19
1247 Words
KADE
The moment my brothers disappeared from the scene, the silence that followed was deafening. It was no longer awkward, it was way softer than before.
It was something careful.
Her eyes remained on the cut above my brow, then drifted down to the blood on my shirt.
You need to clean that, she said quietly.
“It's nothing serious,” I replied.
She frowned.
“It may be nothing to you, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re still hurt.”
There was a firmness in her tone that caught me off guard.
Before I could argue, she stepped closer.
“Come with me,” she said.
I stared at her for a second. This same woman had been avoiding me for days, shutting the door in my face and refusing to speak to me. Now she was the one leading the conversation.
My wolf liked it far too much.
I followed her to her room quietly.
Once inside, she moved around with a kind of confidence that surprised me, grabbing a small bowl of warm water, a clean cloth and bandages from the shelf.
“Sit,” she ordered, pointing to the chair by the bed.
I almost smiled. There was something strange and comforting about the way she spoke to me. She spoke to me gently, not as an alpha, nor as a monster, just as a mere man who had just returned injured.
I sat.
She stood in front of me, her brows slightly furrowed in concentration.
The room was quiet except for the rustle of cloth and the faint sound of water.
Then she lifted her hand and paused.
Her fingers brushed the cut near my eyebrow lightly. Her touch was gentle, soft.
It sent a strange warmth through me.
“You really got into a fight,” she murmured.
“A small fight, actually,” I said.
She gave me a look that clearly said she didn’t believe me. As she raised the damp cloth toward the cut, I felt it begin.
The familiar pull beneath my skin.
I was healing.
The wound tightened and began to close.
Her hand froze.
I watched her expression change. At first, confusion. Then, disbelief. Then, something close to fear.
The cut was healing right before her eyes.
She pulled the damp cloth back slowly as she whispered, “Kade…”
I looked at her.
Her eyes were wide with shock, fixated on my face.
“You’re healing.”
I glanced at the reflection in the mirror beside the bed.
The skin had already begun to mend. The cut was now only a faint line.
“It does that,” I said quietly.
Her gaze moved to the bruises on my shoulder. As she looked, even those began to fade.
The dark marks softened beneath my skin, disappearing bit by bit.
She stepped back slightly.
I noticed it immediately. That small flicker of fear in her face.
My chest tightened.
“It frightens you.”
It wasn’t a question.
She hesitated at first. “A little,” she admitted honestly.
I nodded slowly. “I understand,” I said.
She looked down at the cloth in her hand.
“I know you’re a werewolf,” she whispered softly, almost to herself. “I know what you are now. But seeing t happen like this….it’s different.”
Her honesty didn’t hurt in any way, in fact, it made me respect her more.
I leaned back slightly, giving her soace. “You know you don’t have to help me,” I said.
Her head snapped. “What?”
“If this makes you uncomfortable, I can leave.”
For a moment, she just stared at me.
Then, her expression softened. “No,” she said quickly, stepping forward again.
“I want to understand you.”
Those words settled deep insde me.
I held her gaze. “Wolves heal faster than humans,” I began to explain. “Cuts, bruises, broken bones. They don’t last long”
Her eyes flickered with curiosity now, pushing the fear aside.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“Sometimes.”
She tilted her head slightly. “You say that like it’s a normal thing.”
“For me, it is,” I said.
She gave me a small, almost sad smile.
“Your world is different and quite chaotic.”
“That’s true.”
There was a small pause. Then she gently touched the fading bruise on my shoulder.
Her fingers were warmer than I expected.
“This one is almost gone too,” she muttered.
I looked at her hand resting on my skin.
“Yes.”
She didn’t move away and neither did I.
The space between us felt smaller. I could smell the scent of her soap from her skin, her damp hair carried traces of lavender.
My wolf began to stir.
“Mine,” it growled.
I pushed the instinct down.
Her fingers moved slowly over my shoulder, almost absentmmindedly.
“You scared me last night,” she admitted.
I looked at her.
“The fight?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I thought you were going to get hurt.”
That caught me off guard. She wasn’t afraid of her safety, she was afraid for me.
Something warm spread through my chest.
“I’ve been in worse fights than this,” I said.
“That doesn’t matter, neither does it make it any better,” she snapped.
A small laugh almost escaped my mouth.
Only Isla would argue with a werewolf Alpha about danger.
I let my gaze linger on her face.
“You were worried?”
Her cheeks flushed.
“I just….didn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
The words hit harder than any blow from a rival wolf.
For the moment, I forgot how to breathe.
She looked away, suddenly aware of how close we were.
“I should still clean the blood,” she said softly.
I nodded.
She dipped the cloth into the warm water and carefully began to wipe the dried blood from my jaw and neck. This time, there was no fear in her touch, just gentleness.
Her fingers brushed my skin ore than once and each time, it took everything in me not to pull her closer.
“Stop staring,” she murmured.
I didn’t deny it.
“I’m simply watching you,” I said.
“Why?”
Because I’m trying to understand how you can terrify me and calm me at the same time.
But I said something else.
“Because I like looking at you.”
Her hand stilled.
She looked up slowly, our eyes meeting.
Suddenly the air shifted. The room felt warmer.
Neither of us moved. I could hear her heart racing in her chest.
Her gaze dropped to my lips briefly before returning to my eyes.
My wolf pushed forward, desperate to close the distance between us.
But I stayed still. I wouldn’t rush this.
Yet.
Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
“You’re not as cold as I thought you were.”
A small smile touched my lips.
“And you’re nit as afraid as you pretend to be.”
For the first time, she smiled back.
A real genuine smile.
It was soft, beautiful.
In that moment, I knew something had shifted between us.
The fear was still there.
The uncertainty too.
But there was trust.
And trust was the first step to achieving this bond.
- Writer
