I stayed awake for most of the night, and so did Knox. He paced around the living room for hours until Kara showed up around three in the morning. They left and went for a run and didn’t come back until sunrise. I texted Kami to keep an eye on them with her FBI tracking software, but both of their phones were in my cabin. There was no way to know where they went, but Kami sent Colin over here to be with Zayne. They let me feel their power so I’d know they were close by, making sure I was safe.
As soon as both Knox and Kara retreated to their rooms and fell asleep, I quietly snuck out of mine and grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl in the kitchen before escaping outside. That’s what it feels like having them around. It’s almost like I’m in prison. Maybe it’s me being paranoid, but I feel their eyes on me everywhere I go. The nausea from last night still plagues me, but I’ve come to realize it’s just stress. I’m worried about both Zayne and Knox. There was a time when they were best friends. If only Knox could get over his empty vendetta. With all the years that have passed, Knox has it in his head that it’s all Zayne’s fault his family was killed. He’s harbored those feelings for two centuries, and it’s grown into something that’s poisoned his mind.
I take off into the forest and run as fast as I can to the lake. The fresh air cleanses my lungs as I breathe it in, and the open space of the wild makes me feel free. My leg muscles burn as I push myself to the limits. A part of me wants to keep running as far and as fast as I can just to see where I end up. The thought makes me smile because I know who’d be right on my heels if I did that.
When I get to the lake, it’s still frozen over, but the water is so clear you can see straight through to the bottom. I climb up on my favorite boulder and peer out at the snow-covered mountains. They’re different from the ones in North Carolina; they’re more majestic and grand. However, I do miss the Blue Ridge Mountains beauty; it was my home for many years. My eyes burn, and I close my eyes, allowing the tears to fall. Thinking of North Carolina makes me remember being with the Sierra Pack and losing my parents. I’ve been through my fair share of heartache and pain, and here I am back in it again.
“What are you thinking about?” Gasping, I jerk around, and Zayne is right there, stepping out from the trees. I hop down off the boulder, and he comes to me, pulling me into his arms. “I can feel your sadness,” he murmurs.
Wrapping my arms around his waist, I lay my head on his chest and huff. “It’s also frustration. I was thinking about my time in North Carolina. My mate murdered my parents, and I found myself in a prison I thought for sure I was going to die in.” I look up into his crystal blue eyes. “And here I am, right in the middle of another war.”
He flinches as if my words struck him. “I’m sorry I brought this on you. You don’t deserve it.”
“No,” I say quickly, cupping his face in my hands. I run my fingers over his stubbly cheeks. “You haven’t done anything wrong.” He didn’t mention anything about my conversation with Knox last night, so I’m assuming he didn’t hear it. One thing is for sure, I’m not looking forward to telling him. Sliding my hands away from his face, I step out of his hold.
His brows furrow. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s something you should know. I was afraid you’d burst into my house last night, and since you didn’t, I can only assume you didn’t hear it.”
Eyes blazing, he steps toward me, his anger potent in the air. “What the fuck did Knox do?”
“Nothing,” I say quickly, “at least not what you’re thinking. Knox would never force himself on me in any way.” Do I know that for certain? I’m not sure. If he’s willing to kill an innocent female, there’s no telling what he would do to me.
“Tell me,” Zayne demands, his voice a growl.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slow and meet his glowing gaze. “He says he’ll forget about you if I leave town with him and become his mate. He wants to start his own pack.”
The rage inside of him intensifies, and his hands clench into tight fists. “That’s not going to happen.”
I reach for his hands, and as soon as I touch him, he relaxes. “I know,” I murmur. “Knox told me the truth about his plans to kill your mate. I never thought he could be that evil.”
Zayne nods. “His whole family shocked us that day two centuries ago. I’m not surprised by this. The need for power poisons his mind.”
“I can see that now,” I agree. “Knox believes he was stronger than the Storm alpha and that if you hadn’t stood in his way, he’d be the Royal Pack leader right now.”
Zayne’s jaw clenches, and he averts his gaze to the lake. “Knox is one of the strongest wolves I know. I’m surprised his family didn’t branch off and form their own pack years ago. The Channon men were all alphas.”
“Just like the Lyalls, but your family didn’t start a war.”
Zayne’s tormented gaze lands on mine. “No, but we could have. My father would’ve made a great leader, but he chose friendship over power. Honestly, I don’t know who would’ve won if he fought against Marrock Storm. They’re strength matched.”
He said something similar about him and Knox, that if it were to come down to a fight, there’s no telling who would win. That thought alone scares me more than anything. The only way Zayne’s strength will overpower Knox is if we complete the bond.
“Tomorrow, we’ll leave, and we can stay away for however long you want,” I say, feeling the desperation rise in my chest. “I’ll contact the school and put in my vacation time. I have several weeks built up.”
He squeezes my hands. “Good. And as soon as Laila puts Knox and Kara down tomorrow after the party, I’ll take you home to pack. Chase’s jet will be waiting for us at the airport.”
Silence fills the air, and my gut clenches with the unknown. I look past him into the forest, and my heart races. “Who’s watching the house if you’re here? What if Knox finds us?”
Zayne’s lips pull back slightly. “Colin’s there. He said he’d text.”
I breathe a sigh of relief, but the knowledge doesn’t relax me. All I want to do is stay away from the house until tomorrow. “Your family has been supportive through this whole thing. I don’t know what we would’ve done without them.”
Zayne pulls me closer. “They’re your family too.”
My mind drifts to Kami and what she said to me yesterday. “And speaking of them, Kami told me something yesterday, and I wanted to see if you could clarify.”
Zayne tilts his head back and grumbles. “That woman loves to get in the middle of things just like her mate.” When he drops his head and looks at me, he smiles. “What did she say?”
I shrug. “You mentioned it before on how you knew I was your mate several months ago. So why did it happen to you first and not both of us together?”
His smile slowly fades, and his focus falls to our clasped hands. He gently pulls away and slips a hand into his pocket, clutching something I can’t see. When he brings his hand out, he opens his palm, revealing a smooth, mint-colored stone. I’ve seen plenty of magical stones because of Laila, but I have yet to see that one.
“What does it do? Did Laila put a spell on it for you?” I ask.
He keeps his eyes on the stone and rolls it around in his palm. “Laila gave it to me, but it didn’t come from her. I don’t know what all she told you, but when we lost her, she had crossed over to the Hereafter.”
When he looks at me, I nod. “Yes, Laila told me about that. At that point, she was upset about losing her magic, so I didn’t ask too many questions.”
Zayne focuses back on the stone. “She got to see her mother there, Amelie. Alina was there waiting for her.”
Gasping, I close a hand over my mouth. I’d give anything to see my mother again. “That’s amazing. I can’t believe Laila didn’t tell me.”
Zayne sighs. “She was afraid it’d pain you, especially since you just lost your mother.”
Tears burn my eyes. “I would’ve been happy for her. She didn’t have all the years with her mother as I did with mine.” I glance down at the stone. With all the talk about Alina, I have a feeling she’s the one who gave it to him. “Did Alina give it to you?”
Zayne’s lips pull back, and he nods. “She did. She told Laila it would help me find my way.” He kisses me gently. “And it led me to you.”
“How?” I ask.
He holds up the stone. “When I touched it, all I saw was you. I knew then you were my mate, and it killed me because I had no clue how to get close to you.”
This makes me smile. “Luckily, you found the courage.”
Zayne snorts. “I had no choice. The goddess of the moon wasn’t going to give you the mating signs until I worked for them.”
I laugh. “She works in mysterious ways.”
“That she does,” he agrees. He glances down at the stone and then back to me. “Do you want to hold it? It didn’t work on Colin when he touched it, but I don’t know what it’ll do with you considering you’re a part of it.”
Heart racing, I stare at the stone, wondering if I should touch it or not. Magic is unpredictable. Taking a deep breath, I hold it in as he carefully places the rock in my palm. A sense of warmth spreads throughout my body, and it feels as if I’m in Zayne’s arms, safe and protected. It’s as if there’s a wall surrounding me that nothing and no one can penetrate. Memories flash through my mind like a movie, and Zayne’s face is all I see. Nothing else exists except him.
The second Zayne takes the stone, I gasp and grab my chest. “Holy hell. That was intense.”
Zayne’s eyes widen. “What did you see?”
Tears fall down my cheeks. “You. I could feel your love inside the stone. It’s exactly how I feel when I’m around you.”
He smiles sadly. “Keeping it with me helped me to feel close to you. I couldn’t go a day without touching it.”
“Well, now you have me, and I’m not going anywhere.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him down to my lips, loving the deep growl that rumbles in his chest. He deepens the kiss and grips his fingers into my waist.
“I love you, Amelie. I never thought I’d be able to say those words to anyone ever again.”
I press my forehead to his. “I love you too.”
His phone dings with an incoming text, and he grabs it out of his pocket quickly. “It’s Colin,” he says, reading through the text. “Knox just walked outside and called out your name. He’s looking for you.”
“You need to go,” I tell him. “We can’t screw up now.”
He nods and kisses me again. “I won’t be far. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
As soon as he’s gone, I climb back up on the boulder and lie down on the cold rock. The sky is clear, but I can smell the hint of snow. It’d be nice if it would, and then I could hide under its white blanket and disappear for a while. The last thing I want to do is go home. So until it’s time to go to Tyla and Sebastian’s, I plan to stay away. If Knox wants to find me, he’ll have to hunt me down.
* * *
For the past eight hours, I ran through the woods and even found a waterfall I didn’t know existed. It’s incredible what all you can find in nature when it’s not overrun with people wanting to destroy it. Pulling out my phone, I look down at the time, realizing I only have an hour until I need to be at Tyla and Sebastian’s for dinner. The sun will be going down soon, and I’m still several miles away from my house. Unfortunately, I can’t call or text anyone because I’m too far out in the middle of nowhere with no service.
I decide to head back, but not to my house. If I go straight to Tyla’s place, I won’t have to see Knox or Kara. So it’s probably best I don’t go back at all tonight.
Slowing my pace, I trudge along through the forest, wishing I could stay in the middle of nowhere forever. As a child, my mother would take me out in the woods, and we’d live off the land for days at a time. It was some of the best moments of my life.
A twig snaps behind me, and I jerk around, scanning the area around me. I can smell a bear close by, and then another twig snaps in the general direction of it. However, when I turn back to my path, I let out a scream when someone appears I wasn’t expecting.
“What the hell? You scared the shit out of me,” I snap, clutching my chest. My heart beats so hard it hurts.
Knox holds up his hands. “I’m sorry. I should’ve let you know I was close.”
I glare at him. “Why didn’t you?”
He sighs. “It’s a hard habit to break, Amelie. I hid who I was for two hundred years.”
Storming past him, I continue on my way toward Tyla and Sebastian’s. “So, I guess you felt the need to follow me?”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he says, keeping up with my pace. “I wanted to find you and tell you I’m sorry.”
Stopping mid-step, I turn around to face him. “Sorry? For what exactly?”
He steps toward me. “For giving you an ultimatum. All I want is for us to have a fresh start. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you. Finding you was proof that we deserve a second chance. I know we have the potential to be true mates.”
Taking my hands, he pulls me in close and tries to kiss me, but I step away and turn my back on him. “The Great Luna’s not going to reward you with a true mate if you deliberately try to kill Zayne’s. Instead, she’ll punish you, and by doing that, it’ll ultimately punish your true mate as well. If you can’t find her, she’ll never find you.”
“I told you I’d leave if you came with me, Amelie,” he growls.
“That’s not enough,” I say, jerking around to face him again. “I want you to be happy, Knox. But, honestly, I don’t think my leaving with you will be enough. I’ve been mated to the wrong wolf before, and I’m not doing it again. I can’t let you drag me down with you. You need to move on from the past. Only then will you get what you want. The Great Luna knows what’s in our hearts. If yours is dark, I’m afraid not even I can save you from that.”
Looking in his eyes, I can see his emotions warring within him. He knows what I said is the truth, but he still fights against it. I thought I could get through to him, but there’s a darkness behind his eyes I don’t think will ever go away.
“Do you love me, Amelie?” he asks.
As I stare at him, I can remember all the good times we had together. I experienced a lot of firsts with him, and I’ll never forget that. He was my first real love. “I will always love you, Knox. But right now, I’m going to use the words you used on me last night. It’s up to you to make the right decision before it’s too late.”
Turning on my heel, I run away from him, and I’m thankful he doesn’t follow. Will he listen to what I had to say and do the right thing?
I don’t know, but I can hope.