33. Great Plans

**Present**

My eyelids slowly lifted, eyes shifting from side to side carefully, looking, trying to gain my bearings. It was like waking up from a long realistic dream. Except it hadn't been a dream... Like that vision of my mom writing her letter, this had been a memory.
"Are you okay?"
I took one look at Kane(he still had his arms securely around me) and there they were- memories both old and lost flashing in my mind, eating ice cream on a blanket while explaining why I wasn't going to draw him in the nude, then him sneering down at me, "Remember who you're speaking to, omega. I don't want you."
I couldn't help it, I grabbed him by the nape of his neck, pulling him downwards so I could head-butt him. Pain exploded across my forehead, blackening my entire vision. Unlike with Caitlyn, this time I was the one who nearly went down like a sack of potatoes.
"Ugh," I groaned, staggering away from him with my hands covering my forehead, tears streaming from my eyes. "That's the thickest skull I've ever seen."
"I take it you're angry with me-"
"And you're completely unaffected," I glared at him, still holding my throbbing head. I held up a hand when he started to open his mouth. "You promised not to hurt me then went and stole my memories and treated me like I'm horse shit afterwards for two years. I'm not angry, Kane. I'm murderous!"
He shook his head. "It was either that or hand you over to Alpha. I needed time to find a way to kill him without you getting hurt."
I scoffed. "Without me getting hurt?"
He frowned. "What I did to you would've paled in comparison to what Alpha had planned if I didn't play along with his game."
"It isn't just the bullying that's got me pissed off," I said, stalking over to him, jabbing a finger at his muscular chest. "It's the fact that you assumed I wanted your protection."
"I don't care what you want!" He growled, suddenly inches from my face, eyes blazing. "You didn't have to go to your uncle's place for a vacation, only to end up a prisoner for two months, letting your insane cousin torture you in the same cell as the rotting corpse of his father. You didn't have to watch him stab the one person you swore you'd protect with your life in the freaking throat. You weren't the one who had to watch all that blood spurt from you like a geyser, inside my home, where nothing should even dare glance at you the wrong way."
He was breathing hard by the time he finished, his fingers digging into my shoulders. The least composed I've ever seen him.
I remembered Alpha saying he couldn't break Kane, not before. If I break you, it'll break him too.
"He hurt you," I said quietly.
This seemed to snap him out of it, he let go of me like I was burning coal, started to turn his head away. I took his chin in my chilled hand, forced it to turn towards me. "I said I'd keep you safe too. But you made me break my promise. You owe me. Tell me everything that happened, from the beginning."
His jaw tightened. "You'll tell me what happened at the party?"
"Yes."
"Let's climb back up the tree, I don't want one of those things sneaking up on us."
I shuddered at that, made my way back to the tree. The climb was less painful this time, being near Kane had warmed me up. I sat on the branch, scooted over for him. "What are those things?" I asked when he was beside me.
He was rummaging through Alpha's backpack. "I don't know, probably another group of monsters coming out of hiding now that the Alpha King is dead."
"We have an Alpha King and he's dead?" I asked in awed stupefaction.
"Both of those facts aren't common knowledge," Kane said, wrapping a blanket over us and pulling me closer.
I love you.
I stiffened.
If he noticed, he didn't comment. "He stopped having a large influence a long time ago but since he committed suicide the territories have been slowly deteriorating. Other creatures want to grab hold of the power the wolves have. Although most werewolves can't feel the shifting power, the alphas do. It's why my uncle got away with killing trespassers for so long. It's also how we got ahold of the rings."
He lifted it so I could see it, the same onyx black as Alpha's. It made my skin crawl. I was glad to see he wasn't wearing it.
"If you try erasing my memories with that thing again I'll cut you up and put you in a box."
He gave me a fond smile. "Dully noted."
"Good."
"Am I forgiven?"
"Keep talking and I'll think about it."
He put the ring away. "The Caldwell family is an ancient one, and powerful. The original members were Halflings, part witch, part werewolf. Werewolves live long but are incredibly susceptible to madness, the Halflings had it worse. They were powerful, but their magic made them even more mentally unstable."
"So they were bat-shit crazy," I said dryly.
"A more crude way of putting it, but yes. Their magic was driving them all towards insanity, so most had it sealed into rings. My uncle had probably known about the rings for a long time but hadn't taken it out- until a couple months ago. He gave it to Alpha to toughen him up no doubt."
"And Alpha turned on him," I guessed.
"Killed him then called me and threatened to kill me and the entire pack if I didn't go to Pennsylvania. So I went."
I waited.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, gave me a sweet smile. "Let the rest go?"
My heart fluttered, thump thump, let it go.
"If you keep hiding things from me, I'm breaking up with you."
His smile dropped.
I elbowed him. "Talk."
He looked away, the moonlight illuminating his stone set expression. "He tortured me. That's it. He got tired of it though, and sent me free. Wanted to expand the game, a change of hand."
I thought about what Alpha had done in the short time I'd known him, tricked me, stabbed me in the neck, set the whole pack after me, killed my best friend and left me deserted in a freezing forest after ordering me to kill Kane. I didn't want to think about what he'd done to Kane. It didn't make what he'd done to me okay- not by a long run, but it made me realize, for the first time, that I hadn't been the only one hurting. But I wasn't cold-hearted enough to be happy about the fact.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, feeling his tense muscles loosen. I snuggled more comfortably against him. "Sorry."
"You shouldn't be the one apologizing, I couldn't protect you."
"That's what happens when you try to take on a psychopath alone. Next time we do it together." I leaned back to look at him. "Together."
"So long as you don't charge at him again."
I cringed. "I've learned my lesson."
"You better have. Tell me what happened at the party."
I did, and was shaking by the time I was done. I didn't tell him about the knife though- it seemed unnecessary since it wasn't even working. Knowing Alpha, it was a hoax to separate the both of us so we could die more quickly.
"Aster ended his game," Kane said, "he most likely left us here to suffer while he's thinking about the final round."
I nodded, accepting the granola bar he gave me and the thermos of hot chocolate. The steam looked heavenly. "Are you sure he didn't poison the food?"
"And let us die where he can't see? No."
I took a couple of sips, my stomach tingling, tightening from previously unnoticed hunger. I gave Kane the thermos, began unwrapping the granola bar.
"If the ring is what made him crazy, can't we turn him back to normal by taking it off?" I asked through munches.
Kane glared at me- almost like the old one I knew. "Don't even try that, I already tried. He almost bit my fingers off getting it back. The old Alpha is long gone."
"I used to think he was my prince charming," I said thoughtfully, then shrugged. "After what he did to Aster, I don't think I would try helping him even if he wasn't a lost cause." I continued eating.
Kane didn't comment on that, but I think he was relieved.
"Why didn't you give me back my memories sooner?"
He quirked a brow. "If I had, you would've thought I implanted them so you'd like me."
I pressed my lips together from protesting. It was true, I wouldn't have believed him.
I threw the empty wrapper away, took another one from him. "How come you both have rings but he's stronger?"
Kane lowered the granola bar he'd been about to take a bite out of. "There are small things I can do with it, but I can't concentrate enough to fight with it. It's like trying to control a storm, it's impossible to bend to your will but easy to get lost in it, to join the chaos."
"To go mad."
He nodded.
"Basically Alpha has free reign over the ring because he's accepted the storm and joined the dark side," I clarified.
"Yes."
I frowned. Kane didn't have a fighting chance against Alpha- not unless he gave in to the ring but that would only create another monster. Yet, if he didn't use it, we were both dead when Alpha came back. I doubt his previous statement about me being free was going to hold the next time he saw me. At least there wasn't anyone around he could use as pawns anymore. It was just the three of us, no matter what the outcome.
"When he shows up, I'm not running," I said.
"I didn't think you would."
He sounded tired. I didn't blame him.
I looked up at him. "You don't have a plan do you?"
"I could bait him into using his powers until all his fingers fall off and he can't use the ring anymore, but I think he might not fall for that. He's most likely going to want to finish me off quickly and then kill himself."
"What if I distract him? Keep him talking while you attack him from behind?"
He narrowed his eyes. "It might work."
"What gets him riled up?"
"My uncle."
"Then we'll have a long chat about the importance of family," I grinned, even though my heart was racing thinking about getting near that lunatic again. "How are we getting out of here afterwards?"
"We can shift and find our way back to civilization on foot."
"Sounds like a great plan," I said, trying not to think about what would happen if it didn't work.
We'd both be dead.