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3RD POV.
Kade points out his hand above his head, signaling for everyone to stop, and they did follow his command. Kade, Kyle, and Chester halt their horses, peeling their eyes at the woods.
“What is it?” Kade asks as he moves closer to Kieran, stopping next to him.
“There’s a sudden change in the weather. Did you not notice the sudden rumble in the sky followed by the rain?” He is focused on scanning the woods, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary; he didn’t even share Kade a gaze.
“Well, then, perhaps we should get off these horses.” Kade’s tone sounds more like a suggestion than an order, to which Kieran agrees. Kyle, on the other hand, groans. He’s actually still hurt, so they understand why he doesn’t want to walk.
The effect of the crumbling of the tunnel twisted his legs completely, and even though they’ve healed it, the pain hasn’t left him completely, and he’s a crybaby, so it’s understandable that he doesn’t want to stress himself at all.
Presently, they are walking through the woods with care, their faces shifting from one side to the other as they prepare their nails to change into talons at any sense of attack from anywhere.
Kieran takes the front stance with Kyle, while Kade and Chester are coming behind.Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
“My Lord…” Chester whispers, but Kade isn’t paying attention, “my Lord,” he calls again to gain Kade’s attention, who squeezes his face at him.
“What?”
“Do you know what you’re going to do when you see her?” Chester questions Kade, causing him to blink in confusion. Oops, he has actually not thought of it that far, and he’s usually the one who does the thinking.
He cannot be blamed, though. He’s been placed under so much stress that all he wants is for Kaya to be back. And he isn’t the only one under that influence. His heart has come back alive, his reasoning has changed, and all these things have caused a change in his personality.
Once again, not only him suffers from the change. Once one changes, the others do too. The triplets are one in three, after all. Their minds are the same, split into three, three beings who share the same thoughts, the same actions, and a different personality that has come to align as one, just like how any other individuals exist with different personalities yet they are just one.
“I-I actually haven’t. Damn,” he says, roughening his hair before snapping his eyes close and sighing in exasperation. “Advise me, Chester. If there is anyone who has had a taste of magic before and, in fact, being under its influence, it’s you. You’re the closest thing I have to an Oracle. How do I do this case?”
Kade feels helpless in this situation because he’s never had to actually submit before. He’s always been trained to be dominant, but this time around, he and his brothers have realized that for so long they’ve been playing under the tune of expectations-expectations that people expect from them-and not doing exactly what they wish or want to actually do.
The cruelty, the barbarism-why would their hearts bleed out at it? Why would they regret it all? Why would they seek forgiveness if it wasn’t for them? For so long, they’ve lost themselves, but Kaya, the change they’ve caused in her, made them see right. Hopefully, they can help her see it back too.
On Chester’s side, he understands his master and Kade’s right that only he knows best when it comes to witches. He’d lived with them for years before his release, and he was even an experiment of theirs. They changed him completely, played with the wildness within him, and tampered with every naturalism that his being originally came with.
He breathes out through his lips, washing off the wetness from the rain, spitting onto his face, “first of all, know that you cannot do this on your own. You will need help, but where that would come from, I have no idea.”
“Help?” Asks Kade with his brows arched.
“Yes. The girl has been influenced by your darkness so much that she won’t see any hint of light within you. Even if she did, she wouldn’t believe it. Fool me once and never again sort of a thing.” As Chester speaks, Kade reasons into it. “So, you would need the help of anyone who could also help make her see the reasons. But for tonight, we have to be careful. Speak with her with emotions from deep within your heart; let her know just how much you mean every word coming from your tongue. No lies, and maybe she wouldn’t destroy us with her powers or drain us out of energy like a Phoenix right before the Alphas of the other pack kill us off.”
While they converse in a whisper, Kade learns how to make his approach. As the triplets know better to have Kade talk to Kaya on their behalf, the others are walking ahead, clearing paths through the wilderness.
“Magic is a gift, a blessing, but it can also corrupt. Only the strong can use it for its true meaning, and that’s why you’d never see me hate any witch even after all I’ve passed through. Magic was used to turn me into a monster, and it also brought me back to normalcy,” he says, looking down at his hands and body, which are of human figure. “So, when you face her, make her see that too. You all want to change for the better; do right by her, don’t you? This is just the beginning.”
Just then, Kieran and Kyle stretch out their hands above their heads this time around, and both Chester and Kade shut up.
Kade wiggles his brows, which makes Kieran holler for him with a wave. He comes to crouch in the middle, between Kyle and Kieran. “Listen to the woods.”
“Is that…?” His eyes grow big as he thinks of it.
He hears her cries. Why would she be sobbing? Then they got closer, making sure they made no sound for her to notice.
“I’ll do the talking, both of you…” Kade finishes the rest with signals from his fingers, and Kieran and Kyle go around the area. Their job is to check the surroundings to see if there is no other threat around, because Kaya herself is a sufficient threat.
When Kieran and Kyle have left, Kade points at Chester’s chest and says, “Stay here, hidden. If I need you, you will know. Until then, mute.” After giving his order, he sucks in air through his lips that are made into an “o” shape, then he walks into the clearing.
Kaya has yet to notice anything. She has her head placed into her thighs, sucked deep into a thought that has somehow kept her from the outside world.
Upon watching for a few seconds, the brothers share a pain all together, like a siren hitting them deep in the stomach. They’ve never felt such weakness before, but through the mate bonds, they feel it course through their veins, sharing in her pain and worry.
Indeed, this is why the brothers never wanted to open themselves to the bond, never wanting to be bound. It is a weakness, and being who they are, they cannot afford weakness. It’s why they’ve done all the cruel things they have done to her.
Kade falls to his knees, pulling attention from Kaya, who, when she sees him, quickly stands up with her scariness etching her features.
The three of them are weak, but they won’t fight against the pain in their chests because they know that they caused it. And they are willing to accept the result.