GRAYSON
I was about a second away from burning the entire world down.
The mate bind was clouding my ability to think clearly; my thoughts revolved around finding Belle and never letting her out of my sight.
In the back of my mind, common sense was telling me none of these people here deserved my anger–especially not Kyle and Elijah, who had cared for my mate when I couldn’t.
But that didn’t stop me from nearly grabbing Elijah and throwing him across the room when he didn’t immediately tell me what I wanted to know.
“It’s my fault, Alpha,” he repeated, stepping in. “I left her.”
“Elijah,” Kyle growled, blocking him
from my view.
He said something over mind–link before turning back to me.
“I ordered Elijah to leave. You can’t blame him.”
“I don’t give a flying f**k about blame! Tell me where she is,” I spat.
They exchanged worried glances before Kyle opened his mouth.
“When we found you and that girl yesterday, I knew we needed to get her away from here. She…she wasn’t doing well, Alpha.”
My wolf snapped his teeth in anger inside me. I remembered her face when she
had walked in and witnessed what she thought was me mating with someone else.
She had been beyond sad–she had been devastated.
Kyle swallowed roughly before
continuing. “I told her to go with Elijah so I could stay here and figure out what the hell was going on with you. I knew something was wrong. Elijah was going to take her wherever she wanted to go, somewhere you couldn’t find her.”
“But then something happened,” Elijah interjected. “It wasn’t you who was in control of your b*dy but Azazel. Kyle…… He almost died fighting him.”
“I remember,” I said curtly, “I was there.”
“What you don’t remember is what happened after Azazel left your b*dy.”
Kyle stepped in front of Elijah protectively.
“You were unconscious for hours. We didn’t know if you were going to live, so we had to make some hard decisions for you. Belle, well…” He paused, nervously looking over at the vampires and then
back at me.
“We ordered him to leave her,” King Zagan finished.
My head snapped toward him.
They did what?
“We thought it would be best for her and for your pack if she wasn’t here for the battle.”
My anger spiked. I tilted my head to the side, approaching him slowly, like a deer in the forest I was about to pounce on.
“And you thought that was your decision
to make, Mortar?”
Zagan met my gaze straight on. “She
wouldn’t be safe here. Azazel knows
she is your weakness. We already know he is willing to hurt her to get to you. He wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if the opportunity presented itself during battle.”
I considered his words as I stopped
in front of him, breathing heavily. Somewhere deep down, the logical part of me knew he was right. While he’d had control over my b*dy, Azazel was in my head just as much as I was in his.
He saw my dedication to my mate and knew I would do anything to keep her safe, even if it meant dying slowly as a
result of his constant control over me.
Likewise, I saw his determination to win
back the throne.
He was willing to kill anyone who stood in his way, and there was no doubt in my mind that he would look for Belle and use
her to lure and kill me.
But even knowing that, the compulsion to find her and never let her leave my side again was unbelievable, almost blinding me to sense. Her feelings were tangible, sitting on my chest, constricting my lungs.
She felt broken, alone, confused-
most of all unlovable, as if she were responsible for all the people who had abandoned her.
I could feel her thoughts as they ran their
course.
Everyone she cared for and she thought cared for her all eventually left in one way or another: Her father, who had died and left her to fend for herself… Her mother, who had gone to build a new family… Elijah and Kyle, who had promised to stay until reneging at the last minute…
And me. She especially thought of me.
She was going over our months together, all the things she thought she’d done
wrong.
She had come to the conclusion that she had pushed me away.
She thought she had done something to make me stop loving her, just as everyone
had stopped loving her, no matter how hard she’d tried to keep them happy.
She was building a wall in her mind, brick by brick, to ensure that no one had access to her heart or the ability to hurt her ever again.
She was also unwittingly cutting off my access to her, making it impossible for me to know what she was feeling or how to find her. She thought our bond was broken, but it wasn’t.
She thought she was protecting herself by blocking herself off, but she was only weakening our already struggling bond.
She needed me by her side, and soon, or
she would become weak and sick.
It could even kill her–not for a while,
probably a few months, but ultimately.
But not if Azazel killed her first.
The bond wouldn’t even get the chance to
hurt Belle if Azazel found her tomorrow.
And he would, inevitably, find her: he was smart, he knew my mind, and he would figure out where I was hiding her if I brought her here.
Then he would hold her hostage, persuading me to do whatever he wanted.
I knew then that the only way to keep her and the pack safe would be to send her
away.
It would be hard, but I would put someone in charge of caring for her until the battle was over.
I studied Zagan. He looked much too small to be the vampire king. My anger was dissolving.
“You will never make a decision
concerning my mate ever again, do you hear me?”
Zagan scowled, most likely annoyed
by my disrespectful manner, and didn’t
answer.
I sighed. I didn’t want to admit what I
was about to.
“But the decision you made was the right one. Although I would have liked to see my mate and explain it to her beforehand, I agree with the choice. Your doing that now has saved me the pain of having to let her go.”
Zagan waited a moment before speaking. “You’re a good leader, Alpha Grayson. I am sure you would have elected to do the same, had you had the chance.”
I could only hope so. I turned to Elijah, who straightened the moment our eyes
met.
“You know where she is?” I asked.
“I think so. We made a plan before parting ways.”
“Good. Then you will go to her,” I said, adopting my alpha tone. “You will find my mate and keep her safe, mind–linking me the moment you have her in your sights.”
My wolf bristled, not liking to put the safety of our mate in the hands of another wolf, but knowing we had no choice.
I needed Kyle here to command the warriors, and no one else knew Belle well enough to know where she would be.
Kyle seemed nervous. I paused.
I hadn’t considered the fact that Elijah was his mate and I was sending him away with a devastating war coming.
“Is this okay?” I asked him.
Kyle sighed and nodded glumly. “He’ll be safer there than here,” he muttered.
He took Elijah’s hand and squeezed it. Elijah smiled sadly. They both knew that
this could be the last time they saw each other.
“Very well.” I took a deep breath. “I’ll meet you wherever you are when the battle is over, Elijah. For now, you will say your goodbyes and go alone.”
Elijah had not let go of Kyle’s hand.
“Yes, Alpha.”
I averted my gaze as they embraced and whispered their goodbyes.
It wasn’t long before Elijah was out the door and Kyle was looking back at me determinedly.
But something made me pause and do a double–take.
My heart rate picked up, my wolf came surging forward for a better look.
“Kyle… Why are your eyes red?”