章節 9: Chapter Nine: Storms
Kinsley’s POV
The rain is indicative of my nightmares.
I’m soaked in rainwater, in blood, and staring down at the body of my mate as he lays dying at my feet. His body is achingly still, Ace’s dead eyes as dark as his onyx fur while he stands over Terron’s body.
I cough myself awake, clutching my chest while I pant in the dark bedroom. Terron had been sleeping on the couch at the beginning of the night, but slowly worked his way into bed beside me after every abrupt awakening.
He pulls my back flush with his chest, his warmth the only solace I find in these stormy mornings.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so,” I say, feeling down the front of my body just in case. “It was just another dream.”
He breathes heavy gusts of exhales into my neck, pulling my hair aside as he nuzzles his face into my scalp. “It’s okay, Kinsley. We are safe.”
“Until Ace comes back.”
He doesn’t reply. We both know what the truth is.
My father gave me to Ace in a deal. My father and The Rogue Prince have things to lose with me being taken by Terron. They could start a war with Terron’s pack or do the same thing they did before and surrender me to my captor.
I don’t want a war with anyone, and I especially don’t want to be stuck back with Ace.
“What if they both come back for me? Can your pack take my father’s warriors and Ace’s rogues?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Terron says, his voice groggy and tired. “Neither one of them will come for you and succeed. I knew I didn’t want to leave you with Alpha Jonathan; he has a ruthless reputation but I didn’t think he would be inclined to give his daughter to a rogue.”
I shake my head at Ace’s words. I haven’t told my mate about it yet, but it’s been made clear to me what The Rogue Prince wanted me for.
“Terron, I—”
A knock on the door makes me stop talking instantly. I assume it’s Beta Lucas after he and a few warriors have been out hunting for Ace after he fled, wounded from Terron’s attack. Maybe they’re finally back and with good news.
I follow my mate into the hall, peering around the corner where I watch Terron answer the door. A petite blonde woman throws herself into the house, and straight into my mate’s arms.
My breath catches, and she purses her lips, daring to press them to Terron’s but he stops her with a forceful shove backward. Her bright blue eyes look like his, but she furrows her brow as she looks at him puzzled.
“Terron, baby, what’s going on?”
My heart stops with her words. If I had my wolf then that phrase would have really hurt, but it still stings in this form. Terron glances over his shoulder as if catching my mini-stroke, reassuring me with his beautiful ocean eyes.
“Rebecca,” Terron breathes, keeping her in the doorway, almost back to the porch, and pulling the door inward to keep us out of each other’s sight. “We broke up months ago. Don’t start with the pet names.”
“That’s true but we always do that, baby. We fight, we break up and then I come running back to your arms. Can’t you let me inside? It’s raining and I’m cold baby, I need you to warm me up and—”
“Rebecca!”
I jump at Terron’s tone, but also at her flirtatious advances.
“You and I are done—we’ve been done for a while and there’s no more running back to my house when you need something. You have to leave; we are over.”
“Baby, what are you talking about? What’s wrong? Does this have anything to do with the rogue fight that happened a few days ago? Martha told me all about it. She said you got hurt.”
“I’m perfectly fine,” Terron says, in a low growl by now. “If you must know,” he says, throwing the door open until it hits the wall and shakes the house.
I meet her bright, curious eyes and feel like I’m standing in front of Ace in my nightmare again.
“Who is she?”
“She is my mate, Rebecca,” Terron affirms, speaking with a hint of a smile on his lips. “As I said before, you should leave and not come back unless it has to do with pack affairs.”
The vivacious, curvy woman turns her nose up at the sight of me. I don’t know why, but I take a cautious step back, glad that Alpha Terron stands between us.
“She can’t possibly be the Luna of this pack.”
Terron steps forward, standing over the tiny woman on his porch. His voice turns into a dark grumble like his wolf is fighting to come forward and take control.
“She will be the Luna,” Terron snarls, “and a damn good one, at that. Better than you—like you had a real shot,” he snorts, taking a long step back into the house and leaving her alone on his wet porch. “Go home and don’t come back here.”
The door slams shut and for the first time since I got up this morning, I inhale a deep breath.
Terron notices and briskly makes his way through the house, stopping only when his hands are pressed into my sore sides and his lips are locked with my own. I gasp through our sudden kiss, the feeling so warm and passionate; it’s like nothing I could have ever imagined.
“Terron,” I gush, his hands pulling me to his solid chest and keeping me pinned there. “Terron—I need to—to breathe—”
Only then does he release his kiss on my lips but instead, decides to press them in lingering trails across my chest and neck. I hold onto him as well, enjoying the feeling of his arms curling around my sides and resting on my back.
“You are my mate,” he says, firm in tone and touch.
“Was she really your girlfriend?”
His eyes drop. “Only for a few months when we were younger. She would always come crawling back after picking a fight with me. I didn’t know I would find my mate—we never did more than kiss. I promise.”
It hurts to think about it, but I suppose it could be worse.
“She doesn’t like me,” I say. “That’s obvious.”
“She’s harmless, Kinsley. Her best friend Martha is the same wolf that rejected my Beta when they found one another.”
I step back slightly, his hands still placed on my hips and his eyes cast with a gentleness I’ve never known. “I didn’t know Lucas was rejected.”
“He doesn’t like to talk about it,” he says. “They found each other right after they were old enough to shift. It was a messy situation because Martha had a longtime boyfriend at the time.”
“She chose him over Lucas?”
Terron reluctantly nods. “Yeah, but once her boyfriend broke up with her, and I made Lucas my Beta, she came crawling back to him, saying it was a mistake.”
“He didn’t take her back, though, right?”
“He struggles with it, but no. He doesn’t want her back. She’s a snake, a power-hungry wolf, just like Rebecca. They are perfect friends, thick as thieves, and trust me, Kinsley, you have nothing to worry about. My mate is my priority. I would never reject you.”
My tension eases with those words. Another knock at the door threatens to send me back to that anxious state until the door flies open and Lucas stumbles into the house. He’s panting with each breath and melts into the couch, only wearing soggy wet pants and his worn, red scar.
“Sorry, I had to sit down. We’ve got a problem, Alpha.”
Terron leaves my side, standing before his Beta. “What’s wrong, brother?”
“Rogues just attacked the pack next to us. Decimated the place and killed everyone; even the pups. We tried to step in, but it was too late.”
Terron’s face falls. “It was Ace, wasn’t it?”
“Not just Ace,” he groans, speaking low, as though it’s a secret between the two of them. “There were pack warriors there too. Looked like Alpha Jonathan’s pack. I could be wrong but it smelled like them.”
“Why were they there?”
“It looked like they were fighting one another, and the small pack was left in the crosshairs. I had to stay back, we didn’t have enough warriors to fight off the rogues and Alpha Jonathan’s pack.”
“Why were they fighting each other?”
My voice, although hoarse, cuts in, “because whatever deal they had before is off.”
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