Inner Demons

ZION

His hooves pummeled into the earth, catapulting him forward.

He ran and ran and ran without thinking.

His leg bled, but he didn’t even feel it. In his demon form, there was only one feeling ever: rage.

It pulsed through Zion, making him faster, giving him purpose.

He felt it in the veins bulging from his skin.

In the horns splitting from his head.

In the dark void that had once been a heart.

A dead heart that once knew love.

He threw his hand against a tree trunk, pausing to catch his breath.

He was deep enough into the woods now that his pursuers had lost him. Their wolf snouts were good at sniffing someone out, but they were no match for his demon’s speed.

He looked at the blood seeping from a gash in his leg where one of the wolves’ fangs had made contact. Still, he couldn’t feel it.

Maybe adrenaline was to blame. Or maybe his ability to feel ~anything~ other than rage died that day...the day Serena…

“Stop it,” he ordered himself.

He couldn’t go there. Not right now.

Slowly, Zion shifted back into human form, naked, kneeling against the tree for support. He knew he needed to stop the bleeding.

Normally, he would have no problem healing himself. But an artery had been struck. Just because he couldn’t feel it didn’t mean it wouldn’t kill him.

He quickly made a fire, using his demon breath to ignite the twigs he gathered.

He took a piece of discarded metal and stuck it into the fire, watching as the flames licked it, turning it a dull orange.

Bathing it in the clarity of fire. Just as his soul was.

Taking the glowing brand from the flames, Zion braced himself and plunged the hot tip into his wound, cauterizing it, sealing it closed.

He shrieked in pain as the flesh sizzled.

So, he could feel more than rage, it seemed.

When it was done, when the wound was a burned black scar but no longer bleeding, Zion cast aside the metal and slumped back against the tree, holding his leg, feeling tears brim at his eyelids.

He cursed his own weakness, but there was no stopping them. He knew these tears had nothing to do with the physical pain he was experiencing.

They were for her.

Serena.

His mind played back images of what ~she~ looked like, the sound of ~her~ voice, the essence of ~her~ existence.

“No!” he shouted, grabbing his head, fingers digging into his scalp, trying desperately to make it stop.

“She’s gone,” he whispered. “She’s nowhere.”

And yet she was everywhere, as if her love had infected his body, refusing to let rage take absolute control of him.

He couldn’t take it.

~She’s not here.~

~She’s not here.~

~She’s not here.~

But the tears wouldn’t stop, and soon Zion was sobbing uncontrollably.

He turned his face to the heavens above, begging for release.

“Please let it stop,” he cried. “I couldn’t save her. I couldn’t...”

But there was no relief from his pain.

Thunder roared, and heavy beads of water splashed against his face. Rain poured down on his naked human form, extinguishing the fire and drowning his tears.

No one was listening.

Zion was alone as always.

His mate was gone.

Dead.

There would be no tranquility for him, not now, not ever. Everything he’d ever loved had been taken from him.

And as he whimpered alone in the darkness of the forest, in the heart of the storm, Zion’s body and mind grew more and more numb with every passing hour.

Until he was only a shell.

His only purpose, to avenge the death of the woman he’d loved.

To make Kyril suffer the way he’d suffered.

~Revenge will be mine~, Zion promised.

“For you, my mate,” he whispered.

He stood up, reborn in the unforgiving rain, heart filled with murderous intent. Which was when he saw something...two figures approaching slowly.

He was about to shift into his demon and murder them on the spot. He assumed that Kyril’s wolves had finally caught up to him.

But then one of the figures, an older woman, lowered her hood, and Zion’s eyes widened in shock.

She was the last person in the world Zion ever expected to see…

KYRIL

Kyril and Lilac lay in each other’s arms, hair still damp from their visit to the river.

He felt unbound, like a burden had been lifted from his soul.

Telling Lilac about Zion, even if it wasn’t the whole story, had been so...liberating.

For years, he had pretended his long-lost brother didn’t exist. But now he was back, and Kyril had no choice but to confront the demon that was his brother ~and~ the one that lay inside his own mind.

He looked at Lilac, asleep, looking more angelic than he’d ever seen her. Her soft white skin, her full lips, her eyes closed, lost in peaceful slumber.

How Kyril had ever come to find a mate as beautiful and true as this girl, he didn’t know. What he did know was that he had almost gone mad without her.

Those thirty-two years without her love had torn him apart. How many times had he almost gone feral? There were too many to count.

What it had cost his friends, his pack, his family...was beyond words.

And then there was that one fateful day...the worst day of his life...the day Kyril had spent years trying to forget.

He wondered if Lilac would still love him if she knew the full truth.

One way or another, he knew he would have to tell her soon. He would have to relive it, every excruciating moment of what he had done.

What he’d done to Zion...to Zion’s mate.

Kyril sat up in bed, overcome with guilt again.

As long as he kept it a secret, he knew it would continue to eat away at him. But some secrets were so terrible there was no relief in repeating them. No redemption.

“Hey.” He heard Lilac’s soft voice. “Are you okay?”

She sat up beside him. He smiled, putting a finger to her chin, and kissed her softly.

“More than okay,” he said, trying to hide his true feelings. “After that little escapade in the river...how could I be happier?”

Lilac blushed and looked away. “I’m sure there are...some ways...you could be happier.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Kyril turned Lilac to face him, enjoying this new mischievous side to her. He put his hands on her hips, thinking they just might get a chance at a round two.

“What ways do you have in mind, little flower?” he asked.

Being physical with his mate always cleared his mind. It forced him to be completely and totally present. It was another reason Kyril craved her so badly right now.

“I don’t know,” Lilac said honestly. “But I’m a quick learner.”

“I like the sound of that…”

Kyril brought his lips to hers, about to kiss her.

He could feel the heat of her body radiating in anticipation. But just at that moment, his mind was interrupted by a voice…

And it wasn’t his own.

Jon

Alpha, forgive the intrusion.

Jon

But there’s something you should know.

Kyril

Are you trying to get yourself killed, Jon?

Kyril

Do you realize what you are interrupting?

Jon

I wouldn’t reach out unless it was important.

Kyril

Fine.

Kyril

What is it then?

Jon

Unexpected visitors, Alpha.

Kyril

What kind of visitors?

Lilac

Kyril had that distant look in his eye, which told Lilac he was communicating with someone via his psychic link.

It had to be someone important if he allowed himself to be pulled away.

She was surprised when Kyril’s cheeks flushed with boyish color and he turned to her, completely changing the subject.

“Lilac, Jon just told me…” he said, getting up with a start. “No, I don’t want to say it. It should be a surprise.”

“Another surprise?” Lilac asked, eyes widening.

She didn’t know if her heart could take so many surprises on top of each other.

Their date had been wonderful, of course. But the unexpected and violent arrival of Kyril’s brother was traumatizing, to say the least.

Kyril read her mind and smiled. “Don’t worry. I promise this is a good one. Now, c’mon. Get dressed.”

***

When Kyril and Lilac were dressed and ready, they made their way down the stairs.

She looked at her mate. Although she couldn’t read his mind the way he could read hers, she’d grown to know him intimately.

And part of that intimacy meant knowing when something was wrong, and earlier in bed, he’d been upset about something.

Although she enjoyed his advances, she wondered if he was using them to distract himself from some sort of pain.

She wanted to know everything about her mate. But she also knew she couldn’t push him. Not when it was so fresh.

But what, she wondered, was she about to discover now?

“Are you ready?” Kyril said as they stopped outside the living room door.

“The surprise? It’s in there?” Lilac asked, growing nervous.

“Not it,” Kyril said, grinning. “~They~.”

So the surprise was people. And multiple people, at that.

Lilac could feel her stomach twisting into knots, her anxiety flaring up.

Meeting new people was never easy. But if they were important to Kyril, this was especially true.

Who could they be?

Finally, Kyril turned the handle, pushed the door open, and Lilac saw who was waiting for them on the other side.

They were a middle-aged couple, sitting together on the couch.

Even though she had never met them before, their faces somehow looked familiar. Almost similar to...her mate’s. And that was when Lilac realized exactly who they were.

“Are these your…” Lilac began, disbelieving. “Your parents?”

“That’s right,” Kyril said, grinning. “Allow me to introduce Marcus and Rosalyn.”

Lilac felt like her heart had stopped.

Although they were both smiling warmly, no way was she ready for this.

Meeting the alpha’s parents was a ~huge~ deal. She wished she’d had time to prepare, to put on something more...appropriate.

Then something even worse happened.

Kyril’s mother stopped smiling. Her expression froze into a vacant stare.

Lilac felt like she was about to faint.

Kyril’s mother didn’t like her. From the look on her face, the woman ~hated~ her. Even Kyril looked shocked by this reaction.

What had Lilac done to deserve his mother’s hate?