Shattered

Chapter 55: Forced

Violet's POV:

"Real love is always chaotic. You lose control; you lose perspective. You lose the ability to protect yourself. The greater the love, the greater the chaos."- Jonathan Carroll

I stared at Kaden's skin that seconds ago, had bullet holes in it. Now there was nothing.

His words kept repeating in my head, but they made no sense. I grabbed him, made him sit up then scrambled behind him, checking his back where the bullets went through. I yanked up his shirt but there was nothing. He was fine. Like it never happened. Except it did because blood covered his shirt and my carpet.

"Violet," Kaden said, glancing back at me. "I'm fine. This is um... What I wanted to talk to you about."

"You healed," I said. There wasn't even a mark.

"Yeah," he said, twisting around, tentatively setting his hand on my knee. "Hey, look at me," he said. I met his gaze, swallowing, the shock still preventing me from speaking. He should've been hurt worse, maybe even dead. "I'm still me," he said, squeezing my knee. "I'm still crazy about you, this doesn't change anything."

"You healed," I said again. I wasn't sure why, I just couldn't believe it. I'd seen tons of people shot, but never anything like this.

"Yeah," he said, bringing his other hand up to my face. "I have fast healing, it's a... Werewolf perk."

"Werewolf perk," I breathed, nodding slowly.

Werewolf perk, sure, if werewolves were real, I supposed advanced healing couldn't be too farfetched.

Wait, what??

"Werewolf," I repeated, meeting his gaze.

He nodded, concern covering his face. He stood and offered his hands. I took them because I was on autopilot, trying to process. He sat me down on the couch and crouched in front of me, wincing and rolling his shoulder.

"Does it... Hurt?" I asked. Was that a dumb question?

"A little," he admitted. "It won't last, it wasn't silver. I doubt I'll feel too much of it after a few hours. I'm much more concerned about what exactly just happened. Who's Max?"

I stiffened at the name. Even through the shock, his name would never not make me both boil in anger and feel sick all at once. For a minute earlier, I almost believed Chase. I believed Chase believed Kaden was with Max, but even if I didn't trust the truth serum completely, there was one major thing that didn't add up for Kaden working for Max.

Max would never be okay with someone else touching me. If he hired someone to come find me, gain my trust and turn me over, he would've made sure it was strictly a platonic thing. Possessive was not a strong enough word for Max. The thought of anyone else touching me sent him into a manic no one could pull him back from.

"No one."

"Didn't seem like it," Kaden said, narrowing his eyes. "Who is he, Violet? Is that who you're afraid of? Why you need to hide?"

"I... You..." I stammered over my words, shaking my head and standing, pointing at the couch. "Sit."

He moved onto the couch and stared up at me in both trepidation and concern. "Violet, whoever this is, I can turn into a wolf and tear him apart. You don't need to be afraid with me here, I won't let anything happen to you."

"Can you just-" I stopped and took in a deep breath because I felt like I was about to panic. Maybe because I was petrified when I came in the room and saw Kaden laying on my floor, covered in blood. I felt like I would die, fall apart, just completely disintegrate if I lost Kaden. But now there were other things not making sense and I didn't know where to begin.