Bronze

Chapter 20

Leah

The commotion outside my door was ridiculous. Maids, butlers, janitors, everybody was running up and down the hallway in a stirred panic.

What was even crazier, though, was that it was about Katherine. 

I had heard one of the maids gossiping as she ran. She was talking to one of the guards, holding a large basket filled to the brim with folded linens and blankets. The guard looked only mildly interested in the conversation, but seemed welcome to the distraction.

According to the lady- I had no idea whether she was right or not- Katherine was attacked out in the woods earlier today. Kane bravely went out and saved her, carrying her in his arms like a knight in shining armor straight to the nurse's ward. There, he cared for her and has not left her side since. 

I caught one last thing before the maid completely got out of earshot. "Isn't it sweet how much he loves her?" she cooed lovingly. The guard grunted absently in response. 

I slammed my door shut and plugged my ears with my hands. I wanted to cry, scream, laugh, and stay in bitter silence all at the same time, but I calmed my nerves enough to think about the situation.

The fact that she was dumb enough to go out alone was...well, idiotic at best. There had to have been a reason why. Furthermore, there had to have been a reason why Kane was also out there. Usually during this period of the day, he was in his office working. If Katherine was really attacked, then she would have been dead by the time Kane got out there, which means he was already there when it happened. 

Why? 

With my head swirling with questions, I laid back, sprawled face-up on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, trying to focus my spinning brain on something other than the motion of a pinwheel. 

Just like the guard, I concluded, I needed a distraction. I needed something that would take my mind off of Kane and Katherine, off of mates, and the horrible effect the bond was having on my psyche. 

Looking out the window, I saw that distraction in the form of a young, built boy with bright blue eyes and shaggy brown hair. He was sparing with another guy around his age, a similar build to him except taller. 

Hopping from the bed, and pulling a hoodie over my tank, I existed my prison cell and looked for a way to get outside that didn't involve running into pack members, especially ones I knew personally.

Sneaking was by no means hard for me. I used to practice sneaking around my house when I was little to avoid my mother when she came home drunk. I glided against the walls, peeked around corners, and hide behind plants or chairs when I came upon passersby. As far as anyone knew, I was still in my room, locked away where I belonged. 

I conjured the ninja spirit of my five-year-old self, pressed my back against the wall near my door, and slowly made my way to the staircase down the hall. I was lucky that most of the staff were downstairs, running around like lunatics. They barely paid any attention to me as I went. 

Once outside, and successfully unnoticed, I made my way over to where Lander was. He was flat on his back, staring up at the sky as the other boy pinned him to the ground. They wrestled, but ultimately the taller boy had won. 

"Hey," I said meekly, unsure of whether Lander was mad at me or not. He looked over at me and smiled. The tall boy gave Lander his hand and hauled him to his feet. They parted with a fistbump and a weird handshake I couldn't follow. 

"Hi!" he beamed, wiping the dirt from his grey basketball shorts. 

I raised my brows playfully, watching as specks of dirt flew from his hair to his shoulders. I tried hard not to follow those specks as they went lower, though I imagined I wouldn't have been against seeing him shirtless if I hadn't been marked not long ago. The boy did have a nice body.