Chapter 7

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　A　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

I sat on the bed that Kieran had set up for me, looking out the window, wishing I could be outside running. It was raining, and while other members of my pack thought it was strange, I absolutely loved running in the rain. I watched the rain drops on the window slide down the glass as I wiped another tear before it had the chance to fall down my cheek.

I heard someone come in the room, and I knew it was Connor, the way he walked was gentler than Kieran, and for some reason the man always smelled like maple. I smelled something else as he came closer. It was the heavenly aroma of tomato soup, with basil and a grilled cheese sandwich, that was almost burnt, which he knew was exactly how I liked it.

"Kieran thought, it would be better if someone you were more comfortable with came to check on you." He said and sat down beside me. "And Sable actually let me use the kitchen so I took the opportunity to make something I know you can't resist no matter how upset you are."

"Damn you." I muttered and took the bowl of soup and the grilled cheese. He laughed.

"Thank you." I said with a mouthful of grilled cheese.

"You're welcome, Mar." Connor smiled and ruffled my hair.

I glared at him.

"Sorry, I forget you hate that." Connor chuckled. I sighed. I only hated it because because of my size, people seemed to forget that I was a grown adult.

"Not your fault."

Connor let me eat in peace for a while before he spoke up.

"I know, Kieran is rough around the edges." He said.

"It's okay Connor, you can say He's an asshole." I said and rolled my eyes.

"Well... He's not, at least not all the time, and most of the time when he is it's accidental."

"So, when he slapped me across the face…It was an accident?" I asked.

"He feels really bad about that Amara." Connor said.

"Sure." I scoffed.

Connor sighed heavily and took the empty bowl and set it on the nightstand.

"Look at me." He said. I looked up at him, and my shoulders fell when I saw the look in his eyes. Connor was a lot older than I was and before he left the pack, I was often left in his charge when my father was busy. Which just made it all the more cringe worthy that my father wanted me to mate with Connor's twin brother Colt. 

"The thing about Kieran you need to understand is, he is incredibly protective and when he's protective and angry, the lines get a little blurred. He's trying his damndest to protect you from being hurt and you are making it impossible for him!" He said in that scolding tone that I hated.

I bowed my head keeping my eyes down. Connor always had a way of making me feel guilty.

"I'm sorry." I muttered.

"I'm not the one you owe the apology to." Connor said. I looked back up and scowled.

"I will not apologize to him! You didn't hear the things he said to me!"

"He said those things because he needed to say it in a way that you would actually listen to." Connor argued. "He's not lying. Rob and I went with him. If you could have seen how angry he was."

"But... I can reason with him. My father would never do that to me..." I spoke.

"Mar, you know as well as I do your father hasn't been the same since…" He stopped short looking at the pain wash over my expression.

"I'm sorry Amara but you can't go back home." Connor said. "It's not safe."

"How would you know?!" Amara spat and stood up. "You left me!" Connor stood up and put his hands out.

"Calm down." He said.

"No! My father went bloody mad after my mum died and I needed you Connor!" I screamed. "You left me!" After all of these years I was finally letting it out. I was accepting that my father was not the man I once knew.

"Mar.." he said softly and opened his arms to embrace me, but I shoved him away.

"If my father was so bad, why did you leave me there?! If you knew that all of these years, the only thing he cared about was keeping his blood in the pack Why the fuck did you leave me there Connor?!" I yelled, pushing him again. "Were you going to let him force me to mate with your creepy brother?!" I paced back and forth in the room raking my hands through my hair.

"No!" Connor shouted. "I planned to come back for you, you were too young to understand when I left! Calm down Amara. Breathe." He said and put his arms around me. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn't let go. I hit his chest with the sides of my fists as hard as I could, but still he wouldn't let go.

"Just let it out, Mar. it's okay." He said and with that I crumbled and fell apart, just like everything I thought I knew about my father.

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I sighed as I came to a clearing in the middle of the forest.

"Wonderful planning Mara, just where are you going to go now?" I asked myself. I thought maybe going to the city, using their transport and going somewhere else entirely but the thought of the city scared me. Hunters dwelled there, and most of them knew how to spot a wolf, even in their human form. Our existence wasn't exactly a secret to humans. Well, most anyways. I sighed and paced back and forth trying to come up with a plan when a branch cracked behind me.

I spun around coming face to face with Jamie.

"I suppose you are supposed to bring me back?" I asked.

"Supposed to." She shrugged. "But... I have no plans to." She smirked.

"Well, good, I'll be on my way then." I said and rolled my eyes turning to walk away but she grabbed ahold of my hair and pulled me backwards. My back hit the damp ground with a thud, almost knocking the wind out of me. I gasped and rolled out of the way before her boot connected with my face.

"I didn't say I was going to let you walk away either, runt." She sneered. I jumped up, reading myself into a fighting position. I could throw punches, but when it came to self-defense, I wasn't the best.

"Jamie, what the hell?" I asked, feeling my heart thud in my chest.

"You honestly think I'm going to let you come back and mate with Colt?" She asked and swung her fist. I barely ducked in time.

"I don't want to mate with Colt!" I yelled and swung back but she caught my fist and shoved me backwards.

"You don't have a choice!" She snapped. "You come home, your father will make you whether you want to or not and I will not have MY Colt mate with the runt of the pack and taint his blood! He needs someone strong. Someone likes me. I mean look at you." She laughed circling me as I stood up again brushing myself off.

If there was anything I hated being called more than pup, more than princess, it was runt. I growled and lunged forward tackling her to the ground. I sat on top of her landing blow after blow to her face with my fists, but she only laughed and pushed me off of her. She jumped up, wiping blood from her lip.

"Well, that was cute."

"Do you not realize why your father never had you trained to fight? To defend? Do you not understand what your only purpose in this pack is, Runt?" She spat at me. "Your father only wants to whore you out to the highest bidder to keep his blood-" I cut Jamie off as I shifted and lunged, going straight for her throat.

I howled in pain as I felt the steel of a blade stab into my stomach and I was thrown off of her, to the ground like a ragdoll.

I lay on the ground watching her circle me.

"Look at you, only child of Alexander, a great alpha, such a waste you are." She cackled. "Sorry... Were."  She knelt down to me and in one last attempt to get the better of her, I reached up and slashed through her shirt tearing into her shoulder with my claws.

"Ah!" She cried out and picked up the bloody knife holding it to my throat. I had already accepted death, so I wasn't afraid now.

Her head turned and she looked towards the opening of the clearing before she gasped and dropped the knife. She shifted and ran off leaving me to bleed out and die alone.

I closed my eyes.

"Mara love, come home I'm waiting."

Mum? I thought. Ready now more than ever to breathe my last breath when I sensed someone else coming into the clearing.

Kieran... Of course.

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I woke up with my heart thundering in my chest, matching the crash of thunder coming from outside. I pushed my sweaty matted bangs off my forehead trying to catch my breath, as I watched the rain beat down against the window.  I heard hurried footsteps, and the screen dividing my little corner of the room was pulled back and there was a sudden lantern light in my face. I squinted and the lantern was set on the table beside me.

"I heard you screaming from downstairs. Are you alright?"

I blinked, still trying to wake up. My vision cleared, as did my senses and Kieran's face in the warm lantern glow came into view.

I didn't remember screaming. I looked around the dark room.

"The storm knocked out the electricity. Are you alright? Are you hurting?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"No." I said and kicked the blanket off of me.

"No, what?"

"No, I don't hurt." I said and stood up and wobbled a bit. Dizzy. Kieran caught me and helped me back into bed.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's just a side effect of the antibiotic Jake gave you, you bloody passed out on Connor you've been out for hours. Jake says its running its course, killing the infection." Kieran said. The look of concern in his eyes was worrisome to me.

"I didn't scream." I said.

"Oh yes you did, the whole house heard it.." Kieran said. "Are you sure you aren't in pain?"

"Yes. I'm sure." I sighed and tucked my knees under my chin.

"Then why did you scream like that?" He asked.

I just shrugged.

Kieran sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Look, I'm not here to poke fun at you. I'm not here to tell you I told you so. I'm here because I am genuinely worried about you." Kieran said.

"Well don't."

"Don't what?" He asked.

"Don't worry about me." I said.

"Oh. Because I've found that to be incredibly easy." Kieran scoffed. I looked away from him and looked at the stuffed bear beside me. I picked it up and played with the little bow tie around its neck.

"When I came into the room, just before you woke up, I heard you crying for your mum." Kieran said

"I wasn't-"

"It's okay to miss your mother, you don't have to pretend you don't. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss mine. Were you dreaming about her?" Kieran asked.

"No, well not really." I spoke. "I was dreaming about Jamie almost killing me, and I remember before you showed up, I heard her voice." I said quietly.

"What did she say?" Kieran asked.

"She told me to come home. She was waiting for me." I said and looked up at Kieran. His expression softened.

"Thats why before you passed out when I brought you here after you were stabbed you told me it was okay, that I could let you go. You wanted to see your mum."

I honestly didn't remember that, but I knew it was true.

"I'm sorry Amara. I just couldn't. I haven't been able to explain why ever since you came around, I feel this overwhelming need to protect you, until last night in the kitchen. I know you don't believe in the myth and that's fine. But I know what I feel." Kieran said. I rested my chin on my knees watching him closely as he spoke. His eyes took on that same silvery tint they had in the kitchen the night before. He cocked his head to the side.

"What?" I asked.

"It's just your eyes, the flickering from the lantern light makes them look like you have fireflies flying around in them" He said.

I felt my heart flutter at his words, but I looked away again. He was making a mistake. Clearly.

He sighed.

"Alright. I'll leave you be." He said and stood up.

"Wait!" I said and I couldn't believe it as it came out of my mouth.

He turned and looked at me.

"I don't want to be alone." I said. "Can you just stay until I fall asleep?"

"Aye." He nodded, and I settled back down on the bed pulling the blankets up to my chin. I felt Kieran lay back on the edge of the bed and I peeked over the blanket at him just lying there staring at the ceiling before I rolled over and hid my face under the blanket as a small involuntary smile tugged at my lips.