Chapter 18
Kiera’s POV
“What’s going on with you?”
Viviane is lost in thought again, her expression dazed and vacant. “It’s just been a crazy couple of weeks.” She answers simply, her lovely voice hushed.
“Safe to say that’s the understatement of the year.” I quip. Viviane’s stock has skyrocketed at school ever since she won the scholars tournament and stopped wearing her glasses. We used to be ignored and overlooked, but now that everyone knows how smart and beautiful she is, we’ve become surprisingly popular.
Of course it also helps that she’s dating the heir to the pack. I knew Caspian had been pursuing Viviane, but it still shocked me when she agreed to go out with him officially. Despite his bad reputation, the Alpha’s son is still extremely powerful and our peers won’t soon forget it.
To top it all off, it sounds like Viviane’s home life has been a roller coaster as well. Though I don’t know all the details, apparently Marina decided they needed to leave the Nightshade pack last week, and only agreed to stay after Caspian stepped in.
With so much drama, I cannot blame my friend for being distracted, even if my own life seems to be stuck in a downward spiral.
We’re at the stadium again. The Pack Games begin tomorrow, so Viviane came to support Caspian on his last training day, while I tagged along in hopes of seeing Chase. I’ve been trying to spend as much time as possible around the future Beta, hoping against hope that the more we get to know each other, the sooner he’ll realize we’re mates.
I knew Chase and I were fated the first time we met, and tried not to be too disappointed when he didn’t immediately feel the bond. It takes a while for some couples, especially as young as we are. Still, it’s incredibly difficult to be patient when he pursues another woman.
Apparently after realizing she didn’t stand a chance with Caspian, Madison decided to settle for his right hand. She began flirting with Chase shortly after the scholars tournament, and now it looks like they’ve become official.
“Would you look at them.” I can’t keep the bitterness from my voice as I watch Chase and Madison make out in the bleachers a few rows below us. “I mean we’re in public for the Gods’ sake.”
Viviane follows my gaze, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and squeezing. “I’m sorry I’ve been so out of it lately.” She apologizes sincerely. “I know this isn’t easy.”
“I just don’t know how anyone could be fooled by her.” I gripe. “She’s so transparent.”
“You know how men are.” Viviane sighs, “they see what they want to see.”
I bristle slightly, feeling the odd impulse to defend my mate even though I was criticizing him just as harshly a moment ago.
Before I can decide on the proper response, Viviane stiffens in her seat, going completely rigid so suddenly I jerk my head around in search of a threat. “What’s wrong?” I ask, not finding anything obvious in our surroundings.
“Do you see those men over ther?” She inquires in a stilted voice, nodding towards a few wealthy looking men in suits. “The one in the middle is Nerissa’s father.”
“Your step-dad?” He’s staring right at Viviane in a blatant leer that sends my skin crawling.
Before I can say anything else, she’s on her feet. “I have to go.”
“Viv–” I start to call after her, so taken aback by her panic and the salacious gaze of her one-time parent figure that it takes a moment for understanding to click into place. “Oh Gods.”
A few moments after she leaves, I notice the man in question moving too, breaking off from the others and heading for the exit. A blaring siren sounds in my head, warning me of imminent danger. I leap down the bleachers to where Chase and Madison sit, shouting his name loudly enough to yank him out of the makeout session.
“Kiera?” He stares at me in befuddlement.
“You need to get a message to Caspian.” I half-shout, “Right now. Viviane’s in trouble.”
Caspian’s POV
I feel Viviane’s fear long before Chase’s voice erupts in my mind. I’m already running from the arena by the time his words come through. Viviane is in danger, Kiera says Mordred Faye is after her. She’s headed for the West entrance but I don’t have eyes on him.
Damn it. My wolf snarls at the sound of Nerissa’s father’s name. Nerissa knows Viviane’s secret, so I imagine Modred does too. After she came clean I called off the investigation into her background, afraid my enforcers would be too good at their jobs and stumble upon the truth. However, in all of last week’s chaotic revelations, I almost forgot about the mystery of Marina and Mordred’s marriage.
Did he find out their secret and kick them out? Is that why they live in such poverty?
I’m on her trail. I tell Chase, see if you can head Mordred off.
As much as I want to go after the man myself, I need to get to Viviane first. I need to make sure she’s alright, and I’m honestly not sure I could restrain myself if I came face to face with the other wolf.
I’ve always struggled with my temper, prone to violent bouts of anger impossible to calm by any means other than physical exertion. The only way to bring myself down from a rage is to exhaust myself running or fighting, and that was before I found out my mate’s secret.
Combined with the fact that I still haven’t claimed her, the knowledge of her abuse has sent my possessive and protective instincts into overdrive. I lose my head every time I think about what was done to her, only remaining sane by the grace of the Games. They’ve allowed me to fuel my anger into training rather than lashing out like I normally do, and attacking Mordred would undo my winning streak.
Viviane’s fear spikes, so crippling and terrible my wolf howls desperately. Do you have eyes on Mordred? I call to Chase, my own fear reaching a fever pitch.
I lost him. Are you with Viviane?
I don’t respond. I can’t – not without saying something I’ll regret. It’s not his fault, tracking is an art not a science, and we all lose our prey every now and then. Nonetheless, the mate bond doesn’t understand such logic.
A terrified scream sounds up ahead, coinciding perfectly with another rush of mortal dread through the bond. I shift without slowly, my wolf taking instant control the moment I realize the nature of Mordred’s threat.
The sounds of Viviane’s frantic struggle are coming from a supply closet in one of the service hallways, two familiar scents fluttering out beneath the door. I transform back to human form only long enough to rip the door from its hinges, already back on all fours by the time Mordred whips around.
His trousers are gathered around his thighs and Viviane is beneath him, fighting like a hellcat. Her clothes are torn, but her own pants are still up around her hips.
I arrived just in time, but I don’t feel any relief. I lunge for Mordred, jerking him off of my mate and throwing him out into the hallway in a single move. With my body now between Mordred and Viviane, I prowl forward, ravenously eyeing his throat.
He deserves to die for this, Viviane was like a daughter to him. I momentarily freeze, a new possible explanation for the divorce jumping to the front of my mind. I look over my shoulder at Viviane, trying to decipher something, anything from her distraught expression.
I don’t need to see her sudden panic to know Mordred hopes to use my distraction as an opportunity to attack, I feel and hear his movement instantly, but let him believe he has the upper hand for the moment.
He knows he’s a dead man. Otherwise he would never attempt to take me on; he would grovel and show his belly, not attack a wolf that could snap him in half with one bite. I step to the side just as he launches toward me, pouncing a moment later and sinking my fangs into his legs, ripping into the limb and using it to throw him back across the floor, further away from my mate.
His pathetic yelp echoes through the hall just as Chase appears. My Beta takes one look at me and goes into mediator mode. “Easy Caspian, there will be trouble if you kill him.”
It’s only partly true. Outside of warfare Alphas cannot deliver a death sentence without a trial under pack law, but no wolf alive would question a man losing control under these circumstances. Mordred tried to rape my mate, he might have already when she was still a child. Fuck trouble.
I turn back to my prey with a savage growl, moving in for the kill. “Caspian, please!” This time it isn’t Chase objecting. It’s Viviane, her lovely voice full of siren melody. “He’s not worth it.”
Oh yes he is. I think back, even though she cannot hear me.
“No.” Viviane insists, not appearing to realize I hadn’t spoken aloud. “He isn’t.”
Chase and I both freeze. Did that really just happen? Shifters develop a mental bond with their mates after the marking, but it’s extremely rare to forge such a connection before, and I did not think it would be possible at all with a mermaid.
Can you hear me, kitten?
Her eyes widen in surprise, “Yes.”
