Dark And Unjaded

C32 Epilogue

CHASE-

Looking over at his older brother slumpef in the seat of Tye's v8 ute, he was suffused in panic. His now sluggish erratic heart pounded in his chest in an irregular pace, his palms were sweating and his jaw was sore from clenching his teeth. It was the longest friggen drive he had ever had, he couldn't get to the beach fast enough. The problem with Victoria, was that there wasn't many beaches that provided privacy. He couldn't ran on the public beaches with Casey bleeding in his arms without coursing a scene. So he had to travel a little further than the closest beach and headed to the quiet Tea Tree Bay on the Victorian coast line.
"Hold on Case, just a little further," he told his brother
"Just drive carefully," Casey groaned. His head leaned on the window and bobbed around with the curves and bumps of the road, his eyes closed, mouth open to draw in air.

Chase went back to looking over at him every few minutes and squeezing the steering wheel til his knuckles were white. Casey wasnt the only one he was worried sick about.
Jayde.
It tore at him and infuriated his beast knowing that that was probably the last time he would see his dark, beautiful enchantress. She had the weight of the whole world on her shoulders, a creepy assassin demon after her and a huge group of Sinaeryns to find. He would give anything to be by her side through all the challenges. Anything except abandon his unborn child.
He wasn't stupid, he meant something to her just as she meant the world to him. He felt her love for him through the bond, when it was entangled with his.
His gut clenched, he had changed their course and in turn their future which would no longer intertwine, and he wouldn't have the opportunity to hear her tell him that she loved him like she did in her visions she shared with him. God's, he felt sick, shredded, broken and completely lost.

It still burned his insides like acid thinking that she had had sex with his lifelong friend and the man he considered a brother. Tye had taken care of her needs, while he had only driven her to sever the bond and rip her own heart out. Caused her nothing but pain.
She was right, he had no right to question her about being with Tye. Not when he hadn't told her that he was already bonded with a Panthera woman, had been for over three years.
And now, Nadine was carrying his baby.

Oh man, a baby.
The thought was daunting enough, the thought of being a good father, let alone the extremely bad timing. The boy he had seen in his Beauty's visions would have his hair and his skin tone. Chase would love him with every ounce of his being he knew. But his stupid irregular heart ached from the guilt for the feelings he had, he couldn't help but blame the child's existence for tearing his true mate from his grasp, for taking his beautiful shadow warrior away from him.
Now, Jayde would never be his.

He wiped at the tear that silently fell and rubbed his shredded heart in his chest. Driving was becoming an issue just as the sea came into view.
"We're here brother," he announced. Case groaned in response.
He parked Tye's ute at the end of a sandy track, got out and raced around to Casey's side, pulled his hefty weight into his arms and ran for the water. The sea was flat here today and so friggen cold, the water felt like it came straight from the icebergs when they entered.

As soon as the salt water reached Casey's stomach, he roared in agony and his Panthera came to the forefront, enlongating his canine teeth and shining in his eyes. Chase was glad he found the beach secluded. God's, he hoped his Beauty had been right and this worked. He shuddered.
She wasn't his. He need to stop thinking like that.

The sun was setting on the right of him, coating the water in bright pink and orange reflections of the sky. It was super beautiful, but he couldn't find the energy to appreciate it.

Casey stopped yelling out and hissing and tried to come to a stand. He was shaky and wobbly but with Chase's support he stood in the water.
"Oh gods, that hurt like a bitch," Case growled.
"You good to head back?" Chase really wanted to get back to Jayde and see her one last time before the night stole her away from him. Casey nodded and with a little help from Chase, they got the alpha back into the car. Chase covered his big brother in Tye's thick padded jacket in the ute for warmth and jumped in the drivers seat.