Saving Kinsley

Kole's P.O.V

Blood.

Rage.

Fear.

Everything was fuzzy, my wolf had completely taken over. It wasn't until I heard Madi's violent growl, that I took back control. Conrad was pinned beneath her white beast. I quickly shifted and ran towards Kinsley. My hands covered the wound at her throat, blood was running like a vengeful river as my veins hummed with panic and terror. "Madi! She's dying!" I yelled out, pain and fear laced in my voice.

'Mark her!' Both Madi and my wolf shouted simultaneously. I had seconds to decide what I would do next as my gaze landed on my wounded mate, moments away from being ripped out of my life completely. "Kole." Kinsley rasped out as her body went limp beneath me.

My decision was made long ago, the first time I'd laid eyes on her I wanted to mark her. My canines descended as my lips met the tender flesh at her neck that was unmarred. Blood coated the inside of my mouth, flowing effortlessly as I pierced her flesh. Everything shifted in my soul as it made room for the other half that was always destined to intertwine with mine. I could feel her presence deeply rooted inside now. I felt whole. I felt like I was truly breathing for the first time.

And then it all came crashing down around me, this bubble I had put us in, burst. In my arms, Kinsley was nearly lifeless, I could feel her frail heartbeat inside my own chest. Pain was all I could feel from her. My wolf whined and howled inside, thrashing to be free of my human form. I couldn't fight him back anymore, It was all too much.

My mate.

My form changed to my wolf, and all I could see through the red haze of my own eyes were wolves. They were too close. I had to protect her even if she was dead. I snarled as I circled her body, each step I took more powerful than the one before. Daring one of them to come near.

I watched as many of them shifted and desperately began to plea with me, But I was past words. I was no longer me. My growls and snapping began to grow more ferocious as they moved closer.

And that's when it happened. I could feel the air behind me shift to something unnatural. I whirled as I watched my mate stand, but something inside told me this was wrong.

Her skin was covered in blue flames and her eyes were nothing like the ones I've always looked into. Something was wrong. This wasn't my Mate.

My head snapped to the side as I registered Conrad's cackle. "None of you can save her now, if I were you, I'd run." He continued to laugh as Kinsley's blue flames began to morph into a red so dark they'd almost gone black. Her eyes changed to a deep red as well. I hesitated for a moment before shifting.

"Kinsley?" I choked out as I stepped forward, my hands desperate to feel her beating heart.

Her eyes swung towards me and a chill ran down my back. "You look like him, but you aren't him. Whatever you are, how dare you wear the face of my dead mate." Her voice was hollower now, it seemed vacant.

"Kinsley, I'm not dead, I'm right here. " I spoke, trying to reach her.

I watched as her eyes scanned each and every one of us, her head cocking to the side. "You all stand by his side, after all the destruction and lives he's taken." Her cold gaze landed on Conrad but before any of us had a chance to explain what was really happening she attacked.

My mind was whirling at the thought of my own mate, attacking me. I watched Tate and Noah be the first to fall as they battled Kinsley head-on. They weren't dead but severely wounded. I whirled on Conrad, "What the fuck is happening with my mate!"

He gasped for air as I picked him up from the ground by the throat, my hands tightly fixed around his neck. "While you guys were so focused on the little problems your pathetic packs were having, I was creating the ultimate weapon of destruction." His cruel smile morphed as he changed into an inky black cloud, escaping my grip. I growled as he disappeared from my claws.

Soon more wolves had arrived and Kinsley continued to attack. It wasn't long before she realized she was severely outnumbered. "Kinsley, you need to-" Before I finished, the mountain we were on was set ablaze. She had formed a ring around herself, meanwhile, the other wolves were forced to run or die.

I searched for Madi in the chaos, spotting her stealthy form bounding behind Kinsley. It took everything inside me not to shout out my mates name to warn her, but this wasn't my mate. And the only way to save her now was to take her down.

I watched with bated breath as Madi leaped through the flames, just as they had scorched her, she'd healed. Her paws never hit the ground before Kinsley had whipped around, smacking her to the ground with a sickening force I knew to be unnatural. As she came crashing to the earth the flames died down, Kinsley's attention now solely on the white wolf before her.

My feet carried me swiftly to my mate before I had time to even gather a plan in my head. As soon as I was close enough, my arms locked around her, trapping her arms at her sides. Kinsley thrashed against me, throwing her head back in an attempt to knock me off balance but I didn't budge. Through clenched teeth, "I know you're in there somewhere because I can still feel you. Whatever darkness has a grip on you right now you need to push through it, fight back damnit!" As my breaths became quicker, "Fight Kinsley, you didn't come this far in this life for nothing. I know you can do this."

As the words left my lips Kinsley dropped to her knees, myself following as she let out a scream that had my eyes slamming shut and my heart aching because I knew I couldn't do a damn thing to stop her pain. Madi shifted and came closer, her hand falling to Kinsley's shoulder, and that familiar golden glow illuminating the darkness surrounding us.

"I can't reach her but I can feel what she feels. She's grieving, angry, and lost." Madi gritted out as she fell to her knees. "I can't heal her, this is something she has to do on her own. Whatever darkness has her is beyond my ability." Madi finally whispered as her hand released my mate. Her words echoed within me. Kinsley would have to save herself.

I couldn't save my mate.

She's alone.

Over my dead fucking body, I thought as my fist met the earth. With my eyes closed I forced every ounce of feeling and thought to travel through the mate bond. My strength, my weaknesses, every happy memory and all the moments I had to grieve a lost member of my pack. The loss of my own mother. I focused on the feeling that sang through my blood when I first laid eyes on this fiery, hot-headed she-wolf. Pouring all of my energy into her.

Giving her my all.