XXXII | ...you still have mine.

It was a different kind of quiet. Jack's heart had been fuzzy, like static on a television screen; sometimes you could almost see the outlines of images through it. But Kaleb's screen was utterly black. There was nothing.

Kaleb whipped his arm away, "Don't touch me, Kaia. I can tell when you're trying to read me."

"Kaleb is this supposed to be a joke?" Lionel asked, glancing nervously at Kaia and Kaleb.

Kaleb just stared at Lionel for a moment before tearing his best friend apart, "Are you and Cole supposed to be a joke?"

Lionel's face went bright red immediately, and he stumbled backwards as if Kaleb had physically punched him. "Kaleb!" Kaia scolded.

He simply looked down at her, his face blank. "He's a Hunter. He's your brother. He's not interested," Kaleb explained, "Just get over it." And with that, Kaleb walked past both of them and left the room. Kaia stood frozen for a moment, staring after him.

"That's not Kaleb, is it?" Lionel asked, looking at Kaia, "Please say no." His eyes were begging. Kaia felt a stab of pain.

"It's Kaleb," Kaia said sadly, "But something's happened to him. When I touched him, he..." Kaia wasn't sure how to describe it to another person who wasn't Kaleb.

"Something's changed," Lionel finished for her. That was good enough for now.

Kaia nodded and looked at Lionel, touching his arm gently, "He didn't mean a word of that; he doesn't know what he's talking about. You know that, right?" Lionel nodded slowly. Kaia smiled softly, "I don't know much about it, but I can see the way you look at Cole. You have my blessing, not that you needed it."

Lionel stared at her for a moment like he wanted to say something more, but instead settled with, "We need to do something about Kaleb."

Kaia felt a two ton weight slam back down on her shoulders. She nodded. "We can figure this out. I think first thing's first, we need to make sure that the majority of the Pack doesn't find out. We can tell Rosy, Ben, and Elias to start, but no one else. People might panic."

"Rosy and Ben aren't going to take this well," Lionel mumbled, slightly lost in thought, "He's like their son."

"Lion, we need to try and bring him back. I don't know what happened, but I'm pretty sure it was Jack. It's the only thing that makes sense," Kaia said. He'd been fine when they'd fallen asleep together, more than fine. And then Kaia had woken up to a nightmare.

"How do we do that?" Lionel asked, staring at her.

"Stage 1, we trap him before he can do any damage. We can't let him issue the order to execute Jack's captured Pack members or something else equally disastrous," Kaia said, heading out the door. Lionel followed on her heels. "We need to get him in a room and see if we can jar him back to himself. Whatever Jack did, we can try and undo it. I can try to undo it."

Lionel managed a smirk, "Are you going to kiss him and hope true love's kiss wakes him up?"

Kaia stopped walking for a second and looked at Lionel. He was smiling, but his eyes were sad. "No not the time for jokes," Kaia said, "...But thanks." Lionel, always there to make you smile when you most needed it. Kaia hoped he never changed.

☾

Kaleb was sitting at the table in the middle of the room, fuming and nursing the brand new deep cut on his forehead. Elias had put his rings to good use to get Kaleb where they wanted him; it wasn't like he would have gone willingly. Elias was honestly a force of nature.

"Remind me to exile Elias from the Pack when you finally realize how useless this is," Kaleb grumbled.

"Kaleb, do you-" Ben started, but Kaleb shut him up before he could begin.

"Look, I know you think you're my father, but you're not, and you have never been. My father died years ago. So no matter what you're going to say or what you're going to try to make me remember, let me stop you. I don't care. I won't ever care about you or what you think is between us. So stop," Kaleb said, his voice monotone as if what was happening was the most boring thing he'd ever been forced to endure.

Kaia winced at his words. This tactic wasn't working, that much was clear. Lionel, Rosy, and now Ben had all tried to get through to him. But he wouldn't have it. Kaia was beginning to wonder if it was possible to undo what Jack had done.

Ben stood slowly and approached Kaia, his face stern and his voice hushed, "Jack did this?" Kaia nodded sadly, and Ben sighed, "Then perhaps Jack can undo it."

"Jack's dead," Kaia said quietly, glancing at Kaleb. His stare was burning holes in her.

"No," Ben said quietly, meeting Kaia's eyes, "I know you hate it, but he lives on in you."

Kaia blinked, "You think I can do something?"

"You inherited it, didn't you?" Ben asked.

"Yes, but I'm only starting to know what I'm doing. Nothing like this has ever-"

"Now's the time to try," Ben said, cutting off the conversation. Any potential questions had gone with the wind. Kaia watched Ben take Rosy's hand as they left. Rosy glanced over her shoulder at Kaia, her expression meaningful. Help him.

Kaia gave her a nod, "Lion, Elias, can you leave the room?"

"Kaia, we can't do that," Lionel said.

"It's not safe," Elias explained. Kaia sighed.

"He's handcuffed," Kaia said, going to sit across from Kaleb.

"Kaia, it's-" Lionel began. But Kaia looked at him, begging him with her eyes to listen. She needed to be alone with Kaleb to help him. She'd been rescued by Kaleb in so many ways, so many times that it was about time she saved him.

Lionel nodded, "We'll be outside."

Kaia waited for the door to shut behind them before looking back at Kaleb. He stared at her, "Is it your turn now?"

"I guess," Kaia replied, watching him. She stared desperately at his eyes, hoping to see some spark of his old self, a softness or a glimmer of hope. But they were just a dull yellow color.

"So what's your speech about?" Kaleb asked, leaning forward. His handcuffs clanked against the steel table. "You knocked me out and dragged me into this interrogation room. You better have a damn good speech."

Kaia sighed and wrapped her arms around her waist. "I don't know."

Kaleb raised a brow, "You don't know?"

"I don't," Kaia said, "I have no idea what I could say that would somehow bring you back to yourself. I could say that I love you, but you already know that."

Kaleb leaned further forward, his eyes darkening, "Have you ever thought that maybe this is the real me, that I put up fronts and lie my way through life?"

"No," Kaia said immediately. She was sure of that if nothing else.

"But it scares you, doesn't it? What I'm capable of..." Kaleb said. There was a faint hint of malice in his voice, and it left a sour taste in Kaia's mouth. It was wrong to hear Kaleb like this, to see him like this. Kaia had fallen in love with him because of how big his heart was. Kaleb without that heart wasn't Kaleb.

"If I'm honest, yes," Kaia said, "I don't know when it started or when I realized it, but yes. A part of me is afraid of you. I meant to tell you earlier, but I was nervous."

Kaleb looked satisfied, leaning back in his chair. "At least you have the guts to admit it."

"It's because you're a murderer," Kaia admitted, looking down at her hands. Funny how she couldn't look him straight in the eye when she said it. If the real Kaleb were in there somewhere, that would have hurt him.

"No, it's not," Kaleb said, his expression devilish. He leaned forward again, so close this time that Kaia had to lean back so she wouldn't feel his heat and be distracted. "It's because I'm a Wolf and you're a human. You're weak. All you can do is cower while the rest of us fight."

Kaia fought to keep her expression neutral. It wasn't sadness or pain that possessed her. It was anger. She wanted to yell and lash out at Kaleb. Maybe it was because what he was saying was partly valid. She was scared of the world. Or, she had been. She didn't want to be any longer.

But Kaleb had been wrong about one thing. There was more she could do than cower. "Tell me, do you still have your memories? Do you remember last night?" she asked.

Kaleb frowned. He'd hoped his words would have done more damage. Kaia wasn't going to let that happen. "I remember everything," Kaleb said, "I should have just fucked you then and there and gotten it over with."

Kaia winced at his choice of words. Kaia had stopped it because she'd known that there were still things between them that needed to be said, stories to tell and truths to uncover. Sex between them was supposed to be different. It had to be perfect for Kaia, and it couldn't be with secrets between them.

"But you remember why we stopped, right?" Kaia asked, "Why you stopped..."

Kaleb growled, "No."

It was Kaia's turn to lean forward. She felt the cold metal of the table beneath her sweating palms. "I remember," Kaia said, "Because I was inside your head when it happened."

"Shut up," Kaleb growled.

"Want to know what it is you thought? What your fear was?" Kaia asked, slowly standing up.

"I don't care," he hissed, "I told you. I don't care about you or anything else."

"She's human," Kaia remembered, "What if I hurt her? That's what you thought."

Kaleb bolted upright, his cuffs banging as he strained against them, "I'll hurt you now!"

"Well, news flash, Kaleb!" Kaia shouted, "I'm not human! Not completely!"

"I could crush you!" Kaleb bellowed back. "I don't care if you're my Luna, I will kill you!"

Kaia didn't listen to his words anymore. She just had to land her blows, try to force him back to himself. If she had to hurt him in the process, so be it. "I'm not afraid of you, Kaleb. Not any longer," Kaia growled. It was a wolfish sound, the same she'd made when Kaleb's life had been in danger. Kaia had always been half lycanthrope, she realized; it made sense now.

"You should be," Kaleb said, his eyes on fire.

"I'm not, and I never will be again," Kaia said, "I will fight you until my last breath if it means I get my Alpha--my mate--back. Right now, I hate you." She didn't, of course. She could never hate Kaleb, which was a bit intimidating to her. Kaleb had threatened to kill her, had already killed so many people, and yet she still loved him. It made her think that she was more trapped than Kaleb was.

Kaleb yanked against the cuffs, and the metal groaned, "I'll break out of these, and I'll kill you." Kaleb's face changed, "Or maybe before I destroy you, I'll ra-"

It was a blur. Rage burned through her, devouring her like a flame to paper. She wasn't herself for a moment. All she could think about was how she never wanted to hear what Kaleb would have said next. So she gave in and let go of the leash that held back her anger and frustration.

Kaleb was frozen, his head turned to the side where Kaia's hand had forced it. Her hand was stinging painfully from where it had connected to Kaleb's cheek. Kaleb slowly reached up and touched his face, but Kaia barely noticed. She was too busy staring at her hand, angry and red.

She'd felt something when she'd touched him, like a candle flickering in the wind, on its last breath. It was a tiny glimmer of hope, a speck of light, a single dim star in the sky.

It was Kaleb alive and himself, soft and kind and hurting. Kaia felt tears spring up almost immediately, relief flooding through her. It had been small, but it was there.

She knew what to do. She'd found it: Kaleb's heart. She'd thought it was gone, but it had only been hiding. She needed to bring it back, to breathe life into it as if fanning flames.

She didn't hesitate. She lunged forward before Kaleb could resist. His eyes went wide for a moment. Kaia's hands touched his face, and he lost himself in it. His resistance was gone.

"Come back to me, Kaleb."

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