Slay My Soul
Chapter 3 Darius

The rain had eased off to a light haze as I stomp out to my mate and kneel in front of her. Her eyes flick to mine, letting out a quiet whine. Acassus steps back to give us some space. I stroke Eve's head and note the thinness of her body, her ribs are starting to show. I look internally at our bond and follow it to the gates of her mind, where her wolf paces restlessly.

We need to help Eve little one. Can you help me replace her? The wolf glares at me. How much longer can you keep her body going without sustenance? You are meant to be a part of her, not separate. You need to go back to her. The wolf whines, looking torn. It desperately wants to be with Reece, but also with me. Please, you know this is not how it should be. I miss him desperately too, but we all miss Eve as well, all of her. The wolf paces again, eyes darting to me nervously. Finally, it halts and bares its neck in submission. It is outside its comfort zone being solely in charge, but it's been holding the fort as Eve requested. I kneel and hug it around its neck. I'm so proud of you. Now let's go replace our girl.

The gates swing open and I follow the wolf through. Flitting and searching through the quiet mind of my mate with her wolf beside me.

Eve sits huddled in a dark corner, tearing at her hair while heart-wrenching sobs erupt from her mouth. I swirl my essence around her, bathing her in love, letting it soak into her. Her head pulls up to look at me.

Darius?

Yes Kitten, I'm here. I'm always here for you. I reassure her

He's gone!

But I am not. We need to mourn him and replace our way forward. The others are waiting to help us both.

I can't move forward. I am always his, forever. I can't move on. She shakes her head. I don't know how to or if I even want to.

Your wolf can't hang on much longer Eve, it's starving your body to death. Your wolf is too lost in its mourning.

Eve shrugs. Whatever happens, happens. I shake my head and change gears. Tough love it is then.

Reece would be disgusted with you right now. He gave his life trying to keep you safe and yet you spit on his sacrifice.

Her head jerks up and her eyes widen in surprise. She shakes her head violently.

He dies for you and all you can do is sit here, rotting in your own mind, pissing all over his gift to you. And what of your other mates huh? Do the rest of us mean so little to you that you would lay down and die and take the rest of us with you? Because if you go, so do we. Are you prepared to leave your people under the rule of the vampire king? Wake the fuck up Eve! Reece died to save you so you could fix the world, not burn the fucking thing down around our ears. Don't you dare sit here hiding and dying in a corner while the world falls down around us all, simply because you can't accept that Reece is dead! I lie down beside her.

What are you doing? She asks nervously.

Waiting to die apparently, cos that's all I have to look forward to, so I'll do it here by your side. I grumble. She pushes at me.

Um no, get up and get out of my head.

Make me, I smirk. It is quite peaceful here, I can see why you like it. She starts to panic, shoving me.

No, no! Get up. You can't be in here if my body fails.

Tick-tock Kitten. What are you going to do? You see, you're it for me. For all of us. You go, we go. Her wolf growls at her, unhappy another mate's life is on the line. Eve's shoulders slump.

I don't know how to live without him. She admits defeated.

Neither do I. We can learn together, ok? I sit up and offer her my hand. She chokes on a sob but takes my hand and I pull her to me. Come on Kitten, let's get out of here, it's time for us to face the music. We can lean on each other. It's not going to be easy, but we will get there with time.

I pull her forward with me, to the front of her mind, and with Eve back in the driver's seat, I follow my link back to my own head. My eyes open and it's raining again. I hold a naked, muddy, shivering Eve in my arms. Mikyda runs out of the house with a blanket, tossing it to me and I swiftly wrap Eve in it before picking her up.

I walk to the house, ignoring the shocked silence of the men, and go up the steps to the bathroom, flicking the shower on. I make sure I lock the door. That's right fuckers, I got her back, and I'm going to look after her. They can all fucking wait. I perch her on the sink bench and swiftly strip, before pulling the blanket off her and carrying her into the shower. I stand holding her, stroking her back while I wait for the shivers to subside in the heat. Once I'm satisfied she's warm enough, I help her stand and shampoo and condition her hair. I make sure I massage her scalp and relax her. Then I wash the rest of her body, slowly massaging as I go, before I rinse her off. I flick off the shower and dry her with a warm fluffy towel that Ly has snuck in, along with some warm pajamas. Once she is presentable, I sit her on the loveseat in the spare bedroom and blow dry her hair, while I brush out the tangles. Ly sneaks in and pops a tray of food down just as I'm finishing up, before nodding and sneaking back out. At least he's all about looking after her too. He's supporting what I'm trying to do, without interference.

I flick off the hair dryer and bring the tray over, sitting it between us. It's a simple chicken noodle soup and bread, which is perfect since neither of us has apparently had solid food in weeks, and a couple of Gatorades. Eve stares at it disinterestedly.

"Kitten," I nudge her. "Please eat, I know you don't want to and I don't want to either. To be honest this will be my first meal too I think. Let's tackle this first little hurdle together." She raises an eyebrow.

"You haven't been eating?" She asks with her husky unused voice. Her eyes sweep me from head to toe, and I see her noting my tired bloodshot eyes and the weight I have lost as well.

"You put your wolf in charge while you grieved, I drank my pain away. I thought it had only been a few days. Turns out I was on a two-week drunken bender," I shrug sheepishly.

"Jesus, we owe our pack a big apology," she sighs tiredly. She grabs a piece of bread and dunks it in her soup before she tears off a chunk with her teeth, chewing slowly. She swallows and pauses, waiting to see if it will bounce back up. After a couple of minutes, she has some more, giving her body the chance to adjust to the sudden sustenance after each bite. I copy her and eventually, we eat it all.

She yawns as she places her spoon back in her bowl and I nudge her toward the bed. I've purposely chosen one of the guest rooms so she doesn't have to face the fact there is no Reece in our usual bed. She cuddles up with me under the blanket and sprawls on me. Just when I think she is settled she changes positions and then continues to wriggle around.

"Kitten? Would it help if I got an item of his clothing?" She nods. I smile sadly at her and get up. I pad across the room and open the door, only to be greeted by Ly holding one of Reece's hoodies, clearly anticipating Eve's needs. I sigh and take it with a nod of thanks, traipsing back to the bed. I take off Eve's top and pop her into Reece's hoodie, watching her bring the front of it to her nose and breath in his scent. Tears prick her eyes and she sniffles, before throwing her arms around me as huge sobs start to wrack her body. I lie down, wrapping my arms around her and soothing her back. Reece's scent wrapped around us is both comforting and painful, reminding us of our loss. Little by little her sobbing slows to sniffles and her breathing evens out.

I close my eyes, breathing in the combined scents of Eve and Reece, pretending just for tonight that they are both present and okay.