Chapter 25
POV: Cain?
The car ride was far from normal.
Instead it was filled with awkward silence, though the inside of my mind was in pure fucking chaos.
I tapped my fingers along the steering wheel for the hundredth time, trying to fixate on the constant sound in order to stop my mind from literally combusting.
Kiera hadn’t spoken in the better half of 30 minutes and neither had I.
The drive was all open road now—mostly highway driving until we reached the mountain road then it would slowly shift to pine trees and unlit roads for the next 40 miles straight.
And I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Arriving at my packhouse. Telling Kiera the truth. Seeing how my pack would react to her.
For the last 10 minutes, that’s all I could fucking think about.
Telling Kiera the truth.
I couldn’t not tell her.
If I did decide not to tell her—then it would place her in danger, especially if she didn’t know the truth about who and what she was really dealing with.
I knew the news had to be out by now in my pack, and I knew that more than half of the pack wouldn’t take it lightly. They would either be disgusted or outraged by my choice. Or both.
Pure blood werewolves wouldn’t want to accept that an Alpha’s mate was a human.
But after she announced her pregnancy, I knew I had to do something. I had to take her to meet the pack. I had to bring her there for safety’s sake. A human could not carry an Alpha’s baby in the human world, unprotected, and unconnected to a pack, without being in harm’s way.
Even though I knew that things would be difficult at the pack for Kiera, it was the best option.
Kiera was carrying my child. She was my mate. She belonged to an Alpha and she would be afforded the same respect as I received.
But an Alpha’s claim wasn’t the only thing that mattered to me.
The truth was, I knew I couldn’t breathe without her. I knew that I wouldn’t be a fraction of a man or alpha without her.
I loved her.
Love can conquer whatever life throws at us.
And with that realization, I knew that I needed to tell her the truth.
I pulled over as quickly as I could, veering off the highway and turning right onto a back road pit stop where we were the only car in the lot.
“Cain,” I heard Kiera’s voice, but it sounded like background noise.
I had made up my mind what I was going to do. I couldn’t just explain something like this—she needed to see for herself.
“Cain,” she said again.
I turned to look at her, gripping her hand in my mind as my wolf howled and paced desperately inside of me. “Kiera.”
Her blue eyes softened as she tried to make sense of the silent war inside of my head.
She couldn’t now. But soon she’d see for herself.
“Cain, what are we doing? Why did we pull over here? Are we close? Are you okay?”
I heaved in a breath, connecting with her gaze again and lifting her chin up to my eye level. “I need to show you something.” With that I exited the car and walked around to the front of it.
Kiera remained seated in the car, unmoving, staring at me in confusion. Slowly, she undid her seat belt, slowly exiting the car and stood across from me. “What’s going on, Cain?”
I took my hand in hers and began leading her towards the wooded area in front of us.
“You’re scaring me,” she whispered, her voice shaky.
“Trust me, Kiera.” I squeezed her hand. “It’s okay.” I guided her through the woods until the car was barely visible in the distance.
We must have walked a mile before I finally stopped behind a large pine tree and a boulder that hid us from human view.
“Cain, talk to me, please,” she pleaded, wrapping her arms around my waist and looking to me for answers. “What’s going on?”
“You’ll see soon,” I told her, heaving in a breath. “Trust me, Kiera. You need to trust me.”
“I don’t understand—” she shook her head as she began pacing back and forth in the forest.
I gripped her hand, tighter, stopping her in place before pressing a kiss onto the top of her head. “I have to tell you something and it’s going to sound really fucking strange but you have to believe me. You have to trust me.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “Okay…”
“It’s going to sound pretty fucking weird, Kiera,” I said heaving in a deep breath. “But you have to believe me. Promise me that you will.”
She paused, biting her lip.
“Kiera, promise me.”
“Fine,” she said, her hands shaky as she tried to make sense of this.
“Okay,” I said. “I haven’t told you everything about who I am.”
“Oh god,” she said, fiddling her hands. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
“No baby,” I said, softening my tone, squeezing her hand. “I’m not married. That’s not it—”
“Then what?” she almost yelled out as worry spread across her face.
I sucked in another deep breath then said, “well I am a CEO, that part is true but I also lead a group of people. They’re like my family but…”
“Oh my god,” she said, letting go of my grip and taking a step back, covering her mouth. “You’re the leader of a cult?”
“No,” I laughed, grasping her hand and pulling her towards me again. “I guess if you think those two are the worst case options then this might be easier than I thought.”
She bit her lip and yelled frantically, “Just tell me Cain!”
The words left my mouth before I could stop them. “My DNA is different from yours, Kiera! I’m—I’m—”
Just fucking say it, Cain.
The words fell out. “I’m a werewolf. I’m the Alpha of a pack. I’m their leader.”
Kiera burst out laughing, shaking her head. “You know…you almost had me!”
I went tight lipped. “It’s true.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”
“That’s where we’re going, Kiera. We’re going to my packhouse.”
She shook her head, another laugh spilling from her mouth. “Okay, no need to rub in it. I’m naive, I get it!”
I shook my head, feeling my body and my wolf tense from aggravation. “In the werewolf world we have things called, mates–true mates. And for an Alpha, that would be his Luna. It’s sort of like a soulmate to humans—like a husband, wife thing,” I said, hoping that would sink it in.
But it didn’t.
Kiera just laughed again. “And does bigfoot live there with you, too? Out in the forest? Is he like your assistant?”
“Kiera,” I said, gripping her hand tighter. “I guess what did I expect?” I said almost to myself. “You need to see it for yourself. I need to show you.” I let go of her hand, took a step back, and heaved in another breath.
I needed to show her to make her believe.
“See what?” she asked, her brows furrowing in confusion.
I began stripping in the middle of the fucking words.
First my jacket came off then my shirt, then my jeans, then my boxers. Until I was standing in the forest completely naked.
“Cain, we’re in the forest,” she said, shaking her head.
My wolf howled inside, desperate to be seen by his mate.
“Just don’t run,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “You’d probably like the chase.”
I had to show her. It was the only way. And I’m sure she’d freak the fuck out but it was the only way to get her to believe me.
I shifted effortlessly into my wolf, like an Alpha would in his natural habit—wide open untouched forest.
My bones cracked first as brown fur replaced my skin. I fell to the ground on all fours as my nose became a snout then my eyes turned to wolf vision and my teeth were replaced by razor sharp canines.
Kiera watched the entire time, open mouth and her body frozen. She didn’t so much as blink. She didn’t scream. She just stood there in shock.
My wolf approached with caution, nuzzling its head along her right calf.
I half expected her to run like hell but instead she just stood there, her hands quivering.
Though her eyes never changed, they didn’t hold fear, instead she appeared curious before beginning to bend forward towards me. Slowly, she pressed her knees into the forest floor and ran her hand along my wolf’s head. Her movements were slow, careful but…trusting.
I couldn’t believe it.
Kiera was freaked out, that’s for certain, but she trusted my wolf.
I quickly began to shift back into my human form and Kiera backed away, watching in complete awe as I did.
I took a few big heaping breaths in, finally regaining full control then wrapped my arms around her as her body relaxed in my grasp.
“You’re…” she lost her words.
I nodded. “I am.”
“But how? How’s that even possible?” she asked in a shocked whisper.
“It’s hereditary.”
Her voice cracked. “So…that means…means….that our baby will also be a….?”
“Yes,” I said finally.
She looked at me then, her gaze muddied with uncertainty. “You won’t take the baby from me, will you?”
“No, baby, god no. No one ever will take our children from you. No one will ever take you from me. You’ll be protected. I promise.”
But my promise felt empty, because Kiera had no idea the hate she would receive from my pack. She had no idea the difficult time that both of us would face. She had no idea the uphill battle we’d have to climb.
But we’d do it together.