Chapter 3

Keira tossed and turned all night, troubled by thoughts and visions of drunk Dawson. When Keira finally heard the birds chirping outside of her window, she crept out of her bed careful not to wake the snoring lump sleeping next to her. Keira makes it a habit to get up early before Dawson, it’s time she gets all to herself, and she would never miss an opportunity for alone time. She gets dressed and covers the fresh bruise on her neck with some makeup. She is as quiet as a mouse walking through the bedroom. Once she’s out in the hall she relaxes a bit, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. Keira wonders to herself.

‘Is this really what the rest of my life is going to look like?’ She heads down for breakfast in the main hall. Everyone greets her with hellos and good mornings. The cafeteria is mostly filled with two types at this hour of the morning. The elder member of the pack who wake up early by choice, and the warriors who have to run early morning drills, who would probably rather be asleep at this hour. Kiera takes a seat alone at a table and pulls out a book to read with her coffee. She tries to get into the book but she’s distracted. Keira is missing her best friend right now. She and Lily used to drink their coffee together every morning, it was one of her favorite rituals. Keira gets lost in the memories of her firecracker friend Lily. Lily was a walking contradiction, a face as sweet as sugar, but when she opened her mouth, nothing but spice came out. Keira knows that Lily would raise hell if she found out what was happening here. And Keira can’t even imagine what Mason would do if he found out. Reminiscing on what her old life used to be brings tears to Keira’s eyes. She hasn’t spoken with Lily or Mason in months. In fact she hasn’t spoken with anyone from her ‘old life’ in months. Keira worry’s that they must all think she’s forgotten about them. She makes a mental note to try and reach out to someone. A few hours pass, and after her coffee Keira gets herself some breakfast. She’s given up on her book, it sits in the bench next to her, in between her and a few other members of the pack who have filtered in throughout the morning. Halfway through her toast and Keira smells Dawson. She looks around and sees him make his way into the cafeteria. If the pattern is the same, he’ll feel really bad about last night and be overly affectionate and apologetic with her. He comes over and sits next to Keira. Dawson feels bad for last night, but he’s not thrilled she came down to breakfast without him. And to find her sitting with other guys ticks off his wolf.

“Morning.” Dawson says sitting down so close to Keira their thighs are touching, from the knee all the way to the hip. Dawson kisses her cheek.

“Morning.” Keira replies. Keira can feel the tension between them, but the conversation at the table helps to hide it.

‘Why didn’t you wake me up?’ Dawson mind links her.

‘You looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to ruin it.’ She replies. She has Luna training today with Luna Bethany. She wonders if she should tell her about what’s going on with Dawson. Suddenly she feels Dawson’s hand on her thigh and the tingles make her jump slightly and Dawson chuckles.

“Why so jumpy?” He asks.

“Sorry I was thinking about Luna training with your mom today.”

“How is the training going?” Dawson asks. Keira’s thoughts are put at ease. He seems genuinely interested in her training. This is the nice guy, the good Dawson. The man the she fell in love with.

“It’s going really well actually. Your mother is a great teacher.” Keira learned that praising his mother always puts him in a good mood. He smiles in agreement.

“Good. It’s only a matter of time before we take our place in this pack.” Keira knows he has his training soon, then maybe she can sneak off for a bit to make a phone call. After breakfast Dawson kisses Keira goodbye as he makes his way over to train the warriors. Keira sneaks back to her bedroom and grabs her phone. Dawson has insisted that she keep her phone in her room, and that her schedule stays filled so she doesn’t have time to call anyone. When they are alone together, Dawson doesn’t like her being on the phone. Keira takes the phone into the bathroom and locks the door. She turns the faucet on just in case. She first tries Lily, but she doesn’t answer. Then she calls Mason.

“Keira?” He answers. Hearing his voice was like breaking a dam. She misses her friend.

“Mason.” She holds back tears.

“Keira it’s been months, we’ve all been so worried about you. Are you ok?” He asks. He does sound worried.

“Not really ‘Mays’. I think I’ve gotten myself into a mess.”

“Tell me what’s going on.” He asks. Then she hears movement in the bedroom. Is Dawson done with training already? Who else would be in the room?

“Keira?” She hears Mason, but she stays quiet, listening, waiting. Then someone knocks on the door.

“Keira? Is that you in there?” It’s Luna Bethany.

“Yeah, I’ll be out in just a minute.” She shouts. So Mason can hear too.

“I have to go.” She whispers.

“Wait, Keira!” She hears Mason say but she hangs up the phone. Keira stashes her phone up under the sink and flushes the toilet. She pretend washes her hands and opens the door quickly.

“Sorry, am I late for training?” Keira asks, but she knows she’s not.

“No, I just saw you come up here and wanted to make sure you were okay.” Luna Bethany looks down at Keira’s neck. Keira knew she should have applied more makeup, but maybe, secretly, she covered her bruise badly so someone would notice it. Luna takes a step towards her and tilts Keira’s head up to get a better look.

“Damn, that won’t do.” Luna takes Keira’s hand and drags her out of the room. They go down the hall and into the Alpha’s office. The Luna practically bursts into the room.

“Bethany? Keira? What is the meaning of this?” Alpha stands up behind his desk. Luna grabs a tissue and wipes the makeup off Keira’s neck. Then the Luna presents her to the Alpha.

“This is what’s the matter.” Luna says. Keira feels embarrassed and ashamed as the Alpha makes his way around his desk to take a look. There are prominent bruises across her neck from where Dawson choked her. These bruises will only get worse. The Alpha sighs.

“Is this the first time child?” He asks her. This is the first visible bruise, but not the first time he’s hurt her.

“Yes.” Keira is holding back every emotion she has right now. She doesn’t know what to do, who to trust, or what to say.

“We will take care of this.” The Alpha says sternly. Is he really going to fix it? The Luna puts her hands on Keira’s shoulders and leads her back out of the room.

“Why don’t you take the day off from training. Go lay down. Let us handle this.” Luna coos at Keira to calm her. Keira just nods in agreement. The Luna goes back into the Alpha’s office and closes the door. Keira can hear shouting from behind the door, but she is too emotional to make it all out. Suddenly Dawson and Harrison come running into the pack house door. Dawsons eyes land on her and then her throat. Harrison does the same. Both have completely different reactions to seeing her and the bruise. Keira doesn’t have the energy to face them so she hurries to her room and Dawson tries to intersect her. She rushes as quickly as she can until she feels a firm hand on her arm.