Chapter 28
POV: Kiera?
My heart was beating wildly in my chest when we walked back to the main house.
Cain’s arm remained hooked around my side, holding me near.
His voice sounded but I wasn’t listening, not really. He spoke about the pack, their customs, assuring me that they would accept me, yet none of it registered. The truth was, I hadn’t been listening for the last five minutes. My mind was elsewhere.
Instead, I was picturing the way they looked at me—all I could see were their angry, disgusted stares.
If I, a simple human could see their lack of respect and disgust of me, then I knew Cain had seen it as well.
The scene replayed within my mind.
The man who stepped forward, who was bold enough to challenge Cain and angry enough to say that I would never be accepted in this pack.
And a part of me—though it pained me to say, knew he was right.
I knew I would never be accepted in this pack.
I was an outsider. I was a human. I was beneath them.
We passed through the doorway, and Cain slammed it shut behind us, the sound echoing through the space. He broke away from me, heading toward the living room, then began pacing back and forth.
“Goddamn them!” he yelled, slamming his fist into the cushion of the couch.
I stared blankly at the wall, replaying the meeting over and over in my mind, every word, every glance in an unrelenting loop.
“Who do they think they are—to think that they can disrespect either of us?” he screamed, this time tossing blankets and pillows to the ground. “They will respect you. They will accept you as Luna. They will learn their place in this pack.”
I stared blankly at him.
“Kiera!” I heard his voice echo as he approached. “Kiera, are you listening to me?”
I wasn’t.
I hadn’t processed a single word, not really.
“Oh, uhm,” I said, clearing my throat and blinking a few times. “What were you saying?”
Suddenly, Cain’s arms were around me, wrapping me into his grasp then pulling me into him, grounding me with his presence as he always did. “I’m sorry, Kiera. That must’ve been hard for you. Goddess, I’m such an asshole,” he said, shaking his head and pressing my cheek into his chest. “It doesn’t matter how I feel right now. I can’t imagine how you feel. How you’re probably scared and shocked, and lost…”
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting his words sink inside my head.
Scared. Shocked. Lost.
I didn’t respond, instead I just let him hold me, and allowed the warmth of his touch to calm me.
“I’m fine,” I lied, cooly.
“You will be,” he told me.
“I am Cain, I promise,” I said quieter.
He tilted my chin up and looked into my eyes. “This is going to be difficult. But I will always be by your side and eventually, my pack will accept you.”
“They will?” I asked skeptical, “Just wait until I have the baby—wait until they say things about our child.”
His eyes went from soft to hard in a second’s time. “They will never disrespect our child. Our child will be their Alpha.”
He said it with such a definitive tone that it even made me want to believe it.
“I—” I began, but stopped my words there. “Wouldn’t it be easier for you if I wasn’t your mate?”
His eyes turned almost black as his grip tightened around my arms. “Never. It would never be easier, Kiera. Without you, I wouldn’t be half the man I am today, and I know that sounds fucking crazy, probably even delusional,” he ran his thumb down my bottom lip tenderly, “But it just is. For wolves, because of the bond, it makes sense and I don’t expect you to understand, but I want you to know that you will help make this pack better. I know it, and one day they will see it.”
Tears began to form beneath my eyes but I fought them back.
Cain’s words meant something and I knew one day, though I couldn’t see it happening now, he would be right.
Call me crazy, because I have absolutely no idea why I feel like this, there’s no reason or explanation but for the bond, tying us together…as one. But I do.
He tilted downwards as he pressed his lips into mine and enveloped me into a soul wrecking kiss.
And when our lips released, I looked up at him with dazed eyes and trembling lips.
“Come,” he said, simply, taking my hand in his and leading me from the packhouse and towards another cottage.
“Where are we going?” I asked, feeling the eyes upon us.
We passed the skeptical, angry faces of his pack members as we stopped in front of the small cottage.
Within a second, the door opened.
In the doorway stood an older woman. A smile immediately spread across her face as she grasped my hand in hers, leading me and Cain inside, without even speaking.
My gaze traced over hers, taking in her kind, soft eyes and the worn lines on her face.
When the door closed, she turned quickly and clapped her hands together excitedly. “If Cain has not told you,” she gave him a look. “Which I’m sure he hasn’t, I’m Mia.”
“Hi Mia,” I rasped out, trying to regain my nerves.
She waved to us to take a seat at her small wooden table, overlooking the beautiful valley speckled with cottages. “There’s no reason to be nervous here, Kiera,” she patted my hand, reassuring me. “I’m Cain’s aunt and the pack healer.”
“The pack healer?” I asked, confused.
She gripped my hand tighter. “In our customs, we believe in a different type of medicine. I’m their doctor, and that’s why you’re here.”
I listened, taking in her words.
Cain sat at my side, his hand rubbing against my thigh, keeping my demeanor calm.
“So you’re going to run tests on me?” I asked in confusion, my forehead wrinkling.
“Kiera, baby,” Cain said “It’ll be okay, just give her your hand.”
I inched forward, my hand slowly sliding across the table towards hers.
Slowly, she took her hand in mine, patting the top of it, closing her eyes and clasping her palm over mine. Her forehead wrinkled as she pressed further, thinking, then she blinked her eyes open and her lips twisted into a frown. Slowly, she placed my hand down and looked towards Cain first.
“What’s wrong?” Cain asked, gripping my hand in his.
“Well, it’s unusual,” she said, evening her lips into a look of indifference. “But I guess it’s not unusual for humans.”
“Is it the baby?” I asked in a terrified whisper.
“No,” she said quickly. “It isn’t the baby. It’s your body, dear. It’s customary in our tradition for mates to mark each other, to solidify the bond. It helps our connection…” She looked between Cain and I. “But with the baby and your condition,” she cleared her throat. “Marking her while pregnant will not work.”
A look of fear flashed through Cain’s eyes. Enlarged pupils. Open mouth. Unsteady hands. “Are you certain?”
She nodded.
A lump in my throat began to form.
What did marking even mean?
“What does that mean—marking? Like with his teeth?” I asked, feeling my hands go clammy.
Mia nodded slowly.
Cain got to his feet and began pacing back and forth, his steps heavy as he slammed his fist into a wall, cracking through the drywall.
Mia took my hand in hers again. “The Alpha in him is not happy.”
“Why?” I whispered, confused, watching Cain continue to pace back and forth.
“His wolf is home. His mate, you are home with him. He wants to mark you. It’s instinctive and now he was told he cannot. It will take a lot of restraint and control for him not to do so.”
I shouldn’t have understood it. But I did. I actually did.
His eyes flashed gold. “I need to go,” he said, looking between Mia and I.
Mia nodded.
Cain opened the sliding doors of her cottage, and began to shift into his wolf.
I got to my feet instantly, feeling the need to chase after him—to ask him to stay and explain everything to me. But when his wolf took over, he was already gone—running down the hill, towards the tall pines and into the wilderness.
Mia walked to my side and took my hand in hers. “Most humans would faint or run.”
I turned to her. “I’m thinking about pulling out my hair right now and screaming, would that help?”
She laughed. “No.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s just hard to understand.”
“I can imagine,” she laughed. “But I think you’ll fit in perfectly here. We need a Luna with an open mind.”
“I think my mind’s as open as it could be,” I shook my head, trying to piece together the day.
I had more answers than I knew what to do with.
Cain was a werewolf. His pack had never had a human Luna before. His aunt was the packer’s healer. Werewolf’s bit each other to mark them. And for some reason, because of our baby growing inside of me, not to mention a baby that was half human, half werewolf—-he couldn’t mark me…yet.
“There’s one more thing you should know, Kiera,” Her soft eyes trailed over my face.
I forced out a breath, slamming my palms on the table and bracing myself for impact. “Shoot.”
“The fetus does not grow the same as a human,” she paused, glancing over my face.
I was definitely internally freaking out right now. Like a fire alarm with heavy smoke and no vent, freak out.
She continued, “It grows at a heightened rate. But I’m uncertain of the exact timing due to your genetics…your human genetics.”
“Got it. So, what? I could have it next week?” I bit my lip nervously.
“No,” she paused. “Not next week but sometime in the next few months.”
“Next few months?” I let out a panicked laugh.
The thought of running away seemed plausible now.
She nodded, grasping my hand in hers. “But I will be here. We’ll arrange weekly check ups. I will make a list for you of proper nutrients that your body will need to substitute what it lacks. And when your contractions come, I will be by your side as well as Cain.”
After a few deep breaths, my breathing returned back to normal.
I should have been freaked out beyond belief. I should have had a panic attack.
But instead, I felt like somehow, someway, things would workout in the end.