Bronze

Chapter 8

Leah

I was glad Kane didn't feel what I felt. When I passed him in the hall later that day, he didn't seem phased. If anything, he looked royalty pissed off to see me. 

That was yesterday.

Wendy's been avoiding me since then. When I tried to speak with her, she mumbled "I have to work," and ran away. I stopped trying after that. 

She was scared, I understood that, but what happened with the book was a mistake. It wasn't like I had anything to do with the magic. I didn't control it. I didn't wield that kind of power. 

I was a simple wolf. 

A simple wolf who couldn't eat or sleep.

As I laid stretched out on my bed, my eyes shifted to the dresser. What if I tried speaking with the creature? 

You would die, my wolf growled.

That was uncertain. I could've died. I could have lived. All I knew for sure was that he, or whatever it was, was powerful. 

My stomach growled at me. My body was starving, but I didn't eat. My eyes closed from exhaustion, but I didn't sleep.

The next best thing to do was to take a bath.

I stripped off all of my clothes and went to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I almost gasped at my reflection. I looked dead. If it weren't for my eyes being blue, I would have thought I was a vampire. 

How long was I planning on staying with Kane?

How long would it take me to escape?

I turned the bathtub faucet on and watched at the steam rose from the water. It was hot, too hot, but that was what my body needed. I wanted to bring life back, and hot water would flush my skin and warm my cold toes. 

Sofie would have loved being here. 

The thought of her made my eyes water. 

My baby sister. The one true thing in my life. I was her protector, her guardian, her sister, and friend, and she was my strength, my courage. I would do anything for that little mutt. 

I could smell her now, though our scents were similar and I was most likely smelling myself. Peonies. Bright pink peonies.  

I inhaled deeply, letting the flower scent wash over me and I closed my eyes. 

Two black little pigtails, held by pink ribbons. Rosy cheeks and blue eyes the color of the ocean. An open field of swaying grass and a small child, no higher than my hips, running around and twirling. 

I caught her arm and spun her around in my arms. She latched on to my neck, giggling and yelling as we collapsed to the dew moistened grass. 

And James.

James was there, too.

My best friend for years, he was the only guy in the whole pack who I could trust. He took care of Sophie when I couldn't. He took care of me when my own mother tried to marry me off.

He was laying beside us, hand outstretched. I took it and sighed at the feel of his hand against mine. 

If I didn't know any better, I would have thought he was my mate. 

He reached over with his other hand and ruffled Sophie's hair. She swatted him away with her little five-year-old hand and grumbled. We all laughed.

The sky was clear above us; no clouds in sight. The field was empty and the world felt right. No magic, no werewolves, no mates. 

I opened my eyes and cried. I cried so hard, so painfully, that I didn't hear the door opening in the other room. I didn't hear the bathroom door open.

Kane stood beside the tub, looking down at me and frowning. His bronze eyes held concern, but his face was stone.

I didn't cover up. I didn't hide away from his gaze. I just sat there, in the bubble covered water, and sobbed. I was too distraught to care, too caught up in my dream to care that he was in the bathroom with me.

I wish I brought her. 

I wish I had carried her tiny body on my back and took her away from the horrible place. 

But that was a selfish thought. Sophie needed a pack, needed people other than me to grow up with. Unlike me, she had friends. She had others who cared and loved her. I couldn't rip her away from that. She couldn't survive as a rogue like I knew I could. 

"I know it hurts," Kane whispered as he bent down on his knees. I scanned him angrily. He closed his eyes and cringed back, and then opened them again. "I can feel it."

He held out his hand inches from my cheek. The bond zapped at the space between our skins, charging the air around us.

"Take it," he muttered, annoyed. "It'll help."

I didn't believe him at first, feeling how heavily my heart hurt, but then I began the calm down when I sniffed him. Spicy. Earthy. Rainwater dripping from pine leaves in the middle of the forest. 

I leaned into his hand, allowing his palm to cup my cheek. Instantly, my pain went away. The weight on my shoulders lifted and I sunk down into the water. 

"Thank you, alpha," I said to him with a sigh. 

"Why are you sad?" he asked.

The thoughts resurfaced and I pulled away from him. My chest ached with loneliness, and all the selfishness in me came back. I wanted my baby sister in my arms. 

 He growled at me, showing off his canines and bright bronze-orange eyes. "Fine!" he snapped, pulling away and standing. "We're leaving in an hour."

"Where?" I asked puzzled. 

I would have rejoiced at the sound of leaving the miserable place, but my brain was elsewhere. Stuck in the past. Stuck in my old home. Leaving here would mean leaving the safety of its walls. 

Markus would easily find me. 

Kane turned away and rubbed his cheek. "I need to do border control," he said gruffly. "...and I can't trust that you'll stay put."

"So predictable," I mumbled.

He swiftly growled at me. I smirked up when I saw him studying my face. "You think you can drag me around on a leash wherever you go, huh? Without me, your powers will be weaker?" 

I was already reinstating what I already knew. Without me for a long period of time, he would die. And vise-versa.  

Though I knew I couldn't say no, I still felt the urge to put up a fight against it. 

"I'm not going," I stated bluntly. 

He wasn't happy with my abrupt refusal. His eyes darkened. His fists clenched to his side. A stealthy tongue glided over his bottom lip with ease. 

"You will be ready in an hour, or I will use a leash and drag you outside." 

My body shivered with need. An unexpected hunger planted itself in my chest as I gawked at his retreating form. 

He slammed both doors shut and proceeded to storm away.

Alla! 

What was I going to do about this?