Profound Devotion

Chapter 25

July 30th
Monaia

  As more time passed within the darkness of the confined bedroom, the walls that had once stationed plenty of distance around me grew closer until I soon found myself trapped with nothing more than the space of my breaths to find calm.

  Atticus was gracious enough to offer my room to Byron and Seraphina without a second thought, but that now left Jackson steps across the hall, two thin doors separating us and the fizzled bond that writhed in the back of my mind with the memories of pain from his rejection. We were close enough for me to even make out his roaring breaths through the drywall as he paced the empty floors.

  He'd spent most of the dinner glaring me down from across the stretched table, and I spent most of that same dinner shrinking into the seat of my chair, begging for my nonexistence and doing everything in my power to make it so.

  My lock was actively engaged, but I doubted it would do much to keep him out if he were determined enough to get through to me.

  The inches of my uncovered skin crawled with anticipation as I hugged one of the cotton pillows against my chest, relying on the headboard to support my weight.

  My fear-stricken eyes continuously scanned the room around me, desperately plotting the future attack to try and protect myself. He was out there—I knew now that he was. His scent engulfed nearly every breath in through my nose, riling my wolf in a terrorized frenzy with my sanity close behind.

  I'll be damned if I let him anywhere near me again.

  The window to my left creaked on its track, reminding me that I had cracked it hours ago to try and relieve myself of the stifling aura of the room. My heart pounded against my chest as it was pushed the rest of the way open, my pillow clenched impossibly deeper into my body with the looming of a dark shadow casted from the pale moonlight.

  A broad figure filled the entirety of the window frame, a pair of dull brown eyes tracing the parts of my face that were visible in the darkness.

  This was it. Jackson was here for me, and I made his entrance possible with my overt carelessness.

  The faint outside lighting brightened the male's structured face as he paused, taking in the state of my torment while cowering in the center of the bed. His wavy brown hair brushed along his forehead with the breeze, and with it elicited a warm wash of relief. Cass's face was clear enough to now memorize and nudge my tormentor to the back side.

  It was only Cassius. He's not Jackson.

  Once he was safely inside, I scrambled from my spot and rushed to get to him. At that moment, nothing mattered more than reaching his bubble of protection, succumbing to his welcoming embrace that shielded me from the rest of the world.

  I collided hard with his large chest, gluing myself to him as tears of relief streamed down my flushed cheeks, staining his dark blue shirt. Chills shook my spine as his own arms encircled mine, creating said bubble that made me momentarily forget why I began crying in the first place.

  "What is wrong?" His voice vibrated against my cheek. "Mona." I shivered again at the sound of my name falling from his pursed lips, but I didn't have time to revel in it as he bridged some distance between us. "What happened?"

  I wanted to tell him what was going on. After all, there wasn't much he didn't already know. Only, a sturdy brick wall had built itself between my words and my mouth, forcing me to remain in silence.

  Now that I was no longer wrapped in his hold, my dread had swum back into my gut as reality set in once again. Nothing could truly take my problems away, and I could only hide away with Cass for so long before it would come to haunt me.