76: Safe enough to survive.
**Aife pov**
After Jonathan and Zion were done packing whatever they deemed important, we moved fast, threw everything in the car and drove off.
As the small house disappeared from view, I felt a sense of emptiness inside me, losing the only safe space I had had for a while.
The rest of the car ride was long. No one spoke, Kala held my hand and gripped it tighter here and there, as if she needed to prove that she was still there, on my side.
To distract myself from the silence, I kept imagining scenarios about Bane. Where was he? What was he up to? Was he safe? And most importantly, I couldn’t stop wondering if he had found a way to rid himself of the monster residing in his body.
After a while, I glanced to my right and watched Kala for a bit. She just sat there, staring out the window with a frown deep enough, one could assume the trees outside had wronged her.
Jonathan sat at the steering wheel, his har clenched so tight, I could hear his teeth grind every time the tires hit a pothole on the road.
Zion sat at the front next to Jonathan, fidgeting with his fingers as if he needed to hold something, yet had nothing.
No one said the words, but nobody really had to - we all felt it. Our next destination, the mountains, were supposed to be safe. Way safer than the house on the unclaimed lands where we were easy to locate and much further away from Bane.
By the time the tires of the car finally crunched to a stop on a gravel, I was so exhausted, I barely could keep my eyes open. Jonathan killed the engine with more force than necessary and mumbled, “we’re here,” without turning around to look at Kala and me.
I nodded, although he couldn’t see it and opened the door to step out of the car, into the cold mountain air that made breathing feel more painful than it was supposed to be.
My eyes instantly found the cabin - it was small, way smaller than the house we left, but it looked sturdy, built to withstand the harsh weather of the mountains, snow and heavy winds. Beautiful pine trees surrounded it, making the tiny building look more like an escape than I expected.
I realized that someone was standing on the porch of the cabin only when I took the first step towards it.
“Alpha,” Jonathan spoke from behind me and stopped right next to me.
It was quite odd, seeing Jonathan like this. I knew he had feelings for Killian and both men were very close, but after all this time they spent apart, I expected a warmer reunion. Instead, Jonathan stood frozen on the spot, his body tense and Killian’s eyes took in the scene like he was looking for danger.
Then, Killian started moving. He walked down the steps slowly, looking all hundred percent the rough around the edges Alpha I got to know him as. I was about to step closer and offer a hug, maybe ask what Killian was doing so far up in the mountains and how he found us, but I was stopped before I could do anything.
Zion stepped in front of me without a warning and bared his canines at Killian, letting out a low, threatening growl. “Don’t come close to my Luna,” Zion warned.
Killian only smiled and shook his head, “are you always this twitchy, Zion, or is it only me that puts you on edge so much?” He mused.
“Only around the wolves I can’t trust and know are no-good bastards,” Zion snarled ar Killian, his large body, although still healing, shielding me like a protective wall.
“Fair enough,” Killian chuckled. “Now step aside and let me take a look at my friend over there, I want to check if she’s okay.”
Zion didn’t make a move to step aside, quite the opposite, I was sure he was getting ready to lunge at Killian, but thankfully, Kala spoke up and distracted him from the wild idea. “We were told this place was cleared.”
I peeked around Zion just the moment Killian’s eyes found Kala. He didn’t glare or glance at her suggestively, just looked at her like any polite person would during a conversation. Then, he cleared his throat and nodded once. “This place is cleared. My warriors are sweeping the perimeter every thirty minutes in shifts. There’s no sign of movement for twenty miles in each direction. You’ll be safe here.”
Kala and Zion exchanged confused glances while Jonathan just stared at Killian like he hung the moon, so I decided to speak up in an attempt to ease the tension.
I quickly stepped to the side so Killian could see me. “Hello again, Alpha Killian,” I greeted him.
Killian’s eyes focused on me as a corner of his mouth twitched in amusement. “Luna Aife,” he said and even bowed, clearly enjoying this unexpected spectacle.
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, “what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be back home, doing the Alpha duties or whatnot?”
Now, his face broke out in a wide grin as he stomped towards me, using the moment Zion stood frozen and tried to understand what was happening. Before anyone could react, Killian had his arms wrapped around me and he carefully lifted me off the ground. “I wanted to check on how the little growing bean is doing. Feeding the tiny monster well?” He laughed.
“Put me down, Killian,” I demanded and chuckled at his antics.
“Fine, fine,” he grumbled and complied with my demand, but didn’t back away, his eyes scanning my face for any discress before he spoke again. “Jonathan told me what happened in the first safe house, so I decided to meet you guys here and check for myself if you’re okay. Don’t worry, I won’t intrude too much, but I’m staying nearby for a while. I promise you won’t see much of me unless you need to.”
Just as quickly as Zion went silent, he snapped back to reality and glared at Killian. “Why help us?”
Killian glanced at Zion and rolled his eyes, as if he was bored by the questions already. “First of all, I’m helping Aife. I so happen to be very fond of my friend and the little monster she’s cooking in her oven. Second, there are worse things out there than me, I believe it’s best for you to focus on them.”
“Bullshit,” Zion snarled, stepping closer, completely ignoring Kala’s attempts to hold him back. “Men like you don’t do anything if they don’t see a personal gain in the situation.”
Killian raised his eyebrow at Zion. “Personal gain? Enlighten me.”
Zion moved fast, standing face to face with Killian, challenging the Alpha as he growled, “we all know you hate Bane. We all know how long you’ve been trying to outdo him, that stupid competition of yours. But let me tell you one thing - my Luna isn’t your weapon and never will be.”
In response, Killian threw back his head and laughed. It felt like hours until he finally calmed down, wiped imaginary tears off his cheeks and shook his head again. “I never said she was my weapon, especially a pawn to outdo Bane. That’s just low thinking, Zion.”
Zion scoffed, clearly not buying a word from Killian’s answer. “Okay, then why all this protection?”
From the corner of my eye, I could see Jonathan opening his mouth, but Killian silenced him with a shake of his head. Then, Killian turned around, walked back to the cabin and pushed the door open. “Because when a storm comes, you don’t ask why the shelter is free, you just take it.”
Jonathan cleared his throat to catch everyone’s attention and shrugged. “Let’s go inside and check our new temporary home, shall we?”
While Jonathan followed Killian inside, Zion didn’t move. He hovered around me, breathing heavily, his eyes wide with suspicion and what might be fear.
Kala approached Zion as if her mate was a cornered animal, ready to attack any given moment and gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “My love, if that Alpha wanted Aife dead, we would have buried her long ago already. You don’t have to trust him now, nobody’s forcing you, but I believe he doesn’t plan to harm any of us, especially Aife.”
Zion nodded and slowly turned to face me. “How about you? You trust him?”
I didn’t have to be a mind reader to notice how much Zion disliked Killian and his presence. However, after everything I went through, I also knew I could trust Killian with my life.
So, I took a step closer and answered, “I do. Killian is the reason why I was at that safe house on the unclaimed lands to begin with. He didn’t let me go alone, he sent Jonathan for protection and company - the one person he knew wouldn’t raise suspicion. So far, he hasn’t given me a single reason not to trust him and his intentions.”
At my words, Zion’s jaw tensed, his nostrils flared, but he didn’t say a word, just nodded and stepped aside, letting me enter the cabin.
The inside of the cabin smelled like pine and old smoke, a scent I wasn’t exactly familiar with, but it somehow made this tiny space feel comforting, more like home. The small room was warm, fire already danced in the fireplace at the furthest wall and every shelf around was stocked with food cans.
“You can use the upper floor for Aife and Kala. Boys stay downstairs,” Killian suddenly spoke, his eyes focused on Jonathan. “I’ll be around, just call for me if you need anything.” And then, just for shits and giggles, Killian turned to Zion and added, “don’t worry, I only peek when I’m invited.”
“We don’t need your stupid jokes,” Zion snapped, instantly going on defence as always.
Killian shrugged, “suit yourself.” And then, in the truest of Killian’s fashion, he walked out of the cabin without another word, leaving us all standing in the small space.
Once the door closed, for some reason, Zion decided to question Jonathan. “Do you really trust him? Forget the loyalty to your Alpha bullshit and answer truthfully.”
Jonathan instantly pinned Zion with a glare. “Of course, I trust him. Not only as my Alpha, but as a friend and a person who has proven time and time again, he has everyone’s best interest at heart. Now, if I have to pretend I have no loyalty to that man, I would still trust him simply because he hates the same things we do. At the end of the day, Killian and us are fighting the same enemy and protecting the same woman.”
Just as Zion was about to open his mouth, Kala grabbed my upper arm and started pulling me towards a staircase at the very corner of the room. “Come on, Aife, let’s check our room.”
I nodded and followed her upstairs, letting Zion and Jonathan deal with whatever they needed to discuss without us around.
As soon as we stepped inside the room, Kala turned to me. “Do you really think he means it? Alpha Killian? You believe he just wants to protect you?”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, “all I know is that he’s not lying and for now, that’s enough.”
Kala seemed to accept my answer and instead focused on unpacking what little we took from the safe house. At one point, I glanced out the window and while the scenery out there was nothing short of breathtaking, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
Maybe we were really safe for now, but something told me that we weren’t safe enough to survive.
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