Kiera took a moment to observe him.His face hadn't changed at all. She didn't know what she thought she'd see, but this wasn't it. She thought that he'd change in her eyes, that she'd see a different man standing before her. But he was the same Mikael that she fell desperately in love with. He was still handsome and attractive to her. It was pathetic but her heart was beating fast as she beheld him, just as it did all those weeks ago. She folded her arms to protect herself not just from him but from her heart. He took a step toward her and she took another back. She forgot about Kane and Simone sleeping peacefully and unaware inside. Only she and Mikael's existed in a cold and bleak world. He made a sound at the back of his throat. Not a growl but something similar. Something that expressed impatience. "The truth is that I fell in love with you and that shouldn’t have happened,” he began. As expected, her heart skipped a painful beat and her mouth dried up at his words. “I shouldn
Howling. It sounded like howling. While Kiera was trying to make sense of what she was hearing, Simone rushed out carrying an axe that Kiera had never seen before. Simone looked at her with wide eyes before opening her mouth. "Stand away from that door!"She did as she was told. "What's going on?"Kane's door opened. He limped out and glanced at both of them. There was sweat trickling down his face, which she found odd because it wasn't that hot inside the house. Was he feverish? "Ma, are you ready?""Ready as ever," Simone said, holding the handle of the axe with both hands. "Don't you dare try to shift. I can take them.""You haven't done this in a long time," he argued. "I don't want you to get hurt. I'm well. I can shift, nothing's going to happen.""Who're you trying to fool?" she asked. "Look at yourself. You're sweating all over the place. You're not ready. Don't force it, Kane. I mean it."He sniffed the air. "What's that smell?""They're close," Simone said. "Kiera, I want
"He hurt you," Kane remarked when he touched her bleeding upper arm. "You need to get this cleaned. Ma."Simone said, "Let's go back inside."Kiera didn't feel the pain intensely, not yet, but she suspected that it would hurt. Perhaps the pain in her heart was overpowering everything else. There was no other explanation for it. Her heart was in agony, and the more she thought about Mikael and his lies, the worst she felt. She was entirely responsible for what had happened and deserved the injury. "You shouldn't have come outside," Simone said scoldingly. "You should have stayed inside as I told you to!""If I had, both of you could have been killed," she said. "I started this mess, so I can sure as hell help you clean it up. It would help if you stopped treating me like I'm defenseless. I can help.""You didn't die because you got lucky," Kane stated. "He could have bitten your head off. You could have died tonight.""But I didn't," she snarled. She was still dizzy with everything tha
The silence in the cabin was so thick it could be cut with a knife. They were waiting for something, perhaps for Kiera to change her mind. She wouldn't. She swore to herself that she would see it through and that was what she intended to do. She would keep her word. It was ridiculous how they always underestimated her. She hated that she couldn't be taken seriously for once. Kane had his hands on his hips and was staring at the floor. Simone was still in the kitchen. Her tears had dried on her cheeks. Her face felt dry. Nobody wanted to be the first to break the silence. She knew that they would never accept what she said but something had to be done. She couldn't let everyone dictate her life. When did she take control? It was her life and she had to decide what she wanted or didn't want to do. What harm was there in wanting to learn how to defend herself? She was already a part of their world whether she wanted to be in it or not. After they killed Mikael's group, what guaranteed
Kiera opened her eyes and saw Simone hovering above her with a small smile on her lips. She looked tired, that was the first thing she noticed. The half-moons under her eyes were darker than she had ever seen them and her eyes were red. The second was that she was so relieved that it was leeching out of her pores. "Hey," she said gently. "How are you feeling?"It was then that Kiera realized that she wasn't on a moving vehicle. She was on a bed, in a room. Her room. She looked around, amazed. "When did we arrive?" she asked in a raspy voice. "Three days ago."It made her head spin. "Three days?" "The good news is that your wound has started to heal," Simone explained. "You haven't had a fever since last night so my guess is that you're going to get better."Kiera nodded. At least she was home, she told herself. That was more important than her healing process. She felt weak, especially when she wanted to move, but her heart was filled with a joy she hadn't felt in a long time. She
A few days went by and Kiera made a decision. She would not touch on the matter of Kane with Simone again. It was far too awkward for all of them involved and expecting Simone to give her concrete answers had been unfair. She put her in a complicated position and promised herself that she wouldn’t do it again. Kiera felt well enough to start her training. She started with the basics, as Simone called them. Simone wanted her to build strength in her limbs so she used Kane’s weightlifting set and punching bag. It would take her months to gain muscle mass according to Simone but she had to start somewhere. She remembered how heavy the werewolf felt when it attacked her and so she’d need to get used to the weights. Kane called every other night and assured them that he was fine. It was awkward, talking to him. He was oblivious to the conversation she and Simone had so he spoke to them as if nothing was amiss. Her cheeks reddened every time Simone wordlessly handed her the phone. It wa
"There's another pack in the city," Kane said to them as he shoved forkfuls of beef lasagne in his mouth. “I know this because there was a strange wolf amongst the ones I attacked. He wasn’t a part of Mikael’s group.”“Are you sure?” Kiera asked, simply to fill the silence. “It could be that he joined the group later. Or that he had gone somewhere.”He shook his head and gulped down his glass of water. “No, he’s new. I’d been keeping a close eye on Mikael’s pack and I assure you that he wasn’t a part of it. He’s from a different pack.”Simone pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Kiera herself felt flustered. She didn’t understand much about the werewolf world but if there was a new group in the city and one of them was walking with Mikael’s group, it meant that they were all after her. “So what do we do now?”“We don’t do anything,” he said, putting his fork down. “I watch the group closely to see if I can find a way to reach the new pack and you stay here and continue training.
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