Kiera throws the axe. It hit the spot like she knew it would. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she sauntered toward the tree to pull it out and try again. Over the weeks, she had been getting better and better at it. She never failed now. She was better than ever, even Kane admitted that he was stunned by her progress. She was proud of herself. Actually, pride wasn’t a big enough word. She felt ready and realized how unready she had been. It was strange and mesmerizing how her body changed with training and exercise. If someone had told her two months ago that she would be hurling axes at trees and lifting thirty kilograms easily, she wouldn’t have believed it. Another thing that stunned her was we how quickly she was picking up the training. Kane was hard on her. He didn’t take it easy on her, not even when she was down on the floor. He said that a werewolf would never take it easy on her, and sometimes she would cry with frustration and despair when she felt tra
"According to the guy, the last time that he saw Mikael was when he attacked me the day I was traveling to visit you. I don't believe that I mentioned that he was there when Celia hit me. He was the one who Mikael attacked. Anyway, after that, he said their group separated. Everything had changed. According to him, it was all Mikael's fault, because what he had done to him was unforgivable. "Their plan was to torture me until I gave them information about your whereabouts, Kiera. Because of what Mikael did, I managed to escape. That was what he said. This information reached his group and they weren't happy, not in the slightest. Celia was the one who made everyone turn against him and as a result, he was shunned. Yes, I know how strange it sounds. He was their leader, after all. So how could he have been abandoned?""Wait," Kiera said, rubbing her temples. "You're telling me that Mikael was sent away from his group because he saved you from a horrible death? Is this what you're telli
Kiera parked the car in front of Mikael’s house. There was no movement whatsoever inside the house, not a star as she could see. The driveway was free of cars but that didn’t mean that they weren’t parked in the garage. She had rented a car so they wouldn’t know it was her and the windows were all tinted. She had sunglasses on and her hair was hidden under a beanie just in case. She left without informing Kane or Simone, but she didn’t because she knew what they’d say. They would never let her do this. They would never allow her to risk her life in such a careless manner. If one of the werewolves from Mikael’s group recognized her, she was done for. They would attack her and end this feud once and for all. She didn’t care, not at the moment. She wanted to find Mikael and ask him to tell her the truth. No, not ask. Demand. She would demand the truth because he owed it to her. And Kiera would take whatever risk necessary to make sure that happened. She had left her phone at home. Sh
The man's fist broke through the window. The sight of it frightened her and suddenly, she forgot how to breathe. Think. Act. Blood dripped onto her pants and spread like a disease. She had the axe in her hand but she didn't know how to use it anymore. He was trying to grab her face but she inched away so he wouldn't touch her. She only had a few seconds left to act and take control of the situation. When he retracted his hand and peered at her through the hole he made in the glass, he would recognize her. And then, all of hell would break loose.Kiera counted to three again in her head and prayed for courage, prayed unlike she had ever prayed before. The plea came from deep in her soul. She had to act or the moment of opportunity would be lost. Her palms were sweating. She could tell by the way the handle was slipping. “Come on,” she said as the man started retracting his hand, ignoring the way the glass was cutting his hand. The sight of blood was ghastly but she had to ignore it.
"You can't be serious," Kane said to her as he watched her pack her belongings. "Tell me that this is one big joke."Kiera didn't answer him. She was determined and nobody would stop her from doing this. It wasn’t fair for him to die because of her. He had tried to help her and that landed him in a terrible place. Where that place was, she didn’t know. That was what she was hoping to find out. “Kiera!”Now she was torn. She didn’t know which option was better: talking or not talking. Simone was leaning against the doorframe and watching their exchange silently. Kiera wondered what she thought about the whole thing. Simone hadn’t said a word since she arrived with Kane. She would have to deal with the rented car and the damage done to it but she had to prioritize packing. Kane sighed heavily behind her and she could feel him glaring at the back of her head. He wouldn’t understand and she was tired of saying the same thing over and over again. It wasn’t fair for an innocent man to be
The hammering only stopped late in the night. Kiera felt physically drained. She couldn’t figure out where her energy went. It was Kane’s fault, of that she had no doubt about. He put her in a position where it was impossible for her to make a decision without having to live with deep regrets. On the one hand, she could choose to forget Mikael and stay with him Simone while he went out and cleaned the mess she started. On the other, she went in search of Mikael and lost Kane’s support forever. Simone understood. It was a relief but not the one Kiera would have liked. Simone would always take her son’s side. It wasn’t a question about whether or not she loved Kiera; Kiera did not doubt the love she had for her. But Kane was her blood. She would not choose the daughter she raised over the son she birthed. Kiera wasn’t delusional enough to think that she would have her full support. It was the reason why she didn’t tell him to stop downstairs. Kiera turned on her side with a groan.
Kane looked at his mother with a mixture of surprise and rage. “Ma?”“You heard me the first time,” Simone said, stepping closer to them. They had been so busy arguing that they didn’t realize that she had opened the kitchen door and stood watching them. Kiera stepped away from him, feeling ashamed that she had almost lost her temper. Arguing was not what she intended to do but Kane was getting under her skin. She detested how he felt like he could tell her what to do with her life. Perhaps she never minded it before but it was different now. She had learned to trust her instincts and make her decisions. She was no longer a child that he could protect. She was an adult. She could take care of herself. And she was fit and stable enough to decide what she wanted for herself. But she didn’t want to go there. “I’ll go with you, Kiera,” Simone said. Her eyes were shining bright with an emotion that Kiera could not identify. She wasn’t looking at her; she was looking at Kane. “If Kane re
If Kiera were being completely honest with herself, she thought that the hunt for Mikael would be a lot easier. And faster. She thought she would have found him on the first night that she, Kane, and Simone left their house. She was quite optimistic and would never forget that moment when everything felt like it was falling into place, and that things could be set right. Kane was getting involved instead of fighting her about it. She had Simone's full support. What could possibly go wrong?Kane took them to the place the man said Mikael was being kept, and to their absolute disappointment, the place was empty. It was a house downtown that he said the man swore had been inhabited by werewolves, but upon reaching there, they found no signs of anyone having lived there in recent times. There was dust everywhere. Kiera couldn't help but but feel disappointed. They left the place without saying anything to each other. There was nothing to say. Simone looked out the window and Kane stared
Kiera sat back in her chair and sighed. The sun was warm, a little too warm, but the one thing she loved about the sun was how it had the capacity of making her forget the cold days. It was almost as if the horrors she endured never even happened. The only reminder that they did was the empty space in her heart that belonged to Kane, and that would forever remain vacant. It took her a long time to feel normal again, even after finding out that Simone and Mikael hadn’t died that day. It was all a big shock to her, and although she had every reason to feel normal, she didn’t. She couldn’t get the image of Celia’s body out of her mind, and it was strange that that was the scene that haunted her the most, apart from the two of them cutting her neck with a knife and leaving behind a scar that she would bear forever. With Simone and Mikael’s help, though, she began feeling better. Leaving town helped. In fact, the change of atmosphere and the drastic improvement of the weather was enough
The hours passed. Kiera was growing more uncomfortable than ever. She didn't know what they wanted from her, not anymore. At first, she thought that they were going to kill her. Now, it felt like they wanted to torture her with the sight of Celia. He kept insisting that it was her fault that the whole thing happened. He didn't do much apart from repeating the same words over and over again. It was torturous. They sky was getting much darker, and soon, she wouldn't be able to see. The sky was moonless and heavy with clouds. The rain stopped, but the night was cool. She knew it would rain again. She could smell it in the air. What were they waiting for?What did they want from her? It was harder not knowing what would happen, she realized that now. If they had told her what the intended to do with her—explicitly—she would know what to expect. But it seemed like they were all crazy. She was surprised that two men managed to cause so much damage. Celia hadn't lifted a finger. She cou
Kiera was in the dark for a long time.Her eyes were hot and heavy with tears. It was bizarre how much things had changed in the space of five minutes. One minute, they were all there; alive and well. The other, they were gone. Simone was gone. She didn't know what happened to her, or where they took the car. She should have acted quicker when she found the man in the shop suspicious. Her own inability to act condemned her. She should have checked Mikael to see if he was alive. She shouldn't have panicked the way she did. Now, it was too late. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was being driven to a place far away without anyone around her that could possibly save her. She thought about it, but her thoughts were as hollow as her. She couldn't hold onto them and attach importance to them. They were just flowing through her like water. She would be at their mercy, and she didn't even know who they were. She suspected that it had to do with the pack Simone destroyed, the DarkWa
It was time to go. They left the next day. Simone was far from recovered, but she insisted that they didn’t have much time left. They had to go. Kiera packed what she could with Mikael’s help, and it was harder to say goodbye to the house she grew up in. She didn’t know how long she would be gone for, but it was unlikely that she would be back anytime soon. The house had traces of Kane wherever she looked, and that was the hardest part. It felt like she was leaving a part of him behind. She didn’t know if Simone felt the same way. If she did, she didn’t show. Her determination to leave overpowered everything else. She looked around, at the pictures and paintings on the wall, and the holes that he made the other night when he put the boards up that were never filled. Her father’s office was impossible to look at. It was no longer her father’s, not in her heart. It belonged to Kane. There was nothing that she could bring with her that would fill the hole of leaving everything behind.
Simone was discharged in the morning, as she expected. A large potion the forest had caught fire. It was all over the news, and all everyone talked about. Kiera felt bad. Of course, she did. They were responsible for the forest fire, which claimed a few innocent lives of the people trying to put it out. To know that they were the ones who caused the whole mess was disheartening, and her heart weighed with guilt. There was a small chance that Celia had escaped. They couldn’t be sure about the others. Mikael mentioned that there was no chance that she escaped, and that was a relief for Kiera. She was finally out of their lives, and the worst was behind them. Having Simone and Mikael in the same house was strange. They hadn’t talked to each other when Kiera first brought her, and that was the part that made her grind her teeth. She didn’t know what she thought would happen but the silence was unsettling. They didn’t have to talk, and even if they did, what would they say to each other
They got out safely. All three of them. Simone was hurt, though. Celia had managed to scratch her with her talons before they got out. She was bleeding heavily, so Kiera drove her to the nearest hospital as soon as they reached the car. Mikael was collapsed beside her, but he wasn’t hurt. He was so weak he could barely sit up. Behind them, the fire raged. Simone would be alright. She had been injured and needed stitches and bed rest. Mikael refused to go to the hospital. He insisted that all he needed was a decent meal and some sleep, far away from a hospital. He didn’t have documents, so he couldn’t even be admitted in one. So, once Kiera was sure that Simone would be safe, she drove him to their house. They didn’t speak to each other. There was nothing to say for the time being. Kiera had a lot on her mind. She wanted to fetch Simone as soon as she could. The next morning, preferably. The hospital was too close to the pack house. She wasn’t all that safe there. Once they reache
"Mikael, is that you?" Kiera said. He was silent for a few seconds, and then he answered, "It's me."The first thing she noticed was how weak he sounded, and then she concluded why. He was hanging from the roof. She suddenly remembered what she had been told about him. He would be killed for trying to protect her, and he was being kept as a prisoner and awaited execution in the home of some werewolves. These guys. She never thought about it. It slipped from her mind completely. Her first instinct was to rush to him to help him. He had to get down, that wasn't up for debate. In the dark, she was practically blind. Even if there was a light switch in the barn, they couldn't use it. They would grab unwanted attention. She would have to work in the dark. "What do I do?" she asked him. "Cut me loose.""Simone, I need a knife," she said, trying to reach the rope above his head. She couldn't reach for it even when she stood on the tips of her toes. It was making her desperate. "I'll do
The day went by slowly, too slowly. Kiera was stiff from having to sit in the car for so many hours. Simone was adamant. She didn't want to leave, and Kiera wouldn't waste her time in trying to convince her to leave the front of the building. They were running out of time, and they didn't have a better plan. So they were forced to stay. When the day was over, Kiera could hardly move. Her anxiety was making matters worse, but she managed to sit up when people started trickling out of the building. Their eyes were wide and searching every face that walked out. They were looking for the man responsible for Kane's death. They couldn't lose him, or all their efforts would have been for nothing. That was worse to Kiera than having to fight the man. "There," Simone said, breaking the silence. It was the first word that she said in hours. Her voice was surprisingly clear.He began crossing the street, and in a few steps, he would disappear around the bend. Where was he going? They had to k
Simone was thoughtful for the rest of the day. Kiera had no choice but to wait for what she was going to say. A decision had to be made, and quickly, or they'd lose their advantage. News about the dead werewolf would spread soon, and then they'd all know that Simone was after the wolves who had been involved in Kane's death. If that happened, they would go into hiding, and finding them would be a lot more difficult. Simone remained silent, so Kiera couldn't do anything else but wait. Long periods of silence made her think about Kane all of the time. She didn’t know what else to do. The current situation was impeding her from doing anything else, and it was hard to imagine that a few months prior, she was concerned about not finishing her work. She forgot all about being an editor. If they placed a manuscript in front of her, she wouldn’t know what to do. But she wasn’t the only one who changed drastically. She couldn’t recognize Simone on most days. The sweet but tough woman was r