The tears had finally stopped. Not because the ache in my chest had lulled but because I had nothing left to give. My body had wrung out every drop.
I sat there with hollow eyes, shivering inside a hoodie I didn’t remember putting on.
Perhaps I should thank Kester and his brutal, explosive outburst. It had jolted something in me and snapped me out of the spiral.
Thank Selene, Lwas here to stop him. Otherwise, he would have killed Cole,
We were still waiting for Claire. The doctors were still with her in the ER. I had been praying, begging, promising, and bargaining with Selene and every god that might exist since the moment she got shot that nothing ever happens to her. Otherwise, I would never forgive myself… I already couldn’t. My chest felt like it was folding in on itself, rib by rib.,
I was already drowning in a pool of regrets. I should’ve called her. God, if I had just picked up the damn phone instead of making it about me, maybe we wouldn’t have been here. I wouldn’t have had the need to stop her by the roadside just to apologize for not being in touch with her.
I was a bad friend. And look where it had gotten me. All she needed was to be in touch with me. But no. I pushed her away. And now…
God.
I could feel my chest tightening again.
“Shhh… Baby…” Kester pulled me into his arms again, ‘She’ll be fine. Okay?”
“It’s my fault,” I whispered against his shirt, “That shooter… he… he was there for me. But Claire took the hit.”
I broke down again, sobs punching out of me like I was being stabbed from the inside out.
“Don’t say that, Mine,” Kester murmured into my hair, his breath warm against my temple. “He wasn’t there for you. He came for Claire. That’s why she was the one who got shot.”
“No.” I pulled back just enough to see his face, “He was there for me. I saw it, Kes. I saw the way he looked at me. If I hadn’t pul! Claire to run… if I’d hesitated for even a second… it would’ve been me. I was the target. Not her.” I explained, and a small frown appeared on his face.
“But…”
“Claire has no enemies, Kes. You do. A lot of them,” I sniffed, and for some reason, my instinct kept pushing one name into my head.
June.
I might be wrong. But this instinct was way too strong that I couldn even shake it off, no matter how hard I tried.
The last time she was at the house, she said a lot of things that should have gotten me worried. She looked at me like I was something she wanted to destroy.
But I had just brushed them off, thinking she’d take it out with Kester and let me be. But maybe I was wrong.
Maybe she hadn’t wanted Kester to hurt. Maybe she wanted me to bleed.
“What’s on your mind?” Kester asked suddenly, watching me like a hawk.
I blinked. “Huh?”
“What were you pondering about?” He asked.
“Nothing. It’s nothing, Kes. I lied.
Because, on the other hand, what if I was wrong? What if it wasn’t June? What if I told him, and he went after her, killed her, and then we found out it was someone else entirely?
I couldn’t take that risk. I had to be certain before letting him know… It could’ve been Alpha Kex. Or Wes. Or any of the other enemies Kester had made just by breathing.
Kester had way too many enemies for my guess to even go round.
“Mum knows about the baby, Kes,” I said suddenly, needing to change the subject before I completely lost it.
He was quiet for a second, deep in thought, before he replied, “Okay. Good.”
I scoffed, “That’s it?” I shook my head in disbelief, “She wants me to get rid of it. The pack is in chaos, Kes. Dad and Mum are being squeezed under the pressure of those forming an opposition against you. They’re losing their grip.” I explained.
He dragged in a slow breath and exhaled through his nose, clenching his jaw. “I’ll have to address everyone about this. I’ve had enough of this madness already. As soon as I am certain Norlan is fine, I’ll head straight to the pack and hold a meeting with everyone,” He sounded so casual, but I could feel the tension rising in him.
The shift in him was instant. The soft edge he’d held for me vanished. Now, it was Alpha mode.
“I’ll fix a date for your Luna coronation,” he added, his voice suddenly turning colder, “Let them choke on their outrage. They’ll have enough time to throw tantums and go fuck themselves before they accept the reality. You are their Luna, Kasmine.”
My heart thudded in my chest like it wanted to escape.
I… I sincerely didn’t know if this was what I wanted. I wanted him to get better first before we addressed the issue of us being mates. But everything was spiraling too fast and…
I blinked at him. “Kester, this… this wasn’t the plan.”
He turned his head slowly toward me with his brows drawn. “What plan?”
“You were meant to go for therapy first,” I whispered. “We were supposed to deal with you first, before us… before all this.”
“And risk my pack being stolen out from under me?” he snapped softly like the idea itself was insanity. “No, baby. We save the pack first. Then, everything else can follow. You want therapy? Fine. After I clean the house. If you still think I’m not fit for you after all that, we’ll end it. Reject each other and move on.”
I stared at him, and he stared back.
But we both knew he was lying.
If Kester ever got the chance to name me his Luna publicly, under the banner of his leadership, there’d be no walking away from it. I had to tread carefully, or I’d be swallowed whole by his world before I even figured out where I stood in it.
“I saw Rex,” I said, shifting gears before my panic became too visible “At the house. He and Dad were in a heated argument. He said something about a takeover. That nothing’s going to stop Blaine.”
Kester’s jaw locked. His hand, which was resting on his knee, curled into a slow fist. I caught a flicker in his eyes, and it was dark and dangerous.
“It’s time I showed Blaine who the fuck is in charge. He needs to learn the hard way.”
Before I could caution him not to get his hands dirty with more blood since that was one of the easiest ways Kester resolves his issues, my phone rang, shattering the moment.
When I looked at the caller ID, it was June. I narrowed my brows.
Speak of the devil.
“Who is it?” Kester asked, already leaning closer. Before I could speak, he snatched the phone from my hand.
“Why the fuck is she calling you?”
“I don’t know. I mean…” I shrugged.
His fingers clenched around the device, hard enough that I feared he might crush it. His eyes were dark, flat, and stormy. I could feel the shift in him like a temperature drop. His whole body had gone tense and deadly still.
He answered the phone and placed it in his ear.
Why the fuck are you calling her phone?” He asked through clenched jaws.
I would’ve paid blood to hear what June was saying on the other end because the change in Kester was instant. It was like a veil had dropped. His whole body turned to stone.
A deathly frown crept over his ce. The muscles in his jaw spasmed violently, and the vein near his temple began to pulse like it was trying to escape his skin. His breathing became shallow. His story eyes had turned black.
His palm flexed open and closed at his side as if trying to hold onto anything that would stop him from snapping.
“Kester. What’s wrong?”
He didn’t answer.
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