Caelum.
I watched Leilani stride into the house with her head held so high and her back so straight, she could easily pass for a ruler.
But for the life of me, I wasn't mad at her. I wasn't enraged that she had just publicly insulted me— well, maybe I was a lil pissed, but that was nothing compared to the unease that had now settled in my guts like a boulder.
It was nothing compared to the fear gnawing at my chest, or the voices screaming at me to go after her.
Or the way my body had reacted so strongly to her, I still felt the aftershocks.
I knew that something about her now seemed different… tired. Closed off even; and call me a jerk, but I wanted to reopen it. I wanted her to look at me the way she used to: like I was her star and moon and the entire universe put together, not the way she'd done minutes ago.
"She hates us." My wolf whined but I instantly blocked him out.
No, Leilani could not hate me… she could never.
"Caelum, I'm so sorry. I know she's mad at me, but I never knew she would take it out on you. Just please don't punish her!" Chalice said suddenly from beside me, draping an arm around mine as she stared pointedly in the space that Leilani once occupied.
Her electric blue eyes glistened with tears as she looked up at me, and in that moment, for a very brief second, I forgot all about Leilani.
I pulled her close, hugging her like I couldn't spend a second without her warmth even though I have never experienced that searing heat with her like I did whenever I was close to Leilani.
I never even experienced that uncontrollable desire to devour her… to touch her… to mount her.
I shook my head. "I won't punish her."
"Really?" Her voice came out sharp and excited and it made me smile.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Kael and Gavin rolling their eyes, obviously dissatisfied that I would let Leilani go scott free, but right now, it was more about fulfilling Chalice's wishes than doing what the fuck I wanted.
I glanced away from them. "I'd do whatever you want, my princess."
Chalice beamed a smile at me, one that was so bright it made the corners of her eyes crinkle. And then she pulled away from me, pecked my left cheek and muttered; "Let me go and talk to her. I guess she must still feel bad after what happened the last time."
"What happened to her the last time was her fault. You don't have to keep inflating her ego!" Gavin spat, but without waiting to hear what Chalice had to say, he stormed off.
Chalice too paid him no heed and went into the house, her hips swaying effortlessly as she glided through the corridors.
I watched her leave, my heart a tango of conflicting emotions, and then I turned to my brother Zevran, the martyr who'd returned our mate to us.
Our mate.
Zevran didn't do so much as flinch when I approached him, and he certainly didn't react when I draped my arm around his shoulder.
"She's asking for us to reject her," he said suddenly, causing both I and Kael to freeze in shock.
Leilani is asking to be rejected?
That was impossible!
She loved us too much. Doted on us way before we even noticed her sister. There was no way she would simply do a 360° all of a sudden, it was impossible.
But wait.
"…you're also stupid and a coward. You go around kissing my sister but you do not have the decency to reject me and get rid of this mate bond once and for all..."
Her words rang in my ears now loud and clear, and suddenly it was glaring that this was not a joke… that she didn't want to have anything to do with any of us anymore.
But I should be glad right? Right?!
I should be happy that without the mate bond standing in the way, our relationship with Chalice would no longer feel like a taboo.
So why the hell didn't I feel better? Why does it feel like my heart is being crushed in my chest at the mere thought of her being away from me?
From us?
And most especially, with another man…?
I scoffed; "We all know that she doesn't mean that."
"From what I saw earlier, she definitely meant it, and I could only get her to come with me after promising her that we'll reject her and brand her a rogue in a month." Zevran responded immediately, his voice flat.
I froze. "She what?"
"She only agreed to come with me on the condition that we'll reject her and brand her a rogue in a month… that and the fact that we'll need to wed her sister."
The more words Zevran said, the tighter my chest grew. My hands balled into tight fists by my sides, and from the looks on my brothers' faces, I knew that they shared the same sentiment as I did.
"She wouldn't dare!" Kael hissed under his breath, and at the sharp tone of his voice, I couldn't help but turn to face him. I cocked my eyebrow.
"Why do you seem so affected by her? Do you not hate her?"
In truth, that question was also directed at me. And at Zevran. We all claimed to hate her with every fiber of our beings. We treated her like garbage, made fun of her… punished her for no reason at all, and even paraded her sister like she was the biggest fucking star in the motherfucking sky. Yet we couldn't let go of her.
We could never bring ourselves to get enough of her.
Kael scoffed, rolling his eyes at me, then he slapped Zevran's shoulder who instantly turned to him. "Do you not hate her too?" he asked Zevran, but unlike us, Zevran was fast. He snapped; "I hate her more than I hate mushrooms."
And he hated those things so damn much.
Kael turned to me then, his usual confident glint shining in his eyes. He spat; "Same here, mate. Same here."
However, I was just about to open my mouth, to concur with them when a sudden high pitched scream tore through the air.
My breath caught, my body freezing for a nanosecond.
"Chalice!" Kael finally hissed, snapping himself out of his momentary haze, and it wasn't until then that we realized our error.
We'd allowed fragile Chalice go off to have a chitchat with 'venomous' Leilani. And she'd struck again. As per usual.
By the time we arrived inside the house, we found Chalice sprawled on the floor, at the foot of the stairs, spotting a large cut on her forehead that bled so much I feared she would have a concussion.
When she saw me, she held out a frail arm toward me, her eyes glistening with tears. She muttered; "Leilani pushed me down. I don't know why, I don't know what I did. She just…" her voice trailed off as she slumped against me,
And then suddenly stopped breathing.
"Someone call the doctor!" Zevran yelled at the top of his voice. "She has fainted! Call an ambulance if you cannot reach the doctor!"
The sound of people scampering about behind me dissolved into nothing but white noise as I stared at Chalice's pale bloodless face whilst grasping her icy cold hands in mine.
Then there was Leilani, standing at the top of the stairs, frozen as if in shock. Her eyes held tears that she refused to let drop and her body trembled so much I could visibly see it from here.
However, this time, she didn't rush to explain what had happened like she normally would. She didn't even say a word but kept her eyes trained instead on her unconscious twin.
And then she turned away and walked off, leaving me stewing in my rage and hatred.
I would so fucking make her pay for this!