Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 60 - Rock Bottom

Jadea

Chaos reigned in the aftermath.

Jupiter teleported Adam back to Ty's, making sure the rest of Keb's pack was run far off his land. And, ensuring his children were safe.

A furious Agamemnon, not understanding the predicament I'd been put into, came storming into the clearing, berating me. I'd had no energy to argue with him. Garret—the fear he'd felt moments earlier, turning to rage—faced off with the hellhound, screaming our dilemma in his face.

I was disassociating. My body detaching, like I was having an out-of-body experience to the upheaval surrounding me in that moment. I stared unseeing. Numb. Emotionless.

I heard shouting as my pack clashed with Agamemnon's.

A fight broke out.

Even if I wanted to do something, I just physically and mentally couldn't.

I was frozen in time.

My worst fears had come true.

Keb went after the children.

Terror gripped my chest so tightly, I felt the physical pain lancing through my chest. Gasping, I fell to my knees, clutching my heart.

This was it.

This was the tipping point.

Adam was going to leave me.

My troubles followed me, and placed his children directly in harms way.

What if I hadn't confronted Keb? Would he have taken Aidan and Anika as pawns in this dangerous game? Dangling the tempting carrot of a trade—their lives for mine—only to go back on his word. Because he knew they were my greatest weaknesses. He knew with them, I would do anything for their lives. I would become whatever he wanted me to be to spare them even a fraction of pain.

I was so stupid to think I would ever escape him...

My life placed theirs in so much unnecessary danger.

And not just Aidan's and Anika's. In the chaos that continued to erupt in the clearing, one thing was made clear and prevalent. My very existence placed everyone I loved and cared for in danger.

No one was safe.

"Jadea, stop!"

The command ripped through the frenzied uproar. Silence immediately settled as all eyes turned to me.

Caden's alpha bore down on mine, forcing my compliance as the tip of the knife dug into my sternum.

My defiant gaze clashed with his unbending will. Furious he would stop me from protecting them.

This was the only way to keep them safe.

Tears streamed down my face. "Please, Caden," I begged when he knelt before me, and gently extracted the knife from my grip.

"No," he stated firmly, setting the blade aside before taking both of my ice-cold hands into his. "You are needed here. You have a pack who needs you. A mate. Children. Taking your own life would hurt them more than Keb ever could."

Ragged breaths chafed my already sore throat. I knew he was right, and hated it all the same.

"This is the easy way out," Caden continued on. "You are too stubborn to go out like that," he grumbled under his breath, which ripped an incredulous chuckle from me.

"You're such an asshat," I grumbled.

"But I'm your asshat," he goaded.

Rolling my eyes, I fell into his strength. My forehead pressing against his shoulder. "I need help." To survive. I was still spiraling. The urge to harm myself clawing at me like a wild animal.

"I've got you, kitten," he breathed softly, tenderly against my temple, one hand caressing the side of my face, the other brushing down my spine. Placing one loving kiss on my hair, he turned his icy gaze to those staring blankly back. "Everyone. Out!"

"Wh-What do you mean out!?" Garret sputtered out of his stupor first. "We're already out!"

"Take to the perimeter. Go sort out your differences in the meadow over," Caden's alpha bore down on Garret's and it was in this moment my beta realized I'd ceded my power to Caden's. Which meant—for the duration of my oath—Caden was the ultimate alpha over my pack.

"Oh, s**t!" Blade hissed, as it dawned on them how utterly desperate and despairing my condition actually was. How very fragile I'd become.

"What are you going to do with her?" Briar's softly spoken question hung in the air.

"What I must do to help her," he snarled, raising to his feet with me cradled in his embrace. "If I find any of you still within this meadow by the time I reach the porch, there will be hell to pay." The vehemence in his voice leaving no room for doubt. Giving no more instruction, or allowing room for debate, Caden started purposefully striding to the cabin.

As we moved through the clearing, I peeked over Caden's shoulder and saw everyone staring back with warring expressions. My pack didn't want to obey Caden. They didn't want to leave me alone. As a pack, as a family, we had fixed things together. I'd forced transparency. I'd made us sit in with our tumultuous emotions together. There had been no isolation. No forced separation.

As Caden drew nearer the porch, everyone decided to become scarce.

Everyone, except Garret.

His worried, tumultuous expression holding mine as he read everything within my conscious thoughts.

He knew what was about to happen. He understood why Caden demanded everyone to leave. This was embarrassing for me. Something they shouldn't be subjected to seeing or experiencing.

"Go," I whispered in Garret's mind.

"No." He stated firmly. "I aggravated this situation today. I was part of the reason things got so out of hand. I knew better than to take it out on Agamemnon. I'd felt your inner turmoil and couldn't stop the rage."

There was no fight left in my body. This was Garret's choice. "This isn't your fault."

"It's not yours either."

"But isn't it?" I asked, sounding bitter. "I chose to go after the underground trafficking rings. Every decision I made led us here--"

"Stop the f*****g pity party, will you!?" Garret exploded. "We chose to make a difference in this world by becoming a hunting pack! This operation we took on was like a hunt! It just has multiple moving parts! We were hunting down the bad guys, Jadea! And just like the hunt, we all knew, and accepted, it could go sideways at any given moment!"

His words were like a slap in the face.

It was at this moment, I realized Caden was no longer walking. He'd paused just before the porch steps, allowing Garret to speak his mind.

"This isn't just about you!" He continued on, losing some of that fire. "So build a bridge and get the f**k over it."

"That's what I'm trying to do!" I screamed, breaking. Losing what little control I had left. I was trying to live, trying to weather the PTSD I was suffering through. I was trying to heal. On top of re-learning how to love and trust my mate, trying to figure out a way to bring my lost memories back, and find a way to bring back my wolf. All while being hunted by an obsessed, psychotic werewolf, who was bound and determined to harm, maim or kill everything I cared about. Plus, I'd cracked open a damn can of worms when I'd made it abundantly clear there was a mole in Constance's ranks.

I just needed some grace.