Chapter7: Broken Trust
821 Words
I couldn't sleep.
The room Kai gave me looked peaceful—wood-paneled walls, soft quilt, moonlight sliding across the floor like a secret. It was all trying too hard to be comforting.
But my skin itched like the walls were listening.
Elena’s words wouldn’t shut up.
They’re broke. Totally ruined.
And Sarah’s smile—that overly sweet one she used when she was lying—burned hotter than her hand on my arm.
By 3 a.m., I’d had enough. Sleep was a joke.
The house creaked above me. Too quiet to feel safe, too loud to ignore. Every shift of the floorboards made my breath stick.
I was pouring hot water into a mug when a voice came from the doorway.
“Can’t sleep?”
The mug clanked against the counter, sloshing water everywhere. My heart jumped so hard it hurt.
Kai stood there, barefoot, shirtless, shadows crawling up his frame. His voice had that scratchy edge like he hadn't used it in hours.
“Do you always sneak around in the dark?” I asked, grabbing a towel, trying to pretend my pulse wasn’t racing.
He raised a shoulder. “Didn’t mean to. I caught your scent. Thought you might be... restless.”
“You smelled me?”
“Wolf thing.”
I side-eyed him. “Creepy thing.”
He chuckled softly. “Fair.”
I turned back to the kettle. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Great. He could probably smell that too.
“I keep forgetting you’re not just…” I paused. “Human.”
His tone shifted—lower, uncertain. “Does that scare you?”
I looked at him again. Not the Alpha. Not right now. Just a guy with tired eyes and too much weight on his shoulders.
“No,” I said. “It’s not the wolf part. It’s everything else.”
He stepped closer. “Like what?”
I set the mug down too hard. “You really want to do this now?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Elena said you're broke. That the pack’s falling apart. So just tell me. Am I a solution to a problem, Kai?”
He closed his eyes. “Elena talks too much.”
“But she’s right?”
He didn’t answer.
I stared at him. “Is that why you want me? Because I come with status and stability and—”
“No,” he said quickly. “It’s not why I want you. But yeah... it would help.”
There it was. Honest. And somehow worse.
“So how do I know this isn’t just about fixing your broken kingdom?”
He didn’t try to argue. Instead, he walked up and kissed me.
It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t careful. It was heat and panic and something that felt like drowning. And I kissed him back, even though I didn’t know what I believed anymore.
When we pulled apart, I could barely breathe.
“That,” he said, his voice rough, “wasn’t strategy. That was real.”
I didn’t answer. My heart was thudding too loud to think.
“But you still need me,” I said finally.
“The pack needs what you bring,” he said. “But I need you. That’s different.”
I wasn’t sure it was.
“I don’t even know who I am here, Kai. Luna? Pawn? Vet with a mess on her hands?”
“Be whoever you are,” he said. “Start there.”
I studied his face. The stubble, the tired eyes. The ache I didn’t want to feel.
“What if I can’t tell who to trust?”
“Then we figure it out. Together.”
“And if I get your pack hurt?”
He hesitated. Just long enough.
“I’m the Alpha. If something goes wrong, it’s on me.”
“No,” I whispered. “You don’t believe that.”
“I want to.”
I didn’t know what to say.
And then—
A scream.
High. Broken. Human.
Kai was already moving, half-shifted. His muscles rippled as the wolf surfaced.
“Stay here,” he barked.
“Like hell,” I said, the fire sparking in my palms. “If someone’s in trouble—”
“Maya, we don’t know what it is.”
Another scream. Closer this time.
“That sounded like Sarah,” I said, cold crawling down my spine.
Kai swore under his breath. “Wake Danny and Marcus. Lock the house.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“She’s my friend.”
He paused, jaw tight, then nodded once.
“Fine. But behind me. You hear me?”
“Yeah.”
We hadn’t even reached the door when it slammed open.
Sarah stumbled in—bloodied, shaking. Her eyes found mine and didn’t let go.
“Help…” she gasped, crumpling to the floor. “They took Elena.”
- Writer
