Kane's Mate (Armageddon Mates)(5)
All the demons in hearing distance laughed. The biggest one came for her, stabbing Jack's heart as he stalked her.
Faith came out of the vision screaming. Her eyes swept frantically around the room, and when they landed on Jack, she shoved out of Kane's arms, throwing herself toward Jack. "I … saw … I saw … You can't die! I will save you all." She would learn to advance her powers. They would win.
She clung to Jack like her life depended on it. Jack rocked her and smoothed her hair back. With her head swimming from the information the vision had just shown her, she tried to comprehend it all, then the world before her suddenly turned black and she passed out from exhaustion.
* * * *
Kane looked around his lounge room at the grim faces. Faith had never had a vision that had lasted that long. Usually the most she zoned out for was two to three minutes tops, and they were never unexpected anymore, she always felt them coming on. Today, though, she'd been out for about three hours.
Kane gazed at the pale, terrified, worried faces of his family members as they watched Faith. She had never come out of a vision screaming in terror or passed out afterward. He looked at his princess as she clung to his dad even in her unconscious state. His mother's face drained of color as she paced before the sofa, obviously debating what to do.
His dad looked up at Griffen who was sweating and white as a ghost. "What's she feeling? What did you get?"
Griffen slumped to the ground. "Not good, Dad, not good at all. I've never felt anything so powerful, and the worst thing was half of that was dark power."
His dad's brow furrowed. "What's she feeling now?"
"Drained, exhausted, terrified, but she's hanging in there. God, she's amazing."
His dad nodded in agreement and hugged Faith tighter. She sighed and relaxed her grip, and her breathing changed to a more relaxed sleeping pattern.
Kane went to his dad to take his mate. He and his wolf were edgy, and he needed to hold Faith, to know she was all right.
Jamie and Devlin stopped him. "You are not touching her. She isn't even with you twenty-four hours and look what happened. She has avoided you and not spoken to you in over four years. For crying out loud, to get her to come home we had to tell her you were seeing a woman who you were seriously considering mating and moving closer to the city with. When she does finally spend time with you, look what happens."
Devlin lifted Faith into his arms. Kane could see the love they had for her shinning in their eyes. Devlin turned to walk out of the house when Kane's wolf took him back over four years to that Halloween weekend, showing him the scenes again, with things he didn't want to remember. Kane doubled over, feeling sick as he relived what had happen when she stopped talking to him.
"I hurt her deliberately, hoping it would stop her following me like my shadow, but I did it more so she would stop loving me." He looked up into all their faces. "I wanted her to hate me, avoid me, and then maybe I would stop loving her instead of feeling like a cradle robber." He sighed. "She was sixteen, I was frigging thirty. It was the first time, though, that I really saw her for what she was to me, she was a real princess, and I knew she had chosen that outfit especially for me. I took one look at her and if I wasn't already in love with her I would have been. I had never felt like that before, and I was terrified. My God, you guys have to remember she looked stunning, like a fantasy princess. I couldn't take it, so I went to find the she-wolf I was seeing at the time. We were going at it in my room when I felt Faith coming. It was then for the first time I smelt her chocolate and vanilla scent. I heard her open the door, so I said ‘I love you,' looking at the she-wolf. I heard Faith gasp then run away. I made it worse when I called Faith's name when I finished, which didn't go down well with the she-wolf. She left, but she went to go find Faith. I think I caught all the conversation, stuff about her only having a crush on me and me thinking of her as an annoying necessity, I think I even felt the pain from where I was hiding like a coward. Then the she-wolf said that I was alpha, next in line, and she was just a nobody human. I nearly broke then, my wolf wanted to kill the she-wolf, but I held back and as soon as the she-wolf was done I grabbed her and we left. I broke Faith's heart. That's why she has had nothing to do with me."
Jamie drew back his arm, punching Kane square on his nose. Pain exploded across his face, but it was nothing less than he deserved. "You're a fucking arsehole. I found her that day and it took me hours just to get her to stop crying, and I had to console her for weeks. She wouldn't even tell me what it was about." Jamie took Faith from Devlin and headed to the front door.
Devlin joined in by stepping up to Kane and slogged his nose, making it bleed. "I had no letters for two weeks. That was the only time I didn't get any besides when I was on missions. Shit, Kane, I thought someone had died. I almost went AWOL."
Devlin joined Jamie at the door, Griffen walked over to them. "Wow, Kane, I never knew you were so selfish. I had months of … I guess you could call it no sunshine, because every time I checked on everyone there was a void where Faith usually was. Somehow, she had learned to block me. When I asked about it she said she wasn't feeling good and she'd blocked me so I didn't feel bad."
Kane was shocked when even Rane got up. "Well, we all know why she stopped talking to you. Faith knew you knew what happened and what was said. She probably knew you were watching, hiding." Rane shook his head. "You really are an arsehole, and now you expect her to just get over what you did to her. You could have done something to fix the rift over the years, but no, after all this time you expect her to just happily be your mate."
Even Arden shook his head as he got up to join them. They walked out the door with Faith while Kane sat on his lounge, scared that what Rane had said was true. He was so angry with himself.
"Really, son, there were other ways," said his dad.
His mum took his hands in hers. "Look, we're not perfect, no one is, but I really think you need to give her some time. She was sixteen, and that's such a vulnerable age. I know she's twenty now, but we all knew how she felt. My God, Kane, she must still have feelings for you or she would never have stayed last night."
He tried to say she had no choice but his mum wouldn't let him get a word in.
"I know you don't think she could have stopped you, but I remember watching her train with all of you and she never lost a fight. Ah, don't say you all let her win, because I remember a couple of visiting wolves who spared with her and they all started taking it easy on her 'til the end and they still ended on the floor. So don't give me that she had no choice. She stayed last night because she wanted to. Give her some time. Call her later to organize a time to talk and woo her. Your father and I are going now too, so think about it."
Kane was left in his large house all by himself.
* * * *
Faith had awoken when Kane was telling everyone what she walked in on. He then told them what the girlfriend had said to her. Faith was so embarrassed she didn't say anything for the whole ride back to her parents' house. She turned to all five guys as they got out of the car.
"I'm sorry for the four years of childish behavior I put you all through, but at first I was so upset and angry that I couldn't even look at him, and then it just became easier to give him what he wanted. So I left him alone. It hurt too much when I was around him anyway." Faith wiped her tears away. "It really does seem silly and immature now that I think about it and hear it out loud."
They enveloped her in a hug.
Rane pulled her face up and said, "You were only sixteen and thought you were giving him what he wanted."
She smiled. "I love you all."
Jamie gave her a bear hug.
Rane shocked her by saying, "How about we all do something fun later tonight?"
Faith smiled. "Thanks, but I said I would go to Splash tonight with Remy and Sara. I promised I would join them in a competition. I love you all, but I need some girlfriend time. I'm going to go write in my vision book. I promise I'll tell you what I saw tomorrow. Hey, aren't you guys supposed to be out tonight saving the world?"
They all laughed. "You sure you're okay?" Devlin asked. "We could come in and keep you company 'til your friends come to pick you up."
"No!" Fuck, she said that too loud and too quickly. She backtracked before one of them offered to be the designated driver. "No, thanks. Really, I'm fine. We're just going to go out dancing for an hour or two. So, I'll see you tomorrow." She ran inside before they asked any more questions.