Caged

Chapter 12

"I only ever want the truth," he said. "I hope that you'll never have to feel like you need to lie to us."

My cheeks burned with embarrassment and shame. I had acted out without meaning to. I needed to get a handle on my emotions. I used to have better control than this. I never acted out, not against my mother while she berated or hurt me, not to Marie who only ever blamed me and got me into trouble, not even to my father as he turned his back to me.

I had no excuse.

I cleared my throat and met Kota's eyes. His darkened and I knew his wolf was right there, but the darkening of his eyes was the only clue I had to how close his wolf was to the surface. He had steel control over his other self.

Me. I felt my lip curling up and I probably would have snarled at him if Silas didn't nudge me with his elbow. That snapped me out of the volatile mood.

"I'm tired," I finally replied after staring down at my hands as they gripped Silas's shirt that I wore, knuckles white with strain. "I'm hurt. I'm afraid. And I can feel myself slipping away," I said and met with Kota's eyes again.

This time, they were soft with genuine concern.

"Sang," he said and got up to his feet. He moved around the table and sat down next to me. "Sang, we're fighting for you. I hope you'll fight with us to live. We won't let you die. We don't want you to die."

"I'm trying," I whispered.

"I know you are," Kota said. "Don't give up. Don't give up on us. We're determined to make sure you stay safe and as yourself. We won't accept any other options. It's just how we are."

"Why?" I asked. "Why go through all this trouble?"

I didn't understand. I never had people to care about me until I met Silas. Him, I understood. The others, I didn't. What motive did they have to make sure I stayed alive? Why were they going through so much trouble?

Kota saw my doubt and his expression grew slightly harder, a little more serious. My wolf bristled at the change but when he spoke, she backed down, his commanding voice forcing us to listen to him and consider what he had to say.

"The moment you entered Silas's life, you entered ours. You kept him alive. We know you did. He hasn't opened up much about what happened in The Gallows, but he told us enough to know he survived because of you. We are returning the favor now. Let us help keep you alive. It's what friends do anyways. We keep each other alive."

"Friends?" I asked in a small voice, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. "Is that what we are?"

"Yes," he said with strong conviction, as if saying it as a fact made it so.

Was it really that easy?

Silas patted my head. "It really is that easy," he said.

"And now that we are all friends, I have the right to tell you, you need a haircut," Gabriel said, coming into the room with a grin.

"What's wrong with my hair?" I asked and pulled a long strand up to look at it. I winced as I realized the problem. My hair was really long, the ends frayed and dead. I hadn't had a haircut in a few years now and it fell down to my butt.

"That's exactly the problem," Gabriel said. "You have a gorgeous head of hair. It just needs some TLC so it can shine as it should. I'll do it for you. I don't trust any of these assholes to touch your hair without ruining it."

I frowned. I didn't like the idea of someone touching my hair. That was an intimate thing to do. My wolf was in agreement.

My eyes must have warned Gabriel to my thoughts because he lifted up his hands. "When you're ready, Sang. I won't do anything until you're ready. I don't want you biting off my hand." He chuckled as he sat down

I nodded in agreement. I didn't want to bite hands off either.

Everyone came back into the living room and sat down on the floor, talking to each other. I just watched, taking note of the way they interacted with each other, how comfortable they were with each other. They were so close, easily teasing each other. If they said any of that to me, my wolf would have lashed out. But when someone was teased in jest, they just laughed it off.

Slowly, I smiled, relaxing. I glanced at Silas to see him smiling down at me. His smile widened before Luke pulled him into a debate about the best chocolate. Luke liked good old fashion milk chocolate, and Silas apparently enjoyed white chocolate.

I continued to watch, not wanting this moment to end. But a small part of me reminded me that all good things came to an end eventually. I forced myself to ignore that little voice as I enjoyed the moment.