Chapter 4
Panicked
Kayden slowly walked towards me, and looked at me with confliction in his eyes. He grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from the bookshelf I was organizing. I winced when he grabbed me, still hurting from before, but luckily he didn't seem to hear me. "H-hey! Kayden, what are you doing?!" I asked surprised. Kayden didn't answer me though, and just kept dragging me to wherever he was taking me. The spark I felt when he touched me last time started again, and I unconsciously started relaxing as he pulled me away to a secluded corner in the library. Once we got into the corner, he let go of my arm and faced me. "What happened to you?!" he said angrily. My once calm mood suddenly vanished within seconds, and I started panicking when he got mad. I didn't mean to get scared so easily, but I had PTSD from people being angry with me, and it not leading to good things. I started shaking a bit, and my ears went down. I lowered my gaze to the floor, almost like it was instinct at this point. Kayden noticed my panicked expression, and his expression softened immediately. He reached out to comfort me, but I flinched away, starting to shake even more. 'Not again…' images of my past flashed before my eyes. Of me getting beaten, and abused in cruel ways. I hunched over on the floor, hyperventilating. Even my inner wolf was whimpering at me, and trying to take control to run away. "Kai?! Kai!" Kayden rushed over to my side, rubbing my back soothingly. "Hey, Kai, what's wrong?!" I just closed my eyes, trying to get all of the pain out of my head. Eventually, after a while of Kayden telling me he wouldn't hurt me, and trying to calm me down, did my breathing begin to even out a little. After I calmed down, I was left with a massive headache. Great, another thing to add to the list of pain I'm going through.' I sighed internally. "Kai… Are you okay?" Kayden asked me with a panicked look on his face. I looked up, and was instantly met with Kayden's bright green eyes. 'W-why is he so close to me?!' I blushed. Kayden was holding me in his arms, and looking down at me. "I-I'm fine." I quickly got up, only to be reminded of my injuries as a sharp pain struck me when I got up. I winced, and this time, it didn't go unnoticed by Kayden. "Kai, you're hurt... What happened to you?" Kayden asked with worry. "It's nothing… I'll be fine." I managed to say. I couldn't look at Kayden's pained face, especially knowing I was the one that had caused it. "We both know you're not fine, you just had a panic attack, and you can barely even stand! You have bruises all over your face, and you look like you've just gone through hell. You call that being okay?!" Kayden asked, slightly frustrated. He did have a point... "It's not that bad. I've been through worse anyways." After that, I left Kayden in the corner, scared I'd make things worse for him. I don't know why, but seeing Kayden in pain made me worried, and had me wishing I could make him feel better. But what could I do to make him feel better? I'd just end up worrying him even more. Cause again, who'd want to look after a mentally unstable omega like myself? My wolf was also not happy about leaving Kayden, wishing to be back in his arms again... 'Ugh! What am I thinking?! He'd obviously never want anyone like me anyways. It's better off that way anyways. And why am I so worried about a guy I just met?! Sure, he's incredibly attractive, but is that really what's making me worried about him?' I just shook my head to try to get rid of these confusing thoughts. I went back to organizing the books, but could still smell Kayden behind me. I sighed, annoyed with the situation. "Look, I appreciate you helping me back there, and I'm sorry you had to witness that, but is there something you need?" I asked. "Look, I just… I just want to help you. I can tell you're injured. At least let me help you take care of your injuries." Kayden asked. I turned around, and instantly regretted it. He was looking at me with such a pleading look in his eyes, that I couldn't refuse. I just stood there looking at him like a complete idiot while a bright blush appeared on my cheeks. Kayden saw this, and he started smirking at my expression, while laughing a bit at me. "You're cute when you blush." Kayden said. "W-what?! I-I'm not blushing!" I said embarrassed. Kayden just laughed at this, and just walked closer to me. "Come on, let me help you with your injuries." Before I could even protest, he was pulling me toward the counter where Mrs. Reeds sat. "Um, excuse me, but do you mind if Kai takes the day off? He seems to have hurt himself a bit, and I was going to go and take care of him while he recovers." Kayden asked nicely with that stupid perfect smile of his. "Oh, of course! Please make sure he gets lots of rest, it seems he's been getting more injured recently, and it makes me concerned about his health." Kayden didn't look too happy to hear that me getting hurt was a regular thing, but just nodded to Mrs. Reeds, and pulled me towards the door with my bag in his hand.
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Kayden's POV:
We walked out of the bookstore with Kai's arm in my hand. I was having a hard time controlling myself around him, and the only thing I wanted to do with him was hold him in my arms, and never let go. I was starting to put two and two together after I talked with one of my friends about what I had felt earlier this morning. I told him how the minute I laid my eyes on Kai, it was like the whole world had stopped and it was just me and him. Kai was small compared to me, probably due to the fact he was an omega, which I was surprised to hear about. I'd rarely ever seen an omega at all, let alone a male one. But even if he was small, he was also extremely skinny. Even though he was skinny, he was also extremely cute. His little wolf ears on top of his head would move up and down, and twitch a little when we were speaking. His tail was extremely fluffy looking, and would be waving back and forth as I talked with him. He had ocean blue eyes that I could look at for hours and never get tired of them. His hair was a little messy on top of his head, but just added to his cuteness. But, for some reason, it seemed like Kai was purposely trying not to get close to me. He had multiple bruises on his face, and even a little dry blood could be found under his nose and mouth. Seeing Kai hurt like this absolutely broke my heart, and I wanted to do everything in my power to protect him. Not only that, but it seemed like he was even more hurt than what I originally thought. I couldn't take seeing him hurt like that any longer, and my mind took over my body, and I began leading him out of the bookstore to get him healed up. I could feel the sparks that spread across my body whenever I touched Kai, and it was one of the best feelings in the world.
My friend told me that some shifters had mates. Basically a person who was their other half. They'd do anything for each other, and love each other unconditionally. Some of the effects of being mates is wanting to be with each other constantly. Whenever they'd touch each other, sparks could be felt between them. They'd also be extremely attracted to each other, which was also what I was feeling for Kai right now. My friend also told me that the mate bond only got stronger the more time you spent together, and that the mating bond should feel slightly stronger for the shifter, because of their inner animal. This part I was surprised to hear, because wouldn't that mean that Kai should be feeling the bond stronger than how I was feeling? My question was soon answered though once I found out that mates don't feel the bond until they turn 16. This would explain why I got the effects, and it felt subtler to Kai I was guessing. I was surprised to realize that Kai was my mate, and a male one at that. Him being a male didn't bother me in the slightest though, and I still felt the need to do anything for him, and protect him at all costs. But also what surprised me was that a shifter having a mate that was a human was also extremely rare, but I didn't care about that at this moment. I knew for sure that Kai and I were mates, and didn't doubt myself for a second. Not to mention that the few times I was in his presence, I could see a blush spread across his face from just being around me. This made me happy to know that I had such an impact on him already. He also looked adorable with his face lit up a bright red. I also caught him staring at me a few times as well, like he was enjoying what he was seeing. I laughed internally, because this made Kai blush once he realized that I noticed he was staring at me.