Chapter 4 - Kit

The thick door slammed shut behind me, and I spun around uselessly, flinging myself against the deep brown slats and banging my fists against it. Fucking Kaiden. Of all the people to run into right now, my teenage tormenter was apparently alpha of his own pack now, and I was locked in his goddamn bedroom.

Anger raged through me like a storm, making me pace around the large room as the silence stretched out.

"How is he here?! This…this," I threw up my hands, sighing as I came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the room. "What's going to happen to me now?"

My heart pounded, but it was the desperate ache behind the beats that made me shudder. I was terrified. I felt small and powerless, more so than I had in a while, and I didn't know what to do.

I'd been living with the Williamses. Kaiden was right that I was a member of their pack, and as far as I knew, that made me his enemy. Wolves did not like other packs invading their territory, and I was a human.

Which was worse.

As the anxiety built around me, I realized that the floor I was staring down at was actually quite pretty.

"Huh."

Many wolves lived together in one compound. However, some had a few buildings clustered together they all used. Jet had that trailer way back at the rear section of his land, which was probably in disrepair now, and it appeared that Kaiden's new pack offered their alpha a separate house to live in.

The room was rustic and dark, the full moon shining in through a short window on the wall across from the door. I was in the top room of the tiny home—in the attic, essentially. But it had been upgraded and restored to create one large bedroom that was gorgeous in its simple styling.

I studied the floor. The deep brown slats were slightly uneven, with charming knots and whorls throughout the wood. Tracking them to the area behind me, I noticed the cozy red patterned rug beneath the massive bed. With geometric designs woven into the fabric, the carpet tied the master suite together, echoing the focal wall behind the headboard. That wall was all brick, and looking up, I could see that the ceilings were crossed with wooden L-beams and no plaster or drywall.

There were two little nightstands made of a similar dark wood on either side of the bed and a tall dresser on the opposite wall. Two doors sat on either side of it, and when I inspected them, one led to Kaiden's closet and the other to the bathroom.

It was strange to be in the room without its owner like this. I was basically a stranger, even if Kaiden and I had a history. I stepped into the closet briefly, running my fingers over the sleeves of his hanging shirts.

The entirety of the space was thick with that dew and fallen leaves smell, and the memories that it made come swirling back to me hit me like a brick.

"That was awful, Jade. I never want to go to class again."

I sighed, my shoulders slumping in so I could make myself smaller. Jade rubbed my shoulder, walking me away from the education room where the wolves—and I—were taught their ABCs and 123s.

"Hey, don't say that. You need to get your education. Don't let your brother and his buddies make you feel bad. They're dumb boys. We don't need them, anyway."

"That is infinitely easier for you to say because you're a wolf. I'm not. It's why they're bullying me. I'm just the dumb human that Glen took in, and now, you're all saddled with me."

Jade stopped me as we passed through the large open area behind the main house that led to the little trailer where I lived, mostly alone now, considering Grayson was always staying in Kaiden's room. Walking in that tiny trailer alone always made the loss of my adoptive parents sting all over again.

"That's not how I feel. You know that. You're my bestie, Kit, and I want you around." She offered a gentle smile, and my chest warmed, the ache easing.

Of course, then it was all dashed, torn to shreds, by Grayson and Kaiden as they caught up with us just to fucking yell at me.

"Go on home, Unfit Kit! Go tattle to your fucking lesbian!"

"Fuck off, Grayson!" Jade yelled, but my eyes were already burning.

I was just so damn different. I was shorter and rounder than all the wolves. I wasn't fast or beautiful or strong. I was just a human, some boring, plain old human that couldn't hunt or sprint through the woods. I couldn't do anything.

The tears began to fall as much as I tried to fight them off, and I locked eyes with Kaiden as he laughed to Grayson's right. Our eyes met for half a second, and in that brief moment, I thought I saw something flash in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as I noticed.

"Baby, going to cry? You don't belong here, human. Everything you do makes that very fucking obvious."

Kaiden's words sunk between my ribs, finding the muscle of my heart and tearing.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? Can't you just leave her alone?" Jade's voice was stern but level, and I only vaguely wished that Sandy was with us, too.

Sandy was a bit louder and more aggressive when it came to getting my two bullies to leave me alone. Her wolf had come in, so being polite and gentle with people who were pissing her off wasn't a thing right now.

I envied that about her, along with so many other things.

"Oh, come on. If she can't hack it, she'll never survive in this pack. We play rough, Jade." Grayson smirked, switching his gaze from her to me.

"Funny, because you don't seem to be doing this to any of the other wolves, Grayson. Just me, your fucking sister."

"Adopted sister," he snarled. "Don't fucking think you're the same as me. You're bad fucking luck, Kit. You know it, and my dad paid the price for that."

"I…." But the words died away.

Grayson hadn't said that before. He…he thought I was responsible for Glen and Tansy's deaths? My chest seized up, the sorrow and hurt magnifying to take up every inch of my skin.

Kaiden took a step forward, pulling my attention to him. As I looked up from the floor, he looked down his nose at me, that beautiful, painful smirk on his lips.

"I think you're giving her too much credit, Gray. I mean, look at her." He was too close now, and Kaiden lifted a curl that hung over my shoulder and threw it in my face. "She's no wolf. We could eat her alive if we wanted, and there'd be plenty to feast on."

My mouth fell open, and I yanked myself away from him. Kaiden looked at me like he was strongly considering chowing down, and fear trickled down my spine, making my heart thunder in my ears.

Suddenly, he snapped out, his fangs elongating, and I jumped away, yelping in a high-pitched squeal.

"Hahaha! Fucking chicken shit!" Grayson yelled, and I watched as he and Kaiden lost themselves to a fit of cruel laughter.

Kaiden's eyes burned into my flesh, and nausea crawled up the back of my throat.

I turned around, fleeing from him, from Grayson, from Jade. I just couldn't take it anymore. It was my birthday next week, and this fucking shit was getting so old. I mean, they were right, after all. I was chubby and clumsy and scared to death of them.

A human in a wolf den.

I blinked; the reality of Kaiden's room around me settled back into place, and I yanked my hand away from his clothes again. The pain of the past felt fresh, new wounds carved over the old, and I swallowed hard, holding back the tears successfully this time.

I was older now, and there was no way in hell I was letting that damn wolf see me cry again.

Leaving the closet, I shut the door behind me and went to the other one, the one that led to the bathroom. I felt gross after running through the woods like that, and the bottoms of my feet were aching more and more with each second. I didn't want to leave myself vulnerable in the shower, so I just tiptoed over to the bathtub that stood on four claw feet under a large window against the far wall.

I sat down on the ledge, turning on the water. For as quaint and rustic as the bedroom looked, the bathroom was still full of modern amenities, and I appreciated that the water had gotten warm right away. As I stuck my feet under the faucet, I hissed as the liquid hit, cleaning out the cuts and scrapes. The water ran brown as it dripped off my skin, and when my feet were good, I got inside the tub on my knees to rinse off my arms. The water seeped into my clothes a bit, but it was better than getting naked and using Kaiden's shower.

Okay, that was actually a vast improvement.

I still wanted to change, but it wasn't like I had any clothes with me, so I just stepped out of the tub before I rinsed out my hair. Grabbing a towel once things were as clean as they were going to get for now, I rubbed it across my skin and then wrapped it around my head.

The sound of the water rushing out of the faucet had staved off the silence, and now it was back with a vengeance. My skin felt hot and itchy, thanks to the anxiety roiling in my blood. I stepped away from the tub, trying to distract myself from where I was, and my eyes hit my reflection in the mirror.

"Shit."

Haggard was a nice way of putting it. I was cleaner, sure, but the cuts and scrapes still littered my face, arms, and legs. Reaching for the towel on my head, I squeezed my hair to soak up more of the water and then unwound it from my head. I hung it up over the shower door.

I turned back to the mirror, holding myself up straight and looking down the length of my body.

Do I look any better than I did when he knew me?

I didn't know why I cared. Kaiden was a jerk then, and even if I did look different, I knew he'd be a jerk now. Still, I couldn't help staring at my curves, noting how, even after years of doing manual labor for the Williams pack, I still had a hefty serving of them.

My thighs hugged together as I traveled my eyes up to my wide hips. My waist did nip in, but not like a supermodel's, and my belly was far from washboard hard. Full breasts and softer arms, which surprisingly did have some muscle definition now that I studied them critically, topped me off.

Wet strands of chestnut brown hair hung over my back and shoulders like noodles, and I had even more freckles now than I did at eighteen.

"Yup, you still look like you, Kit."

I sighed, leaving the bathroom to go wait in the main area, maybe sit down. The sounds of my steps were louder, the clinging moisture making them slap down across Kaiden's floor. I was almost to the bed when the door opened behind me, creaking loudly.

It was enough to startle me, and I jumped in place, yelping. Unfortunately, the water on the soles of my feet did not provide enough traction, and I slipped, my foot sliding out from under me. I was going down hard on my ass.

"Fuck!"

But just before I could collide with the ground, a set of hands shot around my waist and hauled me back up to my feet. My heart hammered as the surprise receded, and when I was stable on the ground again, I turned around to see Kaiden looking down at me, his eyes wide on his face.

His hands were still on my arm, and I tugged them back, glaring at him. "Don't touch me."

Kaiden scoffed, stepping back with his hands raised in surrender.

"Sure, yell at me when I've kept you from landing on your ass."

My cheeks burned, but I just kept glaring at him. He was keeping me in the damn room after all, and I wasn't about to thank him when I was his damn prisoner. I crossed my arms over my chest, holding his stare as I clenched my jaw.

"Right," he dragged out, rolling his eyes. "Look, we need to talk."