Kamari's Point of View I watched as the sun crawled over the mountain. Inch by inch. My body was screaming at me to finally sleep. To succumb to the darkness. Yet when I tried it several hours ago, it refused. Kept throwing scenarios into my head. Made up stories that could possibly one day happen. But was still very unreal and so far into the future that I wasn't sure I would live long enough to see the day. Then came the awful memories of my past. The day I turned... Bitter. Hurtful. Now that I thought back on it, my mother wasn't the one to deliver the final verdict. That had fallen to my grandfather. Back then, he claimed it was on behalf of my mother. The old bastard never had a loving bone in his body. Was cold and callous. Barely regarded me, even before I showed them all my wolf's color. His disdain at my mother and father taking over was always made clear. The reason for handing over power? They now had an heir. And his health was declining. Simple enough solution. Bu
Kamari's Point of View The pack was exactly as I remembered it. Calm. Near silent. There was no one on the streets. No people jogging or even going in and out of shops. If you didn't look close enough, it would have looked more like a ghost town than anything else. But when you squinted just right, you could see them inside the buildings. Working. Busy. But the signs were the same. Not even a crumb of aging to the buildings. No peeling paint or cracked foundations. All of it was neatly trapped in time. Nine years prior. "This is where you grew up?" Nolan asked from the back seat. The packet of chips he had given me was now empty and discarded by my feet. My dad had nearly thrown a hissy fit because of it but left well enough alone. It was a fragile moment for the two of us. We were unsure what to expect. We hadn't called Rachel. Refused to. She would come up with some excuse to get out of the visit and neither of us wanted that. "Yeah," I replied, absentmindedly staring out the
Kamari's Point of View The two men faced off when my mother fell mute. Her mouth opened and shut but no sound came out. Nausea roiled in my stomach. Dripped a steady line of acid down my throat. Nolan's hand clenched on my knee. I looked over. He was still smiling at me. Nodded slowly. He wanted me to breathe. Calm down. But how could I when I felt like an intruder rather than the daughter of the woman standing at the door? Rachel was dumbstruck. I assumed she never thought we would ever show up here, even when she had asked for me to come back. And Gaelan had a solid pair of balls on him right now. Spread his arms on the counter so wide that if someone was to grab his hand, he would hit his chin. His smirk was also extremely telling. "Nolan, care to take your martinis?" My dad asked, ignoring the visibly upset and dumbfounded man in front of him. "Yes, sir." For a split second, he squeezed my knee again and stood. Took the glasses from my dad and walked right past the upset-l
Kamari's Point of View I was biting back tears. Forced myself to stay calm. Collected. But it seemed to be failing the more I looked at my parents. Noticed the subtle tones of their bodies. How remorseful and guilty they looked. Ridden hard and long by life. "I know that you must have had the best intentions for me at heart," I paused. Swallowed down the tears and lump in my throat. Gripped Nolan's leg hard. "But I don't think this is something I can just get over." "We understand, Kamari. We do. Take all the time you need. Go walk one of the trails. We can talk about this over lunch again if you want." Rachel said, smiling back at me. Silver also lined her eyes. The smile was forced beyond what it should have been. But not fake. For the first time in a long time, my mother genuinely smiled at me. I nodded and stood. Gave my father one last lingering look before heading out through the door Rachel had come in through. Nolan followed close. Slid the doors shut once we were outside
Malakai's Point of View "Keanu!" The word echoed out of my mouth. Fluttered in every direction imaginable. Still, the small wolf refused to appear. My mother was going to kill me. All because I indulged the little bastard by taking him on the green trail Rachel had recommended earlier this morning. "Keanu, please! I didn't mean to step on your paw! It was an accident, I swear!" I yelled whilst cupping my hands over my mouth. If he was anywhere close by, and could hear me but refused to show face, he had worse things to worry about than the wrath of our mother. I was going to throttle him. "For the love of fuck, Keanu! This isn't funny anymore." Fear coiled tightly in my stomach. Just above the makeshift belt I had made by ripping the fabric from some pants I found. A cache. Rachel really needed to start stocking up on all different sizes. They were several sizes too large and I wasn't planning on looking for my little brother naked. The pants had to do for now. Until I found him
Kamari's Point of View He was the first person to ever call me out so easily. As if it was nothing to him. He was also the first person that made me talk within moments of knowing me. In other situations, I would have headed for the hills by now. Shirked him off and took off, if you understood what I meant. Sometimes even I didn't fully understand what I meant by things. My mind was a tangled web lately. Nothing escaped it. But this man, this brooding beast of a man with sharp green eyes, he somehow saw through all of my bullshit. In one swoop of his tongue, he cut me where I knew I was weak. "First off, let me introduce myself. I am Malakai Dayholt. Alpha of Four Rivers pack. It is nice to meet you, Kamari." He rolled my name off of his tongue so elegantly. Had a small drawl to it. It took me a moment to process. "Well that isn't fair, all I know about you now is your name and title whilst you know almost everything about me, I am certain." I mused, settling into my skin a bit
Kamari's Point of View Keanu attached himself to my hip after that. Would much rather walk beside me than his brother. At some point, he grabbed my dress and just held it. Looked up at me with large green eyes. Lower lip trembled. It was mostly when Malakai was making mean comments toward his brother. Or when he brought up his mom. The boy always looked so sad, especially when his freckles stood out against his pale skin so much. The auburn hair wasn't doing his paleness any favors, either. "When are we going to be there?" Keanu moaned, dragging his feet behind him. Malakai groaned in response. Covered his ears with his hands. It was evident that they never truly spent time together out of their own free will. They were mainly forced. Which was normal, considering they had a tremendous age gap. "Soon, little one. But you won't get any candy from aunty Rachel if you continue to whine." I scolded and tightened my hand over his. The boy looked up at me, green eyes lined with silv
Kamari's Point of View "Run, Keanu!" I screamed as the first man dove at me. He maneuvered out in front of me. Slid past our first assailant whilst his brother took care of him Malakai moved away effortlessly and lunged for the man in front of him. Leveled him to the ground before spinning around and scratching another man's Achilles. He went down with a screech of pain. Malakai followed it up with a slash to the throat. Blood spurted into the air. I could feel my own scream of terror lodge in my throat. Threaten to spill out into the world. But I was like a rocket. Pushed my fear as far back as possible. Picked up Keanu in one fell swoop and ran for dear life. The two bodyguards pummeled two men that stepped in our way. Opened up the path for me to run down. Nolan was nowhere to be seen. Or heard. Not that I could hear anything above the groaning of men. Feral screams from Malakai. The two guards broke bones as they went. And there was no time to look back, either. One wrong m