Bloodlines of Moon and Shadow

Chapter 3

Streaks of sunlight brushed over the thinned loveseat as they reached to skim over the wooden door. Apart from its empty promises, daylight at least proved to ease part of her shot-up nerves. Though, no false comfort could embrace her completely. She knew a locked door and a new day wouldn't solve her newfound reality.

Mate, bonding, the claiming... Kara's lungs constricted at the suffocating words churning in her mind. What kind of sick joke was the Moon Goddess playing at? Last evening's incident resembled more of a nightmare come to life than anything lovely at all.

"Third time's the charm." She scoffed. Hadn't she lost enough in her life?

The cabinet's handle dug into Kara's huddled form, distracting her from the numbness spreading through her bottom. No doubt, her spine would be bruised for a couple of days. As she finally ripped her gaze from the bronze doorknob, her stiff fingers released the frying pan with a resounding clang over the tiled floor.

The Moon Goddess had put her between a brick wall and the end of a pitchfork. Rejecting the mutt seemed like the most reasonable choice, but to what extent? Lena would mourn the loss until her spirit succumbed to the pain and faded into nothingness. If she accepted the mate bond, her panther would come to know another kind of unbearable pain when their so-called mate showed his true colors.

What the hell am I supposed to do? She gnawed at her already abused lip. Both options promised to hurt Lena. Kara couldn't do that to her panther, the most important and beloved piece of her life.

Well, since you're asking, the answer to your stupidity is simple. Get your lazy ass up and find our goddamn mate before I come out and rip you a new one! Lena ended with an earsplitting roar. Her playful panther was out the window, replaced with a nonstop pacing ball of clashing fangs and razor-sharp claws.

Dammit, Lee. Kara clambered out of her cornered position leaning against the kitchen island. Her panther's nonstop arguing had encouraged a rising beat in her brain. Cold fingertips probed at her temples in an effort to soothe the merciless pounding.

Half of her wanted to pack everything and hightail it out of town damning everything to hell, while her other half, the sane part, kept searching for any sensible solution. Every time her eyelids drooped amber eyes awaited her in the dark, jerking her away from any possible snooze.

Lena, sweetie, it's only the mate bond talking. You need to fight it. That wolf will never be able to make us happy. Yet no matter how many times Kara reasoned, Lena couldn't understand it and wouldn't accept it. Her panther awaited unconditional love in their mate's embrace, as cliché as it may sound.

Why didn't he chase after us? Lena demanded with an anguished whine. Kara's chest tightened, leaving her with a turmoil of emotions she couldn't begin to understand. A heaviness had settled in her stomach while she forced herself to take deep and even breaths.

Kara, he's not dad. He's not dad. Lena mewled dejectedly.

We don't know that, Lee. I'm sorry, I need time to think.

A shaky exhale left her chapped lips as she made the first decision of the day. Lena's enraged growl echoed through her head as Kara locked her panther at the very back of her mind. A confined space resembling a blue-colored padded safety room would contain Lena's presence until Kara could form any coherent thoughts regarding the ditch-the-mate plan.

Leaving me with a mateless life would have been too perfect, wouldn't it? You sadistic Goddess. Her meticulously filed nails dug into her palms, bringing a welcomed sting to her roiling senses as her bare feet carried her to the bathroom.