Screw My Childhood Sweetheart His Alpha Brother Marked Me First novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Vaughn’s ice–blue eyes flashed with heat. “You don’t get to kill yourself because of your gift.”

“You don’t think I can do it.” It hurt more than I wanted to admit that Vaughn didn’t believe in me.

He moved in a flash, his hands coming up to frame my face. “I think you can do anything. That doesn’t mean the risks are worth it. Breaking shields requires physical and mental strength. Some of these energy benders trained for years and still died trying to do it.”

I shoved down that flash of panic that rose in the back of my throat. “Then I’ll have to train harder. Smarter. I have you guys. You make me stronger.”

“It’s the bond of six that could save you,” Abigail said softly, more tears filling her eyes. “It was always your destiny. I didn’t want it for you. I wanted you to be safe. To have a normal life.”

This woman had given up everything to keep me safe. It had broken her in more ways than I could ever imagine. I met her eyes. “Thank you. For everything you did-”

“I’d take it for you,” she cut in. “I’d take your burden in a second.”

“I know you would.” It was the first time in so long that I’d felt loved by a parent. And that alone was a gift. “You can tell me what I need to know.”

Abigail scanned the forests around us as she swallowed. “He wants to rule. Thinks he can be king.”

“He told me that.” And I’d filled Mason and the guys in on all of Kaleb’s delusions of grandeur.

Abigail gripped her paintbrush harder. “He thinks shifters with no powers should be our slaves. Slaves or killed altogether.”

Anson stiffened behind me. “He can’t be serious.”

“Kaleb sees them as less than us. Weakening us. But really he wants control and power. He wants to pull the strings and exert his will. It’s all

he’s ever cared about.”

I felt that from him. In the basement and in that dream. He truly didn’t understand how someone wouldn’t come to see things his way.

Caspian moved closer to Abigail, pulling out his phone. “Do you have any idea where he might be holed up?”

She shook her head back and forth in jerky movements. I thought for a moment that she might lose it, but Abigail closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “I only went to a place a few hours from here.”

“In eastern Washington?” Caspian asked.

She nodded. “There wasn’t much there. Just a couple of buildings. One made of cinder block walls.”

I couldn’t help the tremor that ran through me. I didn’t want to ever see those kinds of walls again.

Caspian looked at Abigail, doing his best to keep his expression gentle. “We’ve found that one. Anywhere else he mentioned liking especially?”

e day. She tapped her fingers against her lips. “Idaho. He talked about going to this lake in Idaho with his dad. He said he was going to buy What was the name?” Her words trailed off as she tried to recall, the tapping of her lips growing more intense. She let out a growl. “I can’t remember. There were mountains there, I know that.”

Caspian shoved his phone back into his pocket. “That’s okay. It’s enough to start looking.”

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Chapter 163

Abigail turned to me, a tear sliding down her cheek. “You’ll have to be stronger than your ever thought possible.”

“I can do it.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I knew I’d give my all to try. I wouldn’t let Kaleb commit to what could amount to genocide Subjugation Torture. Ileat rose in me, a little of that anger growing into a flame.

“I know you can.” Abigail stared straight at me, eyes unblinking. “Kaleb received a prophecy from a seer when he was younger.”

My vision went blurry at the edges. “What did they say?”

“The one of your blood will help you rise to untold power. Or take the breath from your lungs.”

The words scrawled in the journal blurred and I rubbed at my eyes. Story after story had embedded itself in my brain. Ones where energy benders had pushed themselves too far. Ones where their minds were left in tatters. Ones where their bodies were broken. Or worst of all, ones where they ceased to exist completely.

Some energy benders wanted to break shields simply for the challenge, to prove their dominance. They loved that they were revered and feared, and only wanted to build on that lore. But others were only trying to survive.

I squinted at the scrawl on the page. The paper had turned yellow with age. Yet I could feel this woman’s pain as if it were my own. Cara was trying to defend her pack from another that wanted their lands. The attacking pack had a shield and fire wielder, and the woman knew if she didn’t break through the shield, they would decimate her family, her bond, everyone.

My heart ached for her as I read her words. Cara recounted her training regime in detail. She talked about what she thought helped and what was a waste of time. I flipped the page in my notebook, jotting down more ideas.

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