Sacred Flame: His Enemy, His Mate (BL) Chapter 5: Off the hook

Kain Locke

The soft beep of my communicator pulled my attention, the faint glow of a crystal-blue holographic icon hovering above the device.

It was a general broadcast, the kind that was only sent out when there was an urgent ssage ant for an entire city or even the galaxy. My hand hesitated over the communicator, while the other slipped away from the luggage I'd been carrying.

With a deep breath, I tapped it open.

[Ergency Alert: Reports indicate that beasts have erged from the other side of the planets, evolving in an underground laboratory that was long abandoned. It's suspected they have been hiding and breeding there. The current situation remains unclear. Residents are strongly advised to stay indoors and keep all surveillance systems active. The authorities are investigating, but for now, a state of ergency is in effect. No one is permitted to enter or leave C City until further notice.]

My hands trembled on the communicator, so hard I could smash it against the wall, But it had cost too much to replace, so smashing it wasn't an option.

Just what the heck is happening right now? Why is the City suddenly declaring a state of ergency just when Kael found , and probably was on his way to get ? Why would it be now that I planned to escape?

"Mama.." a gentle tap on my shoulder snapped out of the spiraling thoughts as I jerked back, turning my head to co face to face with Brian, his black eyes staring straight into my fake contact lenses. It's going to be a miracle if Kael didn't recognize him at a glance earlier, he took every piece of him after all.

"Baby. You're awake." I rubbed soothing circles on his cheeks, as he blinked his innocent eyes yawning as he mouthed, "Where's brother Felix?" He asked, as I exhaled, putting him on the ground to stand on his feet, "Brother Felix is really tired from school today and needed to rest."

He bobbed his head up and down, humming in response, but just when his gaze landed on my luggage, a frown covered his little face, "Mama... Where are we going? We're not going to a new place again are we?" He pursed his lips pouting it together as if to suppress his tears as he cried, "I don't wanna leave this place again, I don't wanna leave uncle Felix, or Mia at the kindergarten."

"We are not leaving." At least not anyti now.

"But the box..." he trailed off staring straight into my eyes.

"They're going inside, baby. Believe will you?" A hopeless breath escaped my lips as I slumped against the wall, sliding down until I was crouching on my feet, my hand tremblingly traced their way to the box handle and drew it closer, it all felt hopeless now.

"Are you sad mama?" His soft palm touched my jaw, raising my head up, "Do little Brian make you sad?"

I wiped the corner of my eyes unnoticeably, getting rid of the lone tear that was about to fall off.

I'm stronger than this, I've proven that to myself a lot of tis.

However, I'm not so confident right now, when it feels my life is about to ca crashing down around again, Kael is going to fucked up, I knew that,

"Aren't you a cute little thing?" I muttered, pinching his cheeks as I stood up, "Mama is not sad, so co on, let's get you inside." I smiled, taking his hand and grabbed my luggage, unlocking the door with my rarely used passkey given to by Felix, as I stepped inside to see him lifting his gaze from his communicator, drifting to first, then to my luggage making froze.

"You're supposed to be sleeping.." he trailed off, his eyes still very much locked on it, "Don't tell it's what I'm thinking?"

"That's right Felix, I was taking off with Brian... and as you must've guessed, I only ca back because of the notification we both received." I admitted all at once, then took a deep breath afterwards, I was just too exhausted to beat about the bush, not when I've been caught red handedly by him, and knowing him, he won't let it off the hook unless he got the answers he needed from .

Thankfully, he didn't ask anything more, I'm well aware he must've guessed his part, I an an Oga without an Alpha, or a mark on the run with a son is not what you'll find like a pie falling from a sky in this Galaxy after the strict marriage implented policies so as to control childbirth and to have a child registered into the City's database.

"Felix!!!" Brian squealed and went to jump on him, he swooped the boy off his feet and planted a kiss on his cheeks, ruffling his hair as he did so. "Big guy. You woke up already."

"Not long ago, I woke up outside to Mama with sad puppy eyes. He said he's fine but I want to give him lots of chocolate so he can be happy."

"Brian..." I shook my head at the duo, sighing as I repeated, "I'm not sad, Brian. I already told you that."

He turned toward , his brows furrowed in confusion as he muttered softly, almost to himself, "But I saw tears in Mama's eyes." He pouted right after.

"That's not a tear, Brian," I said, exasperated. "And the school was in such a rush, they didn't even rember to give you kids any assignnts."

He was just about to say sothing else, but whatever he had to say was interrupted by Felix, "You can go inside and rest. I'll take care of him. And don't start thinking about—" He trailed off, hesitant to finish the rest of his words. "Just stay in there okay?"

"Don't worry, Felix. I'm not about to jump from the third floor. That'd be suicide. And sneaking out isn't exactly an option," not with security agents swarming the streets. And special forces definitely at every checkpoints in the City now to make sure intentions like that are terminated.

It was only then that his shoulders relaxed, and his gaze softened as he nodded understandably, "Alright then. The little potato is safe here with . And... if there's anything you want to tell , anything at all—just say it. Don't keep it bottled up. I'll listen, I promise."

Turning to Brian, he added, "Go grab your robotic pack."

Brian face lit up imdiately and dashed away, his excitent almost ontagious, obviously, too young to realize he was being sent away for a mont by his loved and cherished Felix.

After he was gone, he turned back to , "I know you're keeping things to yourself," he said at a start in a low voice, "Although I promised not to pry, but sotis sharing what's weighing you down can help. Who knows? Maybe we can figure it out together. Even if it's a loan shark we can handle it. Whatever it is, we'll sort it out."

But what Felix didn't understand was that if it were just a loan shark, I wouldn't be this panicked. It wasn't that simple. And the way he said "we" only made things more complicated for both of us.

"Thank you for your concern, however, I can handle this on my own ." I assured with a little smile,

Brian took that mont to return and I quickly excused myself from the living room,

I shut the door behind as soon as I entered, then slumped on the bed like a fallen log. Staring at the ceiling as if I would suddenly wake up and see it's all a dream, a really bad dream.

But it wasn't, if only life could go the way we want.

Seconds passed like minutes, it was the most painfully slow minutes of my entire life.

Not long after, a knock ca at my bedroom door. I dragged myself off the bed and opened it to find Brian standing there, looking up at .

"Felix asked to call you," he said simply.

"Okay." I replied , stepping out of the room, closing the door behind . Why would Felix be calling for ? The question was on my mind, still unanswered when I saw Felix close the living room door with a quiet, deliberate click, stepping aside to reveal a tall man entering the room. His lips curled into a warm smile, but his eyes gave away sothing far colder. Sothing only I could see.

"He said he knows you from college," Felix explained, glancing at .

But I couldn't move.

Kael is here.