~Maya~
It's the following day, and I'm completely drained. Kane and I have been at it since yesterday; I can't count the number of times he's buried his seed inside of me. I blame the mating heat, but I'm grateful for it; I was able to get Kane to mark me in his vulnerable state. It was the best decision I've ever made. I know now that I can hurt him easily, and it's exactly what I plan on doing.
I freeze when I feel him lay a soft kiss on my forehead. He's never done this before. I open my eyes, and the look on his face tells me that something is wrong.
"Put on your clothes." He orders me, whatever it was that was bothering him wasn't something that could be taken lightly.
What was happening? Was it because of yesterday? Was he still angry that I got him to mark me? Somehow I knew that it was something else, something more serious.
"What's going on?" I demand. It's time that he told me the truth.
"You might be getting your wish today," he tells me, without answering me.
Getting my wish today? What was he speaking about? I wait for him to explain more, but he just stands there, waiting for me to dress. I throw the dress over my body, and it's then that I hear a loud howl outside. My body goes completely still. I know that wolf; he's one of the fighters from our pack.
Could this mean what I thought it meant?
I've been feeling my brothers' connection stronger today than ever; not once did I think it was because they'd finally found me.
I couldn't believe it. Another howl ripples through the atmosphere. This one is angrier than the last. They were signaling that I had been found. They must smell me just like I can sense them.
My brothers. My family. They were here? They were finally here for me?
"You don't have to look so happy about it," Kane mumbles more to himself than me.
He takes my hand in his after my dress is adjusted, and my heart is thumping loudly in my chest as we make our way out of the room and into the hall. My steps are faster than his; I'm racing to see my family again. I can't wait to see their faces.
"WHERE IS MY SISTER?" I hear Austin shout as I near the exit.
It felt so good to hear his voice again. I thought I would never be able to see or listen to him again.
"Bring her out, or we will burn this fucking place to the ground." James roars.
Kane's hands are on my arms as he guides me outside. I think he wants to show my brothers that he's hurting me, but I don't feel any pain; it may look like that to them, but to me, he isn't hurting me. I know how important it is to Kane to make my family believe that he's tortured me. While it was true that he did, many times, things were finally changing between us. Even though that was the truth, it would not change the fact that I still wanted to teach him a lesson for everything he's done.
But would I be able to do that with my brothers around? From the look on their faces, they were ready to kill him. As much as I hated what Kane did to me, I didn't want anyone to seriously hurt him. We were now officially mated; his death would destroy me.
I look between Kane and my brothers. Both sides were glaring at each other intensely; my body shook with fear from what was to come. No matter what I did, there was no way I could stop the fight.
My brothers were too angry to stop anything, and Kane, he hated my family; he hated them with a passion for supposedly killing his family. He may have hated me initially, but I know that things are different now; I can feel it through the joining. He doesn't hate me, he feels a strong emotion for me, and it definitely isn't hate.
"Let me go," I whisper to him.
He breaks his intense glare with my family and gives me his full attention. My heart breaks while looking at him. I know that we will be separated from today. Maybe he knows the same thing, too; I can feel how conflicted he feels right now.
"And why the fuck would I do that?" He asks me.
"The longer you hold onto me, the angrier my brothers will become. You need to let me go now." I insist. "Let me go, Kane; let me go before you get seriously hurt."
He grabs the back of my hair and pulls my body in front of him, wrapping his arms around my waist, "I'm never letting you go. Your brothers will have to kill me to take you away from me."
My eyes widen, "AND THEY WILL DO JUST THAT IF YOU DON'T STOP THIS! Stop it now!"
Was this his last blow to my face? Did he want to get himself killed so that I would suffer for the rest of my life with a broken mate bond? I wouldn't put it past him. Kane was capable of doing the worst things to get his way.
He cups my cheek in his hand, "I wish things could have been different for us. I wish your family didn't kill my father and sister. Today was bound to happen; there is no stopping it now. I'm sorry, Maya."
Was this his last goodbye to me? He couldn't be serious!
"You have one second to let go of my sister before we destroy your entire pack and skin your wolf alive." Austin threatens him.
My breath gets stuck in my throat when I feel his hands loosen around me. I can't stop looking at him as he pushes me towards them. I feel Austin's arms pull me into a warm embrace. He holds me for a few seconds before a few members of our pack take me from him and form a circle around me to protect me from the battle that couldn't be prevented.
"It took you long enough to find me," Kane shouts, fueling the fire. "You have no idea how much I was able to do to your sister while you went around in circles searching for her. She's no longer the girl you remember; I've taught her how cruel life can be. I've made her suffer, just like you made my sister suffer when you chose another woman over her. Just like you made my dad suffer when you killed him."
My body goes still at his words. Did he mean what I thought he meant? There was only one woman my brother Austin left to be with Lucy. And that was Ariana.
"She cried herself to sleep, begged me to let her go, begged me to see her family again. She told me that her brothers would never let me get away with it, but none of you came to save her, and I was able to hurt her in the worst ways possible."Kane continues to taunt them.
He's definitely trying to get himself killed; there is no question about it anymore.
I watch in horror as Austin shifts into his wolf and lunges for Kane's neck. Kane's speed saves him just in time, but that doesn't stop Austin from going after him again. Lucas and James are next, and the three of them corner my mate. Kane's fangs are out as he hissed while my brothers growled at him.
Kane's men make an attempt to join the fight but are stopped by Hunter and his men. I'm surprised to see him here, but plenty must have changed while I've been gone. Most of our pack is still protecting me, something I've always been used to. They don't dare try and leave my side, even when the battle gets dangerous. It must be orders from my brothers; they must have told them to protect me at all cost.
No one can come near me; anyone that tries is immediately thrown to the ground and dealt with.
Even if Kane and his men are powerful, they are no match for the combination of Hunter's men and my brothers' packs combined. One by one, they go down, some killed, some seriously injured.
My heart jumps in my chest when Austin's wolf clamps down on Kane's hand. There is blood everywhere as James attacks him from behind. I close my eyes; it's too much for me to see. I can't stand to see this happen to him.
I realize now that I love Kane. I love him. I know what he did was terribly wrong, and it's something that he has to pay for; still, I do not want him to die.
Marking him and letting him mark me was meant to punish him, but I feel like I'm also being punished.
I cover my ears as the sound of wolves crying out and men begging for their lives fills the atmosphere.
Nothing can stop what happens to my heart when Kane shouts in pain. It's a loud sound that pierces straight through my composure. My eyes snap open, and I see him on the ground with three of my brothers on top of him, all of them attacking at once.
They're going to kill him. My brothers are going to kill my mate. Every moment between us flashes before my mind in those last few seconds.
I can't let this happen. I can't let them kill him.
"AUSTIN!" I shout.
He doesn't even acknowledge my cry.
"LUCAS!" I scream louder. "Stop it. Please! James!"
I try to push through the pack, but they aren't letting me go anywhere.
"It's too dangerous, princess." Xander says. "Stay back. We can't let you get through."
Kane's hand tightens on the ground, and he gazes up at me. He knows that these are his last moments. I can see the regret in his face as he stares at me. Our gazes lock, and I continue to beg for them to let him go.
"Please," I beg. "Let me through. He's my mate. Kane is my mate. If they kill him, I will also die inside. They can't do it. You have to let me through."
Xander looks startled by my words; in fact, Everyone in the pack seems completely shocked that I was his mate.
"You can smell him on me if you don't believe me!" I shout. "His mark is on my body. I'm his. I'm his mate, and the bond has been completed."
Xander let go of me then, and they moved aside to let me pass. I don't waste any time as I rush to my brothers’ sides and drop to the ground to cover Kane with my body.
I look up at my brothers with tears in my eyes, "please, don't kill him. He is my mate. We are mates.” I beg. “I'm joined to him. If you kill him, you will also hurt me."
I can see the look of horror that crosses each of their faces, even in wolf form. Austin's wolf sniffs my neck and frowns, confirming what I just said to him.
They immediately shift back into human form, and I'm scared of what is to come next.
Will they listen to me? Will they not kill Kane?