Chapter 7 - Kaiden

This was the last thing I wanted, but being around Kit did something to me—to my wolf. There was no denying it, even if I wanted to, which I really, really did. I sighed as I took up a spot on my bed, looking up at Kit where she stood just a few feet away.

"So?"

"He's a jerk; he doesn't like garlic, which is insane, and he was…he was sending his wolves after me when I ran away."

I believed her, but I also believed that there was more to this story. Her little escape had come now? After twelve years? Why?

"You know, before he passed, my dad said that we needed to be more understanding of humans, that a world where we lived together would be better than this one. Less violent. I think it's why being around you when I was younger was so hard. Well, at least part of it. It reminded me too much of what he said, of how none of us were living up to that."

Kit stared at me, her eyes stretched wider ever so slightly. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, well, how would you." I sucked in a breath, shaking my head before refocusing and groaning a little, suddenly damn exhausted. "Anyway, did you see anything that could have been drug-related? Hear him mention anything?"

Offering up her own sigh, Kit walked over to the bed and sat down next to me. Her hands went to her lap as she stared down at the floor. She gestured with them, opening them wide like she was spreading the pages of a book.

"Products to move? One of the guards mentioned ‘needing the stuff to get by.' I don't really remember much. I was trying to sneak out for a walk—some fresh air after being on my hands and knees scrubbing—and then I was running for my life. I didn't even have shoes."

I looked down at Kit's feet. They were still bare, and I'd smelled the dried blood when she was brought in. The dirt and debris were cleaned off now, and I assumed she'd used the tub, considering her clothes were dry. It seemed unlikely she'd strip down in my bathroom.

"That was the first you heard of it? After all that time with them?" The words came out sharper than intended, and Kit glared.

"I was a fucking servant, Kaiden. Eli wasn't looking to share his secrets with me."

I realized that she had a point, but it was impossible to keep myself from being frustrated. Whatever Eli was pushing was killing young wolves and sending older ones off into a spiral of violence that threatened my pack and the secrecy of wolves at large.

"If you cleaned for him, presumably in his house, did you see anything that might have suggested he was making—"

"Drugs?" Her eyebrows raised. "No. I wasn't allowed in every room, and the place is huge. The east wing was off-limits, so I guess it could be there. I don't know."

Getting up, I began pacing, the fury of my wolf rising to match my own. Everything was failing me, and this was the first lead we'd had in months. And, of course, Kit wasn't a lead at all. She didn't know shit about what was going on, and something told me that Eli wouldn't try to get her back as hard as he might if she were a wolf.

Humans didn't fare well in the woods alone, and most wolf packs were fine with killing them if they couldn't be scared off their territory.

"Dammit," I groaned, still pacing in a circle. "That's nowhere near enough information. I can't make an antidote or even guess how Eli is making the damn stuff with that. Ugh. You were supposed to have information, useful information that I could feed to the pack. But instead, you give me nothing."

My heart rate was surging higher with each moment, and I could feel my wolf pressing at the edge of my form, looking to take over. I didn't look at Kit as I circled, pinning my eyes to the ground, and I raked my hand through my hair over and over.

"I'm sorry, Kaiden. If I had more, I'd give it to you. It's not like I enjoyed living there."

Her words only barely cut in through the fog of anger and concern that crowded around me.

"Sure you would. I'm just supposed to believe you." I felt my temperature rise, the need to shift growing. "Right, right. But again, you're just a human, so there's nothing you can do to help me."

The words were out of my mouth before I could think better of them. I knew I was just upset, terrified for my pack and the young wolves who might die, but I'd still gone right back to taunting her, blaming her humanity for my own troubles.

My pacing stopped, and for the first time in what felt like years, I looked over at Kit. She glared at me, her eyes as sharp as knives, and I swallowed hard. Great. Good fucking job, Kaiden. Real nice.

"Kit, I'm sorry. That came out wrong. I—"

"That came out wrong?" she interjected, her voice booming and heavy. "How was it supposed to come out, Kaiden?"

Heat swelled behind my ribs, the need to shift warring with the horrendous guilt that etched itself into my heart along with the old scars of regret.

"I—"

"You know what, Mr. Alpha." Kit stepped forward, putting her hands on her hips as she leveled me with her stare. "I have been through far too much in my life to deal with this again. I may have only been a dumb human teenager when you first knew me, but I'm not that girl anymore."

Shaking my head, I tried to defend myself, to explain that I was just furious over the loss of life that was continuing to plague my pack, but Kit wouldn't have it. She held up her hand in the air, pointing a finger as her brows shot to her hairline.

"No, you fucking don't. You're going to let me talk for once."

I didn't respond, so Kit lowered her hand back to her hip as she continued.

"You and Grayson bullied me every damn day in Jet's pack, but it was nothing compared to the ‘welcome' I received from the Williams pack. And don't fucking start with that 'you could have left' bullshit. And gone where? I was lost, found the only other wolf pack in the area, which was the only life I knew, and I was eighteen. I didn't think for a second it would be better anywhere else, so I dealt with it.

"Eli was more than a little suspicious about a human coming from Jet's pack. I had to detail everything I knew to him while strapped down to a wooden board. I wasn't allowed to eat or sleep for longer than an hour at a time until I gave him every bit of knowledge I had about you. And still, I didn't tell him what I knew mattered. I protected your dumb asses because I cared about my friends there. So don't. Don't act like I don't know what it means to suffer to keep a pack safe. Because I do."

The room hung in silence as I let Kit's words wash over me. I couldn't believe what Eli had done, and yet, part of me knew there was more to Kit's story. That the little nugget she'd just shared was only the beginning, the tip of the iceberg.

My wolf howled inside me, furious that another pack had treated our mate so terribly. My skin itched at the back of my neck, and my fingernails began to ache. I was going to shift if I didn't calm down, and as much as that wouldn't be a surprise to Kit, it would be highly inconvenient.

I couldn't talk as a wolf, and the feral urge to protect and…claim Kit would be really damn difficult to ignore.

"You're right, Kit. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed…well, anything. It's the pack."

My shoulders slumped as I sighed heavily, hanging my head like it was just too hard to lift.

"I'm a new alpha. I didn't inherit this position, either. I killed the previous alpha because he attacked Jet. This pack…was in shambles when I arrived, and most of them took off to become mutts. They were too indoctrinated in his bullshit for them to give it up. Things had just settled down a bit when we found the first dead wolf."

Through the quiet, I looked back up at her, and Kit studied me with that penetrating, blue gaze.

"He was a kid, just had his first shift, and he died—under my watch. Everyone is thinking I can't hack it as alpha. Hell, I'm thinking it. If I can't get this drug situation under control…"

"What does it do?" Kit kept her voice low, tilting her head as she looked up at me through her lashes.

"It's a bit tricky to say, but as far as we can guess, it ramps up wolf aggression and strength. The wolves we've found alone have had their hearts just give out, and the ones together…well, it looks like they tore each other to pieces. I've had Kenzie coming by to run analyses on the bodies, and Grayson comes by every now and then to give the information to Jet, but…"

I hesitate, my eyes falling to the floor. As I glance back up, Kit raises her brows at me, stepping forward.

"But what?"

"But aside from them, I'm on my own in this. So I got a little—"

"Pissy?" Kit smirks, and I clench my jaw as I glare.

"Frustrated. Look," I take my own step forward, locking my eyes on Kit's, "I didn't tell you all this for pity or sympathy. I told you because I want you to understand the gravity of the situation. Can you tell me anything else about Eli and his compound?"

"I can tell you a lot, Kaiden, but I don't think it's going to help you."

Her voice was flat, and I could sense the challenge behind her words.

"I'll be the judge of its usefulness, all right? I'll take anything that I can get."

She sighed again, her head falling to the side as she turned away from me and walked closer to my bed again.

"Fine. You want the gory details. You got ‘em."