Control

Chapter 49

The two men were in a training area sparring when Leon found them. He watched them grapple, execute kicks, and throw punches. “I see Micki has been teaching you a thing or two. What’s going on?”

“Your friend plans on replacing Mikaela in the trials.”

“Dom, are you insane?”

“No. I am a husband and a father. I will protect my mate. Leon, you have to go to her and get her away from here.”

“Why?”

“They are going to detain her to keep her from interfering. She will go ballistic. You know she will!”

“I’m the last person she wants to see right now, Dom. Maybe you should send Richard.”

“Stop acting like a jealous fucking child! Do as I say! Now! She needs you.” Dom turned his back to Leon dismissing him.

Leon glanced at Andros, turned and headed to Mikaela’s.

“Are you ready, Dominic?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. It’s time.”

Mikaela woke immediately when she sensed him enter her room. She remained still, feigning sleep until he was within reach. Leon saw her black eyes snap open and felt a vice-like grip on his throat. “Why. Are. You. Here?”

He clawed at her hand and gasped for breath. His eyes focused on hers and saw a spark of recognition. She eased her grip and he drew in some much needed air. “Micki…what…”

“I’m sorry.” She said in a deadpan tone. “I’m on the defensive here.” She looked around. “Where is Dominic?”

“He’s not here. He’s with Andros.”

“Then you shouldn’t be here.” She tried to get up to put some space between them but he caught her arm.

“Micki, please don’t turn away from me. I didn’t mean to hurt you but I needed to find someone. You said we could never be together and I wasn’t just going to sit around pining for you.”

She pulled her arm from his grasp and glared at him. “I want you to leave. Get out of my room!”

“No! Tell me why what I did is so terrible!” His anger flared and his eyes welled up with tears. “It is killing me that I lost you.” He whispered in a pained voice.

“I cannot explain it. I have always been territorial.” She lowered her head in shame. “In my mind and heart, you belong to me because of what we share. I am jealous.”

He smiled at her and the tears ran down his face. “I’m jealous too but we belong to other people. Two very special people that we love.”

Her head snapped up at his admission. “You love her?”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t think any love can compare to yours and Dom’s.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “Shit! I forgot I have to get you out of here!” He shot to his feet and grabbed her arm.

“What are you talking about? What the hell is going on?”

He pulled her to the door, opened it, and ran out. As soon as they stepped out, they found themselves surrounded by 30 or more men. One man came forward, bowed his head, and kept his eyes slightly downcast as he addressed her. “Milady, we need you to come with us.”

Her eyes drifted to each face and saw they all averted their gaze from hers. “Why would I follow a group of cowards anywhere? You cannot look me in the eyes when you make this demand.”

“You are an elder. We are not making any demands of you. It is a request.”

“Really? You said you need me to come with you. You did not ask.” Her voice was condescending and she could tell a few of them were finding their backbones. “I repeat my earlier question, coward, and I also ask why it takes this many of you to escort me?”

“Micki…”

“Be silent.” She glanced at Leon through the corner of her eye and then back to the man. “Are you having trouble finding your tongue, boy?”

“The council has instructed us to take you to a training area.”

“Why?”

“That is all I know, milady.”

She cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. You’re telling the truth.” She snapped a kick to his chin and he flew back a few feet before crashing to the ground. “Now I want to hear from someone who knows something.”

The group began to rush forward and she readied herself. Leon knew what was about to happen and couldn’t think of any other way to protect her from harm. He bent down, picked up a good-sized rock and hit her on the back of the head. As she crumbled to the ground, he caught her and swept her up in his arms.

When one of the guards approached, he turned to keep her out of his reach. “Don’t touch her! I’ll follow you to the holding area but if you lay one hand on her, I’ll fucking kill you!”

Dom and Andros walked down the ramp into the arena and looked at their opponents. “Dominic, are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

“We keep our backs to each other. Hold nothing back. Did she teach you everything?”

“Almost.”

“I know what you are thinking. The basic pressure points will be enough. None of us know how to do even that much and this is not a fight to death.”

“Andros, are you ready?”

“We are!”

Mikaela came awake with a sharp intake of air. “Micki, are you ok?” Her adrenalin was pumping hard and her anger kicked into high gear.

“Dominic.” She whispered. Her eyes darkened and her voice turned to a low growl. “What have you done?”

Dom rushed one man. When he was within reach, he ducked his punch and came up with a vicious uppercut. He turned quickly and clotheslined another across his throat as he ran towards him.

Mikaela got to her feet, ran towards two of her guards, and somersaulted over their heads. She landed in a crouch and drove her elbows into each of their midsections. When they doubled over, she rose and slammed her fists into their throats.

Dom side-kicked one man in the chest as another tackled him to the ground. Dom rolled to his feet, threw a quick right jab to his jaw, and then a high snap kick to his head.

Mikaela walked through the other men. Her attention was focused on finding her mate and she ignored them completely. They seemed hesitant to draw her notice to them so they slowly followed the woman they all strived to equal.

When she reached their dwellings, their friends were gathered talking to Janna. They were trying to find out where Mikaela and Dom had disappeared to when they saw her. Letty ran up to her. “Mikaela, what the fuck is going on here? What happened to your head? You’re bleeding.”

She never heard the questions. She cocked her head and turned her black eyes on the arena. She ignored them and headed towards her goal. Dominic.

“Leon, what is going on?”

“Brian, be quiet and follow her.”

They fell in line behind her and stopped abruptly when her head jerked to the right and she yelled out in pain.

Dom was facing his last opponent. He also happened to be the largest. The man caught him with a punch to his left cheek. Dom immediately returned the same punch. The men continued to trade blow after blow in turns.

Mikaela staggered through the corridors of the coliseum to the observation platform. She was reeling from the pain her husband was feeling and her body would quake from the phantom impacts he received. She approached like silent death from behind. “Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are?”

They rose to their feet and quickly turned to see the once favored child of the clan glaring at them with death in her eyes. The eldest was the first to speak. “Mikaela! It was your husband’s right…”

“Shut up, old man! I was not addressing you.” Her eyes turned to the youngest. “I was speaking to you!”

“It is like Pietro said, it was your mate’s right to replace you.”

“Silence! I know what you were trying to do, Demitri. Your mind is weak!”

Demitri jumped off the platform and rolled to his feet on the arena floor. He looked up to see Mikaela dive off headfirst, roll in the air, and land on her feet. He turned and ran towards the combatants with her right on his heels.

Dom had just defeated his last opponent and had his back to them. Demitri pulled a knife from his belt and threw it towards him. “Dominic!” He turned to his wife just in time to see her snap the elder’s neck. She didn’t break her stride as she continued to run to him but the blade was faster. It embedded in his abdomen.

They both screamed in pain and lurched forward. He pulled the knife from his stomach and let it fall to the dirt. He looked up to see his mate drop to her knees and fall forward. “Mick!” He clutched his stomach and staggered to her side. He rolled her over and looked in her pain filled eyes. “Baby…what…”

“There is …something else I forgot to…teach you.” She whispered. “I never…taught you how…to control projecting.” She slipped into darkness.

“Baby?” He lightly shook her. The darkness moved in to claim him as well. “I’m sorry, precious. I thought I was protecting you…” He fell into unconsciousness cradling her to his chest.

Andros ran over to them and yelled. “Pietro! Unless you and the others were involved in this, I suggest you get a doctor here to tend to the new head of the council and her husband. If you were involved, I suggest you run after you call the doctor.”

“Get a doctor!” He yelled to a guard. “Andros, I swear none of us knew anything about this!”

“I guess we’ll find out when she comes to.” Andros turned to see Leon and the others run up to them. “I’ll take her. You men grab Dom.”

He reached to remove Mikaela from Dom’s arms when Richard stopped him. “No. I will take her. Back off!” He picked her up gently and carried her away.

Anton watched Dom’s friends carry him out as well. He followed the group out of the arena and head towards their rooms. Vince, Leon, Brian, and Andros took Dom to his and Mikaela’s place. Richard turned towards his room.

Leon saw him carry Mikaela away and yelled out to him. “Richard, where in the hell do you think you’re taking her?”

“To my place. Where I know she’ll be safe!” He yelled over his shoulder.

“She should be with her husband! We can all protect her!”

“You’ve done a great job of that so far. I wonder how she got this wound on the back of her head. She never turns her back on an enemy.” He turned to stare at Leon. “Any ideas?” He kicked his door open and carried her inside.

The others carried Dom into his room and placed him on the bed. Anton watched from the doorway as Brian applied pressure to his wound. The doctor pushed by Anton and went to Dom’s side.

He was torn between protecting his new boss or his cousin. ‘She is the boss and my family.’ There was no decision to be made. He left the doorway, walked into Richard’s room, and shut the door. “Is she going to be okay?”

Richard was wiping her forehead with a cool wet rag. “I don’t know. If we had physical wounds to deal with I could tell you but she is mentally suffering from every hit he took.” He sighed deeply and shook his head. “The knife wound worries me.”

“Why? Dom has the gut wound.”

“So does she. We just can’t see it.”

The doctor worked on Dom’s injury for over an hour. He finally got the bleeding to stop, stitched him up, and bandaged the wound. He got his instruments back into his bag and turned to Andros. “He’s lost a lot of blood but I think he’ll recover just fine. He is strong.”

“Thank you.” Mia spoke with a shaky voice and a tear stained face.

“You are welcome, miss.” He turned back to Andros. “Where is the princess? I believe I was told she was injured as well.”

“Across the street.”

“Andros, why did I not tend to her first? She is a royal.”

“You cannot help her. Her wounds came from the bond with her husband. Thank you for saving his life, doctor. You may go.” He showed him to the door, glanced at Richard’s, and turned back to the others.

He saw anger and pain on all of their faces. Vince was the worst. “What the fuck happened? Why did that prick try to kill Dom?” He got in Andros’ face and pushed him. “You’ve got a lot of fucking explaining to do! My best friend is gutted and his wife is in worse shape than him!”

Brian came up and stood shoulder to shoulder with Vince. “If anything happens to her or the baby, I will be the ruler of this damn place because I’ll kill you myself!”

“Leon! Did Micki get hit on the way to the arena?”

“No, Vince.”

“Brian, what the hell did you mean?”

“Vince, you saw it yourself. Every time she staggered or flinched, she was feeling what Dom felt. She took that knife to her stomach too.”

Vince spun around and hit Andros with a right cross that put him to the floor. “You son of a bitch!”

“Stop it!” They both turned to Mia. “It isn’t his fault. He was in there fighting too. It could just have easily been him.”

“I need her dogs.” They all glanced at Anton in the doorway. He had tears running down his face. “She would want her dogs with her.”

Letty moved to stand before him and saw the sheer panic in his eyes. “Is she okay?”

He shook his head. “No and I don’t know if she will be. Boys! Go to mama!” The dogs shot out the door, across the street, and into Richard’s. “How is Dom?”

“The doctor said he should be fine. I need to see my cousin.” Andros walked towards the door and Anton stopped him with a hand on his chest.

“She is my cousin too. I don’t think you are welcomed over there. Richard is hovering over her like his life depends on her well-being. Don’t even try to go over there. I know you had nothing to do with this but he is taking this very personal. It is like a ghost from the past has come back to haunt him. Leave them be if you know what is good for you.”

Letty touched Anton’s arm and turned his attention to her. “Can I see her?”

Brian stepped forward. “Me too.”

“I think he would let any of you in except Andros and Leon.” He faced Leon and gave him a curious look. “What was Richard hinting towards when he mentioned the wound on the back of her head?”

Andros turned to Leon and narrowed his eyes. “Dom told you to get her away from here. Did you or were you too busy trying to salvage your relationship with her?”

“There were more than 30 of them! I couldn’t let her take them all on. I thought I was protecting her!”

“You hit her! Those men were terrified of her! She could’ve taken them apart easily! If she could’ve gotten there sooner none of this would’ve happened!”

“I didn’t know that, Andros!”

Andros covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head. “She did. She told me something was wrong when we arrived in town. I shouldn’t have let Dom take her place.”

“Stop this pity party! It wasn’t anyone’s fault! Leon, you thought you were protecting her. Andros, you let my big brother force you into a bad choice. Get over it and let’s take care of our family. Brian, you and Letty go with Anton to check on Mikaela. Andros! Leon! Stay the fuck away from Richard. Anton is right. This is personal for him.” The 3 of them left the room as Leon began to protest.

“Mia…”

“Leon, don’t even start with me! I don’t know if you made up with her before you knocked her out but you showed poor judgment when you didn’t meet us at the airfield.”

“I find a girlfriend and now I’m the dick! I thought you all told me to get over her.”

“We did, brother, but we didn’t tell you to fuck her cousin. No offense, Janna, but you look a lot like Micki.”

“Fuck you, Vince!”

“No, little brother. Fuck you. You took her off her game before she even got into town. I don’t know why but she loves you and it fucked her up. What is it with you two?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Would I, my love?” Janna walked slowly over to him. She glanced at Dom. “I know he is her mate. That is why she is in the condition she is in.” She looked back to her lover. “What is Mikaela to you?” She stared into his tear filled eyes. “You have a bond.”

“Sister, it is not what you think. They do have a bond but not bond-mates. He loves you, Janna. Do not doubt that for an instant.”

They all stopped and looked at Dom. His forehead was beaded with sweat and his eyes were moving quickly under his lids. He was dreaming. “No.” He moaned like a lost man. “Baby, where are you?”

Mia sat beside him and wiped his brow. “Dom, it’s ok.”

“No. No. No.” His head started to roll back and forth on the pillow. “Mick.”

“Guys, he’s running a fever!”

His body began to thrash on the bed. Vince and Leon each held an arm while Andros held his legs down. “Baby! Don’t leave me!”

“Dom, calm down!” Vince was having a hard time restraining his arm.

“Mikaela!” He shot up in bed and threw everyone off balance. “Where is my wife?” He was still delirious and clearly panicked.

“Dom, she’s at Richard’s! Please stay still!”

“No! Mia, she’s leaving me! She needs me or she’ll leave!” He fought against their hold on him. “Mick!!!”

Just then, they heard her scream at the top of her lungs and go dead silent.

“NO!!! Mick!!!”