Karros
Zuri was staring at me like she didn't know whether to scream or run. Her breath came in quick, panicked bursts. Her eyes moved from the dead Feyl to the blood dripping from my hands, then to my face.
I stepped forward and she took two steps back.
That tiny movement sliced through me.
I felt it physically, like the matebond itself reacted to her fear and stabbed me from the inside.
"Zuri," I said desperately. "I need you to breathe. It is still me."
She shook her head, steps staggering backward.
The wind carried her scent to me. Fear. Confusion. Heartbreak.
It almost brought me to my knees.
"I will not hurt you. I swear to you."
My voice came out rough and unsteady.
She wasn't listening. She was in shock. She had just seen me kill something out of her worst nightmares, and she had seen me turn into one.
I took another step and she held up her hand like a warning.
"Please don't," she whimpered. "Just stay there." She was shaken and disoriented.
My chest tightened. Everything in me wanted to go to her, to hold her, to calm her down. But I knew if I pushed too hard, she would bolt. I had to fight every instinct I had.
"Zuri, please let me walk you home," I said. "You don't have to look at me. You don't have to talk to me. After what just happened, I need to make sure you get home safe."
She looked at the ground, shaking.
I could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest.
I took one step sideways instead of forward and pointed down the path.
"I will walk behind you. Not beside you. Not close. I just want you safe."
Zuri hesitated for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
She walked ahead.
I followed far behind her, silently, keeping my eyes everywhere.
Blood dried sticky on my skin. I could still taste iron in my mouth.
The entire walk back, I felt like something was dying inside me.
Her trust.
Her warmth.
The way she used to look at me like I was someone she wanted.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to punch a wall.
I wanted to shift again and tear the entire world apart.
But I didn't.
I just followed her home like a shadow, praying to every moon god that she would not shut me out.
When she reached her door, she paused without turning around.
"Thank you," she said softly.
That small crack in her voice broke me again.
I swallowed hard.
"Goodnight, Zuri."
She didn't respond.
The door closed behind her, and I stood there for a long time, staring at the wood like it was the only barrier between me and the one person fate had chained my soul to.
I leaned my forehead against the wall and exhaled.
She is my mate.
And right now, my mate is terrified of me.
Zuri
My pulse was still sprinting, my breath catching in my throat as the room settled. I was glad Zeta wasn't home because I needed to process this alone. I wasn't scared of Karros hurting me. That wasn't what my body was reacting to. Immediately it dawned on me I was all alone, I began to regret not asking Karros to stay with me. I was so afraid. Immediately I locked all the doors and windows and started trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed.
It was the shift. The violence of it. The impossible reality of watching bones break and reform like they were nothing.
My mind hadn't caught up yet, even though the mate bond kept whispering safe in the back of my skull.
But my body didn't know how to process what I'd just seen. Every nerve was on high alert, buzzing, confused. I stepped back without meaning to, instinct pulling me away even while the bond dragged me forward.
And the worst part was the way his eyes softened when he noticed. Because the moment I really looked at him, really saw him, the fear drained out of me. Not because the sight was any less unreal, but because it was Karros. He had ripped off the head of that monster in one blow, all to protect me. I needed answers, and I needed them fast.
I slid down to the floor and hugged my knees. Mochi ran to me like she sensed my dilemma. I grabbed her and hugged her tight.
If I couldn't call Karros a monster, what was he? Monsters don't protect people.
Not a monster. But something supernatural and deadly. It looked an awful lot like a wolf.
"A werewolf," I whispered out loud when it finally registered.
I had surely gone crazy. There were no wolves in River Court, so how was it possible?
I stood immediately and took quick strides to my desk. I opened my MacBook and went straight to Google. I wasn't sure what I was looking for. I typed "werewolf" into the search bar but didn't press enter. I wanted answers, but I wanted them directly from him.
I had watched him shift.
I had heard bones break and reform.
I had seen claws tear flesh, blood spraying across the riverbank.
My stomach twisted and I closed my eyes, trying to erase the memory.
I didn't want to be scared of him, but I was, and that made everything worse.
The moment he wrapped his arms around me earlier, I felt safe. Warm. Wanted.
My whole body had melted into his.
And now I could barely breathe without remembering his fangs, the sound of that creature snarling at me, the look in Karros's eyes when he shifted. His betrothal suddenly felt small compared to the fact that he wasn't even human.
But the fear wasn't the worst part.
The fact that he was betrothed was. Who was she? And how? We were so young. Those were the questions running through my head.
The shift had overshadowed it for a moment, but now both truths crashed into me at the same time. He was supernatural. And he was promised to someone else. Yet he acted like I belonged to him. Like I was his. Like I mattered more than anyone.
My heart didn't let go of him. Not for a second.
Not when he was covered in blood, fighting desperately to protect me.
Not even when I saw him in that monstrous form.
And that scared me more than anything.
"What is wrong with me?" I whispered.
I got up shakily and walked to the mirror. My face was pale, hair wild and eyes wide.
I had witnessed a war. One fought over me.
Karros almost died.
If he hadn't gotten up in time, I would be dead right now.
Tears slid down my cheeks as the realization sank in.
I wiped them away defiantly.
I needed answers and the only person I could get them from was Karros. I didn't know how or why I was suddenly in the middle of this mess, but I couldn't run. I felt a strong conviction to get to the root of everything.
He saved me.
And he looked terrified of losing me.
I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling.
I was scared of him. Yes.
But I was also scared of how much I cared.