Maeve
When I was young, Aviva told me a story about her early days in the Silverhide pack and the first time she ever saw Ryan in his beast form. I didn’t understand why back then, but she explained that newly mated couples occasionally go through a bit of a rough patch in the first days of their relationship. The men, she explained, were generally uncontrollable and often territorial of their new mates, going as far as to attack other males for even looking in their direction.
Touching another man’s mate, however? Especially his heavily pregnant mate?
That’s a death sentence.
“Soren!” I rush out, but it’s too late.
Soren and Blake collide, Blake’s iron grip on my upper arm snapping away in an instant, leaving me teetering off balance in the dark hallway. The sound of the men colliding with the wall and my new plaster cracking and falling to the floor brings me back to startling focus, and I quickly flip a light switch, flooding the corridor outside of my room with glaring light. “You fucking assholes! STOP IT!” I scream over the sound of Blake’s fist meeting Soren’s jaw and vice versa.
“SOREN!” I screech, waddling down the hallway after them, but both men are practically foaming at the mouth. Blake’s eyes begin to glow, and I panic, raising my hands and sending a blast of heat in a warning to calm the fuck down, but they ignore me.
“You–fucking–bastard!” Soren snarls, rolling on top of Blake and pressing his forearm across Blake’s throat. “This whole fucking time–”
“Shut the fuck up,” Blake croaks, teeth bared, “Don’t say another fucking word–” He shoves Soren hard enough to send him careening to the side, and then Blake is on top of Soren, but this time has his hands wrapped tight around Soren’s throat.
I rip a lamp out of the wall, the cord trailing behind me, and run as fast as I can, wielding the lamp like a sword and aiming directly at Blake’s fat head.
Patton sprints into view, sliding then stumbling past the mouth of the hallway before backtracking.
“Stop them!” I shout over the snarled, mumbled shouting match taking place between Soren and Blake, and Patton nods, wild eyed, and takes two hurried steps in their direction…. But Blake raises his hand toward Patton, and Patton goes still, his eyes open but unseeing, his jaw slack.
“No!” I cry out. “Blake, stop!”
Blake slam’s Soren’s head into the floorboards while fresh blood seeps through the bandage on his arm, sinking into the pristine, white carpet runner.
I act on impulse and swing the lamp. The lampshade smashes against the side of Blake’s head, the lightbulb shattering on impact, knocking Blake off balance.
“ENOUGH!” I shout, but Soren rolls with Blake, immediately gaining upper ground.
Blake, distracted, releases Patton from his power grip. Patton faints, knocking his head against the corner of the hallway, and lies prone and useless on the ground only three feet from where Soren and Blake are continuing to beat the shit out of each other like rabid animals.
When Blake grabs Soren by the face, and his eyes glow a fierce, otherworldly violet, I act.
My powers flare. An eruption of light explodes through the hallway, shattering every sconce and bulb, showering us in glass. The fading light is replaced by brilliant streams of crimson magic that pour from my outstretched fingers and turn into strips of silver flames, and Blake’s back is their target.
But he rolls, dragging an increasingly spent Soren with him, straight into my line of fire. I can’t rein in my powers fast enough. Soren’s grunt of pain tears through my mind, stopping my heart mid-beat. My powers shudder out, and then I’m moving as fast as my swollen feet can carry me. I grab Blake by the throat, digging my nails into his skin until I draw blood and shove him off Soren, whose arm is now raw and blistered to a fine crisp.
Soren goes ghostly pale, panting, but tries to rise, his hand outstretched in my direction. Blake tries to rise as well, desperately out of breath, but I send my fist against his cheek, and blood sprays from his lips, staining my plaster walls.
Blake stumbles away as Soren falls back to the ground.
“No, no, no,” I cry, falling to my knees and dragging him toward me by his shirt. “I didn’t mean to–”
“Get away from him Maeve,” Blake snarls, his hand pressing down on my shoulder.
I drive my elbow into his upper thigh. “Don’t touch me!”
“He’s a murderer,” Blake spits, his face shadowed by anger. It’s the first time I think I’ve seen him show emotion, and it’s jarring, but Soren groans, cursing sharply under his breath.
“Touch her again, and it’ll be the last thing you do,” he warns, and Blake gives him a quizzical look before taking a single step away from us.
“What is this?” my cousin asks in a sneer, looking between me and Soren while I fuss over his mangled arm. “You know each other? How?”
Soren’s smile is murderous. He sits up with great effort, panting, spitting blood onto the floorboards. I murmur for him to lay down, but he waves me away, saying, “Maeve, this is your cousin Blake, right?”
I don’t like the tone he’s using. There’s something sinister there, something secret and dark lacing between each syllable.
“Yes,” I murmur, glancing at Blake. “Why?”
“She doesn’t know, does she?” Soren croaks, his teeth stained with blood from several splits along his lower lip.
Blake stiffens, nostrils flaring. “Shut up–”
“What’s going on?” I ask over Patton’s groan as he comes back to reality, rolling over onto his side a few feet away.
“I’ve always wondered what you looked like behind that mask,” Soren says, and Blake’s expression darkens to the point I think he’s about to use his powers. I shimmy in front of Soren, blocking his body with mine while Blake looks down at us in mingled confusion and fury.
“Don’t say another word,” Blake hisses, but Soren’s cutting laugh snakes through the tight hallway, pinging from wall to wall.
“What game are you playing? You… you sick freak, doing all of this behind her back–”
“What are you talking about?” I snap. Unease weaves up my spine, knitting between vertebrae. “Soren–”
“I knew something was off,” Soren continues, shifting to his knees then methodically rising as the tension in the snug space reaches a peak, “when you found me in that village in the Roguelands and gave me my last mark.”
“What?” I rush out, turning my head to look at Blake. My stomach curls into a knot as the memory of being in Blake’s office yesterday hurdles back to the forefront of my mind. The graph paper. The handwriting. I couldn’t place the memory at first but now… “Blake, what have you done?”
“Get out,” Blake snarls at Soren, but Soren laughs again, taunting him.
“No… I think I’ll stay… for a while, actually, and if you ever touch my mate again, you’ll lose your arm.”
“Mate?” Blake’s eyes widen as he glances between me and Soren. “No. No, that’s not possible–”
“You did all of this without her knowledge, didn’t you? What’s your endgame?” Soren asks, but that taunting tone is still in his voice, woven through every word, like he’s… challenging Blake, but I don’t understand why.
Blake snarls as he lunges for Soren, but I send a jolt of my power right into his chest. He flies back against the wall with a sharp grunt.
“Enough,” I grind out, ignoring the sharp, twisting pain in my lower belly. “That’s enough. One of you fuckers needs to start talking, now. What is this about? How do you know each other?”
Soren presses his back to the wall, gritting his teeth as his arm continues to sizzle, his skin a bright, angry red bordering on white. “Tell her, or I will.”
“Tell me what?”
Blake’s panting against the opposite wall, glaring viciously at Soren while Patton continues to moan, holding his head like he has a blinding headache.
“Tell her,” Soren shouts, baring his teeth.
Blake shakes his head. “I–”
“He’s the Architect,” Soren says pointedly, looking down at me.
My stomach hollows out as I slowly look at Blake, waiting for him to argue, to say it’s not true, but the look he’s giving me…
“You,” I whisper as shock burrows through my system. “You’ve been…” I can’t finish. My brain won’t function beyond trying to process this shocking, maddening truth. I turn back to Soren, closing my eyes as another jolt of rippling pain echoes through my lower back and belly before it tightens. I hiss out a breath, and Soren’s hand presses into my lower back.
“You need to go lie down.”
“No. No, I want to know that truth. How long have you been working with each other?”
“Not now,” Soren replies, shaking his head as he tries to move toward the door. “I’ll deal with this later.”
“You’re hurt. I hurt you–”
“I’m fine,” he lies, and throws a cold look over his shoulder at Blake before guiding me into the room and helping me into bed, and I let him, my body numb from shock, unable to process any thoughts.
Early morning sunlight begins to fan through the curtains, casting ribbons of shadow over Blake as he steps into the room, hanging back in the doorway. I can feel him watching Soren’s every move as he tucks me into bed despite my protests otherwise. I’m not sure I can protest. A sharp, deep pain radiates through my back, sending a warning siren bouncing through my skull. I grab Soren’s hand when he starts to pull away, looking at the wound I created over his already terribly healing arm.
It’s worse than I thought. Much worse.
“This is bad,” I whisper, meeting his eyes through tears. “I’m so sorry–”
“You didn’t mean to do it,” he says levelly like he can’t feel the pain, but I know it’s there. He’s pale, his eyes slightly glazed. “I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t. Soren, you’re going to lose this arm–”
“Is she really your mate, or have you imprinted on her?” Blake barks from the doorway.
“Get the fuck out of my room,” I snarl, but Soren shushes me, tucking me back into the cushions almost aggressively.
“You’re the father of that baby, aren’t you? You fucking bastard–”
“You and I have unfinished business,” Soren growls, looking at Blake, probably the scariest man in existence, at least in our generation, in the eyes. “But right now, I’m going to take care of her. You owe us both an explanation now, Blake. Especially her.” His voice cracks painfully as he trembles, going even paler than before. He slowly sits on the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath like he’s on the verge of passing out.
I make a decision even though I’m not sure it’s the right choice. My family was so… so untrusting and worried when they found out I was pregnant. I haven’t spoken to my grandfather since then, and it’s been a month, at least.
I shove Blake’s deception to the side for now, and say, “Get Misty and bring her here, now,” I tell him, holding his gaze.
He begins to shake his head, replying, “We need to talk about this. He’s not–”
“He is my mate, Blake. Go get Misty before I kill you where you stand. I’m not bluffing.”
Blake hesitates before gritting his teeth and disappearing in a whirl of black and violet mist, his magic sending a shockwave through the room that disturbs the curtains and makes the framed art rattle on the walls.
Soren rises and walks into the hallway where Patton is still on the ground.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice laced with pain.
“What happened?” Patton grumbles, panting.
“Well, if you can speak, you're fine, I guess.”
“Soren,” I say, sitting up. “There’s an intercom near the front door of the suite. Press one, and it’ll call Jane directly. Have her come up to help with Patton–”
Another burst of magic fills the room, cutting off my words, and Blake reappears, gripping Misty by the arm. She huffs out a breath of surprise and annoyance, dressed in pajama pants and a bathrobe. It’s the middle of the night in Crescent Falls. He likely pulled her out of bed.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?” she snaps, ripping her arm free of Blake’s grasp. “What are you–” She pauses when Soren steps into the room, her eyes locked on his arm. “Oh, fuck me. What happened?”
“Misty, I need your help,” I say, her eyes slowly meeting mine. “But you need to keep this between us.”