Chapter 8

CATALINA

The smug smile on Nick’s face was a dead giveaway. If that didn’t tell the others what we’d been up to, then the blush on mine surely would.

I took my spot next to Lucien, who leaned over and inhaled deeply. I smashed my hand against his face, forcing him back. “That’s the welcome back the half-breed gets, but I don’t?”

Kol laughed. “Just say you want to have sex with her too.” He winked at me. “We all do.”

Unfortunately, my eyes slid to Jayden, who must’ve arrived while Nick and I were upstairs. He glared at me. Maybe not ~everyone~ wanted to. Did they tell him about the baby?

“He hasn’t seen his mate in some time, what do you expect?” Lucifer walked over, crouching in front of me. “You know this baby changes everything, right? No more school, no more wandering off alone.”

“He’s right.” Mateo cut in before I could open my mouth. “It’s not just your life at stake now.”

“What baby?” Jayden demanded from his spot against the wall. Why didn’t they tell him while I was gone? Now I had to be the one to do it.

“I’m pregnant,” I mumbled, hoping he couldn’t hear me.

“What?” I looked up as I heard the sound of glass breaking. His wings were spread out to their full size, his face twisted into a nasty sneer.

Lucifer stood from his crouch in front of me, blocking my view of him. “Calm yourself,” he said with a note of warning.

“You don’t give me orders, demon. We need to get rid of the abomination growing inside her.” My eyes widened at his words, a pinching feeling in my chest. He wanted to kill the baby? A sharp gasp left me, my eyes watering.

I looked up at the sudden sound of choking. Kol had Jayden pinned against the wall, his eyes completely red with small black horns protruding from his head. “Can I kill him?” His voice was deadly calm, which scared me.

“Kol,” Lucifer warned, but he paid him no attention. Instead, his focus was on me, a pleading look in his eyes. There was no doubt in my mind he wanted to kill Jayden. It was taking all his self-control to hold back. And he was holding back for me.

Something out of my peripheral caught my attention. I looked over, surprised to see black fur and glowing yellow eyes. Lucien had completely shifted, his murderous gaze on Jayden, his hackles raised.

“No,” I whispered at last. My eyes went to Jayden, but he refused to look at me. Would he have suggested killing the baby if it were his? Anger replaced the hurt in me. It was one thing to reject me, but it was unfair to an innocent. “Just leave.”

To my surprise, Kol stepped back. “You have five seconds to get out of my sight.” The threat was clear in his words. “Five.” He said this right before a clawed hand swiped across Jayden’s face.

Jayden didn’t scream or flinch, not even as blood ran down the side of his face. His eyes locked with mine for a split second, and I saw something shocking. Hurt. Then he was gone.

Lucien roared in anger next to me, then darted out of the room. Lucifer cursed. “Fucking hell.” He walked out after him, muttering about his house turning into a chew toy.

“You need to calm him down, Cat,” Mateo said, making me jump. He pointed across the room at Kol, who was leaning with his face against the wall. My eyes roamed over his shaking form, and for the first time, I feared him. I’d never seen him lose control like this.

“I’m scared,” I admitted quietly to him. Right now, I just wanted to run to my room and lock everyone out. Childish, I know. But too much was happening in such a small amount of time.

“Catalina.” A deep, guttural voice called my name. I looked up into the red eyes of Kol. He didn’t even sound human. “No matter.” He stopped, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

When he opened them again, they were no longer red. “No matter how angry I am, I’ll never hurt you.” With those words, he used his shadows to leave.

“Come, let’s get you in bed,” Mateo said. I took the hand he offered to me, still staring where Kol was.

“How did everything turn so bad so quickly?” I whispered to him. Kol was gone, Lucifer was off chasing Lucien, and Nick was still in the living room.

And Sebastian… I looked over my shoulder to see him silently following us. ~I’m not leaving.~ His words whispered in my head. I nodded, following Mateo out of the room.

Once in my room, Mateo silently dressed me in my pajamas while Sebastian watched. By pajamas, I mean he slipped one of Lucifer’s shirts on me. I slipped into bed, feeling almost numb. I didn’t want to think about what just happened or what could’ve happened.

Mateo took the spot in front of me, pulling me to his chest. I was surprised when the bed dipped behind me. Sebastian didn’t cuddle me, but he lay close enough that I knew he was there. I smiled into Mateo’s chest.

LUCIFER

“Break another vase and she’ll be short a mate.” Lucien, the wolf, looked back at me, snarling. I arched an eyebrow, completely fed up with babysitting this pup. “I mean it, wolf.”

With a growl, he took off again. I sighed. Now he was heading to the ballroom.

“This tantrum you’re throwing is getting really old,” I said as he yanked the curtains down with his teeth. He looked back at me, my ten-thousand-dollar drapes hanging from his mouth. “I hope you know you’ll be replacing those.”

Bones cracked as he shifted back to a man, his eyes still glowing yellow. “Fuck off, termite,” he grumbled, heading toward the door.

I guessed he had finally calmed down a bit. I stopped him before he could exit.

“We need to talk.”

He growled at the hand on his chest. “What? I need to check on my mate.”

“One, you’re not completely in control to do that, and two, she’s sleeping. So, you have time to discuss this matter.” I pointed to the table in the center of the room. “Sit.”

His eyes narrowed, but he listened. “We need to discuss Jayden. There’s something off about him.”

He scoffed. “Yeah, he shouldn’t be breathing.”

“He’s right.” Another voice joined. I turned my head as Nick and Sebastian walked in. “I noticed it the first day he arrived.”

“Kol?” I questioned, wondering if the demon was under control.

“He’s with her,” Sebastian answered.

I nodded, facing Lucien once again. “As pack leader, I expected you to pick up on this eventually, but since you haven’t, I’ll bring it to your attention.”

He frowned in confusion. “Pack leader? You’re not my pack.”

A sigh of irritation left me. “For whatever reason, Catalina viewed you as the leader of her pack of mates. It could be the lycan in you, or simply because she felt safest with you. But unbeknownst to her, she’d deemed you pack leader.”

It was something I didn’t quite understand. Out of all of us, he was the weakest, yet she unconsciously chose him. We could all feel it within the bond. His decision would always be the final answer.

He nodded, a smug look on his face. “Makes sense.”

“Not really,” Nick chimed in, and I silently agreed.

“Back to the subject at hand, am I the only one who doesn’t truly feel a connection to Jayden?” Sebastian asked.

“Because he’s not accepting the bond?” Nick asked.

“And she’s also not accepting him?” Lucien finished.

I nodded my head in agreement. “It’s interesting that she’s not pushing to bond with him.”

“But she got the tattoo for him? Maybe their bond is just one that’ll take time,” Nick said with a shrug.

I frowned. “What tattoo?” I’d caught glimpses of black markings on her but never really paid attention to them. But now it seemed I was missing something here.

Lucien sighed, like he’d rather be anywhere but here having this conversation. That wolf grated on my nerves. “A while back we did a ritual to try and bring out her powers. Afterward, she received a tattoo representing all of her mates.” He eyed me with disdain. “This was before you were dragged into the picture.”

“Angel wings appeared on her collarbone. At the time, we assumed it was for Jayden,” Nick said.

I stiffened at his words. Slowly, I pulled down the collar of my shirt. “Wings like these?”

Lucien jumped from his seat. “Holy shit!”

“Damn,” Nick whistled.

“So, the wings were for you and not him,” Sebastian mused, taking a quick glance at my chest.

“Holy shit!” Lucien repeated, making my skin burn with his choice of words. “When did you get that?”

I rubbed at the art on my chest, remembering the slight burn I felt when it first appeared. “A few months ago.”

Nick nodded. “Around the time we did the ritual. Do you think there’s a chance Jayden also has the tattoo?”

“Why wouldn’t your tattoo be horns like Kol’s? Why wings?” Lucien asked.

“Have you forgotten that he’s a fallen angel wolf?” It would make sense for him to have wings.

Lucien snorted. “Don’t believe I was asking you, half-breed.”

“We need to find out if Jayden has the tattoo, so for now we keep this between ourselves,” Sebastian stated, heading for the door. “And if he doesn’t, then we have a problem on our hands.”