Bronze

Chapter 14

Kane

I woke that morning feeling ill, a rare concept for me since I seldomly got sick. The sticky air of the bedroom only aided in the gruesome nausea coiling in the pit of my stomach.

I rolled over and stretched out my arm. It landed heavily on the empty side of the bed. 

I rose and stretched my arms out, feeling the tightness in my lower back. The sun was already high in the sky when I gave a passing glance out the bathroom window before taking a shower. 

There was an unexpected haziness about today. I wasn't quite in tune with the world, however, I was aware of the comings and goings like normal. There would be lunch served at noon, which I was most likely going to miss, and dinner by six. In between then, I would fill out paperwork and deal with the pack finances with Ekon. After dinner was the same work, maybe I would read a book, and then go back to bed. 

The same routine. 

But the day's routine was already changed. I woke up later than usual, another odd occurrence. I took a shower after waking, which I would have done the night before except I hadn't. I stayed wide awake thinking about Leah. 

I shouldn't have said what I did. I knew the moment the words left my trembling lips that our little bubble was ruined, but I lost it. Seeing her with young Lander angered me and sent terrifying shivers up my spine. 

I'd never wanted her in my arms more than when I first saw them together. But the more I watched, how easily she opened up to him, seeing her smile and laugh, it tugged at the invisible chains around my heart- I believe mortals called them heartstrings. 

I let the hot water from the shower calm my hypertense nerves. The pain was nothing compared to what I've gone through in the past. Being an alpha, I have had to deal with worse.

Lander was so entranced by my little rogue. Not that I blamed him for it. Without being claimed or mated, she showed no signs of having a mate at all. Her cinnamon scent wasn't mixed with mine. As far as the world knew, she was available. 

I slammed my fist into the marble of the shower wall. It cracked under the force, making a large unrecognizable shape like vines that branched out from one another. 

Leah was not available, she was mine! Why couldn't she see that?

Her words kept echoing in my ears. "Does that mean fucking people, too?" Her blazing eyes grew darker with every word. Her pale face swelled with crimson anger. 

How could I be so stupid?

I had told her she could see other people in hopes she would deny likely the young boy. I wanted her to tell me she wanted me, and only me. I hadn't expected her to get so offended.

At the mention of her sleeping with another male, I panicked. She was pushing me farther from where I wanted to be, continually taking me closer and closer to my breaking point. She didn't even realize it, but that image she gave stuck with me for days. 

It plagued my nightmares. 

I finished the shower, and I walked out with only a towel wrapped around my waist. 

Just then, Katherine came skipping into the bedroom, a wide grin plastered on her thin face. She was humming, praising herself for how 'good of a job' she did. 

"Good morning," she sang, jumping on the king-sized bed belly side down. She crossed her angles and stared up at me lovingly. I was standing just on the other side, putting on a grey sweatshirt.

"Hello," I mumbled. 

I was purposely being distant to her. Ever since Leah appeared in my life, my feelings for Katherine were never going to be the same. Because of my love for her, I owed her the responsibility to end our marriage before everything spiraled out of control. 

She reached out and rubbed the length of my arm, from my shoulder to my wrist. Suddenly, Leah's scent wafted to my nose, startling me from my place beside the bed with a growl.

Katherine gasped. "What's wrong?" she asked puzzled. 

I did a once-over of the bedroom, making sure Leah hadn't appeared. Her smell was strongest on Katherine's fingers. 

"Where's Leah?" I managed to say without glaring daggers. Katherine stayed silent, her eyes glued to the ruffled covers on the bed. "What did you do, Kate?"

"I didn't do anything!" she shouted, nervously biting her lip afterward. 

My hands went to my face and cupped it, almost as if they were a wall holding all of my frustration back from being unleashed. 

"You forget sometimes, Katherine," I groaned into my sweating palms. "...that Leah is my mate. I can smell her on you!"

She jumped back, holding her fingers in front of her eyes, and then wiped them on her clothes. 

"So what, Kane? I am your wife! It shouldn't matter what I do with that little bitch-"

I snapped my teeth and glared. "You need to respect her, Katherine," I told her, staring her down.

"I am a luna. I do not have to respect rogues." She held her chest high like a wolf born of alpha blood, but I knew better. She didn't have the slightest drop of my blood in her, not from her parents or my bites. 

Leah would. The instant our souls were joined, her blood would transform. She would become a true luna. 

"Tell me what you did with her. Now, Katherine!" I demanded, using as much of my authority over her as I could. Her hands twitched at her sides, her eyes scanning my face before bowing her head in submission. 

I smirked, pride mounting in my chest from the display in front of me. 

"She's in the basement," she whimpered. I could tell she hated telling me and tried hard to stop herself, but the force of my command was stronger than any barrier she could conjure up. I smashed through it like cardboard. 

"Why?"

She lifted her head and pleaded with me to stop. I scowled in return, making my way over to her and gripping her shoulders firmly. Shaking her, I asked her again.

"Because I'm sick of her!" She cried, tears finally falling down her cheeks. "She was with Lander out in the fields. They were fighting."

Fighting? Could they really have gotten into an altercation? From the way young Lander stared at her that night, and how happy Leah looked with him, I suspected Katherine was lying. 

"They were fighting?" I asked suspiciously.

She aggressively nodded. Her heart was steady, her pulse not skipping a beat at all. 

She wasn't lying. 

"You had no right to lock her up," I told her, releasing her arms and pushing her away. She cried more when I walked away, turning my back in her direction. It broke my heart to see her cry, especially when I was the one to cause it, but I had to stay strong. 

Just like a child, she had to learn that what she did was not acceptable. 

Making a quick decision, I opened the bedroom door, slammed it shut behind me, and stormed down to the cellar to have a quick chat with my mate.