Karizma: Reborn

Lukas’ wolf grinned as his gold eyes brightened. He had the overwhelming desire to fuck Ryleigh right there against the wall in front of her previous lover, but he decided against it. The way that she was wrapped around his waist already revealed too much skin for the public; any further skin would be shown to him when he could freely lose control of himself for her. He felt Ryleigh’s entire demeanor shift as the weight of reality crashed down on her. Right back into the depths of pain and regret did she tumble, but Lukas knew that she did not regret what happened, because he did not. She regretted being caught and not explaining herself to Kristopher sooner.

“Please, put me down, Lukas,” Ryleigh whispered softly. His hands squeezed her ass again, but this time it was for assurance. He forced his wolf away while the rational part of his brain noted the situation. While she was his destined mate, she did love Kristopher; regardless of the magnetic pull toward Lukas, he knew that she was hurting from the pain that was written on Kristopher’s face. “I need to talk to him,” Lukas replied. Ryleigh would not be able to explain what this was, but he could, and he knew the second that he did, Kristopher’s devastation would rise.

“Let her go,” Kristopher ordered darkly.

“Or what?” Lukas asked as he cocked an eyebrow in amusement. “If you try to hurt me while I’m holding her, you won’t survive the next five seconds. If you want to hurt me, I won’t fight it, but you’d better not fucking try while I’ve got her in my arms.”

“Put me down, Lukas,” Ryleigh repeated firmly. Before his brain could stop his wolf, Lukas kissed her briefly. She inhaled in surprise but untangled herself from his grasp. Lukas released his lips from hers and gently set her on the ground. She went to walk toward Kristopher when Lukas grabbed her wrist.

“No,” Lukas said softly.

“I need to talk to him,” Ryleigh said.

“My love, let him get this out,” Lukas replied as he looked at Kristopher. “If I saw you with another, it wouldn’t matter what anyone said to me in the moment. Allow him to take out his pain on me. It is the least that I can do.” Lukas really did like this vampire, even considered him a friend to some extent, but he had been done fighting the mating bond. Holding hands and being in each other’s company was no longer enough; he and his wolf needed more. Had she gone inside when I told her, none of this would be happening. And then she brought up wanting to kill herself again. I couldn’t fuck take listening to her pain and feeling it, knowing that there was something I could do to help her. I just couldn’t live with her pain anymore. That was his ultimate undoing; he needed her to know that she was not alone anymore.

Lukas heard Kristopher’s heartbeat change and Lukas quickly shoved Ryleigh out of the way. Kristopher’s fist attacked Lukas’ face before Lukas could even blink. His head snapped back immediately, but he remained firmly planted where he stood. There was no pain. Kristopher was strong, but Lukas was stronger; it was going to take a lot more than a punch to affect him. He heard Ryleigh shout as another punch snapped Lukas’ head back. He simply held up his hand to her, signaling to her to stop protesting. Kristopher needed this. Lukas knew how deep the bond was between Kristopher and Ryleigh. While Lukas was more than relieved to finally succumb to his mate, he could not deny that he felt immense guilt. This is not how finding a mate is supposed to happen, but, for whatever reason, it was how he was destined to find his.

Kristopher issued one more punch into Lukas’ face before he stopped. Lukas’ gold eyes met Kristopher’s red ones. “We done?” Lukas asked.

“Why her?” Kristopher croaked out. “Why her? You’re the fucking Alpha of the Lycan pack. You could have any bitch, or, hell, any human, for that matter. Why her?” His gaze shifted to Ryleigh as he took a step toward her. Lukas immediately stepped in front of her. “And why him?” Kristopher continued. “What happened?”

“I couldn’t figure out how to tell you. I’m still struggling with it myself,” Ryleigh said.

“With what? Deciding that you were fucking the Alpha?” Kristopher spat.

“That I feel like a corpse!” Ryleigh shouted suddenly, surprising both men. She pushed past Lukas and stood in front of Kristopher. Lukas resisted the urge to grab her. He does not know. Kristopher does not know everything that I do. Kristopher’s red eyes faltered slightly as he stared at her.

“Kristopher, I haven’t been the same since I came back,” Ryleigh continued. “I know you’ve seen it.”

“It’s an adjustment period, pet,” Kristopher said softly. “You were going to get better.”

“I wasn’t. You have no idea what this feels like.” She pressed on her tiptoes to cup Kristopher’s face in her hands, and Lukas growled immediately. “I don’t feel you,” she continued as she ignored Lukas. “I haven’t felt you since the night that you killed me.”

“What are you talking about?” Kristopher asked in surprise. “I’m right here.”

“I don’t…Fuck, I don’t feel anything when I touch you anymore,” Ryleigh said as she choked on a sob. “I kept telling myself the same thing, that I would get through this, and that you and I would be okay. But then I started thinking about suicide to escape the numbness—”

“What?!” Kristopher snapped.

“—Until I spent time with Lukas,” Ryleigh continued. “Not like this, never like this before, but I felt alive whenever I was around him in any capacity. For the first time since I came back, I felt something. I’ve tried fighting whatever the hell this is, this shell of a zombie that I’ve become, but I want to be alive again.”

Kristopher’s jaw hardened and his eyes shifted back to brown. “Why didn’t you tell me?” his hoarse voice whispered.

“What could I tell you? That I wish that I had been left dead and rotting?” Ryleigh’s strained voice whispered. “I didn’t even fully understand this feeling myself, and you and Bailey didn’t need to hear how I felt.”

“But he did?” Kristopher asked as his eyes flicked to Lukas’ briefly.

“He…knew somehow, I think,” Ryleigh said. “It was like he could sense what I was feeling.” She turned to face Lukas suddenly, with curiosity in her eyes. “ ‘You feel what I feel,’ ” she repeated softly. “What did you mean by that?”

“We’re connected,” Lukas said softly. Kristopher’s eyes hardened, but Lukas continued. “The night that you were resurrected, I marked you. I had to, to make you a Lycan.” Her hand instantly went to the imprint of his canines on her neck. “That mark connected us, in more ways than you realize. Do you remember our talks of the moon goddess when you first woke up?”

“Briefly, just that she protects us,” Ryleigh answered.

“She also protects us through each other. The moon goddess lives in solitude, so, to prevent such despair from happening to her children, she chooses mates for them. The perfect balance and counter to each other; light and dark, yin and yang, whatever you choose to call it.”

“No,” Kristopher said suddenly. He instinctively took a step backwards. “You can’t be serious.”

“What?” Ryleigh asked, her eyes flicking between both men in confusion. “What’s the big deal?”

“Lycans are only ever truly mated to one, to their destined mates. Since they can go centuries without ever meeting, they can have chosen mates instead, like how humans marry for love.”

“Destined mates are not lovers?” Ryleigh asked.

“Destined mates can become that, but it doesn’t start that way,” Lukas said. “Most Lycans are split from their chosen lovers once their destined mates are found, because the bond between destined mates is so incredibly powerful. Chosen lovers do not stand a chance at surviving once the destined mate is found. Lycans are wolves, remember? That feeling of possession and lust and protection amplifies immensely once the destined mates are together.”

“I should have fucking known,” Kristopher mumbled. Ryleigh’s eyes shot back to Kristopher. She reached for him, but he shook his head and took another step back. “Finish the story,” Kristopher said as his eyes fell to the ground.

“Why?” Ryleigh asked, her eyes shifting back to Lukas. “Why does this story matter?”

“Because it explains us, love,” Lukas said gently. “The second that you were resurrected, and your eyes opened, the connection was formed. We are destined mates, destined partners to rule together and thrive for eternity.”

“You belong to him,” Kristopher said simply.

Lukas snarled. “She belongs with me, not to me. She is not property, Kristopher.” He loathed that term, but he understood why Kristopher had said it; Lycans were the only race that had destined mates. Destined mates were inseparable, both physically and emotionally. He had heard stories of those that fought the bond, but the result was always the same; death. Mates could not completely survive without the other, not for long once the bond was awakened. Lukas had survived as long as he did because his mate had not existed until now, had not surfaced until now. “I told you that you feel what I feel, because I know that you do. Mates mark each other to connect to each other. I marked you for the transition, so I feel everything that you feel. You may not have marked me yet, but that does not change that I know what your wolf is feeling. What you are feeling.”

“How do you know?” Ryleigh asked softly. “What if the mark just connects us regardless? How do you know that we’re mates? None of this makes any sense.”

“The pull that we have toward each other wouldn’t feel like this,” Lukas said. “We would be connected, but not addicted to each other, not to mention our only solace in the chaos. Knowing that touching me made you feel alive and at peace, I had to act on it. I couldn’t feel you suffer anymore, baby. I can’t fight you anymore. I tried, until you were ready to understand, but I can’t.” Lukas took a step toward her. “Deep down, you know that this is the truth. Your wolf knows it. Listen to her, and yourself. You will hear it.”