[ Matteo ]
"Are you sure about this?" I asked causing Kaia's heart rate to accelerate. She was staring at Socius' pack house with a pretty fair amount of intensity. It wasn't difficult for me to tell that she was trying to seem like her usual, overconfident, cocky-self. She was failing miserably.
"Yes," she replied with false confidence flooding her tone.
"You're lying," I accused. In a second, her icy blue eyes connected with mine sending my mind into a frenzy. Ignoring the hyperactivity in my brain, I raised a brow testing Kaia to deny me. "I can hear your heart racing." A frown replaced her confident expression making my chest hurt a bit. It was extremely foreign seeing Kaia upset. Feeling the need to comfort her the only way I really knew how to, I pulled her to my chest. I'd come to know that this was the easiest way to get her to calm down.
"I'm getting to see the man who abandoned me after like five years, and for some reason I can't help but feel excited. Is that wrong?" She asked making me frown.
"Well, do you want the truth?" That earned me a sigh. I didn't want to make her more upset than she already seemed to be, but I couldn't help thinking that this was one of the worst ideas she's had in a while.
The minute she came up with the grand idea of going to visit the piece of shit that abandoned her, I turned her down with a solid no. It went on like that for at least three hours with her giving me every reason under the sun as to why she should be able to see him until I gave in.
I didn't really understand it. I couldn't quite wrap my head around how someone could actually want to involve their self and still care about someone who basically just left them. Although, I didn't really understand most of the things Kaia tended to do.
"He's not completely terrible," she mumbled into my chest. Her warm breath spread over my chest through my shirt making my heart beat a little faster than normal. It honestly irritated me a bit.
"He still hurt you," I countered. I would be lying if I said I wasn't trying to convince her to not go inside and see her father.
"You hurt me, and I still like you." Well, that one hurt me more than it should have. I will never understand how such a small little thing could have the power to actually hurt me.
"But, that's different. At least, I try to fix my mistakes." I accept that I'm not the best, but I do try. It's not easy. If anything, it's hell most times, but I do try. I couldn't imagine losing her. I'd probably lock her in my closet if she tried to run away at this point.
"Please, don't make this harder on me than it's already going to be," she pleaded as her eyes found mine again. It was incredible how something so beautiful could seem so broken at the same time. Any judgmental thoughts from earlier had dissipated by this point. I kissed her apologetically, trying to tell her the words I didn't want to say through the kiss. I never apologized or even thought about it, but when it came to Kaia, it's all I ever wanted to do. Somehow, the words she deserved the most, I could never say.
"We should probably go inside," I said softly. I didn't miss the way her face fell a bit. She was obviously waiting for that apology. She was quick to cover it, though. From there, we made our way into the house.
With my hand placed firmly on Kaia's lower back, I led her to the door. We were met by Aleksei and two guards flanking him. I greeted them as Kaia stayed silent. Knowing she wasn't going to make a sarcastic remark to her brother actually killed me inside a little bit.
Trying to ignore the pain in my chest due to my mate's emotions getting the best of me, I followed Aleksei to their father.
It was obvious Kaia was distracted the entire way there. She was breathing faster than she normally would and her eyes were glued to the floor the entire time. Normally, I would find it amusing how she would look around and make comments about everything surrounding her. Not this time. Her gaze just kept to the floor.
"Kaia, I've got to warn you," Aleksei warned as we stopped in front of a steel door. His hand was grasping the handle as he looked down at the most important thing in my life with worry filling his eyes. It pissed me off a little. I'm here, so why should he be worried for her safety? No one would ever hurt her. I'd make sure of it. That was something I knew how to do better than anyone—protecting what's mine. "I know you're not going to like seeing him like this." I could feel her tense up causing me to be more alert of the situation. My eyes narrowed on Aleksei for making Kaia feel uneasy. I knew he could feel my heavy gaze by the way he avoided eye contact at all costs.
"I'm fine, Alek," Kaia said trying to sound assuring. "He's just a person to me, now. He deserves whatever he's going through." I knew I wasn't the only one not believing a word she was saying by the look on Alek's face. "Let's go," she pressed after a moment of silence between all of us, gesturing toward the door. Unwillingly, Aleksei opened the door leading my mate to her father.
"All that I'm saying is that I feel like silver chains really aren't necessary, so if you could keep those away from me, thanks." At the sound of her father's voice, her heart beat faster to the point where I thought it could be dangerous.
"Could I get some water? Get my son. He will get me some water." She continued into the room alone as I stood back. I wasn't positive if I could control how badly I wanted to punch her father in the face for abandoning her like he did.
"Oh, Kaden," the shithead hummed assuming Aleksei was the one who had come to greet him. I watched as a pair of light blue eyes that seemed identical to the pair I had grown so fond of found my mate's. As realization hit him, a wicked smile lit up his face creating a feeling in the pit of my stomach making me want to rip him apart then and there. "Kaia," he breathed, "my precious Kaia."
I didn't know what I expected from my hard ass of a mate. Maybe an insult? An interrogation? Certainly, not the use of the word 'daddy' like a ten year old girl, though.
Her voice cracked as she said it. My chest had this weird achy feeling inside because of it, making me want to punch someone or something. It was uncomfortable. She bolted to the holding cell and wrapped her small hands around the bars. I panicked for a moment thinking that they would be silver like the holding cells in my territory, but calmed down once I realized they were just steel. "Open the door," Kaia begged one of the guards who had been standing watch over the cell containing her rogue father.
"Its not—"
"I said, open the door!" She snarled causing all of us to back up a bit in shock. Since when did she get so violent, again? There had been times when she would yell or throw things at me, but she never really snarled like an animal.
"My little girl," her dad murmured watching her in awe. It irritated me beyond compare that he would even look at her with pride after he left her like she was nothing. She's everything.
As soon as the door was open, Kaia latched herself to him.
Oh, how badly I wanted to rip him apart from the inside out for even breathing the same air as her.
"Can we have a moment?" He asked after a minute.
"Like hell," I growled lowly, not expecting the anger that would rise from my mate because of it.
"Can't I just have a minute with my dad?" She snapped with a cold glare.
It took every ounce of strength and affection that I had for her to not throw her over my shoulder and show her who her Alpha is. I gritted my teeth thinking about just how badly this could end up if I say the wrong thing to her. Thankfully, my internal fuming was cut short by her brother.
"We need to talk," he stated in a low, hushed voice so that I was the only one aware of what he had said.
I looked between my mate and her father who she was now standing in front of with her arms crossed waiting for me to challenge her. Deciding it was probably best to leave the vicinity before I made my mate hate me for the twenty-sixth time, I agreed to speak with Aleksei.
We both exited the room and shut the door behind us, leaving only two guards in the room with Kaia and her father. Honestly, I had a feeling Kaia could rip them both apart in the blink of an eye, but I wasn't about to say that to the pack's beta and offend anyone. I'd just managed to get of Socius' good side over the past few years. I didn't need every pack hating and/or fearing me to the point that they hate me.
"What?" I snapped, still a bit irritated with Kaia. She got to me in a way that no one else had the ability to, and to say I hated it would be an understatement.
"The Kaia in that room right now, and the Kaia you know are two completely different people," Alek concluded.
Does he think I'm stupid?
"No f--king shit," I deadpanned. It wasn't hard to tell that Kaia had managed to do an emotional one-eighty in the presence of her father. "If you brought me out here to gossip about my little psychopath, I'd rather not," I stated, reaching for the door before Aleksei blocked me. A low, warning growl vibrated from my chest as I glared at the boy trying to keep me from my mate. He may be Kaia's brother, but I would gladly throw him through the door just to get in even if I didn't exactly have to.
"Alpha Nerezza, please, just hear me out," he begged. Internally, I groaned like a ten year old. Deciding that I should stop acting like Kaia, I turned to give Alek my full attention. Well, not my full attention. A part of me was always focused on Kai. "Kaia's faith in my father runs deep. In her eyes, this man does no wrong. She's spent her entire life trying to prove herself to him and make him proud. It's instinctual for her at this point," Aleksei explained making me want to scoff. Kaia? My Kai? Feeling the need to prove herself to someone? Anyone? Does he not know his sister?
"Yeah, okay," I responded, obviously unconvinced.
"She does a great job at hiding it—keeping her secrets. She's always been that way, except with him. Our dad could break her down with the snap of his fingers." I narrowed my eyes as his words made their way through my head. I knew Kaia was secretive. It was blatantly obvious that half of our conversations were spent with her trying to avoid any sort of personal conversation about herself.
"And?" I pressed.
"Growing up, Dad did a lot of emotional damage to the both of us. I knew how to take it and deal with it. Kaia, on the other hand, let every word cling to her. He controlled her by making her feel like she would be nothing without him, and she believed it." The thought of Kaia thinking she was practically nothing without her father angered me beyond words. Kaia was smart in her own way. She was kind in her own weird, demented way. She was her own person.
"What would he say to her?" I asked lowly.
"Well," Aleksei began seeming a bit guarded, "that depends, I guess. More often than not, he was just telling her she wasn't smart enough or strong enough. He'd pick at little things she would do like mumble or walk with poor posture. It was basically just anything small that she did wrong that he would then blow out of proportions," he explained. In the past, I had threatened Jack many times for stupid things involving Kaia like looking at her for too long or thinking it was okay to be in the same room as her, but I could think of about a million more sadistic ways to completely ruin her father in that moment.
"That it?" I asked through gritted teeth. If Parker was in the room, I would have advised him to pray that was all.
"He used to compare us a lot. Kaia knew she was the favorite, and she would do absolutely anything to make sure it stayed that way. Dad used to make her seem inferior to me, and that's how he got his way most of the time. Like I said, Kaia's entire life has been spent trying to prove that she's good enough," he concluded.
My brows drew together thinking about It. At first, it didn't make sense. My Kai feeling inferior to anyone? Nonsense. Kaia thought she was the best, and everyone knew it.
But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how true his words could be. As much as I wouldn't like to admit it, she accepted the bond to prove to Jack that she was capable of having emotion. She started to actually act civilized with pack members to prove to Daniella that she was capable of being a part of pack. She behaved and was involved at the Leaders' Conference to prove to everyone there that she had what it takes to be a Luna.
And, all this time, she remained a rogue to prove to her father that she could be exactly what he wanted her to be.
"Well, why the f--k does she still live to please him if he left her?" I asked, irritation thick in my voice.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Alek said with a shrug. "There isn't a single person in this world who knows how to make her feel better or worse about herself than him. I guess she just likes to hold onto the better."
"Kaia!" The booming voice of her father caught my attention. Instantly, I had pushed past Aleksei and entered the room, once again. "Answer me, dammit. Have you lost a few more brain cells since the last time I saw you?"
"If you could please refrain from shouting at my mate before I rip the vocal cords out of your throat, that would be nice," I threatened darkly, meaning every word that came from my mouth. I would start a war with every pack in the country if that meant keeping Kaia happy. I wouldn't feel the slightest bit of regret by ridding my world of her father.
"Mate," Parker repeated quietly as I drug Kaia out of the cellar by her hand. I assumed by the look of shock on his face that he wasn't expecting his pride-seeking daughter to accept an Alpha mate. I couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he sees the mark on her neck.
"Kaia Parker, you better pray this is a joke," he snarled.
How, precious. He named Kaia after himself.
Now, I see where Kaia gets a lot of her cockiness from.
In the background, I could hear the obnoxious sound of him pulling violently on his restraints. If only they would have been silver. They definitely would have been on my territory, no questions asked.
"Don't leave this room, Kaia! Don't leave this room! Kaia!" Ignoring Parker to the best of my ability, I pulled my mate out of the room and made sure the door was securely shut behind the two of us.
Immediately after, Kaia's icy blue eyes found mine. Just like they always did, they sent my mind into a frenzy.
I needed to get her away from him.
"Are we going home?" She asked quietly as I continued dragging her through Socius' pack house. Hearing the broken sound of her voice caused that annoying, achy feeling in my chest to come back. The more I ignored it, the worse it got. Deciding for the better, I slowed my pace and stopped to look at her.
Again, those eyes.
Damn, I hated how much I loved them.
"Is that where you want to go?"
"I want to go anywhere that's not here."
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I bet only like two of u thought this chapter was going to be in Matteo's point of view. HA.
I finished this chapter the same day part one was posted but I didn't want to post it right away because I've been too lazy to write another chapter to post in like four days. SO ENJOY
Oh also, I was reading some of the first chapters and KAIAS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HAS ME QUAKING.
I know a lot of people miss her psychoness but like this is what I gotta do guys. IT HAS TO BE DONE. I MISS HER TOO YA KNOW. I KNOW WE ALL LOVED HER BUT NOW WE GOTTA LOVE SLIGHTLY MORE HUMAN KAIA.
Anyway
See ya in like a week I think 10/15/17