10. OBSIDIAN: SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE

It took all of my willpower to step out of the shower. Every instinct inside me was screaming at me to get back to Vanya because she needed me.
If our bond had been stronger, I would’ve immediately known that she was in danger.
What if I was a second too late?
I shuddered as I remembered how close the pup had been to ripping her throat out.
Claws slid from my fingertips as I stormed out of my bedroom. This time I hadn’t been so stupid to kill the one who was going to give us answers.
The scent of blood filled my nostrils, making me snarl. My eyes locked on the panther first. I paused a moment to admire Vanya’s kill before my attention snapped to the pup who was trying to crawl up the stairs. Growling, I stormed over to him and grabbed hold of his hair to drag him away from the stairs.
He whined—a pathetic sound that made me grip his hair tighter.
Dropping him next to the dead body, I glanced around for something I could use to tie him up. There was nothing within reach but I had something in my closet.
“Y-your human bitch is going to p-pay,” he hissed. “All of you are going down.”
I could see the truth in his eyes as he glared up at me.
Our pride was turning against us. We were supposed to stick together, to protect each other from the humans who wanted to hurt us, but things had changed.
I had sensed it but we had other things to worry about. The moment Reeves had been taken down, I should’ve told Devrim or looked into it myself.
Sneering down at him, I slammed a fist into his face, knocking him out, before I stormed back to my bedroom and right to my closet. I pushed the clothes aside and reached for the bag. Searching through all the stuff inside, I grabbed the rope when I found it and straightened.
Vanya was still in the shower, I could hear the water and her sobs. I took a step towards the bathroom but forced myself to turn around.
*Fuck her. Make her ours! Bond her!*
I snarled.
The threat needed to be taken care of before I could go to her. Frustrated, I used more force to tie the pup than was needed. When I was done, I locked my bedroom door and headed upstairs to scout the area around the cabin. There was no movement and I couldn’t sense anyone else around.
With Vanya safe, my mind trailed to Dev and Ezra. The call had been about a camp that was found close to the main house. I had no doubt now that it had been a trap to get us away from Vanya which meant that it was a possibility that Dev and Ezra could be in trouble.
“Fuck!” I was torn between staying with Vanya and going to find them.
Fear and anxiety mixed as I tried to figure out what to do. In the end, my instinct to go to Vanya won. I found myself back in my bedroom before I even realized what I was doing.
Running a shaky hand through my hair, I stared at the bathroom door as I tried to think of a plan.
“Obsidian?”
I blinked at Vanya. “It was a trap,” I told her, “to get us away from you. They’re in danger.”
Her eyes darkened with an emotion I was unfamiliar with. “C-can’t you call them?”
“I lost my phone when I shifted,” I muttered.
Vanya’s lips parted but a second later she pursed them. I knew that the phone Reeves gave her to contact him was still upstairs, but it was probably flat, and by the time we had it charged enough to use, it might already be too late.
“Do you know where they are?” Vanya questioned. “We can go to them.”
“I’m not leaving you alone again,” I hissed.
She stepped closer. “I wasn’t planning on staying here.”
My eyes darted over her face as I debated my options. Her eyes were red-rimmed and so was the tip of her nose. It was the only sign that she had been crying. Vanya had dressed in some of my clothes even if it was a few sizes too big for her.
Closing the space between us, I gripped the back of her neck and pulled her lips to mine.
“I need you to listen to me,” I growled between kisses. “If I tell you to run, you fucking run.”
“Okay.”
I forced myself to take a step back. “You need clothes and shoes.”
“I have boots,” she whispered.
With a nod, I spun around and headed for the door but I paused when I realized that Vanya wasn’t following me. I glanced over my shoulder at her in question.
She had taken only a few steps before she froze. Her eyes were locked on the door as if she was waiting for something to jump at her.
“Vanya, we need to go.”
She nodded. “I know.” Swallowing loudly, she took a step forward but froze again. “I. . .” her words trailed off as her eyes darted to me.
I turned to face her fully just as she raised her chin and squared her shoulders. It was clear that I had underestimated our mate from the start.
But I could see in her eyes that she didn’t want to see her kill.
“Come here, sweets,” I ordered softly.
The tip of her tongue darted out to swipe across her bottom lip. She held eye contact for a few seconds before she looked away. I noticed in dismay that her lips were quivering.
One thing I hated was seeing her cry. It made me want to kill whoever had caused her tears and since I couldn’t kill the pup I needed to focus on something else.
“Vanya—”
“I’m not like you, okay!” she yelled. “I can’t just switch my emotions off and pretend like I didn’t just kill someone!”
“I’m not asking you to do that,” I growled. “I just want you to get hold of your emotions because if you start crying I’m going to fucking kill the pup.” I sucked in a breath and slowly blew it out. “I don’t want you to be like me Vanya,” I said softly. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re okay either.”
Tear-filled eyes darted up and locked with mine. “You already think that I’m a weak, pathetic human. I’m trying to prove to you that I’m not.”
Storming over to her, I gripped her shoulders and shook her. Leaning down, I growled at her. “You don’t fucking have to prove anything. Vanya, you fought one of us and you won. You were injured but that didn’t stop you. Do you know what a pathetic human would have done?”
She shook her head.
“They would have run.”
“I ran,” she croaked.
“But you fought and you got out alive.” I caught the first tear with my thumb.
“I-I don’t want to be a killer,” she whispered.
“I’m not asking you to be one,” I rasped. “I only want you to do anything you can to stay alive even if it means killing someone.”
Taking another step forward, I leaned down to catch another tear with the tip of my tongue. Purring, I pulled her against my body before I reached down and gripped the back of her thighs to lift her. Once her legs were locked around my waist, I guided her face to the crook of my neck with a hand to the back of her head.
“I want to touch you,” she whispered against my skin.
“I know.” Pressing my cheek to hers for a few seconds, I breathed her in and then pulled away. “One day,” I promised as I turned and headed for the door.
I opened it and sucked in a deep breath to make sure that nobody waited for us before I stepped out of my room. My eyes darted over to the pup as I walked past.
He was still unconscious and hopefully, he would stay that way until we got back otherwise I was going hunting. I smiled as excitement rushed through me.
All thoughts of torturing the pup flew from my mind the moment we stepped out into the hall. Lowering Vanya to the floor, I silently guided her to stand against the wall.
Her eyes questioned me but I only pressed a finger to my lips in a silent order. Vanya nodded as she pressed her body to the wall.
I took a step away from her and crouched with my palms pressed to the floor. Sucking in a breath, I arched my back and closed my eyes as my bones started snapping one by one. The pain made it hard to breathe but I pushed through it with the reminder that Vanya needed to be protected.
My claws dug into the floor and my ears twitched as I listened to the sound that had first alerted me. The moment the intruder stepped around the corner, I attacked.
“Obsidian!” Vanya screamed.
“Wai—” his words were cut off when my body collided with his.
My jaws snapped inches from his face. He stilled, body tensed and hands fisted at his sides. I growled at him against before I retracted my claws from his skin.
Devrim smirked at me. “It’s good to see you back in shape.”
“You need to stop attacking people dude,” Ezra muttered with a glare in my direction as he moved past us.
I leaped off Devrim and jumped in front of him before he could reach her.