Chapter 7: Pulling Away

Kieran

By the time Cassian and I crossed onto pack territory, my wolf had gone from irritated to fucking insufferable.

Mate.

I tightened my grip on the passenger door.

Go back.

No.

Mate.

"I swear to God," I muttered.

Cassian glanced at me from behind the wheel. "Still complaining?"

"Yes."

"Maybe he has a point."

"Drive."

"I am driving."

"Then do it quieter."

Cassian laughed. Asshole.

The farther we traveled from Mara's clinic, the worse the restless feeling beneath my skin became. Her scent still clung to me. Antiseptic. Coffee. Something faintly floral beneath it. And blood. Mine, mostly. Her hands had been covered in it last night. The thought made my wolf rumble. Not aggressively. Possessively.

I closed my eyes. This was going to become a problem. A massive fucking problem.

The packhouse appeared beyond the trees twenty minutes later, its stone façade catching the late afternoon light, smoke already curling from one of the chimneys. People were already outside. Of course they were. An Alpha disappearing overnight didn't exactly go unnoticed.

The SUV had barely stopped when the front doors opened. Selene came down the steps. Fast. Her dark hair streamed behind her, and fury was written across every inch of her face.

"There you fucking are."

Cassian muttered, "Good luck," before climbing out. Coward.

I opened my door. Selene reached me before I'd taken two steps.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"I'm fine."

"That isn't what I asked."

She grabbed my arm. My wolf recoiled. Violently. I jerked away before I could stop myself.

Selene froze. So did I.

For years, her touch had been nothing. Not unpleasant. Not unwanted. Just familiar. Expected. This was different. Now that I knew what Mara's touch felt like, Selene's hand against me felt unmistakably wrong. Not painful. Not disgusting. Simply not hers.

My wolf pushed backward inside me as though avoiding the contact entirely, the way an animal shies from a hand it no longer trusts.

Selene's eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You pulled away from me."

"My shoulder hurts."

Technically true. Her expression softened instantly. "You're injured?" She reached toward me again. My body tensed. I hated that she noticed.

Her hand stopped. "Kieran."

"I was shot."

Everything changed. Her face drained of color. "What?"

"Last night."

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"Where?"

"Near Miller Road."

Her eyes widened. "You were alone?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you call anyone?"

"I was unconscious for most of the relevant portion of the evening."

"That isn't funny."

"It wasn't intended to be."

She looked toward Cassian. "You knew?"

"I found out this morning."

Selene's attention returned to me. Her eyes swept over my body, searching for injuries, cataloguing every inch of me the way she'd done a hundred times before. Then she caught the edge of the bandage beneath the ridiculous clinic sweatshirt.

"What the fuck are you wearing?"

Cassian immediately walked away. Traitor.

I looked down at the golden retriever wearing a party hat. "It was all they had."

"They?"

Her gaze sharpened. Before I could respond, Selene stepped closer. Then stopped. Her nostrils flared.

Fuck. 

She leaned closer to my shoulder, breathing in slowly, deliberately, the way trackers did when they were memorizing a scent rather than simply noticing one. Her expression changed. Slowly.

"Who touched you?"

There it was. Not who saved you? Not how badly were you hurt? Who touched you.

Something cold settled in my chest.

"A veterinarian."

Her eyes snapped to mine. "A veterinarian?"

"Yes."

"A human?"

I said nothing. That was answer enough.

Selene's face hardened. "You let a human treat you?"

"I was bleeding to death."

"You should have called a healer."

"I was unconscious on the side of a road."

Her jaw tightened. "Who brought you there?"

"A truck driver found me."

"And this veterinarian?"

"Saved my life."

Selene went quiet. For half a second, I thought that might actually matter to her. Then she smelled me again.

"Female."

My patience thinned. "Yes."

"Who is she?"

"A veterinarian."

"You already said that."

"Then why are you asking?"

Her eyes flashed. "Because her scent is all over you."

"She performed surgery on me."

"She touched you."

I stared at her. "Selene."

"What?"

"I was shot."

"I know."

"No. I don't think you do." My voice lowered. "I nearly died."

That finally made her stop. The wolves gathering nearby went quieter, a ripple of stillness moving through them the way it did when they sensed something shifting between their Alpha and his Luna.

Cassian had turned back toward us, watching from a careful distance.

Selene glanced at the bandage. Then at me. "I was worried."

"I believe you."

"Then why are you treating me like I did something wrong?"

Because my wolf wanted nothing to do with her. Because another woman had touched me and every part of me had finally understood what recognition felt like. Because Selene had stood beside me for years as my Luna and I was beginning to realize the foundation beneath us might never have been real. None of which I could say. Not yet.

"I'm tired."

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one I have right now."

She stared at me for several seconds, searching my face for something I wasn't willing to give her. Then reached for my face. Again, my wolf retreated. This time I was prepared. I caught her wrist gently before she touched me.

Selene looked at my hand. Then up at me. Something flickered behind her eyes. Hurt. Then suspicion.

My chest tightened. I released her immediately.

"You need rest," she said.

"Yes."

"I'll have the healers look at you."

"The wound has already been treated."

Her lips flattened. "By the human."

"By the woman who kept me alive."

The correction came sharper than I intended. Silence spread around us, the kind that had weight to it, that made even the wind through the trees seem to pause and listen. Selene heard it. So did Cassian.

Her eyes narrowed. "What woman?"

I held her gaze. For one dangerous second, my wolf surged forward at the thought of Mara. Her messy hair. Her exhausted eyes. Her hands against my skin. The way she had looked at me when I thanked her.

My mate.

I forced the instinct down. "The veterinarian."

"You're defending her."

"I'm stating a fact."

Selene stepped closer. "You don't defend strangers."

"She saved my life."

"And apparently that means enough that you're standing here smelling like her."

That did it. "Enough."

Selene's mouth snapped shut. The wolves nearby lowered their gazes, the whole yard seeming to hold its breath.

My voice remained calm. "You are my Luna. Act like it."

Her face changed. I immediately knew the words had landed harder than intended. But I didn't take them back.

A Luna should have been asking who had targeted her Alpha. Whether our borders were compromised. Whether our people were safe. Instead, she was fixated on the scent of a human woman.

Selene straightened. "You're right." The apology surprised me. Her gaze moved toward the trees. "Whoever shot you needs to be found."

"Yes."

"I'll send trackers."

"Torin is already handling it."

"Then I'll double patrols."

"That would be useful."

She nodded. For a moment, she almost looked like the Luna everyone believed her to be... composed, capable, every inch the woman who had stood beside me for years. Then her eyes returned to my sweatshirt. To the scent clinging to it.

"Does she know what you are?"

"Yes."

Selene's entire body went still. "That's a problem."

"No."

"Kieran—"

"I said no."