Kai had my things from Kara's house packed up and moved to his house while I was in the hospital. While he was away, I was questioned by the police and the doctors. The police wanted to know what happened at Kara's house and the doctors wanted to know where my scars came from. They thought that Kai was hurting me and I had to explain to them who I was. Kara never came back or texted and the guilt and self-hate that I felt grew steadily. I changed into jeans and a T-shirt in the hospital room bathroom then met Kai and Lucah in the room. I placed the hospital gown on the bed and grabbed my black hoodie, pulling it on over my head. Kai and Lucah were quiet. It was probably because any time anyone said anything, I started crying. I followed after them, out of the hospital to the car where Hugo waited.
"Ah! Mrs Renley." Hugo smiled. Kai and Lucah waved their hands, trying to get him to be quiet. "How nice it is to see that you are alright." I forced a smile, getting into the back seat after he opened the door. Kai got in on the other side while Lucah got in the passenger seat. I put my hands in my hoodie pocket and leaned against the door, looking out of the window. Kai hadn't gotten a new car yet so he still looked like a lion in a small box. I lost track of the time before we drove up a long driveway, past acres of fields and trees. I sat up so that I could see better. The house that we approached was huge. More like a mansion than a house. It was bigger than the Wolfhound estate. It had a farm, cozy feel to it just by looking at it. When we stopped, Kai opened my door and let me out. I looked up at the building, wondering how many people lived there. I didn't want to deal with anyone right now. I just wanted to lay down.
"You actually live here?" I asked.
"Yes. Well, I sleep here when I'm not at work or with you." He gave me a nod. My eyes danced over the windows, seeing people looking out. I would've been here years ago if I hadn't run away. "Let's go inside. There's more to see." I followed him and Lucah to the door where Lucah opened it. Right inside the door was a foyer with a grand staircase across the hall from it that went up and then split off into two directions. In the foyer, there were three ways to go. Straight ahead into the next room, left, or right. The room right before the stairs was the same way. There was a beautiful, crystal chandelier between us and the stairs that lit up the area. Who the hell gets up there to clean that? Two people about my age walked up to us. A man and a woman. The woman had long, blonde hair braised over her shoulder and nearly golden eyes. The man almost looked like Kai, but with a deep scar that went from his cheek to his jaw and blue eyes.
"So, this is our famous Luna." The woman smiled.
"Janele." Kai warned.
"I'm not doing anything." She laughed softly. "Hi, I'm Janie. Kai's older sister."
"And I'm Alex. His younger brother." The guy added. "We're happy that you're finally here." I forced a small smile.
"Ren."
"Well, Ren. We look forward to being your friend." Janele bowed halfway.
"Come on." Kai placed a hand on my lower back and gently pushed me forward. We walked up the stairs and went right, walking to the end of one of many hallways. When he opened the door to a room, I was taken aback by how big it was. It was the size of two master bedrooms and mostly empty. There was a bed, a desk, three windows on the back wall, and a bathroom. It looked like a normal room, just massive. Even the bed was a California King. Who needed such a big bed?
"Uh… this is my room." Kai told me. "Our room." I stepped into the room. His scent was everywhere and it seemed to relax me.
"You can decorate it however you want. Money is no issue." He informed me. "Just let Lucah or me know if you need help with something." I didn't say anything. Tears came to my eyes when I saw the boxes with my name on them.
"I'm sorry." I sniffled, trying to hold back the waves of emotions. Kai stepped in front of me and kneeled.
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about." He lifted one of my feet and slid my shoe off. "You protected her. You didn't know what could happen." He pulled my other shoe off and set them both aside, looking up at me.
"She still left me." I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks. He wiped several of them away, his touch as light as a feather.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's going to be okay, though." He stood and wrapped me in his arms. "Come lay down and rest." I followed him to the bed and laid down. He covered me with a heavy blanket. Somehow I didn't believe that he used this blanket. It didn't really smell like him and he barely used the blankets at Kara's house.
"I will be in my office. If you need me, text me and I'll come. Okay?" He said. I nodded and he stroked my head before leaving the room. I laid in that bed for what felt like forever before I finally fell asleep.
~~~
I didn't get out of bed until the next morning when it was time for me to go to work. I figured that in order to feel better, I had to go do something. I wasn't sure where Kai was, but I had Hugo drive me to work. I wore dark slacks and a dark blouse with black heels that I found after digging around in my boxes. Once I got to the building and up to my floor, I went to my desk. Several minutes later, someone sat in the block next to me. Kara. I hadn't taken into account that she'd be here. I ducked my head down as I typed away. My heart screamed and begged in my chest, but I ignored it. A few hours in, I went to the printer room. It had been a calm day, but I still rubbed my face as I waited for my things to finish printing. Someone cleared their throat behind me as if trying to get my attention. I turned to see several of my co-workers. They all looked displeased.
"Y-yes?" I asked, confused. I could see Kara a few feet behind the group, looking guilty. "Have I done something wrong?"
"We don't think you should be working here." Paul spoke up.
"Excuse me?"
"You're the boss's wife. You get benefits we don't." A woman said.
"Like what?" I crossed my arms.
"For one, you don't need the money like we do."
"You get favors because you are literally sleeping with the boss."
"And according to the news, you're dangerous." Dangerous. Kara's words rang in my head and stabbed daggers into my heart.
"You should quit!"
"Yeah! Let us work on the same level."
"Get out of here!"
"You're not wanted here!"
"What's going on here?" A deep voice questioned. Kai moved between me and the group, glancing from me to them.
"S-sir. We were just informing our co-worker here that her working here is unfair." Paul told Kai.
"Unfair? She isn't treated any differently than any of you." Kai answered.
"Sir, with all due respect, you could be lying."
"Ren is not being fired just because you're uncomfortable." Kai said, but I was already in the process of removing my badge. I walked up to Paul and shoved it into his hands.
"You're all liars and cheats anyways. You women are upset that I actually have him as a husband and now you can't drool over him without knowing he's taken. And all of you would take any chance you could to move up." I frowned, moving past them to my desk to grab my things. I didn't want to leave this job, but I wasn't going to work with people who resented me. When I left my cube, I ran into Kara. We both stopped.
"Ren…."
"It's for the best. I'm too dangerous." I shifted my bag and continued leaving.
"Ren." Kai stopped me. "Where are you going?"
"Home." I faced him. "Laying in bed sounds better than staying here."
"I'll come with you. I'm done with my work for now."
"Fine." As I turned away, I could see everyone watching. The fact that they kicked me out bothered me. They'll have a hell of a time doing all of the work I do. Kai followed me to the first floor and out to the street.
"You don't have to leave." He told me. I didn't say anything. He didn't get it.
"Hey, look! It's them!" Someone yelled. Within seconds we were surrounded by reporters and cameras.
"Renley, what made you run away?!"
"What made you come back?!"
"Are you happily married?!"
"Did you want to marry the Alpha King?!"
"Ren-!"
"Renley!"
"Renley, do you plan on running away again?!" A deep growl silenced all the screaming questions and stopped the reporters trying to shove past each other. The last question that I heard made me angry enough to turn to the person who asked it.
"I do not plan and will not plan to run away." I said through clenched teeth. I looked at the others. "And my past is none of your damn business so stop trying to get it out of me." They all blinked, seeming unsure of what to do. When Hugo pulled up behind them, I shoved by and got into the car. No one talked again, just watched us get in the car and leave.