him hard in the gut, a hunger that rose swiftly to obliterate his awareness of the room.
Not a need to fight.
But a need to taste the sweet, smoky flavour of another’s blood.
Mackenzie.
He snarled, hooked his hand around Harbin’s nape and dragged him down as he reared up. He cracked his forehead against the silver-haired male’s and relished the grunt that burst from his lips. Pain spiderwebbed across Hartt’s skull, made his eyes ache and vision blur, but it didn’t slow him down. He shoved Harbin while he was recovering, pushing him off balance and onto his back, rolling on top of him so he was in control of the fight.
Hartt slammed his right fist into Harbin’s face, splitting his lower lip, and followed it with a brutal left hook that knocked his head back the other way. Harbin snarled, growling low, a warning that sparked Hartt’s instinct to defend himself, because Harbin was about to lose it.
Silvery fur rippled over the male’s arms as he launched them upwards, as he moved faster than even Hartt could dodge. He grunted as Harbin’s hands closed around his throat and he squeezed hard, cutting off his air supply. It still didn’t stop him. He delivered another punishing blow to Harbin’s jaw, raked claws over his forearm and bore down on him when his grip weakened. The scent of Harbin’s blood joined his in the air.
Satisfaction rolled through Hartt.
Followed by surprise as Harbin’s legs lurched upwards and he flipped Hartt over his head and landed on top of him. Harbin growled right in his face as he released Hartt’s throat, satisfaction gleaming in his bright silver eyes as he punched Hartt, striking him so hard his brain hurt.
The next blow had shadows encroaching at the corners of his vision.
Hartt couldn’t take another like it without passing out.
He teleported, appeared a few feet from Harbin as the shifter roared, his anger clear in it.
“Gods, is this my fault?” Fuery whispered, a wealth of pain and guilt in his voice.
Hartt whipped to face him, the fight forgotten. “No, Fuery.”
“It is. This is my fault. Your eyes are almost black, Hartt. This is because of my episode, isn’t it?” Hurt shone in Fuery’s violet eyes, the black that constantly edged his irises beginning to invade and vanquish that amethyst. “We must find a way to break this bond. You must wish it broken. If you could take it back—”
“Never,” Hartt spat with conviction he felt right down to his soul. “If someone gave me the choice, I would not change what I did, Fuery.”
Fuery took a step towards him, a desperate edge to his expression, one that made Hartt want to say whatever his friend needed to hear to make him believe he was speaking the truth.
Harbin suddenly slammed into Hartt on a vicious growl, knocking him back into the wall near the door that led to the wing where their bedrooms were. It had taken the shifter longer than he had anticipated to succumb to the need to finish the fight. Harbin never could stop himself once he was coiled and ready to spring at an enemy to deliver a blow, and Hartt had left him ready to pounce when Fuery had spoken.
The shifter was quick to back off and issue an apologetic look that wasn’t necessary as he scrubbed the back of his neck and then rubbed blood from his lip.
Hartt shook off the blow and pushed away from the wall, closed the distance between him and Fuery and clutched his friend’s shoulder through his black tunic jacket.
“I love you, Fuery. You are my brother. It doesn’t matter that we weren’t born into the same family. You are my brother and if I had to go through moments a thousand times worse than what I’ve experienced because of our bond, I would gladly do so to keep you with me, to keep us together.” He tightened his grip on Fuery’s shoulder as tears welled in his eyes, as the black began to lose ground against the violet. “I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”
Before Fuery could say anything, Hartt pulled him into a tight hug, held him close and whispered in his ear.
“Never think that I would want rid of you or that I could ever regret this bond we share.”
Fuery wrapped his arms around him and held him so tightly it hurt.
Hartt’s thoughts drifted to Mackenzie and regret welled inside him, swift to fill him and drag his mood down to a new