by Jenika Snow
Chapter 33
Kayla knew where Adrik would be, knew that at this time he would be at the club working. When they pulled to a stop in front of the entrance, she could feel her heart accelerate. She needed to know he was okay and that Kaleb was wrong. She knew Adrik loved her, but a small voice inside of her cautioned her. What if her brother was right? Would she be able to withstand the rejection? She had done it once all those years ago, but could she survive that again?
Neither of them exited the vehicle for several long moments. Just as Kayla finally pushed her door open, the entrance to the club opened as well. She felt like crying when she saw Adrik step through those double doors. Several men stood beside him, and it wasn’t until she shut her door that he finally looked up and saw her. His mouth became slightly lax as he stared at her. She sensed Kaleb right behind her, and it just gave her more strength to prove to him that he was wrong.
She stood before Adrik and looked into his eyes. It felt so right being this close to him. “I’m so glad you’re all right.” Without waiting any longer, she wrapped her good arm around his waist and rested her head on his chest. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you come see me at the compound?”
She hadn’t really thought of asking him that before, but as she listened to his heart beat beneath her ear, the questions arose.
He was silent for far too long, and she pulled away to look into his face. “Adrik?” Emotions so strong they resonated from him caused her to take a step back. This was definitely not the reaction she had expected from him.
“What are you doing here?” Adrik was looking over her shoulder at her brother.
“She wanted to see for herself.”
Kayla kept her gaze on Adrik and saw a muscle tic in his jaw. What the hell is going on here?
“Adrik? Please tell me Kaleb wasn’t right.” He turned his icy stare at her, and she saw all the love he had felt for her had vanished. He seemed harder, so icy toward her that she got chills.
“You need to leave and never come back.”
The pain she felt in her chest was like nothing she had ever experienced before. “I don’t understand.” She took a step toward him and held out her hand. “Why are you acting like this?”
“I can’t watch over you. I can’t protect you any longer.” He straightened, and his face became even colder, if that was even possible. “Your brother was right when he said we don’t belong together.”
Kayla shook with anger. This wasn’t right, none of it. “You don’t mean what you’re saying, Adrik.” She felt Kaleb step closer to her and prayed he didn’t try to pull her away. All the emotions she felt at that moment were liable to backfire on him if he even tried to stop her.
“Come on, Kayla.” Kaleb sounded right behind her.
As she stared into Adrik’s eyes, she prayed she saw a crack in his steely composure. It didn’t happen.
“I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore. Tell me that you really don’t want to be with me.” Maybe she was a glutton for pain, but she needed to hear him say the words.
He glanced over her shoulder again at Kaleb.
“Don’t fucking look at him. This is between you and me.” Her voice cracked as tears tracked down her cheeks. None of this felt right.
“I do love you, but not enough to be with you.” He broke their eye contact and stared at the ground for several long moments. “We just can’t be together. The incident in the meadow proved how very different our lives are.” He met her eyes again. “Our worlds are far too different.”
She didn’t know how to respond. Her throat felt dry, and her chest hurt. “That is a shitty way to look at it, Adrik. Look at Lana and Aleksei. Look at everything they went through.”
He was shaking his head before she even finished. “Your brother is right to keep you at the compound. You will be protected by your own kind there.”
He turned to go back into the club. He ended it just like that, as if what they had shared meant nothing.
“What about all that shit about me being your Chosen?”
He stopped right before he entered the club. His body was tense, and when he turned around and looked her in the eye, she actually took a step back for how cold he appeared.
“I was wrong, Kayla.” With that being said, he left her on the steps of the Night Phlox.
When the door shut behind Adrik, he slammed his fist into the wall. Plaster and stone crumbled beneath the impact. The pain felt good. It didn’t mask the pain he felt in his heart, but it was a good start.
The three Blood Breeds beside him took several steps away. It was smart on their part, because he was on a razor’s edge and itched for a good fight. What he had just done was something he would regret for the rest of his existence, but if his unhappiness meant Kayla’s safety, he would do it all over again. He had smelled her pain like acid in his nose. It was a scent he would never be able to forget. It was a scent he would never be able to forgive himself for.
When he had called Kaleb after Kayla was injured, the Lyken hadn’t been at all pleased. Understandable, indeed, but everything Kaleb had said to him made sense. Adrik hadn’t been there to protect her. Because of him, she had been targeted. He didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t shown up when he did.
Emmitt was dead, but there were others like him out there. They may have found Kayla even if she hadn’t been involved with him, but because she was his Chosen, it had been like a giant target sign painted on her. Maybe Emmitt hadn’t relayed that bit of information to other hunters, and maybe he had. Adrik just had to pray that they didn’t know and she was safe.
How could he guarantee she wouldn’t be targeted again? He had let her down once, but he wasn’t going to do it again. He promised Kaleb that he wouldn’t see her again, that he would let the Lykens protect her. That had been the hardest thing he ever had to do. The very thought of never seeing her again, of never touching her, smelling her, or hearing her voice made him feel as though his heart had been ripped right from his chest. He would never be with another female. Now that he had promised to stay away from her, she would find another. She was his Chosen, and although he would forever be alone without her, she would be able to love again. That very thought had his fangs lengthening and has claws curling. He just prayed he never saw her with another male, because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop the animal inside of him from escaping.
Chapter 34
It had been hard to leave the club that night. On top of Kayla being heartbroken, she also had been humiliated. There had been a nice audience who had seen and heard everything. That night played in her mind over and over again like a broken movie reel. With each passing day, she racked her brain trying to figure out why Adrik would act the way he had. The only thing that made sense was that Kaleb had been involved in the decision. Adrik was an honorable man, and she knew the guilt he must be feeling over the fact she had been injured. No doubt he blamed himself for it.
She hadn’t given up that easily, but she had tried to contact him numerous times and had failed. Now she just sat around and felt sorry for herself. The most recent attempt to talk to him had resulted in her getting a recording that his cell phone had been disconnected. It was clear he was taking this seriously and truly had no intention of seeing her again. It broke her heart and made her sick to her stomach.
Maybe she should have just thrown in the towel, but how could she do that when she had loved him since she was a teenager? Kayla would never be able to forget about him, not when their history went deeper than anything else.
The compound had been her home for the past several weeks. She had taken a leave of absence from work because she knew she couldn’t face anyone right now. Lana had tried to talk to her about what happened, but even with the miniscule information Kayla had told her, she knew she couldn’t burden her friend with how she was feeling.
The compound wasn’t an ideal home for her, but she wasn’t stupid enough
to go back to her house, not after her life had almost been snuffed out. How was she to know one of Emmitt’s goons wasn’t waiting for her to finish what had been started?
Everyone had been so nice during her stay, but she felt empty. With Adrik no longer in her life, she just didn’t feel the same. She found herself venturing into the woods that surrounded the compound on a daily basis. The serenity and peacefulness of the wilderness helped her feel more at ease, but it couldn’t erase the loneliness she felt.
With her shoes tied and her hiking clothes on, Kayla decided she would once again try to find some kind of solace in the forest. Earlier that week she had found a massive library that housed so many books it made her dizzy. With her backpack filled with water, a few snacks, and a thick and ancient-looking book, she ventured into the thick brush.
It wasn’t that the people in the compound weren’t friendly or didn’t try to make her stay as comfortable as possible. Kayla just didn’t feel any kind of connection with them. As she passed person after person on her way outside, she felt herself grow more distant. Kaleb was around as much as he could be, but it seemed he was always training for some unknown mission.
The monstrous rocks that sprung from the ground made the trek through the woods tiring, but when she finally reached the top of the hill that overlooked the entire property, it left her breathless. It truly was serene, and with a small brook running right beside her, and a large boulder to rest her weary body, Kayla finally let herself close her eyes and relax.
A few minutes later, she opened her eyes and pulled the book she got from the compound’s library out of her backpack and opened it. It was a massive, old leather-bound book, with ancient-looking pages that were so thick they felt like cardboard between her fingers. With the sound of the running water right beside her and the heavy weight of the book resting on her thighs, Kayla let herself fall into the magical world of the Lykens.
The book she was currently reading was the history of her kind. Stories of war, famine, love, and hate filled the pages and transported her into her real-life history. It all seemed so unbelievable, and she was thankful that she was able to get an inside look at how her kind came to be and lived so many years ago.
Hours had passed since she ventured up the mountain, but even though the sun was starting to move over the horizon, and her snack-and-water supply was dwindling, Kayla couldn’t pry herself away from the wilderness or the book.
A slight rustling to her right drew her out of her readings about a war with the Blood Breeds ages ago. It was so slight she thought she might have imagined it, but just as she was about to continue reading, it sounded again. This time it was louder and closer. The compound’s property was private and guarded by Lykens, so Kayla wasn’t too worried about one of Emmitt’s men finding her, but she was secluded and far away from the main house. That alone was enough to make her heart start to beat a little faster.
She shoved the book in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She may be relatively protected out here, but there were still wild animals that called the property home. Just as she was about to follow the brook down the mountain, she heard a twig snap mere feet from her. She spun around so fast that she lost her balance and started to fall backward. Before she hit the ground, someone’s hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Callum standing right in front of her, but for some reason, she was.
“That would have been a nasty fall.” He let go of her hand and took a step back. He wore dark military-type clothing, a dark baseball hat, and combat boots. “I was patrolling the grounds.”
He had answered her unspoken question. “Well, lucky for me you were here, or I would have landed on my ass.”
“You wouldn’t have lost your footing if I hadn’t scared you. I’m sorry, by the way.”
He was right about that one, but it was endearing to hear him say it. “Well, I still should have been more careful.” She adjusted her pack and smiled. “I’ll see you around.”
“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner sometime.”
Kayla was a little taken aback by his offer. “Dinner?”
She loved Adrik immensely, and even though he wanted nothing to do with her, she couldn’t see herself even considering dating another man. True, it had been weeks since he had not so easily broken it off with her, but she still had hope that she would be with him again.
“I know how things ended with your vampire, but I figured you needed a little time out on the town.”
He started shifting, and Kayla wondered if he was nervous.
“Strictly friends, I promise.” He held up his hands in surrender, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“It would be nice to get out for a while, but…” There was still the fear that one of Emmitt’s crazed associates would find her. “I just don’t know if I’m ready.”
He didn’t need to know that she still woke up in the middle of the night because she worried someone was waiting right outside her bedroom to slit her throat, and he certainly didn’t need to know that she dreamt about Adrik every night.
“No worries, lass. The offer is an open invitation when ye’re ready.” With that, he turned and disappeared into the thick trees.
Kayla stared at the spot he disappeared into and finally breathed out. The idea of going into the city and enjoying herself was tempting, but it wasn’t tempting enough for her to let herself be free, emotionally or physically, just yet.
“Well, did she agree to go with you?” Kaleb pushed himself off the thick trunk he leaned against as he saw Callum stride down the hill.
“No. I’m not sure why ye keep pressing this, man.”
There were many reasons Kaleb pressed it. The first thing was he was sick of seeing Kayla holed up in her room day in and day out. Only recently had she been venturing out into the woods. The second thing was he needed her to get over the leech. Adrik had done his part in keeping away from her, but there were times when he thought he sensed something in the air.
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was a subtle aroma of longing and possession. He couldn’t be certain Adrik was the one letting off the potent scent, but he had a sneaking suspicion that the leech was having a hard time staying away from his sister. If he found out the vampire was lurking around the edge of the property, hoping to get a glimpse Kayla, he would be sorry.
“I just think Kayla needs to get out. She keeps herself trapped in her room like some kind of recluse. It isn’t healthy.”
The two of them made their way toward the edge of the property to start making their rounds again. There were six Lykens scheduled to patrol the perimeter at all times. The compound was out in the middle of nowhere, and even with their property spanning acres upon acres, there was still a hefty amount of forest that wasn’t theirs. Anyone who knew about what they really were would no doubt try to breach the perimeter, and so that is where they came in.
“I told her to let me know if she ever wants to do dinner. I didn’t want to push it.”
Kaleb could sense the hesitation in Callum’s voice, and even though he wanted to push his fellow brother to try harder, he knew it wasn’t good for Callum or Kayla. Kaleb’s ultimate goal? Have Kayla mated to a Lyken and living at the compound. That way she would always be protected. Of course, he sure as hell didn’t tell her that.
Caelen watched Kayla as she headed down the mountain and back to the compound. His actions were repetitious, a mistake a skilled Lyken would never do. Of course she had no idea he watched her, no one did. Caelen had been trained to be invisible. That had been his sole purpose, to be there, but be unseen.
He glanced down at the scars on his wrists. They brought back a lot of painful memories, and also a good dose of rage. He curled his hands into tight fists. A lot was about to change, with the Clan, the Blood Breeds, and every other fucking species living in this forsaken world. He welcomed the violence and pain that would soon transpire, because it meant it would temporarily numb
his.
Kayla had long since disappeared into the woods, but he could still sense her. If she only knew what was really behind her lineage, she may not have been so easily swayed to be a part of it. He knew what it was like to be in the dark, and he knew what it was like to lose someone you loved, but he had long since gotten rid of emotions that would weigh him down. He was hardened to the core, with no empathy for anyone. He knew people for what they really were, and knew the kind of pain they could inflict.
Everyone was fucked, one way or another.
Chapter 35
Here he was again, creeping in the middle of the night with the hopes that he would get one glimpse of her. He was pathetic, but after weeks of not speaking to her, Adrik was becoming crazy. She was his drug, his addiction that he couldn’t shake. He thought it would be easy to stay away from Kayla, but with each passing day, he found it harder and harder to keep his distance.
After several weeks of staying away, he found himself sneaking onto the edge of the property. He should have known there would be guards stationed around the perimeter, but he hadn’t anticipated how many there would be. He had to be tricky to make sure they didn’t see him, but that hadn’t been as hard as he thought. He was, after all, a Blood Breed and trained in the art of stealth.
When he found a place where he could go undetected, Adrik closed his eyes and let his astral form leave him. He already sensed Kayla, and when he saw her, his heart stopped. She carried a backpack and was exiting the woods. Her hair was windblown, but she was still the most beautiful female he had ever seen. How he wished he could touch her once more, but he knew he couldn’t. He wasn’t any good for her. He had proved he couldn’t protect her. What kind of male was he when he couldn’t even make sure his Chosen was safe?