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Part Five

I was startled awake, drenched in sweat. Death had been visiting me again. He was stalking through my house, walking from room to room. I didn’t know if it had only been a dream or if it was a sign. I had no inkling that my life would soon change forever.

I sat down at the breakfast table and looked at my mother. Her aura was clear, by that I mean it didn’t have death lurking about. I exhaled not realizing that I had been holding it in.

“How are things at school?” Karani asked. I hadn’t been home all that much, and it wasn’t due to training or Alpha lessons.

“It’s okay, you know, same stuff every day.” I smiled at her.

“I’m sorry you miss Sarah so much.” She had a way of just knowing everything. I nodded my head but said nothing. She knew I wasn’t seeing her anymore; I didn’t have to tell her.

“Where’s Dad?” I asked and looked toward his study.

“He already left for work, but he said he’d see you at the den later.”

The den was where I met my father every afternoon to fight. No gloves and no rules, we fought and trained and by the time we got home the blood had dried and our wounds had healed. Karani regularly expressed her disgust at having to wash the blood from our clothes.

The den was also our meeting place, where the whole pack gathered, and where we made decisions. We made rulings, and all the things that had anything to do with wolf life and wolf business happened at the den. Sometimes it was accepting a new wolf, one that had lost their pack, into our pack. It didn’t happen often that someone didn’t know they were a wolf, but they stood a bigger chance at acceptance than a lone wolf did. We would explore all the reasons and decide. Sometimes it was also the place where a wolf’s life ended.

Our den was situated higher up in the mountains, away from the town and away from our house. We had small gatherings at our house with James and his parents and so on, but pack meetings were always held in the den.

I was too young to be involved in the decision making of the pack but very soon I’d be allowed to sit in and learn how it was done. Only Malachi could decide when that time would be. They say the Alpha just knows instinctively when his time as Alpha would end. Usually an Alpha was replaced because of death, but sometimes the Alpha just got old and wanted to retire.

That night as I went up to my room to shower I planned to catch up on homework before Malachi or Karani got a call from school. I completed everything and I laid down on my bed. I put my earphones in and turned the volume up. Soon I was drifting off to sleep as I listened to Cradle of Filth screaming in my ears.

I woke up in a cold sweat again, shivering. Death walked out of my bedroom door; it was as if he wanted me to follow him. I got up and walked down the hall, Death turned around and laughed at me. Was he taunting me? I didn’t know what to make of it. Why was he here? I looked around, Death had disappeared just as suddenly as he had appeared. I felt confused, I hadn’t seen an aura change with my parents. Has Death come for me?

Malachi had only given me an odd look when Karani mentioned Michelle at breakfast the day before school closed for the year. I had no idea how Karani even knew about that but that was Karani for you. She had her ways.

“She knew it wasn’t real,” I said to Karani.

“Kiran, you pretended to date another girl,” Karani said.

“As long as you don’t pretend to sleep with this one too,” Malachi said while reading his newspaper. A blush had crept over my face at his remark. ‘Fair enough,’ I thought.

“I’m not that stupid. She’s part of the pack. I’d never do that,” I said and he nodded.

“As long as we understand each other,” he said.

“Besides, she already fake broke up with me,” I said and shrugged. I didn’t add that I had already moved on to someone else, a few of them.

James was waiting for me in the parking lot at school since he had spent the night at home. He looked refreshed but also a bit worried. I was very in tune with James’s emotions, he was my confidant, my best friend. Maybe it happens like that for a reason, I’m not sure. We’ve known each other since birth – just two hours apart – and we have been inseparable ever since.

Our friends at school hadn’t stopped talking about my break-up with Sarah. The cheerleaders didn’t sit at our table anymore and our jock friends avoided the subject. At our age it wasn’t uncommon to date a lot and being heartbroken wasn’t something we discussed at school.

I’d see Sarah from afar, fading in front of my eyes and I tried to steer clear of her. Occasionally, I’d see her at the store, the movies or as I jogged through town. Seward was only that big and it was bound to happen. I was also busy with Malachi and it didn’t happen too often, but every time I did see her, it changed something in me. I mean, I couldn’t tell her, ‘I can’t see you anymore because you’re human and I’m not.’

“Sarah says she really needs to talk to you,” James said. He didn’t look too happy about it; he knew the rules as well as my father’s ultimatum to me. He also knew how bad it had been for me emotionally.

“Just keep it quiet,” I said.

After school, Sarah waited for me next to her car. She was looking intently at me as I walked over and I could see something wasn’t right with her aura as it had a second line around her own. Something definitely wasn’t right here. A shiver ran down my spine, she was heartbroken, she felt lost. The human emotions ran through me and I quickly switched them off. It was overwhelming to feel what she felt.

“Hi Sarah,” I said, keeping my expression neutral.

“I’m pregnant, Kiran,” she said softly, dropping the biggest bomb of my life on me.

I stood there with my mouth hanging open, at a complete loss for words. ‘This isn’t happening. This is crazy, I’m so dead,’ I thought to myself. This could destroy my family, my future, my place in the pack. All these thoughts ran through my mind simultaneously and I could see the disappointment in my parents’ eyes.

“Get rid of it!” I said angrily as I turned and walked away from her.

I could hear her crying, and every fiber of my being told me to turn around and make amends but I knew I couldn’t do that. I walked past James and he followed me to the Jeep. I was in deep shit and I knew it would only get worse if it got out.

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