Page 57 of Outcast
Grumblingat the chirping of the birds outside and the horrid sunlight illuminating my room, I buried my head under a pillow, hoping that would somehow erase my dilemmas. My sleep had been restless, with dreams of a certain white-haired beauty plaguing me, and I hated it.
Hated that I loved it.
Last night had been eye-opening as I laid in her lap, taking what I thought were my last breaths. For all of the anger I held onto, I never thought I'd seek her out. Yet in what we’d thought were our last moments, we had fought to get to her. Our mate.
But I had sworn to never forgive her for my mother's death many years ago. What kind of man would that make me, to break that oath?
When I’d fought to get to her, certain those were my last moments, never had I imagined Kira was capable of pulling me back from the brink of death. But once again, she’d surprised me with her tenacity and determination. She was a warrior. It left us in this awkward stasis though now that I had sought her out for comfort in what I’d thought would be the end.
"I will pull you back from the grave if I have to."
Her pleas were on a non-stop reel in my head, slowly tearing down the wall I had built between us and repeatedly reinforced all of these years.
Growling, I ripped the pillow off my head and threw it at the wall in frustration, as if that would help. What I really needed was a fight to blow off steam. Maybe Seth would spar with me this morning.
Kira managed to worm her way into my mind more than she had been before—a feat I hadn’t thought possible.
Hating her was easier than...whateverthiswas between us. Hate was familiar. Love was a foreign concept. One I didn't think I'd ever have the capacity to grasp, let alone reciprocate.
My mother's death had been the nail in that coffin, and my father was the hammer that constantly slammed that nail deeper with his lack of compassion. His life revolved around getting revenge for my mother, and at a young age, I had admired him for it.
He wanted vengeance for losing the love of his life, and I had vowed to help him achieve it. It’s the only thing we had ever bonded over.
A soft banging against my door drew me out of my thoughts. Swiftly jumping to my feet, I looked down to see if any marks lingered from the attack. Soft white lines littered my skin, but luckily they blended in well.
"One second!" I called while picking up a black shirt from the floor, sniffing it to see if it was clean.Meh, good enough. Shrugging it on, I hurried to answer the door.
Pulling it open, I stood frozen in shock at the sight of the magnificent white wolf sitting there patiently waiting for me.Kira.
Mate.
Unsure of how to communicate with her now, I hesitantly asked, "Do you want to come in?"
Without further ado, she rose from her haunches and brushed past my legs and into my home. This was odd to say the least.Why was she in wolf form?
Out.
No. I don't trust you to not solidify the bond if I let you out.
Grumbling sounded in our mind at his clear displeasure, but he didn't deny it.
The door clicked shut softly, and I turned to locate where the wolf had gone. Amusingly, I found her curled up on my sofa, with her tail wrapped around her and her bright eyes focused on me.
Maybe Seth's nickname for her was apt. She looked like a cat all curled up.
How was I supposed to act around her? Last night didn’t suddenly erase the past sixteen years of purposeful distance and issues that I had with her, but it damn sure complicated things.
Clapping my hands once and rubbing them together, I hedged, "So..."
She lifted her head and tilted it at my words, letting out a small whine.
Shaking my head at her, I cut the shit, "You know full well this will get us nowhere. Change back and tell me what you need so I can go about my day."
After this, Idefinitelyneeded to spar.
She did as I asked, but I honestly hadn't thought my request through, because when her tanned skin and luscious curves stood on display for my eyes to behold, my brain short-circuited.
Scenting her in my home and seeing her stunning body on full display fucked with my head, causing me to lose the tight grip I held on my intentions of keeping this a platonic interaction to test the waters of where to go from here.
