My eyes open wide and I quickly shove him away realizing just who had been kissing.
I couldn’t believe my lapse in judgment.
Glancing around I couldn’t find a trace of Maddox anywhere and I became highly aware of the vulnerable position I had been placed into.
Placing his hands firmly back on my hips Killian pulls me back to him.
“Killian, I don’t want this.” I whimper as his lips trail down my neck.
“Yes, you do, you know you want this.” He pants as his hands trail back up my body.
God, he made this hard to say no.
But none of this felt right, the way I knew it should.
“I hate you, Killian.” I growl out trying my best at pushing him away.
“That’s just too bad, because I love you, Mackenzie.” He admits and then stops abruptly.
His eyes meet mine and widen before he lets go of me and rushes out of the room leaving me alone.
What the hell had just happened?
I kept replaying his words over and over in my head as I stand in the shower with the water still running over my body.
It couldn’t possibly be true.
He hated me as much as I hated him, right?
I don’t know how much time goes by as I stand still in the water, but I stand there motionless and in shock until Max comes in and begins speaking to me.
I watch as his lips move, but no sound comes out.
His hands cup my cheeks bringing my eyes to his. “Focus, Mac, what’s going on and why are you alone?” He questions breaking into my head finally.
“I don’t know what happened, Max. I don’t know anything anymore.” I answer as I sway on my feet before my eyes flutter and my entire world drops out from under me.
Chapter 5
“What happened to her?” My father’s voice rings out as I force my eyes to open.
I glance up into Grey’s soft eyes.
“I don’t know, she didn’t say before she passed out on me. She was lucky I had come in after Maddox practically went crazy with rage when he came back to our room. He mentioned something about Mac being in the showers with Killian and I figured I’d go check things out.” Max explains.
“Good call, Max.” My father commends.
“She’s awake, guys.” Grey states as he looks up to everyone.
Well, everyone but Maddox, I notice as I scan the room out of habit.
“Where’s Maddox?” I question and my father pinches the bridge of his nose.
“He’s in lockup, for now.” He answers.
“Why is he in lockup?” I question becoming alarmed.
“Because, he’s believed to be a danger to Alpha Killian, he nearly beat his door down when he found out that he had abandoned you in the shower room.” He explains.
“Then where is Killian?” I inquire next.
“He is also in lockup for putting a Commander into danger. Markus is quite angry with him right now for not taking care of you properly. The council is meeting in the morning to re-discuss your union and whether or not they should end it.” My father answers.
“Really, they’re rethinking it?” I question in disbelief.
My father nods. “Yes, at my request. He’s not good enough of a leader if he abandons his second.”
“I need to talk to him.” I respond quickly surprising everyone around me.
I try to climb out of Grey’s arms but he holds tight, and for good reason because I couldn’t really feel my body.
“Why can’t I feel anything?” I question in fear.
“We had a doctor stitch your back up, and he gave you enough pain killers to knock you out for a while.” Max answers this time.
“How long have I been out?” I question.
“Only a few hours, you should actually still be asleep.” Dad answers with a sigh.
“Then someone take me to Killian, I need to talk to him now.” I order.
“Why do you need to talk to him so badly?” Grey questions.
“I just do, he said something earlier that I just need to hear from him again.” I argue.
For a moment everyone stands quietly around me until my father nods and then motions for Grey to take me to see Killian.
Grey cradles me in his arms as we all walk out of my father’s room together.
“Don’t leave her alone with him, Max.” He orders in the hallway before walking in the opposite direction.
Dash comes up beside Grey and watches me closely before speaking. “What could he have possibly said to you that it’s so important for you to hear again, Mac?”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to say, Dash. I need to hear what he has to say about it, though. I need to understand why he left me alone, too.”
I needed so badly to make some sort of sense of it all.
And I could only do that with Killian.
I had so many questions.
“You need to talk to Maddox, too.” Grey suggests and I nod as we make our way to the wing that held the temporary lockup cells.
“I know I do. Something has definitely gotten into him lately.” I state absently.
Grey laughs out suddenly. “He’s in love with you, Mac, that’s what’s been wrong with him lately. He’s ticked off that Killian got his hands on you.”
“Whoa, what the…” I trail off for a moment. “How long has he…?”
“Years, Mac, he’s been in love with you for years.” Dash answers.
“Oh, god, this whole situation just got ten times more complicated then.” I whisper absently.
“Why?” Grey questions stopping in his tracks.
“Because, Killian may have admitted to actually loving me when we were together earlier, but I’m not sure if he meant it since he ran off without saying another word.” I squeak out finally choosing to give up my secret.
It was better if they just knew what was going on anyway, it wasn’t like they didn’t already know that something was bothering me, and knowing my guys they would hound me until they found out one way or another.
They were relentless when they wanted to be.
And anyway what would it hurt to get their opinions on the matters at hand.
“Mac, this is just crazy. You need to put those two back in line before they get themselves into real trouble.” Grey grunts.
I nod. I was going to have to channel my inner commander for this. I was going to have to lock my emotions out and approach them both as nothing more than trainees.
I was going to break some hearts.
Walking through the door leading to the cells Grey carries me to the front of Maddox’s cell first.
He quickly stands before rushing over to the bars.
Reaching out a hand he tries to touch me but Grey steps back placing me out of his reach.
“You will salute your commander, Weaver.” I order and his eyes grow sad before he grows hard and salutes me.
“I’m sorry, Commander Frost, forgive my insolence.” He responds.
“I will as long as you keep yourself in line.” I order and he nods before I continue in a softer voice. “This is how it has to be, Maddox. You know this.”
“I know, and I will not forget.” He answers quickly.
“At ease, Maddox, I’ll see what I can do to get you out of here.” I order and he nods as he turns back to his seat on the floor.
Glancing back up at me once more I see his sadness before he places his head back into his hands.
I felt terrible, but this was the only way to keep my team members in line.
There wasn’t any room for those kinds of emotions between us.
They would only cost us dearly in the end.
Moving on, Grey moves me down a few cells to where Killian is already standing at the bars waiting for me.
“Why are you being carried around, Kenzie?” He questions.
Dash growls from beside me. “She’s being carried because you left her for dead in the shower room, or did you forget.”
&
nbsp; “I don’t understand.”He answers.
Max grabs him trough the bars getting into his face. “You ran from her and left her alone in the showers. Luckily, I found her before she passed out. She could have died, you know.”
“I left her alone, yes, but she was fine.” Killian argues before sighing deeply, giving up the fight. “At least now I understand why Maddox came after me, and why I’m locked in here like some sort of animal.”
With a rough shove from Max, Killian falls back onto the floor.
When he doesn’t get back to his feet I’m shocked.
“Can you guys leave us alone for a few minutes?” I ask.
“No, I’m not leaving you alone with him. You can’t even stand, Mac.” Max growls.
“I just need to talk to him for a few minutes. Please, Max he’s behind bars and you won’t be that far if I need you guys.” I beg.
“How are you going to talk to him if you can’t even stand?” He questions giving me hope that he was going to give in.
“I can still sit on the floor and lean against the bars.” I answer easily.
Glancing between Grey and Dash, Max nods and so do they.
“Fine, but I swear to god you can’t tell your father I left you alone with him.” Max snarls as he looks to Killian.
“I won’t say a word.” I promise as Grey begins lowering me to the floor, leaning my back against the bars so I could sit upright.
After a few tense moments they all leave, finally leaving me alone with Killian.
I had so many questions running through my mind that I didn’t even know what to say to him first.
Finally settling on one, I find my voice. “Why did you leave me alone?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sorry that I did.” He sighs.
“Did you really mean what you said?” I question next.
He doesn’t respond for so long that I turn my head just enough to look back at him. Placing his head into his hands he shakes his head roughly.
“I don’t even know. I don’t have a clue why I even said those words, Mac.” He lies.
“The council is going to be reviewing our union because of this, you know.” I state and his head whips up to look at me.
And that just proved to me that he had been lying.
“They are?” He questions before laughing out. “I bet you’re happy. Now, you have a reasonable way that you can get away from me.”
I nod my head keeping my eyes firmly on him. “Yes, it does.”
“You should get away from me since you hate me so much, Kenzie. I don’t know why I thought pushing you into a union was ever a good idea.” He curses as he stands to his feet and begins pacing his cell.
“I didn’t want the union, Killian, but I wouldn’t want any other Alpha to lead me and my team. You’re the best.” I state and he stops to look at me.
I continue. “I’m going to request that you stay our Alpha, but I want our union over with. I know you’re lying about your feelings for me.” Turning more I place my hands on the bars and begin pulling myself up to stand.
Killian watches me with wide eyes.
“I don’t know how you’ve kept it hidden from me all this time but I know you love me, Killian, I can see it in your eyes, even now, but I can’t get past the thought of you being the reason I lost my mother.”
“I swear to you that I didn’t sign my name to those papers, Kenzie. I would never have done that to you, even then.” He answers.
“Who could have signed your name to those papers then, Killian?” I ask.
“My father, I honestly wouldn’t put it past him. You know how he is.” He answers.
I nod my head for a moment before glancing up to him. “I want to believe you. I really do, but even if I did, this, whatever it is, can’t happen.” I motion between the two of us.
As he nods I begin to feel faint again, and just as I feel myself fall I feel Killian’s arms reach around me through the bars.
He holds me close as his eyes search mine with worry.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop caring about you like you want me to, Kenzie.” He whispers softly as one of his hands comes up to stroke his knuckles across my cheek.
I close my eyes and lean into his touch.
And as his lips brush against mine I can’t help but enjoy it.
Pulling away he smiles slightly to himself before looking in the direction of the door that Grey, Dash, and Max were waiting on the other side of.
“I need to tell them to come get you.” He states softly.
I nod. “Yes, you do.”
“You know what you have to do to get us out of here with our honor still intact, right?” He questions abruptly.
He was talking about how to get him and Maddox out of the cells.
I knew what he was asking, but it was hard to want them to fight. They were both at the top and one or the other could possibly be hurt badly, or even killed.
It would be the only way to get them out tough.
And it would be the perfect way for them to settle the anger that Maddox had for Killian.
It would fix everything, and it would bring a greater honor to the winner.
“I know what I have to do, Killian.” I answer softly. “Just don’t kill him.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you or your team, Kenzie.” He answers before looking back towards the door as Max and the others rush back in.
“I hope you’re done, Mac, because I’m not leaving you with him another moment.” He growls and I smile at him sweetly.
“I am finished, Max, and as you can see Killian took care of me this time.” I answer motioning to Killian’s arms wrapped around me.
Turning to Grey I hold out my arms for him to scoop me up.
He does wordlessly.
Getting into Killian’s face Max stares him down. I could sense his anger and as his fists clench tighter I knew I had to stop him from whatever he was about to do.
“Stand down, Max.” I order.
It takes a moment for him to respond but when he does he turns to me. “You need rest, Mac.”He states and I nod in agreement.
“I know.” I yawn. “Goodnight, Killian.” I whisper.
He smiles sadly. “Goodnight, Mackenzie.”
With another yawn I wrap my arms around Grey’s neck as he begins moving, following Dash and Max out of the cell area.
“Goodnight, Maddox.” I yell back as we reach the door.
“Goodnight, Mac.” He answers with a low chuckle. “And don’t worry about tomorrow. I’ll follow the same rule you gave him.” He adds referring to what I had spoken to Killian about.
He was promising me that he wouldn’t kill Killian.
“Thanks, Maddox.” I answer softly before Grey carries me through the door and into the empty halls of our space station.
The dark cold walls and metal floors gave the whole station a haunted look when the lights were turned down low, giving everyone a sense of night and day.
It just gave me more reason to want to leave the confined space.
I couldn’t wait to step foot on solid ground for the first time.
To feel actual sunlight on my face was a dream of mine.
Walking past my room I glance up questioningly to Grey.
He smiles. “Max wants us with you at all times until you’re feeling better so we are all going to bunk together in his and Maddox’s room.”
“Oh, but isn’t that against our rules, won’t we get into trouble if the council finds out?” I inquire.
“Your father already approved it with the council. A commander must be taken care of by their team if something happens to them.” He answers with a nod.
“So, this is pretty much just a training exercise?” I laugh.
“Pretty much, we are going to be going to ground soon, and we need you back in top form before that happens, anyway.” He grins.
“Are we really going to be sent to the ground?” I question.
“It’s n
ot completely certain, but from what I’ve heard through others, we are the council’s top choice, and with having an Alpha we were definitely lined up to be next.” Grey sighs roughly. “But now with all of this going on and possibly losing our Alpha, I’m not certain of anything, Mac.”
“We’re not going to lose Killian as our Alpha.” I admit.
He stops in his tracks. “You can’t be thinking of keeping your union in place?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m ending that but I am going to request that he stays our Alpha. He would be the best to have and we are considered the best team, so it would be a win, win, situation all around.” I explain.
“Good, you scared me for a minute. I thought for sure that after that little kiss you two shared that he somehow had changed your mind.” Grey laughs as we catch up to Max and Dash.
“You guys saw that, did you?” I laugh lightly.
“Yes, we saw and pretty much heard everything that was said between the two of you. Max said he’d leave you alone, but we had to know if he would say something to hurt you.” Grey smirks.
“Hell, it pretty much took Dash and I both to hold Max back when you swayed on your feet.” He laughs.
“Yeah, Mad Max almost came unleashed back there.” Dash laughs out.
“You shouldn’t have let him touch you, Mac.” Max snarls as he turns back to face us as we come to stand in front of his door.
“Let’s just chalk it all up to a loss of sanity, okay?” I sigh. “I still hate him, but maybe not as much as I should.” I admit with another yawn.
“Yeah, let’s just go with insanity and the loss of blood for your choice of words there, Mac.” Dash chuckles loudly.
Max waves his hand to open his door and we all walk in.
The second Grey lays me down on Maddox’s bed my eyes close.
“I really hope she isn’t falling for his lies.” Max growls as I fall into a deep peaceful sleep.
I really hoped that Killian hadn’t been lying to me, but a part of me told me not to fall for his words unless there was concrete proof.
There was still something off about him.
Something not right, but what could it possibly be?
Chapter 6
“Mac, come on, you have to wake up.” Dash shakes me roughly.
Eden One, Episode One Page 4