‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ 𝒦 ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
It had been about a month since I left Amara and my pack and I still wonder every day if I had made the right choice. Maybe we could have found a way to kill Gold and avoid all this heartache but was it worth the risk of losing her forever?
I got out of bed, to start by day the same way I had every morning since leaving. First there was coffee, then there was flipping through the tv channels aimlessly while my mind raced, then I would shower and go outside to walk the perimeter of my cabin. I lived in this cabin as a boy with my parents and my brother, but things on this side of wolf country had changed. Rouges from packs all over the surrounding areas had made a new pack here, and their alpha was a ruthless prick.
My Cabin was in a safe spot, just out of their territory but it was only a matter of time before Malec didn't care about whose territory was who's. He ran his pack with no rules, no order, it was chaos and the whole lot of them acted like they had rabies
I tried my best to mind my own business and stay out of theirs, I didn't want to give up this spot. With this spot I could still easily make it back to my old territory and check up on Amara from a distance. I knew Connor was about to have his hands full trying to keep her out of danger while keeping the pack together.
I caught the scent of someone and turned around to see Peter, he was one of Malec's boys and he was an annoying little shit, but he was just a boy so I wasn't too worried about him.
"What do you want Peter?"
"It's not what I want, It's what Malec wants." He smirked and leaned against the side of my cabin.
"Okay, what is it that Malec wants then?" I asked.
"Malec wants you to rethink his invitation to join the pack. He's feeling generous and is giving you time to think more clearly."
"I told Malec, I was not interested, and here I am, still not interested." I said.
"What if I told you, Malec has a plan to bring down all of the hunters? Including Steele."
"I'd say, Job well done, may even give the man a high five if he accomplished such a plan, but still I would not be interested in joining your band of misfits." I said. "Go home Peter."
"I followed you. To your homeland."
I felt my blood begin to boil.
"She's pretty. I wonder if Malec would like her?"
"Let me make myself clear to you Peter, If you so much as breathe her name to Malec, I will find you, I will tear your head from your shoulders and put it in a box and set it on Malec's doorstep."
Peter just grinned.
"There's the beast behind the man. We could use someone with that aggression. It's a shame you are saying no. We'll be seeing you, Kieran." He said and pushed himself off the side of the cabin and shifted before running off.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That night, I sat at my table eating a bowl of half heated microwave soup and a grilled cheese sandwich trying desperately to ignore the sounds of Malec's pack hooting and hollering as they ran through the woods. This was an every night thing for them so it should have been easier to ignore by now, but for some reason they were much more rambunctious tonight.
A sound that I couldn't ignore ripped through my walls and made my blood run cold. I froze and listened just to make sure I was hearing correctly. The second blood curdling screech came through and I bolted from the table and ran out the door following the screams.
The screams were definitely female and what was most unsettling was, by the scent in the breeze, she was human. What the hell had Malec done? I could hear laughing, and growling, and then the sound of flesh tearing that made me sick. The sounds of the pack were growing distant but the sounds of crying and whimpering were getting closer and closer.
I came to the source of the crying, and was absolutely sickened by what I saw. There was a girl, bound to a tree sobbing and crying out in pain. I stepped closer and she took one look at me and went to scream but I hurried and clasped my hand over her mouth.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to help you but if you scream, They will come back before I can. Nod so I know you understand."
The frightened girl nodded and I let go of her mouth. Her brown eyes were wild with fear. I looked down at her shoulder where she had a very nasty looking bite. I sighed heavily, I knew this mark because I had made one on someone before. I knew Malec was ruthless, but this.. This was just too far. This poor girl's life was about to change and she likely had no idea.
I fished in my pocket for my knife and pulled it out, flipping it open. She flinched away from me.
"It's just to cut the rope." I assured her and started cutting the rope.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"M…Mica." She stammered
"I'm Kieran. Do you have family Mica?" I asked. She shook her head.
"None that I talk to." She said and then cried out as I cut the ropes by her shoulders.
"I'm sorry I know that hurts." I sighed and cut the last of the rope freeing her.
"Can you walk?"
"He… he said he'd be back for me in the morning." Mica said.
"Well then he'll be surprised to find you not here." I said. "Can you walk?" I asked again.
"I think so. Where are you taking me?"
"To my cabin, it's a safe place."
"Wait… are… are you one of them?" she asked.
"I am, but I promise you, I'm not like them." I said, and held my hand out to her.
She nodded and took my hand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tended to her wound, to the best of my ability when we made it back to my cabin. It was a hack job compared to what Jake would do but it would work. By morning it would be healed anyways this would just help with the pain for right now.
I walked over to her with a cup of tea. She took it, and thanked me quietly.
"How did you get out here?" I asked.
"These guys approached my friends and I in town earlier about a bonfire on the beach…" She said and took a sip of tea. "They…were good looking and nice so we said yes." She said after she swallowed thickly. Her eyes were full of regret and loss and I didn't want to ask this next question but I knew I had to.
"Where did your friends go?" I asked. "Did they run for help?"
"They never made it off the beach..." Mica whimpered. "He… Malec... He made me watch while his friends killed them. He said they weren't worthy of his pack...but I was." She said and started trembling. "They knocked me out… And when I woke up I was tied to that tree and Malec… He changed. He turned into..." She couldn't finish her sentence. I knew she was still trying to process what she saw. She looked at me.
"What… are you exactly?"
"Some call us werewolves. Some call us shapeshifters. I'm sure that you think of us as monsters but we are not all like Malec." I said.
"He bit me. Does that mean…" Mica paused
"You'll be a wolf too." I confirmed. "It's…not going to be easy. Your first shift is going to be very painful. Those who were born to it have it easy, those who are bitten not so much because it doesn't come naturally to them."
"When?" She asked.
"Since you were bitten your first shift will be with the next full moon which is in just a few weeks. You'll stay a wolf for four days and after that, you'll be able to shift back and forth whenever you want like the rest of us."
She wrapped the throw blanket around her.
"I don't want this." She cried.
"It should never have been forced on you and I'm sorry that it was." I said.
"Am I going to kill people?" She asked.
I chuckled.
"No. we don't have a bloodlust for humans. Malec's boys are just vicious and heartless. They're lost. We aren't your typical horror movie werewolves. We're just wolves."
"Why me?" She asked. "Why was I worthy and not my friends?" She asked
I sighed.
"I don't know how Malec operates. I try to stay out of his mind, as I assume it's a very dark place. He more than likely turned you in attempt to force you to mate with him."
Mica looked like she was going to be sick.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to let that happen. You'll be safe here and eventually Malec will lose interest and move on to someone else."
"Someone like me?" She asked.
"Aye. There are no she-wolves in his pack so he'll have to make one for himself." I said with disgust. "It's wrong. He's a disgrace to our kind and I am truly sorry for what he's done to you. I will help you through your first shift, and show you the ropes so to speak. As I said it's not going to be easy."
"Thank you.." She said, "Can.. I ask you a question?"
I nodded. "Of course."
"I thought wolves were pack creatures… Why are you alone?"
"It's a long story."
"Does it involve a girl?" She asked.
"Aye." I nodded. "How did you guess?"
"Because you look sad like you've lost someone. Was she your mate?"
"She was." I nodded.
"What happened to her?" Mica asked.
I swallowed thickly.
"Maybe another day. Get some rest. You can have the couch, or one of the spare bedrooms whichever you are more comfortable with."
"Oh..Okay." Mica said. "Would it be okay if I watched TV?"
"Sure." I said and walked off to my bedroom.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Mica!" I groaned. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop eating your bloody peanut butter on my furniture?" I asked as I wiped the glob of peanut butter off of my sofa.
"Whoops." She said and lounged back in the chair with another peanut butter sandwich. I narrowed my eyes at her. She looked at me and took a big bite of her sandwich without breaking eye contact.
"You're impossible." I scoffed and stood up and walked to the kitchen and looked at the big neon purple stain on my counter.
"I swear to all the Gods… if that is nail polish I will end you." I said. Mica walked over to the kitchen counter and looked at the stain.
"Wasn't me." She shrugged.
"Oh. So it was just some other obnoxious teenage girl with bright purple fingernails. Clean it." I said and took her sandwich from her.
"Kieran!" She whined. "That was the last of the peanut butter!"
"You can't live on peanut butter Mica." I rolled my eyes.
"I have no room in my life for that kind of negativity sir." She huffed and started wiping down the counter while I looked in the cupboard for something to make for dinner.
"Can we order pizza?" Mica asked.
"No one is going to deliver out here." I said.
"I can go get a pizza." Mica shrugged.
"You know that you can't." I sighed. "It's not safe."
She rolled her eyes at me and scrubbed at the counter angrily.
"Come on Mica.. I'm trying here."
"Why can't I leave? Ever??" Mica asked.
"Because Malec will kill you." I said. "The first chance he gets. He's made that clear."
"I'm not afraid of Malec. Why are you so afraid of him?" She asked.
"Because I've seen him make good on his threats. If I go and get you Pizza will you stop being such a snot?" I asked.
"Probably not..." She mumbled and stormed away from me and slammed her bedroom door.
I gave her some time to cool down before I tapped on the door.
"Mica I'm heading out, I'll be back in a bit..."
No answer but I could smell her and hear her breathing but I knew she was still in there.
"Look, I know it's not fair. None of it is I promise we will go on a run later so you can stretch your legs."
"Don't forget my peanut butter." She said finally. I smiled and shook my head.
"Wouldn't dream of it. Keep the doors locked until I get home."
"Sure." she sighed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I got home, I unlocked the door.
"Mica, pizza's here!" I called and set everything down on the table. There was no response. She was likely still mad at me. Teenagers held unreasonably long grudges so I'd discovered as of late.
I walked over to her door and knocked on it.
"You've got to come out of there some time." I said.
Still no response. I sighed and twisted the knob on the door and pushed it open. My heart sank into my stomach. Her window was wide open and she was nowhere to be found. I hurried out of her room and out the front door. I shifted and started following her scent. If Malec didn't kill that girl, I was going to.
As I ran I picked up on a different scent. One that made me stop dead in my tracks. In one direction was Mica's scent but in the other direction..
Amara?