Page 8

The shift was pulling at me, and I was more than ready to give in to it. There were few pleasures equal to running through the forest with the pack at my pack, wild and alive. Nothing could have stopped me or shaken me from the oncoming frenzy...

Except for my Omega.

A surge of magic cracked through the air like lightning, and every bit of my focus shifted toward it. It felt strange, but at the same time, familiar. Terrifying, but something told me there was no reason to fear it. This magic could never hurt me. It felt like the zing of fear rushing up my spine, or a rush of adrenaline, but most of all, it felt like my mate.

My Kiera.

I didn't think. I just moved. My wolf was howling, the red moon fueling my rage as I tracked Kiera's power through the chaotic, shifting pack. So many had already given in to instinct, running into the forest, but I was an Alpha. Even against the moon itself, I was in control.

When I spotted her, she was nearly glowing, her hands like two small stars, burning with power. On the ground in front of her were three of my shifters, still in human form, looking up at Kiera like they'd seen a ghost. Other pack members have stopped to look, but they may as well have been invisible to me. All I could see, all I could comprehend, was my Omega with magic sparking at her fingertips.

Kiera Langley had magic. Holy shit.

My pulse thundered in my ears as I ran to her. How? How was this possible? I knew her, I'd known her forever, and she'd never had this kind of power. If there had been a magic user—a witch, if my nose was correct—among my pack, I should have been able to sense it a long time ago.

Yet there she stood, panting, her eyes wide. Kiera looked like she couldn't believe what she had just done, either. Pride and fury warred in me. She'd hidden something monumental from me, but at the same time, my mate was stronger than I'd ever dared to hope.

Before the three downed shifters could rise, I skidded to a stop between them and Kiera, a growl ripping through me loud enough that nearly everyone left at the bonfire stopped cold.

"She's mine," I snarled, "Touch her, and you answer to me ."

They shrank back, bowing their heads as they tried to figure out what to say to their Alpha. Kiera was right—I was an asshole, but it came with the territory. Kiera might have been bullied by some of the pack before, but if anyone thought the pack would continue to do so now, I'd have to set the record straight.

While Kiera's victims, who I recognized as Curt, Francine, and Pete, three lower-level pack members who always seemed to hold a grudge because of their inability to rise in the ranks, scrambled away, I grabbed Kiera's wrist in my hand hard enough that she had no choice but to look at me. The second I touched her, the magic snuffed out, like water thrown on a flame.

"You're coming home. Now."

She was still breathing hard, but she looked conflicted, "But the ceremony—"

"Fuck the ceremony. Let's go."

Kiera hesitated before nodding, and I could feel her racing pulse under my palm. When I looked at her face, I didn't see fear of the three people on the ground. Instead, I saw fear of herself, of what she'd done.

And when her eyes met mine, there was fear of me, too.

Without another word, I pulled her away from the bonfire, the overwhelming urge to shift clawing under my skin. I'd been so close, and I wanted to take my wolf form so fucking badly, but nothing was more important than getting Kiera out of there and finding out just what in the hell was going on.

I threw open the door of the Jeep, and Kiera climbed in, wrapping her arms around herself. As I drove, her eyes were distant, and the silence between us stretched to the limit. I didn't know how in the hell to approach what had just happened, and it didn't look like Kiera was desperate to bring it up either. My hands tightened on the steering wheel, annoyed at how I struggled to find the right thing to say around her. Kiera owed me one hell of an explanation, but I wasn't going to get one if I pissed her off too much.

Finally, I decided to keep it simple: "You have magic."

Kiera flinched. "I don't want to talk about it."

It was hard not to yell, and I had to unclench my jaw before I continued, "You never told me."

"I never wanted you to know. I never wanted anyone here to know."

Of course, she brought it back around to how much she hated being back in Crystal Creek as part of my pack. I ignored it and settled on the second most important question I had for her. "What about Kit?"

Her head jerked up, "No," she told me quickly, "He doesn't have magic. That's not how it works. If he's anything besides human, then he's a shifter just like you."

I noticed she didn't refer to herself as a shifter, and it disappointed me. Kiera might have been a weak shifter, but it felt like she'd abandoned that part of herself altogether.

"Fine. Tell me about it. Explain how the hell it is you can do something no other shifter is capable of."

I was already pulling the car into the driveway, my blood pumping so fast I couldn't wait another minute for answers. Kiera's eyes were glued on the house, her face a blank mask.

"Kiera," I repeated, my tone harder this time. I didn't have patience for bullshit, and I wouldn't take anything less than the truth.

"Please just wait until we get inside," her voice was small. Inwardly, I cringed. Fuck. I wasn't trying to scare her. She was obviously shaken by what had happened, and I needed to back the fuck off and take care of her like any Alpha worth his salt would do. Not to interrogate her when she was still nearly shaking from the experience.

I climbed out of the Jeep and walked around to open her door. Kiera seemed surprised when I offered her my arm to lean on, but she accepted it. I could still smell her usual sweet scent, sugared lemon, but layered on top of it was the smell of ozone from her magic. It made my skin prickle.

What in the hell had she been thinking? A part of me wanted to tell her how foolish it had been to try and hide that from me. What would have happened if someone else had found her like that, and she couldn't fight them off? For a smart woman, she could be so careless with her safety.

Once inside, I walked her directly to the kitchen table and had her sit, guiding her with my hand at the small of her back. She glared up at me when I didn't let her rush to her room but sat with a huff, folding her hands in her lap to hide how much they were trembling.

It was a struggle not to pelt her with a thousand questions, but I was trying like hell to figure out how to deal with my Omega without making her hate me more than she already did. I knew she needed time to process, even if I didn't want to give it to her, so instead of sitting down to interrogate her, I headed towards the kitchen.

Having her and Kit in the house had been the first time the place hadn't seemed so empty since my parents died. I wished my mother were here to guide me on how to deal with someone like Kiera, but she'd been gone a long time. When I thought about her and what she would do when things got tough, I remembered my mom making tea and drinking it while she worked through her problems. It settled her nerves, so maybe it would do the same for Kiera.

The tea tin was far back in the cabinet, and I had to push everything else aside to get it, but I grabbed the damn thing and put it on the counter. It smelled like home, like my dad's secret hidden cigarettes and the lingering scent of my mother's perfume. The tea itself smelled like camomile and vanilla, the kind that you made with hot milk and honey. I was more of a coffee kind of guy, but this was important. If there was anyone who needed the calm it would bring her, it was Kiera. I had no idea what to say or how to say it, so hopefully, my actions would work in my favor.

I got out a mug from the cabinet and set it on the counter before turning around to grab the kettle. I was about to fill it with water when Kiera spoke again, her voice quiet but still filling the empty space. "Do you have cocoa instead?"

My hand froze on the faucet. When I turned to her, she wasn't even looking at me, but down at her folded hands instead. Vulnerable. Fragile. How could I possibly deny her anything? This woman had just unleashed powerful magic against my wolves to protect herself, and now she was asking me for something as simple as cocoa. Something inside me softened, and I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, much gentler than before, "I do."

"Thank you," Kiera mumbled. The last traces of the magic had finally vanished from her skin, leaving her pale and exhausted. I knew I should keep pressing and get her talking again about the power she had used to fight against my pack, but something inside of me had quieted.

This was Kiera, my mate and the mother of my child. I wasn't sure why, but I wanted to treat her better than the other pack members and wanted to earn her trust. The magic she'd displayed was still terrifying, and I wasn't sure how she'd ended up with that much power, but Kiera didn't look dangerous. She looked scared and overwhelmed, and my wolf didn't want me to keep pressing. I'd made a promise to my father that I'd be the best Alpha I could be for this pack, but part of that promise included my Omega, too. She was mine to care for.

I finished heating up the milk and poured the hot chocolate into a wide mug. Kiera's eyes didn't move from the table while I brought it to her, and I set the cup down gently in front of her, hoping she'd be able to feel that I didn't want to argue.

Her fingers wrapped around the mug tightly, no doubt warming them. I waited for the tension to drain from her shoulders, but it didn't. Her muscles locked so tightly that it was a shock she could even breathe.

"I'm not going to force any answers out of you tonight," I told her, "So relax."

She did, marginally. "You aren't going to tell me what a stupid mistake I made?"

"Would you like me to?" I raised an eyebrow. She'd just thrown three of my shifters to the ground without even blinking. Kiera might have been the pack's outcast, but I'd be stupid to not be aware of what she was capable of now. She was still weak as an Omega, but this power that had awoken inside her was anything but.

"Not particularly." She still sounded on edge, and her fingers tightened around her mug, but she wasn't shaking anymore.

I waited until she let out a long breath and finally took a drink before speaking again, "How long did those three assholes mess with you before you left the pack?"

She sighed and set her mug down. "Since I was a kid. They always called me human, weak, worthless...you know, all the classics." She traced her finger around the edge of the mug. "I thought they'd have grown out of it by now. Apparently not."

Anger rose in me even though I had no excuse to feel it. I hadn't exactly been kind to her back then either, but I hadn't known just how rough she had it. "If I'd been aware, Kiera..." I clenched and unclenched my fists, the red moon making it difficult for me to keep my temper in check. "I know I was a jerk back then, but I would have stopped it had I known."

She didn't look like she was convinced. "Even if I really was human?"

I didn't argue the point. I knew she wasn't human. Both her parents were shifters. She might have been a weak shifter, but she wasn't human. "You were part of my pack, human or not, and my job was to keep you safe. Even before you became my Omega...you still mattered."

For a long moment, Kiera just stared, steam from her cocoa curling up and bracketing her face. It was like she wasn't sure if she believed me or not, but her face softened. Just slightly, but it was better than nothing. Had anyone told her that she mattered before?

"I feel short. I fucked up." I admitted. "But I have no intention of letting anything like that happen ever again. I'm a better Alpha than I was back then. And I can be a better man, Kiera, even if you don't like the way I go about it."

She inhaled sharply, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. When her tongue came out to wet her lower lip, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Her mouth was slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what. Kiera needed space, she needed time, but before I could stop myself, I was leaning forward, a hand on her knee, determined to coax whatever unsaid words she had in her mouth out with a kiss. I was denied my shift beneath the red moon, but I could accept that if I could just kiss her—

Then, before I reached her, a small voice called out from down the hallway, "Mama?"

Kiera jerked back, almost yelping in surprise at what she was about to do. "Coming, my love," hurrying down the hallway without sparing me a second glance. I followed, annoyed but understanding her priorities, and stayed far enough behind her that she wouldn't feel crowded.

When we reached his room, Kit was sitting up in bed, his face creased from his pillow. His blanket tangled around his legs as he reached out blindly in the dark for the comfort of his mother. "I had a bad dream."

"I'm here, baby," Kiera murmured, sitting on the bed with him and holding him close, her voice low. She smoothed his hair down and repeated, "I'm right here."

Her voice was steady, with no trace of the fear or anxiety she must have felt from the confrontation back at the bonfire. There was no trembling in her hands as she rubbed Kit's back, and no hesitation when she pressed a kiss to his temple. She was calm, solid, and strong. Everything a mother should be.

And then it hit me. The woman who had been obviously scared, even a little skittish, back in the kitchen moments ago had disappeared. Whatever she'd been feeling—about me, her power, or the whole damn situation—it had all been pushed away for her son.

For Kit, Kiera was fearless.

I leaned against the doorframe, content to just watch as she tucked the blanket back around the boy, whispering soft reassurances until his breathing evened out and his eyes closed one more. With his mother beside him, Kit could quickly conquer the fear of his nightmare and relax back into the mattress, comforted and safe.

She stayed a moment longer, making sure that he was truly asleep, before she rose and stepped back towards me.

I pushed off the doorframe and motioned for her to follow me. When she didn't move, I frowned. "I'm not going to bite you," I said, trying to make a joke, but Kiera's face only darkened.

She shook her head, stepping past me and into the hall. I followed her back to the kitchen table and watched as she picked up her hot chocolate again, though she didn't drink any. Instead, she looked down into the cup as if she was trying to make a decision, and it took long minutes until she was able to look back up at me.

"I...don't want to lie to you about what happened. They were your wolves, and I used my power in your territory, so it's your right to know. But I didn't mean for it to happen, okay? I just felt like I had no other choice."

I nodded, on high alert now that she was ready to talk, but not wanting to interrupt her out of worry, she might clam up again.

"My mother wasn't just a shifter," she finally admitted. "There is witch blood on that side of my family, but the power skips generations, which is why you never knew about my mother. She appears to be just a normal shifter."

I leaned against the counter, arms crossed, grappling with this new information. I had slept with Kiera, been closer to her than anyone else, and I hadn't known she had magic. "You've been able to use it this entire time?"

"Well..." she sighed, "When my witch magic didn't manifest, and neither did my ability to shift, my parents just thought I was a failure all around. It wasn't until I presented as an Omega that we realized it might have something to do with my magic being stunted, but it didn't truly manifest until that night we slept together..." Kiera gulped, looking away, "When we knotted."

I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was stare at her as she revealed her secrets and try to comprehend them.

She bit her lip and continued. "That's part of why I left. That's why I took Kit and ran away. I knew that if you found out about my magic, you wouldn't hesitate to use me for your own purposes, and I didn't want that. I didn't want my power to be used by the same man who had so carelessly cast me aside..." She trailed off, shaking her head, "I wanted to protect myself, and I wanted to protect my son from the same fate. Being used."

Was that really what she thought of me? That I would use her for her power?

Kiera let out a long breath, "So there you go. You've got all the answers you need now."

I stared at her, the reality of her words sinking in slowly.

She'd run away because she thought I'd hurt her. She'd run away because she thought I would use her. She'd run away because she wanted to protect herself.

And the worst part of it was that I couldn't blame her. Most Alphas would do anything for power, and an Omega with witch blood would be more valuable than gold. Kiera had no idea if I would have used her or not. My fists clenched, anger welling up inside of me. Not at her, though. At how this all had played out.

"Kiera. Fuck. This is a lot."

"Imagine how I feel," she snapped, before softening again. "If it makes you feel any better, it refuses to let me use it against you. The magic, I mean. It's so entangled with our mating bond that even when I wanted to defend myself against you bringing me back here, I couldn't call it up."

I didn't tell her so, but it did make me feel a little better. It was more proof that I was right to claim my mate, and that she was meant to be mine. "You did the right thing fighting back, Kiera. They won't see you as just my Omega now. You've proven you're strong in your own right. This is still a lot to take in, but at least it keeps you safer."

Kiera leaned back in her chair and blinked a few times as I continued.

"You’re with me now. We’re a pack. And my pack will respect you. If they don’t, they’ll have to answer to me. You don’t have to hide anymore.”

Her posture shifted slightly, the defensiveness melting away, replaced by a flicker of something like hope. She opened her mouth to say something, but I placed a finger to her lips, silencing her before she could speak. "Enough for tonight," I told her, brushing my fingers across her cheek before letting my hand fall away, even if I was dying to touch her more. "I think I've heard enough world-shaking revelations for a while. Drink your cocoa, mate."

Kiera looked like she wanted to argue—when didn't she? But slowly, she lifted her mug to her lips and drank. I grinned, satisfied. Above us, the red moon started its descent, and while I hadn't gotten to run beneath it like I planned, it was possible that what I gained tonight was more valuable by far.