Their Burning Touch on my Skin

Chapter 9

Ace



“Don’t!”

Only now do I notice that I’m nearly crushing my teeth and I relax, unclenching my jaw.

I turn around, looking at my brother who has his head buried in his hands. “It wouldn’t be worth it.”

“I’m not sure about that,” I grumble, turning back around to look at the lab door. “Not even you are convinced about what you just said.”

My skin crawls as I continue to hear her, her screams piercing into my bones.

Kai sighs, not releasing himself out of his desperate position. “Not even you would be fast or strong enough to wipe them all out in time.”

“Wanna bet?” I chuckle dryly, crossing my arms over my chest.

He finally leans back, looking at me with half-closed eyes. “Were you here the entire five years? After all they did to us?”

“I didn’t know where else to go,” I shrug, fixing my gaze on the door. “Would you have preferred that I would have gone to Uncle Giorgio?”

Laughing, he shakes his head. “Hell no.”

My family’s pack had long reestablished the relationships with my mother’s old pack after what they did to her, but we are still far away from being cosy with each other.

I would have loved to live with my grandma though.

Taking a deep breath, I straighten my spine while Jax continues to create a ravage inside of me.

“She will heal,” he says, making me look at him. I would love to get relief from his words, but his blank look shows me that he doesn’t take comfort in his own words either. “She is stronger than you think. All we need is to bring her home as fast as possible and help her get better. And maybe you could finally gulp down your stupid pride and help me do that.”

I scoff, closing my eyes as Jax roars at me. “Sure, I guess that me turning her into ashes would be just what she needs.”

“No need to be an i***t,” he answers, clicking his tongue. “If you would accept any help–”

“Shut your f*****g trap!” I growl, Jax pushing through.

I manage to push him back down just in time, enabling him to shoot out a stream of black smoke.

The poisonous mist drills a hole into the wall, fusing the plastic stools that were affixed to it.

Kai looks at me with an unimpressed expression, his arm leaning leisurely on the chair that is just one away from the destroyed one. “Are you done, you diva?”

Lifting my finger, I’m just about to say something as a shrill scream resounds from the testing room. “That’s it. I’m getting her out of there.”

“How?” Kai says, making me halt in my tracks. “You can’t even touch her.”

I clench my fists as he shifts in his seat and chuckles, “Just what I thought.”

He moves with inhumane speed, passing me to rip the door to the laboratory open.

I feel like moving in slow motion as I step in front of the torn-open door. The sight before me turns from a heartache into a satisfying scene from a slasher movie as my brother doesn’t even want to hear any reason and slaughters all the medical staff present in the room without even inquiring about what they were doing.

His chest doesn’t even heave out of the psychological strain as he stands next to the cold table they were treating Emma on.

My throat constricts from her feeble whimpers of pain as I watch him check her temperature by laying his hand on her cheek and forehead. Finally, he utters his first words since he has entered the room, before he lifts her into his arms, “I’m here, mate. Sorry, I’m dirty. I might stain you as well.”

He walks past me, his gaze concentrated on Emma. “Go and pick up Serena. We had to leave her with the Lady-in-waiting, so get her before they find out what happened here.”

“This will surely have consequences, brother,” I say with a chuckle, making him tsk.

“As if I would care.”

***

I don’t believe that this will do my career any good.

In a total hurry, I packed everything they had brought with the help of a few Omegas who were too scared to say no and reached the car with my sister. While the car is getting loaded, I push my sister into the car, but she pops her head back out, making me growl annoyed.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” she asks, looking up at me with big eyes. “They said you had to come with us!”

I smile and shake my head. “I’m coming home with you, Sese. But I won’t be driving with you. It’s safer like this.”

“You always say that. But it doesn’t make any sense.” She scrunches up her face, making me laugh.

So, instead of training her, they brainwashed her.

Seeing the Omegas scurrying away, I hint to her that I’m about to close the door, making her scoot back into the car seat. “Help Kai take care of Em.”

I close the door and tell the driver to drive as fast as he can. He confirms his intention to follow my instructions with a nod before he speeds off to the gateway of the palace.

After shifting into my wolf, I run after the car, catching up with it in just a few minutes.

Cars are so slow.

As the minutes keep ticking by, I get more and more agitated and not because the voices in my head keep roaring about what happened at the Royal Pack.

I know that they wouldn’t come after us. They would never risk facing us unprepared, but the judge would surely take it up with my father.

Concentrating on the wind wafting through my fur and my paws sinking into the mossy ground, I fight the urge to attack the speeding car and rip it open to drag her out of it. I would be so much faster than this stupid car, but I don’t know how her frail body would react to Jax’s demon form’s touch.

And mine burns her skin.

‘She is safer in Kai’s arms,’ Jax growls in my head, tranquillising me slightly, even if I feel that he is as alarmed as I am.

I click my tongue as I close my eyes, retreating to the back of his mind and leaving him the lead. I don’t retort to what he said, acting annoyed while my heart squeezes, knowing that he is right.

Keeping my pace in synchronicity with the car, I clench my teeth to fight the urge to lash out.

As we finally reach the pack borders of the Blood Fang pack, I try to ignore the prying eyes of the border patrols I once used to train with. They surely have already informed my fathers that I’m returning with Kai and the she-wolves, and I have to actually push down the urge to just turn around and flee while my heart squeezing in my chest.

The car halts with screeching tyres, and Kai bursts out of the car, holding Emma firmly in his arms.

I shift back into my human form, pulling at my shorts as I walk towards the main entrance where I see my mother walking after Kai and Emma for a bit.

Cayden is standing on the top of the stairs next to my father and taking a deep breath, I take fast steps to reach them.

Serena runs into Cayden’s arms and turns around to point towards me, obviously telling them that I came with them as well.

“Ace!” Her melodic voice booms over the court before I see my mother running to me. “Oh, my Goddess! Ace!”

I spread my arms automatically, getting her to run right into my arms. “Hey, Mom!”

Concentrating on restraining the fire building in me, I close my arms around her slowly, hugging her tightly.

I caress her arms while she sobbs against my chest and my father walks to me, enveloping us both in a big hug. “Way to make us worry, son.”

“Ace is home!” I hear Ryder scream as he must be running towards us as well, followed by a lot of other people.

But I can only presume it as I clench my eyes that are welling up with tears while I feel them running into us to join our hug.