CHAPTER 15
1566 Words
The weight of the day pressed down on Elise long before the sun had fully risen.
She stood at the training grounds, kicking the edge of her feet against the ground, trying to steady her nerves.
The open field was filled with birds flying around and crickets chirping.
Around her, other pack members chatted quietly, waiting for their instructors to arrive.
But Elise barely noticed them.
Her mind was stuck somewhere between yesterday’s conversation with Thea and the strange dreams that haunted her all night.
The nightmares she had, each one whispering doubts she tried hard to silence.
“You don’t belong.”
The words clung to her like cobwebs.
She hugged her arms tighter around herself, feeling small despite everything people were starting to say about her.
Brave.
Special.
Destined for greatness.
They didn’t know the truth.
They didn’t know she didn’t even understand her own powers.
That she hadn’t earned any of this.
That deep down, she was still the girl who was scared of her own reflection.
She wondered if they could even sense her discomfort so she sighed.
“Hey.”
The voice cut through her thoughts.
Elise turned to find Kai standing there, hands in his pockets, watching her.
And immediately she saw him, all her fears vanished and she set focus on him.
His dark hair was tousled like he hadn’t bothered to fix it after waking up.
His gray shirt clung to his shoulders in a way that made it hard for her not to stare.
But it wasn’t the way he looked that caught her; it was the way he saw her.
Like he wasn’t fooled by the whispers or the rumors.
Like he saw everything and stayed anyway.
“You okay?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
Elise nodded stiffly, then shook her head. “Honestly? No.”
Kai’s mouth twitched like he was fighting a smile. “Good. Means you’re not lying to yourself.”
Before she could reply, a sharp whistle echoed across the field.
Lucien and the pack’s training leader were signaling to everyone of them to come over..
“Come on,” Kai said, bumping his shoulder lightly against hers.
“First day. Let’s not give Lucien a reason to bark.” He said, chucking.
Elise followed him, heart pounding.
First day.
First day of proving herself.
First day of pretending she wasn’t terrified.
Training was brutal.
It wasn’t that the exercises were impossible, she could keep up physically, but the mental strain was a lot for her.
Every time Lucien shouted for them to tap into their instincts, Elise froze.
Every time she was told to “let the wolf out,” her heart pounded against her ribs, empty.
She didn’t feel anything.
No sudden surge of power.
No hidden strength.
No wolf for her to let out.
Just the ringing reminder in her head that whatever saved Becky that night,whatever came over her on the night of the silver moon ball, whatever magic lived inside her, came only when she was desperate, and today, surrounded by people, under the watchful eyes of her pack, she couldn’t summon it at all.
Everyone’s eyes turned gold with their fangs coming out when they widened their mouths.
Elise was the only one who wasn’t changing.
She couldn’t even widen her mouth as it made her feel like she was going to puke.
The guilt was eating down at her. She felt emotionally down.
She really couldn’t find any wolf in her, which made her self esteem go down to ground level.
By the time Lucien dismissed them for a break, Elise’s hands were trembling.
She sat on the grass, pulling her knees to her chest, trying to breathe past the shame burning her lungs.
“You’re being too hard on yourself.”
Kai’s voice again, low and sure, right beside her.
She glanced up to find him crouched next to her, his forearms resting on his knees.
He wasn’t sweating like the others. He barely even looked tired.
Unfair.
“Easy for you to say,” Elise muttered, pressing her forehead against her knees. “You’re good at this.”
Kai didn’t deny it.
He just reached out and plucked a blade of grass, twirling it between his fingers like he had all the time in the world.
“You think I woke up one day knowing how to shift, how to fight, how to control all of this?” he said. “I didn’t. No one does.”
Elise swallowed, still not looking at him.
“It’s not about getting it right on the first day,” Kai continued. “It’s about showing up. It’s about trying, even when you’re scared shitless.”
Elise gave a weak laugh against her knees. “That about sums it up.”
Finally, she lifted her head. Their eyes met…and something shifted.
Everything and everyone around them blurred and all Elise could hear was her heart beat.
She could only see Kai.
“You don’t have to prove anything to anyone,” Kai said quietly. “Not to them. Not to me. Just… to yourself.”
The way he said it, like he was referring to himself as well, she believed it because it felt like he’d been through this before, it undid something inside her.
Without thinking, Elise reached out, maybe to steady herself, maybe to touch the air, shejust reached out, and her fingers brushed against his.
Kai froze for a heartbeat.
And then he moved.
Gently, like he was giving her time to pull away, he cupped the side of her face.
His palm was warm against her chilled skin.
For a moment, neither of them breathed.
Elise could especially feel like she was
And then Kai leaned in, slowly, giving her every chance to stop him.
Elise didn’t.
Their lips met in a kiss so soft it was barely a whisper.
It wasn’t rushed or wild, neither was it sluggish, it was slow, careful, like he was memorizing the shape of her mouth, the feel of her against him.
Elise’s heart cracked wide open.
It was her first kiss and yet, it felt natural.
She had thought about what her first kiss would look like, although, not always, as she barely had any time to think about trivial matters like most girls her age would, her life has harder than all of that.
Her eyes fluttered close.
She felt the world tilt, not crashing, not shattering, but shifting into something new.
Something beautiful.
When they finally broke apart, Kai rested his forehead against hers, breathing her in.
“You’re not alone, Elise,” he whispered. “Not anymore.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, holding onto the moment like it might slip through her fingers.
Maybe she wasn’t ready.
Maybe she didn’t know how to be strong yet.
Maybe she would stumble and fall a thousand times.
But maybe; just maybe, she wouldn’t have to do it alone.
And maybe, for now, that was enough.
As the last of the other pack members left the training field, Elise remained seated on the grass for a few moments longer.
The lingering warmth of Kai’s kiss still on her lips.
She couldn’t explain it, but every part of her felt… lighter.
Like a weight had been lifted, not because she had solved all her problems, but because for the first time in what felt like forever, she felt seen.
Kai had made it real.
The kiss wasn’t some sweeping declaration of love or desire, but it was something deeper.
A quiet promise.
A reminder that she wasn’t alone in this.
Sighing, Elise slowly pushed herself to her feet.
Her body ached from the morning’s training, but it wasn’t the physical exhaustion that slowed her pace as she made her way back to the packhouse.
It was the storm of thoughts swirling inside her head, thoughts of her powers, her past, the unsettling feeling that something was always just out of reach.
“Well, except for Kai’s sweet lips”, she said to herself chuckling, feeling silly.
She arrived at her room, the door creaking open as she entered.
The familiar scent of lavender from the scented candles on her dresser welcomed her like a soft embrace.
Elise sank onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.
The day’s events replayed in her mind; Kai’s words, the kiss, the spark of something more.
What if I’m not enough?
The thought echoed in her mind, but she pushed it away.
She couldn’t let that self-doubt drown out the possibilities that lay ahead.
Not now.
Not when things were starting to shift.
Not after her first kiss.
She stared out the window, smiling.
The light of the sunset looked so beautiful on the trees, reflecting the shadows of each tree.
She could almost hear the whisper of the wind through the trees.
The pack was out there, waiting, relying on her to step into her power.
To step into her role.
“But I don’t even know what that is yet”, she said to herself.
Her hands trembled slightly as she sat up, pulling her knees to her chest once more.
She closed her eyes, focusing on the memory of Kai’s touch, his steady presence.
She needed to hold onto that feeling.
She wasn’t alone.
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts.
- Writer
