Fated Hearts (Echoes of Darkness Prequel)

30

Logan

S tanding in between Emily and my mother, heart heavy and shoulders weighing a thousand pounds, I watch Josh’s coffin be lowered into the ground carefully by two of our men. We’re all gathered in the cemetery at the edge of our community, surrounded by ancient trees that stand tall like sentinels, witnessing the grief and pain seeping out of us. Thick, gray clouds cover the sky, and an icy gust of wind bites into my cheeks and ruffles Emily’s curls, blowing them into her face. She pushes them away and looks at me with glistening eyes.

Josh’s body was left torn to pieces on the blood-soaked ground, freshly shifted from his wolf form with a gaping hole in his chest and his heart missing, a note nailed to his forehead that said, ‘I’m coming for you, Alpha. I’m going to take everything you hold dear as you took everything from me.’

A keening wail rips from Layla’s chest when the wood meets the ground at the bottom of the hole with a loud thud, the powerful cry folding her in two as she throws herself toward the hole. Her brother pulls her back just in time. Needles stab the back of my eyes as my gaze flits to Ryan, Josh and Layla’s son. He seems so small and lost, crushed.

No child should bury their parent at his age. I can’t even imagine what he’s feeling right now. I swallow hard and grit my teeth to stop the tears from making an appearance. All the members of our pack surround us, and everyone needs me to be calm and calculated. I can’t show weakness, even in a moment like this.

As if sensing the despair raging inside of me, Emily takes my hand in hers, squeezing it in a silent show of support, letting me know she’s here for me, always by my side. I squeeze back and let go of her hand as I stride forward to the edge of the hole, bend down to pick some dirt, and throw it on top of the coffin. It’s customary for the pack’s Alpha to do so at burials.

Turning around and looking at every single person in attendance, taking in their tear-streaked faces and somber expressions, I clear my throat loudly. It takes a few moments before I can speak through the heavy knot lodged in my throat.

“Josh was a close friend of mine and loved by many in our community. I always considered him an example of what a father and loving husband should be. The love he held for his family and the devotion he showed to our pack will never be forgotten. He died protecting our community, and he will always be remembered as a hero. Rest in peace, Josh. We will never forget you.”

Gaze lowered, I leave the cemetery with the pack at my back, giving Josh’s family privacy to say their last goodbye.

The sky glows crimson through the windows of my living room, the same color as the blood-soaked ground beneath Josh’s body when he was found. I shake my head to rid my mind of the image of him lying dead with his chest cleaved open as I finish pouring the whiskey into the three glasses I laid out on the wet bar in the corner, behind the navy couch.

“Is Ava still at the hotel?” Malik asks when I turn around to hand him his glass. He came by earlier with Kaiden and Dominic to pay their respects since I held the reception after the funeral at my house. Everyone from my pack except him and my sister left an hour ago. Kaiden and Dominic had to leave as well.

“No, she went to the concert with her friend,” I answer, rounding the couch and extending my left hand with my sister’s drink toward her.

She accepts it with a quiet “Thanks,” and I plop down next to her, taking a hearty sip from my tumbler and welcoming the burn. With all the shit that’s been happening, I have acquired a taste for stronger beverages.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Malik asks.

My nostrils flare. “No, but I can’t lock her up in my room and never let her out until we find the rogue, even if that’s what I want. Besides, she took Tony’s death badly, and she needs a distraction.”

Nervous energy thrums through my veins, and my wolf is getting more and more impatient with our fated mate so far. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to hold back and not go to her. When she ran off, I felt the rift between us like a gaping wound in my chest, and even if we’re good now, I still need her like I need my next breath.

My phone vibrating with a news alert pulls me out of my thoughts. I programmed it to alert me of every new article about Ashville that pops up online in case the rogue takes another victim we couldn’t save. Emily and Malik are talking between themselves, their murmured conversation fading into the background when I see the title of the article.

“Is the lead singer of the band Deadly Sins in love?”

Under it is a photograph with a tattooed dickbag kissing someone that looks exactly like my Ava.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

My stomach takes a dive all the way to my feet as the glass I’m holding explodes into tiny shards. Emily’s surprised yelp barely penetrates through the war drum in my ears. The burning spirit carving a path through the fresh cuts in my palm doesn’t even phase me because the heat of a thousand suns blisters my skin while I shoot up from the couch like an arrow. I start pacing the room, wearing down the carpet.

I vaguely hear Malik and Emily asking me questions. Still, I can’t speak because rage, like no other, ravages me like wildfire. I suck in a jagged breath and stab at the screen. It cracks down the middle, but I still manage to dial Ava’s number. It rings as if her phone is turned off. Ice sloshes through my veins with every second that passes.

“Motherfucking fuck!” I bellow and send the phone flying into the wall in front of me. It smacks the middle of the flat-screen TV with a loud thud and leaves a gaping hole behind.

“What the hell, Lo? What happened?” Emily asks from behind me, her eyebrows pinched with worry.

For a second, I lose control of my shift. My fingers extend into claws, and I snap my eyes shut and suck in a deep breath to prevent any more change. I haven’t lost control of my body to my wolf like this since I was a kid. Soon, the shift recedes, and my fingers are back to normal. I realize it’s because Malik has grabbed my shoulder and started chanting something under his breath. Anger still burns through me, but I no longer feel like I’m out of control.

“Give me your phone,” I demand of my sister through gritted teeth.

She takes her phone out of her purse on the couch, unlocks the screen, and extends it to me. I dial Ava’s number, but it still rings as if her phone is turned off. I try again and again and again. Fuck . I wish I had gotten Chloe’s number.

When I give up on calling Ava, my sister picks up my phone from the floor in front of the TV. Surprisingly, even though the screen is cracked in multiple places, the phone is still working, and the moment I catch a glimpse of the distorted picture of Ava with that douchebag, rage threatens to swallow me whole again.

“Shit,” Emily says, folding her lower lip between her teeth. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s Jude, the lead singer of the band Chloe’s boyfriend is in. Ava mentioned one time when we were working that they were going to hook up in their tour bus the night she had her second heart attack.” She keeps looking at the screen. “Sheesh, I can’t believe she’s kissing Jude. He’s super hot,” she murmurs mostly to herself, but I hear her loud and clear.

My nostrils flare as I whip my head toward her.

“I would shut up if I were you, Em. Unless you want your brother to wring your neck,” Malik pipes up as he stalks toward the wet bar and pours whiskey in a tumbler to the brim then shoves it in my chest. “Here, drink this. You need it.”

Emily grimaces and shrugs. “Sorry, Lo, but you’ve got some tough competition; he’s hot and a rock star on top of everything.”

I down the whiskey in one go and make a beeline for the door.

“Where are you going?” Emily asks, hot on my heels.

“To get Ava, obviously. And to kill a fucking rock star for touching what’s mine,” I mutter the last part under my breath.

“You need to change; no one is going to let you enter the club like this. You’re shirt got splattered with blood when you smashed the tumbler, and your pants are soaked in whiskey,” Malik chimes in as he leans on the door frame.

Looking down, I realize he’s right, and I charge in the direction of the stairs to get changed and get my mate. I’m going to fuck her so thoroughly I will erase every trace of that fucker from her skin. She’s mine, and she’s going to remember that.