I was still.
Like a statue.
Like a ghost.
And she-
She was dead.
I woke up with a jolt, my chest heaving, a cold sweat plastering my shirt to my back. My hands trembled uncontrollably, and a sharp nausea twisted in my gut, like I’d swallowed shards of glass. The room spun briefly before the weight in my stomach settled into a hollow ache.
Beside me, her hand shifted against my chest-a twitch, a whisper of movement.
My wolf reacted before I did, purring low and steady. Deep enough to soothe. Gentle enough not to wake her.
Her body shifted slightly, and I instinctively draped an arm over her waist, holding her close- not to control, but to anchor us both.
She calmed.
Didn’t stir again.
Across the bed, Derrick blinked into awareness. I felt his gaze in the dark more than I saw it. No words aloud-just a thread tugging at the edge of my mind.
“What happened?!”
“A dream. Just a dream. Goddess just a dream”
He waited.
I scrubbed both hands over my face. My fingers trembled, soaked with the echo of blood that wasn’t real-but still felt too close.
“She died,” I whispered, and even hearing myself say it made my throat close up. Like naming it gave it power. “Right in front of me. Bart slit her open like paper. Ivanov just stood there- useless. Watching. Like she didn’t matter.”
“It wasn’t real man”
“It could be.”
A pause. Tense. Heavy.
“You can’t live in the what-ifs.”
“I can’t live if she dies.”
“Me neither”
Silence.
I looked down at her face-soft in sleep, completely unaware. She looked untouched. Untouchable. And that was a lie. Because I knew the world, and it wasn’t kind. Not to people like her. Not to mates that made you bleed inside just by existing.
“I’m done waiting for a nightmare to come true,” I growled through the link. “Tomorrow, I’m wiring the whole fucking academy.”
“How many?”
“Not one. Not two. Every hidden corner of Fangar Academy. Infinite.”
“Infinite?”
“If someone even thinks about touching her again, I’ll know. I’ll see. And I’ll end it before it starts.”
“And if she finds out?”
I didn’t answer.
Not because I didn’t have one.
But because I didn’t care.
I wasn’t just angry. I was scared shitless. Scared of the day when my control slipped, and I couldn’t save her. Scared of the monster I might become in the process-and whether she’d still want me then.
Let her hate me. Let her scream, leave, curse my name. As long as she’s still breathing when it’s over, I’ll count it as a win.
Il count it as a win
Let her run-if it keeps her from bleeding out in a library while I watch, useless and screaming
in silence.
This wasn’t about love.
This was survival.
And I was willing to become the monster if it meant she lived to hate me for it.
DERRICK POV
I knew Dalton was losing it.
I saw it in his eyes the second he read that damn Russian’s name in her group. And Bart Hollow’s? That was the final nail. His jaw tightened like he was chewing on glass, and I could feel the storm building under his skin.
Truth is? I was freaking out too.
Scared. Jealous. Pissed off at the universe and at every male who dared breathe near her. But I couldn’t afford to spiral-not now. One of us had to hold the line. So I did what I’ve never done in my entire life: I stayed calm.
Me.
Derrick-fucking-Redfang.
The “punch first, talk later” guy.
Now suddenly, I’m the one breathing steady and speaking soft. The one holding our throuple together, like I’ve got the emotional range of a damn therapist. What the actual hell.
But Dalton needed me.
And Kai needed me more.
So yeah, I put my big guy pants on. Sat my ass down and anchored us all through the night.
I earned myself a fucking “best guy ever” badge when I calmed Dalton down from his nightmare too. Gold star and all. Had you told me a few months ago I’d be whispering soothing shit to a guy in the dark to stop him from shaking apart, I would’ve laughed in your face-or maybe punched it.
But now?
Now, I feel him too. Through the bond. Her bond. Our bond.
His fear slammed through me like a car crash. His guilt. His obsession. His pain. And yeah- it messed me up. I’m not saying I love him or anything. Let’s not go crazy. But I like the bastard. Like, really like him. And he’s mine now.
Okay-not mine-mine. He belongs to Kai.
But by the transitive property of supernatural throuples?
He’s mine too.
And I protect what’s mine.
That nightmare wrecked us both. He didn’t just dream it-he lived it. Said she died. Said she bled out in front of him while he stood frozen. And Goddess help me, I felt it too. The panic. The helplessness. It clung to me like smoke in my lungs.
I couldn’t sleep for a long damn time after that. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Kai’s face pale and lifeless, her hand twitching toward a book soaked in blood.
So I did what any emotionally compromised mate would do at 3 a.m.-I pressed my face against her shoulder and breathed her in until the shakes passed. Ran my fingers along her back like a creep just to make sure she was real. That she was warm. Breathing. Ours.
Eventually, my mind shut off. Or maybe my body just gave up.
When my alarm blared and I cracked open one eye, the first thing I saw was Kai draped all over Dalton. Her whole body wrapped around him like a damn vine. Head on his chest, hand curled in his shirt, her legs tangled in the blanket with her toes barely grazing my thigh.
And you know what?
I grinned.
Yeah. I fucking grinned like an idiot.
Because last night ended in fire and storm and death threats-and yet here we were, tangled up like a three-headed beast in a nest of sheets. Because that meant we were good. Still whole. Still together.
Until, of course, Dalton gets that look again. You know the one-the “I’m totally going to install cameras in every air vent of Fangar Academy and maybe bug the walls with nanotech I invented while rage-breathing” look.
Goddess. We’re so screwed.
But at least we’re screwed together.
I leaned in slowly, brushing her hair off her face and murmuring, “Rise and shine, little mouse.
She grunted. Then growled. Then made this pitiful squeaky noise that sounded like a gremlin being stepped on.
Dalton stirred beneath her, his eyes snapping open-sharp, alert. And then… they found mine.
We just locked eyes for a moment. Quiet.
And for once, he didn’t scowl.
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