His Moon

XVI | Clouds and Round Edges

"He is," Kaia interrupted, looking up at her brother. Cole fell silent, and Kaia could see how stupefied he was just by looking at his face. "Someone attacked me," Kaia explained, "That day when I hit my head."

Cole frowned, crossing his arms, "I was pretty sure that was what happened."

Kaia frowned. Cole's words were a reminder that he'd known all along about their dad's secrets. "Kaleb saved me," Kaia continued, trying to ignore the churning of her stomach, "And then again in the hospital. And uh..." This next part felt embarrassing to say like she was confessing to her brother that she'd gotten her first boyfriend; it didn't feel like something she'd normally discuss with Cole, but these were unusual circumstances. "I found out that Kaleb is my mate."

"You found out..." Cole repeated. Rosy let out a little choking sound. Kaia wasn't sure what that had been until she looked over at Rosy. She had her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were sparkling; she was silently laughing at Kaia.

Kaia did her best to ignore that, but her cheeks turned red against her will. "Y-Yeah. I found out."

"What does that even mean? How do you even know that he's your mate?" Cole asked, incredulous.

Kaia wasn't really sure how to answer that. How did she know? Kaleb had told her, yes. But why had she been so quick to agree? What had actually made her understand that this person, this man, this wolf belonged to her and she to him?

Kaia decided it wasn't any single reason; it was a thousand little things. The way he smelled. How his fur had felt when she'd first met him. How beautiful he was. How his eyes were like the sun, bathing her in warmth. How gentle he was, how fierce, how strong. How lonely.

Kaia knew because even when she was a world away, she hadn't missed her house at all. Because, finally, she'd been at home. Kaia was light when she was with Kaleb, so what else could it be?

But Kaia didn't know how to communicate that to her brother without sounding insane, so she only said, "Trust me, Cole."

Cole stayed quiet for a long moment, a tight ball of buzzing energy and questions. And then finally he unwound, his arms falling to his sides and his eyes closing. He looked almost...sad. But the look was so brief that Kaia forgot it soon after it appeared. "That's not...Are the Prowlers ok with that?"

Kaia bit her lip, "Yes and no."

Cole opened his eyes, giving her an exasperated sigh, "Figures."

"Hey, shut up," Kaia said, jabbing him with her elbow, "We'll figure it out."

"You'll win them over, lovely," Rosy said, putting a gentle hand on Kaia's back.

"But for now," Kaia said, taking a deep breath, "Where's Kaleb?"

☾

The sight was a sorry one, but though it incited a deep ache in her, it also brought on a wave of relief. Kaleb, even if he was hooked up to an unnerving machine, was alive. "What is it?" Kaia asked.

The doctor, Jaeger, frowned at her. "Does it matter?"

Kaia stopped short at that. She supposed it didn't. Whatever the machine was, the name wouldn't mean anything to her. "What does it do?"

"He has wolfsbane in his system," Jaeger explained, pushing his spectacles higher up on his nose, "So we've got to give him a series of transfusions to aid his body in excising it."

Kaia stared at the doctor for a moment. He seemed like a dignified man, utterly disinterested in the goings on around him as if he were above it all. Jaeger displayed no apparent condescension, but his height made Kaia feel like she was being looked down on. Raven black hair faded to gray by his temples to match the wrinkles he had, which could only have been formed by a tendency to concentrate hard. Altogether, he seemed like a devoted scholar with little concern for much else aside from his medicine.