Rune. In the time I spent waiting for Kane to return, I thought long and hard about what to say to him as it was a sensitive topic and I didn’t want to get him annoyed.But when he returned to our room nearly three hours later and shirtless, the sun was at its brightness, and the weather was so hot that everything I had planned to say escaped my mind, and I could only stare at him. I fanned my face with my hand to dry the beads of sweat on my face, and Kane had already sensed I had something to tell him, so he stared back at me with a raised brow.Just earlier, I came to terms with my feelings for him and defined that I was in love with him, which meant I couldn’t think of anything else but my love for him, even while knowing he didn’t feel the same for me.It wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit of resentment towards him, that he couldn’t feel what I felt, or understood it in the least.“Is anything the matter?” He asked, his brow still raisedAt first, I shook
Rune. I was furious.My mind was blazing and my body was shaking as I ran outside the pack house, unable to breathe or think clearly.All I knew was that I had to get away. I had to escape Kane and his words ringing in my head. Why did it have to be the day I accepted my love for him that he stabbed me in my face with such harsh words? I wish I could say I hate him. I wish I hated him.The conversation had gone in the opposite direction of what I’d hoped. I expected him to tell me where my family was kept without any hitch because I didn’t think I was asking for too much, but I guess that was my mistake. I was so into my thoughts that I didn’t realize I’d reached the waterfall. It seems my body already knew it was the only place I could find comfort. With a sigh, I plopped down on my favorite tree, leaning my back on the large stem with my eyes closed. The soft breeze passed through my hair and body as if to rid me of the anger I felt, but I knew it would take more than just a few
Rune.My eyes fluttered open and for a few seconds, I could do nothing but stare at the ceiling in the unfamiliar room.“Rune?” I blinked at the voice, wondering if I heard it wrong. I snapped my eyes to the direction of the voice and I had to rub them to be sure I was seeing right.“Kane?” My voice was barely above a whisper.“Hey,” his lips stretched a little, with the worry lines that marred his forehead clearing a little. “I—” I started, but I couldn’t bring myself to say a thing. Kane was right beside me, sitting at the edge of the bed, cradling my left hand. How was he alive? How did he survive his heart being pulled out of his chest?I couldn’t believe he was here and not dead, with his lips pressed on the back of my hand. “Shh, you don’t have to say anything. Just rest.” He cooed, leaving small kisses on the back of my hand. “But—”“You need to rest, Rune.”With a small nod, I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, letting my body relax as I drifted back to sleep with o
Rune.There was something strange about the dream I had.This was much evident when even after a week, a single thought of it gave me chills, and every day since the first day, it was recurring. None of it felt like a dream; it felt too real, the emotions, the feel of the breeze against my face when I woke up, the sounds of crying and running, and the thick choking smell of smoke. Everything felt real, like a different reality from what I was used to, and by now I knew I needed help, but I couldn’t get any because our pack stayed priest-less, especially since Kane banned the elders from making decisions in the pack. As such, I’d spent the entire week mustering up the courage to go to Kane and ask for the priestess who saw my pregnancy. Call it trauma if you may, but after his response to my asking for my family, it became difficult for me to meet him for anything. I wasn’t sure how he’d respond, or if at all he’d respond when I asked for the priestess and I wasn’t in the mood to emb
Rune.“We’re finally growing!” Soph squealed, rubbing my bare stomach with a wide smile on her face. “I can’t even believe it.” Marian smiled lovingly at me. “I want to poke it.” Kimi declared, and everyone laughed. “You can’t poke her, Kimi!” Soph pursed her lips. “Technically she can. She’s still at a stage where it won’t be any problem.” Marian interjected, earning her a wide smile from Kimi and a frown from Soph. I laughed. “It took so long though, didn’t it?” Soph sighed.“I think it’s because she’s so thin.” Marian responded in the same tone, “No one will see you and believe you’ve been pregnant for over a month.” “I’m not that thin… and you’re only saying this because I haven’t had much of an appetite lately.”“And I wonder why. I doubt it’s the pregnancy.”At Marian’s words, my head fell and my smile faltered a bit. I had tried my best to keep a jolly face, pretending everything was alright with me without any hitch, but the more I tried, the more difficult it seemed as
Rune. Throughout the night, I had to constantly fight the smile that threatened to overtake my face with how tightly Kane cuddled me in his arms.I had given up on him coming to our bedroom because it was past the time I expected him to arrive, and it only got later. I was just about to lock the bedroom door from the inside out when the door flew open and he arrived. Neither of us exchanged words but it seemed he could tell I was in a better mood now he’d arrived. Kane went on to clean himself and afterwards, he lay beside me, still in silence. We stayed like that—not talking to each other for a short while before I felt his arms around my waist, pulling me to him. I surrendered to the pull, instantly feeling my body relax into his embrace. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into my hair and held me tighter, his palms settling on my bump, and that was how we slept. **For the first time, I woke up before Kane. I had the privilege of seeing what
Rune. “I’ve been having dreams. Horrible gory dreams.”I sat cross-legged with my hands gripping my thighs lightly as I spoke.“Can you tell me about these dreams?” Fay asked, inching closer to me with her fingers intertwined with the other. With a deep breath, I narrated my dream to her, telling her how it was reoccurring with the little details in between. For a few seconds Fay said nothing, she only stared at the floor taking deep breaths and I was convinced there was nothing she could do to help me, which dulled my spirits in turn because if the priestess who claimed to have a close relationship with the goddess couldn’t help me, it meant I’d have to go another week with the torment and would have to open up about it to Kane so he’d let me see the seer priestess, but Fay cleared her throat, catching my attention. “You know, you should think about becoming a priestess yourself,” Fay finally said, and I couldn’t tell if she was joking or being serious. Like if she was trying to
Kane. I opened my eyes to an empty room and an instant frown appeared on my face. Sliding my hand to her side of the bed, I noticed it was cold, which meant she had woken up a while ago.“She should be downstairs with her people,” Ky suggested, but it only annoyed me even more. Did she feel empty like this whenever she woke up and I wasn’t in the room?I doubted she did. For whatever reason, my annoyance flared into thick anger, and I couldn’t tell if I was more angry that she wasn’t in our bedroom or that she didn’t feel the same emptiness that I felt sitting half naked on the bed. With a groan, I cleaned myself quickly got dressed in a pair of dark jeans and the same colored shirt, and headed downstairs, only to be met with Soph, Marian, and Kimi, with no trace of my mate. “Good morning, Alpha,” the three chroused.“Morning,” I replied in a lazy tone, strutting to the kitchen, which was also void of Rune. The anger that had someone settled out of my stomach when I thought my