Page 53 of Bullied By the Alpha Wolf

I sobbed, the world going blurry, and then I noticed Kaiden’s eyes change. The yellow flickered in and out, revealing his usual black irises. Through the gore, I looked closer; the fur bits dangling off him and shedding to the ground showed lighter human skin beneath.

He was trying to shift back. Oh God. Please don’t let it kill him.

That fucking drug was a horrible curse, and every bit of it needed to be found and destroyed. Fucking Eli and his bid for power was damn close to taking the only thing in the world that really mattered to me—an attack from him delivered postmortem.

The sound of bones and tendons snapping demanded my attention, and I watched in horror as Kaiden’s body struggled to get back into its human shape. It wasn’t supposed to look like this. I’d seen wolves shift in and out of their animal form, and after the first few times, it was seamless.

This was not that.

If I knew more about wolven biology—or hell, was it magic?—I might have understood what was happening. But all that I could tell was that Kaiden looked like he was fighting for control against his wolf. He slammed himself against the ground as he forced the shift back to human form, and all I could do was watch.

Time hung frozen then, each molecule of my being on edge as Kaiden fought so damn hard.

And then it stopped. Behind the blood and mess, I could see him. Kaiden was in human form again. But he wasn’t moving.

“Kaiden!”

I rushed over to him as fast as my weakened body could take me. Pulling Kaiden’s head into my lap again, I looked down at his face. He was beyond dirty, his black hair matted to his forehead, thanks to the blood and remnants of flesh and spilled drug covering his skin. Cuts and slashes littered his body, and his breathing was shallow.

“Wake up, Kaiden. Please.” My voice was so soft, barely a whisper. “Come on, baby. Wake up.”

My tears slid down my face, landing on Kaiden’s cheek. I couldn’t lose him. Not after he’d finally come back to me. But the seconds just dragged on, the sounds of fighting filtering in from outside the room now that there was nothing else to focus on.

God, on top of everything else, we needed to get out of here. It wasn’t safe.

I swiped Kaiden’s bangs out of his eyes and leaned forward, resting my forehead on his. My chest throbbed, and holding up my head was getting harder and harder.

“Kaiden. Please, open your eyes.”

I touched my lips to his, the featherlight touch the softest kiss I’d ever given.

A tiny squeak of a groan sounded right where my lips touched Kaiden. My eyes shot open, and I looked down at him, my heartbeat screaming in my ears.

“Kit?”

Everything surged, and I pulled him into my arms. Kaiden hissed, but I wasn’t letting go. Not ever.

“You’re okay,” I sobbed, the joy threading through me alongside the horrid ache. “You’re okay.”

His arms wrapped around me, and he squeezed. “I am, thanks to you.”

I leaned back to look Kaiden in the eyes. They were just like I remembered, shiny and dark, and my body hummed with relief. But then the edges of the world closed in on me and everything looked like a TV with static.

“Kaiden, I—”

But the words died in my throat as the dizzying swirl took over. I was useless to stop it, and no matter what I wanted or how hard I fought against it, I went limp in Kaiden’s arms, the darkness closing in.

“Kit! Kit!”

Kaiden calling my name was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

Chapter 25 - Kaiden

The sound of the monitor beeping droned on in the room. It had for several hours now, and I really should have gotten some rest in there somewhere. But I didn’t. Kit lay on the small bed in front of me, and I’d been sitting right here in this mediocre chair, holding her hand, since we got back to the compound.

She still hadn’t woken up. It had been eight hours.

Eight hours, twelve minutes, and thirty-eight seconds. But who’s counting.

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