Caine

"Feel good? Anything feel too tight?" I look Tyson up and down, rechecking the chains that we wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and neck.

"Are you kidding? Not tight enough. The shackles are barely even touching my skin," Tyson shows how he could almost slip his hand out of the chain.

"Trust me, you'll be wishing they were looser," I tell him as I glance at my watch. 9:23 p.m. He should be starting soon.

Brayden, Logan, and I exit the cell and begin to wrap the chains around the handle.

"Ready?" Brayden asks Tyson.

"Can you be ready for something like this?" he both shake our heads at him and he groans. "Bring it."

The three of us sit outside the cell and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

"What time is it?" Brayden turns to me after a few hours and I blink the sleep away as I glance at my watch. My eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"11:45," I look at Brayden in confusion.

"Why didn't he change?" we both look at Tyson.

"Why isn't anything happening?" I feel disappointment fill Tyson's words as he asks the question. Meanwhile frustration fills me.

"Fuck!" I throw an extra shackle across the cellar.

"Caine, don't wolf on us," Brayden says as he removes the chains from the door and unchains Tyson.

"So we were wrong?" Tyson asks. "Am I even Tyson Stark?" My breathing increases with my anger.

"I don't know," I fall into disappointment as I lean on the table and stare at the ground. "I don't know."

"You're Tyson," Logan says with full confidence, "but I don't know if you're the rightful heir."

Suddenly Tyson screams and falls to the ground. My gaze shoots up to him and then to Brayden before looking back at Tyson, crumpled on the ground in front of us. I quickly look at my watch.

"Midnight," I look up at Brayden, who is looking back at me with wide eyes. "Get him back in the cell!"

Logan helps us to wrestle Tyson back into the chains and close the door again just as he lets out another scream. He drops his gaze to us and glares us down before his body is engulfed in flames.

"What the-" Brayden and I both throw our arms in front of our face, trying to block the heat. I glance to my left and curse under my breath.

Two old tanks of gasoline are stuffed into the corner of the room. I quickly grab them and run up stairs just as the fire begins to make it's way out of the cell, growing bigger by the second.

"Brayden! Logan!" I drag them up the stairs with me and slam the cement door shut, barricading the flames that reach out to us. We both lean against the cold door to catch our breath as Logan stands with his hands on his knees across from us.

"It would've been nice to know that he was going to blow up!" Brayden huffs out. "What if we would've had a wooden cellar? We'd be homeless!"

"Yeah the whole fire thing is new to me," Logan says. "He couldn't do that when we were kids."

"How come his changing didn't start until midnight?" I try to find an answer to my own question, but nothing crosses my mind.

"Maybe your watch is off?" I shake my head at Brayden's suggestion.

"I just set it this morning."

"Well the important thing is he's changing. He's the rightful heir to the Malignity Pack. Amira was right."

*************************************

Brayden, Logan, and I sit cautiously outside of the cellar door all night, not daring to open it again. Tyson's screams were easily audible even through the thick cement, and there's no doubt the rest of my suspects something is going on now.

I'll have to hold a press conference to inform them of war eventually, I just wanted to have a plan first. But after Tyson's changing, they're going to be demanding to know what's going on.

"He hasn't made any noise in awhile. Maybe he's out? You passed out after your changing," I glare at Brayden.

"So did you."

"That's what I'm saying, that's what happens. He must be done."

I stand up and slowly pry the heavy cellar door open. It's already 10:00 in the morning. At least Amira listened to me and stayed in our room until I came to get her, like I told her to. I'd probably kill Tyson if he hurt her, even if it wasn't in his control.

The instant I open the door, smoke bombards my face. I cough and wave it away before descending the steps. I look in the cell to see Tyson slumped over.

All the chains are still wrapped around him, but they're glowing orange from heat. I try to remove the chains from the door, but they, too, are too hot to touch.

I glance around the cellar before spotting a bucket next to the old, disgusting sink we have down here. Grabbing it, I fill it up and begin to dump it on the chains. Once they are cooled down enough, I pull them off and fill the bucket again to dump it on Tyson's wrists and ankles before removing those chains as well.

His body immediately falls. He still hasn't opened his eyes or moved since we came here, but his body doesn't look to be burned at all, which is a good sign. I lightly tap him with my foot, but he doesn't respond.

"Tyson," I say his name and bend to shake him, "Tyson, rise and shine." He still doesn't move.

"Here, try this," Brayden hands me another bucket full of water and I dump it on Tyson. His head instantly raises and his eyes shoot open as he snarls, the new color burning crimson as they glare at me.

"He's not fully back yet," I say as he begins to crawl away from us.

"Well when will he be?"

"Give me another bucket of water," I say and Logan runs to fill it up and hand it to me. Tyson growls as I approach him and throw the contents of the bucket right in his face. He shakes his head and blinks a few times before squinting up at us and then out the small window. He groans in pain and rubs a hand over his face.

"What time is it?" he pushes the words out of his parched throat before his piercing gaze meets mine yet again. I have to say, I am quite jealous of the color.

"10:30," I say and Brayden tosses the shorts that retrieved for him at his feet. He lazily pulls them on but remains sitting on the cellar floor.

"Feel different?" Brayden plays his stupid funny card again.

"There is one thing that's greatly different," he mumbles.

"What's that?" I ask. His eyes flicker back to mine.

"I remember, Caine. I remember everything."

********************************

"So what do we do now?" Amira asks.

I had sent Tyson to clean up and get some rest before pressing him about his memories. I am now sitting in the library with Amira on my lap, her head leaning on my shoulder.

"Well, first we find out what he remembers. If he remembers anything about Trenton trying to get rid of him, it will worsen his grudge and greatly help us," I rub my hand up and down her back. "Before war and telling the pack about Tyson, though, we do need to do one thing."

"What's that?" her light breathing fans my neck.

"We need to have a mating ceremony and officially enthrone you as Luna of the Pack," her sigh is evident on my skin.

"Caine... I don't think I'm ready..."

"Yes," I lift her face towards mine, "you are. You're the best luna I could've asked for, Amira. I love you."

Amira

He gazes confidently into my eyes and I instantly know that this is where I belong.

He's right, I am ready. Ready to take my place as the rightful Luna to the Obsidian Pack. Ready to lead by his side.

Lead by the side of the most wonderful man I've ever met.

As his piercing blue eyes look into my identical colored ones, I find myself realizing how much I love him, how much I need him.

I've grown so close to him in the past few days, closer than I've ever been to anyone else before. I can't imagine life without him. Life without the warm feeling of his hand grazing my skin, without the soft kisses he places on my forehead when he knows I'm scared, without the pep talks he gives me when he knows I'm capable of something but I'm just not confident enough.

Anything that happens to us in the coming days, anything that happens to our pack, we'll be in it together. And I wouldn't want to fight with anyone else.

I don't deserve him, but he's mine.

His thumb grazes my cheek and I lean into his touch with a smile.

"I love you too, Caine."

********************************

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