-VALEN’S POV-
When Raina lifted her left hand from her shoulder, a deep red print of my palm blistered her honeyed skin. Her doleful blue eyes questioningly pierced into mine so deep that my heart prickled.
Simmering with rage, I decided to draw the line here. I went closer to her and roughly nudged Vaheed out of the way with my shoulder. I took her hands into mine and she screamed again. It was a cry of pain.
“Ahh!” Her shrill echoed high and wild through the noisy rain as she tore herself from my grasp as though I was acid or a contamination.
Thermal heat from my hands burnt her wrist.
Although I fumed with suppressed anger because of Vaheed, bewilderment superseded and I gazed at my palms and wondered what had happened. All I did was touch her. Why is she being bruised by my contact? This was not how it was supposed to be. We are mates and our touch created the most superb sensation. How is it that my hands burned her, instead? It baffled me.
“What’s wrong with you? Stay away from her!” Vaheed protectively shielded Raina from me by standing in front of her, facing me.
“Let me heal her.” I stepped forward, outstretching my hand.
“No!” Shivering, Raina turned her left side away from me with a ducked chin.
I halted my stride from the rejection. It was like being slapped hard in the face. I barely repressed the temptation to punch Vaheed's face. Had it not been for Raina's presence, my wolf wanted my brother's blood. He ought to know his place. Raina’s mine. Mine to care for, to love and to hold forever. I was the one to be her refuge and support.
Nothing compared to the gulf in my heart caused by anguish and stubborn pride. The reprehensible distance was a chasm that perpetually divided us.
“Clearly you need to be healed. Don’t tell me to stay away.” I persisted with passionate conviction but caught something in her expression. It was one that feared me.
“She doesn’t need you to hurt her again!” Vaheed gritted with two arms wide open to form a barricade as she stood behind him. She shuddered erratically while staring at her trembling hands as the red blotch mushroomed.
“If you don’t move out of the way I’m going to send you to hell, brother.” I insisted with the equanimity of a man who had a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness. Despite that nagging conscience that reminded me that killing him would devastate our family.
Obstinately, Vaheed stood squarely in a threatening stance. “Raina needs medical attention and if you care about her, you’ll let me take her to our grandmother.”
White, hot fury surged and I was going to dissect him but she glanced at me, terrified, and shook her head. Settling in a gentle menace, I bit my lower lip and told myself to cool it. Seeing her in pain constricted my heart.
“Raina, please ―” I implored with a soft smile, tinging with desperation. My heart panged to know that I unintentionally had hurt her. I wanted to stroke her wet burgundy streaks and soothe her. Whatever was wrong, I would fix it if she gave me the chance.
“Don’t come any closer.” Her voice quivered as she spoke and I felt her hot tears even though the raindrops dabbed all of her. Frantically, she shook her head that her burgundy hair flew in a wild arc around her neck and face. Harnessing with fear and unwillingness, she tugged my brother’s soaked gray t-shirt. “Vaheed, take me home.”
“I’m sorry, Raina. I never meant to hurt you.” I had to let her know before she left.
Though her ashen face slowly nodded, despair and resignation conveyed a stark withdrawal.
“I…….” My words trailed off as their backs turned.
They departed the awful alley with Vaheed holding onto my mate to assist her gait. To the agony that was clawing at me, the blinding, black fury at the idea of her being cared for by him. I wanted to shout, but refrained. I did not kick anything, though I ached to. I considered blowing up the nearby buildings, but decided against it. Inane gibberish buzzed as a result of the controlled anarchy I was experiencing.
Thunder crashed furiously. Sadness poured from my thudding heart. A tiny seed of fear germinated within me. Spider lightning splurged. A raging inferno of jealousy also wanted to be counted in. The deliberately cool downpour could not slough away the remnant of blood from my bleeding heart.
I had to know if she was okay. A new plan formed and it was to start being closer to her. It was time to stop pretending. It seemed a lifetime since I've been doing it. The inability to touch her left a disturbingly distinct impact on my brain and drained away all the air so that it was impossible to breathe.
My head was spinning wildly.
How could she leave with him? The disbelief left me standing in the never-ending rain feeling beaten down by nature, heartbroken by my mate, and flabbergasted by the wounding effect of our connection. Now more than ever, her heart was definitely tucked away from me. Numb and hollowness set in as she disappeared out of view.
My sweet bluebella, Raina. She was always so close, yet achingly out of reach. Simultaneously, taunting me with her nearness and her distance.
I wondered what would happen on her eighteenth birthday when she was to both acquire her wolf and feel the effect of the mate bond. Would I be able to touch her then, or would it still be painful for her?
The mating process where I would mark and mate her cannot take place if we are unable to touch. That reality came with a powerful bitter sense of loss. Were we unfortunate soulmates?
No.......
I won’t lose her.
Out of nowhere, the intensity of the flashes increased and lit the vacant streets around me like pepper lights. Ball lightning formed in an electrical storm. In perplexity, my eyes darted heavenward to behold the skyrmion of ten balls of light in proximity about the size of a basketball moving slowly parallel to the earth and exploding, leaving behind a sulfurous smell.
This was bad. Both my hands went to the sides of my head as a circuit of thoughts powered the motor gears in my head. An awry sensation emerged in my bones.
Something was devastatingly wrong.
-
-RAINA’S POV-"No fucking way!" Vaheed argued with me all the way to Wolverson Hospital.He insisted on carrying me in his arms because of my injuries. I managed to convince him that I was physically fit to walk, not crippled. He parked his silver Porsche in front of the illuminated twelve-story hospital building.There was no rain here, just the moon shining bright in the natural black that hugged the glittering stars, splattered but never falling. It was around five in the morning that we arrived at the central area which is called Central City and I felt weak and burning up with my heart in tatters. The fire raced through me like an amplified jarring jolt when Valen touched me. The shock hadn't dispelled that my own mate inflicted wounds on me.My pained strides held balance and gave no indication of a limp. I was concealing from Vaheed the extent of agony that I truly experienced. Dauntingly, my entire skin was a picture of chili-red rashes that pinched. Giving the impression that
-RAINA'S POV- I was confused about Valen’s actions. Vaheed returned to the examination room with a beige t-shirt dress for me. As I took the clothes from him, a dizzy wave spilled from the headache. My legs went weak, my knees buckled and I fell into something hard. He swiftly appeared in front of me with hands wrapped around my waist to steady my balance. Resting my head on his pectoral for ten seconds allowed the dizziness to pass. When I gently pushed against his chest, his grip remained and he looked down on me with concern. He was also wearing a different top and blue jeans. “Raina, I can help you.” He uttered serenely, “I know that you are covering how deep in pain you are.” “The dizziness comes and goes.” Stubbornly, I brushed him off with my hands. Taking a few staggered steps back, I firmly demanded. “I’m fine, but you need to tell me why you ran away from your birthday party and why you were fighting him.” Obviously hiding the underlying factor of their grapple, he grim
-RAINA’S POV- "Valen, don't be mad at Raina….." Venus' voice trailed off when I placed my index finger over my lips to shush her. She raised a brow quizzically. "Out!" Valen snarled in a way that made everyone jump in their skin as his aura tripled out. Wanting to hear no further objections. He percolated an energy that was so raw and animalistic that you would forget there was anyone else in the surroundings. In contrast, his deep irate tone sent a pleasurable shiver from the nape of my neck and down my spine. To others, he was fearsome and ruthless. To me, he was handsome, sexy, and pretty much a Greek god that was intricately designed to make women swoon. My vagina was shouting for my virginity to be stolen by him. He was dishy and the ideal man of my dreams. The man whose babies I wanted to have. Horrified, Mom clearly thought that Valen was angry and here to chastise me for sneaking out of Central City. Dad's mouth opened to beseech leniency but quickly closed it when his alph
-RAINA’S POV – Unrequited love. Unfortunate souls. A myth. Heard of it throughout generations and thought that it did not exist. How could the deity of all werewolves take my mate from me? Valen was my crush. There was not a day that my heart did not climax with love for him. Howbeit our bond was ludicrous. A laughable tale. A deep clawing pain wedge in my chest. The bond had us on two distinct plateaus with a massive cleft between us in the middle. The second grievous truth was that on Valen's eighteenth birthday, everyone was anxious to know if he had sensed his mate. He told them "No." As a result, it made my sweet sixteenth birthday bittersweet. That was the day, through the early arrival of my wolf, I discovered that my childhood crush did not want me as his mate. The poignant memory affected my brain like poison. Just fucking great! I unfurled several reams of anger at my deity. Eye water trickled out. I did not conceal my wails. “How can this be?” “I wish I knew the answe
-RAINA’S POV- Valen threw his head back and released a rumbling, sonorous laugh. What was the joke? I thought that he’d be mad at me. When he finished laughing, he intently gazed at me, pulled his lips into a lopsided smile, and sneered. “You know my feelings so well, Raina.” What should have been a silent battle between us transformed into an activation of passion. Depth cried out to depth as the venereal mate bond did tug-of-war through our locked eyes. “Valen!” Luna Sianna vehemently demanded a direct answer, breaking up our fervid tussle. Gingerly, his deprecated emerald orbs met the challenging gaze of his mother. “Of course not.” His enunciating tone abetted me to question the stark assurance of the declaration. He was really frustrating, but still, I simpered in self-satisfaction. His obsessive gaze was fixed on me in a way that stated he was going to make me pay for it. It was unfair to put him in the spot, but it was time for me to step out and demand that he claim me. H
-RAINA’S POV- "Why does he get to stay?" Vaheed shoved his way forward past the others, displaying utter disapproval. “He should not be around her!” Instantly, Valen erected himself from the wall, facing Vaheed. His wolf bared his teeth and showed his presence and possessiveness, as his claws extended. Losing his temper slammed a gargantuan aura into the entire room. Veins populated on his forehead. He was ready to finish the brawl that had started at the bar in Furborg City. Vaheed flinched because this time Valen’s attacking position was different. It was dark, turbulent, and hellish. Clutching the sky-blue sheet, I held my breath and my heart beat wildly. My pulse thumped inside my ears. They should not be fighting again. Oh, goddess! A premonition of Vaheed's blood sprinkling over the white hospital floor tiles flashed across my mental vision. Two fighting alphas would be terribly bloody. “Boys, end this now!” Even Luna Sianna was peeved with her twitching eyebrows. Vance, th
-RAINA’S POV- Ultimately, Valen sighed in surrender and acquiesced with a go-ahead expression. My wolf yipped and warmth curled inside my gut. I wanted to kiss him right then. Too bad every part of me ached, preventing that reality. Additionally, the agonizing sensation from the physical contact would turn that first kiss into nothing more than a horrible memory. Doing the honors, I announced, since he wouldn't clear the air. "Valen's my mate. That’s why he wants to stay by my side." A sheen of happiness coated me. My eyes brimmed with tears of mirth and the smile tugging my lips broke into a pleased grin. A spark flared in his emerald orbs as they penetrated mine with a look that gave me a pleasant chill. Despite my ailment, excitement filled me. Can I jump on him now? Instantly, I wanted everybody to clear the room. "Oh, goddess!" Venus shrieked gleefully, then abruptly dulled in facade. "Oh." She realized what that meant for Vaheed and Valen, and quaked, "Oh no." In retaliatio
-VALEN’S POV- "Son, we need to talk." Dad summoned me through our mental link. "Come to my office." "I'll be there in a few minutes," I replied, and cut the link, opening my eyes and using my fingers to massage the ache in my forehead in a clockwise, circular motion. “You better not leave our mate’s side,” my wolf dictated. His pining augmented the same headache that I was trying to expel. “The meeting is important and we need help with our mate bond.” I reminded him in annoyance. It was inevitable that Dad would meet with me and Vaheed after our fighting. Dad encouraged unity among his children. He was strict, principled, and disciplined. Only Venus got the softer side of him. “Devin, I need you to stay with Raina while I go and see my father.” I beckoned my future Royal Beta. “I’m on my way,” he reported. Previously, Raina had gone quiet until she fell asleep. I never left the hospital room and was still sitting in the chair next to her bed. I was angry at myself for her suf