Word Count: 2070

~Onyx

I'm about to make some bad fucking decisions.

I lean my back against a thick tree trunk, staring at Kayn's house in the distance. The entire drive here I contemplated how I was going to do this.

There is nothing I value more than Sienna's opinion. She doesn't want Kayn dead.

And yet, I'm here to kill him.

The last thing I want is to hurt her. Yet, the thought of Kayn harming her again, or anyone else for that matter, has me deciding I really am going to do away with him.

Pushing off the tree, I start off toward the house. It's doused in darkness, but I know he's home.

My footsteps are near silent as I open his front door and step inside.

A figure immediately emerges from the shadows, wielding a knife directed at my neck.

It takes little effort as I shove the person back. They stumble away, the knife clattering against the floor as their back hits the wall. I sweep down, picking it up.

I push them deeper into the house, seeing it's Kayn as he falls into the light.

He scrambles away, bumping into the edge of his dining room table. He looks mortified, his entire body shaking.

He knows exactly why I'm here.

"Nice try." I turn the knife over in my hand, examining the blade. The poor man thought a kitchen knife would suffice.

"I knew you would come," he says, rounding the dining table so there's something between us.

"I figured," I mutter. "Quite the plan, attacking your Alpha."

His eyes flicker back to the kitchen, where there are more knives. I implore him to try, although my patience is waning.

"What other choice did I have? I know you've come here to kill me."

I shrug, looking around the place. Everywhere there are traces of Sienna. In her haste she left behind quite a few of her belongings.

I see her in the fabric still strewn about the place. I see her in the cuttings of plants on the coffee table, in the books about nature on the shelves.

My throat dries. How could I ever let her be away from me for the better part of a year?

"Who says I've come to kill you?" I ask him, tugging out a chair, pointing at him to sit in it. "I'm just here for a chat."

He blinks apprehensively, but when it's clear I'm not going anywhere, he picks his way around the table, sitting down uncomfortably. I pull a chair out myself, only a few feet from him, enjoying the way he stiffens at my proximity.

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry," he mumbles quietly.

"Sorry?"

"For hitting Sienna. I always knew there was something between you two, and when she confirmed it, I got so fucking angry." He digs his fingers into his hair so tightly it turns his face red. He lets me go the moment he notices my disturbed stare.

"So I'm sorry," he adds sheepishly.

I lean forward, bracing my forearms on my knees. This experience is going to be an exercise of self-control.

"Do you think sorry is enough?"

Kayn fidgets uncomfortably, glancing at me and then at the front door. Even he's not stupid enough to make a break for it, knowing he has to get past me first.

"What...what else do you want from me?" He stammers.

I let my head fall into my hands, massaging the tips of my fingers into my scalp. There's guilt crawling through the cracks of my anger, and it's pulling me in two different directions.

"I want to be a good guy for her. I want to be the best guy," I mutter, more to myself than to Kayn. "So why can't I be?"

"Why do you think you aren't a good guy?" He asks apprehensively.

"Because I made a promise I'm going to break," I say, shaking my head.

His back presses into the chair as he contemplates what I'm meaning. I hope seeing me tossing up whether to kill him or not is an excruciating torture for him.

"What promise?" His voice trembles.

I sit back, rubbing my jaw. "The problem is, I made the promise knowing I was going to break it."

Kayn's eyes widen. "You are going to kill me."

"Don't move an inch," I warn, seeing the way his eyes dart to the door. "Let me think."

He clutches the edges of his chair until his knuckles pale. Maybe he thinks he has a better chance of talking me out of this than running, which is why he hasn't tried it yet.

"If you kill me, she'll always see you as a monster. You know it." His voice shudders as he talks.

"Sienna knows what I am. She knows what I'm capable of when it comes to protecting her."

Maybe Kayn is right. Maybe I am a monster.

I don't consider myself a violent person. Yet, the thought of someone harming Sienna fills me with inexplicable rage. Murder means nothing to me when it comes to protecting her.

"Let me go, and I won't so much as think about Sienna again. I won't even...I'll move away, to another Pack," Kayn insists.

My stare condemns him. "If I let you go, I'm always going to think about how I let a man hit her, and how I let him walk away with his life."

Sienna deserves to go through life knowing this vile creature isn't going repeat history.

"That's a good thing."

"Not to me," I mutter.

"Please, I swear I'll do anything you want. I'll get on my hands and knees in front of Sienna and I'll apologise," Kayn insists, his face turning red in his desperation.

I wish that could appease me. I wish I didn't feel this dark, twisted anger inside me whenever Sienna is hurt. If he hit her, then who knows how he treated her since she came here?

"I told you, sorry isn't enough for what you did to her." I stand, letting the full impact of my height inspire more fear in him. "And what you'll do to other women if I let you go."

Kayn doesn't stand, but he drags the chair back, the scraping sound echoing through the room.

"I won't. I promise you."

"I don't believe you. I don't," I snap, matching any movement he makes back. "Do you hit your sister? Is that why she flinches when she hears your name? Does your mother know? Is that why she won't give you her business until you marry, so your wife can't run from you like all the others before have?"

Kayn suddenly pales as the reality of what I know hits him. This isn't some random event. He's had evil poisoning him since he was a child.

"I...no-"

A dark, cold shadow falls over me, smothering any last vestige of humanity I could salvage. I grab for his throat, my fingertips digging into his flesh as I lift him from the chair to look down at him.

"I don't believe you," I seethe darkly.

I cannot see his face. It's gone. Instead, all I see is Sienna standing by the front door in the middle of the night, soaking wet and shivering. She pulls her hood back, revealing her face, bartered by this irredeemable monster.

"Then do it. Make it quick, please," he chokes out, clawing uselessly at my hand.

My lips curve upward.

Tonight he doesn't get his wish.

***

~Sienna

I sit patiently on the edge of Diane's bed, swinging my legs back and forth.

"I really missed you," I muse, watching my friend shuffle through a bag of makeup.

She's attempting to cover the vicious bruise on my face. I saw her own anger, her sadness and her regret when she saw me. She's always assumed responsibility for my safety since my mother died. In her mind, she failed me.

"The place wasn't the same without the smile." She pulls out a liquid paste in a small container.
"Your lover boy was miserable. I swear he was dragging his feet everywhere."

"I can't believe you just called our Alpha my lover boy," I state, giggling.

She lifts a shoulder, mirth dancing in her eyes. "It's true. I've been saying it since you two were young."

That much is true. I used to chase her around, chastising her for teasing me. She's always known I had a crush and insisted Onyx did too.

I suppose to some degree she was right...

"It doesn't matter, he's a married man," I say, trying not to flinch as she settles in front of me, dabbing some of the paste over my bruised cheek.

Diane's warm brown eyes shift to my eyes. "What does this mean for you then?"

"I haven't decided yet," I sigh. "I'm concentrating on healing for now."

Diane makes quick work of dabbing the paste onto my face before she steps back to admire her work.

"That's a nasty bruise. I hope Onyx kills him," she says bluntly.

"Diane..." I scold.

I'm not exactly surprised by what Diane is saying. She speaks her mind with ease, and has never seen a problem with any violence Onyx has ever exhibited.

"There's no place for men like that. I had a man raise his hand to me once, and I knew if he would do it to me, he was doing it to far more vulnerable people," she muses, raising a dark brow at me.

I frown, feeling a flutter of anger at the thought of Diane being hurt. Now I understand what it feels like to be Onyx right now.

"Do you think Onyx will kill him?" I ask her, shifting uncomfortably as Diane starts brushing my cheek with powder.

"Oh yes. Without a doubt." She doesn't seem bothered by the notion. "You don't?"

I look down at my hands, a painful lump forming in my throat. Onyx does a lot to protect me. More than I'm sure I'll ever realise, or ever want to realise. I know Lord Ableman lost everything including his entire family after he touched me at Maren's ball. I only heard that through Alex at the time, not from him.

It makes me think of what else he's silently done...What horrors he's shouldered to better my life.

"I suppose I've been trying not to think about it. I hope he doesn't," I murmur. Kayn deserves a lot, but I'm not sure it includes being murdered.

Diane pulls the brush away from my face, her expression softening.

"I think he would destroy his soul for you. I think he would lose his humanity, and he wouldn't think twice about it," she breathes, a somewhat solemn look in her eyes.

"You do?"

She brushes some hair off my face tenderly. It reminds me of what she would do when she would comfort me after my mother died.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love that drives someone to do unspeakable things for the one they care about."

"Once in a...you think we are mates?" I ask, my eyes widening.

It feels like everyone assumes we are except me. Maybe I'm being naïve, but it would be too good to be true to be Onyx's mate. Nothing has ever been that good for me before, and yet, so terrifying.

If Onyx really is my mate, can we really even be together? If we were forced to move on from each other because of his role as Alpha, it would break me.

"It's obvious, Sienna. It's been obvious," Diane exclaims, laughing a little to herself. "Think dear, what would you do for him?"

I wrap my arms around myself, knowing I don't need to think about it for very long. "Anything."

Diane's smile is knowing. "Exactly."

Taking a deep breath, I launch into a much lighter, easier conversation with Diane. I refuse to let the reality of what she has said dig in too deep.

If it does, I'm not sure I'll be able to recover.

🤎••🤎

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~Midika 💜🐼