JEOPARDY: Love in War

2. Aim-less

Lost.

Hurting.

Confused.

Those were the exact words Kayla would have used if she were asked to describe how she felt after Ivan left her in that forest. And maybe, that was exactly how she looked.

After Ivan disappeared in a flash of vampire speed, Kayla let the weakness in her legs win and dropped onto the dirty and dry ground. No tears trailed her face, but she felt them filling her eyes. 

Should she let herself cry?

All her physical wounds had already healed. But there was an unbearable pain inside her that had nothing to do with her injuries and everything to do with Ivan.

What he was -- what he had always been.

The look in his eyes. The coldness in his voice. Without forgetting, his cutting and chilling words.

He wasn't who she thought he was. At this point, she had to admit that she didn't really know who he actually was. All she knew was that he was the enemy. 

A vampire. A very powerful vampire. 

That thought was accompanied by the memory of Ivan dodging her advances and his mocking laughter. Which, instead of making her angry, made her sad. She thought he cared for her, but turns out it was all a lie. 

What he actually wanted from her, from Angela, from her pack... she didn't know--actually, she did. He had told her before he left. 

He wants to kill us all. 

Kayla pushed herself up. Her eyes took in all the vampires Ivan had slain in a matter of seconds. Something even she had failed.

No wonder he made fun of me when I threatened to kill him. She scoffed to herself.

'We will kill him, Kayla. I swear to you.'  Verina chipped in, sounding agitated as she paced against their bond. 

Verina had been the angriest when Ivan was being cruel to Kayla. But more than anything, Kayla was just glad that her wolf hadn't given her the biggest 'I told you so' after warning her against Ivan a million times. 

Even as she walked towards her crashed car, Kayla couldn't help but recall every time she had felt like something was odd about Ivan and ignored it. Or, all the times Verina had said she didn't like Ivan, and Kayla had ignored her and abandoned everything to run away with him.

How could she have been so stupid, gullible, and reckless?

When she reached the wreck that was now her car, she retrieved both her phone and bag from it. Now there was only one thing left for her: She needed to return to the palace and warn her pack about Ivan's plan to kill them.

The thought made her pause.

Is he the one who sent the vampires who attacked her ...both times?

'As much as I would like to believe that, it doesn't make sense. If he had sent them, then why did he kill them and save you?'  Verina made perfect sense, as usual.

Ivan was a vampire. He wanted to kill her pack... But if he had sent those vampires, he wouldn't have killed them so brutally.

'Plus, he looked pretty shocked when he realized that you're a wolf. It couldn't have been him.' 

"Are you saying there are two sects of vampires? Those that want me dead and those that want my entire pack dead?"

'Probably. Maybe. I'm just guessing here from what we've seen."  Verina sounded as lost as Kayla felt. But her words held more conviction than Kayla could ever feel at that moment. 'Or, both sects just want our pack dead.'