02

CHAPTERS 02

Kevin simply wanted his mate to be safe. The world was already in chaos with raging wars. And he couldn’t help but be scared for his mate. Was it bad that he missed the pain ? It wasn’t pleasant, but at least it meant he wasn’t alone.

Then one day, he met a boy on the waterfall in the forest he trained, swimming. Hope swelled as he smelt the faintest and sweetest smell ever. He thought maybe.

Devon was nice, but a bit of a dolt. Still, he was kind-hearted, with a big and open smile, something almost unknown among the pack he lived. Kevin felt drawn to him, like a moth to the flame, and thought maybe.

That afternoon, just hours later, he felt his heart shatter like glass. He was alone in his room, so no one saw him clutch at his chest as tears rose unbidden from an unknown loss, like losing something important but worse than even that somehow. After all the years and years of constant ache, this was without a doubt the worst. And it didn’t go away.

The next time he saw Devon, he thought about asking. But decided against it. If Devon wanted to tell him they were mates, he would.

They saw each other almost every day, but never discussed the subject. They were young, so they cannot be sure, not until they were old enough and ready, but still Kevin couldn’t help but look at the kind boy next to him, with his stupid hair and dumb competitions and maybe… hope ?

He’d thought that day was the worst, but he was proven wrong. The worst came almost a year later. Kevin was sitting with Steven when he felt his heart break, clieved apart, in a way that was far too familiar. It felt like the last time, but so, so much worse. His whole chest seized. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Whatever had just happened to his mate felt like it was ripping him apart.

When Devon told him later that day near the waterfall, tears welling up, that his mother had died, Kevin had been almost, almost sure.

But Devon was just beginning to cry, while the pain in Kevin’s chest felt the same, a bleeding pain that persisted. Not better, it hadn’t really felt better but not worse. Not in the way that it maybe should ? Clearly, Devon was hurting more now then he had been a minute ago.

Maybe he’d been hiding it, but Devon wore everything on his sleeve. Subterfuge was not something he was skilled at. Pain was welling up in him, sudden and overflowing, not looking at all like the constant ache buried behind Kevin’s own breastbone.

No. His friend probably wasn’t his mate.

Kevin would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed.

Soulmate or not, it was good to have a friend.

Until almost a year later, when he’d found out that he had been playing with a enemy the whole time. Inter species war was a different matter. The pack residing nearby were also at war.

His friend, the one with the big dreams for peace – with the charisma to drag him along with his stupid schemes, guileless enough to make him think, just for a moment, that it was possible – was a Devon Rickson of the White Lotus Pack. Not just any member, but Alpha Kent Rickson’s and Luna Solana Von Rickson’s first child and soon to be Alpha. The ruthless Alpha Kent who had himself killed his packmates.

Kevin hadn’t known his grandfather Richard Flint. Just known enough that his death had left their father Derrick Flint devastated, holding Kevin as a newborn by the grave where they buried him. Derrick their Alpha of the Nightshade Pack had sworn revenge. Needed it like he needed to breathe.

But Kevin couldn’t give it to him, not at the cost of his only friend. Not now, when so often, it felt like him and Devon were against the world. The only ones sane enough to look around and say enough.

His head hurt. His heart hurt. He watched his father lunging at Devon. Watched his brother Stefan bitting the girl that looked like Devon. Felt his father’s demand to fight in his bones but he couldn’t. Not like this. Not until Kent Rickson snapped at him barring his teeth. He hadn’t known that Devon belonged to their neigbouring enemy pack. Why couldn’t he belong to some other pack like the White Carnation. At least that pack had a mutual agreement and they had mated pairs among them.

He didn’t let his face show any of the conflict raging within him as he convinced their families to retreat. Admitted a weakness he didn’t have in order to force their capitulation. He didn’t know if he was weaker than Devon, but he didn’t want to know, not for sure

His father being mad at him was an understatement. His father had never been disappointed in him before. It hurt more than he thought it would. But Devon and him were made enemies even before they were born. It wasn’t their choice. It wasn’t their fight to begin with. For some stupid fued their ancestors held. He felt pain as he mourned his friendship and for the first time it nullified the constant dull ache in his heart.