Midnight Magic, page 162
After I release the bedsheets from my hands, I swallow hard and shake my head. No. I can’t fucking think that way. My mind is just… I am just… believing everything that my sister and Darcy thought to be true.
But they don’t know Breene the way I do.
So, I rush out the door and into the forest. Something isn’t right. I cast the tracking spell. Breene must’ve been in danger. She wouldn’t have willingly left.
Leia and Bay rush over to me, breathing heavily. “Kiernan! Kiernan!” When they reach me, Leia places her hands on her knees and bends over. “There are wolves near the borders. They’re retreating quickly. Breene is with them.”
Time stops.
My throat closes.
I might’ve stopped breathing.
Breene is with the wolves? Breene is really with the wolves? With her old pack that abused her? It has to be a mistake. She couldn’t be with them, and if she really is… it couldn’t be willingly, right? But if it’s forceful, then she would’ve used her magic to protect herself. She would’ve screamed out my name in the darkness so I would hear.
“She’s gone?” I whisper.
“She didn’t seem like she was struggling, but I only caught a glimpse of her.”
My entire world shatters completely, and my legs buckle. I land on my knees and drop my head into my hands. Immense pain shoots through my body, my magic weak and aching.
“My mate left me. She really fucking did.”
While I still don’t want to believe it, I have no other choice. Darcy isn’t telling me this. Kiera isn’t telling me this. Breene’s own friends—Leia and Bay—are telling me. They trusted her, and she trusted them.
“Why would she do that?” Bay asks Leia. “She cared so much about us.”
“She fucking left me,” I murmur. The world is blurry. I can’t seem to focus on the warrior mages and witches around me, nor the new recruits wondering what the fuck is going on. “How could she leave?”
Bay is right. She did care about us. So fucking much.
At least, that’s what she made me believe, made us believe.
I fucking told her not to leave the cabin, and she did it, anyway.
She went against my orders. She left the cabin and the coven. And I fear that she fed me utter bullshit about her old packmates abusing her. I fear that she used that to get closer to me because my mate is a spy.
But gods know that I will do anything to get her back. No matter what.
CHAPTER 15
Breene
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise,” Alpha Reiker sneers as he circles me.
He looks exactly the same as he did last time I saw him—tall and lean, his face gaunt, and that familiar cruel smirk dancing on his lips—yet he also looks completely different. After all the time I’ve spent with Kiernan, his adversary almost seems smaller, somehow. Weaker. Less powerful.
“I’ve missed you, Breene.”
His words still send a familiar chill down my spine.
Fear. I know it so well after all these years.
The need to get away from Alpha Reiker propels me into action. I struggle against the ropes binding me, but I can’t break free. They’re coarse and dig painfully into my bare skin, keeping my hands and feet tied together as I lie on the dirt floor.
Blood stains Kiernan’s large, colorful sweater from the cut Alpha Reiker greeted me with. And he continues to twirl the knife gleefully in his hand, reminding me of all the damage he can do.
“You know, you were like a daughter to me,” he says thoughtfully. “A pathetic, good-for-nothing daughter. I always knew you weren’t worthy of the Steelpaw Pack. Now look at you. A bitch. Or is it a witch?” He chuckles at his own joke and bends down to run his knife along my cheek.
I feel the sting as he draws blood. He moves the knife closer and closer to my eye, taking his time. Tormenting me. I don’t dare move a muscle as the blade grazes my lower eyelid. Crying or pleading only makes the torture worse, so I pretend I’m somewhere else. Anywhere else.
“Where shall I start, little Breene?” Alpha Rieker moves the knife down, and I nearly sigh in relief. “You’re not so little anymore. You’re all grown up now, aren’t you? If you were a wolf, I might even enjoy it. But I wouldn’t stoop so low as to fuck a witch.”
I wonder what happened to the whole daughter thing. Not that he’s ever treated me like one. Luna did—or tried to—when she was well enough. He never did.
“We do something entirely different with witches…” Alpha Reiker adds.
He doesn’t tell me what that is, but I don’t need him to. I’d heard enough tales circulating around the pack. Tales so horrifying that fear’s cold hand grips me like a vise.
Alpha Rieker smells my fear and triumph glints in his eyes. It’s what he wants. It’s what he thrives on. “It’s kind of fitting that I get to kill you, don’t you think?”
And surprisingly, he’s right. I have long since come to accept that he’d be the one to kill me. I’d thought of it on lonely dark nights, wondering when it would all be over. And now I know.
Alpha Reiker’s eyes glow as his wolf comes closer to the surface. He slices my left arm with the knife and inhales sharply, enjoying the smell of my blood.
I’ve felt his blade in my flesh so many times I know to expect the pain, but I can’t quite hold back my scream.
It’ll all be over soon, I tell myself.
This time, he won’t heal me. This time, he’ll let me die.
Except, for the first time in a long time, I don’t pray for the end. I don’t want to die.
I want to go back to my coven. I want to learn magic. I want to master the fire spell and add color to new clothes, maybe even magically dye my hair with streaks of purple and pink. I want to spend time at the library with Leia and Bay and get to know the other recruits. I want to sit by the river where Kiernan took me for our picnic. I want to confront Darcy and tell her Kiernan is mine. I want to give him a piece of my mind for even looking at another woman.
A wave of raw, hot rage courses through me as Alpha Reiker cuts me with his blade again. I barely feel the pain as my magic boils inside me, begging to burst free.
I struggle against the ropes. If I could just free one arm… but I don’t stand a chance.
The ropes burn my flesh as anger burns my soul and… suddenly, I smell smoke. The ropes holding me down turn to ash, leaving blisters along my skin.
Alpha Rieker’s eyes grow wide.
For a split second, the werewolf hesitates. But then he’s back in all his evil glory. He raises his knife again and the rage inside me burns stronger and stronger. I hate that knife. I hate the pain he inflicts. And I hate him.
It’s that hatred for Alpha Reiker that propels me to my feet. I’ve already lost a lot of blood, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
I need to make Alpha Reiker pay for everything he’s done. But how? He’s the one wielding the knife. He’s a werewolf. If he wanted to, he could shift. If he wanted to, he could kill me on the spot. The only reason he doesn’t is that he gets some perverse pleasure out of cutting me.
“You think you can take me, bitch?” he snarls.
I probably can’t. A minute from now, I’ll likely be dead. But as blood drips down my arms, soaking Kiernan’s sweater, I make a vow.
I will not let Alpha Reiker forget this day. I will leave a mark that stays with him for all eternity. I will sear his flesh. I will burn it with my flames. And I will make sure that each day, as he looks in the mirror, he remembers the pain he suffered at my hand.
CHAPTER 16
Kiernan
Anger and fear overtake my mind. I stop at the edge of my property and cast a tracking spell to find Breene, but the words come out all wrong. With her gone—either stolen or as a spy—I can’t think straight.
My sister places her hand on my shoulder. “Calm down. We’ll find her.”
To my left, Darcy mutters the correct Latin words for the spell. Sparks of light that only witches can see shimmer in front of us, creating a path deeper into the woods. I move my legs, faster and faster, breaking away from the group.
I want to stop and compose myself, but I physically can’t.
Ten minutes later, the lights become brighter and glimmer around a run-down cabin in a slight clearing.
“Get away from me!” Breene screams from inside, her voice echoing through the forest.
My hands burn with magic. That doesn’t sound like the voice of someone who followed her pack willingly. That sounds like the voice of my mate crying out for help.
While the doubts from Kiera and my sister race through my mind, I find myself aching to get closer to Breene; aching to believe the tiny voice in my head and in my heart that tells me she didn’t go anywhere willingly.
The Steelpaw Pack kidnapped her.
A shrill scream cuts through the clearing. I push my legs faster and harder, sprinting past every one of my warrior mages to get to the cabin first because… I need to know the truth, and I need to protect my mate.
No matter the cost.
When I reach the front door, I yank at the knob. It is locked. I gather my magic and melt the knob and the lock right off the wood. The door falls open. As it does, a werewolf guard who stood just inside the house barrels toward me.
Though I should’ve used my magic to kill him, I think nothing other than wanting all these filthy wolves to hurt. Despite him being physically stronger than me, I grab him by the throat and punch him over and over again.
He shoves me back, but I don’t release my grip on him. Nothing is stronger than a mate’s bond; not even a werewolf. He might’ve overpowered me any other day without me using magic, but he sure as fuck won’t now that I am rooms away from seeing Breene again.
I don’t stop hurling my fist into the guard’s face until blood covers my knuckles and he’s flat on the ground with all his teeth knocked out, even his sharp canines. When I stand back up, sweat rolls down my forehead. I gather all the power inside me and shoot magic right through his chest, leaving a gaping hole so I know he really is dead.
“Get away!” Breene screams.
Hurrying toward the back bedroom, I yank the door open to see the alpha—with half of his face burned off—pressing his back against the walls with one hand up in the air. His other hand is completely disintegrated, and the most terrified look I have ever seen is plastered on his once arrogant face.
“You’re never going to hurt me again!” Breene screams so loudly that the windows shatter.
After the single, longest burst of fire magic from a new recruit that I’ve ever witnessed, the once powerful alpha burns away into nothingness. His flesh is a dusty pile. Breene collapses onto the ground. Her chest heaves up and down, her eyes suddenly overcome with tiredness. When she sees me standing at the door, she stares weakly.
“Did I…” she starts. “Did I do it? Did I kill him?”
She looks so lost, so hurt, so destroyed internally. She has been through so much, and I didn’t believe her. All this time, I thought she spied for our enemy because people were whispering that nonsense into my ear.
I should’ve believed in her from the start.
I scoop her up into my arms and hold her as close to my body as I can get her. She is cold and shaking, just like all new recruits are after they use too much of their magic too soon. But when she touches me, her body relaxes in my arms, almost as if it is regaining energy quickly, unlike anyone I have ever seen.
“You killed him,” I whisper.
“I… I’m sorry,” she whispers, voice dry, eyeing the blood that must’ve been on the corner of my lips. “I’m sorry that they hurt you too.”
“Don’t apologize, Breene. I would do anything for you.”
She buries her head into my chest. “I should’ve done more.”
“What you shouldn’t have done was leave when I told you to stay put in the cabin,” I say, not wanting her to hurt after what she has been through but also wanting her to learn this lesson. “I promised you that I’d protect you, and I will, but you make that hard when you put yourself in danger.”
“You left me without saying anything and then…” Suddenly, she tenses again, a sniffle escaping her. “And then I saw you with your second-in-command. All I can think about is him.” She stares down at the pile of dust and bones at my feet.
My chest tightens, my throat closing yet again. The same pain that courses through her body courses through mine. I don’t know what she means, but she has just killed the man. It couldn’t have been good, right?
I swallow hard. “What do you mean?”
“He cheated on his mate all the time,” she whimpers. “All the time. And she would act like it was nothing, like she didn’t see it or like she didn’t care. It was right out there in front of her and she would brush it off.”
“Breene, I need you to listen to me,” I say, taking her face in my free hand. “I will never cheat on you. Never in my fucking life would I do something like that to my mate. My coven—our coven—is not your old pack. We have respect for people and we love each other as family.”
She furrows her brows and presses her lips together. “O-okay,” she whispers.
“You have to tell me that you understand,” I say, not accepting that as an answer.
She can’t go running off every time that she makes assumptions like that. She has put herself in too much danger already.
Pain washes over her facial features, like trusting me and her friends was extremely hard to do. But after what she has been through, I don’t blame her so much.
Finally, she gulps. “I understand.”
CHAPTER 17
Breene
“How are you feeling?” Bay asks as I join him and Leia in the library. “Finally one hundred percent?”
“One hundred and ten.” I shake my head as I pull up my sleeve and glance down at my arm. All the old wounds are gone—including the blisters from my fight with Alpha Reiker—and my skin looks as smooth as the day I was born. “No scars. Not even a mark. I just had my final magical treatment with Darcy—”
“Darcy?” Leia asks in surprise. “I thought you two didn’t get along.”
“We do now. She apologized for not being more welcoming. And she made it clear that there’s nothing between her and Kiernan.”
“Of course there isn’t.” Leia rolls her eyes. “You’re Kiernan’s mate. And honestly, he acts like the rest of us don’t exist when you’re around.”
I grin. “And I have good news. The pain’s gone too. Which means no more smelly ointment.”
“Go Brie!” Leia pulls me into a tight hug. I’ve told her my name is actually Breene, but the nickname has stuck. “Now I can hug you without gagging.”
“Leia,” Bay warns.
“I know she’s kidding,” I tell him.
“Of course I’m kidding.” Leia pulls back to grin at me. “I’m so glad you’re better. I just wish you’d grown up here with Bay and me. I’m sorry you had to live with those dirty mutts instead.”
I snort at her favorite nickname for the wolves. “I wish I’d grown up here, too. But I’m glad I’m here now. With you guys and Kiernan.”
“Look at you. You’re blushing.” Leia grins. “Things must be going well with Kiernan.”
“More than well, actually.” I blush harder.
“Oh, really?” Leia wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“I don’t mean like that. We talk.”
“Sure. Talk.” Leia forms air quotes, and Bay snorts. Though I don’t miss how heated his cheeks get as he glances at her.
“I’m serious, you guys. Kiernan and I are getting to know each other. Favorite food. Favorite color. What we want to name our kids.”
“Kids, huh?” Kiernan says from behind me, and I turn as bright as the tomato soup he spoon-fed me while I was recovering.
“We should go.” Bay grabs Leia’s arm and starts dragging her toward the door.
“Bye, Brie,” Leia shouts, her voice echoing through the empty library.
The door slams shut, leaving me alone with Kiernan. But this time, I’m not the least bit nervous. I feel safe. I feel calm. And even though we haven’t yet said it out loud, I feel loved.
“Ready to go?” Kiernan places a soft kiss on my forehead.
I nod and get to my feet. Kiernan laces his fingers through mine, and my pulse spikes. I can’t help but notice how handsome he is. He towers over me, my tall, muscular mate, and all his strength and power makes me feel safe.
I’m so lucky that this man is my mate. I trust him implicitly. Love him completely. Yet in the weeks since the attack, he hasn’t done much more than hold my hand—and I want more. I need more. I need to show him how I feel.
We’re the only people in the library. The dim light from the magical orbs hovering above each table casts the room in shadow. The magical texts around us give me courage, and I lean up on my tiptoes and place a gentle kiss on Kiernan’s lips.
I think I catch him off guard because he stands stock-still, his lips unmoving against mine. I pull back slightly and kiss him again. This time, he responds.
I wait for the passion I remember, but his kisses are so feather-soft it’s almost like they aren’t there. He places his hands on my waist so lightly, it’s almost like he thinks I’m made of glass.
“I won’t break,” I tell him. And I truly mean it. Because even though I still have nightmares about Alpha Reiker, I stood up to him. I stopped him. I killed him. I freed his Luna and his pack from his cruel rule. “I’ve been so scared for so long, but I’m not anymore, Kiernan. So please don’t treat me like I’m made of glass.”
“I’m not.” He shakes his head vehemently. “I know how strong you are, Breene. You are the strongest, most powerful woman I know. Your casting abilities are years ahead of the other recruits, but it’s not just that. You’ve been through so much. So much, Breene. I wish you hadn’t. It hurts me to know how much you’ve had to endure. And I swear to you, I will spend the rest of our lives doing everything in my power to make sure that you never have to suffer for a single second. But when I look at you, I see a woman who could not be broken. Who survived. Who is so strong. You’re not made of glass, Breene. You make glass.”
