Hell Hound

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen.

Kiara woke when the warm morning sunlight peaked through the curtains. She and Nick had spent the night exploring the effects of their bond during their lovemaking. Their night together had been amazing, and after hours of activity, they had finally fallen into bed and passed out. Kiara cuddled closer to Nick, who was still snoring softly. Her bare breasts pressed firmly against his side. Kiara was in no hurry to wake him. She was enjoying cuddling close to him and trailing patterns on his chest with her fingertips while he slept. Kiara was still having a little trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Nick was now hers. Forever. Nothing short of death itself could sever a mating bond. Growing up, Kiara had never let herself imagine life with a mate. In fact, she had been determined never to take one. But that was before she met Nick. Before he saw her wolf and decided to accept her, all of her, for what and who she was. There was still a lot to talk about. Like the fact that they were both from different packs. Although Kiara had never fully been accepted by her pack and Nick was a future alpha. Not to mention that if she joined Scarlett River, they would have to deal with Marcus. Kiara felt a sinking feeling in her stomach whenever she thought about facing Marcus Hunter again. The man was scary, not to mention vicious.

Nick stirred. He was slowly becoming aware of Kiara’s soft warm body pressed against him. He opened his eyes and looked down at the gorgeous woman trailing her fingers over his chest. A purr of admiration rumbled through his chest. Kiara’s fingers stopped trailing and she pressed her palm over his heart as she looked up at him. Their eyes met and a warm feeling filled their chests. Love. Delicious and warm, it filled them both. “Good morning.” he finally said, breaking the silent spell.

“Good morning.” Kiara smiled lazily. Her earlier worries were momentarily forgotten. Slowly they reached to kiss each other. A slow burning kiss that had them both growling in appreciation. Heat licked her insides as she pressed firmly into his side. Nick’s hand stroked her hip as his own arousal began to show.

Eventually, Kiara and Nick managed to drag themselves out of the suite and downstairs where the training camp was still taking place. They were already running very late. Nick had a mid-morning training session with a group of Dominants he was late for, and Kiara had already missed most of a swim session in the hotel pool. As soon as she stepped foot in the concrete room, the smell of the saltwater hit her. Kiara took a deep breath and again noticed the layer of Nick’s scent on her skin. It was permanent now. Even if Nick were to die, his scent would still be mingled with hers forever warning off other males. And again, that thought should have bothered her. But in her post mating glow, it just didn’t. The others in the group were all swimming laps, except for Terra. The spider was walking in the “slow” lane. When the water got too high, she would turn around and head back to the shallow end closest to where Kiara was preparing to jump in. Kiara received a nasty glare from the supervisor of the swim session, but she just ignored them. She had been really looking forward to getting some laps in. Kiara missed her frequent trips to the waterfall back home. And although the pool was much noisy than she liked, Kiara just wanted to get wet. Without glancing at the supervisor, Kiara wasted no time jumping into the pool. The salt water engulfed her and for a moment Kiara was completely weightless in its refreshing embrace. It was pure heaven to her. Even with all the splashing and noise from the others. Finally, when she could no longer hold her breath, Kiara’s head broke the surface. The water came up to her mid-chest, lapping violently with the turbulence of nearly 30 other swimmers. “About time.” Terra joked. “For a moment there I thought you’d drowned.” Despite the joking tone, there was something off about Terra. Kiara could sense her new friend's tension.

“I love the water.” Kiara explained. “But I’m guessing that Spiders don’t swim much?”

“No.” Terra agreed. “Our bodies are dense and our legs hard to coordinate.”

“Makes sense.” Kiara shrugged. “What about in your human form?” She could sense Terra tensing up again.

“I have never tried. That form is… not preferred.”

“Why not? I’ve always kind of wondered why Spiders are always half transformed. Do you ever go all the way into a spider?”

“We can. But we don’t. It’s dangerous. As for the human shape.” She gave a cold shrug, “It’s a cultural thing.” That was all the explanation Terra was willing to give.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to ask such a personal question.” She could see the other girl relax, just a little.

“It is fine. Most other shifters would not even bother to ask. There is a good reason that we do not discuss our culture with outsiders. Can we just leave it at that?”

“I’m okay with that.” Kiara told her. “But can I tell you something personal of mine?”

“You can, although I think I can already smell it.” Kiara quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening in.

“Nick and I cemented our bond last night.” It felt weird for her to be confiding in anyone other than her uncle Silver. Kiara had never really had a friend before.

“Congratulations.” Terra gave her a smile. But something about it seemed sad. Kiara decided not to ask her what was bothering her. She had already upset the Spider enough. Maybe, she wondered, that was the issue. Or the fact that Terra couldn’t swim. A loud whistle interrupted the somewhat awkward moment between the two girls. They both looked toward the source and saw that session's supervisor motioning at them to gather around with the others for the next part of the morning session. The basics of hand to hand in deep water.

That afternoon, Kiara’s group was having another hand-to-hand sparing session with the twins’ group in the field. Normally, she would have been dreading this, but Nick was their scheduled trainer. She hadn’t seen him since that morning and found that she was practically running towards the gym after lunch. She spotted him chatting to another of his packmates in lowered voices. Very low, since it didn’t appear that anyone else there could hear them. As she approached, Kiara noticed the tension in Nick's shoulders. He was upset about something. A shadow of emotion flickered down the bond, confirming her suspicion. She wanted to go to him, but held back, not wanting to draw the other wolf’s attention to her. After a few more harshly whispered words, the other wolf left and she moved up beside Nick. “Is everything alright?” she whispered, aware of eyes on them. Nick reached towards her, brushing his fingertips down her arm, from shoulder to hand.

“Later.” He promised. A tiny nod from her let him know she would wait. She stepped away, towards the other juveniles who were still gathering. From the faces of those around them, most of them had detected the not-so-subtle changes in their scents. Helena and Sienna were there. Helena’s eyebrows were raised in surprise question. Sienna was frowning, arms crossed. Clearly displeased.

“All right.” Nicks voice rose over the chatter as the last few of them finally arrived. “Hand-to-hand. Everyone pair up, and try to pick someone different today.” Choosing the same partners had become common, and they wouldn’t learn that way. A few started towards Kiara, eager for gossip. She wasn’t used to the sudden attention and stepped back in alarm. Dash looked to be in the lead, but he suddenly stopped when he spotted something over her shoulder. Kiara felt the familiar warmth of her mate at her back. She looked over her shoulder at nick and almost laughed. No wonder Dash had frozen in place. Nick looked particularly dangerous as he stared down the approaching male. No doubt recalling how hard the guy had been hitting Kiara during the punch and catching exercises the week before. Or the open hostility Kiara clearly had towards the young male. Nick had noticed it and reminded himself to ask her about it later. “With me.” He told her. Kiara turned her back on Dash and followed Nick to an open space.

“Thanks.” She said, giving him a small smile.

“No problem.” Nick shrugged. “But I’m sure you can handle that young male just fine on your own.”

She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I usually keep to myself.”

“Have you ever spared openly? Without holding yourself back?” He asked quietly.

“Only against Silver and Malachi. And I was trying to learn control then.” She admitted. Nick looked at her for a long time, holding her gaze while he thought.

“Can you show me?” He asked. Kiara shrugged again.

“Okay.” She settled into a more balanced stance. Only a few people were watching, most dismissing Kiara as a weak submissive, so not many people saw the sudden punch that almost threw Nick off his feet. He blinked in surprise at the sudden strike and pain that bloomed in his shoulder. Though he realised he shouldn’t be. After all he knew her true nature. And she had been training almost exclusively with her Alpha and his second since a very young age. Nick couldn’t stop the smile creeping across his face. He moved quickly, throwing a punch towards Kiara’s face. She dodged it, like he knew she would, and ducked out of reach. He moved for her again. This time she dodged and came in closer, hitting him in the left flank as she sped past him. She aimed a kick at the back of is leg, but Nick moved faster, getting out of the way. She was unbalanced now and Nick was able to land a kick of his own to her stomach. Kiara stumbled backwards, and his fist grazed her jaw. The sensations through the bond let Nick know he hadn’t hurt her. Quite the opposite actually. His blows had excited her. Kiara threw herself forward, using her smaller size to aim lower on his torso. He blocked and swung at her. She blocked and swung back. Every now and then, whenever she gained a little ground, Kiara would attempt to knee or kick him. A few of the blows landed, but she wasn’t as practiced as Nick was. He stuck to his fists, preferring to keep his legs for balance. But the more they spared, and the more hits he landed, the more Nick could feel Kiara opening up. Her Wolf wasn’t in play yet, but she was beginning to act more instinctively and not just going though the movements that had been taught to her. Kiara was now starting to win. She was landing a lot more blows on him, than he was landing on her. Her face was lit up, much like it had been after that first round of wolf and rabbit. Still no teeth or claws, this was closed fist only. He jabbed at her again. Kiara dodged it easily, spinning to the outside of his arm, her elbow coming for his face. He caught it just before the blow landed on his chin. The strength behind it very real. Kiara smiled at him, eyes bright. He shifted his grip on her arm tugging her to his chest, her face close to his, his other hand moving to her throat. The rise and fall of her chest brushed his. Nick kissed her. Playful and promising, oblivious to the others around them. At least until someone made a gaging sound. There was chuckle throughout the crowd of juveniles. Nick released Kiara, feeling much better than he had at the start of the session.

“All right, rack off.” He made a shooing motion and the amused young shifters started leaving. Kiara blushed at being seen kissing the instructor. She caught sight if Lilly, pumping her eyebrows and giving Kiara the thumbs up before she too started moving away. Terra just shook her head, a tiny smile showing. The wolves from Kiara’s own pack ignored her. Pretending that they hadn’t seen anything. Nick’s face hardened when he caught sight of Dash shooting Kiara a hostile glare on his way. “Want to tell me about that guy?”

“Not really.” Kiara said, mood souring.

“Old boyfriend?”

“Something like that.” Kiara shrugged. She didn’t want to get into it. Not at that moment. “What about you and that guy before? Is everything alright?” She changed the subject, lacing her fingers with Nick’s.

“Jim’s just a packmate. Wanted to know whose scent was all over me. Worried I’d mated one of the other packs juveniles.” Nick turned to lead her towards the forest. Others were coming out of it, so it would be empty soon. Perfet for a quiet walk where no one was around to hear them talk.

“You did.” She reminded him.

“Yeah, but you’re different.” He smiled at her, squeezing her hand.

“Yeah, for all the wrong reasons.” He could feel a tug of sadness from her through the bond. He lifted her chin, so she was looking at him.

“Do I really need to tell you again how much I don’t care about your wolf.”

“Others will care.”

“Let them. It has nothing to do with me.” His reply surprised her a little. She wasn’t sure what to do with that.

“We’re not telling anyone.” She said. Hurt that he didn’t understand that.

“I never said we would. Actually, I’d prefer it if no one else found out. They might want to hurt you. Especially my father. And there is no way I’m risking that.” Relief flooded through her. So he really did understand after all. “That does pose a bit of a problem though.”

“Oh?” She asked, stepping over a large rock on the path.

“Yeah, I mean if we ever have kids then…” Kiara stopped walking, pulling on his arm where their hands were still clasped. She had been hoping to avoid this conversation for a little bit longer. Fearful of hurting him. “Kiara?” Nick asked after a little while.

“I’m sorry.” She said. “But I can’t… I won’t risk passing this curse on. I just… I can’t do that to a child.” She wouldn’t look at him. Apprehensive about his reaction. Nick was more than a little taken aback. Birth rates among their kind were very low. As a result, children born to shifted parents were always seen as blessings. Cherished. He had never heard anyone say they didn’t want kids before. It took him a minute to process what she had said.

“It’s not a curse.” He finally said. A flicker of anger growing inside him. “But I understand.” Understood how Kiara had been treated. How she had grown up. How her kind had been hunted to near extinction. A how it would take time for Kiara to understand that she was going to be safe from now on. Nick swore it to himself. If anyone came for her, they’d have to answer to him. She would be safe. His wolf howled his agreement. Kiara felt Nick’s resolve, but she didn’t understand it. He started walking again before she had the chance to ask.

“I guess we have to deal with my father sooner rather than later.” He said, startling her.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about that.”