Flames of Fury

Varian

The three of us watch as Syble — or Mags, apparently — falls into a trance along with Xander.

You really think they’re telling the truth? I mindlink Ro.

Not sure, but what do they stand to gain from lying? The pull we feel towards her is real, so then why didn’t we feel it before? Maybe we really don’t remember.

There’s only one way to find out.

I spot Incandis out of the corner of my eye wringing his hands together, I can hear his heart beating as fast as a hummingbird’s. He’s nervous. He’s scared.

I wonder what truth Xander could reveal that would make him this worried.

Incandis’ heart stalls for a moment when Mags and Xander come out of their trance.

No one says anything, no one breathes. I can feel her fire burning from within her, I can feel her betrayal and her rage like it’s my own.

My wolf snarls in my mind, wanting me to comfort her. The drive is so overwhelming that I nearly give in. Just as I’m about to reach out for her, she lifts her hand so fast and slaps Xander across the face.

I actually flinch from the impact, my hand recoiling back to my side.

“How could you?” She asks of Xander, her voice sounding every bit as devastated as she feels.

“How could either of you do that to me?”

I can’t help but feel sorry for her. I can’t help but want to run to her and hold her and tell her it’ll be okay.

Why are things so different this time around? Why do I feel this pull towards her? Why didn’t my wolf recognize her as our mate before? The matepull doesn’t lie. It’s not something that can be easily faked.

If Incandis was willing to do that to her, someone he would sooner die than betray, maybe they did erase our memories. My lip coils into a snarl at the thought. I don’t even realize I’m growling until Xander clears his throat.

“Do you guys want a minute before we start?” He asks us quietly.

“No, the sooner we get this over with, the better.”

He nods, lost in his own thoughts, and then gestures to the couch Mags had been sitting on.

“Have a seat, then.”

Ro and I cram onto the love seat in front of Xander, our knees knocking uncomfortably against his.

“Alright Alphas, let’s talk.”

— — —

Rohanor

I sit there unblinking as image after image floods my memory, like a veil lifted off of what I thought I knew, revealing a forgotten truth.

Meeting her for the first time, sparring with her, fighting a bond that grew stronger every day, taking her to the lake, dancing with her at the club, claiming her…and the day she took off without us and how it almost killed me and Varian.

What truly guts me isn’t the sudden recovery of these stolen memories — because that’s what they are. Stolen. It’s the feeling that envelops each and every one of them, the inescapable pull towards her, the desire, the passion, the heat.

Every memory recovered adds to the storm of emotions brewing within me.

First is pain.

How could I forget my mate? I know it wasn’t my choice but I feel like I should have known, I should have remembered, my wolf should have remembered. If he felt our bond with her at all then he should have remembered.

Then there’s pain from the helplessness I felt when we realized she was gone and there was no feasible way to get her back. Pain from the way she looked at us when we told her we didn’t remember that she’s ours, that we didn’t want her. I’d rather die a thousand times over than feel her heart breaking like that again.

The pain, however, is quickly swept away by anger, by rage — by fury.

I’m furious with my parents for being the ones to suggest this invasion of my mind. I’m enraged with Xander for fucking agreeing to it, for being the one who stole her from me. I may not have had cause to kill him before but I certainly do now. But most of all, I am absolutely boiling mad at her.

She left us. She fucking left! Instead of turning to us and trusting us, she deliberately flew straight across enemy lines, recklessly endangering herself.

Stronger and stronger the storm inside me grows, I’m getting torn apart by warring emotions so quickly I’m getting whiplash.

One final memory floods me — the night Xander came to talk to us. Like looking through a window into my own life I watch as my memories of what she meant to me slip away, I watch as I’m left in my office to wake up to a life without my other half, my reason for living, the very oxygen I breathe.

Like a scorching fire, tears pool in my eyes and blaze, red hot, down my cheek.

No one speaks.

No one moves.

I’m not sure what to do first. I know I need to see Mags. I need to hear her voice, bury my nose in her hair, feel her warm skin under my fingertips. But after that I’m at a loss.

The raging part of me wants to punish her. I want to spank her ass raw, I want to take my pleasure and deny hers, I want to fucking split her in half like how my heart split apart when she left.

Then there’s another part of me that wants the exact opposite, a part of me that wants to pamper her and worship her. She could still be locked away, she could have been hurt worse by that fucking snake of a man…she could have been killed.

But she wasn’t, she’s here, and now I want to give her the comfort and love she’s been deprived of for the last five months.

I want to savor every second of her scent, her taste, the electric crackle between our skin. I want to kiss and mark every centimeter of her flawless skin, especially now that there’s more of her to caress. I want to kiss her swollen belly even if it’s not my pups that she carries and tell her how much pregnancy suits her. I want to hold her and never let go.

I glance over at Varian. I don’t need to ask how he’s feeling because I already know that his feelings mirror my own. I can also feel that although our bond with Mags isn’t broken, it is weakened. I can’t feel her as strongly as I should be able to, I can’t get into her mind.

Mates aren’t meant to survive apart from one another. It stresses the bond, it can fracture the soul. This fact is probably the only excuse I can make for my mother’s and Xander’s actions.

Luckily, I have absolutely no problem reclaiming my mate. In fact, it would give me no greater pleasure. I’d claim her morning, noon, and night if she let me.

Starting tonight.

Now.

Varian rubs his palms along his thighs, and then mindlinks me as he stands.

What are we waiting for? Let’s go get our girl.

I set my scorching sights on Xander as I slowly rise up off the couch. A very satisfying thought races across the forefront of my mind.

“I’d say it’s nice seeing you again, Xander, but we both know that it’d be a lie.” I step into his space, our chests so close to one another that a deep breath would eliminate that space. “You know, my brother and I have wanted to kill you for a while now, but Mags wouldn’t have it. I doubt you’ll find the same ally in her now.” I pat his cheek twice with my hand and a patronizing grin, my wolf’s bloodlust is boiling to the surface.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Mags wants to do the honors herself,” Varian chimes in from behind me.

I force my way past Xander, slamming my shoulder into his as I pass. Just before I can exit the room he opens his mouth again.

“Ro? Do me a favor?” He begins, his tone is light and kissed with satisfaction. “Let your sister know that I need to talk to her.”

My hands slam up on either side of the door frame stopping me from moving forward. I turn back towards him painfully slowly because I know any sudden movement will allow my wolf to take over.

The look I pin him with could peel paint. “What. Did you…just say?”

“I said, don’t go killing me just yet, alpha. Otherwise Kat won’t get her memories back either.”

Varian decks him across the face with a satisfying crack, but I set my sights now on Incandis. His expression is equal parts rage and pain. It’s a look that matches how I felt getting my memories back — I almost take pity on him.

“You let him fuck around in my little sister’s mind, Incandis? Your own mate?!”

“He had nothing to do with it,” Xander bellows. “Her memories were a liability. If Incandis was popping in all the time you’d start asking questions and the whole operation would unravel.”

Varian grabs Xander by the throat and slams his head up against the wall with another loud crack. He slams him back over and over until blood splatters on the wall and Xander goes limp in his grasp.

“Varian, don’t. We need him for Kat.” Incandis says on a tremor.

“What the fuck have you done?” The small woman with hair like fire asks from the doorway next to me. It’s no wonder her name is Ember.

Her gaze shifts between us, one at a time, and it strikes us like a slap to the face. When she asked that question she was referring to all of us.

She walks past me into the center of the room, her feet do not make a single sound, she moves silent as the night; not a scuff, not a swish, not a breath.

I have to fight the chill it sends through me. The only person I know with wrath like that is Mags, but she obviously taught this fireball a thing or two.

“For five months I watched her,” Ember begins, her voice deceptively soft — restrained. “Illian tortured her everyday. He assaulted her, everyday. For five. Months.” Her words are coming out through gritted teeth now.

“And she took it. The pain he inflicted, the psychological games he played with her… I’ve seen Illian break stronger men than you.”

She shakes her head like a sour memory has come unbidden to her mind. I can see her straining to swallow down the bile rising in her throat.

“She survived five months in the depths of hell and rose like a phoenix from the ashes, like the eternal flame she is. Like a goddamn queen.”

Her face scrunches up into a grimace, jaw tight and teeth clenched. Her head ticks to the side as she tries to shake it. “Then she comes home — home. A place we dreamed about, the last unbreakable strand of hope we held on to.” Her head drops, her eyes are closed and her chin is pressed to her chest. “And in one day, one fucking day, you managed to do what Illian couldn’t do in five months.”

She lifts her head up and when she opens her honey colored eyes, fat tears roll down her cheeks.

“You broke her.” She breathes and floats out of the room without another word or look to any of us.

Her words ricochet around my brain.

Nothing has ever devastated me more than those three words.