Beasts of The North

Chapter Sixteen

I instantly relaxed my body and couldn't stop myself from shifting and running to him. If I could literally kick myself, I would. My instincts had become apart of me. I listened to them every step of the way and they never steered me wrong. The first moment where my mind wanted to go against them, and I nearly took it. I should have known better. They knew that this was Kai. They knew that my mate was here, and I very nearly didn't listen and attacked him. At least, I tried to. I don't think my instincts would've let me get that far before forcing a shift. If this was not a lesson, then I didn't know what else was. I was certainly going to treat it as if it were one. As I got closer to him, his eyes widened, but he did not make any moves to stop me as I wrapped my arms around him.

I'm not 100% sure what reaction he expected of me once he returned home, but I'm going to take a guess and say that this was not it. He stiffened in my embrace, although I might attribute that to our combined nakedness. I was finding it quite hard to concentrate on anything else. I was just so ecstatic to see him again. The one thought that took ages for my instincts and I to agree upon was Kai. I wrestled with our destined paths for a long time. I didn't know what to think or how to feel. I was struggling with my past and how to deal with those feelings, my present and how to handle the person I am now, and my future and who I need to be for my pack. The one thought that I did my best to avoid was Kai.

Unfortunately for me, that was the one thing that my instincts chose to remind of me constantly. They never relented, always bringing my train of thought back to him. Each kill I made, each step I took towards becoming a better wolf and Luna for my pack, I would be reminded of Kai. How proud he would be of me, and how far I have come. How he would enjoy the taste of this kill with me. What he would think of my new strength. My dreams would even be of him, which was a welcome change honestly.

The nightmares of my past were long gone, and I had no further dreams of Lowell and his terrifying smile since the blood ritual from months before. Each night, I was instead plagued with a different reoccurring dream. It was Kai, and myself. We were in the woods, near the trees where he nearly claimed me as his without consent. This time was different. It was completely consensual and something that I did my best not to think of during the day. That was a level of distraction that I could not afford during my time in the wild.

I pulled away from him, to look him in the eye with a smile on my face. Instead of joy, or excitement upon seeing me, I was met with a scowl. The smile instantly dropped fell from my lips, and I frowned.

"What the hell are you doing out here?! Did you just take on a bear? What were you thinking? You are nowhere near trained enough to take on a bear. I almost died just a few weeks ago, and I have had years of experience. And where is Hemanth, or Oliv-"

"Excuse me? You almost died?!" I was incredulous. All other questions and concerns of his were causing all sorts of outrage within me, but this one set a fire deep within that could not be ignored. The thought that I may have lost my mate, and I didn't even know, it burned away everything else that I had inside until I grew cold. I couldn't suppress the shiver that shook me. Kai couldn't seem to care less, though. His rage was still palpable, and his lack of care only caused mine to grow.

"You're yelling at me for successfully taking down a bear, when you almost died against one? If anyone should be yelling, it should be me. Where do you get off telling me how trained I am? I clearly am strong enough to succeed where you failed."

This was, most definitely, the wrong thing to say. He roared at my words. He was not a fan of being told that he was weak. In the midst of his roar, he shifted and took off. I scoffed at his childish behavior. He's been gone for months. He knows nothing about how strong I am, or how trained I may be. His first words to me are angry and loud. Even my inner wolf was upset. All of these daydreams of his pride and joy at our conquests, dashed in an instant. The wolf within worked hard to convince me of the joys of a mate, and how he would treat me, and for him to prove her wrong within the first few minutes of his return made her feel foolish. I felt foolish for believing it.