ALPHA: Heir Of The Four

Chapter Twenty

     My smile not only fell, but the proverbial cat caught my damned tongue. Usually when one listed a bunch of your wrong doings and flaws, your automatic response should have been to defend yourself. But I couldn't. Kane was right, and the only thing I could do was lower my gaze and offer my silence in agreement.

     "But," he added after another drawn out silence passed between us, "you're also a kind person. You're not spiteful or vengeful. You try to see the good in people when they show you nothing but the bad. You've even managed to do the impossible by making the twins get along. You don't just talk the talk, you're willing to walk the walk like you did earlier tonight. You're strong, Ava-Rain. I would be stupid to deny that. But Emmy Grace was strong, too."

     'And look where that got her' were the words that I expected to hear him say—I had no doubt that they were playing on a continuous loop inside of his head—but, most likely for my sake, he kept them to himself.

     And that was so unlike 'tell it like it is' Kane.

     "So," I managed to gather enough courage to speak again, "you're saying that I should use that strength of mine to walk away?"

     "I'm saying that I can't. . .I refuse to go through that type of pain again."

      I don't think Kane realized just how much he had let his guard down when the intensity of his gaze decreased and the look on his face softened. And it was that look, that flash of emotion, that convinced me that he wasn't just talking about me. That our entire conversation wasn't just an opportunity to rag on me. He had to have been talking about Kasey, as well.

     The human that just so happened to be appointed by Luna herself as his mate.

     The human he did not seem excited in the slightest to have as a mate if his reaction over an hour ago was any indication.

     "Kasey isn't just any ordinary human, Kane. With Caleb, I get it. He has to worry about me because. . .well, because I'm no Kasey. You don't have to worry about her. She wouldn't even want you to worry about her in a world that she's already well aware of—"

     "I don't want to talk about her." Kane ran a hand through his dark brown hair out of obvious frustration.

     "Well, as you so kindly pointed out, I'm 'annoying'. And I'm going to live up to that and annoy the crap out of you by talking about what you don't want to talk about."

     He shook his head and tossed a quick glance in my direction before settling them back on the cottage ahead of us. "Knock yourself out and talk all you want. Just don't expect me to listen or respond—"

     "Kasey's scared."

     I wasn't entirely sure what effect my admission would have on Kane, but when he turned his head and looked at me, I wasn't as shocked as I probably should have been. He could try and play the role of the uninterested wolf and pretend like he didn't care about Kasey, but, at the end of the day, she was his just as much as he was hers. And even if nothing were to come of them, even if they rejected each other tonight and never spoke or saw each other again, I don't think either of them could deny that a part of themselves would always, in some way, shape or form, care about the other.

     "Do you want to know what her biggest fear is, Kane?"

     He kept his mouth closed, not allowing so much as a twitch of his lips to betray him. The lack of enthusiasm he wore as a mask was well executed, his breathing remained even and his arms remained crossed over his chest. He made it quite clear that he wanted no part of this conversation and was doing his best to live up to that statement. His pokerface game was strong, but even he had a 'tell'. And Kane's tell was his eyes.