Inklined

Prologue

Kline's POV

Deep breath in, slow breath out.

I repeat the motion, trying to suck cold air into my lungs and control my body. I'm standing at the edge of the small lake that sits towards the back of our pack lands, trying to get a grip on my wolf. He desperately wants to shift, to run wild and cry at the moon until the late hours of the night. In the last year he's practically laid dormant, only showing himself during a full moon, which happens to be tonight.

My muscles burn and I know I won't be able to hold him off much longer. I can feel myself slowly slipping away and turning rogue as time goes on and it terrifies me. I glance down at my arms and can see the clear signs of moon sickness. So far it only appears during nights like these, but it's becoming more intense as the months goes on. My veins are darkened, the deep red lines running sickly up my forearms. I know it's only a matter of time before they begin to show during the middle of the day.

I haven't told anyone about what's going on, not even Laurel. Their sad eyes and pitying glancing anger me, and I know it will only increase if I told them about my condition. They'll try to help me, find some kind of cure, but the truth is there is none. Not unless my wolf suddenly decides it's okay that our mate doesn't want us, which isn't going to happen.

I've snuck out of the pack to see her a few times since we first 'met' years ago, and each time it hurts more and more. The last time I went to see her she was no longer there and I found out she had moved. Where? I have no clue, and it's probably better that way. I haven't gone back in a while and I don't plan to it. It pains me, and especially my wolf Luca, to see her happily married and living her living life with someone else.

I can feel myself shift and I no longer have the strength to fight him off. He rips through the little clothing I have on and bounds through the forest. His low, sorrowful howls echo through the dark skies and I know without a doubt most of the pack heard it. Though no one out right talks about it, I can tell everyone still whispers about me and I couldn't be more ashamed.

Sometime during our run I black out, my wolf taking over fully. When I come to, it's early morning and I'm lying naked at the edge of the lake again. My skin has returned to its normal light tanned shade and Luca had gone back to being dormant. Even though the pain from the moon sickness has faded, I still feel a hollow ache in my soul.

I don't know how to move past this, and believe me I've tried. Some who have either lost a mate or have been rejected are able to claim a new mate who isn't their fated, but that isn't me. Anytime I even look at another female Luca scoffs in disgust and if I take one to bed he refuses to talk to me for a week. Not that it matters anymore since he's decided to become absent altogether, unless it's to run feral through the woods at night.

I only lay on the dirt ground for a minute longer before I find a pair of shorts and head back to the pack house. I try my best to focus on work but my mind seems everywhere else but. There's no way I'll be able to continue as the Alpha for our pack with my mindset and I'm praying Varik will be able to take it over when the times comes. I'm also hoping I'll be able to make it until then. I've tried to convince Laurel to come back as Alpha, she is more deserving of the role than me, but she refuses. She says her place is in the Fae kingdom, next to Locke, and I don't blame her for not wanting to leave him, even for just a short amount of time.

The days run together, and while I still feel the suffering of not having a mate, I no longer pine for her. Most of the agony comes from the moon sickness and the complete disconnect of my wolf. I don't feel like myself anymore, haven't for a long time, and it's hard to remember the free spirited person I once was. Hard to remember the relationship and closeness I once felt with Luca.

I close my eyes and focus on him, trying my best to bring him to the surface and wake him up. Sometimes I think if I could just pull him out of this depression and bring him back, things would be alright. And while that may be true, the fact is that it's harder than it sounds. He has no interest in life anymore, and while I hate to admit it, I think he's given up altogether.

"Luca."

I try to talk to him but I'm met with silence.

I'm always met with silence and I'm once again reminded why I've stopped trying to communicate with him. It just solidifies the fact that I'm completely alone.

I take a deep breath and try again though, and this time hope surges through me when I feel him stir. It's the most I've been able to accomplish in the last 6 months, maybe even a year.

"Luca."

I call to him one last time and feel him raise his head, as though someone had awoken him from a deep sleep.

I'm so focused on trying to call upon my wolf that I don't notice anything is astray until I hear a loud, piercing cry that jolts me from my seat.

What the-

Have we been invaded? It sounds as though something landed on the terrace outside of my office and before I can go see what it is, the French doors leading outside fly open.

Large, light brown wings retract as a lean figure steps through the doorway as though they owned the place. Long blonde hair is blown back across narrow shoulders, but the thing that catches my attention the most are the strikingly clear blue eyes that are staring right at me. How I didn't notice all of this about her before is a mystery to me and I'm trying to wrap my brain around why she's even here right now.

"Kline." Her voice is feminine, yet strong. "I believe you still owe me a favor. I'm ready to cash it in."