(Few Weeks Ago)
"Thank you. I can take it from here" Tessa smiled at the pack doctor who had just finished attending to Kieran's eyes. She took the bandage from him and waited till the doctor was out before proceeding to take her position behind Kieran who was seated with no sight.
"You're gonna wrap it yourself?" Kieran questioned with a skeptical tone.
"Yeah"
"Are you sure? Have you done this before?" He asked
"It's just wrapping Kieran. I don't have to get a degree first. Now stop whining like a baby and let me do it" She teased.
"Fine" He gave in.
Tessa started wrapping the bandage around his eyes slowly, making sure not to cause him any more pain. She was in her mind too. She had troubling thoughts that needed to be addressed. "So...are we going to talk about what happened?"
"You mean almost getting killed by that psychotic Black Lotus group?"
"No not them....I mean....with us" She said rather shyly
"Oh...you mean what almost happened" He stated with a small smile on his lips. A smile that quickly faded. "Well, I guess it was a good thing we got interrupted. Isn't it?" He asked with a blank expression.
"I guess so" She replied feeling a bit disappointed too but didn't know why she felt that way.
"I mean you have your betrothed. Manbun would go bananas if something had happened. He doesn't like me already as it is. He'll definitely kill me if that had happen" Kieran quipped
"He isn't my betrothed though" Tessa quickly clarified.
"Is that so? Does he know that?"
"I don't know. I just know we aren't betrothed to each other. We aren't even mates. It's just... he's always had feelings for me. He loves me a lot...."
"And you? Do you love him too?" Kieran cut in.
Tessa paused for a while, pinning the bandage in place. "I like him, I do....it's just I don't think I've felt what love truly is with him, or anyone else" She explained
"I see" He replied, feeling the bandage with his hand. "Nice work"
"What about you?" She asked softly.
"What about me?" Kieran inquired with a quizzical look.
"Is there anyone you love?" Tessa looked away from him shyly, feeling a bit embarrassed asking him that.
"Nope there is no one. Since I found out about the bond that comes with doing it for us wolves, I have stayed clear away from it until I'm ready" He explained
"But the bond is only formed when you're marked or you mark someone" Said Tessa
"Not for us"
"Us??" She asked with a puzzled look.
"I mean me. It's different for me" He quickly corrected himself
"What does that mean?"
"It doesn't matter. It's not like we would have a chance to find out" He stood up and turned to face her. "After my eyes are fully healed, before I leave we should both go shifting. That would be fun" He smiled
"You're crazy if you think I'm going shifting with you" She folded her arms, trying hard not to smile.
"We'll see" He smiled
"It's never happening"
***
"Slow down Kieran!" Tessa called after him but he just kept running, dragging her along. She looked down at his hand which was wrapped around her arm with a soft but firm grip. She couldn't help but smile.
She looked up and the crescent moon was already out, brightening the dark woods with it's light. She had thought he was bluffing when he said they were gonna go shifting as soon as he was fully healed, but there they were in the middle of the night and in the woods.
He was crazy, impulsive and spontaneous and she loved it. She never knew what to expect with him and it excited her. "It's not full moon yet Kieran...my father is going to be furious if he found out"
"Then let's make sure he doesn't find out" He replied and then came to a stop. He looked around and then shifted his eyes to her. "This is it" He said, smiling.
"You're crazy. We shouldn't be doing this" She replied, smiling.
"Come on! We don't know when we are going to part ways. We might as well have a lot of fun for now" He urged, still maintaining his smile.
Tessa didn't like hearing those ways. She wished he'd become a member of their pack and stay with them. "This is ridiculous" She shifted her eyes to the ground before saying "You should turn around" Softly
"Sure" He replied and then turned his back to her.
She slowly began loosening her top, getting undressed. "This is ridiculous. You just got your sight back and here you are doing something dangerous" She pointed out.
"I had a friend once, he was more of a brother to me. He always used to say live while you can" Kieran said, undressing too.
"Where is he now?" Tessa asked, placing her folded clothes down next to a fallen tree trunk.
"Dead"
She glanced back at Kieran when she heard him say those heavy words. She felt the pain in his voice. He now had his bare back turned to her. "I'm sorry" She said, staring at the scars on his back. She didn't even know what she was saying sorry about anymore. For his friend or for the scars in his back and heart.
"It's fine. It's a long time ago"
"What happened to him?"
"He was murdered but I don't know by whom" He replied just before he began shifting. "Time to go" He laughed as he continued shifting.
Tessa took that as her cue also and dropped to her knee, shifting. Few seconds later they were both fully shifted. Kieran standing tall in his sable color wolf form and Tessa in her snow white large wolf, almost as big as Kieran's. Soon they were both blitzing through the woods, racing each other.
(Present Day)
Vee glanced over at Nate with a questioning look as she kept navigating through the highway, almost at where Tessa was. "So your father thinks Beta Maynard might be planning to take over the pack?"
"Yeah that's what he said. I mean I too have observed him and he seems like a power hungry man. Do you think there is a chance that's what he's planning?" Nate asked, adjusting his seatbelt.
"Maybe... especially seeing as he's trying to avoid or delay Tessa's rise to Alpha of the pack. I would like to think that's not what he wants. We've known him our lives and all we've ever seen is him putting the pack first in everything and making sure it's secure" She explained
"Or maybe now he thinks Tessa wouldn't be able to lead the pack like her father did" Nate suggested.
"Either way, he might have a plan that involves cutting off Tessa from what belongs to her" Vee replied.
"And what about his son? Do you think he might be in on it too?"
"I doubt. All he cares about is Tessa. I find it out to believe he would betray her like that"
"But didn't he get betrayed when Tessa chose that Omega over him? He might be feeling betrayed already and that could set him on a bad path" Nate explained.
Vee thought about it. He was making sense. Derek had been a walking time bomb since Tessa chose Kieran over him. No one knows what is going on in his head. "Let's just hope he still has a chance now that Kieran is dead"
"Does he?" Nate asked
"Not as long as Tessa is still hung up on dead Kieran" She replied.
***
"One of us is dying here today. Right here!" Tessa growled angrily, fangs and claws out. Eyes glowing blood red.
The air crackled with anticipation as they faced each other. Tessa's growls filled the woods as she immediately leapt off the floor towards him. Kreed swiftly dodged. She had gotten faster. The rage was fueling her, increasing her strength and speed. As soon as her hands touched the floor, she threw both her legs at him without them touching the floor first, taking him by surprise as they landed on his chest, kicking him back against a huge tree.
Tessa immediately leapt to him again, almost clawing his mask if only he hadn't swiftly dodged. "Tessa! You have to stopped before this blood rage gets worse" Kreed warned but she didn't seem to care.
"I don't care. Fight me you bastard!" She barked and growled, her voice shaking the woods.
"Very well" Kreed replied, hoping to stop her by overpowering her.
She swiftly looked around, found a stake she could use in ending him, picked it up and then dashed toward him. She threw a jab at him which he blocked with his arm and then she immediately tried to stake him but he caught her hand instead. Seeing this, Tessa immediately grabbed his arm with blocked hand and then pulled him into her, nodding him heavily that it made a crack on his mask.
Kreed immediately grabbed the stake and then kicked her away from him. He stared at the stake his hand and just as he looked up to check on her, he saw her right in front of him with her claws almost into his chest. He swiftly jumped back but not before her claws clawed him lightly, ripping his robe from the chest down to his stomach.
'Her rage has brought such outstanding speed' He thought to himself whilst staring down at his ripped robe. He held her yell angrily as she ran towards him. He was about to block a kick that was going straight to his head but she immediately retracted her leg and sent a jab instead one that landed on his mask again, leaving more crack.
Without stopping, she relentlessly started throwing jabs and kicks at him and he kept blocking them. She was getting angrier with every block he made. "Tessa!" Kreed called but when she was not responding to him, he growled, catching one of her punches and swiftly pulled her to himself and landed a punch on her stomach, she growled in pain but he didn't let her go, he pulled her again and this time landed a kick on her. As soon as he did that, he let go off her hand and began punching from her shoulders down to her legs faster than she could think.
She immediately dropped to the floor, her arms and legs weakened. She cried in pain, holding her arms. She spotted the stake in between them on the floor. She eyed it before bringing her gaze up to him. "Are we done now? You need to come out of the blood rage before it gets worse" Kreed advised making his way to her.
He stopped in front of her and extended his hand to her to assist her up. Tessa looked down, sighed and then slowly brought her hand up. Just as she grabbed his hand, she pulled herself swiftly and clawed his mask. She immediately let go, rolled on the floor past him, picking up the stake and quickly buried the stake in his right leg. He growled from the pain but she didn't stop there. She grabbed his robe and pulled him back and then elbowed his mask once more, followed with a kick that sent him stumbling back.
She grabbed the stake tighter about to dash toward him with the aim of driving the stake into his heart this time when she realized his hood had come undone, exposing his snow white hair. Seeing that hair stopped her on her tracks as she got a flashback. He was bent toward the floor so she could only see his hair.
Just then a big piece of his mask fell to the floor. He brought his hand up, holding the other piece in place. Tessa stared on curiously, waiting to see his face. He remained in his position. Tessa who was growing impatient, grabbed the stake tighter and dashed toward him. Just as soon as she got to where he was, he stood upright. She immediately came to a halt, receiving the shock of her life.
Kreed removed his hand from his face. His mask was split in half horizontally from Tessa's impacts. Half his face was exposed from his nose up. His blue eyes staring directly into Tessa's.
Tessa couldn't believe her eyes. It must be a dream she thought. She stood frozen to the floor. The stake in her hand immediately slipped, falling from her grip. "K....ki...Kieran" She called softly, her blood red eyes fading off and returning back to its color. She was immediately snapped out of her blood rage as her eyes were fixed on his.
Kreed just stood there staring at her, not saying a word. She slowly began to reach for his face. Her hand was few inches from touching his face when she heard her name being called by Vee. Kreed immediately held her hand, stopping her. He then immediately proceeded to the edge of the cliff and jumped off, leaving Tessa standing there staring into the distance as though she was in a trance.