too late.
I suck in a breath as Mara closes her eyes, bracing for its impact when it
collides with her, only nothing happens at first until she blinks, and like a
force field, the power is sent hurtling back at them, smacking them with
enough force both of them are thrown backward. Eziah smashes into the
kitchen cupboards while Kyan smashes against me, knocking the air from
my lungs. Marabella growls, glaring at the wall where the TV sits, black
shadows moving up her arms and neck, flecked with blue the same as
Kyan’s shadow marks, writhing over her skin.
“Enough!” she snaps before storming out the door without even looking
at either of them, she is furious while we all just stare, wondering how she
managed to deflect their power. And what the hell we just witnessed with
the shadows. Kyan watches her leave and gets to his feet, chasing after her,
and I hear Eziah groan as he gets to his feet. His lip is split open, and he has
a cut above his eyebrow.
Getting to my feet, I look at the mess and the damn windows that were
only fixed today. Eziah wipes his bleeding lip with the back of his hand
before walking over and snatching the bottle of vodka that is rolling on the
floor. He swigs from it.
 “He needs anger management,” Eziah says, flopping down onto the
couch. What the fuck just happened?
 Chapter

Twenty-Nine

K yan
My heart nearly stops when I watch my magic crash into her. She
disabled my magic with her words, making my panic even more
heightened because I wouldn’t even be able to take it back.
All-consuming fear hits me as I see mine and Eziah’s magic bleed into
her with the force of a bomb, yet she takes it in and remains standing, much
to my astonishment.
That is a magnitude of magic. No one should have survived that kind of
power. Yet, she deflects my spell. I lost control, and I could have killed her,
but she blocked it and sent it back. Sending it hurdling into me, forcing me
to re-absorb it. That shouldn’t be possible. She shouldn’t be breathing, let
alone still standing.
Power oozes and ripples out of her like a pulse; the darkness that taints
her spills out and carves the shadows into her skin like it does me. Before
she simply walks out of the room. I stare after her, shocked that she simply
walked out unaffected.
Getting to my feet, I glance at Eziah, who is still picking himself up off
the floor. I want to kill him, but that shall wait because I have to check on
my mate first. The bond is deadly quiet and numb, almost cold, as I chase
her out the door.
“Ella. Wait!” I call after her. She ignores me, making me growl. The
lights in the hall flicker the further she moves away.
The buzz of electricity in the air is supercharged as she gets in the
elevator, the lights above it beep as she steps inside, and I run toward her,
forcing my way in before the doors shut. Marabella growls and goes to
walk back out when she notices me, but I block her path, pushing her back.
The doors close behind me. Well, she won’t be running from me now!
Marabella still has moved to the back of the elevator as far away from
me as possible. She still has her back to me as she reaches over and presses
the button before turning to face me. When she does, I take a step back, my
back hitting the closed doors.
Shadows taint her, slivering under her skin like leeches, writhing within
her. She seems almost dazed as she stares at me vacantly, one eye black as
coal, the other the color of burning embers.
“Ella?” I whisper, and she blinks, tilting her head toward me.
“He is my brother. You don’t have to like him. I know he can be a prick,
but you will not touch him!” she says so coldly and calmly that I briefly
wonder if it is my Ella at all. Her voice is strong, unwavering as she stares
at me, making me realize I haven’t even answered.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, reaching out to her, but she just stares at me until
I grip her arms and run my hands up to her shoulders. Her skin is ice cold
under my palms. She sighs as sparks run across my palms and up my arms,
along with something else. Something I know isn’t my father’s magic, it
also isn’t the shadows; it is protective, warm, lukewarm, but not at all like
the coldness of the magic that usually runs through her.
This is different from when I have felt my father’s magic or the icy
feeling of the shadows. This power is unique, seeking mine out before
retreating when it touches the shadows inside me.
Yet, my touch seems to awaken her as she blinks, the color in her eyes
flickering. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to lose him twice. I wanted to
be sure before I told you,” she murmurs.
I want to ask what she means when suddenly the feeling of her magic or
whatever has a hold of her extinguishes like someone just switched it off,
and with it, the power dies. The elevator drops, plummeting quickly to the
ground.
The sudden drop has us hit the roof, and my stomach drops as I grab
her. Alarms inside blare as the elevator descends, the emergency brakes
squeal as it tries to kick in and slow us. My hands slam into the metal, yet
my magic fizzles in my fingertips, still having not returned.
“Kyan!” she screams, yet I can’t stop the elevator. We are going to die.
Her fear is palpable through the bond when she screams again.
However, it isn’t my name she calls, but my father’s.
 “Dominic!” she shrieks, clutching her head and closing her eyes. At
first, I think my father answers when the elevator jolts, and she crashes on
top of me. Both of us hit the floor, yet when I look at her, it is the same
dark, consuming magic that had a hold of her only moments ago. Our eyes
burn brightly, a demonic shade of burning embers when her eyes open. Her
entire body shakes, and the elevator rings. The doors open, and my staff
stands outside the doors looking in at us, horrified.
“Alpha?” I hear, yet my eyes are stuck on my mate as I suck in a breath.
Looking up to find we have stopped on the ground floor.
“Please tell me that was my father,” I whisper, catching my breath while
she sits up, her legs straddling my waist. She looks at her hands but shakes
her head.
“I… I don’t know,” she whispers, her entire body shaking violently,
tremors running through her. Her face is pale as a ghost when red and black
blood starts gushing out of her nose.
She touches her fingertips to her nose before glancing at them. “Kyan?”
she murmurs.
My hands shake as I reach for her, yet before I can try to calm her, her
eyes suddenly roll into her head, and she falls forward, collapsing on top of
me.
The energy radiating off her dies out as exhaustion smashes against me
through the bond. She has burned herself out. Something I have only seen a
few times when my father has done it when I was a kid.
Witches burn out if they use too much power, but I know whatever is
coursing through her isn’t my father’s magic. It is something else, and
whatever she has done, she has awoken something, something I find
terrifying.
Something far stronger than the Octavian bloodline, something with
power more potent than the shadows.
I clutch her to me, trying to catch my breath and the doors close when
one of the security staff forces it open with their foot near my head.
Moments later, the fire escape doors are tossed open, and the alarms start
blaring loudly.
I can feel Jonah getting closer and hear their footsteps running toward
us. Within seconds, Eziah barges into the elevator with Jonah. Eziah stares
down at her, glancing around the elevator nervously before leaning down
and taking his sister. I growl at him, but he growls back, scooping his arms
underneath her limp body. I wrap my arms around her and snarl at him.
Hasn’t he done enough?!
Eziah, though, isn’t getting the hint and instead growls at me. “Gemini
twin. She fucking needs me. Now let me take her,” he snaps.
When I don’t instead sit up, Jonah speaks up. “Kyan, he can heal her!”
Jonah intervenes, and I reluctantly let her go, allowing Eziah to take her.
Her body is limp in his arms, and her head rolls back as Jonah offers me
his hand. He pulls me to my feet. My entire body is shaking from the
adrenaline coursing through me. Kaif stirs wildly within me, wanting to
come forward. My magic is paralyzed, and so is his for now.
“Back up,” I command my staff, and they take off, knowing better than
to test my patience and allow us out of the elevator. Eziah looks at me with
a worried look on his face.
“What happened to her?” he asks.
“What do you mean? I don’t know. We were fine. Then she cut the
power out to the elevator,” I say all I know.
“I can’t heal her,” he says, lifting her and pressing his ear to her chest. I
can hear her heart beating in her chest, so I know she is alive, yet the same
tentacles of darkness still writhe beneath her skin, climbing up her neck and
arms like wiggling black veins, and moving across her face.
“She has burned herself out. She took on too much power. This is why
you don’t fucking meddle with shit you don’t know about!” I yell at him,
holding my arms out for her.
Eziah glares at me, holding my gaze when Jonah grips his shoulder in a
silent warning. I am barely holding myself together and if he is not careful,
I will show him how minuscule his power is compared to what I can
harness.
“Eziah, give her to him,” Jonah whispers, squeezing his shoulder. With
one last glance down at his sister in his arms, he sighs and passes her back
to me.
“My magic has no effect on her. She is my twin. Your magic did this,”
he growls. I shake my head. “Mine can’t touch her. We are twin flames.
Gemini twins are one and the same,” he snarls.
“I know, but it wasn’t mine. The magic she used wasn’t my father’s
either,” I tell him, cutting him off. He looks down at her before looking at
me, disbelieving. Like he thinks I would intentionally hurt her. I want to
punch him, and my anger ignites once again.
 “Let’s just get her home,” Jonah says, gripping my shoulders, his chest
brushing my back as he squeezes them. His worry makes mine worse, yet
his closeness seems to calm the anger coursing through me, and I nod my
head, needing to get away from this prick.
“I’m coming with you,” Eziah says. I go to shake my head, but he
growls. “I am staying with my sister, or she comes with me,” Eziah snaps,
his eyes burning brightly in a warning. Yet, his warning doesn’t frighten
me.
“We may need him,” Jonah whispers next to me, and, being the voice of
reason, Kaif argues the same thing. Looking down at her, my eyes darken.
“Fine,” I snap, walking off toward the fire escape to walk down to the
parking garage. I will take the stairs. I am never getting into an elevator
again.

J onahSomething has spooked Kyan. Whatever he witnessed, it frightened

him. I know not to ask, not while Eziah is sitting next to me. I glance at
Kyan in the rear vision mirror. Mara is on his lap, cradled to his chest, while
he whispers to her. His magic slowly returns, and I can feel Kaif’s presence
returning stronger as I pull up out the front of the manor.
Getting out of the car, I grab Mara’s bag. She dropped it inside the
elevator, and I pull it over my shoulder before moving quickly to open the
back door. Kyan climbs out with her, still clutching her tightly.
Eziah climbs out of the passenger side and looks up at the dark
mansion. Kyan glances over his shoulder at him, and his lips pull back over
his upper teeth, revealing his sharp, deadly canines. He forces his attention
back to Mara and adjusts his grip on her, helping him. I rest her head
against his shoulder as he places her legs around his waist, his arm under
her ass as she slouches forward against him.
Eziah walks around the car, ignoring Kyan’s growing anger. I can tell he
doesn’t want to be here, but I also know he isn’t going anywhere until he
knows Mara is alright.
Kyan walks toward the house, flicking his wrist as his power returns
and every light in the house turns on, lighting it up like a candle in the dark.
Rushing ahead of him, I unlock the door and push it open, stepping aside
and letting him pass me. Eziah walks in behind him. Kyan heads straight for
the stairs.
“Just remember whose house you’re in, Eziah. Piss me off; I have
plenty of places to bury your body,” Kyan snarls at him as he walks up the
steps toward our room.
Turning, I face Eziah, who stares after him, his eyes glaring daggers
into Kyan. I smack his shoulder, drawing his attention away from my
mates. “You need to tone it down a few notches,” I growl as he returns his
gaze to Kyan’s back, climbing the last few steps to the first floor.
“Tone it down? He fucking started it,” Eziah retorts.
“No, you did when you killed his uncle so cruelly. I get you had your
reasons, and I am glad we have her back, but he has lost everything and
everyone close to him, and you act like what you did has no effect on him at
all!”
“What else was I supposed to do?” Eziah argues. “Kill you? Let her
fucking die!”
I shove him. Sick of his bratty attitude, he bangs into the hall stand.
“Fucking apologize. You don’t have to be a dick about it. Now knock it
off,” I warn him.
“Then tell him to give her to me, and I will fucking leave,” Eziah snaps,
but so does Jax as he lurches forward, taking control of my body. My hands
are suddenly around his throat, my grip tight as I pin him against the wall.
Eziah glares at Jax, and I force control back, earning me a growl from
my wolf for shoving him back. Eziah smirks when I take back control, and I
am half tempted to let him go a few rounds with Jax for it.
“You are nothing but an entitled brat sometimes. For once, get your
head out of your ass. Hating him gets you nowhere, Eziah. It only hurts
Marabella, and if it came down to choosing? I would pick the mate bond
over you, and I know Mara would too, so get it together or lose her. Kyan
isn’t your fucking enemy. He’s her fucking mate!”
“And I’m her brother!” he snarls.
“Yeah, you are, so I don’t want Kyan to fucking kill you because you
can’t keep your fucking mouth shut for once. Your snarky comments aren’t
needed here,” I tell him, shoving him back.
“I was trying to help him!” Eziah says as I head for the stairs.
“Then help and stop being a jerk,” I tell him, walking up the steps. Kaif
suddenly comes forward through the bond, and I feel him take over Kyan.
 Walking into the room, Kyan’s hands glow as he presses them to the
sides of her face. He looks over his shoulder at me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, stepping into the room.
“Channeling her, to find the source,” comes Kaif’s voice instead of
Kyan’s.
“Kyan knows you’re forward?” I raise an eyebrow.
“He is with me,” he says before his eyes go past me, and I hear Eziah
step into the room behind me.
Kaif growls and his eyes flicker, but he turns back to focus on
Marabella.
“Did you find anything?” Eziah asks him, and Kaif growls, turning to
look back at us. His canines have protruded, but I can tell Kyan is with him,
and their fear courses through me from them both. My stomach drops as
Kaif’s eyes flick to me.
“She’ll be fine,” he says, and I let out a breath, then his eyes go to
Eziah. “Time to figure out how to open that coffin,” Kaif says coldly, his
glare threatening to set Eziah on fire.
“So now you want my help,” Eziah snaps, and I growl at him.
“You only have to keep your mouth shut,” Kaif snaps, rising to his feet
and shifting. His body ripples and he cracks his neck standing upright, his
head nearly scraping the roof as I crane my neck to look up at him.
“Here we go,” Eziah mutters, and I want to strangle the idiot.
“She had her reasons for not wanting him to know, and now I have no
choice but to tell him,” Kaif snarls.
“Well, the cat is out of the bag. Fucking get over it,” Eziah retorts, and
Kaif takes a step toward him. Eziah rolls his eyes, unafraid of him, but Kaif
isn’t like Kyan. Nothing frightens me more than the monster that stands in
front of me.
“Yes, and you made him lose control. You have no idea what you have
done, what you have awoken,” Kaif growls, gripping the front of his shirt.
He lifts Eziah so they are nose to nose, his feet dangling in the air. “So you
will help fix your mistake,” Kaif says, his voice ice cold, like the feeling
running through me.
“And why would I do that?” Eziah snaps.
“Because if we can’t wake him to take his power, and the power in her
gets out like that again, it can fucking kill her,” Kaif says, letting him go.
 Eziah drops to his feet and glances at Mara on the bed. “But you said
she would be alright?” Eziah stammers.
“Idiot. Now, where is Celeste’s grimoire?” Kaif demands.
“In Mara’s bag downstairs,” I answer him, and he heads for the door,
ducking his head as he steps through it. “Kaif?” I call out, stepping out after
him. Kaif stops looking back at me.
“What do you need?” I ask him.
“We need to wake Dominic.”
“What?” I ask, confused, looking at Eziah, who is still staring at his
sister.
“We don’t think he is dead,” Eziah answers, and I look at Kaif.
“This is what she was keeping from us?” I ask, and Kaif nods again,
then growls, his eyes moving to Eziah and glaring at him.
“But for now, I need to take his magic from her.”
“Why, when he gave it to her?” Eziah asks, spinning on his heel to look
at Kaif.
“This is why magic shouldn’t be played with so carelessly. You can only
harness so much, and she can’t harness more than she already is. You
awoke it!” Kaif snarls.
“Awoke what?” Eziah, and I ask at the same time.
“Our child’s,” Kaif says, looking at me.
“You got her pregnant?” Eziah scoffs, and I swallow. Kaif raises an
eyebrow at me.
“Kyan has more control than that. Blame our mate,” Kaif says, though I
can tell he isn’t angry, just more concerned. Kyan told me this could
happen, and I didn’t think so. I know trio mates always share DNA.
Looking at Mara, guilt smashes me. Kyan is right; I may have caused the
curse to continue.
“Jonah!” Kaif says, and I look at him. “It’s not your fault. It’s
dickheads,” Kaif says.
“I didn’t knock her up,” Eziah snaps, pulling a face of disgust.
“No, you just forced our child’s magic to awaken to protect its mother!”
Kaif snarls before stalking off. Guilt hits me as I follow Kaif.
Halfway down the hall, Eziah calls out to me. “Jonah?” Groaning, I
mutter under my breath but stop. Turning slightly, I glance at him. “I’m
sorry.”
 “I’m not the one you have to say sorry to,” I tell him, walking out to
follow my mate.
I catch up to Kaif on the stairs. “What if we can’t wake Dominic?” I
question.
“He has to wake,” Kaif murmurs, walking across the foyer.
“But if he doesn’t?”
“I won’t lose her,” Kaif says.
“Kaif!” I demand as he grabs her bag off the chair. He looks over at me.
“Can you channel that much power?” I ask him.
“I can hold Kyan’s and mine, so yes,” Kaif answers.
“That’s not what I asked!” I snap at him.
“It’s Octavian magic. Kyan is Octavian, Dominic is Octavian, I can take
it,” he mutters as if it’s no big deal, just another daily activity Kaif fucking
enjoys.
“I know, but each generation gets stronger, doesn’t it? Kyan can barely
contain your magic and his own,” I argue.
“Kyan will be fine,” Kaif answers. Yet I know he is hiding something.
“What happens if you take Dominic’s magic?” I ask.
“I absorb it,” he says simply.
Jax presses forward nervously, knowing he is lying to us. He is evading
the real question I’m asking. “Kaif!” I snarl.
“I absorb it, and take Dominic’s place.”
I stumble back at his words in disbelief. “What?”
“We open that coffin and can’t wake him. We have the daggers.” Kaif
rummages through her bag.
“I’m not following,” I tell him.
“One takes life. One gives it. We open that coffin and can’t free
Dominic. You use Celeste’s dagger on me, the one used on Luna,” Kaif
murmurs.
“You want me to kill Kyan?” I ask, horrified, but Kaif shakes his head.
“There is a reason that the talisman was always kept by the Octavians,
in case they had to kill me if I couldn’t break the curse and gave into the
darkness. I am done losing mates, I’m done losing my children. If we can’t
wake Dominic, you use the dagger on me.”
“I am not killing Kyan. Are you insane?” I shake my head at his
suggestion. No way in fucking hell.
 “It won’t kill Kyan, but it will kill me if used on me in this form,” Kaif
stresses.
I shake my head again. What he is asking is insane. “Mara would never
allow that,” I tell him.
“That’s why I asked you and not her. You are my guardian, and if it
comes to choosing between them and me, you choose them. You won’t let
me kill her, and I won’t have her kill our child,” Kaif says, snatching the
book out of the bag. He storms past me.
“She can handle the darkness, Kaif!” I yell at him.
“That child is the darkness. Marabella isn’t a normal wolf. She is a
Gemini twin. That baby she is carrying has more power than anything I
have ever seen before,” Kaif retorts.
“What do you mean?” My eyebrows furrow at his words.
“Dark and light, Jonah, that’s what a Gemini is, but what happens when
darkness meets darkness?” I am really struggling to try and understand, let
alone actually understand his words.
“Octavian bloodline has demi-god-witches, though?” I ask.
Kaif nods. “And she is the daughter of the Moon goddess. That baby is
the first in history. He’s a Gemini God.”
“Huh? So like Eziah and Marabella?”
“No, she is the Dark Side of the Gemini. Kyan has celestial shadow
magic like me. That baby doesn’t just harness the shadows or the touch of
death. He’s both! Complete Darkness incarnate. And power like that. That
is the sort of power that can not only destroy the world but bring down the
realms!” Kaif tells me.
Eziah stops on the steps, and Kaif’s eyes flick to him. And so do mine.
Kaif growls, turning his attention back to me. “Octavian bloodlines stem
from the Gods, and so does hers. Let’s just hope it has your temper. God
help us if it has mine,” Kaif says, walking back up the stairs toward the
third level. Eziah quickly steps aside, staying out of his way.
 Chapter

Thirty

K yan
I refuse to let myself have hope. I would know if there was a way
for him to come back, right? Yet, watching Kaif in control, the way
he skims through the grimoires flicking through pages, his finger running
down the pages…
It seems like he knows exactly what he is looking for, though I have
never glimpsed this grimoire before. My father always told me not to touch
it, so I always left it alone when I went through his room or cleaned in
there.
Pressing closer to the surface, I peer down at the pages, looking out of
his eyes. “What are you looking for?” I ask him.
“The incantation used to create the stones,” Kaif answers. I can feel
Jonah hovering behind us, watching us. Kaif, also feeling him, looks over
his shoulder at him. He stands leaning against the door, waiting for
permission to come in.
Jonah knows what boundaries he can cross with Kaif, and Kaif never
lets people into this room. Although Jonah has been in here with me, Kaif
always forbade him from entering. Kaif hated even me being in here, but he
had no choice, seeing as we share a body.
He knows this place haunts me. It was the first time I witnessed what a
monster Kaif could become. The vibe of this room is dark, and my power
thrives in here, but so does Kaif’s, making us a beacon for the shadows to
overtake us.
“You can come in, Jonah,” Kaif tells him, and he pushes off the
doorframe and wanders over to us. “Eziah?” Kaif asks him.
 “I told him to stay off this floor,” Jonah tells him, and Kaif nods,
returning his attention back to the book.
Kaif flicks through the pages, stopping on a page I can not read, yet his
eyes move over the page quickly, and I can get a sense of understanding
from his thoughts, which tells me whatever the pages say Kaif can read.
“So the stones, if they can kill you. Now don’t take this the wrong way.
I am glad you’re not dead, but why wouldn’t you use the dagger on yourself
and end the curse?” Jonah asks.
“Because the curse wouldn’t end just the bloodline. Luna would still be
trapped in the shadows along with my son; I wanted to at least free him. By
the time I realized I couldn’t break it, too many were trapped there. I
couldn’t walk away. I would be trapped in there, too. The Octavian
bloodline would end, everyone would be trapped, their souls never to rest,”
Kaif answers.
“But you would do it for Mara?” Jonah asks.
“I wanted to fix my mistakes; I still loved Luna despite everything. She
didn’t deserve to be trapped in the shadows, and neither did the Octavian
bloodline. None of them did, and I could set them free.” He whispers.
“What’s changed, then?” Jonah steps a little closer. I can feel his
curiosity though the bond and so does Kaif, but it seems that he doesn’t feel
bothered by it.
“Mara changed everything. She forgave me. I won’t let her be the next
Octavian woman trapped there. She fought to save me, even after
everything we had done... She forgave the unforgivable; I can live with
their hate, but I won’t let it destroy her or you,” Kaif answers.
“What do you mean? I am not Octavian,” Jonah says.
“You were Octavian the moment I marked you. The bloodline will
continue with the child she carries, so if it means me dying to stop me from
killing her, I will take it from her,” Kaif announces. His voice echoes off the
walls, it’s so loud that it proves how determined and serious he is.
“So what if she is wrong? What if we can’t bring him back?” I can feel
his worry at that. What if we open it and it and it is for nothing? What if we
open it and find bones and nothing else?
“Trust me, Kye. If she believes he can be brought back, I believe her,”
Kaif tells me.
“Kaif?” Jonah asks, and Kaif sighs. He is careful with the book, careful
not to tear the pages. “We need celestial power and an anchor. Eziah and
Marabella can open the casket, but they need to channel something.”
“The ruins?” I ask.
“It could work,” Kaif says out loud.
“What could?” Jonah asks.
“We need to get Dominic to the ruins. Just one problem,” Kaif says.
“What’s that?” Jonah asks.
“The power needed to open that casket. Marabella can’t channel that
sort of power without running the risk of it killing her,” Jonah chews his lip,
looking down at the grimoire.
“I can channel her, but you can’t take on that sort of magic either, Kyan.
I can, but I can’t enter the ruins in my form, and you can’t channel me once
in there,” Kaif quickly tells me.
“I can channel her power,” I tell him.
“Not without an anchor to stop the shadows from taking you over,” Kaif
growls at me.
“We have no choice unless you know another witch?” I snap.
“You could become lost in the shadows; it could send you insane,” Kaif
tries to argue.
“If there is a chance my father is alive, I am doing it. And I am not
risking my mate or our child to do so!” Kaif thinks for a second when
Jonah touches him, drawing his attention away.
“You alright?” Jonah asks.
“Yes, just arguing with Kyan,” Kaif tells him.
“So what’s next, then?” Jonah continues.
“We get Dominic to the ruins,” Kaif responds.
“Eziah and I will go. You stay with Mara,” Jonah says, gripping our
shoulders. Kaif nods, turning back to his grimoire when he suddenly blocks
me out, completely stuffing me further back into the pits of our minds so I
can’t see what he is doing.
“Kaif!” I call out to him. Eventually, I feel him let me take control, and
I am back in my room. Ella is laying beside me, and I blink, looking
around.

M arabella
Gentle fingers move up my spine, and sparks zap my skin as
Kyan’s scent invades my nose. His scent fills the room as I drowsily wake
up. My mind is trying to piece together the last memories I have.
It is like putting a puzzle together, yet the pieces don’t quite fit. How
could they? It makes no sense. I remember the fearful look on his face as
the elevator plummeted to the ground. But that is it.
Rolling onto my back, Kyan is lying next to me, a book in his hand. It is
his father’s book, the grimoire I stole from his room. Kyan’s eyes flick to
mine briefly, and he clenches his jaw, clearly still angry at me for hiding
things from him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t want to be wrong, and let you
lose him all over again,” I admit. Kyan sets the grimoire down on the
bedside table, rolling into me and tucking my body close.
“I’m not mad. Well, I am. However, not because you lied, but because
you meddled in something dangerous, Ella. Magic isn’t to be played with,
and Kaif should have known better,” Kyan whispers. His breath sweeps
along my neck, moving my hair, and I sigh.
“What happened? Where are Jonah and Eziah?” I ask nervously.
Worried, Kyan finished what he started and killed my brother, but surely I
would feel that - we are Gemini twins, after all.
Although this is my fault, I should have come to him, yet the thought of
destroying him again. Kyan can’t lose anyone else. He has sacrificed too
much for my family. For me. We all have lost something, whether it is
family or a piece of ourselves.
“Jonah and Eziah went to retrieve my father’s coffin. They are taking it
to the ruins,” Kyan mutters.
My eyes go wider. “The ruins? Kaif figured out how to open it?”
“He thinks so. We just need to be careful. You can’t channel too much
power. It nearly killed you last time,” his words confuse me.
Although I know he is right because Dominic’s power was consuming
when I stopped them. The shadows were so strong as they tried to suck me
under, they wanted to make me give them control.
The voices in the elevator, the feeling of falling, then I felt nothing at
all. It was the oddest sensation. I shiver, remembering it, and Kora
sluggishly comes forward. She lays down in my head, looking as exhausted
as I feel.
“It wasn’t our power or Dominic’s,” she yawns. But I know she is right.
This was colder, frostbitten, sort of cold.
 “It wasn’t your father’s magic, was it?” I murmur, and Kyan’s hand
moves to sit flat against my stomach.
Kora nods in my head at the same time as Kyan speaks. Clarity washes
over me and fear slivers through me. “You’re pregnant, Ella,” Kyan
whispers, kissing the side of my neck and making me gasp.
“But…”
“It will be fine. Kaif has a plan,” Kyan whispers, and I roll in his arms
to face him.
“But the curse, Kaif will have no choice, he will have.” Kyan presses
his forehead against mine, cutting my words off with a growl.
“He will die before he ever hurts you,” Kyan tells me. I try to make
sense of what he is saying.
“Marabella, breathe,” Kyan whispers, making me realize I am choking
on a panic attack. I can’t be pregnant. We don’t know if we broke the curse
yet, Kora whines in my head, yet she feels protective of her pup already.
Kyan growls, grabbing my face. “Ella, God damn it, breathe,” Kyan growls.
Yet, I can’t around the huge lump in my throat and the pit of dread that
is forming in my stomach. Fear washes over me, and tears form in my eyes.
What if I doomed this child, all of us? Kyan’s hands clamp down harder on
the side of my face as my panic continues to grow. I feel like I am having a
heart attack as I gasp for air, my body is feeling foreign, and my heart is
erratic, beating loudly in my ears.
“Ella!” Kyan growls before pressing his face in my neck. He nips at my
mark, sparks zap across my skin, and I suck in much-needed air, filling my
lungs as I grip him, his heart thumping against my chest and I feel my heart
rate slow, falling in sync with his.
“You will be fine, Kaif will be fine, everything will work out, just
breathe,” Kyan says as his lips move against my neck, his hot breath against
my cold skin makes me shiver.
“I’m right here with you. Jonah will be here. Our son will be fine,”
Kyan purrs. His chest vibrates against me, and I clutch him tighter, needing
something to hang onto, something to ground me and pull me out of my
head.
“I don’t want to be like them,” I whisper. I have seen what those women
are capable of. I have listened to the crazy thoughts and vile words they
heard and whispered.
 “You won’t. You’re stronger than the shadows, Ella. You’re made of
them,” Kyan whispers, pulling back and looking down at me.
From his words, I know that I can hang onto them, that he truly believes
I am strong enough to hold and fight the shadows. So with that, I can let
him ground me; I press my lips to his. The kiss is needy and demanding,
and Kyan instantly answers it. My fear is replaced with desire as he presses
closer, his body moving to hover over the top of mine.
Sparks spread over my skin as the mate bond calls for our mate. Kyan’s
mouth devours mine, and he nips at my lips before his lips travel back to
my neck. His teeth graze over my mark, causing me to shudder beneath him
and demanding that I lose myself in the oblivion that he can give me. Even
if only for a little while.
 Chapter

Thirty-One

J onah
“Seriously, there has to be a better way than walking,” Eziah
whines as we trek up the narrow trail toward the ruins at the back of
the property.
“Do you ever stop whining?” I mutter while rolling my eyes.
“I am just saying for a dead guy, he is pretty heavy, and why the ruins?”
he whines even louder, as if I haven’t had enough of his attitude ages ago.
Fuck, can he, for once, just shut it?
“Kaif said the ruins are where he goes,” I explain. Eziah groans and
places the coffin on the ground before stretching his back. I carefully set the
other end down.
“Well, he should be helping,” Eziah grumbles.
“He is preoccupied,” I tell him, trying not to smirk.
“Doing what? Staring at Mara while she sleeps,” he growls.
“They are definitely not sleeping from the feeling in the bond he is
currently balls deep in her tight pussy,” I tell him, shifting uncomfortably. I
adjust myself, my erection is becoming quite uncomfortable.
With a smirk across my lips, I point my finger down at my groin. “See?
Getting quite uncomfortable here myself, there is no way that this raging
boner is because Kyan is watching her sleep,” I chuckle and wink at Eziah.
Eziah growls, bending down to pick up a rock. He tosses it at me,
smashing me in the shoulder because I quickly turn side on.
“Yep, if you listen carefully, pretty sure you can hear her screaming his
name!” I taunt, and he snarls. I adjust myself again, my pants becoming far
too tight. My movement does not go unnoticed by Eziah, who groans.
 “For real, he fucking my sister while I am carrying his father’s carcass
up a damn trail,” he snarls before shaking his head. He bends down, picking
up the end again, and I do the same.
“Ready?...one..two..three.” We hoist it up onto the opposite shoulder
before slowly starting to trek up the trail again.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” Eziah asks after a few seconds.
I furrow my eyebrows. “Does what bother me?”
“That they screw while you are out here?” he mutters.
“No, why would it? They are both my mates, although getting a hard on
in public is a little embarrassing,” I tell him. Eziah shoots me a look over
his shoulder.
“So do you and ah, you know,” my brows furrow as I try to figure out
what he is talking about.
“You mean fuck her at the same time? Ah, yeah.” I tell him, finding his
obsession with his sister’s sex life becoming creepy. But then again, as
creepy as it is. I can’t pass up on an opportunity as such if he’s handing me
one on a silver plate. “Prime, pussy, man. Ten out of ten, would rail again.”
“Dude, that is my sister, just no. What the fuck, Jonah? I did not want to
know that!” Eziah snarls at me.
“My bad, I did think it was a little weird that you would ask about your
sister being railed into the mattress by both of us. Fucking takes two cocks
like a pro,” I snicker. The feral snarl that leaves him makes me chuckle.
“I meant you and Kyan. Geez, fuck!” I snicker at him.
“So, are you the top or bottom?” he suddenly asks. Alright, this just got
weirder than his questions about Mara. I wish Kaif was here and could give
Eziah the lecture about our No Donutting policy.
“What?”
“You’re the bottom, aren’t you?” Eziah snickers.
“What, no, gross. I like your sister, Kyan, and I… it isn’t like that,” I tell
him.
“But he is your mate,” Eziah says, gripping a tree with his hand to
propel himself forward.
I roll my eyes at his obvious stupidity. ”Not those sorts of mates. We
are both straight.”
“My father, Ezra, he was straight before he met Dad,” Eziah states as if
I grew up on another planet and don’t know that already.
 “We aren’t like that, and besides, Mateo was bisexual. I’m sure if one of
us was, it would be different, seeing as we pick up each other’s feelings
through the bond, but both of us are straight, so more like.” I try to find the
words. “I don’t know. We don’t look at each other sexually,” is all I can
come up with to explain.
“Hm, fair enough. This place is creepy,” Eziah quickly jumps to a new
topic.
“Scared of the dark, Eziah?” I laugh.
“No, just the vibe here.”
“Yeah, you are in a literal witch’s graveyard,” I tell him, and he stops.
“Ha, ha, very funny.” Eziah glares at me over his shoulder.
“I’m not laughing. I was being serious,” I tell him, and he stops again.
“Are you fucking with me right now?” Eziah snarls as he stops in his
tracks.
“Anyone would think you were scared,” I laugh, pushing forward and
forcing him to keep moving.
“No! But it’s still creepy,” Eziah says.
It takes us a good hour carrying the coffin, and we set it just outside the
ruins. I mind-link Kyan to let him know and he tells me he is just going
over the grimoires with Kaif while Mara has a shower. We wait, and Eziah
explores while I lean against the coffin. I pray this isn’t a mistake because
I’m not sure if Kyan can survive losing his father again.
Eziah stares up at the giant rocks curiously. The clearing is incredibly
dark, but this place always has given me weird vibes. At least it wouldn’t
spit me out now since I have Kyan’s mark. Eziah wanders around before
walking into the ruins.
“Eziah! No!” I shout, and he stops turning around.
I blink at him, waiting for the power of the ruins to toss him out of the
circle, but it doesn’t. “What?” he hisses, throwing his arms up.
“Ah, nothing,” I tell him. Stupid rocks are picky bastards. Must be
something about his Goddamn Goddess blood or some shit. Welcome
royals, be fucked peasants.
“Kinda wanted to see him get spat out!” Jax huffs in my head and I
smirk.
“So what now?” Eziah whines.
“Now we open it,” Kaif growls, making me jump. He drops a bag, and I
stare up at him in time to see him set Marabella on the ground. Standing up,
Mara rummages through the bag Kaif dropped on the ground and retrieves
the grimoires and the stones.
Eziah wanders back over, and Kaif runs his hand over the coffin. I can
feel his pain. Feel his anguish at seeing Dominic’s coffin here. Kaif looks at
the moon. “We need to open it before the moon is directly above the ruins,”
he says.
Eziah nods, reading over Marabella’s shoulder. Kaif walks around the
perimeter of the ruins, unable to enter. He touches the rocks before jerking
his hand back when they zap him. He growls.
Kaif is nervous and restless as he crouches, going through the bag and
pulling out a gold bowl. He reaches up, holding his hand out for the
grimoire, and flicks through the pages while we watch him work. None of
us have any idea what he is doing.
He mixes herbs before cutting the palm of his hand and bleeding into
the bowl, murmuring something in a foreign language. The bowl starts
smoking before catching fire. I jump back, but he doesn’t even flinch. Eziah
watches curiously as Kaif wafts the smoke and flames away, revealing a
black tar-like substance in the bowl.
He stands from his crouched position before dipping his fingers in the
bowl. My fingertips burn, and I wonder how he can stand the heat.
Marabella hisses, sucking her finger.
“Crap, sorry, love,” he mutters, looking over at her. “You okay? I need
to do it while it is hot, or it will set,” Kaif says, and she nods.
Eziah walks over and grips her hand, rubbing his thumb over her
fingertips. Her fingertips glow, and Kaif nods to him, turning back to the
coffin. He uses the tar-like substance to draw symbols and strange runes on
the wood.
“I can’t enter the pentagram in this form. This will ensure that it
contains my magic in the coffin when Kyan takes over. We can’t have the
shadows take over, or we may bring back more than Dominic.” Kaif
explains and Eziah shudders, but pays close attention to everything Kaif
does with avid fascination. We all do. It is fascinating but also creepy.
When he finishes, Eziah glances around.
“So now we make the pentagram?” he asks, looking around.
I clear my throat and point to the giant rocks. “That is the pentagram;
look at how they are set into the ground, five points,” I tell him.
“Oh right, my bad, they look like rocks to me,” he shrugs.
 Kaif reaches down and retrieves some shorts from the bag before
walking over to Mara. He grips her chin, bruising his nose across his cheek.
“If it gets too much, you have to get out!” he growls at her, and she looks
back at the ruins.
The rocks have huge deep crevices through them from lightning strikes.
They almost appear to have their own runes etched into their hard surfaces.
Mara nods and turns back to him. Kaif grips her chin, tilting her face, his
eyes scrutinizing her face. “Promise me,” Kaif says.
“I promise,” she whispers. Kaif brushes her cheek before walking off.
Kaif shifts back, and Kyan returns in the black shorts. He swallows as he
stops beside his father’s coffin. Hope blooms within him, yet he is wary but
most of all - petrified for Mara.
“Are you sure?” he asks like he just needs that extra reassurance.
“I know he is alive; I would bet my life on it,” she tells him.
Kyan places his hand on the head of the coffin. “I hope you're right,” he
murmurs before looking at Eziah. He nods before stepping forward and
grabbing one side. They lift it before walking into the ruins and placing it
on the huge flat rock that sits between the graves of Kaif and Luna.
“So what now?” Eziah asks, scratching his chin.
“Now, Ella opens it. Only my father’s magic can do that, but if she
channels too much, it will kill her,” Kyan explains.
“So?” Eziah glances at Mara nervously.
“Kyan will channel me and take control of his father’s power and open
it,” Mara explains, and Eziah nods.
“And that will work?” Eziah raises an eyebrow. I can see it on his face -
he too is scared for Mara.
“Yes, to open it, but to awaken him, you and Mara then need to channel
Kaif. We need a power source to break Luna’s stone to set him free.” Kyan
glances at her.
“Okay, so first we open it, then I help Mara, and hopefully he wakes and
can take his magic back?” Eziah says, and Kyan nods.
“That is what we are hoping for,” Kyan sighs, his eyes moving back to
Mara.

M arabella
 Eziah and Jonah remain outside the ruins. I am restless, yet confident.
Kora paces in my head. And Kyan is a blank canvas like he has switched
off, and I can feel the sickly feeling brewing within him. He wants this so
badly, I can feel it.
He wants me to be correct, and I know I am, yet his unease washes
through me loud and clear. I step over to the coffin and look at the moon,
slowly getting closer to the position.
It is almost directly above us. Kaif explained that when the stones were
made, they were made on a full moon. That, what begins with the moon
ends with the moon. I just hoped we can get it open in time because, if not,
we will have to wait until the next one. We don’t have that much time.
Kyan comes up behind me. His hands grip my shoulders and slide down
my arms. “Ready?” He whispers next to my ear.
I suck in a breath and nod. I have no idea what I am doing, but Kyan
said he knows what needs to be done, and I trust he understands what Kaif
has told him. Because to me, it is utter gibberish.
Kyan produces a knife and stands behind me. He grips my wrist and
quickly kisses my neck below my ear before running his nose down to my
mark.
“Sorry,” he whispers. His grip tightens on my wrist, and he sucks on my
mark. Tingles course through me while he quickly runs the blade across my
palm, making me gasp, but the pain diminishes when grazes his teeth across
my mark.
He holds my bleeding hand above the coffin, letting my blood drip on
all the runes drawn.
The runes glow brightly, almost like lava, as he fists my hand. When he
finishes, he kisses my neck before turning me to face him. He brings my
hand to his mouth, running his tongue across it and healing the cut. I wiggle
my fingers, staring at the cut, which is now healed.
Looking down at the coffin, I bite my lip, and Kyan turns me back to
face it. He stands behind me, his hands running down my arms and over the
backs of my hands.
“Ready?” he asks again, and I nod my head. He locks his fingers
through mine and places our hands on top of it, pressing closer to me.
“Don’t push me out. You have to let me in,” he whispers, and I wonder
what Kyan means when I notice the shadows that tattoo his skin wiggle and
writhe down Kyan’s arms to his hands before bleeding into me.
 I gasp at the cold feeling. It is ice cold, the sort of cold that is painful,
and I want to jerk my hands from his as his magic ebbs and flows into me.
Instinct tells me to stop it as his shadows crawl up my arms. “Shh, nearly
there,” he whispers as I feel it move through every cell and vein in my
body, chilling me to the core.
I fight the urge to cry out when I feel this sudden snap sensation as the
shadows tainting me latch on to his magic. Kyan’s grip tightens, and he jolts
behind me. I don’t think the icy feeling inside could get any colder.
I am wrong. The moment my shadows latch on to him, he forces his
father’s magic out of me, forcing it down my arms to our interlocked hands.
Kyan mutters strange words, his voice doesn’t sound like his own.
When I feel like the air thickens and is being sucked from my lungs,
causing me to gasp and pant, a violent shudder runs up my spine and my
eyes bleed black as the shadows of my own curse, Gemini blood, take hold.
“Mara!” Eziah calls, and I blink to see him walking around the outside
of the ruins.
Jonah grabs him. “Kyan won’t let them hurt her.” I vaguely hear Jonah
whisper over the wind that has picked up with a ferocity that has my hair
blowing into my face.
Whispers carry on the wind-blasting around me, the shadows call to me
to let them in, and the hypnotic sound of their voices has me wanting to
agree, promising the world if I just give in, and I relish the feeling.
“Focus on my voice, Ella. I am about to take it, but I can’t if you let
them in. You can’t give in to them,” Kyan says. Yet, they sound so
reasonable, their voices soothe me as they tell me to set them free.
 Chapter

Thirty-Two

E ziah
Something is happening. The moment Kyan’s magic latches onto
her, she jolts. A cold rush moves through me, and her eyes bleed
black. She smiles sadistically. The look on her face is eerie, like she is
looking straight through me. Jonah refuses to let me go to her, and I am a
second away from blasting him with my magic as she speaks to something,
agreeing with it, while Kyan tries to coax her out of whatever state she is in.
He looks at her worriedly, whispering to her to ignore the voices. I can’t
hear anything, but it is clear she can. Black tendrils writhe all over her
exposed skin and she chuckles, smiling as what appears to be euphoria
moves through her.
Thunder and lightning streak the sky and rumble loudly, cracking like a
whip and igniting the sky in angry streaks of light.
Kyan speaks calmly when blood starts to stream from her eyes, nose,
and ears. His voice grows higher and louder when he suddenly bites her. He
sinks his teeth into her neck, remarking her. Her eyes flicker, and my heart
jolts in my chest, beating frantically at what I am watching.
She blinks rapidly, and Kyan rips his head back. His eyes have turned
white like a storm is brewing within their depths. Darkness emanates out of
them yet never breaches the barrier held by the ruins. Black fog creeps
along the edges of the coffin before smothering it and obscuring it along
with their hands.
Kyan murmurs words I can not understand, but the power I can feel is
electrifying, truly showing how much power the Octavians are capable of,
and I gulp. That realization I have been prodding and poking the beast
suddenly seems foolish as his lips move too fast. Kyan has the power to
destroy me.
Kyan is right, magic should not be played with, and the power he is
using is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Otherworldly and ancient,
and for the first time, I witness the darkness glow. It is the only way I can
describe it. Mara’s eyes flicker between black and white as he channels the
shadows from her. Kyan gasps, stumbling back like a force field has hit
him.
Mara collapses on the ground beside the coffin, and I rush forward to
help. Only the moment I try to run through the ruins, I am blown backward.
Tossed through the air, I crash into something hard behind me, only to find
it is Jonah, as he takes the brunt of the impact as we hit the ground.
Electricity zaps around the rocks, lightning repeatedly hitting them as
Kyan stands. Only when he does I blink rapidly, unable to believe my eyes,
when ghostly figures suddenly stand inside with them. Hundreds of
translucent shadow people stand within the runes surrounding them.
Goosebumps rise on my arms as his eyes move to the coffin like he is in
a trance, or maybe just hyper-focused.
Yet, the look on his face is demonic, his body completely obscured as
the shadows wrap around him, leaving only his neck up visible. Engulfing
him as his hands lift outward, he tilts his head toward the sky, and my heart
nearly stops in my chest when the air stills abruptly. Like time freezes over,
and we have hit the center of a storm. Deathly quiet, I am too scared to even
breathe in case I disturb it.
Seconds feel like hours as I get to my feet and amble my way closer
when light engulfs my vision like the worst welding flash. The lightning
hits the dead center of his chest, blue streaks of light flicker within the
shadows, and his entire body jolts. Jonah whimpers behind me at the same
time Kyan’s hands slam down on the coffin lid.
“Morte, leto stat hora, tuo more silent, umbrae sub luna tegunt, sub
lunaque latent, nec nisi lunae possunt surrexere umbrae,” Kyan speaks, his
voice rings out loud and echoes around us.
As he utters the last word, lightning hits the coffin. The power erupts
outside the ruins, flattens the trees on the outer parts of the clearing, and
creates a circle. The lightning then bounces off the ruins, etching runes into
the rock as Jonah and I are knocked off our feet.
 Sitting up, Kyan’s eyes bleed, and he collapses to the ground. I hold my
breath and hear a gasp beside me. Turning my head to see Jonah staring
with wide eyes at his mates. They both sit up stunned, and the air turns
stagnant. yet also charred - it feels charred and smells it. The power charge
drops, and Kyan shakes his head before he gasps, reaching for Mara, who is
staring vacantly to the side of them. Her lips part and her gasp of shock is
audible. I follow her gaze to see the lid on the coffin is wide open.

M arabella
My body feels supercharged yet hollow as Kyan takes Dominic’s
magic from me. It is like a void has opened inside me and what was once
there is no longer part of me. It feels foreign, and I didn’t realize how much
I would miss it, like a piece of me is suddenly stolen. That piece was
Dominic.
Kyan, however, gasps, like he is struggling to breathe, and I sit up. The
night is silent, so the slightest noise sounds loud as the moon beams down
on us. Kyan is jittery, and I know it is from taking on too much power.
Fear courses through me as I feel it tearing into him, and he reaches for
me. His body shakes like he is convulsing, his muscles taut, but the tingles
from his touch warm the hollow, shivery feeling inside me.
Dazed, I look around before my lips part as I notice the lid on the coffin
is wide open. The runes are no longer glowing eerily, and I can’t tear my
gaze away. My heart thumps in my chest, the sound is loud in my ears with
a thick bump. This is the moment, the moment to see if I am right. But what
if I was wrong? Doubt creeps in, and pain pangs and rattles through me,
knowing how much that would destroy Kyan.
Kyan sighs beside me, clutching my face in his hands, and presses his
forehead against mine. He lets out a shaky breath. “You’re alright,” he
whispers. His hands tremble as he tries to contain the magic writhing
through him, and I place my hands over his.
“I’m fine, but Kyan,” I whisper, turning my head back to the open
coffin. He turns his head, looking in the same direction.
“It worked!” he chokes as his shaking becomes worse. I choke on my
laugh. It worked, it worked! We opened the coffin!
Kyan stares at it but doesn’t move like he is too scared to go over there
and have his hope crushed into tiny pieces. I swallow, feeling his burning
curiosity, yet also his caution. Hope and longing bleed into me through the
bond, but also sadness. Sadness for everything his father has missed, but
hope that he could have him back and he wouldn’t miss anymore.
Standing, I get to my feet and notice Jonah and Eziah out of the corner
of my eye, moving toward us. Kyan shakes his head when I tug on his hand.
I smile sadly, and I let his hand go. I wander over to the coffin, and Kyan
clears his throat, making me glance back at him to see him finally rise to his
feet.
He forces himself to take a step toward me, and I hold my hand out to
him. He takes it, and I give it a squeeze. We move toward the coffin, and I
hold my breath as I look inside. The moment we do, Kyan croaks on a sob.
His knees go weak as he stumbles forward, clutching the suit his father
wore. Tears stream down my face as he clutches his father’s body.
We find no bones but a man, a man I have tried to envision for months.
Photos did him no justice. He looks peaceful, his eyes are closed. Dominic
should have been bones and dust, but inside, his father is perfectly intact.
He looks alive, just asleep.
The similarities between Kyan and the man that spent years in my head
are uncanny. They could pass as twins. Only his father is a little older. His
features are graceful like Kyan’s, his black hair holds no gray, and his skin
is smooth and clear. Jonah and Eziah, I notice, edge closer, and I hold up
my hand, telling them to stay where they are as Kyan breaks into a million
pieces.
His heart and soul cry for the man he thought he would never see again,
a little boy crying for his father. Kyan strokes his father’s face, and I step
closer, placing my hand on his back as he shakes.
“Now, let’s bring him home,” I whisper, peering up at the moon. It is
nearly time. This is our chance, and despite his emotion, he can’t waste it. I
won’t let him.
 Chapter

Thirty-Three

M arabella
Kyan looks at me before looking at the sky and back at his
father. Something is flooding through him. It feels like
determination as he takes off and runs outside the ruins and grabs the
Grimoire. He comes back, flicking through the pages before he looks back
inside the coffin, rummaging around before pulling out the talisman from
underneath Dominic.
It is like the one in the dagger; it shares the same shape. I glance down
at the open grimoire, noticing the drawing inside, a picture of the moon and
the two stones. Yet, as I pick up the dagger that holds the other, I notice the
differences. The one in the dagger is blood red and sparkles, the one Kyan
holds is a crimson color, but dark and shadows make it almost appear
smoky.
Eziah comes to stand by me. He pockets the dagger to return it to the
Moon Goddess realm while looking over at Kyan and watching him. Kyan
finds the spell, making both Eziah and I repeat it before nervously glancing
up at the moon, which is directly above us. We recite the spell that should
break the stone repeatedly.
Jonah picks up the grimoire and glances at it. Flicking through the
pages, Kyan then drops the stone in my hand. It is cold, like holding ice and
I fight the urge to drop it. Eziah places his hand over the top of mine and I
feel the stone warm, his fingertips brush my wrist and my Gemini power
rises to meet his.
Black tendrils move over Eziah’s hand, covering the stone. Turning our
hands, gold bleeds up mine, both coexisting as we share power. As we
become the Gemini. Warmth spreads up my arm to my elbow and Eziah
gasps as the bitter cold touch of mine moves up his.
We start to recite the chant when Jonah speaks. “It seems too simple,”
he murmurs. Kyan looks back at him.
“You said they have to break the stone holding Luna, and that your
father tied his life to the same stone?” Kyan nods, glancing at the page
Jonah is looking at.
“So the moon.” Jonah looks up.
“The stones, but what is this?” He points to some squiggles above a
block. I look at Eziah and he shrugs.
“No, this is the original curse, how the stones were created. That is the
sacrifice, so not the same because dad put his life force in Mara, along with
his magic. Using the stone as his power source, so by breaking the source,
he should wake,” Kyan tells him, turning back to us.
Kyan is giddy when he looks at us, and I can feel his burning
excitement at getting his father back.
Jonah scratches his chin, but Eziah and I speak the words that Kyan said
when he suddenly drops his hands on our shoulders. The moment he does,
my body tenses as Octavian's magic rushes through me.
Eziah shivers and sways on his feet, and my arm feels like it caught fire
as the heat of Eziah’s magic burns and sears my arm. It scorches the blood
in my veins and makes sweat form and beads on my skin.
His power intensifies. Eziah’s face is pale, and he turns a sickly gray as
my magic’s icy touch seeps into him. Our power transfers between us and
merges. Eziah tries to speak the words, yet the more I stare at my twin, the
stronger I grow. I feel invigorated while Eziah looks like he is dying; I
glance at our glowing hands. Kyan’s head drops as he channels more power
into us. Eziah reaches forward as we chant and then he chokes.
“Eziah?” I mutter, ripping my hand away from him, that is holding the
stone. The spell breaks.
The stone falls from our hands as I clutch Eziah’s arms. He sways
toward me and Kyan gasps looking at the stone on the ground before
looking at Eziah. His magic is giving me life while mine is taking his. The
moment he drops the stone, his color returns and he sucks in air.
“No, we can do this,” Eziah says, swaying on his feet. He bends down,
grabbing the stone again. He stumbles into me and I grip his shoulders.
“Eziah?” I ask, hauling him upright and trying to hold him steady.
 “We are so close,” Eziah says. I look at Kyan in panic, who stares
between us before looking down at the stone clutched in Eziah’s hands.
Eziah shakes me off and stands. “I’m fine, let’s try again, it just
overwhelmed me,” he says, holding his hand out with the stone.
Kyan watches him and glances at me and shrugs and we try again. The
same thing happens. I am killing my brother, and he is giving his life force
to me the moment Kyan touches us. Eziah keeps wanting to try again. I
look at Kyan pleadingly before glancing back at the coffin that holds his
father. How much power is needed to break the stone, and how much would
it take for it to kill my brother? Eziah holds his hand out, but I take a step
back and shake my head.
Eziah steps closer, but I take a step back. “It’s killing you,” I stutter.
“I’m fine. We just need to wake him up,” Eziah gasps.
“Not by sacrificing your life, no,” I tell him as Eziah steps toward me.
“We can do this, Marabella. This is what we are made for. Light and
darkness, it is what it needs to break it. We are so close, Dominic is right
there,” Eziah says, yet I take a step back before looking at Kyan. Pleading
for him to tell Eziah no, he glances between us and looks at his father, his
shoulders dropping.
“Ella is right,” Kyan says, and I felt the soul-crushing pressure in my
chest as disappointment rushed through me.
“No, what happens if you don’t break the spell, Kyan? Does she know
what Kaif’s backup plan is?” Eziah snaps at him.
“What backup plan?” I ask, glancing between them nervously.
“It’s nothing,” Kyan says. He grips his hair and his eyes turn glassy.
“She has a right to know. She can choose!” Eziah snaps.
“I will not let her make that choice. She’s your fucking twin!” Kyan
snarls and Jonah grips his shoulder. Kyan’s shoulders sag. He lets out a
breath. “I knew it was impossible. It’s over Ella,” Kyan murmurs. He bites
his lip and nods. “It’s over.”
“What backup plan?” I demand.
“You can’t harness his father’s power while carrying your child. Kyan
can’t for long either, along with Kaif’s. Kaif will die, Kyan will lose his
power, and his Lycan, trapping the Octavians in the shadows for eternity,
isn’t that right Kyan? That is Kaif’s backup plan, so don’t tell me Marabella
doesn’t get a say in that!” Eziah snaps.
 “What?” I gasp and my legs tremble at his words. I look at Jonah, who
hangs his head, and Kyan glares at Eziah. “Is this true?” I murmur. Kyan
swallows and looks away from me.
“We don’t have a choice,” Kyan murmurs.
“Wait, so if we can’t wake up, your father. Kaif dies?” I gasp.
“Yes, but if you wake him, you will kill your brother, so which is it?
You want her to choose?” He growls, turning and glaring at Eziah.
I glance between them before shaking my head. “No, No. I…”
“I can do this Mara,” Eziah says. But I shake my head. Yet, I am torn.
This is so fucked up. My mate or my brother? How do you choose?
“One last time, just try one more time,” Eziah murmurs, stepping
toward me, but I take a step back, unable to choose.
“It’s okay, Ella. I know you can’t, therefore I will choose for you,”
Kyan says, shutting the lid on the coffin. “It will be okay,” he says, but I
shake my head, feeling his heartbreak. Despite him and Eziah not getting
along, he wouldn’t make me choose between him and my brother.
“It makes no sense?” Jonah mutters.
“You’re right. It makes none at all. I should have known better,” Kyan
says, shaking his head. “It’s over, it’s done,” Kyan says, stalking off down
the trail.
“Kyan!” I call after him, but he disappears between the trees, and Eziah
growls before going to grab me only when his hands reach out to grip my
arms. My mother appears out of thin air and he grabs hers instead.
“Mom?” I stammer. She stares off in the direction of where Kyan
walked off and disappeared.
“I can do this, mom!” Eziah says.
“I know, and you would for her, but what kind of mother would I be if I
let my child die for the other,” she says before glancing over her shoulder at
me. Tears brim in my eyes as she smiles sadly. I swallow, looking toward
the trail, and Jonah chases after Kyan, also disappearing.
“It started with the moon and it ends with the moon,” my mother says,
and I turn my tear-filled eyes back to her while she wanders over to the
Grimoire resting open on the coffin where Jonah placed it.
“What are you doing?” Eziah asks her.
“Cleaning out the closet,” she says, looking over at me. Eziah and I look
at each other.
 “We all have skeletons in the closet,” she says while turning and
opening the coffin again. “We get to choose which ones to live with and I
chose wrong. I can’t live with that choice,” she says.
“Mom?” Eziah says, but she holds up a hand.
“I could have saved him, but I didn’t. Dominic gave his life for my
daughter, he sacrificed himself for Marabella, then stayed with you. He
made you strong and I owe him this much,” she says, looking down in the
coffin at Dominic.
“I don’t understand?” I tell her, looking at Eziah.
“I took Kyan’s father from him once. I won’t do it again,” she says,
lifting her chin and looking at us. Eziah and I try to figure out what riddle
she speaks about this time. She looks down at the Grimoire reading over the
pages.
“I will be the sacrifice needed, that I can live with,” she says, looking
down at the coffin. She grips Dominic’s hand. “A life for a life, and for that
I will take the sentence of eternity, cursed to forever remain the Moon
Goddess,” she tells him.
 Chapter

Thirty-Four

K atya
We are eating dinner when I feel the pull. It sucks me in and I am
suddenly standing in the fountain room of the Moon Goddess realm.
I try to figure out what has pulled me here, yet as another wave of nausea
rolls over me, the realm shakes. The water in the fountains sloshes over the
sides and I grip onto one, trying to hold it steady.
I stare down at Dominic’s wolf that glows like a beacon amongst the
mist. The shudders stop again and I regain my feet, moving to the fountain
of life. I swipe through the smog and steam, clearing the water to see
Eziah’s life force darkening and Marabella’s turning gold.
My heart hammers in my chest as I try to figure out what is going on.
What went wrong? Frantically, I drag my fingertips through the water, some
spills over the edge, as I rewind the past to see. They opened the coffin! I
gasp. I had no idea how they could do it, but I also knew it would be done.
Never in my life have I wanted one of my visions to come true, but this one,
the sacrifices I would make for it to stay true, are unfathomable.
Suddenly, the realm shakes again and each time Eziah’s life force grows
darker and Marabella glows fiercely. Nothing is working, my son is dying
and I watch helplessly as they try to piece the puzzle of the curse together
when I notice something in the center of Marabella’s life force. It is a black
smudge.
And something else, something trying to attach to her. I move to another
fountain. The one containing Dominic’s wolf, along with it, is another
flickering life force, though it isn’t like the others - it glows and flickered
blue, and tendrils seep behind it, trailing it.
 I touch it, and dread befalls over me. Darkness. Darkness, so powerful it
threatens to consume me.
Now, I am trying to piece together what is happening when I watch
Dominic’s wolf chase after it, trying to calm it when it hits me and I scoop
them out of the fountain. I wait for Dominic’s wolf to disappear in my
hands like it usually does, but he remains, letting me transfer him back to
the fountain of life. Along with a strange shadow wolf.
I place them in the fountain and they both attach to Mara. I gasp at the
realization. Tears brim in my eyes and I choke on a sob. My baby girl is
pregnant.
Dominic’s wolf is sensing its kin. Yet still, Dominic won’t wake. I
watch them argue while Dominic’s blurring little blob of a wolf flickers,
staring up at me expectantly.
“What is it?” I ask him, but he just stares at the pup and back at me. I
touch the smoky wolf and his name appears in my head as I witness his past
lives.
“Obsidian,” I murmur.
Looking back at the fountain, I move through the water, sifting through
time and looking for anything that could lead them to break the curse.
Obsidian, my daughter’s child’s wolf, keeps playing on my mind.
The word is so dark and the shadows attach in mind. I am brought back
to the curse. How it all started. I watch, although I have watched it a million
times over the last couple of months.
Two stones, the moon, and a sacrifice. I look away when I watch
Celeste kill the girl. So tragic. The stones, one represented death, and the
other life.
“One creates a God, one destroys one,” Celeste tells Kaif. It makes me
wonder and I remember Selene’s words.
“I’m tired.” She was tired of being the Moon Goddess. It truly was the
worst curse of all. Choosing fate, choosing who lives and dies. Did Celeste
hand the realm to Selene for the same reason Selene gave it to me? Eternity
is a long time and everything has a loophole. That dagger is the loophole.
Suddenly, the realm shakes again and I lurch forward. My hand falls into
the fountain to catch myself.
It starts with the moon; it ends with the moon. Those words play on my
mind when it clicks. It isn’t a literal moon. Celeste, the Moon Goddess, was
the first to start it. It has to end with a Moon Goddess. I rush to the shelves,
looking through the old books and finding the lists of curses and those that
are still cursed. This was only a recent find for me. I spent so much time
looking for the Octavian curse, but it wasn’t their curse. They were
collateral damage from a curse specifically placed on Kaif. As punishment
for Celeste, it was her curse for rejecting her mate, Hades. Finding Kaif’s -
it never made sense to me. Yet one thing Seline always said to me. “Never
sacrifice a mate bond. Always choose your bond.” Kaif chose his son over
his bond. Celeste chose her coven over hers.
The drawings are ancient and symbolic as I stare down at the old
parchment. There stands Celeste, the stones in each hand. The moon above
her. Her sacrifice at her feet. Yet how did it fit? One takes life, one gives it.
The stones were Gemini! Dark and light.
I wander over to the fountains and watch Marabella and Eziah once
again try to break the curse. Yet, neither can harbor the other’s power.
Because neither is a full Gemini. Together they are the Gemini, but neither
is both. My blood runs through their veins, but neither of them is a Gemini
God or Goddess. Only Demi’s. The stones, the curse, my kids, and how
they cancel each other out.
I shake my head. One creates, one kills. Celeste wanted out, but what
was her sacrifice? It was her life. She sacrificed her life so she could rest. It
suddenly makes sense. They can’t destroy the stones. Only the stones can
destroy each other, just like I watch my children kill each other.
A pit forms in my stomach, and I feel myself craving my mates. Just the
thought of them has them being sucked into the realm. It rarely happens, but
they are both an extension of me and I them. Me, needing them, pull them
to me.
“A little warning next time,” Mateo gasps, moving toward me. I glance
at them. Ezra watches me curiously, yet I don’t know what I am asking of
them.
Mateo grabs my chin to make me look up at him, and Ezra steps closer.
Can I condemn them for eternity? Ezra steps closer, wrapping his arms
around me and peering over my shoulder. “I know something is wrong, or
we wouldn’t be here with you. So, what is it?” he asks.
Mateo leans over the fountain, squinting at our children. “Why is Eziah
like that?” He asks, panic lacing his words. Ezra looks over my shoulder
again at Mateo, pointing at our son.
 “They are trying to break a curse, but they can’t break it. Only I can,” I
admit.
Ezra watches them try again, and Mateo watches me curiously. “You
know how to break it,” he says, and I nod. “And it would break the curse on
Dominic and bring him back?” I nod again. Yet, if I do this, I doom not only
myself but my mates. We will never know rest. We will forever be stuck in
the Moon Goddess realm once I live out my mortal life.
“At what cost?” Mateo asks.
“Us,” I answer.
“Do what you gotta do,” Ezra says, and their trust in me overwhelms
me. They will follow me blindly. They have complete faith in me even after
I fucked up so terribly in the past.
“If I do this, there is no way out. We will never know rest,” I tell them.
But I won’t destroy my kids. Eziah will die trying. I know he feels guilty
about not picking up on Marabella’s feelings, which he believes, is the only
way to make up for it. Yet, Marabella will never sacrifice her brother, but if
she doesn’t - she will sacrifice her mate.
“I would forever be the Moon Goddess. I could never hand the title
down when we die. We will forever be stuck here. You will be stuck with
me. Do you both understand what I am saying?” I ask them. Yet, I am doing
it even if they don’t agree, though I know they will.
“Eternity with you by our sides would still not be long enough,” Ezra
whispers, kissing my cheek. I look at Mateo.
“I can live eternity with my mates, though you have the transfer
dagger?” Ezra catches on first and shakes his head before I can answer.
Mateo sighs.
“You can’t destroy one without the other,” he says. I nod, chewing my
lip and Mateo looks in the fountain to see Kyan runoff.
“That boy deserves so much more than Selene handed him,” Mateo
states.
“Yes, like his father, we had him wrong,” I tell them.
“Then you better make it right,” Mateo says, stepping closer and
wrapping his arms around us both, and sandwiching me between them.
“This, right here, is all that matters. Anywhere trapped with you both is
worth being trapped for,” Ezra purrs, and I sigh.
“I really messed things up,” I mutter.
 “So, time to clean up. Selene trusted you to make the right decisions,
and this is the right one to make. We will be right with you. You aren’t like
Selene or Celeste. You will never be trapped here alone, not with us by your
side. Where you go, we go. I can live with that. What I can’t live with is
knowing our kids will suffer if you don’t. So, don’t let them, and bring
Dominic back. You’re not the only one that regrets that day,” Ezra mumbles
into my hair.
I nod. They both evaporate, going back to the human realm while I
glance down at Dominic’s wolf. “Ready to go home?” I ask him and he
flickers, staring up at me.
With one last glance at the realm, I will one day be cursed to never
leave, I portal back. Only this time I portal to my kids. To everyone else, I
am the Moon Goddess. They need a Moon Goddess, but what they need
most is their mom, and this time I won’t let them down.
 Chapter

Thirty-Five

J onah
I chase after Kyan, but Kaif takes off with him, taking control, and
I know why. He wants to end it before he thinks much about it, so he
needs to retrieve the dagger. Kyan knows for Mara to live, Kaif must die,
and he sees no other way out. His pain crushes me, yet I have wandered
from the trail and am now struggling to find my way back. I head back up
the hill with no other choice, knowing it leads back to the ruins. I don’t
want to wander too far and become lost. When I reach the top, I clutch my
knees and try to catch my breath.
Eziah and Marabella stand arguing with Katya, who pays them no mind
as she looks at the grimoire she holds. Kat’s eyes flick to me before her
voice is suddenly in my head.
“Take Mara,” she says, and I swallow, trying to figure out what she is
doing here and why she wants me to take Mara. Kat then tosses the
grimoire into the coffin, and I move toward the ruins, slightly hesitant as I
step inside the pentagram. The power emanating from the three of them is
almost suffocating.
“I can do this, Mom. Just listen to me,” Eziah pleads with Kat.
“I am not doubting that, Eziah, but give me the stones,” Kat says,
holding her hand out. I walk behind Eziah, and Mara, then Kat nods to me. I
swallow, knowing what she is asking, and the moment my arms wrap
around Mara’s waist, she screams and thrashes, twisting in my arms, trying
to break free.
“No, no!” Mara screams. Eziah steps away from Kat, shaking his head
when her hands clamp on the sides of Eziah’s face.
 “Hand me the stones,” her voice is soft, yet the command behind the
words is brutal, and Eziah resists, trying to fight off her command, but he is
no match for his mother.
“Now get out of the ruins,” she says, just as I pull Mara out. She
collapses at my feet, dragging me to the ground with her as I try to hold her
up.
“It’s okay, sweetie, I’m not going anywhere,” Kat tells her, fiddling with
the stones and rolling them in her palm.
“You will never know peace. You will be forever cursed!” Mara
screams.
“But none of you will. So that is where you are wrong. I made peace
with this; I accept it, so neither of you has to. It isn’t goodbye. I will still get
to meet my grandchildren, still be with you while you grow into who you’re
supposed to be,” Kat tells her.
“But you don’t have to do this. We can find another way. Once you die,
you will forever be trapped as the Moon Goddess,” Marabella sobs, and Kat
stares down at the stones.
“This is the only way. You don’t have to like it, but you will accept it.
You’ll let me do this for you. And eventually, you’ll understand it,” Kat
tells her, and my grip on Mara grows tighter as she cries. Kat will forever be
trapped in the Moon Goddess realm once it is her time to pass.
“A mother’s love has no bounds and is endless sacrifice and infinite
love. Your son will show you that. Kaif has lost enough, and so has Kyan. I
want peace, Marabella. And this is how I find it. This is my sacrifice to bear
because I won’t allow you to pay the price for my mistakes. Dominic was
my mistake; I didn’t just take his life. I ruined Kyan’s by not bringing him
back. And by doing so, I almost ruined yours. I won’t make that mistake
twice, not when I can fix it,” Kat says, turning to look at Eziah, who just
stands there looking defeated. His shoulders drop and he hangs his head.
“This is what will give me peace, give Kyan back his father and
Dominic back his life. A small price to pay. It started with the Moon
Goddess, and now it ends with her,” Kat says, and Marabella tries to get to
her feet. Her mother’s magic slips out and I pull her against me.
One of Kat’s eyes turns black, the other gold, black, and gold tendrils
sliver across her arms and face as she opens her arms, and I am blinded
with light.
 The noise echoes through the sky louder than a crack of lightning,
louder than a bomb when she smashes the stones against one another. An
explosion of power erupts out of her, and the ground shakes violently.
Marabella screams, and Eziah falls to his knees when the ruins begin to
crack, the ground shaking.
I blink, shielding my eyes around the light to find the shadows standing
around Kat flickering. All the ghosts from the Octavian bloodline stand
around her, and she opens her fingers. The stones turn to dust, falling to the
ground as they slip through her fingers only to be swept away by the wind.
Kat closes her eyes and sighs before turning to the coffin and holding
the sides. Marabella crawls forward on her hands and knees, as the last
gigantic rock crumples to the ground and turns to dust. It is carried away
with the breeze, along with the Octavian’s ghosts, their whispers carry on
the surrounding breeze. Finally set free, the curse is broken. I can feel it in
every cell of my body. Marabella gets to her feet just as Kat leans over the
coffin, peering in.
“Thank you,” she whispers to Dominic.
“No, Kat. Thank you,” says a deep velvety voice, so clear and so
smooth. A voice I haven’t heard since the last time I saw the man alive. Kat
flickers, her body shuddering.
“The realm is calling me back to clean up, but I suspect you guys can
handle the rest,” Kat says, facing us. She smiles just as the man himself sits
up behind her. Kat vanishes, and Dominic groans. We all just blink and
stare at the man. He blinks and cracks his neck.
“You… Kyan…” Marabella murmurs, yet I can feel her urge to touch
him. Like she can’t believe what she is seeing is real. Mara is afraid this is
one of her dreams. But then, she throws herself in his arms, hugging him
tightly and nearly falling into the coffin with him.
“You have no idea how long I have waited to hold you, my girl,”
Dominic murmurs, his arms wrapping around her as he hugs her. His
movements are slow and sluggish, but his mind is sharp as a tack and his
speech is clear as a bell. Marabella steps back, wiping her tears, and
Dominic looks around for Kyan.
“Where is he?” Dominic asks. He tries to get out of the coffin, yet his
legs don’t want to cooperate, so he tumbles out. I step forward, gripping his
arm before he hits the ground. I help set him on the ground. Dominic sucks
in a breath, looking around with a sigh.
 “Just gotta give me a minute. The body doesn’t want to work just yet,”
Dominic says, and Marabella and I look at Eziah.
Eziah stares at Dominic like he is seeing a ghost before feeling our eyes
watching him. He looks at us, and Mara stares at her brother expectantly.
“What?” he says, looking between us and then looking down at Dominic.
“Nope, no way, man. I am not making out with Kyan’s father,” Eziah
says, and Mara bats her lashes at him.
“Nope, sorry, Daddy Dom, I don’t swing that way,” Eziah says, shaking
his head.
“Please? You can’t expect him to walk back like that?” Mara pleads
with her twin.
“I’m good, Mara. I just need a few minutes,” Dominic says, his voice
stunning me again. However, Mara folds her arms across her chest, pops her
hip, and purses her lips. Eziah growls and rolls his eyes before he sighs,
giving into his sister.
“Fine, and don’t even think about slipping in the tongue,” Eziah warns,
grabbing Dominic’s head between his hands. Eziah scrunches his face up
before pecking Dominic’s lips so quickly that I almost miss it.
“Ah yuck,” he says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Dominic chuckles but gets more color about himself and shakes his head.
“That wasn’t necessary, but thanks. I think because you’re a lousy
kisser,” Dominic says, holding his hand out.
“I wasn’t even trying,” Eziah snaps at him, looking offended that his
kiss has been judged. Mara grabs Dominic’s hands and I step forward,
gripping his elbow and helping him stand on his feet.
“Now, where is that son of mine?” Dominic says, putting an arm over
Mara’s shoulder. We turn around to head toward the trail, only to stop when
we spot Kyan standing at the edge of the clearing.
“Dad?” He says, his voice breaking. Tears stream down his face as he
stumbles forward and Dominic staggers back as the shadows of his magic
suddenly hit him.
“Kye,” Dominic murmurs.

K yanI am halfway back to the manor when I hear the crack, the sound is
so loud it hurts my ears, and I jump. The wind rushes toward me like a wall
from the forest behind me, making me stop when I feel my father’s magic
erupt in me. His power bursts from my fingertips, twisting and escaping
through the air. I watch his magic float on the breeze back toward the forest,
as the light engulfed the sky.
It consumes the night and turns it to light. I watch as my father’s
shadows move toward the ruins, slivering across the grass. “Kaif?” I ask
because he is so quiet. I wonder if he is still with me.
“She broke the curse,” Kaif whispers to me, and I can feel shock wash
through him.
“Marabella?” I worry.
“No, Katya,” he murmurs. The shadows move across the ground,
disappearing into the forest, and I run toward the treeline. The oppressive
forest feels light, like the shadows and ghosts of my ancestors are no longer
shackled by the errors of a past that held them here, the torment and anguish
no longer suffocating.
The forest almost seems calm, like a weight has lifted, allowing it to
breathe. Now, it is blooming and rejuvenating as life returns. The ashes and
blood that tainted its soil now bleed back into the earth, the spirits are no
longer repressed, instead; they are free. I follow my father’s shadows as
they sliver across the forest floor like a serpent, finding their way home.
Stepping through the treeline and emerging at the burial grounds, the ruins
are gone, and the stars twinkle above along with the moon. I stand stunned,
and my heart races in my chest as I stare ahead.
My eyes deceive me as I watch the man stand. His magic moves across
the ground, wanting to go home, and he turns to face me.
The lump in my throat threatens to choke me as I see his face, exactly as
I remember him. “Dad?” I choke out, taking a step toward him in disbelief.
He staggers back a step as he sucks in a breath as the shadows touch him,
bleeding his power and life back into him.
His lips quiver, and his lips part. “Kye,” he stammers. His voice makes
my heart jolt, and I stumble forward. How I’ve longed for his soothing
voice, the voice that would read to me each night as he tucked me into bed,
the voice that would soothe me when the darkness came for me. My father’s
voice, a voice I thought I would never hear beyond my dreams, yet prayed I
one day would.
He moves his arm off Ella’s shoulder and staggers forward, and I choke,
my body moves before I process the thought too. My body crashes against
the man whose touch I would have given my last breath to feel again. His
arms are strong as they embrace me, the same as I remember, warm and
promising to make everything better. If time stood still, I could stand in this
moment forever. His arms wrap tightly around me like they did that
morning when he loaded me in the car to take me to Jonah’s.
He was clutching me like I was his lifeline. Only after his death did I
realize he was saying goodbye. I stared at him strangely, wondering why he
didn't seem to want to let go. And now I understand why, because I can’t
bear to let him go either now.
“I missed you; I never stopped missing you, son,” he breathes against
my neck, his fingers in my hair as he holds tight while my arms clutch his
neck, not wanting to let go in case I wake from this dream. “I love you, I
have always loved you, and I am sorry I left you, but I’m here now,” he
whispers, and all I can do is nod, praying he will just keep speaking so I can
listen to his voice.
“I’m right here, right here, son,” he says soothingly. Hearing a sniffle, I
open my eyes to see my mates. Both are crying along with Eziah, and I
wonder what they sacrificed. What Kat sacrificed for us. Dad lets me go,
and we turn to face them.
“Come on, kids, let’s go home,” Dad tells them, holding his hand out to
Marabella. She takes it, and he tugs her closer, kissing her hair and reaching
his hand past her toward Jonah, who steps forward. He rests his head on
dad’s and I let out a breath seeing dad so accepting of Jonah, like he always
knew it would come to this, and Jonah is just another of his children like I
am Andrei’s and Sage’s.
“I hear I’m going to be a grandpa,” he chuckles, tapping Jonah’s face
dotingly before he turns to me and chucks his arm over my shoulder. He
kisses my temple and we make our way back toward the trail leading to the
manor.
I glance back over my shoulder at Eziah; he nods to me, wiping a stray
tear. “By setting him free, he set her free. He is one less skeleton she has to
live with,” Eziah says, no animosity in his voice, and I swallow.
I peer over at Mara tucked under my father’s arm, her arm behind his
back as his fingertips brush against me, his other hand holding Jonah’s.
“Did either of your fathers claim Pops yet? I feel too young to be called
grandpa, maybe Papa or pappy?” he muses.
“Oh, and names. Can I help? I like picking names.” Eziah perks up.
 “As long as it isn’t Daddy Dom,” Mara says, shooting her brother a
look. I look at him and raise an eyebrow.
“Dude, don’t look at me like that; I kissed your father. I’m his Daddy
Dom now,” Eziah laughs.
“And I must say, he is a terrible kisser. Have you heard of lip balm? I
have been dead for eighteen years, and my lips aren’t even that dry,” Dad
says and I laugh at their banter. How everything seems so normal.
When we emerge into the fields around the manor, my father stops in
his tracks and gazes ahead. He peers up at the manor. “Home Sweet
Home!” he whispers, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
I look at the manor for the first time since he left, and I feel it actually
is. This place hasn’t been home in so long, but looking at it now, I know it
will be home again. My family is complete, Kaif is free, the curse is lifted,
and the one person who made this place home has finally returned.
Yes, home, I think to myself. Let’s go Home.
 Chapter

Thirty-Six

M arabella
A month and a half later
“No. I’m telling you it goes there,” Dominic argues with my
father Mateo.
“Then what is this piece for? You have it upside down,” he replies,
holding the piece of wood. They both look at my other father holding the
instructions while I rock in the chair rubbing my huge round belly. I look
like a beach ball.
“I say, just screw it together, get some hex screws and duct tape,”
Andrei says and they all look at him as he holds the drill.
“And that is exactly why you pass the tools,” mom tells him. She plucks
the instructions out of dad’s hands and turns them the right way up, clicking
her tongue. “Out of all of you, you have half a brain cell between the lot of
ya,” scolds my mother.
“Yeah, leave it to the assembly Queen,” Sage says, pointing to herself
and plucking the drill from Uncle Andrei’s hand.
“Fine. We will start on the chest of draws,” Dominic says, turning to the
other assembly kit.
“No!” Mom, Sage, and I say in unison. All of them look at us like they
are scolded children. I press my lips in a line at their hurt faces.
“We want to help,” my father, Ezra, says, looking hurt.
“You’re a little rusty on the tools, probably safest you,” she glances
around the nursery, her eyes falling on the washing basket of washed baby
clothes. “You can all help by folding and hanging,” she offers.
 They mutter between themselves before agreeing and making their way
over to the enormous basket of everything I washed from the baby shower.
Sage lets out a breath, watching Andrei and shaking her head as Andrei
holds up a tiny little onesie. Both my fathers rummage through the little
coat hangers while Dominic wanders off before returning with an ironing
board and iron. He sets it up by the window and grabs a little shirt, setting
the clothes out while mom and Sage start putting the crib together.
I watch them, rubbing my growing bump. Not long now, I smile to
myself when Jonah wanders in with an iced tea. I sit up and smile as he
looks around the room at all our family. He raises an eyebrow when he
notices his father being scolded by Dominic about ironing etiquette.
“Why does it need to be ironed? The kid won’t care about creases,”
Andrei whines. Dominic clicks his tongue and his eyes go wide as he looks
over at my father, folding some clothes and setting them on the shelves
inside of the huge wardrobe.
“No, you must color coordinate them. What is wrong with you?”
Dominic scolds, pushing inside with them and rearranging the baby shirts
on one of the shelves.
“What shit are you dribbling now? They are color coordinated,
everything is blue,” My father Ezra retorts, pointing at the shelves.
“This is light blue, that dark blue, and this is more of a teal than blue,”
Dominic says, holding them up to show him. My father shakes his head.
“Now we know where Kyan gets it from,” Jonah mumbles, nudging me
with his elbow. We stare at our fathers arguing about shades of blue and
how it should be arranged in the walk-in wardrobe.
“Ah, perfect,” Andrei says, holding up the tiny shirt he has just ironed
and examining his handy work. I watch the iron smoke on the ironing board
and Sage sniffs the air, turning her head to look at him as the iron burns a
hole through the cover on the ironing board. He gasps while picking it up.
Looking around frantically. I shake my head and laugh as Dominic steps out
and Andrei quickly throws the shirt he has ironed over the burn mark to
hide it from him.
“Ah, see, no creases,” Dominic says, looking at the little ironed shirt
before turning back the basket to retrieve another and he hands it to Andrei,
who looks relieved he didn’t notice the charred fabric beneath the shirt he
just ironed. I sip my tea while trying not to laugh as the four huge men
argue over the nursery setup. All of them, bickering.
 Mom and Sage put the crib together in record time and the chest of
drawers while they are still arguing over the clothes. Mom clicks her tongue
and shakes her head. Sage laughs and rolls her eyes as they bicker over the
stupidest shit.
“Where is Kyan?” I ask Jonah as he leans down, pecking at my lips and
rubbing his hand over my belly. “Baby proofing the damn manor because
apparently, the baby is coming out 18, walking and with a job,” he laughs. I
giggle and rest my head back on the headrest and rest my eyes. Kora yawns
in my head tiredly. I must have drifted off because I wake to hands
scooping me off the reclining rocker. Kyan smiles down at me and kisses
my nose.
He walks out of the room to the room next to the nursery. Our room and
I can hear all our fathers arguing in the hall.
“Ah, what are they arguing over now?” I whine.
“Over their titles, your fathers want to be called pop,” he tells me.
“Ah, and so does yours,” I groan.
“Just put some names in a damn hat, and pull one out,” Sage snaps,
getting up then.
“They bicker more than children,” I hear my mother say.
“God help us when this baby is born,” Kyan says when I hear footsteps
running up behind us. Kyan steps aside for Jonah to rush past us. I look
over at him as rushes into the room only to see him nearly trip over the
baby gate.
“Damn lift and pull,” Kyan growls. Jonah yanks on the baby gate, trying
to open it.
“Lift and pull!” Kyan snaps.
“I’m about to piss my damn pants,” Jonah snarls, giving up and
stepping over it. Kyan shakes his head and uses his foot to lift the little gate
and his knee to push it open. Kyan sets me on the bed while Jonah whines
and moans in the bathroom, rattling something.
“What the fuck, this one too! Man, you are taking this too far,” Jonah
growls.
“Just wait, a damn second,” Kyan growls. I glance into the bathroom at
Jonah, who is squirming while undoing his zip; hopping from foot to foot.
Kyan shakes his head and Jonah growls, turning to the shower and sighing.
“Jonah, what the fuck!” Kyan growls as Jonah sighs, relieving his
bladder in the shower.
 “Who locks a damn toilet seat,” Jonah sighs, closing his eyes like it is
the best feeling in the world.
“The baby could fall in,” Kyan says, stalking off out the door. Jonah
turns the shower on, muttering under his breath before zipping his pants up.
He washes his hands just as Kyan walks in with a mop and bucket. He
thrusts it at Jonah.
“I rinsed the shower,” Jonah tells him.
“And now you bleach the shower,” Kyan says. Jonah growls, snatching
the bucket from him.
“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t lock every toilet in the damn place. I
nearly pissed my pants,” Jonah scowls.
I rub my belly, and Kora sighs. “Family. Can’t live with them, can’t live
without them,” she grumbles. “Poor kid is going to be smothered with
affection,” she says.
“What does Kaif think?”
“Thinks he wants to beat them all upside the head. Jax, he just says let
em’ go.”
“And you?” I chuckle. Kora sighs.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Kora murmurs, happiness blooming
inside her, making my heart swell.

A nother
Kyan
Three weeks later

We are on our way home from Mara’s last appointment, Jonah walks
ahead opening the car door. Her feet are so swollen, and she reminds me of
a duck with the way she waddles toward it. I grip her elbow as she groans
sitting down in the front seat. Jonah tosses me the keys and climbs in the
back. I catch them while watching Marabella fight with the seatbelt as she
tries to pull it over her round belly. Jonah quickly leans over from the
backseat grabbing it and pulling on it gently instead of yanking on it like
she was doing. She sighs, closing her eyes and her cheeks turn pink.
“You’re not still seriously embarrassed,” I ask her as I climb in the
driver's seat. Jonah chuckles behind her and she growls at him.
“How was I supposed to know I only shaved half? It was a touch and
feel job, you could have told me,” she snaps.
 “Hey, we both offered to help you shave,” I remind her, while pulling
away from the curb. She huffs, folding her arms over her chest and her belly
growls hungrily.
“You, my boy, are making me fat,” she mumbles and I pull into
McDonalds. I place our order through the drive through before stopping at
the window. Marabella is always craving their horrid apple pies, I order
extras knowing if I don’t, Jonah or I will be doing a night run in here to get
them, or dad. Not that he ever complains, he dotes on her and I swear she is
becoming spoiled. Dad always scolds me when I complain, stomping out of
the house to get whatever it is she is craving.
“She is growing a child, you and Jonah got your jollies off, now get her
a damn apple pie and stop complaining,” he snapped at me last night when
she woke me at 1 in the damn morning wanting one.
We wait for our food when all of our phones start beeping and a
messenger group chat comes through.
We all open the group chat labelled “Family Packlink”
 Epilogue

K yan
Cries fill the birthing suite as our son is finally born. We have all
held our breaths ever since Marabella went into labor early, and our
son's heart rate dropped as her contractions worsened, only to become
stuck, and he was eventually delivered by forceps.
Only when he was born he didn’t cry, and a flurry of nurses ran around,
and doctors rushed in while they tried to get him to breathe. So when his
ear-piercing scream resounds around the room, I suck in a breath of relief,
and Jonah breaks down. Those few minutes are the most intense few
minutes of my life. It was heart-stopping when we were only met with
silence, and the fearful look on the midwife's face made my stomach drop.
The midwife brings him back over to Mara, setting him on her naked
chest while Jonah and I hover, watching over them. I thought no day would
ever outmatch the day my father returned to me. How wrong I have been.
Our son has only been born for a few minutes, and I know without a doubt
that I love him more than life itself, and I won't hesitate to give my last
breath just so he can take another.
Commotion in the halls outside the birthing suite reaches our ears, and I
know it is our fathers trying to get in. Jonah shakes his head, every
weekend, no matter what, Mateo, Ezra, and Kat come down to visit Mara.
Andrei and Sage, every second weekend, so thank god the Manor is huge
because every weekend, the house is full. Despite them driving me nuts, I
enjoy seeing my mates happy and, for once, having a family. I didn't realize
how much I had missed out on by shutting myself away from the world.
 The nurse comes over and checks Mara. While the doctor gives her
stitches, Jonah leans over her shoulder and brushes his little nose with his
finger, and for a while, I just watch them. Eventually, they wheel Marabella
and our son down to the maternity wards.
After some tests and Mara is settled, the midwife returns our son to us,
giving him the all-clear. She hands him back to Mara when she turns to look
at me. I am the only one that hasn't held him yet out of us. He looks so
small, and I’m afraid of hurting him, but I can see Ella won't accept another
excuse, so I hold my arms out for him just like Jonah had, and she sets his
tiny body in my arms. He opens his eyes, Jonah looking over my shoulder
gasps, and I peer down at him as he yawns. He blinks, and I know why
Jonah feels so shocked.
His eyes are the color of smoke. No, that isn’t an accurate description.
They look like the shadows, only a little darker, eyes wise beyond their
years, and Mara sits up as I sit on the edge of the bed to look at him. He
stares back at her, munching on his hand hungrily, and I pass him back to
her. I watch as he turns his face against her chest, seeking her breast. She
looks at me with worry, and my brows furrow when we hear a knock on the
door. Jonah wanders off to answer it before asking if we are alright for my
father to come in.
She nods her head, and I help her rearrange the blankets to make sure
she is covered completely before Jonah opens the door and Kat and my
father step inside. They move instantly to the bed, and Kat tells us Andrei
and Sage are caught in traffic but ensure they are on their way.
“Well, would you look at that,” Dad says as Mara passes our son to him.
Kat stands on her tippy toes, looking at him before my father sits in one of
the blue chairs that are hard as a rock. Kat brushes his little hand while my
father holds him, and dad sniffles. Kat gazes down at him, brushing the
back of his little head gently.
“He’s perfect,” she whispers, her voice cracking.
“That he is,” Dad murmurs when our son opens his eyes, they both look
at each other startled.
“And shall the Shadow King rise,” my father murmurs thoughtfully.
“He is tainted by the shadows?” Mara asks worriedly. I look over at her,
and she bites her lip staring at our son, but her mother shakes her head, and
I sigh. A breath of relief escapes me until my father speaks. His next words
send a cold chill down my spine.
 “No, he is the shadows,” Dad says, looking down at him and brushing
his cheek with his thumb. Jonah looks over at my father, but he says
nothing else on the matter, and Kat doesn't either as she stares down at him
with so much love.
My father passes our son to her, and she holds her arms out and sits
beside him. He sucks on his hand, watching his grandmother with big eyes
when she turns to look over at us. I sit next to Marabella on the edge of the
bed while Jonah stands beside me.
“So, can we know the name yet?” Kat asks, and they both look over at
us expectantly.
“Lucas Derrick Octavian,” Jonah says with a smile.

O ne Year
Jonah
Later

Family fills the courtyard to celebrate Lucas’s first birthday. Dominic

has gone way overboard, the kid won't even remember it, and despite only
wanting a small family gathering, it somehow turns into a huge party in
honor of our son.
Ezra, Mateo, Dad, and Dominic have spent weeks planning it. Though
as much as Kyan complains and whines about having so many people here,
I know he secretly enjoys it. So we let them go, Marabella is doing better,
and she and Kat seem closer than ever.
Everyone seems happy, except two people. Casen and Eziah sit by the
huge tree, watching. Casen watches Rose, who, as usual, is the life of the
party, a scowl on his face. They still haven't patched things up, though I do
know they are now living together despite my mother's protests and Rose’s.
Dad forced Rose to move in with Casen after mom and her got into a fight
over Rose sneaking out.
Dad has had enough of her attitude and mom and her constantly
clashing. Rose is to take over the pack; she needs to learn what it is to be on
her own, even though with Casen, she is never alone. She always has a
shadow. Unfortunately, that seems to make her worse. She isn't a trouble.
She isn't a bad child. She is suffocated; I get it. She grew up thinking one
thing only to find out all along her mate has been right beside her to witness
everything, so that must have been a bit of a shock, and then to find out
your mate killed his twin brother for her, the guilt, I guess would be terrible.
 Wandering over to them, I sit on the bench between them, and Casen
leans down to the cooler at their feet and pulls out a beer, handing it to me.
Eziah sips his beer, his eyes shadowed with dark circles, and I know his
nightmares or visions or whatever it is he suffers from have gotten worse,
he has stayed a few times, and I have awoken to him stumbling around
blindly in the house like he can't see. I usually steer him back to bed, but
last night he managed to wake Dominic up after he walked into the hall
stand and broke a vase.
Dominic, at first, didn't say a thing, just stared with that intense gaze he
sometimes gets, a peculiar expression on his face.
“When all you know is darkness, how would one handle the light,”
Dominic had spoken in an eerie voice. I glanced at him before asking what
he meant. He seemed confused and claimed he said nothing. Dominic is
also an odd man, intense, but I know it is from the shadows. We put Eziah
back to bed, and I watched as Dominic had stolen his dream and plucked it
right out of his head.
“That is one thing he shouldn't relive, one thing that hurt her but doesn't
need to hurt him,” he said before slipping out of the room.
I still have no idea what he spoke of or saw, but the look on Dominic's
face kept me from asking.
“You alright, bro?” I ask Eziah, nudging him.
“I will be, I always am,” he says, watching Marabella and Kyan help
open Lucas's presents.
“I expected the shadows to leave him. Baby's eyes change over time,
and his never did,” Eziah says.
“Yeah, Dominic has a few theories about it. Kat did tell us, though, that
he has a wolf, an actual wolf. He isn't Lycan like Kaif,” I tell him with a
shrug.
“Does it worry you?” I shake my head.
He is a happy boy for the most part though we have all worried because
he never cries. Only the day he was born but hadn't since. Marabella
expected to be woken to feed him like a normal baby. After the third night,
she started setting timers. That was when we realized he was waking up
during the night. He was just silent. She would find him staring blankly at
the ceiling or smiling or sometimes babbling in the dark. But he never cried.
“And you?” I ask Casen.
 “It is what it is,” Casen says, tipping his beer bottle to his lips, glaring at
his mate.
“And what is it?” I ask.
“Rose rejected me. She doesn't want your parents to know, though,” he
says with a shrug.
“And you accepted it?” he shrugs.
“Well, I didn't reject her rejection, nor did I accept it, so it is what it is,”
he repeats.
“So you are both pretending to be mates?” I ask.
Casen sighs. “Well, what else am I supposed to do? She hates me,” he
runs a hand through his hair, visibly frustrated.
“Over Vince?” I ask.
“Kinda, but not really. She understands why I killed Vince. It's the
others she doesn't get,” he says, standing up.
I want to ask what he means, but his eyes lock on my sister as she
wanders inside with one of Kyan's warriors and her friend. She doesn't
appear to be doing anything wrong, but Kyan also looks after her when
Casen storms off past him after her.
“He won't want to start anything here,” Kyan mindlinks before I hear it
open up again. This time Kyan is talking to the warrior she walked off
with.
“Stay away from my sister-in-law. She is off-limits, Mckellen, so move
away from her,” Kyan warns.
“Huh? I'm not doing anything,” I hear him reply, but regardless a
second later, he comes back out the doors this time alone, and Casen glares
at him as he walks inside looking for Rose.
I shake my head, and Eziah slaps my chest with his hand. “Come on,
Dad's brought out the cake, and I want to get photos with the birthday boy,”
Eziah says, dropping his empty beer bottle in the cooler. I chug mine doing
the same and head over while Eziah fumbles for his phone to take pictures.
Mara and Kyan wave me over, and I jog over before Mara passes Lucas to
me while she and Kyan clear a spot for the cake on the table.
Everyone starts singing happy birthday, and Lucas giggles clapping his
hands while I hold him close to his cake. He smacks it, sending icing
everywhere, and making me chuckle, and when everyone stops singing,
Lucas tries to blow out his candle, his attempts sending slobber and spit all
over the cake. Probably much to Dominic's horror before Kyan leans down
and helps him.
Lucas claps, his fingers covered in icing, and holds his finger out to
Kyan, who then grabs his little wrist and licks the icing off the finger that
Lucas holds out to him. Silence falls as we watch the man who hates getting
dirty play with and munch on his son's sticky hand like he isn't a
germaphobe.
Lucas laughs, smearing some cake on his cheek with his other hand.
Kyan laughs and reaches for a napkin, only then realizing everyone is
staring at him as if he has suddenly grown two heads.
“What?” he demands, looking at everyone.
“Nothing,” Mara says with a giggle, and the chatter restarts.
 Authors I suggest

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Available on Amazon
The Alpha Series
Book 1 - Her Forbidden Alpha
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Book 3 - Her Destined Alpha

Magic of Kaeladia Series

Book 1 - My Alpha's Betrayal: Burning in the Flames of his Vengeance
Book 2 - My Alpha's Retribution: Rising from the Ashes of his Vengeance

His Caged Princess

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 Also by Jessica Hall

Fated Spinoff series.

If you can't wait for Eziah story to come to kindle, it is ongoing on the following apps.
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shareuser=11353980&ch=apps

Join my Facebook group to connect with me

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Enjoy all of my series
https://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Hall/e/B09TSM8RZ7

Don't forget to check my recommendations on the following pages.

Fated Series