Chapter 4: Blindly
1220 Words
KADE
I've never felt like this before.
I’d bought a cabin on the south side of the city, hoping for a haven away from the noise and expectations. Yet when I stumbled on her last night, I didn't think twice before bringing her up here.
The kiss of sunlight slides across the cabin floor, landing on her, and a soft restless moan escapes her lips.
Half-lost in sleep, Half-lost in memory.
Her head rests on my thigh, her face just beneath mine.
I want to pull away.
I've wanted to from the very moment I saw her in the woods.
But… I can't.
For some reason, I just can't.
My fingers drift towards her, tracing the curve of the blanket and reaching for the corner of her face.
But just before I touch her, I hear something.
A crack. Maybe a snap.
Something… out of order.
My gaze flicks towards the cabin's door as scent and sound twist together.
Someone's here.
Someone familiar.
I shift, careful not to disturb her, and slip out from underneath her.
Moving towards the door, my muscles tense until I step out onto the small porch.
Morning drifts lazily over the forest, light still peeking through the branches.
My eyes sweep across, nothing out of place.
Yet there's an undeniable tension brimming within me…
…Within him!
Konan, my wolf.
It's different from the unease he felt when I saved her in the woods. Then, it was raw. Pure instinct.
This time, it's heavier. Precise.
He sees something I don't, feels something I can't.
“What is it?” I whisper.
Just then, my eyes dart towards the forest floor, and notice the character stepping out.
“How shameless can one be?” He says.
His face finally catches the light.
Suddenly, the sound and scent makes sense.
It's him. Jason Hale. Alpha of the White Lotus’...
…and he's not alone.
Shadowy figures step out beside him, all carrying a similar but weaker scent.
Members of his pack, perhaps.
Already shifted, their low growls hint at a vivid truth:
They have no idea who I am. Good.
“I know she's in there. I traced her scent down here” he arrogantly declares. “Give her to me, and I'll think about giving you a lighter sentence as punishment.”
“Punishment? Punishment for what?”
He hisses.
“For daring to interfere with what belongs to me.”
I let my gaze sweep over him, slow and deliberate.
“I'm pretty sure you rejected her last night. As did she.”
My words hang low and definite, stinging while his fists clench.
“Ava doesn't belong to you. Not anymore.”
“Oh for God's sake” a different voice speaks. “How much!?” It's lighter. Feminine.
Her annoyance becomes plain when she treads out of the forest’s secrets as well.
Joanna White.
She's even more serpentine in person.
“Excuse me?” I tilt, shifting my attention to her.
“How much do you want? How much will it cost to give her to us so we can call it a day? I don't have the time for this.”
“You speak of your own sister like she's some—”
“Are you the pope or something?” she sneers. “I'm just being generous with you here. It wouldn't take much to rip you to shreds. Don't let those muscles give you some fake sense of confidence.”
The unease within me grumbles louder.
Yeah, I don't like her either.
“Well, I'm afraid I won't be able to honour your request. Ava White is—”
“A White Lotus!” Jason snarls. “Rejected or not, she's still a member of my pack. Give her to me. Or else.”
“Or else what?” I ask, deliberately slow, and his calmness cracks.
His face hardens. Jaw working.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” he spits.
“Take a step closer. Find out.”
The silence snaps, tension hitting a halt
His pack shifts, waiting for their signal.
Konan stirs, waiting for his.
But just then, the cabin door opens, and all eyes fall beside me.
Ava steps out, wrapped in a blanket. Hair wild. Face pale. Shock written all over.
But the emotion isn't directed at Jason. Not at Joanna either.
She's… looking at me!
Like she's seen a ghost.
Jaw hanging, the words slip out.
“You're… Kade Blanchard. You're the Lycan King!”
Her words hit me like cold water.
My eyes widen, my throat constricting at the very sound of it.
“What?” I almost deny.
How? How could she possibly know?
“The tattoo. The scent. The silver look in your eyes” she says. “I knew I'd seen them before. I just didn't know where.”
She stumbles forward, almost crashing into me.
“I saw the emblem,” she says. “The Alpha of White Sun. It's you.”
Shit. That, I can't easily deny.
The Lenora Clan was famous for a lot of things. One, was the name my father gave it the day all its packs formed a coalition:
The White Sun.
Ava… pieced together everything.
“Impossible” Kade speaks.
I barely glance at him, or Joanna's sudden paleness, when a stronger scent approaches.
Unlike Ava's warmth, or the subtle coldness that announced the White Lotus’, this one's hard.
Hard and fiery.
Royal guards! From every direction.
They found me. ‘She’ found me.
A small man scuffles into the setting, breathing like someone that's being chased.
“Alpha Jason!” He cuts through the simmering tension. “Royal guards. They're heading here. Hundreds of them!”
“What?!” Jason snaps, his bravado cracking underneath the news.
“They're here for me” I murmur, glancing back at Ava and noticing her unease. “You have to stay close.”
“Like hell I'll stand for this s**t!” Jason hurls, completely losing composure. “I’m not getting dragged into your bullcrap. Lycan King or not, Ava belongs to me. Don't think you can just come in and change—”
“Enough.”
My words coil around Konan’s heightened discontent.
In an instant, he releases it—The Alpha Aura.
Flooding the setting, they all plummet to the crowd, kneeling before their mind or bodies can comprehend.
“I've heard just about enough… from you.”
The glow in my eyes tinkers, and Jason falls with chest pressed against the crushed leaves, dwindling underneath the pressure.
Konan’s impatience is growing. He threatens a shift.
But not here. Not now.
I turn back, silent as the forest holds its breath, and lock gazes with Ava.
All the chaos dissolves into one single point of focus: me and her.
Her eyes are wide. Still uncertain. Still searching. Still fearful.
“I'm not leaving you with them.” I extend my hand. Deliberate. Inviting.
“But I need you to trust me.”
She hesitates, and time stretches as chaos throttles closer.
But I ignore it.
I ignore all of it.
All that matters is her.
Then, in a heartbeat, her hand slips into mine. The moment it touches me, Konan quiets, and the storm within me stills.
“I trust you.”
- Writer
