Kaiden's POV
"Kylian!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the room like a whip crack.
Everything inside me twisted with frustration. I'd been having the best time with my mate—finally, finally getting to know him and then my brother had to ruin it. Again. Kylian was always too hotheaded, too arrogant, too quick to bare his teeth.
But honestly? His temper wasn't even the worst of my problems.
Kaylan's suspicions had been gnawing at me ever since that night in the woods. He'd sworn he saw a vampire feeding on a deer. Father had dismissed it, said it was nothing, and we all wanted to believe him. I think we were too scared of what it would mean if it were true. Werewolves and vampires didn't coexist, they clashed. A clan living here could only mean one thing: war.
And now, my mate had seen it all. He'd seen Kylian lose control. He'd seen my eyes shift, my claws extend.
Shit. He must be terrified. Terrified of me.
I turned toward him, searching his face. Fear was there, yes but it wasn't just from watching a wolf and a vampire tear into each other. There was something else, deeper, like grief pressed under his skin.
And then it hit me.
This was were the juniors have Biology class. Rick had brought me here because he'd been worried about his sister. And that girl—fighting with Kylian, moving too sharp, too fast. She wasn't human. No way.
If she was his sister… then Rick wasn't human either.
The thought landed like a blade to the gut. No. Please, moon goddess, not this.
I swallowed hard. My voice came out rough, begging more than demanding.
"Rick… tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you're not what I think you are."
His hazel eyes widened, caught between fear and shame. For a heartbeat, he just stared at me, pleading silently, like he could will me not to ask again. Then his gaze dropped, shoulders collapsing inward.
"…Yes." The word cracked out of him, broken. A tear slid down his cheek.
The world tilted. I stumbled back as though his confession had weight. "You—" My throat tightened. "You're a vampire?"
My chest burned. My stomach twisted. All the laughter, all the warmth, the kiss we'd shared—it felt poisoned.
"What the actual fuck," I snapped, voice trembling between fury and heartbreak. "You knew. You knew and you didn't say a damn thing."
His head snapped up, eyes flashing. "And you told me you were a werewolf?" His voice shook, raw, his pain colliding with mine.
I froze. He wasn't wrong. We'd both hidden the truth, both too afraid of what it would do.
For a long, heavy moment, we just stared at each other. Mates—fated, bound—and yet enemies by blood. I'd waited my whole life for this bond, only for the goddess to tie me to the one thing I could never have.
And yet… the pull between us didn't fade. It only burned hotter. His hazel eyes caught the light, beautiful and defiant. His skin was cold where it brushed mine, but that cold left warmth in my chest, the kind that terrified me.
I'd never thought I'd look at a vampire and think beautiful. But here I was.
A loud crash snapped me back. Kylian had slammed Rick's sister against the wall, her head cracking against it with a sick thud. She gasped, struggling for breath, and panic lit my nerves on fire.
"We need to stop them," I said quickly.
Rick nodded, relief flashing in his eyes that I was still talking to him. "How?"
"You get your sister. I'll get my brother."
We moved in sync. Rick rushed for the girl, dragging her from Kylian's grip and pinning her to a table. She thrashed, snarling, but eventually slumped, glaring at him with fire in her eyes.
Kylian's snarl split the air. "Who the hell are you? Another bloodsucker? You'd better all get out of this town before I rip you to shreds!"
He lunged, but I was faster. I slammed him into the wall, pinning him hard enough that the plaster cracked.
"Get out. Now !" I barked at Rick.
He didn't hesitate. He grabbed his sister's arm and bolted. I tracked them with my hearing, the thunder of their footsteps down the stairs, the rush of air through the hall, the slam of a door, and finally the growl of an engine as they sped away.
Only then did I release Kylian.
He thrashed immediately, trying to run after them. I hooked his leg, yanked him down before he could shift. If he went wolf, he could still catch them. I couldn't let that happen.
"You're insane!" he spat, teeth bared. "Why did you stop me?!"
"What would that solve?" I snapped back. "Killing them means starting a war, Kylian."
His face crumpled. His voice broke. "What did it solve? They killed Mum!"
The words ripped out of him like a wound reopening. And then he broke. His body shook, sobs racking him as he collapsed into my arms.
I held him tight, even as my own chest ached. Memories clawed at me, the sight of her pale body in the woods, drained and limp. We'd only been six. Too young to understand, too old to forget. It had shattered him worse than any of us.
Kylian had never recovered. He'd pulled away from us, defied Father at every turn, looking for something to pour his grief into. And now it was spilling out of him, raw and jagged.
I tightened my arms around him, steadying him even as my heart drifted elsewhere. To Rick. To the forbidden bond thrumming inside me. To the hazel eyes I could still see when I closed mine.
My brother was breaking in my arms. My mate was running for his life. And I was caught between them, pulled in two directions, knowing that no matter which way I turned, someone would bleed.