Gave her you. Gave her you. Gave her you.

The words echoed. They were everything. They were the entirety of Kaia's existence as the world faded around her and suffocating silence enveloped her.

It was almost peaceful for a moment, like falling through the sky, wind rushing past her. Kaia almost embraced it. But then some part of her reminded her that she had things to live for, people who needed her. Kaleb and Cole...and maybe even her dad, if she could forgive him.

Her real dad. Not Jack.

So she struggled with all she had, clung to the edge of the cliff with her fingertips. It wasn't much, though. It wasn't enough, and her fingers started slipping. 

But instead of the cold sinking feeling of death creeping into her flesh, she felt her nerves light up, flames exploding within her. A rush of air surprised her, sending her hair flying.

And then she felt oxygen return to her. She fell to her knees, the cement tearing gouges into her uncovered knees and palms. She clutched her throat as she coughed, her damaged trachea doing its best to conduct air. The world was loud and quiet at the same time, and Kaia wasn't sure if it was her own pulse or something else that was the source of the constant thudding and booming. 

When Kaia's vision started to focus, at first all she saw was concrete. Her palms were flat on the ground in front of her, and as she stared at them, reality started to set in again. The banging sounds had been gunshots. She began to panic. But then big, warm hands grabbed her shoulders and jerked her upright.

"Kaia!" It took her a moment, but when she finally realized who it was, she started to cry for so many reasons. Cole felt so far away. Even if she reached out, he'd only get farther and farther. He didn't know, and Kaia did. There was suddenly a wall between them, and it made Kaia sick how much she didn't want it there. 

"Sorry I made you save me. I'm sorry I made you worry and didn't tell you about all this," Kaia choked out through sobs. Now she had another secret, something worse that she was hiding from him. 

Cole's face softened, and he leaned forward, crushing her into a tight hug. "You're ok, you idiot."

"Hi, Kaia!" Kaia looked over Cole's shoulder, still stuck in his hug, to see Jaeda. She was standing there grinning, a gun in one hand and waving with the other. She was pointing a gun at a disgruntled man with a welt growing on his left cheekbone. 

"Jaeda, keep your attention where it belongs, or you'll accidentally shoot someone...again!" said a man with black shoulder length hair and intimidating tattoos.

Jaeda grimaced and turned back to where she'd been pointing her gun. Wait. Was it just Kaia, or were there suddenly a couple dozen too many people in this alley?

How long had Kaia's blackout been? What was going on? Kaia withdrew from Cole's arms, but he gripped her hand hard enough that she knew she wouldn't be moving an inch. "Cole, what's-"

"We got your message. Your guy brought back up, but not enough. He probably hadn't been planning on having Hunters here as well as Prowlers," Lionel said from where he casually leaned against the brick wall.

"Yeah," Cole said, "They didn't stand a chance when we-"

"Please never tell anyone I fainted," Kaia grumbled, touching her fingers to her raw neck, "Ever." The world still felt a little bit off. Everything felt off, but the fact that the wall in front of her appeared curved told Kaia that there was something physically wrong, something beyond the destructive secret Jack had injected into Kaia's veins. 

"I mean...you had an excuse, but-"

Kaia interrupted Lionel without hesitation, "Never. Especially not Kal-" Kaia stiffened and sat up straighter, looking around frantically, "Where's Kaleb? Is he ok?" There were so many people in the small alley that she couldn't see Kaleb anywhere. She scanned the faces of the crowd, the subdued and the subduers, and took little comfort in the realization that no one had died. She just wanted to see her mate.

Kaia watched Lionel's face darken for a flicker of a moment. Lionel had always been good at hiding his emotions, what he was thinking. Even when Kaleb was on the verge of death, he barely showed his worry. So Kaia knew it was severe when Lionel's emotions leaked through his walls like that. "Lion, what's wrong?" Kaia asked, grabbing the wall and struggling to push herself to her feet. 

Cole helped her up, observing her to see if she'd keel over again. Kaia appreciated it. 

"He's...there are things you don't know," Lionel said, "This murderer, Jack...he-" 

But Lionel froze when a roar cut through his words. Kaia looked towards the sound and saw exactly what she feared. When she'd remembered Grayson's death, this was what scared her about it. Mercilessness.

Kaia's gentle wolf had vanished again. He was such a delicate thing, always balancing high above the darkness down below. But Kaleb had fallen. Something had dragged him down to the dark, or someone. 

"Go ahead. Maybe you'll feel better," Jack hissed. He spat out blood and grimaced. He had scarlet streaking his chin and dribbled onto his shirt. Kaleb was looming over him, holding Jack inches off the ground by his shirt. 

Kaleb wasn't Kaleb. He was beautiful and powerful as usual, and that made Kaia's heart swell, but his golden eyes were burning like fire. They were cold and angry and...Kaleb looked dangerous. 

For a brief second, Kaia was afraid. She remembered what Jack had said to her. Your second greatest fear is what you claim to love so much. 

Kaia wanted to scream, to shove Jack out of her mind and lock her skull behind him. She had to do something, to break free of this doubt and fear that plagued her. It was like she'd stood still long enough that Jack's poisonous vines had coiled around her ankles, and now she was stuck on the same horrible train of thought. 

"I should kill you now," Kaleb growled. His voice was cold. Kaia remembered the dream they'd shared when they'd been so far away from each other. Now he was here, in front of her, and yet somehow seemed even more distant. 

"You'll always be that sobbing child, Alpha of Whispers. No matter what you do, you're always going to be alone," Jack taunted. Kaleb growled. His fist collided with Jack's jaw again, knocking Jack to the ground. No one was stopping him; an Alpha could do what he wanted. Kaleb leaned down and yanked Jack up again. 

Kaia closed her eyes, clutching Cole's hand and letting it give her strength. She remembered everything Kaleb had said to her, the way he'd kissed her. Even if his hands were covered in blood now, they'd once held her gently. That's what was important. That's what mattered. 

"Kaleb!" Kaia shouted, her eyes still closed. Her pulse pounded the moment before she opened her eyes to look at Kaleb again, hope exploding out of her. If she couldn't bring Kaleb back from the dark, what good was she? Kaia was his moon and she was his light. She could do the hoping for him. 

3. Kaleb was going to be ok. 2. Even if he had darkness in him, his heart was sunshine in the summer. 1. Faith. 

Kaia opened her eyes. Kaleb was staring at her, his body turned towards her, frozen. Jack still hung from one of Kaleb's hands, but Kaleb's eyes had changed back. They were normal again. Well, not normal. They were exquisite, of course, but that was just Kaleb. Pure, perfect Kaleb. Gentle Kaleb. 

His face collapsed a moment later, and Jack fell to the ground with a thud and a grunt. Kaleb wasn't paying him a moment's notice any longer. It was like that side of Kaleb had just turned off. Kaleb reached up and slid his palm over his face, taking a deep breath. Was he about to...cry? 

Kaia smiled, trying not to cry herself, and started walking towards him. She was suddenly aware of how much her dress showed because she could feel Kaleb's eyes on her, drinking her in like he'd been starving away while she was gone. He just watched her, not moving as though he thought the moment would shatter if he did, that he'd wake up somewhere far away from her. 

"Hi," Kaia whispered as she got closer to him. There weren't any other people in the alley any longer, not to them, not now. It was just the two of them. 

Kaleb looked down at her and pressed a hand to his chest as if his heart hurt, his brows drawn together. "Hi," he said quietly, his voice hoarse. 

Kaia let out a breath of a laugh and wiped a tiny tear away quickly. "I promise this one isn't a dream," she said, looking up at him. 

His eyes flitted around her face. Kaia had missed that, how he always seemed to see her for everything she was with just a glance. "Promise?" Kaleb asked, lifting his hand. 

Kaia watched as he hesitantly touched her cheek, the first brush of his fingertips slow. He was worried his hand would go right through her. When he realized she was there for real, for him, he let the rest of his hand touch her face. "Promise," she whispered, leaning into his touch and closing her eyes, waiting for Kaleb to give in. 

And when he did, it was like a collapse. He leaned into Kaia like he'd lost all of his life force at once and she was the only thing that could restore it. He buried his head in her neck and took in a deep breath, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. "Thank god," he breathed, his voice shaking. 

Kaia reached up and played with the hair at the base of his neck, resting her other hand on his lower back. "It's ok," Kaia whispered against his chest, "I'm sorry, Kaleb, that I put you through this." 

Kaleb touched his lips softly to his mark on her shoulder, and she shivered. "Did you get what you needed?" Kaleb asked, his words tickling her skin. 

Kaia closed her eyes and let his familiar scent surround her, become everything there was instead of those horrid words. "I don't know," Kaia said, the weight of reality crushing her even as Kaleb held her up. 

Kaleb heard the tiny crack in her voice, an almost invisible fissure that only her mate could have noticed. "Whatever it is, I'll help," Kaleb said, his hands running up and down her back, tangling in her hair, "Just don't think about going anywhere ever again." 

Kaia nodded, feeling the tears come for real now. "Ok," she squeaked, hugging him tightly. Maybe she could do it. She had to figure herself out, work through this ludicrous situation, this cruel truth. She could do it if Kaleb were there to listen. He would help her bear the weight. 

"Hey," Kaia said, leaning back and looking up at him. She touched his face with her hands and the look of peace in Kaleb's eyes was enough to calm her heart a bit, however small. "Come here." Kaleb knew what she meant, and his eyes were suddenly alive. 

Sometimes, kissing Kaleb was a little like drowning, like sinking into a peaceful end. Kaleb felt like he could be her end. He was the reward waiting for her after a long, exhausting search. Both of their hearts had broken long ago, and the thought that they could somehow repair them by staying together sometimes seemed naive to Kaia. 

But sometimes people need a little of that in their lives, a touch of beautiful insanity for the soul. A glowing, precious spot of peace, of love in a forest of confusion, of secrets, and of death. 

Maybe drowning in Kaleb wasn't such a bad idea. Kaia had wondered long ago if she could be Kaleb's missing piece. It had become so apparent that they had both shattered, that they were both fragile works of glass, barely holding it together. Beautiful, sharp, sad. 

It was something dangerously close to fate that let their shattered selves fit together so perfectly. Despite their sharp, crooked edges, together they made some semblance of a messy whole. 

Kaia wanted to disappear into his darkness for a bit, hide from the world. Reality seemed impossible; hiding in Kaleb's arms was the only way she could survive. She wanted to fall below the surface and drift away, let the world forget about her as she allowed Kaleb's warmth to seep into her heart. Serenity. 

Kaia bit Kaleb's lip lightly and smiled a sad smile, touching his chin, "I don't know if we can survive this one. I can barely breathe."

Kaleb shook his head, "Then don't breathe. Just kiss me..." 

So she did. And for a minute, forgot herself. 

Hope you liked it! I loved writing it so...I would adore you if you let me know what you thought. :)