Chapter Ten - Unanswered Questions
LIORA
I tried to move, but I couldn't. He was too close; I could see the droplets sliding down the curve of his muzzle, the tension in his muscles, the way his glowing eyes bore into mine.
His growl curled into the storm, a sound more than just anger.
I was thinking he was going to kill me, but his body shuddered. The glow in his eyes intensified then; before my very eyes, he shifted.
Not like a werewolf should. It was violent, a ripping of skin, a distortion of form, a breaking and reforming. Cracking as though his bones were resisting the shift.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the agony on his face as his snarl became something human, something pained.
And there was him, Kieran.
He stood before me, fully human, bare-chested in the heavy storm, his chest heaving, his hand clenched into a fist.
His eyes were still glowing golden brown. His expression was as the storm itself fury, confusion, something deeper. But before I could speak, before I could question, he fainted.
KIERAN
My mind swam in a haze of darkness before consciousness clawed its way back to me. My body ached, my limbs felt impossibly heavy, and for a brief moment, I wasn't sure where I was.
The scent of rain still lingered in my senses, the echoes of a storm.
With a sharp inhale, I opened my eyes. Sunlight filtered through the curtains, casting a golden glow over the chamber. The familiar weight of the silk sheet covered me, the air still cool from the lingering morning chill.
Then I saw her. Liora sat beside my bed, perched stiffly on the edge of a chair, her hand clasped tightly in her lap.
Fear flickered across her face the moment our eyes met. It was quick. If I wasn't watching closely, I might have missed it; she didn't move. She didn't speak immediately, but her knuckles were white as they gripped the fabric of her gown, her body as rigid as if she was expecting me to strike her down.
I exhaled slowly, my throat raw, my body still tingling from something I couldn't quite place.
"You... you're awake.” Her voice was steady, but there was something else beneath it; wariness, hesitation.
I shifted, pushing myself up onto my elbows. The last thing I could remember was the forest, rain, and chase. A sharp, blinding pain. A shift wasn't right. I tightened my jaw. ''What happened?'' I thought.
Liora swallowed, her fingers tightening against her lap. ''What happened last night?'' she said. I didn't answer immediately. My gaze flickered over her face, her wide eyes, the tense line of her shoulders, the way she kept distance.
"You shouldn't have been outside,” I exhaled. Her lips paled, her brows furrowing. ''I wasn't outside. I was in my room, and... and then…'' she hesitated, as if saying it out loud would make it look real.
''...I was in the forest.'' I didn't react, but she wasn't done.
''You were there... you chased me.''
My fingers curled against the sheet. ''You are a wolf.''
Silence stretched between us. I stared at her, unblinking, but she refused to back down. ''I saw you,'' she said. ''You were furious. And then... something happens... you shift.''
I didn't remember shifting. Not fully. Not how I should. And I didn't want to confirm what she had seen. So I said nothing.
Her breath hitched, her fear giving way to something sharper. Frustration. ''Why did it happen like that?'' She asked, I turned my gaze away, staring at the far wall as if it held the answers.
''You're asking the wrong question,'' my voice, low, rough, but she cut in sharply, ''Then give me the right ones.'' I looked at her, really looking at her, then I stood up from the bed and then walked up to her.
''It shouldn't be any of your business.'' Liora's breath caught something flickering across her face: hurt, anger, disbelief. But masked it quickly, her expression hardening.
She pushed herself up from the chair, taking a slow step back.
I could see the tension lining her shoulders, the flicker of something unsettled in her eyes. ''It shouldn't be any of my business?’' She said, voice steady, but there was an edge to it, ''But last night, I was the one running for my life. I was the one chased through the storm like prey.”
I exhaled slowly, pressing my palm against my face before dragging them through my hair. The room felt too small, the air thick with things left unsaid. ''You weren't supposed to be there.'' I muttered,
''You think it chose to be there?'' she took a step forward, her voice rising. ''One moment I was reaching for the door, and the next, I was in the middle of the god-damned forest with you hunting me like an animal!''
''Enough!'' I tensed my jaw. Fear gripped her as she saw my glowing eyes. ''All that happened shouldn't have happened, if you weren't there. Fine, you said you never chose to be there, then pretend it never happened and it's none of your business,” I said, my voice smooth but cold.
''It has everything to do with me, the voice, and you. I want to know, I'm your wife for crying out loud!” I paused and looked at her straight in the eye.
“Listen carefully; you are only here because of Malachai's foolish games. If not, you should've been dead for killing the Knight. If you can't reason that, just place it at the back of your mind. You won't last here.” I put on my shirt and slammed the door behind me, leaving her to bear the weight of what I just said.