CHAPTER 8
1139 Words
Aura
I barely had time to react. My pulse thundered in my ears, my wolf churning beneath my skin, but before I could shift or scream, Kai was there. One second it was only the Calen and me — the next, Kai’s palm clamped onto the scout’s wrist, his grip brutal.
I didn’t even realize how hard I was trembling until Kai’s hand clasped my arm.
“Let. Her. Go,” Kai said, his voice low, cold, and controlled, but I could feel the weight of something dangerous beneath it.
Caleb, the scout, hesitated, straightening his shoulders. He probably wasn’t used to being challenged by anyone, let alone a stranger. “You don’t know who she is, mutt,” he spat. “She’s a runaway from Alpha Ryder’s pack. She’s coming with me.”
My gut turned at the weight of those words, yet Kai didn't recoil.
"I don't think so," Kai said coolly, but his tone had a piercing edge that made my heart race. "Because I'm now protecting her.”
Calen sneered, stepping closer. “You have no authority to decide that.”
Kai took a single, lethal step forward. “And I don’t need authority to tear you apart.”
Something shifted in the air. I felt it — like an invisible pull humming beneath my skin. My wolf stirred. For the first time in weeks, she wasn’t cowering.
“He’s… dangerous,” my wolf whispered inside me.
I grasped Kai’s sleeve. The feel of his substantial arm beneath my fingertips grounded me, while it also sent a peculiar, tingling warmth through my body.
The scout hissed, baring his teeth. I could feel the shift crackle across the air, but Kai didn’t back down. His presence was firm, covering me without hesitation.
Calen looked between us, and for a minute I saw anxiety flit across his face.
“I’ll be back,” he spat, moving away. “And when I do, she won’t escape.”
Then he was gone, disappearing into the trees like a shadow.
I breathed, my entire body trembling. Kai turned to me, his face blank, though his grasp remained firm on my arm.
“You alright?” he asked.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “I… yeah.”
His shoulders were strained and his jaw was tight. "Please," he whispered. "Let's take you back home.”
We walked back to the small cabin that had begun to feel safe, his home. The door closed behind us, and I collapsed onto the rickety couch, covering my face with my hands.
Kai crouched ahead of me. "Is he one of your people?"
I nodded, my voice uncertain.
Groaning, Kai ran a hand through his hair. “I'm not asking for the whole story, you see. But I'm not going to let them drag you back to a place you don't want to be.”
In some way, his voice made my throat tight. "Why?"
He shrugged and his lips formed a faint, crooked smile. “Call it instinct. Or maybe bad judgment. Anyway, I will not let anyone hurt you.”
I blinked to prevent stinging in my eyes. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough,” he said plainly.
For a long period, we were silent. I was crying, but I didn't realize it until his thumb wiped away a tear.
It was not supposed to be this way. I shouldn't lean on anyone. And yet he was here and I couldn't hold myself back.
My throat cleared. "Thank you."
He gave me a half-smile, standing and moving to the kitchen. “You want tea? Or something stronger?”
“Tea’s fine.”
Kai reappeared with two steaming mugs, sitting next me on the couch. We drank in quiet for a while, the warmth pouring into my bones.
I didn’t know how to explain the pull I felt around him. It wasn’t like with Ryder — that searing, scorching mate bond that eclipsed everything else. This was… gentler. Steadier. A flicker instead of a flame.
But it made me want to stay. And that worried me more than anything.
~~~~~
A few days passed in unsettling silence. I kept going to work at Molly’s, keeping my head down. Kai was there, a gentle presence, watching out for me without hovering. But every time his fingers brushed mine or his gaze lingered too long, my wolf awoke restlessly.
It seemed subtle at first. A flash of awareness beneath my skin.
But It came to a head one evening when we both reached for the same jar in the kitchen. My fingertips skimmed his, and a thrill raced through me — electrifying, startling.
Kai tensed, his breath hitching. His eyes sparked gold.
I stared, my heart thumping. My wolf pushed across my skin, sensing something… odd. Something familiar yet impossible.
And at that moment, something cracked open.
I felt his wolf.
It wasn’t loud or forceful. It was quiet, controlled — but there. A steady, powerful presence beneath his skin.
My wolf, weak and battered as she was, stirred.
“Mate?” she whispered, confused.
With a thumping heart, I jerked back.
Despite his best efforts to hide it, Kai appeared equally shaken.
“You okay?” he asked, voice rough.
I nodded quickly, too afraid to speak. The air between us was different now.
Kai swallowed hard, stepping back, his expression shuttering. “I— I should check on the generator,” he muttered, bolting out the back door.
I stood frozen, my fingers still tingling from the contact. My wolf was pacing now, restless and confused.
What just happened?
Even as the door closed behind him, the room's aura continued to throb, heavy with an unsaid presence.
I put a hand on my abdomen. The baby — Ryder’s baby — ached at the edge of my awareness. Guilt twisted inside me.
But it didn’t stop the way my wolf had responded to Kai.
I didn’t understand it. Didn’t want to. And yet…
Outside, the woods appeared to sag closer as the last of the sunshine disappeared. I sensed the threat, but I wasn't by myself for the first time since I'd run.
And I felt something was about to happen as I lay awake that night, listening to the town's far-off sounds.
My thoughts tangled and my wolf was on edge. I could still feel the heat of Kai’s touch, the flash of gold in his eyes. The bond tugged at me, unfamiliar and persistent.
Somewhere in the darkness, I heard him pacing outside. And when the wind shifted, carrying his scent through the open window, my wolf reacted again — sharp, yearning, confused.
I closed my eyes.
This bond… whatever it was, wasn’t supposed to exist.
Not now.
Not here.
Not with him.
But fate, it seemed, didn’t care what I wanted.
- Writer
