The Lycan Claimed Her Fate

7

The car jolted along the gravel road at 80 km/h, which really jolted me. But Kane didn't even seem to notice how fast we were driving down the road. It was as if he was in another world. I watched him anxiously as a muscle in his jaw kept twitching and his hands clenched around the steering wheel.

A lump formed in my throat as the trees passed us by as nothing more than shadows. But I didn't dare point it out to him, as he didn't seem to be in the here and now. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was talking to someone. But that was totally impossible, as he wasn't talking to anyone on the phone.

I gasped in shock as the car hit a pothole and I flew against the seat, my legs pressed against his thighs. Kane seemed to wake up from his excursion into his own world and slowed down. His eyes shot to me.

"Did you hurt yourself?" he asked, scanning my body for injuries. His eyes were full of concern. I just nodded and felt my throat dry as I tried to answer. But only a small croak came out of my mouth. I lowered my gaze and looked out the windshield. The trees were no longer flying past us so quickly and the road was more pleasant.

"I'm sorry. I was lost in thought," he said and his hand stroked my legs for a brief moment. His touch caused a tingling sensation where his hand slid over my legs. It felt as if that spot was burning, even though the fabric of my dress was still between them. A lump formed in my throat. I felt very hot and wanted to open a window. But I didn't get the chance because Kane took his hand away again and looked straight into my eyes instead.

As if he knew exactly what he was doing to me. At least that's what the triumphant glint in his eyes told me. "And you really want to pretend that you don't feel the least bit attracted to me?" he asked in a rough voice with a cheeky grin twitching at the right corner of his mouth. I snorted and rolled my eyes before looking away.

"Who says I'm just pretending?" He laughed softly and then looked forward again. "As you say, July. People just find it hard to accept the truth. They'd rather believe a lie."

His words hit me because I realized how right he was. We told ourselves things that sounded better than the truth and then eventually believed them. I sighed quietly and closed my eyes wearily. I was too exhausted to discuss it now.

I was too tired to worry about who I liked and who I didn't. What I was afraid of and what would happen tomorrow. Kane stroked my legs.

"It's too late to sleep now, July." I opened my eyes and looked at him confused. But he just grinned and before I knew it, we were driving up a small road and a slight hill.

My heart stopped when the back of the car swerved for a moment on the gravel as we drove over it. But my heartbeat calmed down when the house came into view.

From here you could see large windows. It looked modern. But then it disappeared from my view again.

"Why do you live on the mountain?" I asked quietly. As far back as I could remember, many people preferred to live in the middle of a town where there was a lot going on. Hardly anyone wanted to live lonely and alone on a hill, far away from people.

Kane looked at me and grinned. "It's nice and quiet here and you have a great view of the sea and the city. It's particularly beautiful and romantic at night," he said. His eyes took on a warm sparkle, which made the butterflies fly around in my stomach.

"Do you have any idea of romance?" These words just came out of my lips. Without me being able to hold them back much. Kane raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Is that so unbelievable?" I nodded slightly. "You don't seem like a romantic." He furrowed his eyebrows and looked me over before turning sharply around the next bend.

"What man does that? But secretly we're all romantic. Even if it's just for the person we truly love." His words echoed in my head and made me blush. I wasn't sure what he was getting at.

But he had emphasized the last words and I wondered if he was talking about me. But I quickly dismissed that thought. You couldn't love someone after a few hours. Never. That was nonsense.

"Well, if you think so..." I just mumbled. True love. Did you even have it? I thought Josh really loved me, but now it turns out that that was probably just because he was controlling. Josh didn't like it when he didn't get what he wanted.

But that didn't necessarily have anything to do with love, but with greed. Secretly I wondered whether he had only been with me out of greed because I was very popular in the village and it made him look better, or whether he really loved me. Probably the former. These thoughts alone made me shudder.

My grandmother hadn't had much luck in love either. Her husband had left her as soon as he found out that she was pregnant with my mother. The thoughts of my mother brought tears to my eyes and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

As if Kane could read my thoughts, he put his hand on my leg and ran soothing circles over it. For a moment I closed my eyes and enjoyed his touch. Then I opened my eyes again as we turned sharply up the next bend and shortly afterwards drove past the first house. I frowned in confusion, but my eyes immediately widened again when I saw it a little further away.

The house was modern. Made of stone. There was a terrace on the left side. There was also a room with a large window that led onto the terrace. This house also had relatively large windows. There were a few stairs leading up.

It had a straight roof. The lamps that stood around the property cast a warm and inviting light on the house. I felt warm and it felt like I was at home. Although that sounded totally stupid. But it was. I quickly shook off these thoughts as the black Trans Am came to a stop.

The car had barely stopped when the door opened and an older woman came out. She was wearing old jeans and an oversized top. She also wore an apron that was stained in a few places. Probably from grease.

A look into her eyes told me that she was Kane's mother. A warm smile played around her chapped lips. She looked tired.

As soon as Kane saw her, he got out and went to her. He hugged her and whispered something to her while I didn't move.

If I did that, I would only be in pain again. But I also wanted to sit in here all day. His mother smiled at him and then she looked at me. The warm expression on her face didn't fade for a minute. On the contrary. The warm expression on her features only grew stronger.