“Mate, he’s my mate. Oh god, I’m going to die… How long does it take for a Human to die after the mate mark is made? Do I have time to say goodbye to my mother? What about Matteo and Dean? What will happen to my body…”
Coal’s father slams his fist into Coal’s face with such force that it makes me ill, even though Coal tries to shield his pain from the bond. Shifting his hand and raising it, Michael snarls. My eyes widen. What the fuck? He’s just going to kill us both, here and now.
“On your knees!” Coal does as his father says, kneelingbefore him, with no protest. I step forward, attempting to put myself between the two men. A force stronger than my self-preservation moving me.
“Don’t touch him!” I cry, but as Michael lashes out against Coal, the pain is so strong that I fall to my knees. Screaming as I watch Coal’s father brutally attack his back. “No,” I sob. This is what he had been protecting me from. This is why he couldn’t let things between us change.
“I thought my claim would be enough. I thought he’d lose interest…”Coal's inner thoughts are projected through the bond, the pain too much for him to control.
I used to think Coal’s anger was so similar to his father's, but where Coal can look harsh and cruel, his father is a raving madman, spitting vile hatred. He’s completely unhinged.
It feels as if the claws are carving into my skin and not Coal’s. I reach up, trying to feel for blood, but my skin isn’t cut. It’s all Coal’s pain.
“Delilah, just think of Delilah, her heavenly honeysuckle scent, her smile, think of your mate. Don’t focus on the pain; it will pass. She’s so strong. Be strong like Delilah.”Coal is trying to talk himself down and projecting every thought to me as his father nearly kills him.
As pain explodes across my skin, the world spins and my vision blurs. Poor Coal.“My poor Coal.”
Michael violently slashes away at Coal nine more times, all over his back, and by the time he’s done, I’m screaming in pain on the ground. Coal doesn’t make any sound, but he does drop his weight to his hands resting them against the floor as blood drips down his arms, pooling around him. His hair is hiding his face from me, but I don’t need to see his eyes to know how badly he’s hurt. Wolves heal quickly, but not instantly, and wounds made from an Alpha’s claws takeeven longer. His pain is blinding me, but he just takes deep breaths. He’s been through this so many times before; that’s clear at this moment.
For every second Coal is in pain, so am I. I thought I knew what it meant to be tortured and tormented, but this is unbearable. How did he endure this for so long?
I black out at some point; the pain too much for me to withstand and more than I can take. When I open my eyes again, I’m in Dean’s arms. Matteo has one of Coal’s arms wrapped around his neck, and Quil has the other as they carry us outside.
“We need to heal him,” Matteo sounds panicked, worried, confused.
Coal is walking, but not well. Most of his weight is being supported by Matteo and Quil, who are doing their best not to hold Coal by his bleeding wounds, but it’s hard. His entire back is wounded. Behind us, I hear Michael shouting as things break and glass shatters.
I start to lose consciousness again when I hear Coal’s voice in my head.
“I’m sorry, flower. Please forgive me…”
Coal’s voice is the last thing I hear before I black out.
Coal
“You have to go with her,” I grunt, as Matteo lays me in the grass before taking off after Dean and Delilah. Quil pulls a vial of healing potion out of his pocket, his expression grim. He already knew we’d need it. That I would need it.
“I’m staying with you,” Quil shakes his head, as his face crumbles with pain and sadness. When I’m like this, I try tokeep Quil far away from me. He can’t handle my pain just like I can’t handle his. But we never leave each other, no matter how bad it gets.
“She needs you more,” I tell him, as he tips the bottle to my lips, and I drink it greedily. This will heal me almost completely, but unfortunately, the scars will remain.
“She needsyou,” Quil insists, and I know he’s right, but I only have so much time before our fathers start hunting us down.
“I have to go retrieve her mother. I can feel her pain. She doesn’t understand what’s happening, and she needs all three of you. I’ll be there as soon as I can, but her mother is not likely to listen to anyone else. Please, Quil. I need you to choose her. To keep choosing her.” The ache in my chest is caused by being so far from Delilah when our bond is so new, but also because I know Quil is torn. He wants to go to Delilah, but he doesn’t know how to be the person she needs him to be. He knows how to be mine, but not hers. Not yet.
“They can-”
“Quil. You’re enough. Not for me, but for Delilah. You’re not what your father says you are. You’re more than that. Go learn how to be the man she needs you to be. I will always be here, but right now, mymateneeds all of us.” My strength is returning as the potion kicks in, so I jump to my feet, grab Quil by the throat, and kiss the fool. “Go!” I shove him away, relief washing over me when he turns away and runs for our girl.
Quil
I follow Delilah’s honeysuckle scent, feeling like my heart is being torn in two. I can hear her screams, and my Wolf pushes me harder, wanting me to shift.Not yet.
Coal says I’m enough for Delilah, but after everything, how could she ever want me? When I thought she would be leaving us behind forever, I got reckless. I kissed her, touched her.
Now she’s Coal’s mate, and no matter what happens next, things will never be the same again.
What if she rejects me? What will I do if I lose my best friend, and the girl I love…
