Kaden POV
I spend the evening staring at the two dots on my phone. One belongs to Tish, and the other to Kai. They have been at the bar longer than I expected. I try not to think of the worst. Maybe Cedric wants to see Tish in action, and Kai is just waiting for her to be done.
The longer I stare at the dots, the more anxious I get. I zoom in on the screen, and I can see that Kai and Tish are outside of the bar. I sigh in relief, thinking they are on their way home.
My phone rings, and Cedric's name pops up on the screen. I get a bad feeling. Cedric doesn't call me. We do not get along. He is a pack member who runs a bar on the outskirts of rogue territory. It has caused problems with rogues sneaking into our territory in the past. I am too strict, and he prefers to work with Kai.
"Hello," I answer, but there is a long pause before Cedric starts to speak.
"Shit went sideways," Cedric begins.
Panic and anger rise in my chest, and fight for control. My wolf, Apollo, already expects the worst and is growling in my mind. I take in a deep breath, trying to calm my emotions before I respond.
"Explain," I growl through the phone.
"Kai has lost his mind," Cedric says. "He harmed the girl."
"He wouldn't," I scoff. "She is our mate,"
"I am telling you the truth," Cedric replies. "He still hasn't learned to control his temper, and now, with his mate under his nose, he is worse."
Cedric goes on to explain what happened. He tells me Tish ran after him, and he is watching them closely from the door, making sure she doesn't get hurt more.
"I just wanted you to know what went down," Cedric continues. "I'm afraid he will come home with some bullshit excuse about me keeping your mate from you. That's not the case. I wouldn't do that."
"Where will she be staying?" I demand to know.
"In one of my apartments," Cedric says, refusing to elaborate.
"In rogue territory?" I growl.
"She will be safe," Cedric assures me before hanging up the call.
I look at my phone in disbelief. There is no way Kai would leave her there, not in rogue territory. I open the locations app on my phone and see that Kai is indeed leaving the bar without Tish. Apollo is snarling in my mind.
'I will kick his ass,' Apollo growls.
'Maybe we should wait for his side of the story,' I try to reason with Apollo.
'Fuck his side,' Apollo snaps. 'She is in rogue territory alone.'
'Cedric may be a dick, but he won't let anything happen to her,' I remind Apollo.
I try to remain calm, but the closer Kai's dot gets to the house, the angrier I get. I pace back and forth on the front porch, muttering under my breath, trying to reason with myself about not killing him when he gets out of the car.
I can hear his car turning down the long driveway to the pack house, and I instantly know I am not going to be able to control myself.
I stare at the headlights of the car when he pulls up the driveway. My heart is racing as he puts the car in park, and I immediately stalk toward him. I don't give him a chance to get out of the car. Ripping the door off the car, I toss it behind me. Reaching into the car, I grab Kai by the collar of his shirt and drag him out of the car.
His scent is masked by the metallic smell of blood and Honey. I look him up and down and see blood in his hair, on his face, and all over his hand. Cedric was telling the truth. This mother fucker wounded our mate.
I slam him against the hood of his car and tighten my hand around his throat. I let my claws extend into his flesh. I am prepared to let him bleed out.
"Stop," my father yells from the porch.
I look in his direction and growl. Kai isn't getting off easy. My mate's blood is all over him.
"Let him go," my father tries to use his Alpha command against me.
Beads of sweat form on my brow as I fight to disobey him. The older I get, the easier it is becoming. His time as Alpha is running out, and he knows it.
"At least tell me what is going on?" Dad mutters in frustration.
Kai opens his mouth to speak, but I slam him hard into his car. He quickly shuts his mouth and groans in pain.
"He wounded her," I manage to growl.
"Accident," Kai chokes out.
"You lost your temper, and you injured her," I scream in his face.
Kai claws at my hand, and I let him go. He rubs his neck and cracks it from side to side. "She was flirting with Cedric," he says hoarsely.
"And that gives you a right to practically rip off her arm?" I scream.
"You weren't there," Kai shouts back at me. "I just found out about her sleeping with Alpha Kieran. My emotions were all over the place. I didn't think having a mate would be this hard."
My mind goes blank. I feel rage, and Apollo is ready to kill. "What do you mean she slept with Alpha Kieran?"
"Let's just say we aren't the only Alpha werewolves on her body count," Kai grumbles.
My father holds up his hands and steps between Kai and me. "Everyone has a past. You can't fault her for having one when you both have been sticking your dicks in every she-wolf since you were teenagers."
I hate to admit it, but my father is right. We can't fault Tish for having a past when Kai and I have one as well. Kai isn't letting this go, though.
"Did you know?" He growls at our father. "Did you know she was out there fucking Alphas?"
"For fuck's sake," Dad groans. "Of course not, but I think you are being a little unreasonable."
Kai slams his fist into the hood of his car. The metal bends and snaps under the punch. "Don't you think I know that? But I can't stop myself. The emotions from the mate bond are too much. I don't feel like myself."
Kai is pressing his hands against his temples and pacing back and forth. He looks crazed. My father tries to approach him, but Kai lashes out against him.
"Some Alpha's feel the need to mark their mates as soon as they find them," my father says slowly. "You are feeling the need to mark your mate. That is all. You need to gain control over yourself."
"She is mine," Kai snarls.
"She is ours," I remind Kai, but he is still seething with anger.
My phone rings and I look down and see Tish's number. Kai's eyes dart to my phone and he tries to wrestle it away from me.
"Get him out of here," I hiss at my father.
"Hello," I pant as I watch my father drag Kai into the house.
Tish's words are broken and slurred, "Come get me."