Chapter 2 - The Eye of the Storm
Kane Croft went completely still.
The suffocating pressure in the room abruptly halted, suspended in the air like a crashing wave frozen mid-air.
His golden eyes widened slightly, the pupils contracting into tiny black slits. For ten terrifying seconds, the only sound in the massive, ruined chamber was the crackle of burning logs in the stone fireplace and the distant howling of the wind outside the balcony doors.
"What... did you say?" Kane whispered.
His voice didn't sound like a monster’s now. It sounded cracked, raw, like a man who hadn't spoken soft words in years.
"I asked if you're tired," I repeated, my voice steady, though my heart was pounding so hard against my ribs I was sure he could hear it with his supernatural senses. "You look like you haven't slept in months."
Kane stared at me as if I had spoken in an ancient, forgotten language. He took a slow step backward, his bare heels coming to rest against the edge of a shredded Persian rug. The violently pulsing red veins beneath his bronze skin flickered, dimming slightly from a fiery crimson to a soft, ember-like glow.
"They... they always scream," he muttered, looking down at his own trembling hands as if surprised to find them attached to his body. "They always reach for the red button. They look at me and see a rabid dog that needs to be put down."
"I see a man who is carrying a mountain on his back," I said softly, taking another small step toward him.
"Stay back!" Kane suddenly roared, his aura flaring up again in a violent burst of ozone and heat. The glass crystal lamps on the side tables shattered into a thousand sparkling shards. "Do not come closer, girl! My wolf... my beast is unstable. The curse in my bloodline is reaching its peak. If I lose control for even a second, I will snap your neck!"
"My name is Harper," I said, ignoring his warning and remaining right where I was. "Not 'girl.' Harper Hayes."
Kane clenched his jaw, his chest heaving as he fought the roaring monster within his own blood. "Harper. Daughter of Thomas Hayes. The Alpha who sold his own child to clear a three-million-dollar corporate debt."
"He didn't sell me," I defended softly, keeping my eyes fixed on his. "He wept when I left. He wanted to fight Croft Industries to the bitter end, even if it meant our people froze in the woods this winter. I came here because it was my choice."
Kane let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "A sacrifice. A martyr for the weak Cascade Pack."
"No," I countered, taking another step forward until I was standing less than five feet away from him. The heat radiating off his body felt like standing beside an open furnace. "A leader takes care of her people. Isn't that what an Alpha King is supposed to do?"
Kane winced as if my words had struck a physical blow. He reached up, clutching his head with one giant, clawed hand, a low groan of agonizing pain escaping his throat.
"The noise..." he groaned, dropping to one knee on the marble floor. "The minds of twenty thousand pack members... the sensory overload... it never stops, Harper. It never... bloody... stops..."
I realized then what was happening. This wasn't just a mental breakdown or a curse.
As the Alpha King, Kane possessed a telepathic and sensory connection to every werewolf under his royal crown. His powerful mind was bombarded twenty-four hours a day with the pain, grief, desires, and dark thoughts of thousands of wolves. Without a proper mate to anchor his spirit or a sanctuary to shield his senses, his mind was being ripped apart from the inside out.
Silas Mercer and the rest of his advisers knew this. They were letting him drown.
I dropped my small duffel bag onto the floor, walked past his towering frame, and walked straight over to the silver panic button mounted beside the bed.
Kane watched me through bloodshot golden eyes, a dark, victorious smile touching his lips. "There it is," he rasped. "Press it, Harper. Call the attendants. Get your debt canceled and run back to your dying woods."
I reached out my hand... and ripped the silver button unit directly off the wall, tearing the copper wiring from the plaster with a violent yank.
I threw the useless metallic box onto the floor at his feet.
May you like
Kane stared at the broken wires, his jaw dropping in absolute shock.
"Nobody is coming in here tonight, Alpha Croft," I said, walking over to the far corner of the room where an unbroken leather armchair sat beside a small side table. I sat down, smoothing my dress over my knees, and locked my dark brown eyes onto his. "And I'm not going anywhere. You have six hours until sunrise. If you want to fight your demons, you don't have to do it alone."
