Cherry Blossoms | ✔️

I Love You (Kai)

"I need your ass to do some explaining!"

Silence follows Trenton's outburst at his phone, the caller clearly having pissed him off. I'm still not sure who he's even on the phone with, seeing as right when we got Roni safely into the pack hospital—with Derek by her side—Trenton rushed over to his father's office and immediately picked up the phone, leaving me to overhear it all from the hallway.

"I. Don't. Care. I just want to know why one of your wolves attacked one of mine and then proceeded to chase not only me, but also my mate." Trenton seethes, a low growl rumbling through him. I would be lying if I said it didn't startle me.

As Trenton continues yelling at his phone—a side of his I have not yet witnessed until now—I can't keep my thoughts from drifting to what Jake had said as he was chasing us off school grounds.

"You're the reason Miles is dead!"

He knows . . .

I don't know how, yet, or why, but he knows about Miles and if he knows about Miles, he most likely knows about Kelly.

Just the reminder of Miles' death—which always leads to the reminder of Kelly's death—puts me in an unsettling state of mind. Trenton knows what happened, but to be honest, I barely know what happened.

All I do know is that they were both murdered by a werewolf faster than I could blink. I wish I at least knew the reason, maybe then I might have some closure.

The conversation between Trenton and the caller is merely background noise as my vision becomes fuzzy. I can feel my hands shaking and eventually my breath joins, heartbeat quickening.

Suddenly, all I can hear is my sister's screams, filling my head and causing me to pull at my hair, hoping that the pain will put a stop to the screaming.

"MILES!"

I . . . can't . . . breathe . . .

Sliding down against the hallway wall behind me, I sit down on the cold marble flooring that does nothing to bring me out of the memories.

Yellow eyes are all I see, red dripping from the beast's jaws as it snarls at Kelly, still looking down at Miles and not giving a care in the world that she's about to die.

That she's about to leave me alone.

Circling my arms around myself as some form of protection, all I can do to stop the memories is scream.

"KELLY!" I shout, already knowing how this ends. I've seen it replayed over and over again in my nightmares.

Just as the wolf turns it's murderous glare on me, warmth surrounds my freezing, shaking body.

Far too gone from reality, I just accept the warmth and grip as tightly as possible for some hope of being grounded.

"Kelly . . ." Sobs wrack my body and I grab on even tighter to the warmth surrounding me.

"Kai? Kai, can . . . me?" A familiar voice breaks through the attack, but I'm nowhere near waking up from this nightmare.

"Kill me. KILL ME INSTEAD!" I scream at the wolf, prepared to die in her place.

"Kai, Love, don't talk like that. Look at me, breathe with me, Love."

Trenton . . .

"R . . . Ren?" I question, finally able to tear my gaze away from that terrorizing yellow stare into my favorite shade of blue.

"Yes, Love. That's it, take a deep breath with me, okay?" His voice is so gentle as he cradles my head against his chest, soft lips grazing my ear.

My heartbeat finally begins to slow as I close my eyes tightly, focusing all my energy on following Ren's breathing.

"That's it, just focus on my voice, Love." Ren wrapped my shaking hands—still tightly gripping his shirt—with his own, gently prying them away as he placed a kiss on the back of each hand before wrapping them around his neck. Taking in the scent of his cologne, I could finally feel myself relax, sinking into his hold.

I almost started to doze off, but then the feeling of being lifted off the ground spooked me back into consciousness.

"It's still me, Love. Just breathe." My body couldn't help but start to shake again. I just hid my face in Ren's neck, absorbing all of him to try and stay calm.

Finally, the movement ceases and I'm left to assume that Ren has sat us both down on one of the couches in his father's office, me on his lap as I straddle him. It's like my subconscious won't let me separate from him, so I tighten my hold.

We stay that way for a little while, until Trenton speaks up.

"Is this . . . normal for you, Kai?" Comes Ren's soothing voice, though, the question he has decided to ask is quite the contrary.

"Mhm . . . Though, this is the first time I've gotten anything like this while . . . awake." I whisper into his shoulder, my voice cracking. I hate feeling so vulnerable.

Ren's embrace tightened around me and he laid his head in my hair, snuggling me close.

"I'm so sorry you've had to go through this alone for so long, but not anymore." Trenton states firmly, confusing me.

"Huh?" I whisper, raising my head enough to get a glimpse of his eyes.

Is that guilt or sorrow? Maybe both.

"You'll always have me, Kai. You'll never have to suffer alone again, not while my heart beats."

I couldn't help the warmth that spread from my toes all the way up to the tips of my ears. I hid my face back on Ren's shoulder again, only for him to tilt my chin back up with his finger and thumb.

"I love you, Malakai Ross."

Eyes widening, I searched Trenton's face for a lie, but came up empty.

He what?!

"You what?"

"I love you . . . so much." Only sincerity shone through his eyes, a soft smile on his handsome face.

I'm not sure what to say, no one has said those words to me since . . . well, you know.

"Don't worry so much, Love. You don't have to say it back. I just wanted you to know." Ren soothes, pushing a red curl out of my face.

It's quiet for a moment, until my broken voice pierces the silence.

"No, Ren I . . . I love you, too."