Chapter 7: Kiara

Chapter 7: Kiara

Gasping, I shook awake and immediately flung all the hands on me away. A chorus of shouts rose from the people surrounding me. Rolling onto my hands and knees, I bowed my head between my shoulders and breathed hard, sending death glares at anyone who dared try meeting my eyes. Nausea made my stomach roll, and my gums glistened with saliva. Given what I had just endured, the last thing I wanted was all this attention.

“Everybody get away from her,” Aislin demanded, taking people by the arms and pulling them aside.

As the Mythguard retreated, Sebastian gestured for them to stay on guard. “Keep your rifles trained on her just in case.”

“What are you gonna do, shoot her if she tries to run? Fuck sake, you’re as bad as David,” scolded Aislin.

“We’re just taking precautions,” said Sebastian.

“Just shut up and back off,” said Aislin.

For once, I found kinship in one of the strangers here. As Aislin knelt beside me, I sat up and wiped the drool from my mouth with the back of my arm. It was like my entire body was rejecting the dream I had just experienced. Fear and disgust consumed me, but there was no way I’d let it show.

“What did you just see?” she asked, lowering her voice for me.

I bared my teeth, reluctant to answer.

Aislin clicked her tongue. “Come on. I know what happened to you. I just experienced it myself.” She leaned a little closer, whispering, “You had a Moondream.”

Desperate to maintain distance between us, I withdrew. But I knew she was right. I glanced up at the people all around us, then focused back on Aislin. “I don’t want to talk about it here.”

“Okay. Let’s go back inside then,” said Aislin.

I stalled, untrusting.

“I promise we’re not going to pull something shady on you. Like, shit. You’re Muriel’s daughter. We love Muriel. We want the best for her—and for you.”

Narrowing my eyes, I gauged the sincerity in her voice. I didn’t really like the tone of it. Aislin seemed to speak with a constant undertone of exasperation and impatience. But she held my stare, insisting, and I wondered if she was honest about her intentions surrounding my mother. If my mother had stayed for this long here with these wolves, she had to have liked them or at least had a reason to trust them, right?

I rose to my feet while Aislin stood up beside me. She led me back to the house while Everett stood nearby, his arms perpetually folded across his chest and looking unimpressed. I had to wonder how Everett put up with his mate’s audacious personality if he was so stoic all the time. She probably stressed him out beyond belief.

Back in the living room, I didn’t feel any reassurance; instead, it was claustrophobic. I trudged back to my spot on the couch, where my salad bowl and glass of water still sat in front of me on the coffee table, and sat down. My shoulders sank with a sigh. Aislin sat beside me, but not too close. “So… your Moondream?”

Only Everett had come back into the house. Thankfully, Sebastian stayed outside. I was finding myself liking the Mythguard man less and less. Not that I’d ever really liked him in the first place. Regardless, it was comforting that only Everett and Aislin would hear what I had to say.

“It must have happened due to the stress,” I guessed, clasping my hands together on my knees.

“It happened to me while I was sparring with a packmate,” said Aislin. “He choked me out, and I went unconscious.”

“Your friends should have just let me run,” I growled.

“It would have happened sooner or later. You can’t outrun fate,” said Everett. “So, who is it?”

As much as I wished to prove him wrong, I suspected Everett had a point. If it hadn’t happened while I was safely surrounded by the Mythguard and people who claimed to care for my wellbeing, then it might have happened while I was under attack from the Inkscales. That would have ended even worse. Sighing, I tightened my fists until my knuckles whitened. “The wolf who attacked me. Black fur, blue eyes. It was him.”

“Colt,” breathed Aislin, repeating his name for me. “Colt Hexen.”

“He attacked me in the dream too.”

Aislin shook her head. “You just can’t catch a break. Of course, it had to be him. What are we going to do?” She looked at Everett.

The Eastpeak Alpha leered pensively past us at the wall but hesitated to say anything.

“What did this Colt Hexen do?” I asked.

“Oh, what hasn’t he done?” Aislin replied angrily. “I’ll tell you everything he’s fucking done.”

“Ais, wait,” said Everett. “Perhaps this is a conversation best had with Billie.”

“Who’s Billie?” I interjected.

“His sister,” said Aislin. “Sort of. Adopted.”

“She’s a Hexen too?”

“No. Adopted, I said.”

“But she’s on your side.”

“Our side,” corrected Aislin.

“Call her over,” said Everett.

“I don’t want any more people involved than there has to be,” I said.

“Trust us,” said Aislin, “you’ll want to meet Billie. She and Muriel were close.”

My heart panged, and I swore this time; it was out of jealousy. I missed my mother so badly. It had been months since I’d seen her, and these people had been blessed with her company for weeks before they’d lost her. I was inclined to believe they had taken her presence for granted. They hadn’t needed her as much as I did. The jealousy, in turn, made me feel angry, but I pushed it down, listening as Aislin made a phone call telling somebody to come to their house.

We waited for twenty minutes. In that time, some of the Mythguard had gone, and others arrived to take their place, including two wolves, Carla and Brad. They all stayed outside while Everett periodically went out to speak with them. I stayed inside with Aislin, staring emptily out the windows, hating being stuck in here. Wishing there was something I could be doing.

A knock on the door finally brought an end to my waiting. Aislin leaped to greet the newcomer, bringing another girl inside: she was small, looking to be my age with brown hair and soft green eyes, a pleasant smile immediately explaining why my mother seemed to have taken a liking to her. Kindness was evident on her face and in the way she held her body. “Hello,” she greeted. “I’m Billie. You must be Kiara?”

I prickled, not wanting to accept her kindness. “Yes.”

She and Aislin sat together on the other side of the sectional couch, their female camaraderie displayed in their closeness.

“So Colt is your fated mate?” Billie’s smile withered a little, morphing into worry.

I nodded.

Billie and Aislin exchanged a look. “I didn’t tell her anything other than that he’s your adopted brother,” said Aislin.

“Okay, well… there’s a lot to unpack about Colt,” said Billie, furrowing her brow.

“Considering he attacks me every time he sees me, I suspect he isn’t going to be easy to get along with,” I said.

“He used to be nice,” said Billie. “We grew up together, and throughout our entire childhood, he treated me better than anyone else in my family. He cared for me. Spent time with me. Protected me. He wanted to take me away from the cruelty of my family since my sister and father only cared about locking me up in the manor and forcing me to work. Colt and I were very close. He even had a crush on Aislin, and I supported him. I thought they’d make a cute couple.”

Aislin rolled her eyes. “If only you saw the way he acted around me. When you weren’t around, he was an insufferable prick.”

“I knew him better than you,” said Billie. “He really did care about you.”

Aislin frowned, disbelieving.

I wasn’t sure how I felt knowing that my fated mate had such strong feelings for the redhead. Clearly, they weren’t returned, and if I was interested in Colt, I didn’t think I’d be in danger of Aislin encroaching on my territory. But I wasn’t interested in Colt.

“Anyways,” continued Billie, “everything changed when Gavin turned out to be my fated mate. His pack, Grandbay, was supposed to merge with Dalesbloom. He and my and Colt’s sister, Catrina, were dating, and they were supposed to become the Alphas of our merged pack, but when Gavin and I had our Moondream, he broke up with Catrina. She wasn’t good for him, and he realized that. The relationship between Grandbay and Dalesbloom fell apart after that. Shortly after, David ended up allying with the Inkscale dragons, and then he revealed he had arranged with the Inkscales to kill Gavin’s parents three years ago. You already know that the Inkscales are trying to perform a Lycan ritual. Originally it was Catrina who was supposed to undergo the ritual, but during a battle about a month ago, Gavin accidentally killed Catrina. And that tore me apart from Colt for good.”

So not only were they struggling with the Inkscales hunting my mother, there was a whole inner drama unfolding with everyone involved. I hadn’t realized how closely entwined these wolves were with one another.

“He changed. It was like he became somebody I didn’t know. Catrina’s death, my leaving, and Aislin eventually becoming fated mates with Everett… it took everything away from him. All he had left was his father, David. But David is an evil man. And I’m sure that he’s just using Colt, twisting him to follow in his footsteps. I think if the circumstances were different, Colt could have fought alongside us, but instead, he’s tried to kill us too.”

“He’ll kill me if given a chance,” I suggested.

While Aislin nodded, Billie seemed unconvinced. “I don’t want to believe he would. But at this point, I don’t know. He might be too far gone. But maybe, if someone, anyone, were to give him a chance… take him away from David…”

Aislin scoffed. “What are you saying? You want Kiara to actually consider this shit?”

“No, I’m not trying to defend Colt or anything. I’m just saying. He’s my brother, and I love him. I don’t want him to die.”

“You told the Mythguard they could exterminate him.”

“I know.” Billie sighed, rubbing her face. “I know what has to be done. But that was before somebody became his fated mate.”

“I’m rejecting him,” I said firmly.

Sorrow flashed across Billie’s face. “You aren’t obligated to give him a chance. I know that. But I can’t help wanting the best for my brother.”

I had no sympathy for Billie, at least on the outside. I didn’t want anybody to think that I’d actually consider romancing this Colt asshole. Especially not if he’s had anything to do with kidnapping and tormenting my mother.

“Are you going to stay here, with us, at least?” asked Billie.

“No,” I said. “I’m going to keep trying to find my mother. With or without you.”

Billie’s lips parted in protest, but Aislin was quick to grab her arm. “There’s no point arguing,” Aislin muttered, then turned her eyes to me. “I know the moment you have a chance, you’re going to fuck off. Trust me. I’d do the same. But if you’re going to do that, just know that Colt and everyone he’s associated with won’t show you any mercy. If you think, for some reason, you can trust Colt… you’re wrong. So don’t fall into his trap. Stay away from him. If you’re going to try to rescue Muriel, do it without his help.”

Her advice was… surprising but appreciated.

“And if you ever need anyone to fall back on, we’ll be here. Okay?”

I snorted. “Sure.”

Standing, I once more made my way to the front door. I had gleaned all I needed from these girls. But as I walked away, behind my back, I heard Aislin speak with reassurance to Billie, “If she doesn’t get killed, she’ll appreciate our offer more than us forcing her to stay. Besides, we’re trying to rescue Muriel. If she gets caught, we’ll rescue her too. It’ll be alright, Billie.”

Maybe she was right. Not that I was counting on these wolves to pull through.

But if I did get captured, and if they cared about Muriel as much as they claimed to, then maybe I wasn’t totally doomed.

Time would tell if they would be of any use to me.