Denied by Destiny Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond novel Chapter 345

~ Knox ~

“Where the fuck have you been?” Both Jaxon and Hector roar at Jace as he steps further into the room. He must have just arrived, he still had a black holdall in his hands.

I do a double take at first…was this really Jace? Gone were the boyish charming looks…instead he was lean, he had tattoos climbing up his neck…he was the complete opposite.

“Where the fuck have I been…more like what the fuck do you think you are doing?” He pushes past his father and brother until a gasp catches in the back of his throat.

“Josie..” His voice is like losing her all over again. He turns to Kaia, his hands cupping at her face as his great height towers over her.

“What are you thinking?”

“She’s gone Jace…we need to put her to rest.”

I don’t think I can be here, I don’t think I can watch as the very thing keeping her alive, keeping her in this world is switched off.

But she has already gone hasn’t she, so what exactly would watching a machine be unplugged do for me. It wouldn’t give me closure, not when she already died in my arms.

I felt it didn’t I…I felt her slip away, felt her life force leave her as she safely rested in my arms.

I still have the stains upon my hands…I tried to scrub it off but it wouldn’t go and I don’t think I ever want it to.

I need a reminder that this isn’t a nightmare, a dream…that this was my new existence.

I wished I had been stronger for her, I wished I had grabbed her by the hips and pulled her in for a kiss rather than walked away. Rather than giving her that space she wanted when I came back. If I could have a do-over, another chance, I would be the man she wanted me to be, I would make her mine. Because she was…

I need to be alone, I need to grieve in my own way. My wolf needs out. He’s not had a chance to truly process this, not in his animal form. He needs to run, he needs to smash into things.

“I’ll leave you all to it.” It pains me to say it, but I can’t be apart of this. I start to move towards the door, my eyes casting upon her one last time.

“What the fuck are you doing?” This wasn’t the Jace I knew…he seemed different somehow. Even in a situation like this, a dark aura is oozing out of him. Whatever the reason he left…it’s completely taken over him. Changed his appearance, his physique…even his personality.

“Jace…it’s time.” Hector moves forward pulling his son back and holding him steady with his hand as he locks him into his chest. This was a family broken, a family that would be beyond the point of repair.

“No, she can’t be gone. Jaxon…do you still feel her?” It was becoming painful to watch Jace’s attempts at delaying the decision. I wanted it delayed but she was their daughter, their sister.

“What?” Jace grunts as he stands solitarily to the side of the bed.

“Through the triplet bond, do you still feel her?”

“Yes I will always feel her she is a part of me, a part of us.”

The doctor moves softly, he presses a button on the machine before removing the tubes and wires off her. Making her look more like Josie, now she really did look like she was just asleep.