Feral Born (Viciously Yours #1)

Chapter Twenty-Two: A Coup

Ryan's P.O.V.

Horrific images of what could be happening to Kai bombarded my mind, along with the brain numbing desperation that she'll fulfil her promise and come back to me. My very last glimpse of her couldn't be of her running off to fight an evil with no guaranteed back-up. It killed me that I couldn't go with her but I knew I'd only be a liability to her. Kai's best chance of coming back to me in one piece was if I stayed completely out of her way and let her do her thing. I was confident she could take care of herself but now with the added responsibility of that little girl, I was terrified that despite her promises she wouldn't be coming back. Hell, I didn't even know when she'd come back if she did. We had no idea how far the compound was or how long it'd take to bring it crumbling to the ground.

Anxiety tightened my chest to an almost impossible degree as I paced back and forth along the porch. I planned to wait right here, no matter how long it took for her to come back. I wasn't going to miss her arrival. I needed to see her as soon as she got back to make sure that she was really with me and okay. Kai would come here first, she'd want to be in her own territory first, especially if she was...injured. Yes, yes. She'd come here first and I'd be the first to see her and make sure she was alright.

A cold breeze whipped across my bare chest and arms causing a shiver to race throughout my body as I paced. The shiver reminded me of my actions earlier and my cheeks heated in embarrassment at the memory. I had crushed her against me, crying into her shoulder out of fear and anger for what she was going to do and she let me. Even when I told her that I was mad at her for going and that I wished she hadn't promised anything to that little girl. She knew I didn't really mean it but she had let me vent and didn't get angry when I spoke harshly to her.

If I was anyone else she would've ripped my head clean off, I gave a weak smile at the thought.

So much had happened in just a few short hours that I still hadn't processed everything she told me. The reason for the scars on her throat and why she had that thing about being called stupid. It was all because of her father and what he did to her. Me, Otis and Candice were so far off the mark that we should've known. Kai wasn't the type of person that cared what other people thought of her and she'd told us that many times. But more importantly, she had finally made me her mate and I couldn't even fully process that because the fear I felt was all consuming. It blocked out everything that wasn't about what could happen to her. It's like my mind was on a never ending loop circling the drain of despair that was my current thought process.

Running a hand through my hair, I tried unsuccessfully to clear my mind and have faith that she'd come back. Breathing deeply, I tried to calm myself by thinking of all the little memories that we had made over the past two months that had come to mean so much to me. Like when Kai had showed me that first little sign of affection in the kitchen or every time she had laughed at my jokes. Really, she was probably just laughing at me and what she called my oddness. But that was okay, because I was completely and hopelessly in love with her. My Buttercup hadn't said it back to me but I knew she felt the same way, I could feel it through the bond. Maybe not as obsessively as me but she did in her own way and I had heard her call me love earlier. It almost sent me back into a sobbing mess and I was extremely grateful she hadn't said the actual words. My poor heart wouldn't have been able to handle it especially if she had tried to leave after. I'd probably try to physically stop her from leaving which would've just ended up with me getting hurt.

Despite the direction my thought's had taken, I actually felt my heart rate dramatically decrease from the 'you're gonna have a heart attack' pace it had been in for the past thirty minutes. The only downside to calming down was that Slader could now make himself heard.