Kalin's POV

My head pounded as awareness came slamming into me. I tried to blink my eyes open but my vision was blurry, and the light made my eyes burn. Groaning, I threw an arm over my eyes, my other hand went blindly searching, until I found the small cool rectangle that had to be my phone.

I peeked open my eyes, barley able to make out the screen of my phone. But I somehow managed to blindly operate it, and even the ringing in my ears was escalating my headache to devastating scales. I knew I shouldn't have drunken so much, but damnit my sister didn't have to torture me like this.

"Hello?" my sister picked up on the third ring, and I finally pushed myself up into a sitting position, nearly vomiting from the effort.

"Stop fucking calling me." I hissed into the phone, swaying as I rubbed my temples and rapidly blinked my eyes to see.

"Excuse me, little brother? What kind of hello is that when you are calling me?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Brother, maybe if you weren't so goddamn drunk, you would be able to tell that I am NOT the one who is calling you! I haven't called you in a long time!"

"I am not drunk, damnit!" I roared into the phone, increasing my headache and the need to breathe deeply to keep from puking. God damn this human concoction, why did they shove this poison down their veins? "I am perfectly sober!" I said in a more quite voice.

"Yeah, right, wish dad were here so he could knock you around in your perfectly sober state." Her comment surprised me, and I blinked at the phone for a moment. She never brought up our father unless she was really pissed off.

"I'm sorry," I didn't know exactly what I was apologizing for. Maybe it was because I was the reason for our father and her mother getting killed. At least, that is how I saw it, but she refused to agree with me, the only family I had.

"Don't apologize to me," she snapped, and then sighed. "Just, drink some damn water to speed up the sobering, and find out who is really calling you, because I am a little busy." And with that, my one and only sister, the person who had always been there when I really needed her, hung up on me.

I put the phone on the nightstand beside me, looking at it like it had just grown legs. She had never done that to me before, what in the world could be wrong?

I didn't have much time to think about it when suddenly the strong pulling sensation in my chest came back with a painful vengeance, making me double over, sliding my feet to touch the floor so I wouldn't topple off the bed. It took me a few seconds to breathe through the sensation, unfamiliar and yet familiar all at the same time.

But one thing was increasingly clear to me. I could feel my sister, faintly, and while she was unconsciously reaching out to me, she was not calling me with such strength, a strength she never had used before. But who else could be pulling with such urgency, such intimacy?

Becca.

My head snapped up and I bolted for the bedroom door, stumbling from dizziness, but pushing it aside because to me this was more important than life itself.

"Becca!" I bellowed, my voice ringing throughout the house, leaving no nook and cranny untouched. If she were in the house, she would hear me, but the question would be if she would respond to me. Me hurting her with my actions could never cause her to call out to me with such strength, and according to my sister, she shouldn't even be able to let alone know how. But there was no one else who could do this to me with such . . . intensity.

My blood felt like it was on fire, my instinct was pacing just below the surface, waiting to run, to protect. And my heart was pounding a million times a minute to keep up the adrenaline that was pouring into my veins, combating the hangover.

There was no answer.

"Becca!" this time my voice broke slightly, and I began going through the house, and the more and more empty rooms I turned up the more and more agitated I became. I began destroying things along the way, my anger getting the best of me.

Surely she had not left the grounds? Here on the grounds we were safe, no Grit could step fourth. But one you passed the boundary of the woods, you were fair game, and I knew that sometimes Grits would hang out just outside the property in hopes of having a go at one of the royal family.

My blood froze in my veins at the thought and, my hands bloodied and dripping, I took off down the stairs and into the autumn cold. My breathing was becoming exerted, my breaths evident in the air. I could still feel her pulling at me, but she wasn't trained at it, and it was weak at best. I tried to focus on her, to reach for her as she was reaching for me, but I couldn't hook myself around her.

I bolted for the woods, the beast me pounding within my body, sharpening my sense of smell and sight, looking for anything for her. But it had rained recently rained and the smell of the forest and earth were overwhelming, not to mention it was a sensory overload since I had not been around this much nature in awhile.

Still I breathed deeply, shaking off any ill affect left over from the alcohol, but it still wasn't enough.

"REBECCA!" I bellowed, my voice carrying through the woods, causing animals to burst from their hiding spots, birds taking flight. They sensed the predator in my blood, the reason our females were our sanity, our grounding.

My fangs sharpened, my vision blurring. I tried not to give over, knowing I would be a danger not only to the person who took Becca, but maybe even Becca herself. But in the end, I let out a long and agonized bellow, because the beast overtook me with more strength than I had to fight it.

Rebecca's POV

I was jolted out of my attempt to call to Kalin when my kidnapper suddenly came stalking back in, kicking over things. I blinked up at her, my vision blurred from having my eyes closed so long. Her body posture was tense, and she seemed to be shaking with . . . anger?

"What the hell did you do?" she demanded, her voice little more than a pissed off hiss. I merely blinked up at her, unwilling to admit I had found a way to call Kalin, because I knew I shouldn't be able to do it. My heart pound in my chest though, because that meant that Kalin was looking for me. Would he be able to find me?

My brain began working through everything I could possibly do, when my kidnapper pulled out a key to my chains and began to unlock them. At first I thought she was going to free me in fear of Kalin finding us, but then she spoke.

"Now I have to friggin move you so I can replace your damn implant, and before he finds us." But once my hands fell, even though she held the other end of the chains, I tackled her, screaming when I felt the stiches in my leg tear. I couldn't let that stop me though, and for the first time in my life, I pulled back my fist and hit someone in the face.

I hissed at even more pain, but took the advantage and tried to bolt from the cave. The only problem was it was dark, and not only was my leg bleeding but it was hurting something fierce. The cold air assaulting it didn't help in the least. So when I felt someone grab my arm I sighed in annoyance and went to swing my already pounding fist once again. But my fist was easily caught, and before I could even respond, I was swept off my feet, brusquely but gently, and then I was being carried at a slow jog. I sighed again, feel to tired to fight, until I leaned my head back against a hard chest that smelled familiar.

"Your bleeding," his voice was but a rough growl, and then we were out in the open, the sunlight illuminating his face.

"Kalin!" I gasped, throwing my arms around his neck. He neither stopped nor responded to my affections, and something inside me told me to tread lightly. "You found me," I whispered softly in his ear, hoping intimacy would lessen the tension in his body.

He growled, a sound that made me tingle all the way to my toes, my pain all but forgotten.

"I would always find you," he responded, but his voice was a little less gruff. His hands were becoming a little less impersonal, holding me closer, a little tighter.

"I know, I never doubted you," I nuzzled his neck and he stumbled, groaning.

"Little Bride," his voice was a hoarse warning, one that made me smile. I wasn't going to waste any more time that I had with Kalin, I had wasted too much already.

"Your right, while your tending my wounds I can strip for you." It was one of the boldest things I had ever said, and I felt his suck in a large breath.

"You were just captured." He reminded me.

"And it made me realize what I want. Besides," I dropped my voice an octave. "The hero's always get laid, Kalin." I chuckled when at that comment, his footsteps increased, the tension gone, replace by a new kind, one of anticipation.

"Once I have you this time, I will not let you go." He swore, but I heard the warning.

"Oh, promises, promises," I said, nipping his throat a little hard. He growled in appreciation and he nipped me back I could feel his elongated fangs and it sent a thrill through my body. He was ready, we both were, and finally, I would be not just a Thorian female, but Kalin's true bride as well.