Shifters

Chapter 41

The air was hazy and thickly blanketed over the melted black destruction of former homes. Kayla had to squint her eyes, keeping them anymore open made her feel like they'd drip down her face. It was much hotter, the heat came down from the sun and radiated off the ground, attacking her from all sides. Her heart sank when she saw the aftermath of her pack's aggression up close. It was horrifying. They had left nothing behind, not one building stood, there was no sign of food, or water, anywhere. It was like they were trying to erase all traces of the Serius Pack. 

Her empowerment from the verbal win against her father subsided when she saw the devastation he'd commanded. She meant it when she said she would not let him be her alpha anymore, and that he'd never been her father. But, she also knew she could never change the fact that it was his seed that made her, or that she resembled him in looks, too. Part of her felt responsible for the mass murder, for taking everything away from Damian, and bringing his worst fears to life. How would he forgive her? How could he?

She stopped in her tracks, suddenly wondering why she even dared to venture into the shadow of his pack's death. She was the last thing he wanted to see, he didn't even look at her when he left. Her memory had vanished from him the moment he realized the tragedy he faced. It made no sense to chase after him. She didn't even know what to do when she found him. No words existed to comfort him, no gesture could ever fill the new gaping hole in his life, nothing could be done for him.

Yet, she pushed through the ash, without any plan, or any sense. She was driven by an inhuman force, the powerful instincts of the lobain, to find Damian. 10 days ago, she would have turned around, but not this time, she was not ruled by her uncertainty anymore. She was afraid to see the pain in his eyes, and terrified to see the softness in those green orbs turned cruel, but that wouldn't stop her. She had to be with him, she didn't know why, but her instincts pushed her on.

He needs me.

Deep within the blackness, she found him, in what she assumed was once his house. A heap of cheaply placed rock, debris, dust, and anything else that could be found, covered a body that lay in front of him. She neared slowly, feeling the house's bones crack beneath her borrowed shoes.

"I called him a fool." Damian murmured. She stopped a few steps behind him. "Those were my last words to him." Her heart broke like his voice did.

"I'll never forgive them for doing this to you." She said.

He was silent for a moment, reliving the last time he'd seen his father alive, before springing back to the terrible entity named Reality. "Why are you here?"

"I had to come."

"Why? So you can see what it looks like to lose everything in a heartbeat, and never be able to bring it back?" He asked bitterly.

"No, of course not!" Kayla moved forward.

"You have everything!" He snarled, turning to her. "You always have."

She stopped in her tracks, looking into his unreadable eyes, they were bloodshot.

"You have your mother, your father. Your pack is strong." He indicated to the surrounding destruction. "Your best friend, is loyal, through life or death. And he didn't even stay dead." He turned away bitterly. "You've never lost anything in your damn, perfect, little, life! And yet, here you are." He hissed. "What more do you want!?"

You. She swallowed the thick rock in her throat. "To say I'm sorry." She whispered, looking at the old sneakers he'd lent her just last night. That world felt a galaxy away.

"But that doesn't solve anything." He muttered. He took a deep breath. "Go back to your family. You shouldn't be here, the survivors will despise you more than ever. And don't hate your family! You have no right to."