Chapter 9: The Wolf Within
915 Words
I didn’t know what made me do it.
Kieran had stopped with his mouth only a breath from mine. He was giving me a choice.
So I made one.
I caught the front of his shirt and leaned forward.
His lips were rough and warm against mine.
For one impossible second, I forgot where I was.
Then fear rushed back in, and I pulled away.
Kieran stared at me.
His hand dropped from my cheek, and something unreadable moved across his face. Frustration, perhaps. Surprise.
I had been the one to stop.
Had I rejected him?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
His jaw tightened.
“You can go.”
The words made my stomach twist.
“Go where?”
“Out of the office.”
He turned toward his desk, putting distance between us.
I stood near the door, unsure whether I should apologize again. He had every reason to be angry. I had kissed him, then pulled away as if he had done something wrong.
Kieran flicked his hand toward the hallway.
“Go, Mara.”
I stepped outside.
My cheeks burned.
The kiss had been nothing like I expected my first to be. It had been brief and uncertain, but I could still feel the warmth of his mouth.
“Are you all right?”
A deep voice came from the hallway.
I looked up.
One of the men who had come to Silver Hollow with Kieran stood a few feet away. The resemblance to Raven was impossible to miss—the same dark hair and the same dark eyes.
“We haven’t really spoken,” he said. “I’m Jenson.”
“Kieran’s brother?”
He smiled. “And Raven’s twin.”
I nodded.
He leaned against the wall beside me. “You look a little shaken.”
“I’m tired.”
The lie came easily.
I didn’t know which of Kieran’s people I could trust. I certainly didn’t want to explain what had happened inside the office to his younger brother.
“I was trying to remember how to get back to my room.”
“I can show you.”
His gaze dropped briefly before returning to my face.
I had seen that look many times in Silver Hollow.
It made my skin tighten.
“You will do no such thing.”
Kieran’s voice cut through the hallway.
The office door opened sharply behind me.
Jenson lifted both hands. “I was only trying to help.”
“Shouldn’t you be training?”
“I was on my way.”
Jenson gave me a quick smile before walking away.
Kieran’s crimson eyes followed him until he disappeared around the corner.
“I love my brother,” he said, “but I would prefer it if you were never alone with him.”
I stared at him.
He had sent me away only moments ago.
Was this another test?
Rafe and Cal had often tested me without warning. They wanted to see whether I would make the wrong choice.
“Mara,” Kieran said. “If you have something to say, say it.”
I lowered my gaze.
*Don’t speak. It’s a trick.*
“You’re tired?” he asked.
I nodded.
He didn’t push me.
“This way.”
He walked ahead of me, leading me through the hallways and up the stairs.
He stopped outside my room.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he said.
My head lifted.
“You were taken by surprise. I should have asked first.”
I opened my mouth, but no words came.
Kieran stepped inside the room.
“My wolf has less patience than I do,” he continued. “He can push against my control when he wants something badly enough.”
“Your wolf?”
He looked at me.
“My wolf is part of me, but he has his own thoughts and instincts.”
I didn’t understand.
“How can he be separate from you?”
“He isn’t separate. Not completely. We share the same body, but we don’t always want the same things.”
His gaze darkened.
“I have control over him. Most of the time.”
I remembered the way his expression had changed in the office. The sudden tension in his body. The way he had stepped away as if leaving me was the only way to regain control.
“What does he want?”
Kieran’s eyes held mine.
“To claim you.”
My breath caught.
He continued before I could speak.
“That doesn’t mean I will let him. You are not something to be claimed without understanding what you want.”
His words should have reassured me.
Instead, the strange pull beneath my ribs tightened.
Kieran turned away first.
“You should sleep.”
I stepped farther into the room.
“Are you still angry?”
He looked back at me.
“No.”
“Because I pulled away?”
“No.”
His expression softened.
“Because I forgot to give you a choice.”
I didn’t know how to respond.
No one had ever apologized to me for touching me.
Kieran moved toward the door.
“Goodnight, Mara.”
“Goodnight.”
He left.
I stood in the middle of my room, touching my lips.
The kiss had lasted only seconds.
But for the first time in my life, someone had wanted something from me and stopped when I pulled away.
That frightened me more than it should have.
- Writer
