Blood Brothers

KYRIL

Kyril couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

His old friend, lying in a pool of his own blood.

The man he once called his brother charging at him in his demon form.

His mother and his mate bursting from the pack headquarters behind him.

Everywhere he looked was chaos.

There were too many moving pieces to keep track of, too many emotions threatening to overwhelm, too much violence and madness for one wolf to take.

So Kyril did what he knew best. He allowed his animal instincts to take control. He cleared his mind and ran at the demon, ready to kill or be killed.

Lilac

Kyril!

Lilac

Kyril, be careful!!!

Lilac

Can you hear me???

Lilac

Lilac knew the last place Kyril wanted her was outside, watching the bloodshed that was about to unfold. But she couldn’t leave her mate alone. She had to know he was safe.

He wasn’t answering, and that scared her.

“R-rosalyn,” Lilac stammered. “What do we do?”

“He made me a promise, Lilac,” Rosalyn said. “He won’t break it. I know Kyril won’t break it.”

“Rose!!!”

They both turned to see Marcus running over.

“You two need to go inside now!” he cried. “It’s too dangerous out here. Kyril wouldn’t want—”

“I’m not leaving my sons!” Rosalyn shouted. “They are ~both~ my sons. They need me.”

“Lilac,” Marcus said, holding out a hand. “Hurry, please.”

Lilac considered Marcus’ outstretched hand. But, like Rosalyn, she wasn’t ready to abandon her mate. Not when he needed her most.

Then she heard it. An ear-splitting roar, followed by an impact so powerful she swore she could feel the earth shaking beneath their feet.

She turned to see the Lycan and the Demon entangled in a fight to the death.

She’d never seen her Kyril like that before. The blood in his fangs, the look in his eyes. He was terrifying.

Kyril, her mate, he almost looked...feral.

ZION

At last, after all these years, Zion finally had Kyril where he wanted him.

They were ripping and tearing and biting at each other, drawing blood. And still it wasn’t enough.

Zion wouldn’t rest until Kyril lay at his feet, defeated. He didn’t want to kill the Lycan. No, he wanted him alive.

Zion wanted Kyril to watch as he killed his mate right in front of him.

And there she was. Watching them fight. Tears in her big, innocent eyes.

Rage reignited, Zion threw Kyril aside with all his might and bounded toward her. This was his chance to even the score. To finally get his revenge.

He was mere feet away from the girl now, barely registering the presence of his adopted parents, both trying to protect her, when he felt it.

A claw curled around his leg, slicing into his flesh, forcing him to lurch back.

“NO!” Kyril roared. “Lilac, RUN!”

But Lilac was frozen in terror, and even though Kyril had Zion pinned down, he knew it wouldn’t be for long. She would be his soon.

“Enough, Zion!” Kyril roared.

“Never,” Zion spat. “I’d rather die than let you have what was taken from me.”

Zion turned to look into Kyril’s black eyes and saw a trace of the old monster inside him. He laughed bitterly.

“You see! You’re still the beast. You’re still the one who took my Serena from me…”

Kyril pulled his paw from Zion’s bleeding leg and curled it around his neck, choking the life out of him. Zion couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t see straight. He was going to die.

“You’re...still...a...monster...” he wheezed through his last breaths.

As Zion prepared to die...to be reunited with his Serena...

Rosalyn

Kyril!!!

Rosalyn

Listen to me!

Kyril

He wants to kill her.

Kyril

My Lilac.

Kyril

He has to die.

Rosalyn

No!!!

Rosalyn

Remember your promise!

KYRIL

Kyril blinked, and the whole scene came into sharp focus. He was seconds away from killing Zion. His mother, his father, his mate—they were all watching.

And Lilac, his beautiful, innocent mate, looked afraid…~of him.~

The image shattered Kyril’s heart as, once again, he was reminded of what he’d done all those years ago...what he was on the verge of doing again.

At last, Kyril eased his grip on the demon and watched as he coughed, shifting back to his human form, back to the Zion he once knew and loved. His long-lost brother.

He’d kept his promise to his mother. He wouldn’t kill Zion...not today.

He, too, shifted from his lycan form and stood up, grabbing Zion by the nape of his neck, as other pack leaders arrived at the scene.

“What happened?!” Rhea shouted. “Where’s Chris?”

The siren saw a werewolf, lying in a bloody heap, and her eyes widened with rage and heartbreak. “CHRIS!”

She ran off toward him. Everyone, everywhere was buzzing with chaos. Kyril locked eyes with Zion.

“Look at what you’ve done,” he raged. “Serena would be ashamed of you.”

“You dare utter her name…” Zion wheezed between coughs.

Then, Zion looked up at Lilac, and his expression changed.

His eyes weren’t fixed on her face but on her wrist. On that strange bracelet she wore.

“It wasn’t enough to kill my mate...you had to steal her bracelet...and give it to ~her~?!”

Zion lunged at Lilac again, but Kyril was holding him back. “How dare you wear that! I’ll kill you, I swear!”

Kyril had heard enough. With a clenched fist, he hit Zion’s head so hard from behind that he fell like a rag doll to the ground, knocked out. Quiet, at last.

When it was done, he turned to Michael and Alex, his Gammas, waiting at attention. “Take him to a cell. And muzzle his mouth. If I have to hear one more word out of this bastard’s mouth…”

They both nodded and picked up Zion’s limp body, dragging him away. Then, he turned to his father, his mother, his mate.

“Go inside now,” he said, exhausted. “There is much work to be done.”

“But Kyril…” Lilac began.

“GO!”

He didn’t like shouting at Lilac, but he was at his wit’s end.

She cowered then bowed her head and followed Rosalyn and Marcus inside.

He saw his mother give him an appreciative nod. ~You kept your promise.~

He looked away. Saving Zion’s life didn’t feel like the right choice. Not after what he’d done to Jon and to Chris and the other pack casualties.

~Jon. JON!~

That reminded him. He turned and sprinted toward his beta’s bloody body in the distance. Bent over him was a woman Kyril didn’t recognize.

“Who…”

But then he saw what she was doing. Healing him.

“You summoned me at the right time, Alpha Vasilio,” she said.

After Zion’s first appearance, Kyril had taken precautionary steps to ensure that his pack would be safe. Having a world-class healer was one of them.

“Is he going to make it?” he asked.

“I...I don’t know,” she said. “It’s too soon to say.”

Kyril was surprised by her mournful tone. Surely, she was used to death. Many of her patients in the past must have died. What was different about Jon?

And then he noticed that Jon’s eyes were slowly blinking open.

“Jon!” Kyril said, falling to knees, grabbing his hand.

Jon smiled faintly. “Kyril...is...did Zion…”

“Everything’s all right, Jon. We’re safe. All of us. Thanks to you.”

Then Jon’s eyes flicked to the healer, and his smile widened.

Even though he was pale, even though he looked like he lay on the brink of death, the joy in his eyes was unlike anything Kyril had ever seen.

“...your...name?”

She smiled with a loving warmth Kyril recognized. The kind of loving warmth Lilac showed him.

“I’m Adhira.”

“I’m...I’m sorry…” Jon said.

“Are you apologizing for dying?” she asked with a small sad laugh.

Jon gave her a weak wink. “Yes... I only hoped… I would meet you earlier.”

“I felt the same,” she said. “But it’s not too late, Jon.”

“Jon,” he said. “I like the way you say my name.”

“I won’t let you die,” Adhira said, tears in her eyes. “I promise you, mate.”

Now, Kyril’s eyes widened. Could this really be Jon’s mate? After all this time, she had arrived just when his life was in mortal danger.

Kyril only prayed that she would be able to save him. He needed his beta alive.

“My mate,” Jon said with a sigh, closing his eyes.

His fate was in the Goddess Selene’s hands now.

Lilac

Lilac stormed into her bedroom with angry tears in her eyes. Kyril had never spoken to her like that before. In that tone of voice.

Of course, she understood it was only because he’d been afraid for her life. But it still didn’t make her feel any better.

And, after seeing him like ~that~, so violent, so frightening, Lilac was scared to know what else he was hiding. But she had to know.

As she looked out the window at the pack guards creating a perimeter, making order out of the chaos, she thought she saw Kyril’s tall, brooding shape in the distance.

Lilac promised herself—tonight, she would ask him. It was time she knew the whole truth.

Whatever Kyril was hiding about his history with Zion, she deserved to know.

Rosalyn, his mother, had said so herself.

Even though the idea of questioning her mate’s past made Lilac’s anxiety flare up, she knew she had to put on a brave face.

It was time to learn the truth.