Chapter 37

KIRA:
With my back against the wall, I drop down to the floor. Tears started to flow out of my eyes before I even got down, my heart feeling like it has shattered into pieces.
Today might just be the worst day of my life. And it got ruined because of one person.
I would not have taken it to heart that Bradley decided to say those hurtful things to me, but he worsened the situation when I arrived home and realized he snitched on me by telling my parents about my ordeal with the warriors at the borderline.
The tongue-lashing I received from my parents for almost an hour hit me so bad that I could not take it anymore. Perhaps I need a do-over with my life.
I sob endlessly for a long time as I pour my heart out. I never knew I could still be this vulnerable after telling myself numerous times that I am strong enough to handle anything thrown at me. Little did I know that just a little could make me this miserable.
Just to be alone in solitude, I had to shut my mind to prevent Alexia from conversing with me. It was a skill I easily learned when she taught me which is why it came in handy at the moment.
If I could reverse time, then maybe I would have not helped Alpha Reid today. If I had chosen to stick my nose somewhere else, then nothing that led to this period would have happened. It would have just been me going into the woods to meet Kelvin and then heading back home after that.
But there was no way I could help it when I sighted him. It was as if my mind had a brain of its own. I was totally left out of the functioning that I found myself agreeing to help him without realizing it. It was worth it in the end. I would not have realized that the one I take as my best friend could be capable of such spiteful words.
“Kira?” I hear Adam’s voice.
“What?” I say in between tears.
“Are you crying?” he asks and I could not be more annoyed than this.
“What does it look like I’m doing? Singing?” was my response to him which in no way was meant to be nice.
“I'm just surprised that you could actually be crying. I have never met you in this state before,” he says and I sniff while trying to wipe the tears off my face which was buried in between my knees.
I have no response to give to him because speaking would only have me saying something cruel to him. I do not want to hurt him knowing that he came here with good intentions.
I feel his presence beside me and when I look up with my bloodshot eyes, I can see that he has joined to sit beside me.
The look on his face is something I have never seen before. Adam never feels sympathy toward me and yet I was seeing it for the first time. Made my heart melt instantly.
I had to quickly look away before I start to ball my eyes out again. I am too vulnerable so the littlest of things could affect me. Don’t want him to use my situation to make fun of me at a later date.
“Did our parents’ words get to you? Is that why you were crying?” Adam asks me.
I close my eyes, sniffing again. There’s still so much in me that I am trying to push back.
“No,” I say. “What they said was the least of my worries.”
“Wanna share then?”
I look at him, giving him a knowing look as if to tell him that he is being ridiculous. “Why would I want to share with you? It’s not like you will understand.”
“Well, I want to try to understand. I might be younger but at least I have my senses heightened about a lot of things that go on around.”
I almost scoff but withhold myself from doing it before looking away from him. The least thing I should be thinking about is telling my problems to a fourteen-year-old whose main problem in life is trying not to fail his exams.
“Are you not going to say nothing?”
I figured it would not be a bad idea to let him in on a little insight so I say, “I just had a bad day. I thought it would be okay to leave the house and just do the regular thing I do but I never knew it would backfire at me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about being caught by the guards. I would love to do something as risky as what I did today again but it was what Bradley told me after that hurt me. I could not believe that he would be so spiteful toward me.”
I might have said a lot already because the next thing is that I do not receive a word from Adam. When I look at him, I can see him starting to boil in anger which was rather surprising to me.
“Why are you angry?” I have to ask while trying to understand the situation.
“It was Bradley who hurt you, isn’t that what you said?”
I am still confused but it doesn’t stop me from nodding in agreement with his words. “He did. But why are you this annoyed with him?”
“It's just brotherly instincts,” he says and I could not be more amused than I already am with him.
I have to stifle the laughter that almost leaves my lips seeing him talk that way while boning his face. It was just too hilarious to look at that for a moment I forgot that I was going through a lot of shit.
“Stop that, you idiot,” I tell him with the laughter still threatening to leave my lips. Why is it so hard to keep it in?
“What am I doing?” he demands to know, this time switching to the look of confusion.
“Just stop with it,” I say. “Yeah, that's better. Don’t do what you did not too long ago again.”
He still looks confused but I have already looked away from him, the laughter suppressed. And just like that my sorrow is back like it never left a minute ago.
“I wish I could find him. I would hit his mouth hard for doing what he did to you.”
“And who are you talking about?” I have to ask after hearing Adam talk about hitting someone.
“Bradley, of course. I cannot wait to get my hands on him.”
That was simply the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard from him. I have to roll my eyes just to express how ridiculous the statement was.
“You had better keep those hands to yourself. You wouldn't even last a second against him.” and I end that with a scoff. “Besides it’s nothing too serious. Friends fight every time and resolve the issue later. We will get back around so don’t worry about me.”
“But friends don’t hurt each other with words.”
That was some wise talk from my brother that I have to admire him for a moment. “I know. It was because of the moment that it happened. Besides, it was my fault that he had to be triggered that much.”
I have to look at him because I am not done talking. “And look, I am not blaming myself for what he did. I am just stating that if I had not made such a terrible mistake today, then maybe what happened wouldn’t have happened. Just maybe...” my voice trails off at the last statement because I am reflecting on something. Something that gave me an idea that I would never have thought of on a sitter.
*****
REID:
“It just won’t work, Hunter!” I slam my hands on the desk as I stand up to my feet. My action might have startled the others but it was a way of reflecting how annoyed I am right now. “You know why it wouldn’t? Because at this point, it would be very risky for anyone to even try to do it. Understand what I am saying first before arguing that we could take the risk.”
Hunter, who is the one I am facing directly, responds to my rebuttal. I wonder what he has to say after making such a ridiculous point initially. “It would just be something simple. Hiding among them just to get the needed information. It’s that simple.”
“I was there. And I know what I saw. The guards are literally everywhere flocking the pack and you think they would not find out if someone else other than those from their territory was among them? They would. From what I saw, there was hardly any movement by the pack members. Those two I saw were something of a coincidence, which makes me think that whatever had led me there wanted me to meet them there. Perhaps to avoid some unnecessary loss on our side.”
“It still—”
“Oh, shut up, Hunter!”