Shattered

Chapter 3: Natural Selection

P.S, the song at the top is for the second half of the chapter ❤️

Kaden's POV:

"Damaged people are dangerous. They know how to make hell feel like home."- Unknown

It killed me to watch Violet walk out of that grocery store and not go after her. It was the first time I'd seen her since I snuck in while she was in the ICU, in a coma from her suicide attempt.

I barely got to her in time that night. I shifted and caught her just before she went off the edge. She was so out of it, she could barely keep her eyes open but there was one moment when she looked up at me with beautiful, grey eyes, and I knew she felt it. I felt it too. I felt it and despite my philosophy on mates being unnecessary, I couldn't let her go. We were connected, and even if she wasn't mine, I couldn't stand the idea of being in so much pain they were willing to do something like that. I would've tried to reach out to anyone, but with her... Goddess, I really had no idea what that bond would feel like but when she looked at me...

It was like I could see right into her soul and she could see right into mine. I could see into her soul and it was beautiful. It was bursting with love and colors and creativity and empathy, but it was all hidden away behind a horribly twisted, dark barrier. I could see her, but I couldn't reach her. That barrier was made of millions of thick, thorny branches that were contorted and twisted tight around her soul, not letting her out and not letting anything else in. It even had parts that snapped at me when I tried to reach into our bond to keep her conscious until I could get her help. It snapped at me but it was strange. Not aggressive, defensive.

For whatever reason, that barrier was terrified of me and that's why it kept snapping at me anytime I tried to reach her and tell her to hold on. It was frightening to see, even more frightening to feel. I knew mate bonds were intense, but I wasn't expecting to feel so much of her when we weren't even mated yet, to feel parts of her I couldn't get to. It was way more intense than anyone had ever described to me.

Feeling all that, seeing her like that, I couldn't let her go. Especially not after the way she looked at me. She probably didn't remember, but it happened. She looked up at me and set her hand on my face before she passed out. I was clinging to that moment to keep me sane.

The same question just kept repeating over and over in my head. Why was she in so much pain? Why did she hurt so much she felt like that was her only escape? Why the hell did she have such a nasty barrier that looked like it did nothing but hurt her? I just wanted to take that pain away and tell her she would never have to hurt that much again if she was with me.

My mate's friend, Lola, invited herself to stay at Violet's apartment, or at least that's what I overheard when I bumped into them at a coffee shop. Apparently Lola lived back in Arizona but was here for Violet's sake. I was glad she had someone until I found a way to get her to trust me, to even have us meet properly. I was still working that one out. I was shaken from what happened, trying to figure out how I could approach her, how I could get close to her. I was terrified of saying the wrong thing when she seemed so vulnerable.

I didn't know what to do but I knew the last thing I wanted was for us to start with me being a creepy stalker watching her every move and so as much as it hurt, I kept my distance so I could see her naturally, not because I was following her. The fact that we ended up at the same cafés twice in one week was a blessing from the Goddess.

It came to my attention Violet spent an awful lot of time alone. It sounded like she mostly did contract work from her apartment. Lola was trying to convince her that never leaving her apartment wouldn't help anything so, from what I gleaned from the conversation, they were currently at their third coffee shop this week, both working on their computers.