Born To Be Your Apocalypse

The Cold Eyes On Me

Zane’s POV

My growl deepened the second my eyes locked on her flushed cheeks.

Grandmother had asked that abominable question, and Sabrina had answered without a single second of hesitation… ‘With my life.’ She loved him with her life?

The words sat in my chest like hot coals. What the f**k did he have that I didn’t? Who the f**k is he? What the hell does she love about him?

Scar scoffed inside my head, the sound dripping with contempt.

‘Well, he has a lot of things that you don’t. And who is he? He’s the man who saved our mate when you were too much of a p***y and too scared of your old man to do it. I don’t even blame her if she never looks our way. You pushed her away and he caught her.’

I flinched visibly, fists clenching so hard my knuckles cracked.

“Zane, this is madness! She doesn’t belong here! She's supposed to be a prisoner, not a lost princess who returned home!” Lyria’s voice grated across the room again pissing the s**t out of me.

I had already mindlinked Silas a few seconds to come up and bundle her out of my sight.

I stepped further into the room, clearly ignoring her outburst but she didn't take the hint. Before Lyria could match my pace, Silas appeared from the doorway, gave a short bow, and closed his hand around her upper arm.

She immediately started thrashing. “Let go of me! This is my room! I am your future luna! That curse doesn’t deserve to be here…she’s a murderer’s child, she…”

If she calls Sab a curse one more time, I swear to the moon I will…

‘You will what?’ Scar hissed inside my head. ‘What can you possibly do now to redeem what you did… what you let happen to her in the past? She already loves someone else. Maybe you should consider shaving all your hair off so we can retire to the mountains as monks. How about that, daddy's boy?’ He drawled lazily.

The mockery was sharp, but underneath it I felt the same raw sadness that lived in my own chest.

I braced myself and moved closer to the bedpost. Sabrina was still talking to Grandmother about the human brat, her eyes glinting like speaking his name alone was her favorite thing in the world.

It hurt more than watching her hug him back at that library. Would she ever look at me that way too? Will her eyes ever light up when she hears my name?

I pretended to search for something in the drawer nearest the bed, fingers moving aimlessly through papers I didn’t care about, while every sense stayed locked on her voice.

“I wanted to die, Nana,” she said softly. “My heart was constantly stuck on rage and bitterness… And I felt so helpless that I wanted to end it all and join them…”

My heart twisted so hard I had to lock my jaw when those words left her mouth. I had contributed to breaking her. I had stood by while they broke her.

“But then…” she continued, her voice dropping into a whisper, and the smile that curved her mouth was pure joy. “Diego gave me a reason to live. Every day he gives me new reasons to live. And to think we were supposed to get married in three days’ time before I was pulled back into this awful abyss…”

The sadness and anger in her tone when she mentioned being back here was unmistakable.

She smiled when she talked about that so-called life saver and fumed with pure hatred whenever she mentioned me or this pack.

What was I expecting?

There was still bad blood between us…her mother had killed mine. I hadn’t wanted to believe it at first because of how close our families had once been, but I had done my own private investigation. Every piece of evidence still pointed to Celine.

Yet Sabrina was innocent. There was no way I would ever judge her for something she had no part in. I had never…not even once…hated her for it. I had been a coward to hurt her just for the sake of my father… That much was true. But I had never hated her.

Her next words made me groan under my breath with anger and I started toward them.

“Get up.” The order came out as calm as I could force it.

Grandmother’s head snapped up protectively. “Zane, can’t you see that I’m talking to my granddaughter?”

I didn’t let the stern warning stop me. I closed the remaining distance, wrapped my hand around Sabrina’s arm, and pulled her to her feet in one smooth motion.

Before a single word could leave her mouth, the metal cuff clicked shut around her wrist. The other half locked around mine with a final, satisfying snap.

“What the hell is this?” she snapped, eyes flashing.

“What do you think?” I grinned.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get this off me!” She yanked hard at the chain. The short length only dragged me closer until the heat of her body brushed mine.

“Did you just say that you want to leave? To go back to him? You think Grandma will help you escape?” I leaned in, voice dropping into a growl. “I'd like to see you try, Sab.”

Damn the gods, I was loving the closeness more than anything. Just like when I carried her the entire way here. Even in the car I hadn’t set her down on the seat. I had kept her on my lap the whole drive, nose buried in her hair, breathing her in like a starved animal who hadn’t seen a female in years.

And right now, cuffed to her, I wanted to do far more than just stand this close.

She launched at me, twisting and yanking, the chain rattling between us.

“Let me go! Let me f*****g go!” she screamed.

Grandmother stayed seated on the edge of the bed, watching us, but her gaze looked far away…like she was seeing something neither of us could.

“That’s enough, Sabrina!” I cut in immediately.

The volume of my voice hit her harder than I intended and I saw her flinch.

That small, instinctive cower made something ugly twist in my gut and I hated myself for it. I hated that I had put that reaction in her.

But then, as if she remembered exactly who she had become, her shoulders squared as she lifted her chin and stared straight into my eyes.

“Don’t you ever dare raise your voice at me. Do you understand?”

The snarl in her tone was pure fire and I loved it. I almost nodded like a good dog. Almost. Good thing I caught myself and slammed the taunting mask back into place.

“If you don’t want me to raise my voice, then quit acting like a child and…”

A mindlink cut through the rest of the sentence and my fists tightened. ‘Alpha. They’re ready.’

Sabrina’s gaze never softened. She looked at me like she would happily poison me the second she got the chance. I drew in a deep breath, bracing for what came next.

“It’s time,” I said, tugging her towards the door.

She gave me a pointed, suspicious look, but I could read the question burning in her eyes clear as day.

‘Time for what?’