Page 69 of Broken Fate
Days passed. I think. Nobody ever really told me, and I didn’t ask. I didn’t eat. I barely slept. Grief was my only companion. I lay on the makeshift bed, staring at the ceiling. Seeing Clive go spinning away into the darkness of the sea. Again. And again. And again.
“NO! DAMN YOU!”
I sat up straight, a thin layer of sweat causing the sheet and my lightweight clothing to stick to my skin. I flung it off, the sudden weight oppressive. My lungs rose and fell with unnatural rapidity. As I closed my eyes, I noticed two sounds. The ragged in and out of my breathing and the roaring drumbeat of my pulse.
Had I been dreaming? I didn’t recall falling asleep.
“Jada.”
A voice at the door. Cutting through the fog like a knife. The same knife that had been used to rip out parts of my insides. Leaving them in the sea.
“Jada, get up.”
Again that voice. Saying a name. My name. I didn’t care.
“Go away.” Was that my voice? It sounded horrible. Rough, torn, with a vague hint of iron tingling my taste buds. I was bleeding.
“Get up. Now.”
The fog was blasted aside by the sharp crack of the voice, a whip snapping its shockwave through me.Forcingmy body to obey. Legs creaked, knees bent and straightened as I swung off the bed and stood. Against my will. Shocks raced up my body, darting from pore to pore as my skin tightened in alarm and shock.
“Howdareyou speak to me like that,” I snarled at the intruder. “I don’t know how you can use an Alpha command, but that is thelasttime you’ll do that to me.”
“Then don’t force my hand,” Kiel said, my threat sliding off him like grease.
I went for his throat. “You sonofa—”
“Stay!” he barked, standing up tall, looming over me.
My legs straightened, muscles rigid. I snarled, but the command ran deep, speaking to something in me I couldn’t control. The pack had to have a leader. And Kiel was mine. Which meant that when he said so, I obeyed.
“Calli damn you,” I spat at his face, purposefully choosing that curse.
Azure fire burned briefly in the depths of his eyes, igniting a wave of anger that spoke to something I knew I would never understand.
“I told you not to use that,” he growled, coming closer. Into range.
My hands came up like streaking comets, fingers curled to claw at his face.
Kiel was faster. He caught both my wrists, his hands like darting snakes, fastening on and holding me firm. Unmoving, without so much as a tremble in his arms. Then he transferred his grip, casually holdingbothmy arms with one of his. A terrifying demonstration of just how overpowered I was. Myarmscouldn’t wrench away from a couple of his fingers. They squeezed tight enough my bones would have bruises after.
His other hand came up, grabbing me by the jaw. Muscles protested as he lifted my chin, forcing my eyes to stare into his.
“I am not your enemy.”
“Then why are you treating me like I’m your prisoner?” I ground out through clenched teeth.
“Because you’re keeping everyone awake with your screaming,” he said bluntly. “And that’s not fair to them. They didn’t want to intrude on you, which is admirable, but nor should they be left to suffer. As the leader, the responsibility to handle the situation falls on my shoulders. So, here I am.”
“You used an Alpha command on me,” I said.
He stared at me, waiting, not denying it.
“How?”
“That is a discussion for later. Much later,” he said.
“Then why are you here?”
