Chapter 4: The Bonfire

Cillian

I jog to the bonfire and let my gaze wander to keep track of everyone here. I smell Kayleigh’s scent even before I spot her. I make a beeline to where she’s at—nodding my head to the people I pass, avoiding small talk so I can get to Kayleigh’s side sooner. Young men and women try to make conversation with me as soon as they see me, but my focus is only set on one person.

Long and wavy red hair, porcelain skin, hour-glass-shaped body, face of an angel, voice of a siren, and the mind of a she-devil. She’s neither tall nor short at 5’5” but she has nice legs, which reminds me she did not fucking change her clothes and is now showing too much skin. I mean, she’s gonna get cold pretty soon. She doesn’t have a wolf yet, so she has no means to warm herself. Heaven forbid she catch a cold and the head of Fola Rioga Pack, her dad, might think that we’re not taking care of his princess.

            My mood sours when I also smell the scent of my rival. Fucking Andrei is standing behind Kayleigh, his arms around her shoulders as he whispers something that makes her giggle. He’s doing this on purpose to rile me up. And shit, it’s working.

            A low growl leaves my mouth and I feel my eyes heating up. Even without looking into a mirror, I know that the color of my eyes is now changing into a bright gold. My wolf fusses and wants to jump at Andrei. I will my wolf to calm down and stay back. Kayleigh hears my growl and looks at me. Now that I have her attention, I don’t know if I should feel pleased or uncomfortable.

            “Kayleigh, everyone is getting ready for the pack run. Come here, let me introduce you to some people you can hang out with while you wait for us to come back,” I say in a firm voice.

            “Oh, no need. I’ll be fine here. Andrei’s friends’ girlfriends will be here waiting for them. I can just stay with them,” she replies with an attitude.

            “Let’s go back to the manor, then, so you can put on something warmer. Don’t want your dad thinking we don’t take care of his princess if you get sick or something.”

            “You’ve gotta be kidding me, Cillian. I’m from Ireland. Our weather is a lot colder than here. I’ll be fine.”

            Shit. I knew that. I was just trying to convince her to go put on some fucking clothes that will cover her up. Her skirt is too short and her shirt rides up and shows her flat tummy every time she moves her arms. I’m gonna snap the neck of whoever I catch ogling her.

            I tilt my head to the side and rest my eyes on her as I try to come up with something to say to her. I’m fucking tongue-tied. My wolf is itching to go near her, but I restrain him from coming forward. “Kayleigh, can we go somewhere to talk?” I finally muster some words.

            “Talk about what? Where’s your girlfriend, by the way? What’s her name, again?”

            “Wha— She’s— I don’t have…” My brain is just dying, I think.

            “Hey, there you are!” Of course, Kinsley comes in the most inopportune time. 

            “Kinsley! I was just asking Cillian about you. I’m glad you guys are here. Aww, you look cute together.”

            Kinsley takes this moment to wrap her arms around mine. “Did you hear that, Cillian? Kayleigh thinks we look good together,” she chuckles. This girl is incorrigible. She shows up everywhere, at the wrong place and at the wrong time. “Time to round up everyone so we can go for the run. Maybe you can go say something to the attendees? Like a welcome to the summit blah, blah, or something?” She’s also here to remind me of my pack duties. What else is new?

This is so frustrating. I have yet to do something I want to do of my own accord without the “pack duty” hanging over my head today.

            Andrei walks to a lawn chair just a few steps from us then comes back with something in his hand. He stands in front of Kayleigh, shakes the zipper hoodie, and tells her, “Here, put this on, malyshka. Missouri air is not like Ireland. I don’t want you catching anything.”

            What the fuck? Andrei calls her malyshka, a term of endearment in Russian that means “baby”, and she just melts into it. I want to smash his face. My wolf wants to maul him to death.

“Do I really have to?” Kayleigh angles her head back, showing her pleading eyes to the Russian mutt. Fuck. She’s so… cute.

            “Malyshka, please… for me?” And just like that, the little brat smiles at him and starts putting her hand into the hoodie’s arm hole.

            I can’t believe it. She chose him again. She chooses him over and over again. My wolf can’t handle this. I snarl and grab the hoodie before she could completely wear it and throw it a good ten feet from us. “She doesn’t need that. She’s from Ireland. She’s used to the cold weather.” I throw her words back at her.

Andrei looks like he’s going to say something but Kayleigh puts her hand on his chest and whispers something to him. My heart is drumming too loud that I don’t catch what she says. Whatever it is it does the trick, because he just turns around to go pick up the hoodie.

            With an eyebrow raised, she glues her eyes on me and crosses her arms in front of her chest. Her shirt rides up and shows her stomach. The cold Missouri air blows on us, causing her skirt to flutter, showing more of her legs. Blood rushes to my head, my pulse pumps hard, and my wolf stirs—begging to come forward.

            My wolf is screaming for our mate. He wants to be near her, touch her, hold her, kiss her, and claim her. Without thinking about it, I remind my wolf that Kayleigh’s wolf hasn’t emerged. She still doesn’t know that we’re mates. She still can’t feel the mate bond.

            My beast stirs inside me, not hearing a single word I just said. Seeing Kayleigh with another male irritates us. It pains me. It pains us.

            I make the mistake of entertaining the idea that Kayleigh might be in love with the Russian Alpha heir, because that’s all it would take for my wolf to take over. In a flash, I shift into my wolf form. Before I know it, I’m already staring at the fur on my paws. Everything around me sounds and looks clearer when I’m in my beast form. Especially Kayleigh’s scent—Jasmine and vanilla. I move my head up slowly and train my sights on Kayleigh. Not wanting to scare her, I plan to just stand still. But my wolf has no chill. So to Kayleigh we go.

 I saunter to my mate without breaking the magnetic pull her eyes have on mine. A smile breaks on her lips, and it warms my heart. She opens her hands and reaches out to me. Eagerly, I give in and approach her. With my big wolf, we’re almost at the same eye level. She cups my face and pulls me closer so her lips are right next to my ear. My wolf licks her face and her neck. She chuckles. My heart is about to burst. This is the closest I can get to her without getting an attitude or snarky banter. She might not like me, but she clearly likes my wolf. She can’t feel the mate bond, but I feel it very much so.

But then she glances behind me, or at whoever is behind me, then loosens her grip of the fur on my neck. Her demeanor changes. What happened? I turn my head to look at who she saw.

Kinsley!

With disdain on her face, hands on her hips, and in an annoyed voice, Kinsley says, “Cillian, I’m rounding up the attendees now. We’ll wait for your signal, then shift and follow you to the run. You know, the run that you have to lead, in case you forgot. Just remember, we don’t have all night to wait for you. Pack duties, first.” Not waiting for anyone to say anything, Kinsley turns around and leaves.

Fuck. Kinsley is such a cock-blocker.

At least I have Kayleigh’s beautiful face still staring at me.

“I’ll stay back with you; we can just wait for my friends. Or we can go back to the manor. You’re probably tired from your trip.” Andrei, cock-blocker number two, ladies and gentlemen. Double fuck.

            Relief runs over me when Kayleigh replies, “No, you can go with your friends. I’ll wait here.”

            “I don’t want to leave you here by yourself. I’ll stay. Do you want to go sit by the bonfire?” Kayleigh nods, and appears too amiable to this fucking Russian Alpha heir. Triple fuck.

            Before they walk towards the fire pit, Kayleigh comes closer and pulls me to her face. Her mouth comes near my ears and she whispers, “Kill, do you hear me? Listen, you might hate me but your wolf clearly likes me…”

            My wolf whimpers and licks Kayleigh’s cheeks. My wolf has no fucking chill.

            She continues, “But you have Kinsley…so this possessive Alpha act has to stop.”

            I wish I could just mind-link with her and tell her that she’s my mate, not Kinsley. But it’s too soon to let her know. I also want her to find out on her own. It’s one of the greatest moments in a werewolf’s life… to experience recognizing your mate for the first time. I’m not going to rob her of that.  

            “You have to go now, Kill. Kinsley and the others are waiting for you,” she says in a soft voice that disables me internally. I try harder to communicate with her through the mind-link, but because she has no wolf, mind-link is pointless. Feeling defeated, I bow my head.

Kinsley and me—it’s complicated. I don’t even know how to explain it. She clears her throat and seems like she wants to say something. I peer up to listen, but asshole cuts her off even before she opens her mouth.

            “Let’s go, malyshka…” Andrei reaches for her hand. She cups my face one more time, presses her forehead to mine for a quick second before taking his hand… and walks away.

            They hold hands as they head to the dying fire. She looks at me again, her eyes full of unsaid words and emotions that I didn’t get a chance to find out. But it doesn’t matter because she is holding Andrei’s hand. She left with Andrei, again. She chose Andrei, again. Bitterness spreads on my tongue. The warm feelings that Kayleigh stirred in me just minutes ago when her hands were on me are now replaced with contempt.

I ball up all my anger and jealousy and release it into a very loud growl. I use my Alpha aura to signal everyone that it’s time to shift. More than a hundred wolf-bloods are changing into their wolf forms. I march ahead of everyone as I wait for all the werewolves to shift.

            No matter how much I force myself not to look at the pit of glowing embers in the bonfire, my wolf is weak when it comes to our mate. Peering at them, I see Kayleigh laugh at whatever Andrei is saying. He moves the hair from her face and tucks it behind her ear, but not before tugging it back and startling her. She playfully swats his hand and they tease each other. They look like they’re in their own little bubble, just the two of them and no one else. Especially not me.

I literally feel like my heart was just stabbed by a dagger and twisted to bleed me out.

I am the Alpha heir of the Blue Blood Pack. I am well respected and very much revered among the wolf-blood circle. I know that I am the most sought-after Alpha heir by potential Lunas. I won’t allow a mere wolfless girl to make me feel like shit.

She is my mate… but that doesn’t mean anything now.

She will pay for always walking away from me.

She will pay for always choosing Andrei.

She will pay… and it’s not going to be cheap.