by Unknown
Even so, every step away from his mate physically hurt. God, he didn’t want to leave Viktor. He would rather die. Hell, he would have probably taken his own life if he didn’t know such a cowardly action would only shame his mate and not help their situation. In these circumstances, he needed to face the Guild and take his punishment. He would not allow the Guild’s wrath to fall on Viktor’s pack, not now that things finally seemed to be going well for Viktor.
He tried to hang on to that thought as he slipped out of Viktor’s house. The rain had stopped at some point and dawn loomed ahead, promising a day of cloudless, clear skies and life-giving warmth. Not even the hottest sun would be able to heat Kai inside, not now that he had experienced the fire of Viktor’s passion.
“Pretty? What are you doing?”
Kai turned around to see Viktor standing in the doorway of his house, giving him a puzzled and slightly concerned look. “Come back to bed. It’s too early for a walk and it’s chilly still.”
A smile ghosted on Kai’s lips at Viktor’s words. He didn’t know if Viktor truly thought he only intended to go out for a brief walk, but he felt certain that his mate’s concern for his safety was genuine. For that, and for the bond that still burned bright between them, Kai would be honest with him.
“I can’t ssstay here, Viktor,” he replied softly. “I don’t belong with your pack.”
Viktor’s eyes widened, and he gave Kai a look that seemed to be a mix of shock and pain. “You don’t mean that. You said it yourself. There’s a connection between us. You can’t abandon that. You can’t abandon me.”
Kai sighed tiredly. He’d known Viktor would try to stop him. “We’re ssstrangers, Viktor. You don’t know me, not really. There’sss no sssuch thing asss true matesss.”
Even saying the words broke Kai’s heart, but what else could he do? Viktor wouldn’t understand his point of view. He would never allow Kai to leave if he didn’t have a good reason. “Besidesss, even if matesss did exist, you dessserve better than being bound for life to a killer. Dessstiny doesssn’t guarantee feelingsss.”
“No, it doesn’t. It just foretells it,” Viktor replied with a certainty that almost scared Kai. He hated being so transparent. “I love you, pretty. You’re my other half. And you love me. Otherwise you wouldn’t have accepted our mating. You wouldn’t have given yourself to me. I know it and you know it.”
“How can you possibly love me? We only just met last night!”
Viktor shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I know you better than any other. You’re sweet, brave, and strong. You saved my life and gained the respect of my pack. You being forced into a life of blood doesn’t change any of that.”
Kai couldn’t look at Viktor anymore. In fact, he wanted to slap himself for his stupidity. Half of him wanted to run back into Viktor’s arms. He didn’t want to leave his mate behind. He hated the thought that Viktor could disregard their mating, but at the same time, he knew Viktor needed to forget him and move on. He didn’t even know what to do anymore. Each decision he took seemed wrong and eventually blew up in his face. Helping his mate with the pack suggested that he would want to stay here and sleeping with Viktor cemented their relationship. Kai did want to stay, but it was impossible.
Kai suddenly felt the urge to scream. He should have just chosen one path and stuck to it. This indecision killed him inside. He almost wished he had never met Viktor. Life seemed so much easier without feelings.
“Viktor…” Kai rubbed his eyes, trying to find a way to explain. He couldn’t argue with Viktor’s words. Lying would just be useless now, since Viktor would see right through him. “I truly can’t ssstay. The Guild will come for me. Death will fall onto you and your pack. I can’t allow that.”
Viktor’s face turned to stone. Kai didn’t know what his mate could be thinking, but he hoped Viktor realized the truth of his words.
Viktor crossed the distance between them in seconds and wrapped his arms around Kai. “I’m never letting you go,” he murmured in Kai’s hair. “If it means I have to leave my pack behind, I’ll do it. I will follow you until the ends of the earth.”
Kai pushed out of Viktor’s embrace. “But you jussst won leadership over the pack! You can’t just leave.”
Viktor shrugged, although his tense demeanor lacked the nonchalance suggested by the action. “I never wanted to lead. I just fought Sasha to get him out of our hair.”
Kai took a deep breath, struggling for composure. Why did Viktor have to be so stubborn? Couldn’t he see that, in the end, Kai didn’t care about the pack, but about Viktor himself? “If you follow me, the Guild will hurt you. I can’t allow that.”
“And what makes you think you can order me to let you go?” Viktor seemed calm, but his eyes flashed with barely-restrained fury. “Don’t even think about it, Kai. If you want to face the Guild, we’ll do it together. Everything we do from now on, we do together.”
Kai tried to pull away from Viktor’s embrace, but his mate just tightened his hold around him. “No, don’t even think about it,” Viktor repeated almost desperately. “I won’t let you go. Not ever.”
Kai’s eyes filled with tears at the emotion in Viktor’s voice. He wanted to scream at the realization that he was slowly starting to lose himself because of this man. The last time he had wept was the day of his mother’s death. That day, Kai had buried the part of him that could feel. And now, in just a few hours, with just a few words and touches, Viktor had demolished all his protective walls and torn apart his defenses. God, what was he going to do?
* * * *
Viktor held his mate as Kai cried. He hated the sight of Kai’s sorrow, but he hated the thought of not being there to provide comfort even more. Perhaps it meant he was selfish, but Viktor couldn’t help it. He needed Kai by his side like he needed air to breathe.
Viktor couldn’t argue with Kai’s point regarding the pack and the Guild. However, he had no intention of letting Kai go off alone to brave the assassins’ punishment while he stayed behind to protect a treacherous pack. He had become Alpha when he defeated Sasha, but he didn’t want the position.
Taking a deep breath, he kissed Kai’s auburn hair and started to explain. “Pretty, listen to me.” Kai lifted his golden black gaze to look at him, and Viktor offered him a small smile. “I’ve been thinking since last night. Truly, I don’t think I have a place here either.”
Kai’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak. Viktor placed a finger on Kai’s lips, stopping his protest before it emerged. “I’m serious, pretty. My place isn’t here. It never has been. I belong by your side forever.”
“Viktor…” Kai’s voice turned into a barely audible whisper. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Viktor wanted to tell Kai it would be okay, but he knew that argument wouldn’t work with his mate. “We stand a better chance of getting out of this safely if we’re together,” he offered instead.
Kai hesitated briefly, but then a tremulous smile appeared on his face. Viktor gently caressed his mate’s cheek, and just like that, reality started to fade. Their lips met in a kiss that melted Viktor’s heart. How could they even consider giving this up? Their mate bond shone between them, a flawless, unbreakable thread uniting them, binding their destinies together. For better or for worse, they would be one forever.
Just as this thought flashed through Viktor’s mind, an eerie presence appeared somewhere in the distance. Kai tensed, and before Viktor could even figure out what was going on, his mate pushed him down with strength surprising for someone his size. Their bodies fell together on the pavement as bullets flooded the area, aiming for the spot where they’d been standing just seconds earlier.
Acting on instinct, Viktor allowed his human body to change into the wolf and rolled them so that his large animal form could cover Kai’s body. They didn’t have enough time to escape. The only thing he could do was to make sure the bullets didn’t touch his mate.
Viktor could practically feel Kai’s need t
o protest his decision. However, his lover didn’t have time to do anything about it. The bullets came again, and this time, they didn’t miss.
* * * *
Kai’s eyes widened in horror as the deadly projectiles struck, hitting Viktor’s shifted form. The wolf let out a pained sound, but didn’t move, still holding Kai down with his weight. Kai struggled to look around, to find anything that could hide them. He simply couldn’t see anything useful. The door of the house seemed miles away, and the garage would probably be locked. The only thing that qualified as some sort of shelter was a tall oak tree somewhere to Kai’s right, but Kai didn’t think they could get there without being even more vulnerable to the Guild.
Kai realized the absurdity of his own thoughts. Where could they possibly be more exposed to the Guild’s fury than in the middle of the street? Here, they had no cover whatsoever.
As he took in his mate’s pain, Kai made a decision. He only hoped he wouldn’t kill them both in the process of trying to save their lives.
Struggling with his mate’s weight, he pushed Viktor off him. His heart fell when Viktor no longer tried to hold him down or to stop him. Kai hoped the bullets hadn’t hit any vital organs. Viktor was still breathing, but he'd lost consciousness, a fact that didn’t look very promising to Kai. He needed to solve this problem as soon as possible.
Fighting to keep his despair from showing, Kai took a deep breath and shouted, “Stop! Don’t do this!”
A bullet wheezed past his ear, but Kai kept his ground. The Guild despised cowardice, and if he wanted to have a chance, he needed to forsake his instincts of self-preservation and focus on his bond with Viktor. God, Viktor. The smell of Viktor’s blood permeated the air, making Kai want to throw up. Please, please, please, don’t die!
“Stop,” he said again, proud that his voice didn’t shake. He hoped his father would listen. If not, both Viktor and Kai would die, most likely in a very painful manner.
Surprisingly, the rain of bullets actually stopped. He suppressed a sigh of relief, knowing that this brief respite meant nothing. His father could still decide to kill them, and Kai would be helpless to stop him.
His mind whirling, and his heart beating one thousand miles per second, Kai waited. If his father chose to keep them alive, it stood to reason that he would allow Kai to explain. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking on Kai’s part. He certainly hoped not.
Luckily, his guess proved to be correct. Heavy footsteps echoed on the asphalt, and Kai suppressed a wince as he identified his father’s gait. Tynan Hearne, the leader of the Assassins’ Guild came accompanied by two more assassins, whom Kai identified as his usual guards, Ian and Quil. Not that Tynan needed them or trusted them. A snake assassin learned from a very early age that he could trust no one but himself.
“Well, well,” Tynan began, sounding almost amused. “Looks like little Kai finally has a backbone. I wonder if it’s a consequence of being ass fucked by a werewolf. Perhaps we should include it in standard training. Don’t you agree?”
The two guards just nodded silently while Kai fumed. He hated the sensation of inadequacy his father’s words brought forth. He owed this man nothing. In fact, he couldn’t even call him father. Tynan had never showed Kai any love, only cruelty. Kai would never forgive him for what he did to his mother. This time, Kai wasn’t a helpless child anymore. He wouldn’t allow the Guild leader to make him feel ashamed of his bond with Viktor. This time, he would protect his loved one.
“He’s my mate,” he replied calmly, knowing his father would detect a lie a mile away. Tynan probably suspected anyway, since werewolves wouldn’t be openly affectionate to a man if the relationship wasn’t serious. “I have the right to be in love.”
“Do you now?” Tynan arched a brow sarcastically. “Since when?”
Kai couldn’t exactly find an answer to that question. In the past, he actually avoided open rebellion against his father and Jamari. The fact that he decided to act now, and because of falling in love, apparently seemed peculiar to Tynan. Perhaps Kai could exploit that.
“It doesn’t matter,” he replied evasively. “I want out of the Guild.”
Tynan’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold mask. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Since Jamari is dead, you’re the only one left to take over once I go into hibernation.”
Kai blanched. How did they find out about Jamari’s death so fast? Surely, Flame couldn’t have been so careless in disposing of Jamari’s body.
Tynan laughed in Kai’s face. “I’m not Guild leader for nothing, boy. Since Jamari never returned or reported, it’s natural for me to believe something happened to him, something connected to our last job. It would seem I was quite correct in my assumption.”
Kai cursed under his breath. Of course his father just guessed and suspected. In his stupidity, he’d given himself away. Damn it!
“Don’t worry,” Tynan continued, ignoring Kai’s shock entirely. “I don’t begrudge you for it. I knew of your rivalry, so I expected something like this to happen sooner or later. Just out of curiosity though, was it you or your mate?”
Yet another question Kai couldn’t find the right answer for. If he confessed, would his father be angry or just accept it? He didn’t know.
In the end, he opted for truthfulness. After all, blaming it on Viktor would just make the situation worse. If Tynan really did plan to make Kai take over the Guild, then it meant the bullets had been intended to kill Viktor. Kai needed to draw attention from his mate at any cost. “I killed Jamari,” he said coolly. “I cut his head off.”
“Oh…details. And I didn’t even ask you for them. Nice.” Tynan gave Kai an interested, almost pleased look. Kai wanted to smack him, acknowledging the mockery in those words. But no, that couldn’t be right. Smacking him would never be enough, not when taking into account all the pain Tynan put him through.
In that moment, Kai knew what he needed to do. It came to him with crystal clarity, like an epiphany, only not. Something so evident couldn’t actually be considered a true revelation. In his heart, Kai always knew he would need to do this. The only way he could escape was by killing his father.
* * * *
Viktor mentally went over his injuries, classifying his wounds as reasonably light. Forcing back his pain, he focused on pushing the bullets out of his body, all the while paying close attention to the conversation taking place. Being a werewolf really did help sometimes.
“What do you want, father?” Kai asked, his voice cool and almost disinterested.
The man, Kai’s father, let out a harsh laugh. “This isn’t about what I want, boy, but about your own wishes.”
Viktor carefully cracked his eyes open to take in the scene. Just then, Kai opened his mouth to say something, but his father lifted a hand, stopping him from even uttering a word. “Let me guess, you expect me to let your miserable little wolf live.”
Kai gritted his teeth in obvious frustration. Viktor couldn’t say he fully understood the thoughts passing through his mate’s mind, but he did realize how much Kai hated the games his father played.
“Well, given that you’re my son, I would be willing to grant you this little favor.”
Kai’s body tensed even more. “In exchange for what?”
The older assassin grinned, his golden eyes sparkling in wickedness. “You offend me, son. What makes you think I want something in return?”
Kai just snorted, not gracing the ridiculous question with an answer. Viktor wondered what exactly Kai’s father could want. He knew it couldn’t be something good for Kai or himself.
“Very well. If you insssissst.” The man’s tone turned dark, fierce, almost vicious. “You have to leave your wolf behind. Like I sssaid, the leadership of the Guild will be in your handsss eventually, but in thisss ssstate, you aren’t adequate to lead.”
“And what is required to lead the Assassins’ Guild?” Kai actually seemed interested, and Viktor wanted to howl in protest. No, he couldn’t do that. He needed
to trust his mate. Besides, it wouldn’t help them any. If he judged by the angle of the shots, and by the guards he saw behind Kai’s father, at least a dozen more assassins hid somewhere nearby. Viktor couldn’t pinpoint their location, but then again, he would have never felt Kai back in the club if not for the mate bond. Clearly, for now, he needed to play dead like a good little dog. His own analogy irritated him, and his wolf snarled in protest, but he simply couldn’t find another way.
Oblivious to Viktor’s silent fuming, Kai’s father directed a displeased glare towards his son. “Ruthlesssssnessss. There’sss no sssuch thing asss love for usss, boy. I’ll teach you that eventually.”
He stepped around Kai and towards Viktor’s still form and kicked his exposed belly. Viktor killed the sound of pain that threatened to emerge before it could betray him and focused on looking completely harmless.
“You need to realize, Kai,” the man continued, briefly moving away from Viktor, “that infatuationsss sssimply aren’t allowed.”
Glancing towards his mate through barely-cracked eyelids, Viktor experienced a sensation of déjà vu. They’d gone through this just the day before with Jamari, when Viktor suffered from Kai’s poison attack. The solution suddenly became clear to him. This man would never keep his promise to Kai. He probably intended to kill Viktor as a lesson to his mate. Well, Viktor wouldn’t allow it. He needed to get rid of Kai’s father.
Viktor didn’t kid himself. Fulfilling his plan would be more than a little hard. His werewolf nature slowly took care of the bullet wounds, but Kai’s father remained an experienced assassin. He also had the other two guards, who would instantly attack if they detected any threat to their leader.
If only he could find a way to tell Kai to help. Together, they could do this. Taking in Kai’s posture, Viktor desperately wished he could read his mate’s mind. Unfortunately, werewolf matings didn’t work like that, and he needed to act upon his guesses and instinct. He knew Kai wouldn’t resent him if he hurt the older assassin. At the same time, though, he couldn’t be sure if Kai would be ready to attack.