The woods came alive around her. Mounds of dark earthly soil parting beneath her feet as she strained her muscles and ran. It had taken Kihara weeks to learn this woods. To be able to navigate its dense vegetation without tripping on her foot every five seconds. It was hard at first, hard for her to give in to the chase, to the feel of the woods around her, soil and breathing animals, to become a part of it all and not fear it. Asher had told her that young wolves were trained here. Every morning before the sun woke up, they had to run through it. And if they encountered any danger in the woods, they had to face it, best it. A boy wasn’t a full-grown wolf until he could tame every beast in the forest he lived in.When Asher mentioned ‘danger’ Kihara had nearly caved. Her heart quaked as she repeated the word. “Danger? What sought of danger is there?”Asher had looked at her and shrugged. “You know, the normal. Cayotes, other wolves.”“You mean your kin.” Kihara said, teasing him to di
Breakfast in the pack house was served in heaps. This was a surprising and amusing fact to Kihara during her first days in the pack house. She learned quickly that wolves consumed food thrice the quantity an average male would eat and still look at you with their puppy dog eyes begging for more. The wonders of a super-fast metabolism. Kihara mused. Asher drank every day, his alcohol was his water, and yet, she’d never seen him drunk. Nothing like giving the man a few drinks to loosen his tongue would ever happen with him. How sad. Kihara thought.After breakfast, there was nothing much to do in the pack house. Asher and his men went to work, where they tried to act like normal men for a few hours. Since Asher owned his own company, all he had to do was look the part of the CEO. Victor had whispered to Kihara once that the Alpha did nothing but sleep in his office all day, while he was stuck with doing all the paperwork’s since he was Ashers beta. Kihara asked Victor, “If all he does i
Don had left her. Or at least he’d tried to, the bastard. He’d gotten in that truck with the hopes of abandoning Anna and her baby. As much as Anna would like to deny it, she wasn’t completely shocked. Don was exactly that kind of man. He was selfish and conceited. He thought he was smarter than everybody else. He thought he was going to win.And because he was so full of it, so full of shit, Anna had believed in him. She should have known better.That day, she’d only barely escaped. She’d gotten in that truck as she watched Asher beat Don to a bloody pulp, knowing that if she stuck around, if she was caught, she would be next. And so she’d driven like there was no tomorrow. One of Asher’s men had come after her, and he nearly caught up to her, but she was lucky. Machines do not get tired, but wolves do, no matter how fast they are. They are only half human too.But there was no where to go. No where to run to. She couldn’t go back to her place, she couldn’t go to Don’s. She had
Weekends greeted Kihara with lots of activities. There was always something to do. Wolves trained everyday, they ran, they hunted, and did whatever else wolves did, but on weekends when the whole pack was at home, they liked to train together. Some of that training included some heavy fighting that often lead to some heavy injuries. It was bloody and brutal and quite enjoyable.Kihara would often help the injured wolves clean their injuries, lending a hand to Maria, the pack doctor. With the rate at which wolves got injured often, thank the moon for their supernatural healing abilities. Kihara couldn’t imagine how long it would take a human to heal from a sprained muscle, with blood and bones jutting out. But these wolves. Damn this wolves, everything they did made being human feel so mediocre.The training grounds was flat and filled with sand and it was alive again today. Kihara stood at the sides where the first aid kits were, watching. Some of the men had gone to hunt some game w
They showered, then they made love. Their love making was long and thorough. When finally, they both fell on their backs on the bed, a little exhausted, mostly satisfied, their faces glowed in the dark. On Kihara’s lips, a permanent smile had embedded itself. She turned her head to Asher beside her, her thoughts empty, her gaze helplessly fevered.Asher looked at her too, his hands cupping her cheeks. He kissed her lips softly, biting at the lower lip gently. Kihara let out a moan, closing her eyes.“Are you in love with me yet?”Her gaze flung open. She stared into his earnest eyes. His smile was still there, curved playfully like a tease, but his eyes were intense, searching, earnest. His eyes did not lie.“I might be Asher.” She told him gently. His smile widened.“Let’s get you to surety.” Kihara cocked an eyebrow. “Because only then can this,” He pointed to the space between the both of them. “Be fair.”The implication was clear. She knew what he was trying to tell her, what he h
The weekend ended. On Monday morning, Kihara sneaked out of the Alphas bedroom for her morning run. She’d run in the woods so often and had learned it well enough that she didn’t need to bring Asher along.She started at the mouth of the lake like she did every morning and ran her way around back to it. It was a long mile, and the first time she attempted it, she'd collapsed halfway. Even now, the run tested the limits of her endurance, hence, her strategy was to have short pauses in between runs to catch her breadth.This morning she was running her way back when she decided to take a short break, because her sides were burning and it was becoming extremely difficult to run another step. She grabbed the flask of water by her side and took a long swing from it. The water ran through her insides, it’s cool temperature soothing her burning organs and weak joints. Kihara found a large tree with a thick blanket of branches and sat by it, her back resting on it’s trunk.There wasn’t any p
Leila walked into Kihara’s room, her steps large and fast. In a moment she was standing over Kihara beside her bed. Her gaze was squinted and she looked absolutely worried.“I heard what happened this morning? Are you okay?”Kihara nodded. For some reason, she was on bed arrest. Asher had decided that she needed the rest and she did not have the strength to defy him, so perhaps he was right.“From now on, we’re running mates okay? I’m not letting you enter that woods alone.”Kihara nodded, her eyes watering. She took Leila’s hands. “I’m sorry I made you all so worried.”Asher had been preparing for work when he first noticed her absence. He had wanted to kiss her goodbye, but she was not in her room or anywhere. Then a boy had told him he saw Kihara go for her run and she wasn’t back yet. That was when he felt something was wrong because her run usually ended before Asher went off to work.Goddess! Kihara could not imagine what would have happened if Asher had not noticed, if he hadn’
Asher and his men entered the pack house just right after dinner. Kihara almost slumped in relief at the sight of him. They walked straight up the stairs and into Asher’s home office without glancing at anyone.Kihara grabbed Leila. “Come on.”“What?” Leila protested. “Where are we going?”Kihara cocked her head at the stairs that lead to Asher’s office.“The Alpha’s office, really?” Leila did not have anymore protests as Kihara pulled her up the stairs. The other woman sighed as they approached the huge black door that sealed off the office.“Kihara did you see their faces? They were all serious and real. Don’t you think we should go back?”“Normally I wouldn’t intrude, but since this concerns me, I need to know. Plus, I have a thing to share with Asher that the Luna told me about.” Kihara said over her shoulder. Her hand did not hesitate as she rose it to knock on the door.There was a big pause from the other side. And then a second later, the door opened to reveal Brody. “Babe?” H