DEAD INSIDE

KIENA

“Excuse you?” I throw back immediately.

The hell is wrong with him? He's the one going all unhinged caveman on me and he dares to ask me what is wrong with me?

He pins me with a blank stare. The stare is filled with anger and so much darkness.

I try to pull my hand away again but he refuses to free me.

“Let go of me, Zedane.”

“Answer my question.” His voice is low and intimidating.

“The hell kind of question is that? How am I even supposed to know what you're talking about? You're the one who pulled me here so angrily and yet you're asking what's wrong with me? Isn't it obvious which one of us has something wrong with them?”

“You're cursed.” His voice is so low that I am unsure if I heard him right.

“What did you just say?” I ask.

He drops my hand like it stung him and walks back a few steps. “You're cursed. You're a curse, Kiena.”

I cannot believe my ears. I'm staring at him in shock while he stares at me with so much hatred that I almost shrivel up.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It's you. I was trying to figure out what the problem was and then I realized that it is you. You are the problem.”

His words are mostly not explanatory, but they sting. I feel the burn in my spirit and I try to ignore the pain that comes with it.

“I'm not cursed.” My reply sounds weak even to my ears.

He looks at me. “You're the reason my she wolves are dying during childbirth. You're the reason four pups have now been left without their mother in the space of a single week.”

“How is that even possible? I literally just joined your pack…”

He interrupts me. “Exactly! That's exactly how. You just joined my pack and with your presence came a lot of sadness and bad news.”

“You cannot seriously blame me for that. It's all a huge coincidence.”

“Is it? Or is it a ploy between you and your father to drive you into my pack as a means of destroying it?”

“What are you even saying? I didn't have any plots with my father or with anyone else.”

He takes threatening steps towards me and his voice lowers even further until it is just a hum of dark energy.

“I would kill you and anyone else who tries to tear my pack down, Kiena. Without hesitation and without remorse.”

“I'm sure you would. But I'd have you know that I am not scared of death. Not when I have nothing to live for anyways.”

I turn and start to walk away when I hear a soft voice from behind me.

“Spare me a moment, Luna.”

I turn back around so fast because something about that voice does a lot of things to my system.

“Who are you?” I ask almost immediately, unable to curb my curiosity.

“Sybil. What brings you here?” Zedane asks.

Of course. It's his pack, so he has to know who everyone is.

She's an elderly looking lady. Like someone who should be well into their sixties. Her hair is mostly white and so are her eyes. I wonder how it is that she can see anything with those eyeballs that look fried.

“You incur the wrath of your peace.” She says this in such a small voice while holding eye contact with Zedane.

“My peace?” He has a look on his face that asks the question ‘what are you talking about?’

She nods. Then she turns to me with a small smile playing on her face. “Kiena Vocci. You hold so much power.”

I almost laugh at the way she says it. Me and power do not go together in the same sentence.

Zedane scoffs. “You have the wrong person.”

The elderly lady, Sybil, turns to him with a glare. “Do you imply that my powers are weak and unreliable?”

“No. But I doubt they are pointing you in the right direction now. This woman is cursed.” He points at me. “Her presence in my pack has been followed by a series of bad occurrences.”

“Whatever fate the pack has met is no fault of hers.” The lady give him a pointed stare. “It is entirely on you what has become of the pack.”

“I beg your pardon?” Zedane is looking at the lady like she has sprouted a second head somehow.

“Kiena is a special force. She holds enough power to either make or break your pack, and you, my child, have not been careful enough to not wrong her.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, deciding to join the conversation.

She still doesn't look at me as she responds, instead she pays all of her attention to Zedane.

“You are bound to her by magic and blood, that makes both of you a pair. That is why her anger at you causes harm to other pairs. Do you notice how only the mothers of twin pups are dying mysteriously?” She pauses and takes a deep breath before she looks at me and continues. “Her anger is dangerous to the survival of your pack. And you.”

“I have a lot of respect for you, Sybil, but I'm afraid I cannot listen to you.”

Sybil interrupts him. “You have to make peace with her or else… you risk losing everything you hold dear. Yourself included.”

“She is worthless, Sybil. Utterly powerless. Even her own father thought of her as a pawn in his games and you want me to believe that she is something special and powerful?”

My breath catches in my throat as he says those words, hurt stinging my chest and causing me pain. Tears gather in my eyes and I cannot do anything but stare at him in pain and disbelief.

“She is merely an Omega wolf, that alone makes her powerless. That she is also latent makes her a lot more useless than the average Omega.” He turns to me. “You're evil. And I would destroy you before you can lay a single finger of hurt on my pack.”

He turns away from us both and storms off.