Chapter 16: A Blast From the Past

Anastasia entered Essence’s room to find her legs pulled to chest, and her head on them. Essence turned her face. “I don’t want to talk about it, Ani,” she said.

Anastasia nodded. “I won’t push you, but you’ve been held up in here for three days. Does this have something to do with Kano?”

Essence flinched, then quietly she nodded. After some time, she whispered, “He hates me.”

Anastasia’s mouth fell open. “I don’t think that’s possible.” She turned Essence around and saw tears in her eyes. “What happened, E?”

She broke completely down. Grabbing onto Anastasia, she tried her best to calm herself. “I told him everything, and now he’s not talking to me. When I finished telling him, he just sat there with this cold look on his face. It was like looking at a different person, Ani. I got scared, so I left, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

Anastasia’s body stilled, and then she shifted. “I’m going to fucking kill him!” she screamed before darting out the bedroom door.

Anastasia burst through the castle door, making Cayden jump. He looked at her. “What have I done to warrant you assaulting my door because whatever it is, please continue to take it out on it, and not me.”

She glared at him. “Where.the fuck.is.he?” she demanded, each word of hers seeping from her mouth one by one.

Cayden rubbed the back of his neck. “If you’re talking about Kano, he’s in one of the guest rooms. Apparently, he locked himself out of his, and no one can seem to find a spare key. He refuses to let us break the door down, so he’s just been staying in another.” He tilted his head. “What is this about?”

He watched in horror as her claws gripped into the floor. “Your piece of shit of a brother has been ignoring Essence. She told him everything that happened to her, and since, he’s been completely AWOL, and now she’s at my house crying her eyes out.”

His eyes instantly tinged gold. “I’m going to fucking kill him!” Shifting, he ran towards Kano’s new room with his mate in tow.

Kano laid on the bed feeling miserable. He missed Essence terribly, but he knew he needed to stay away. His door swung open and before he could process, Cayden lunged at him.

“You quiet piece of shit!” Cayden shouted, biting Kano on his arm. Kano shifted, and the two tumbled to the ground. Pulling themselves on their hind legs, they slapped at one another feverishly. “Stop fighting back!” he seethed, and Kano mocked him before shaking his head. Cayden swiped under his foot, and the red wolf fell to the ground. He pounced on him. “You hurt Essence’s feelings!” Immediately, Kano froze, then shifted back. Breathlessly, Cayden shifted and glared at his brother. “Why would you do that? I told her to trust you, to tell you what was keeping her from being your mate, and she did.” Kano covered his face in shame, and Anastasia scowled at him.

“Your ass better have a good reason for all of this because I swear, Kano, I will drop kick you, alpha or not.” Kano nodded and ushered his brother and her out the door, to his room. Producing his key, he opened it.

Cayden and Anastasia’s eyes bulged as they stared at the destruction inside. Cracked wood laid sprawled around the room, and the dressers were tilted, barely standing. The curtains pulled from their rods; they covered the debris of the walls that held fist prints from Kano. His new mirror smashed to pieces; they could hardly make out the faces in the destroyed photos. It was horrific, but the words written on the wall tore into them the most

“Oh my God.” Anastasia said as her eyes teared up while reading I FAILED MY MATE’ written over and over around the room.

Kano placed his hand over his chest, and Cayden twisted his lips. “Your wolf?”

He nodded as the rage and sadness hit him again, causing his eyes to shift. He shook his head and whispered, “It won’t calm… I can’t be around her like this.” No matter how hard he tried, his wolf only seemed to grow angrier. It raged out of sync with him until he had to push Essence away out of fear he’d hurt her. The words of her story replaying over and over made pure anger boil inside of him. He badly wanted to kill the men who’d touched her, and knowing not only were they dead, but that she considered herself bad because of it, hurt him the most.

Cayden patted his back. “You need to tell her that, Kano. She thinks you’ve changed your mind about her, and honestly, you’re failing her now by not being there when she needs you.” Kano’s eyes enlarged, and he grabbed his jacket.

Anastasia handed him his phone and typed on hers. “Texted you the address,” she said. “Here’s the key.”

Essence laid silently wiping her eyes for the hundredth time. She sighed and shook her head, knowing she’d been too late. For every bit of resistance she’d put up, Kano had made his way into her heart. She closed her eyes and her body stilled when she heard her door open. She called over her shoulder, “Ani, I know you want to be there for me, but I just—God, I’m such an idiot. I just want to be alone, if that’s okay?”

Silence

She felt a weight on her bed, and she covered her face. “I mean it. I just want to be alone.” Kano’s cologne wafted through her nose, and her lip trembled.

Kano’s muscular arm wrapped around her and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, and he felt her cry against him. His wolf let out a whimper as it slowly calmed.

She turned around. “You hurt my feelings,” she said. He nodded, then placed her hand on his chest as his eyes tinged gold. Feeling the erratic beat of his heart, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He rubbed his head against her hair, placing his scent on her. She burrowed under him. “I understand. I feel the same about what happened to you, and if I was a wolf, mine probably would have gone loco, too.” She looked up at him. “But you have to communicate those things to me. I thought maybe you—because I know if you could just find it in your heart to maybe try to still want…”

Kano clasped her face and her words trailed off. He kissed her deeply before looking at her. The storm in his pale eyes seemed to stop her heart. He still might be too afraid to tell her, but he needed her to know, and so he looked her in the eyes until hers welled up again with tears. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him hard. Breaking the kiss, he kissed her forehead and then she burrowed under him again. He could hear his wolf.

“I’m sorry I almost made us lose her.”

“Let’s never get that close again.” Finally, back in sync, Kano fell asleep holding Essence tightly.

Two Weeks Later

Anastasia grinned at Essence so hard her cheeks hurt as they stood in the town’s square. Rolling her eyes, Essence playfully pushed her. “Don’t you start,” she warned.

Anastasia shrugged. “I wasn’t going to say anything.” Grinning harder, she shouted, “Except that you have been wearing a certain alpha out!” Kano whipped around in pure horror. Accidentally dropping his family crest, he turned bright red. Anastasia giggled, then winked at him. “Don’t worry, you’ve been wearing her out, too,” she said. Dropping the crest for the second time, he grumbled, embarrassed, and walked away.

Essence glared at her. “That was uncalled for.” Pausing for a moment, she let out a laugh. “Though, very true.” For the past two weeks, they’d been making up so much, they hardly came up for air. When they did, little by little Kano agreed to go places with her. They went to different places like the movies, and to see Rafael’s new shop. He even agreed to go to an amusement park to make up for their time at the fair. Though it was the way he looked at her that often made Essence’s heart quicken. He’d clasp her face and look her in the eyes, trying his best to convey what his mouth wasn’t ready to tell. It was in those moments, and many others, she thought she could indeed stay with him. She smiled brightly at Anastasia. “Today isn’t about my sex life, though. Today is all about you and Cayden.”

Anastasia returned her smile. “I can’t believe the wedding is coming so fast. Rafael was definitely right about the square being the perfect location.”

The open space practically begged for a royal wedding to be held there. Hundreds of lilies had arrived per Anastasia’s request and were being placed around the square to frame the oncoming archway. She loved it; it was the exact thing she’d envisioned when she thought about what her wedding looked like. Though still unfinished, the direction the decorations were heading was just as she envisioned during her planning, and the more she looked around, the more she couldn’t wait to get married there.

“I also can’t believe we’re making the official announcement of invitation to the pack today,” Anastasia said.

“How does that even work? You guys don’t have a set number of guests or anything?”

“Nope. It’s a tradition that the entire pack is allowed to attend the weddings of the alpha and beta.” She nudged Essence. “So when that time comes—”

Essence scowled and walked away. She looked at Kano helping Cayden set up the square and tilted her head, trying to imagine what being married to him would look like. Quickly dismissing the thought, she turned to finish helping Anastasia. Her body collided with a tall figure, and she fell to the ground. “Fucking hell!” she screamed, before slowly standing up.

The older man looked at her. “Quite sorry, child,” he said. He eyed her, and she closed her jacket, instantly feeling uncomfortable. He gave her a smile that she hated as much as his eyes, and he arched his thick gray-haired brow at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around.”

“I’m not from here. I came to help my best friend with her wedding,” she replied, scrunching her face at the stringy gray hair that framed the bald top of his head.

He nodded. “Ahh, no wonder. I certainly would have remembered someone so beautiful.” His eyes tinged gold, and he extended his hand to caress her face.

She dodged it and looked him up and down. “Don’t touch me,” she said.

“You obviously do not know who I am.”

She waved him off sarcastically. “Are you here to present me a check for a million dollars? No? Okay hmm… are you here about my student loans because I’ve already decided those are above me now.”

He glared at her. “Your smart mouth will get you in trouble here.”

“Is that a threat?”

“More of a warning.”

Essence laughed harshly. “Understood. Now let me present your ass with a promise. You extend those ET shaped fingers at me again, and you’re gonna find out what constitutes as trouble.” Her glare matched his. “I don’t give a flying fuck who you are. I will still put my foot up your narrow ass.” She felt a large hand on her shoulder, and looking up, her heart dropped when she saw Kano’s face. He was holding her, but looked at the stranger in a way that terrified her. His face was hardened to stone, his eyes burned gold, and she could feel the heat permeate from his body. He pulled her behind him and stepped towards the man. In a steady, deadly voice she’d never heard him use, he said one word.

“Emon.”