Chapter 64

REID:

It doesn’t. But I was not expecting to be hit with such a statement. I could suddenly feel her pain and it was enough to know that she felt so miserable at the moment.

“I’m sorry about that,” I say, finding it the only thing I could say as a means to pacify her.

She does not say anything. But her emotions seem to go in disarray straight up. Looking straight into her eyes, I could suddenly tell that she was struggling to fight back tears. With, the condition she is in, I don’t think she’ll be able to hold it back for too long.

As expected, tears start to stream down her eyes slowly. She looked to be at the point of a breakdown. I think she has been bottling up her emotions for a while now and perhaps it got triggered when I tried to console her with my words. I guess I shouldn’t have then.

Seeing her the way she is now made me uncertain about what to do to make her feel better. I know I should console her but I don’t think it would be the right thing to do, knowing that she doesn’t even want me next to her.

I could not take it anymore when the tears become endless. My heart starts to feel a stinging pain, so much so that it complies me to take a step forward toward her.

I noticed that she does not bother to take a step backward like she always does whenever I try to approach her. This gave the cue that I could try to get closer to her, and so I take it.

Another step, and then another again. Before I knew it, I was directly in front of her already. Still, I was unsure what to do.

She continued balling her eyes out with her head facing downward, making it seem like she did not give a shit about my presence. I was even speculating on going back to where I came from but the more I saw her in this state she was in, the more I wanted to do something to make her feel better at any cost.

So I come to a decision eventually and so proceed to take her in for a hug. I wrap my hands around her back as I push her straight to my chest.

At first, she stiffens. But soon after, she had completely freed her body against my embrace as she starts to let her emotions out for real this time around.

The only thing I can do as she wails in my arms is pat her back softly. When I realize that I was hardly doing anything to make her calm, I proceed to plant a kiss on the top of her head and that was what I needed to make her feel better.

She stays that way in my arms for quite a while. Even minutes after I can no longer hear her cry her eyes out. She sure needed this. She needed to be consoled right now and I’m glad I took it upon myself to do the right thing.

Her sniffs take over much later. And it was after that I feel her struggle to get out of my reach. Seems she has come back to her senses now. I do not bother to fight it off as I willingly loosen my grip around her so she could be free.

She looks to be in shock when I look straight at her still teary face. Hasn’t dried up yet to hide that she just balled her eyes out. From the way she was acting, I can say for sure that she is in disbelief about what she just did. Guess she cannot seem to understand why she willingly let me pacify her in her distressed state.

I let her continue to flow in self-shock while waiting to ask if she was already feeling better. And when I notice that she has looked away from my direction, I decide to proceed with that.

“Are you okay now?” I ask.

A few seconds later, she nods. “I am,” she says in response while still looking away and I was sure she was not going to be looking at me again until she leaves her.

I wait for a minute before hitting her with a statement. “Let me walk you out of my pack before someone else finds you here.”

Instantly, she declines. “Don’t worry,” she says. “I’ll find my way around.”

A smirk makes its way to my lips, sending a quiver at the corner of my lips. I knew why she did that and I was not going to be buying her declining my offer to help.

“You have no choice but to let me see you back off to your pack. There’s no way you’ll find the route back to it.”

Still, she remains adamant by shaking her head. “I told you I'll find my way around,” she counters.

“You’ll need me,” I state. But even after some time, she does not answer that. I was not sure maybe she had agreed to it but most of my being told me she was not into it still. But I push on and ask after, “So should I?”

And I get my response on a direct basis: “The answer remains no!”

The next thing is I watch her storm away from here. I do not do anything but watch her retreating back, already sure she is going to regret walking off without my help.

*****

KIRA:

I cannot believe that I let myself cry in his arms. Gosh, so embarrassing. How could I let myself be vulnerable in his presence? It’s a disaster for me.

The crazy thing is his nonchalance. He knows that I was embarrassed yet he kept asking me if I wanted his help in seeing me off. Why would I need his help when I could find my way around like I always do? He thinks because he helped me become okay after I cried, then it was a chance for him to get to do as he pleases. He must be kidding.

What I am doing now is just trying to make sense of where I had come through initially. I was certain it is this route that I am going through right now. I can only hope that I do not encounter his warriors like I almost do a while back when I was still with him.

It brings me back to when the event had occurred. How he had pushed me down to the ground when I had almost walked right into the hands of the patrolling warriors. Geez, that was close. But what was even closer was when I realized the proximity between me and the alpha.

Goodness, why do I still feel butterflies in my tummy from thinking about what had happened? The closeness had triggered a side of me that I never knew I had. It was as if I had been melting in his touch. But was that right?

Why am I even thinking about such a thing when there are other matters that are more pressing than that? There are a lot of things I am going through right now and the thing that I could be there thinking of first is how a rival alpha had melted my heart. That was wrong in so many ways.

“I should not let that get to my head again,” I say out loud as I continue to trail along the path that I was guessing was the right way.

To be honest, I was skeptical about what I was doing. Maybe I should have taken his offer for help. It would have been an easier task for me right now. I guess it’s too late to turn back down because the distance I had gone through since then was already a bit massive. Pretty sure he would have headed back to his pack if I were to go back now to check on him.

Well, I brought this upon myself. So I have no choice but to carry on with it. Give or take, I was sure that I was on the right track. And if I wasn’t, maybe I would just surrender myself to the warriors and have them take me behind bars. The alpha could then save me after that.

What am I thinking? Kira, you are so dumb!

I scold myself inwardly for my ill thoughts, almost making me bump my head into something from having my mind preoccupied. Thankfully I was quick to notice it or else I would be having a lump on my forehead right now.

I hear the rustling in the wind. Immediately set my senses on high. It was almost like I was being followed or something. A funny feeling, I must say, but I try not to let that get to me.

But all of a sudden, I feel a movement behind me. But before I could turn back to notice what it was, I have been knocked down to the ground.

As quick as I get to the ground is the same way I stand up to my feet to take a look at what just happened. That is when I see Alpha Reid. And it is not seeing him that got my senses in a turmoil. It is because of what he is standing over.

Alpha Reid looks up from staring at the wolf beneath him that he has supposedly knocked out and then looks up at me. His expression was stern this time around unlike the welcoming expression he had when I had been with him before.

That is when he utters, “I told you to let me help you...”