Chapter Six: Kaine

"Kaine!"

I let out a low growl and smash my head against the tree again. A loud crack echoes through the forest followed by a massive crash as the tree snaps.

The scent of blood fills my nose making me growl again.

"Kaine!" my mother snarls.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" I snap.

"Calm yourself down! This is dangerous," she hisses.

I take a deep breath and run my hands roughly through my hair. Lucifer is still raging but no longer threatens to take control.

"I can't do this anymore, he's impossible to deal with," I growl under my breath.

My mother sighs. "That's why I've been trying to get Maia to take over. Once she does, we can go to the Devil's Circle and you guys don't have to be here anymore," she says.

"Has Maia shifted yet?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "She won't until about 1:30 in the morning. And in the meantime, we need you to make sure my club is safe and she doesn't get in the ring."

"Fine," I mutter. I stand up with a groan, my muscles sore from crouching. I wait a moment before walking over to my mother.

She gets off of the tree she was leaning on and immediately puts her hand to my forehead. I jerk away, making an irritated face.

"I wish I healed as fast as you," she mumbles.

I feel my head and realize the cut is gone and it's just blood drying on my skin. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up then I'll make sure it's safe."

I place a chaste kiss on my mother's cheek and throw a sideways glance at my father before heading towards my club, cleaning the blood off as I walk. At the sight of the massive crowd at the entrance I change direction and walk around back.

I frown at the people making out against the door. "Go do that somewhere else," I growl in annoyance.

The two girls nod and scamper away, giggling beneath their hands. I roll my eyes as I punch in the passcode. Immediately inside I'm met with yet another couple.

"How the fuck did you two get back here?" I growl.

I switch on the light to reveal my bartender and another wolf I don't recognize. Lindsay smiles sheepishly, tugging her shirt down.

"What are you doing in here? Who's at the bar?" I demand.

"Uh—I uh, sorry! Toni said he'd take care of everything," she mutters, casting her gaze to the ground.

I growl under my breath before turning to the male. "You better get your ass out of this club and you—" I point to Lindsay "—get back to work! If this happens again you will be fired!"

She nods quickly before darting out of the storage room with the male.

I follow suit, gritting my teeth in my growing irritation. Wolves are packed so tight in the club that it takes several minutes for me to reach my office.

I slam the door shut behind me then collapse into my desk chair. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and rub my temples. "This party was a bad idea," I mutter.

"Yeah just a little bit."

My eyes snap open at the sound of my brother's voice. "I didn't hear you come in."

He shrugs. "I'm not surprised, you have a lot of stuff distracting you right now," he says.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Maia?"

"Yeah but it's impossible with this many people. I'd have to be right next to her and she's not going to let that happen."

"How are you planning on keeping her out of trouble then?" I ask.

"Taylor is hanging out with her, she'll let me know if anything happens." Jax sits down in the chair in front of my desk.

"Is there something else?" I ask, annoyed.

"Mom and dad told me what happened in the forest a few minutes ago," he says.

"Of course, they did, is there anything they don't tell you?" I growl. 

"They didn't tell me that you knew this whole time that you were going to shift when you turned sixteen," he snaps.

I narrow my eyes at him. "Then how did you find out?"

"I heard you and mom talking about it a while back," he admits.

"Did you tell Maia?" I ask.

He shakes his head and I sigh in relief. "Good, the less she knows the less she can tell her mate," I mumble.

Jaxon's eyes suddenly glaze over, and worry starts to fill my mind. He stands up with a growl. "Taylor said Maia just took a Salt—her second tonight—and now she can't seem to keep her mouth shut."

"Fuck," I growl, storming over to the door. "Come on Jax, this party's over."

***

"Fuck you guys! I was having fun and you fucking ruined my birthday!" Maia yells.

I roll my eyes and watch as she stalks away—directly into a tree. She falls onto her butt with a growl. She rubs her nose as she glares ruefully at the old oak.

I glance over at Taylor who just face palms herself. "I'm sorry guys, I tried to keep her from taking another one, but her friends gave her another every time I knocked it out of her hands," she explains.

"Don't apologize Taylor, it's not your fault," Jax sighs, helping Maia to her feet.

Maia pushes him away and succeeds in knocking herself off-balance again. She lands flat on her back, her arms splayed out to the side.

"Holy fuck this is embarrassing," Taylor groans when Maia giggles and starts trying to make a snow angel in the grass.

I shake my head and stare at my twin sister in amazement. How dumb do you have to be to take two Salts when you don't have a wolf to lessen the effect?

About as dumb as someone who would sulk in his office instead of watching his sister who is known for not being able to keep secrets, Lucifer snarks.

I don't reply, knowing he's right, as usual.

"Did she say anything before we kicked everybody out?" I ask Taylor.

"Uh, a little more than she should have. I think I'm the only one that heard though," she says, glancing nervously at me.

"Shit," I swear, "What did she say?"

"Um, she was kinda ranting about how stupid all the secrets are. That it's not a big deal that her brothers are dragons," she says nervously.

Jaxon and I look at each other with wide eyes. "That's not good," I mutter. He shakes his head and looks back at Maia—now passed out in the grass.

"So that means one of you two is the hybrid? I always thought it would be Maia," Taylor mumbles making my eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"You can't tell anyone, if you do my parents would either kill you or send you to the devil's circle," Jaxon tells her.

She nods. "Yeah I know."

"Wait how do you know one of us is a hybrid?" I demand.

Her eyes widen in terror. "I—uh, I thought everyone knew that. They always talk about it you know—who's gonna be the hybrid," she stammers.

I exchange panicked glances with my brother and we both look to Taylor again. "What exactly do they know and how?"

She swallows and rubs her arm. "It was a few years back—the last time Maia got really drunk—and I guess they were playing some kind of guessing game? I'm not really sure," she trails off.

"Taylor what did she tell everyone?" I snap angrily.

Her eyes go wide, and she nods quickly. "She said that in her family there is one wolf, one dragon, and one hybrid. And everyone has been trying to figure out who is who ever since," she blurts.

"Did anyone else hear her say that we're dragons?" Jax asks.

"I already told you I don't know!" She snaps.

I relax a little but not much. At least they won't know if the hybrid is me or Jaxon, I think.

Lucifer snarls at my optimism, and how long do you think it will take for them to figure out it's you?