A Wolf's Obsession (32 page)

The second he merged his thoughts with hers, Wyatt was almost overwhelmed. The depths of her anger were staggering. She was usually so calm that the heat of her fury
was unbelievable. He didn’t know what it was that Ethan had said or done but the man had implanted dangerous thoughts into her mind, thoughts that would haunt her for the rest of her life if she managed to carry them out. She couldn’t be the one to kill Ethan; his death would follow her forever.

Kass
! he shouted, demanding her full attention. Anything less would give her the wiggle room to carry out of her plan.
What are you doing? We had a plan. I’ve gotten rid of all of his guards–

Were there many?

Her words threw him and distracted him enough to answer her question instead of following his original train of thought.

Ethan is fucking paranoid. There were men everywhere
. Shaking his head at the realisation that she was moving closer to achieving her goal, he snarled.
I’m not going to let myself be distracted. You’re not following the plan.

I have to do this Wyatt. He’s taken so much from me I want to take away the one thing in the world that he really wants.

Her words made him dig deeper and when he realised what it was she was planning to do his world stopped. She wasn’t going for Ethan’s heart, she was going for hers.
No! You can’t do this Kass. I won’t let you.
He started running towards the house praying that he wouldn’t be too late.

I have to do this Wyatt
. His mind was meshed so firmly with hers that he saw her reach for the knife, felt the heavy weight of the blade as if it was in his own hand. Sweat beaded on his brow. He wasn’t going to make it. His part of the plan had taken him away from the house and he hadn’t changed his course early enough to stop this madness.
Don’t worry. I love you.

She tried to pull her thoughts away from him but he was with her the whole time, a powerless spectre at the back of her mind. He heard her talk to Ethan, watched as she turned the blade on herself and felt the deep cut of the blade sinking into her skin just as he reached the house. Life as he knew it ended in that moment.

It had been madness to bring her. Falling to his knees as he watched the house go up into flames Wyatt cursed. Damning his own stupidity and his belief that his mate would follow his orders. His mate was dead. Killed by her own hand so that she could take down the man who’d tormented her her whole life. His death paled in comparison to the loss of his mate. The world would never be the same but that didn’t matter. He looked down at the razor sharp claws that had sprouted from his nails. It wouldn’t be pretty but he was fairly confident that he could manage to take his own head and be with her in death. If there was no Kass, there was no point in living. Even if he waited for her reincarnation to come back to him she wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t be the fiery mate that he’d come to love.

He threw his head back and howled. “She said she’d never leave me.” The flames grew hotter, the fire burning more intensely. From inside the house he heard Ethan’s painful screams, heard the man shout for help that would never come. He didn’t care. Let the asshole suffer. Let him burn alive. Let him feel the flames melt his skin until there was nothing left. It didn’t matter. Nothing did without Kass.

Defeated, he let his head slump against his chest while he muttered to himself. “She said she’d never leave me. Gone. Mate gone.” The madness that Kass had pushed back with her presence was returning, creeping up on him as the wolf lost himself in grief. “Join her. Have to go to her.” His claws pressed against his throat. He wouldn’t let his sisters talk him into living this time. He wouldn’t give them the chance. They’d disregard his grief; try to convince him that there were still things that made living worthwhile. Their words would be lies and he knew better than to listen to them. His mate had died here. He’d die here with her.

“Wyatt!” Kass shouted.

The madness had come one quicker than he’d thought it would do but it confirmed his decision for him. There was no way that he’d survive if he had to be constantly tormented by the sound of her, knowing that he’d never be able to touch her. His claws lengthened and he let them slice into the vulnerable flesh of his throat. It would take a great deal of effort to take his own head, he’d never heard of a wolf that had succeeded in doing so, but he was determined. He pushed harder. The skin healed almost as quickly as it was cut. He took a deep breath realising that he was going to have to make a hard, decisive strike.

“Wyatt stop!” Kass’ voice called out to him again but it was the sensation of her slender fingers wrapping around his wrist that had his eyes springing open.

He drank in the vision of her that swam before his eyes. The madness had never made him see things before but there was a first time for everything and the vision before him made him glad of his insanity. He might not have been able to hold her before she died but to see her now made his heart soar even as it quickly fell to the ground. She was dead and gone because he’d failed to protect her. What good would it do her for him to join her in death if he couldn’t protect her? He was the worst mate in history. He’d hurt her, condemned her to be held prisoner and then led her to her death. He should live on without her as punishment so that she’d be free of him in death.

She stroked his cheek as though she could understand his torment.
I’d never want to be free of you in life or in death.

The gentle smile she gave him very nearly destroyed his control. Maybe he could endure living if he could live with her in his mind like this.

“I’m not dead Wyatt. I’m right here and I want you to take your claws out of your throat. I get the feeling that if you finish what you’ve started there’ll be no coming back for you.”

He reacted instantly to his mate’s wishes and let his hands fall limp to his sides. He yearned to reach out for her but feared that to
try and touch her would be to make her disappear. Clenching his hands into impotent fists Wyatt waited for reality to make its grand come back and bring with it the horror of her death.

“I’m not dead Wyatt.” She said the words simply as though it should have been obvious for him to come to the same conclusion. He wasn’t convinced. He’d seen her reach for the knife, felt it pierce her skin and reach deep into her chest and he’d felt her blood pool around her broken body before it was engulfed in flame.

“You stabbed yourself in the heart.”

Kass couldn’t help but laugh at his words. “You of all people should know that an injury like that isn’t going to kill everyone. Wyatt, you ripped out your heart and handed it to me.”

The memory made his resolve weaken. She was right. He’d torn his heart out and quickly grown a new one. Still, the sensation of her slipping away was too strong to discount so quickly. He’d felt the life leave her body, knew that she had died no matter what the vision before him was saying. “You’re not a wolf. You can’t grow back organs.”

Falling to her knees, Kass grabbed hold of his face and held it between her palms, forcing him to look at her. “You’re right Wyatt. I’m not a wolf.” The tender expression on her face was replaced by a fierce conviction that had Wyatt gulping in nervous anticipation. “I’m a phoenix. I can die a thousand times and come back after each and every one. I’m going to say it again but this time I want you to believe me. I’m not dead. I’m alive. You know that, you can feel me.” She reached for their bond and forced him to see the truth that was staring him in the eye.

“You’re not dead,” he said slowly. Hands shaking, he reached out for her, running his fingers over the soft skin of her throat. Warmth filled him, the delicious heat rising between them confirming the truth of her words. Only Kass could fill him with such burning desire from a single touch. “Kass,” he breathed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her body so close that air could barely pass between them. “Alive. You’re alive.”

Chuckling, she let herself sink into him, content to let his strength protect her from the world around her. Dying wasn’t something that she’d be doing again in the near future. The yawning void that had greeted her in the minutes before her soul had been resurrected was terrifying. For several agonising seconds she’d thought that she’d made a horrendous mistake and that she wouldn’t be able to come back. The very idea that she’d never see Wyatt again had been traumatising. Combined with the fact she’d have to stab herself in the chest, not dying was definitely what she wanted to do for the foreseeable future.

“I’m alive.”

The relief he felt at finding out that she was alive soon turned into anger. The more he thought about what she’d done, the angrier he became until he was practically vibrating from it. He pulled back slowly, amber filling his eyes as his wolf rose to the fore. “What the hell were you thinking? We had a fucking plan Kass. You killing yourself was not part of it! What the fuck would I have done if you hadn’t come back? You’ve never met any other phoenixes, for all you know you might have been wrong about being able to cheat death. You might not have come back.”

“I knew.” Her hand slid around his neck and she pulled him close until their brows touched. “I had to come back because you were here. There’s nothing and no one that can keep me away from you. Not even death.”
Trust me
, she whispered softly through his mind. “Everything I know about phoenixes has happened. I knew that I could do this. I had to do this.”

“Why?” he growled. His hands grabbed her shoulders and forced her to see the agony and anger in his gaze. “Why couldn’t you just stick to the plan!”

“Because Ethan had to suffer. You heard his reason for hunting me like an animal. It was pathetic. I wanted to see the pain on his face when he realised that he could never had his immortality. I wanted him to know that I’d won, that I’d taken control and that he could never hurt me again. I needed to do this Wyatt. Can’t you understand that?”

“I can never understand anything that puts your life at risk, so no I can’t understand why you stabbed yourself in the heart.”

“I did it for us. I did it so that we could live the rest of our lives without having to look over our shoulders every second. I did it so that we could be happy.” Seeing the despair behind the anger, Kass softened. “What does it matter now? I did it and trust me when I say I won’t be doing it again. Ethan is gone. It’s just you and me now. That’s all that matters.”

“Just you and me,” he repeated. His eyes slid shut and a soft sigh escaped him. “I’m never letting you out of my sight. Whenever I leave you alone you get in to trouble and my heart can’t take it anymore. You have to understand what you mean to me Kass. You’re my life, my obsession. I can’t live without you. I won’t do it.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m just as obsessed with you as you are with me.”

“I doubt it,” Wyatt muttered. Kass was the very reason that he breathed; his love for her was so intense that it had driven him to madness. There was no one in the world that loved as hard as he did. He saw her lips parting and knew she was going to try and contradict him. Swooping in he claimed her lips in a fierce kiss, stopping any argument from reaching his ears. He’d waited two lifetimes for her, sacrificed his sanity and would kill to keep her with him. She was the object of a wolf’s obsession and he’d have forever to show her exactly what that meant.