“Any changes, Maymunah?” Kendra asked for the umpteenth time as she observed the comatose Alpha.
“Still nothing, child.” The Oracle confirmed.
“Honestly speaking, it’s a miracle he’s still alive, Kendra. No wolf should be breathing after having that much silver in their system.”
If it was a miracle, why wasn’t the brute fucking awakening then?
Kendra didn’t ask the Oracle this though.
She already knew what the answer was going to be.
Only the Gods knew why.
At this point, and with everything that had been going on, Kendra wasn’t even sure she believed in them anymore, but for the sake of her best friend, she prayed to all of them… Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena… she prayed to whoever cared to listen to save her friend who was simply put, nothing but a pure heart.
It had already been three days.
Three days since their clash with the Curers,
Three days since Killian had tried to play hero and cheat his way out of the curse.
Kendra was pretty sure that Killian was still alive because of the Goddess of Love though.
She was pretty sure that Aphrodite had saved his life just so she could torture him just as the prophecy had pronounced:
The entire pack was to be callously tortured to death, and Killian was to be banished to Creos to expend the rest of his life there, hearing the cries of his pack for an eternity to come.
Kendra shivered just thinking about it.
Aphrodite could be so vindictive when crossed.
She neared the Alpha and pulled some stray curls away from his face, her mind linking him unconsciously.
Wake up you brute! I can’t be doing the hard work of leading the pack all alone while you just take some time off and recharge?
Kendra came to her senses when she realised what she was doing and chuckled.
What was she thinking?
He wasn’t going to hear her?
Oh, but how wrong she was.
As she turned to leave the chamber, she heard slight shuffling, and then the Alpha was grabbing her hand.
An excited gasp escaped her lips as she shot Maymunah a glance.
She painstakingly turned back to Killian, a part of her slightly afraid that the hold on her arm was just a figment of her imagination.
Only it wasn’t.
There lay Killian, his blue orbs widely open, a weary smirk on his handsome, exhausted face as he chuckled softly. “You’re the only one who would think that this painful ordeal is a vacation, Ken—”
He was interrupted by the forceful impact of her hug.
“Oh, Kill… don’t ever do that to me again.”
Maymunah only chuckled at the Beta’s aggressive antics. “Good to have you back, Alpha.”
Killian grinned, sitting up to stretch after Kendra had pulled away. “It’s feels good to be back.”
He tried to make it to his feet, but he was stopped by a very irritated Kendra. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Killian shot her a puzzled look. “I don’t know how long I’ve been out, Ken… I’ve got to get back to work immediately.”
“Like hell you are.” The female-Beta growled. “You’re not moving a muscle until Maymunah clears you and gives you the go-ahead, understood?”
Whatever reply he was going to give her was interrupted by the knock at the door. It opened and Artemis’ red head popped in, “Hey Kendra— OH FUCK, HE’S AWAKE!”
Kendra chuckled at the stupefied look on her friend’s face.
Artemis was by the Alpha’s side in a flash. “You’re awake, Killian. You’re really awake, I’m so glad.” Killian chuckled as the she-wolf fussed over him, checking him for injuries and making sure he was as fine as he claimed to be.
The smile on Kendra’s face slowly vanished as she watched their intimate interactions. She suddenly felt like the third party, watching in on a couple’s private moment, and honestly speaking, the feeling stifled her.
She suddenly needed fresh air.
And so she silently signaled her departure to the Oracle, the lovebirds too lost in their bubble to notice her leave.
****
A day had passed since Killian woke up.
With Killian fully recovered and the Curers taken care of… for now at least, Kendra now had enough free space in her mind to think about the kiss she had shared with the Alpha.
What in the fuck had fueled him to kiss her like that?
Not that she was complaining though.
No one had kissed her this passionately, not even when she had been younger and more susceptible to the concept of love.
At this point though, Kendra would honestly speaking give anything to know the reason behind the kiss.
She knew the Alpha couldn’t love, but did it mean he thought of her enough to be attracted to her?
Or was it because he had this warped idea that she was his property… and so seeing her with Tyrone had filled him with a need to remind her that she belonged to him?
The she-wolf hoped to the heavens that it was the first option.
As it was now, she was the one doing most of the avoiding this time.
Whenever she saw him coming in this direction, she used the other… when he wanted to meet for pack business discussions, she used the mind-link options instead.
In Kendra’s own defense, she wasn’t the only one to blame for the weirdness in their relationship.
He didn’t exactly seek her out when she avoided him across the halls. Matter of fact, he had gone back to ignoring her like he had before the ball, and though Kendra’s heart hurt so bad at the observation, she told herself that it was for the best.
****
WHY?
Why did he have to fucking kiss her?
Killian couldn’t stop beating himself about that costly mistake.
Surprisingly, it was the first thing he had remembered when he came to…
The memory had flooded his senses as soon as his eyes had gotten an eyeful of her and those same luscious lips he had been nibbling on right before bad news had interrupted them.
It had taken Artemis’ rather perfect pop-in to clear his wild thoughts, and in good timing too, because he had just been about to claim his Beta’s lips for the second time!
As it was now, the Alpha was pretty convinced that his tiny moment of weakness had cost him their friendship.
It was the reason why he was avoiding her this time… the reason why he was respecting her silent wish and giving her the distance she so desired,
Because he just had this fear that as soon as they had a chance to talk, she was going to tell him that she was leaving.
He couldn’t have that.
It wasn't really helping matters too that the kiss was all he could think about.
He just couldn’t stop thinking about how her lips had felt against his… so soft and so inviting, how her body had closely molded against his, how she had pressed herself against him with so much wantonness and abandon.
Fuck!
He wasn’t really helping himself one bit.
With a loud sigh, the tall, broad Alpha stood up from his bed.
Maymunah had advised him to use the rest of the week to regain his strength, so he was basically just stuck in his chambers doing nothing.
Luckily, he still had the makeshift, medieval working equipment his omegas had installed for him in his room, so he was going to work out a bit to get rid of the tension that kept tightening around his aura when his thoughts strolled towards his Beta.
He desperately wanted to go out on a run…
Wanted to free his wolf and feel the cool breeze on his dark fur, but everything in him knew that as soon as he stepped foot outside his chambers, his legs were going to voluntarily or unconsciously take him right to her doorstep.
As it was now, he didn’t think she was ready to see him yet, and if he was being honest with himself, so was he.
He wasn’t in the mood for a workout, but it was going to have to do.