Chapter12
995 Words
The mountains were colder at dawn.
Rumi stood in front of the window her cabin wrapped in one of the thick blankets Lyra had forced on her the night before, watching pale mist curl through the trees.
Black Hollow was already awake.
Wolves moved between cabins carrying buckets of water and chopped wood. Smoke rose from several chimneys while distant laughter drifted from the main clearing.
The normalcy still unsettled her. There was no screaming, no punishments and no one was barking orders at her for simply existing. As much as kael and lyra tried to reacssure her of her safety rumi still felt like it was wrong somehow－like the calm before a storm.
“You’re up early.”
Rumi turned, she was so deep in thought she hadn’t seen him approaching through the fog nor heard him knock on the door. He was carrying two mugs of steaming liquid.
Her chest tightened at the sight of him. Rumi couldn’t explain the feeling or the way her body reacted whenever he was close but it was slowly becoming a problem over the last few days.
“do I have dirt on my face or something?”
“huh?”
“You’re staring too hard,” Kael said.
“I’m trying to figure out if you ever sleep.” she lied.
One corner of his mouth twitched faintly as he handed her a steaming mug. Rumi took the mug cautiously, warmth seeped into her cold fingers instantly.
“What is it?”
“Tea. I hear it’s a good way to start one’s day.”
Rumi took a sip and immediately regretted it. Her face twisted. “This tastes like wet bark.”
Kael looked entirely unapologetic. “it’s medicinal.” he said. “besides you’re gonna need that once your training starts.”
“training for what?”
“these are dark times and every single wolf around here must know how to defend themselves.”
“i can defend myself.”
“no offense but you can barely throw punch.”
“i won’t need to. You saw it yourself” rumi said referring to what happened in the woods a few days ago.
“have you been able to tap into that power ever since that night?”
“no, but I’m working on it.”
“you can’t rely on something you can’t control. You don’t even know what youre dealing with.”
“but you do, right?”
Kael was shaking his head. “I’m not sure. It might be just a wild guess.”
“tell me.”
“if my hunch is correct then you might be the last living descendant of the royal bloodline.”
***
By midday, rumi got her ass handed to her while Lyra, who was watching from a fallen log bursted into a hilarious feat.
“Oh, this is going to be entertaining.”
Rumi glared at both of them. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t,” kael said before turning to lyra. “shouldn’t you be training with the rest?”
“i don’t have a sparring partner.”
“where’s darius?”
“morning patrol.”
Rumi saw an opening then and tried to take him by surprise but kael whipped around so fast she couldn’t keep up. One minute she was swinging her arm and the next she was thrown over his shoulder and landed hard on her back, her arm twisted in an unnatural angle.
“son of a b***h!”
Lyra cackled delightedly.
Kael looked amused and all rumi wanted to do was wipe that smirk off his handsome face. That gave her a boost and she picked herself off the ground despite her hurting arm and swung at him again, but he was too fast and too good.
Every single attempt to land a punch failed miserably.
Within minutes she was sweaty, irritated, and ready to throw herself into the river. She was angry and frustrated.
“This is pointless.”
Kael circled her slowly. “you don’t have to prove anything rumi,”
“yes I do.”
“no you don’t.”
she’s got so much to prove to herself, to the black moon pack and to Alpha Rolan. She wanted to make him pay for rejecting her the way he did, she wanted him to regret casting her away, she wanted to prove that she wasn’t any ordinary omega, that she was so much more.
In the woods when all that power awakened inside of her rumi finally thought she was worth something, that she was special after all…but now it’s all gone, vanished without a trace like none of it ever happened. She hasn’t felt anything since then, not even a spark.
“you don’t know anything.”
“i know enough.” kael’s silver eyes held hers steadily and the warmth in his eyes made her even more angry. She didn’t need his pity, or for him to feel sorry for her.
She swung at him again but he caught her wrist and pulled her to him. She pushed him hard but he held both her arms and wouldn’t budge. Rumi felt so helpless tears welled up in her eyes.
“let go of me.”
“no.”
She strugled against him.
“stop fighting me!”
Rumi froze in his arms, her chest heaving. Suddenly she became aware of how close they were and warmth shot unexpectedly up her arm.
Rumi’s breath caught softly and Kael went still. For a few strange seconds, the air between them changed.
“anyone want snacks?”
Lyra’s voice echoed through the clearing and the moment abruptly shattered as they both pulled away from each other. Rumi wondered when Lyra had left to even come back with snacks.
“why don’t we call it a day.”
Kael said and left.
Rumi stared after him wondering what in the world just happened.
- Writer
