18. Maxton

18

MAXTON

S omething was wrong, but if she asked for space, I wasn't going to say no to her. I don't know what had happened to her, but something was worrying her when she woke up. My heart didn't want to let her get away from us, but my mind didn't want to force her to do anything. She had had enough time and moments taken from her, but having to do someone else's bidding for almost two hundred years was a lot.

"Just give her a moment," I said, standing in the doorway.

"Move," Soren snarled.

"She said she needs space," I said, trying to stay level headed.

"Move," Ryder growled, his eyes flashing yellow.

"Give her ten minutes and I'll go out to check on her," I said, trying to stay calm.

I tried to give Gray a look to help me out. If anyone could stay relatively objective, it would be him.

"We don't even know what happened to her," Gray said. "Can one of us just go check on her?"

"I'll go, but she asked for space, and I expect us to respect that," I said.

"Something doesn't feel right," Gray said, as the others agreed with him.

"I know, but we have to trust her," I said, feeling the same way.

Soren clenched his jaw, barely hanging on from doing something stupid. He glared at me.

"I'm not doing this to be mean," I snapped, hating his hostility. "You might make this worse by smothering her."

No one said anything as they digested my words.

"Go to her," Ryder stepped away. "Something is not right, I had to use that potion Addie gave me to bring her back to us. This feels like interference from Taylin or Laima. I don't like her being out of the house while it's dark. No matter if we have some protection."

Soren grumbled something, but it was too hard for me to understand.

"Just bring her back to us." Gray clapped my shoulder looking hopeful.

"Of course," I said, turning around to go find Oria.

As soon as I stepped outside, I knew something was wrong. Darkness covered the forest as I looked around for her. Panic ignited in my chest as I realized who I felt. I couldn't see him right away, which made me think I was too late until I spotted them off to the side of the house.

Taylin was pleading with Oria.

"They can't protect you, Ria," he said, taking a step towards her.

Anger exploded in me. My own brother was behind all this with that vile witch. I didn't think about my next move and instead of alerting the guys, I did what I had wanted to do for years.

"Stay the hell away from her," I growled, walking towards them.

Taylin looked up at me with a bored expression, but I saw his fear.

"Brother," he said, glancing at Oria before watching me again.

"You are no brother of mine," I snarled, getting in between Oria and Taylin.

Oria's hand settled on the middle of my back as silent encouragement.

Taylin almost looked sad. "I know you don't understand this now, but this is out of our hands. I can see she probably knows the truth, but she will only be safe with me, brother, so let me take her before Laima comes back to finish you off."

"Why would I ever let her go with you?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"Because if you love her, you will let her go so I can keep her safe. There is no other way," he said, stuck in his delusion.

"You think she will want to go with you?"

"If she wants to stay alive," he said confidently.

"I will never go with you," Oria said, her voice strong.

"You think they can keep you safe? They can't even keep Laima from reaching you in your dreams," he smirked.

She stilled behind me, and now I knew what had happened.

"Her mates and I will keep her safe," I said, trying to keep my temper under control.

"Her mates?" he laughed. "You let them take your mate?"

"You took my mate for your own," I snarled. "You decided to play with everyone's lives so you could what… feel powerful?"

"You think this is about power?" he laughed.

"I don't remember you being so powerful, and you always envied what I could do," I said, looking around, knowing he didn't come alone. "What else was your motive to do this? Were you not happy?"

"I could have had everything if it weren't for you," he sneered. "You had to go and find her."

It was my turn to laugh.

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't come find my mate? Taylin, you are dumber than I thought." I glared at him. "You knew she was my mate, you knew how much I loved her even before our bond took hold."

"You were supposed to forget about it, both of you were, but we underestimated the power of your bond," he growled. "Every time we did something, you always gravitated back towards each other. She was supposed to be mine, but your stupid bond was adamant about keeping you together even when we tried to break it."

"You had no right to take it away from us," I growled.

"She and I were supposed to be together, but you took all of her time and attention," Taylin growled.

"What are you talking about?" I almost yelled. I was getting frustrated with this conversation because all I wanted to do was to take Oria from here, but I also wanted answers.

"I've always loved her; we were always together when we were younger, but you…" he snarled. "You and she grew closer, leaving me behind. It was always Maxton and Oria until our parents threw you together. I loved her from the beginning and when the opportunity presented itself, I knew I had to make her mine. I did this to save you."

"Save me?" I grew wary of Taylin because of that look in his eyes.

"You don't know what is about to happen, this was my way of saving you, but you had to screw it up, both of you did." His nostrils flared.

Oria stood closer to me, her body shivered, and I didn't know if it was fear or anticipation. I didn't know what to say, but I knew my brother was no longer the same person he had been before.

"Taylin—"

"Don't pull that bullshit with me. Don't patronize me." He stepped forward, the air crackled with power that felt too powerful from what I remembered him having. "If you love her, she needs to come with me."

"What did you have to do for your power, Taylin?" The first sliver of fear hit me that if he had more power than me, I didn't stand a chance.

"I did what I had to do to protect us." He stepped closer to us, and I stepped back. "Now, if you get out of my way, brother, I will take my mate and be on my way."

"She. Is. Not. Yours," I clipped, hoping the guys had disregarded my instructions or they had heard or felt Taylin.

"Leave now, don't make me have to kill my brother," he said angrily.

"No," I snarled.

"Save him, Ria, or you might see all of your mates dead," Taylin said, and I knew what she was going to say.

"No, Oria." I looked over my shoulder.

I won't go with him, I can just buy you some time to get the guys.

I tried to hide my surprise that I could hear her in my head.

"I have to, Max, I won't let something happen to you guys," she said, selling it.

"No, Sol," I said with all the fear I was feeling. "I can protect you."

Taylin laughed like I had expected him too.

Get the guys. Please don't let him take me.

"You won't be able to protect her with your pathetic shifting abilities," he laughed. "Laima will crush you."

I knew my power wasn't as strong as his air magic, but that didn't mean I couldn't outsmart him. Taylin had always been too cocky.

"She isn't going anywhere with?—"

"I'll go only if you don't harm them," she said, stepping next to me. "The moment you go back on your word, I'm running."

Taylin looked at her with fondness. How did I miss his feelings for her?

"No, Sol." I looked at her, desperate for the guys to finally come out so we could all run away together.

"Come on, Ria." He held his hand out to her.

She tip-toed, kissing me softly on the lips. "Always us."

Taylin snarled, reaching for her and I lost it. I punched Taylin before I knew what I was doing and swung at him again. My fighting skills were not what they used to be and living my life as a cat had made me soft. I had speed, but no finesse, and when my brother stopped my punch, there was no doubt he was more skilled than I was.

He punched me twice before I was able to block him.

Run!

I didn't know if she could hear me, but holding him off for as long as possible was my only goal.

"You've grown soft in your old age, brother," Taylin taunted, glancing behind me.

He scowled and I hoped that meant Oria had run.

"Two hundred years as a cat does that to you." I grunted when I threw a punch at his ribs before he blocked it. "Let's see how well you do after being stuck as a cat."

I saw an opening and punched him, feeling victorious until Oria's scream made me turn around and Taylin took his chance. He tackled me to the ground, so I shifted into a panther. Its agility and speed were exactly what I needed. I timed my shift so I could roll him around. I dug my claws into his chest when he pushed me off with his wind and hit me with an unseen force.

I landed on my feet, dodging a gust of wind, but I didn't manage to dodge his other attack. Before I could right myself, he held me, squeezing me until I snarled. The bones in my ribs snapped as a searing pain made my vision blur.

"Fuck you, Taylin!" Oria's voice was full of anger.

A sound of an explosion tore through the woods, and I was let go. The pain was too much for me to right myself, as I fell on my side hissing at the impact.

"Come on Max," Oria said, sliding to me, pushing her healing magic to me giving me a burst of energy.

A man ran toward us from behind Oria, but before I could get up, he tackled her. I was done with this. I pushed everything into the next shift. It had been too long since I had done this, and I didn't know if it would be possible. My body started to shift, but not quick enough. My torso was on fire from the broken ribs, but I pushed on because my mate needed me.

I heard men yelling as I finally stood up to my full height. Sweeping my gaze through the area I saw the guys fight off some men. One of the twins looked up at me and yelled "Yes!"

I was big enough to stand tall, but the trees limited my ability to extend my wings. Lifting my head, gathering all my strength, I blew fire at a few men below me, keeping an eye for my brother until Oria screamed. Turning around, the forest was lit with my fire as I saw one of them throwing Oria over his shoulder. I took a deep breath unleashing a deep roar, hoping to scare the guy into dropping her.

He looked up at me with fear before he tried to run away. I was too big to pry him away from her, but there was no way he could escape me.

"Maxton!" Taylin roared, when I felt like I had been hit with a wall.

"I got her, Maxy!" a voice yelled, and I had a suspicion it was Soren.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw someone intercept the man who had Oria. Quickly turning around, I hit a tree. A small person was running up to me and I took a deep breath before unleashing my fire as carefully and precisely as I could. Something hit my leg, catching my attention. A stabbing pain hit my side, and I knew it was Taylin trying to get on me. Before he could reach me, I shifted to a large wolf, landing on my feet next to him. I bit his arm, yanking as hard as I could, hearing a loud pop.

Taylin howled in pain when he caught me in his power. My body was still tender from the partial healing not holding up as he broke my ribs easily. He stole the air from my lungs as I tried to gasp for oxygen, but nothing happened. Panic flooded my system when I couldn't breathe. This couldn't be the end. My brain felt fuzzy when I shifted back into a man. I coughed as I took a deep breath.

"This is your last chance to step away, brother." He clenched his jaw as he stood up, holding his arm close. "Next time I will kill you."

"Never," I gasped trying to stand.

"Maxton, don't be stupid," he growled, looking around, but I heard no one except us.

"Fuck you," I said, before I forced another shift that was surely going to mess me up.

I shifted into a gorilla, catching him off guard, tackling him to the floor and trying to knock him out. He cried out when I landed on him, throwing a punch to knock him out when he threw me back with an air gust. My entire body was burning with pain while I got up to run back to him, but he opened a portal and ran towards it.

"This won't be the end." He glared at me. "She is mine and if I can't get her, I'll wait until Laima does."

I stumbled forward trying to get to him, but he disappeared. The guys came running towards me as the portal closed. My magic couldn't hold my form anymore and I shifted into a man.

"Whoa, big guy." Ryder caught me before I could fall flat on my face.

"Oria." I managed to get out.

"She is safe. She's coming, man," he said, laying me down.

"Need to leave," I said, trying to get up.

"Nah, man, you need to lay down." He left his hand on my chest. "Once she patches you up a bit, we can leave."

"Max!" Oria's scream made the tension in my body leave and once she touched me, it didn't take long until I was pulled into darkness now that I knew she was safe…for now.