19

Kiara found herself unable to pull away from Devon. Her body only wanted to be beside him, and no matter how much she fought it, she couldn’t help but cling to him. She knew that given what today was, separating herself from him was going to be an impossible task and that created an unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach. The urge to be beside him, with him, was only going to grow as the day went by and she doesn’t know just how much willpower she has to resist till the full moon passes.

From across the room, Marcos stared at them with his eyes narrowed in slits. He couldn’t understand why she only wanted to be around him and not both of them at least. His hands balled into fists when he realized that the only time Kiara had looked his way today, her eyes were filled with anger and disgust.

“What did you do to her?” He blurted out, unable to keep it in anymore and Devon raised his perfectly arched but bushy brow as amusement danced in his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Marcos sprang up from the chair and fist came down hard on the table. Kiara flinched, inadvertently leaning towards Devon. Marcos eyes caught the action and more anger rippled through him. “You know what I mean, Devon. You know what today is, she should want to be beside the both of us! She should want us both! Why is she clinging to you? What. Have. You. Done?”

Devon let a few moments of silence pass while he just drummed his fingers on the table.  “Maybe, she just isn’t your mate, Marcos. That is the only explanation.”

“Bullshit!” He slammed his hands on the table again and this time a low growl emanated from Kiara’s throat, her eyes trained on him like a predator about to pounce on his prey, and Marcos eyes widened in surprise.

On the day the first full moon will appear, not only do werewolves who have found their mates but remain unmated go into heat, their protective instincts are sharpened and they go out of their way to defend their mates, and the realization hit Marcos like a truck

Kiara only registered Devon as her mate, her words yesterday was just to keep up appearance, but it made no sense. Slowly he descended on his seat and lowered his head.

“How then do we explain the fact that I feel she is my mate?” He whispered and if not for Devon’s sharp hearing, they would have missed what he asked. “I swear she is my mate,” his voice cracked at the end and his gaze flickered from Devon to Kiara, who was still staring at him like the enemy.

“I think there is someone who would better explain this whole situation to you.” Marcos immediately sat up curiously.

The door burst open and Ketura was dragged into the room. Marcos’ gaze zeroed on her as the wheels turned in his head, and when it seemed to finally click, his eyes hardened and he turned to Devon. “Did she cast a spell?”

“This is one of the few times I believe that it is the same blood that flows in our veins. She manipulated you through the blood we share as family, and that’s why you couldn’t break off from it”

In an instant, Marcos flew out from his chair and wrapped his hand around Ketura’s throat, cutting off her blood flow and she slowly paled. “Do I look like a plaything to you? How dare you?”

Despite the blood slowly draining from her face, Ketura managed a smile. “Redde mihi sanguinem maledictum” she muttered under her breath, and Marcos’ hand dropped from her throat due to the sharp ringing in his ears at her words.

“Hold her back!” The guards immediately held onto Ketura again while Devon walked up to Marcos and steadied him on his feet, “What is wrong? Can you hear me?”

“Get your hands off me!” He snatched himself out of Devon’s hold once the ringing in his ears stopped. His lips fell into a thin line and his eyes found Ketura’s, “is this another curse of yours?” He asked, hands balled into fists as he struggled to control his wolf who was practically fighting to be let out - his wolf wanted to hurt Ketura just as much as he wanted to hold her softly.

“You are my mate, Marcos. I am being honest.”

His chest rose and fell rapidly as he stared at her, then finally he turned to Devon, who has been watching everything quietly. “You do not have a right to hold my mate hostage, release her.”

Cocking his head to the side, Devon pulled his classic move of raising a brow. “Don’t you think you are too bold, Marcos? She is my prisoner and I am not going to let her go until she pays for what she did, IN FULL. I don’t bloody care if she is your mate.”

Marcos unable to control his wolf anymore was about to shift, but Devon immediately grabbed him by the throat, thereby cutting off the shifting and sending an insurmountable amount of pain over him. “You should think twice before doing that,  Kaiser has been itching to get a taste of you and I promise you, I am not going to stop him this time.” Each time he has laid eyes on Marcos since yesterday, his wolf, Kaiser, kept struggling to make an appearance and fulfil the promise of eating him up alive, and if Marcos goes out of line today, there’d be no stopping Kaiser.

Weighing his options, Marcos shoulders slumped in defeat. The strength gap between him and Devon was not extremely wide, but the strength gap between his wolf and Kaiser cannot be comprehended. The fight would be over as soon as it starts.

“Coward.” Ketura seethed once she noted that Marcos has already given up on the fight before it started. “You are just going to let him keep your mate hostage?”

“You didn’t seem to mind when you made me a puppet for your stupid revenge!” He shot back and words died down in Ketura’s lips. “Get her out of my sight.” 

The guards looked to Devon for his approval and once he nodded, they dragged Ketura out of the hall and back to her prison. 

“I am….” Marcos paused and frowned, “I think you might want to check on your mate.”

Devon immediately turned towards Kiara and she was covered in a pool of her sweat and shaking uncontrollably. She was in heat. “Shit!” He cursed and ran over to her.