Chapter 6 : A New Hobby

Kit's POV

Using a little pocket knife, I was whittling something out of a little cube of sycamore wood. It was nice to have my hands busy while my mind wandered. I had no idea what I was trying to carve, and it was coming out…horribly.

Oh, well, nothing was ever perfect on the first try anyways.

After spending the afternoon with Sera at the farmer's market, I spent the week doing odd jobs around town. Just the usual.

Fixing pipes.

Laying framework for concrete.

Random kitchen renovations.

I enjoyed the work, and my clients liked having me around.

When I first came to the Outskirts, ten years ago now, I had almost nothing. Only Rosie by my side and deep puncture wounds that would mark my skin for the rest of my life. That first year was rough, moving from place to place, and trying to figure out where I belonged.

Rosie got a job at Reiner Ranch but had a natural talent for agriculture.

I was never a natural talent at anything. Never a natural expert at craftsmanship or music. My brother made it his life mission to remind me that he was dad's favorite, a natural-born leader. Talented fighter. And I would always just be the little brother. A background character while he took the throne.

I was fine with that. I accepted that role.

But it would never be that easy in my family. When I came of age, Will made a spectacle of me on my birthday. At my birthday party. Like a fucking asshole.

Saying that because I was a man now, he demanded I challenge him for the throne. Just as our ancestors would have done. Of course, he was drunk. Always drunk.

The elders encouraged it, riling up all my friends and family.

Challenging him was never part of the plan. I had a full ride at a university on the packlands in psychology. My future set out in front of me. And once I got my degree, I planned on saying sayonara and never coming back. My brother didn't have to worry about me.

Will didn't care.

He used his Alpha influence to work up my friends, and drive me back into the sparring ring. I remembered feeling all those eyes on me. All the chanting telling me to fight. Friends that wouldn't usually encourage it, intoxicated by his influence.

And Will used that influence every opportunity he got.

My father could have stopped it, but he didn't.

Maybe he had it out for me too. After all, I took his mate's life. My father just forgot that she was my mother too, and I never had a chance to know her.

Even though Will was six years older than me and, at the time, bigger than me, it wouldn't have been a fair fight. However, if I forfeited, I would've made Will look bad. Actively disobeying the Shifter King even though it was my fucking birthday and going away party.

So fuck him.

I turned my back on him in the ring and told him to go fuck himself. I wasn't doing this. I wasn't challenging him. I never wanted the path of Alpha or King. But while I was still in my human skin, Will shifted and made an example out of me.

And he wasn't going to stop.

His teeth tore through my neck. His claws shredded the thin muscle on my back. My wolf inside howled, trying to break my brother's hold, but I couldn't. I couldn't shift either. I could only scream as my mouth filled with blood.

Rosie saved me.

Shifted into a black bear and dragged Will off me. She roared, her fury hot enough to blaze the skies. The thing with Berserkers is that once they shift, they can't turn back unless they calm down.

They are under full control of their bear.

I don't remember much after that, drifting back and forth between consciousness while my wolf worked to mend my flesh.

I never thought for a moment that Will would try to kill me until he did. Thankfully, Abe, my favorite guard, stepped in before Will could teach Rosie a lesson of her own. Abe somehow got through to my brother, convincing him to banish us instead of execute us.

I owe both Abe and Rosie my life. I considered them family more than my own.

When I was eighteen, I was a scrawny kid. Tall, but really lanky. Frequently called a runt, being compared to my older brother. Will was a golden child and I was the kid who killed the Queen in childbirth.

If Will saw me now, he'd know I wasn't a runt anymore. And if he challenged me again, I wouldn't back away. I'd show him how much of a mistake he made.

I thought about it more often than I wanted to. My thoughts would always flutter back to him again, thinking about what would have happened if I had fought him instead of calling a bluff.

Maybe I'd have finished college by now. Be somewhere else.

My brother made me a rogue, but at least I found my family among other rogues.

I thought everything was a mistake and maybe I was cursed, but what if everything that happened to me led me to Sera? Maybe all the pain would be worth it then.

I released a deep sigh, scraping the pocket knife along the wood. Little tan shavings clung to my sweatpants and bare chest as the cube started to take shape. What it was turning into…I still didn't know. Maybe it was a turtle…or a bird. Maybe a tree?

I don't know.

Art takes time.

I wondered what Sera liked. What was her favorite animal? I could carve something to give her. I gazed at the chunk of wood, thinking about Sera's crystal blue eyes. The way the light reflected off them was like I was staring into a pool of water.

A whale, I realized. I should carve her a whale.

Wait a minute. I should definitely not give my mate a carving of a whale and tell her it reminded me of her. That was a horrible idea. My wolf inside grumbled though it sounded oddly like a laugh.

"Do you have any better ideas?" I asked as the creature stirred again when an image of Sera danced across my vision again.

Always wearing oversized sweaters, pulling at the sleeves like she wanted to burrow into them. I don't know what happened to her, but I wanted to do everything in my power to help wipe those awful memories away.

Every laugh and smile made me feel closer and closer to seeing who she was. Like cracks in a glacier giving away to a cavern of wealth just inside. Glitter and gold buried beneath the ice, waiting to be unearthed.

Longing fueled the hammering of my heart. A memory of how my hands tingled wherever Sera would accidentally brush them. Even so much as handing me a tupperware with the dinner she promised to make me.

The hardest part was leaving. It wasn't just because she was my mate, but also because I genuinely liked being around her. I liked how she played along with my commentary, and poked fun at me, but not in a mean way.

She had a fire in her and I couldn't wait to see when she unleashed it.

I glanced back down at the undiscernible chunk of wood and sighed heavily.

I'd been out of the game for a while. I gave up on girlfriends a few years ago after she cheated on me. Then I gave up on hookups when the last girl told me to wear a shirt during sex because my scars were turning her off. Who the fuck says that to someone in the middle of…

My phone buzzed on the table.

Oh, thank God. My thoughts were taking a deep dive.

Rosie's profile picture popped up. A really unflattering photo I got of her slurping noodles. Surprisingly enough, she selected that photo as her profile when we first came to the Outskirts. I never changed it, it suits her.

"Hey, Ro," I greeted when I picked up, putting it on speakerphone to keep working on my masterpiece. Well, it would eventually become a masterpiece. If I didn't work on something, I'd pace around my entire studio apartment while I talked to her.

Rosie made a half-grunt as if she chewed something too hot. "Kit," she garbled, audibly swallowing whatever the hell she was eating. "What're you doing tonight?"

"Um…I'm whittling," I answered.

"That sounds boring. Do you want to come over for a movie night?" Rosie asked.

"That's rude. I don't make fun of your hobbies, Rosie," I retorted.

Rosie laughed. "Ha. That's because my hobbies include dirt biking and rescuing baby chickens."

I rolled my eyes, glancing over at my clock. It was eight, still early in the night. "Fine. You've made your point."

"Plus, Sera is making some cheddar popcorn. I'm sure she'll let you have some if you keep your hands to yourself," she teased.

With a scoff, I said, "Come on, Ro-Ro, what kinda man do you take me for?"

"It's not the man I'm worried about, Kit," she continued.

"Well, don't worry about it. I can handle myself." I paused, glancing at my clock again. "Just pick something good. I'll be there in about half an hour."

"Roger that."

***

When I got to Rosie's, Sera had just put Annika down to bed. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. That little kid always managed to put a smile on my face. But at the same time, it was nice to see Sera without her.

See what she looked like when she finally let her hair down.

She was wearing another oversized sweater, pulling at her sleeves again. Seemed to be a nervous tic for her. I went into the kitchen to snag a beer from Rosie's fridge and I heard Rosie ask Sera what she wanted to watch.

"Anything Rated R. I can't watch another animated movie," Sera replied. "Give me blood, guts, or sex please."

Rosie laughed and said, "How about blood, guts, AND sex?"

"Even better," Sera joked back. "I'm going to get that popcorn going. Do you want anything?"

"Kit! Grab me a beer. I can hear you rummaging through the fridge."

"Fine!" I retorted, filing through the various type of beer she had. Rosie was a craft beer drinker, but that also meant she had all sorts of random breweries I never heard of with odd combinations that didn't sound appealing at all.

Olive and lavender amber lager? Who wants to drink that? Well, that is what Rosie is drinking tonight. She should have thought of that before she bought it.

I glanced over the fridge door with my selections to see Sera preparing some popcorn in a pan. She put in a little bit of oil while she made a spice mix for it.

"Hey, do you want one?" I asked, referencing the beer I carried.

Her back was to me, her hair cascading down to her waist like spun gold. She looked over her shoulder at me, her cheeks a rosy tinge across her ivory complexion. There was a content glow about her, a dewiness in her pale sapphire eyes.

She fiddled with her sleeves again and replied, "Oh, I don't drink."

"Oh," I stated. "Can I get you anything, then?"

A small smile curled the corner of her petal pink lips. "If you're insisting, I'd like a glass of that fruity lemonade in there." She tossed the popcorn in the pan without looking at it and covered it while all the kernels popped.

I noticed her eyes dip down to my arms, specifically to one of the thick veins woven through the muscle there. I fought the urge to tense my arms to make the vein there bulge even more, but then she might realize that I caught her looking at me.

And I didn't want her to stop looking at me.

She looked at me like she wanted to take a bite out of me.

Her gaze felt like a heated balm, causing excitement to churn briefly in my stomach. The hairs on my arm stood on end as if she had touched me. The pink tip of her tongue peeked out as she gulped softly, tearing her gaze off me and back to the stove.

"Do you need any help?" I asked, leaning my shoulder against the fridge, wanting her gaze to touch me again.

She cleared her throat, and the scent clinging to her changed slightly. Sweeter. Like a little bout of it broke through the mask. I liked it. The wolf inside me stirred a little, rousing and rearing his head. His inhuman voice muttered inside my head, "Mine."

My eyes trailed down her back to her wide hips. Even though she wore layers of fabric, I could see how it clung to her curves, making my mouth water. I forgot Rosie was in the other room. Sera's shoulders became tense. "No, I'm fine. Thanks."

I was making her uncomfortable. She didn't like having people at her back. I knew the feeling. I broke the thrall my wolf was casting inside of me. No. I refused to be the man who continued advancing when it was clear she was nervous.

I grabbed a glass and filled it with fruity lemonade before bringing all of our drinks to the living room. "Find anything good, Ro?"