Fears and Doubts

   Chapter 6

Kieran’s POV

   “How can someone be so effortlessly beautiful?" I wondered, “all she did was stand and I lost my ability to make a complete sentence without making myself look like an idiot." 

   "With a face and body like that, whoever rejected her is the real idiot.” King's words echoed in my mind and I couldn't help but agree. 

   Whoever he was, did us a favour. But I hated that she had to go through so much pain to become ours. A picture of the bruises on her body crossed my mind and a growl left my lips.

  “Whoever did that to her was going to pay." My thoughts were interrupted when I got to my chambers where Caleb and Ryder were waiting for me. Their heads snapped to me, confusion written on their faces since it has only been a few minutes since I left.

   "Alpha, do you need something?” Caleb asked, his brows furrowed.

   I shook my head and sat on the chair opposite him. The only person who could give me what I wanted was in my room and still isn't sure if she would accept me or not.

   “She's going to accept us." He sounded so confident like we didn't have the conversation together.

  “Oh no!" Ryder started. “You've known her for barely twenty-four hours, what did you do?" 

   I shot him a glare, “why do you assume it's something I did?" 

  He smirked, “You do have a look on your face that screams guilty." 

    I couldn't deny it, but guilty isn't the word I would use. More like exasperated– frustrated at my inability to do anything right. She is my mate, one I've waited for my whole life and yet I can't convince her that hurting her was the last thing I wanted to do, that I'd rather hurt myself than put her in harm's way.

  “Yeah, definitely guilty." Ryder murmured, but pretended to zip his mouth when I glared at him.

  The room fell silent, and my heavy breathing was the only sound that could be heard.

   Their teasing had hit a nerve, but I knew I had to be honest with them. “it’s not what you think.” I began. "She had a mate and now she thinks I'm going to reject her too." 

  Both of them looked at each other and then back at me. "Alpha, does that really happen?” Ryder asked, "who in their right mind would reject their mate?" 

  I knew where he was coming from. For five years after coming of age, I'd traveled to several packs in search of her and all of them had the same results. I made a promise to love her the moment I found her.

   Ryder still hasn't found his mate. Caleb was the only one who got lucky. He found his mate the moment he turned eighteen.

  “It's his loss." I murmured.

  King growled, “She's ours now." My eyes blazed with possessive fury at the thought of someone else claiming her as his mate. 

   The air in the room seems to thicken, heavy with the weight of my unspoken threat. Ryder's eyes darted towards Caleb and both of them stood up before I could think of doing anything crazy.

    “She's here now." Caleb's voice assured me and that calmed me down.

  “Sorry, King has a mind of his own.” They nodded but I heard King snicker. "Blame me,” he said.

  Ignoring him, I turned to Caleb who had gone back to where he was sitting. "What should I do? How do I convince her? I don't think I'll survive if she ends up rejecting me.”

  His lips curled up in surprise, "uhmm…you should ask Dani, she's better at this." He suggested, a smile forming on his face when he mentioned his mate.

   He mind-linked her and in a matter of minutes she was standing in front of me, a gentle smile on her face.

  "You sent for me, Alpha?" She asked, bowing her head in submission.

    I nodded, grateful for her willingness to help. “I'm sure you know I found my mate earlier today?" I started, and nodded eagerly.

   “The problem is that her first mate rejected her–” Dani gasped, but I continued. "Now she's convinced I'm accepting her because I have plans to reject her. How do I convince her otherwise?" I finished.

   Dani nodded thoughtfully, trying to digest the information. The room was silent as the three waited to hear what she was going to say.

    "I don't know her,” she started and I felt a wave of disappointment pass through me. “But, to convince someone who has been lied to, you have to show her that she can trust you.”

     "How do I go about that? She's…" I trailed off, “she won't even let me hold her.” I said, a picture of her removing her hand from mine earlier played in my head but I was quick to push it away.

   A hint of a smile played on Dani’s lips, “you can start from there. Showing her that you're willing to wait and earn her trust might show her that you're on her side.”

   Although it sounded easy the way she was saying it, I knew otherwise. "What if she never trusts me?" 

   “She will, it's just a matter of time." Dani assured me like she knew something I didn't and in this case, I wish she did.

   

  With that, I sighed. "Alright, thank you." 

  Dani nodded. It wasn't just her expression, but the expression on their faces as well. It seemed like they were still shocked to hear me talk this way.

  "I guess you would want to be left alone, so we are going to take our leave," they expressed, and I nodded, waving my hands to dismiss them. 

   As soon as they left, my wolf leaped. "What are you waiting for, let's go see her!" 

I sighed, her beauty was so stunning. I didn't know what else to do. I felt like life was playing with me. 

   Making her trust me was going to be a lot of work, it wasn't something that could be done in a day but for her, I was willing to go for as long as it'll take for her to trust me.

  “Let's go see her..." I responded, and immediately pushed myself up from the chair. 

   I walked through the hallway, and to the room. She was lying down on the bed, I noticed how her chest rose, and fell indicating she was asleep.

  I smirked, and as much as I wanted to snuggle up with her, I knew that at this moment, that was a bad idea. She would get scared, and that was the opposite of what I was working towards.

   There was a couch at the other end of the room. It wasn't big enough to contain my whole body but for tonight, it'll suffice.

"Well, I guess we know where we'll be sleeping tonight, don't we?" 

  King growled, clearly displeased with the idea. "I would prefer to hold her. I'm sure she'll sleep better in our arms." He purred.

"But if you do that, she won't feel comfortable. But I agree, she'll fit perfectly in our arms.” 

  "Fine, if you insist," he answered as I made my way towards the couch.

 "Good night, Kaia." I muttered to myself knowing she couldn't hear me. 

   While waiting for sleep, I thought of several ways to get her to trust me. I came up  with a few ideas but I was unable to make an actual plan as my eyes slowly closed on their own and I drifted off to sleep.