Malakai Ross (Kai) is a human orphan ready to be on his own. He is sick of the bullying from students at school, specifically Jake, and the abuse at home, if you could even call it "home". He recently moved to Cherrywood with his new foster family a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What are you going to do? Confront him? Ask him why he was lying?" I hear the familiar voice of Roni as I come to, registering the feel of Trenton's hand caressing my scalp. It takes me a second to realize the situation I'm in. They think I'm asleep.
"I don't know, Roni. My main concern right now is making sure we don't allow him to go back to that place. There's no way in Hell I'm letting him return." Trenton grits, his voice almost taking on a growling undertone. What are they talking about?
"Right, I agree. Okay, I'm going to go see if they've found a pack doctor, yet."
"Alright, it's taking way longer than I was expecting." The sound of the pack doctor's office door opening and closing reverberates throughout the room, indicating that Trenton and I are alone now.
The hand massaging my scalp never ceases. Twirling my curls around his fingers, Trenton continues to play with my hair, unaware of my consciousness. I involuntarily lean into his touch, giving myself away.
"Hey . . . How are you feeling?" Trenton asks, his voice sounding almost foreign as it takes on a softer tone, almost sounding sad.
Without moving, I grunt my reply, "I should be asking you that."
I get the melodious sound of Trenton's breathy chuckle as a response, smiling to myself for being the cause of that beautiful laugh.
Suddenly, the room takes on a strange tension that wasn't there earlier. Trenton's hand in my hair doesn't stop, but slows down as he finds a particular curl to play with.
"Kai . . . why didn't you tell me?" There's that sad undertone again. Trenton sounds so vulnerable right now and I couldn't tell you why.
Just as I lift my head to voice my thoughts—removing Trenton's hand in the process—hurried footsteps can be heard from outside of the doctor's office. Looking at the man next to me, I notice his head facing the direction of the door while his nostrils flare to take in whatever scent he's apparently picking up.
Before I can say anything to Trenton, the door bursts open and—to my utter surprise—Prue rushes in.
"Malakai Lucas Ross! Why didn't you tell me? Actually, that doesn't matter. Are you okay?" Prue rushes out, crushing me in her embrace so quickly I can't even get a word in.
Tell them what?
"Um . . . I'm a little lost here. Tell you what?" I ask them both, my voice muffled from being crushed against Prue's embrace. Wait, they're not talking about what I think they're talking about . . . right?
"Your foster parents, Kai." Prue whispers, her eyes glazing over with tears as she removes her arms from around me.
Oh shit.
Without responding, I move my gaze to the floor, unable to meet their eyes.
"Well, you're definitely not going back to that house. There's got to be something we can do. Do you think you can stay somewhere else?"
Before I can stop myself I say, "Tch, they'd probably be too drunk to even notice my absence." To that, Trenton growls. Yes, he actually growls—but that's it. He doesn't say anything and I'm still staring at the floor, so I can't see his expression. I'm too anxious to look at him and if that growl says anything about how he's feeling, it's that he's not very happy right now.
Prue begins pacing around the pack doctor's office in disarray. I'm not sure what to do, it's not like I planned for them to ever find out about this, so I just close in on myself and continue drilling holes into the ground below me.
After a few minutes, I begin questioning to myself if either of them are going to say anything, but then Trenton speaks up.
"He can stay here."
"Are you sure?" Prue questions him, the both of them beginning to talk as if I wasn't standing in the same room and hearing everything they're saying.
"Well, there's no way in Hell he's going back to that . . . place. Where else would he go?"
That's my harsh reality check. I don't have anywhere else to go.
"I just don't understand! Kai, why would you lie to me about this?" Prue looks at me. Still refusing to look at either of the people in the room with me, my irritation starts to boil over past my breaking point.
"What am I supposed to say, huh?! 'Help me, my foster parents beat me if I forget to close the windows'? This is my life I'm living. My nightmare. Not your's." With that, I turn away from the two of them and storm out of the pack doctor's office.
"Wait! Kai!" I hear the both of them calling my name, but I don't even bother glancing back at the two. I just need to be alone.
How did they even find out?
Roni . . .
Ugh, I should've known she would've said something. I guess I can't really blame her, though, because if I saw that happening to a friend of mine, I imagine I'd do the same thing. Sighing to myself, I take in my surroundings only to realize I have no idea what I'm doing or where to go. This is my first time in the pack house which means I have no idea where anything is. Luckily, I don't have to.
Just as I begin freaking out about how lost I am, Trenton walks around the corner—broken hand and all.
"What?!" I snap at seeing his face. Yeah I'm a little mad at him, so what?
"Are you okay?" He asks in that deep, gentle voice of his while keeping his distance. He can probably tell I'm on edge.
"Oh, I'm just wonderful." I deadpan, rolling my eyes at him. Okay, maybe I'm more than a little mad . . .
"I'm sorry, Kai. We just don't understand why you would lie to us about this. We lo—care for you and we just want to be there for you when you need us."
I'm not much of a feelings sharer, so I don't know what to say. Eventually, I aim for just trying to be honest.
"I—I didn't want to be a burden . . ." I mumble, looking down at my feet.
"You could never be a burden." Is Trenton's response, his voice taking on a sympathetic tone.
Before I can say anything in response to that, Prue comes rushing around the corner to where we are.
"Kai! I'm sorry, you know I care for you so much and just want you to be happy and safe. I just feel so bad for not realizing sooner that this has been going on at your home." She explains, her voice watery from trying not to cry.
"That house isn't my home, Prue."
Silence ensues after I say that, none of us looking at the other.
Trenton is the first to speak up after what feels like an eternity.
"Prue? Can I speak with you . . . privately?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
