Humanborn

“Drink this. It’ll make the pain go away for now.” Kiara took the glass from Doc and drank the weird white fluid. As soon as the fluid touched her mouth, she gagged.

“I know it’s disgusting. But it’ll help.” Kiara took a deep breath and drank it whole. Doc took the glass from her, and she did her best not to throw up.

“What the hell is that?”

Doc chuckled. “Basically every painkilling medicine in the world combined together in a healthy mix.”

“Lovely.” Kiara looked at her bandaged hand. “How could wolfsbane and silver burn me? I’m human. At least I think I am.”

Doc looked at her with worry. “I don’t know. Did this ever happen to you before?”

Kiara shook her head. “It never had any effect on me.” Kiara looked at the wall where she’d burned her hand. Doc looked at her, troubled.

She sighed. “Come on; the alpha wants to see you in his office.”

Kiara looked at her with surprise. “He’s letting me out of the cell?”

She nodded. “Come on.” Doc gestured her to follow, and they both walked out of the cell and up the stairs, and as soon as she saw the light, she closed her eyes.

It took her awhile to adjust to the light.

They continued to Dominic’s office. Doc knocked on the door and opened it. She pushed Kiara inside and closed the door behind her.

Kiara looked at the six men who stared at her as if she were a ticking time bomb. “How’s your hand?” asked the blond-haired guy with brown eyes she’d seen before at the hospital.

She knew now that his name was Kyle. “Burned.” Kyle rolled his eyes, and she heard the other guy with light brown hair and blue eyes, Zack, chuckle.

“Kiara, what do you know about how werewolves came to be?” Dominic asked.

“I know that the Moon Goddess created them along with the pure lycans. But I never knew why.”

“Wait, they said that the Moon Goddess created us?” Spencer asked, and she nodded.

“Kiara, the Moon Goddess didn’t create us. We don’t really know the exact story, but our creation had something to do with Zeus and the original Wolf Goddess,” Blake said.

He continued, “The Moon Goddess got control over us, and that’s how she came into the picture.”

“Why would they tell everyone at my pack the story that the Moon Goddess Selene created us?” she asked.

Dominic sighed. “I don’t know, but it does explain why you didn’t know the name Leto.”

She looked at him in shock.

“Please don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me.”

He nodded. “Leto was the name of the original Greek Wolf Goddess, Mother of Artemis and Apollo.” She froze as he said the words.

“W—why would someone call me that?”

Dominic shook his head.

“We don’t know. But the fact that you could touch the wall before and nothing happened, and as soon as you heard the voice, you burned like a werewolf would is something we can’t overlook.”

Kiara gulped. “What are you going to do to me?”

Dominic and Blake saw the fear in her eyes. “We still don’t know what you are. So you’re not out of the dark,” Blake said while folding his arms.

“But we’re not going to lock you up anymore. You’re allowed to walk around the pack, but you’re not to cross the borders, and you’ll always have either Kyle or Zack with you so you won’t be able to run,” Dominic finished.

“So I’m basically a prisoner with privileges.”

“Yes,” Dominic said, and she looked at him, shocked.

“Please don’t sugarcoat it,” she said sarcastically. All six men chuckled.

“Lia put some clothes for you in the guest room of the pack house, which will now be your room for the time being.”

She looked at the revealing black shirt she was still wearing. A change of clothes would indeed be nice. “Kyle will walk you there.” She nodded her head, and Kyle led her out of the room.

“So… You’re the beta or the gamma?” she asked Kyle.

Surprise flashed over his face. “Gamma. How could you tell?”

She shrugged. “I had a feeling Dominic wasn’t going to go easy on me and would pick someone who is almost as strong as he is.”

He chuckled. “Well, your feeling was right on point.” She smiled. They stopped in front of a door that was immediately thrown open.

Kiara was startled when Lia pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace. “Um… L—Lia… H—human…,” were the only words she could form.

Embarrassed, Lia quickly let her go. “Sorry. Wolf strength…” Kiara nodded and smiled. Lia pulled her into the room, and Kyle followed her. Kiara looked at the room, and her breath stopped.

The walls were a beautiful shade of midnight blue, and the furniture was all made of the same light-brown wood. The bedsheets were made of white silk.

She walked to the double doors and opened them. The walk-in closet was huge. It was filled with beautiful clothes—day, night, formal, and informal.

There were more shoes than she had ever had. Everything was in her size. She looked at herself in the mirror that took up an entire wall.

Her hair was messy, and the fact that her legs and arms were covered in scars wasn’t a boost to her self-confidence. She sighed and walked out of the room to see a beamingly proud Lia.

Kiara chuckled. “I’m guessing you got all those clothes for me?”

Her face lit up with the biggest smile Kiara had ever seen. “Yep! I got your sizes from your old clothes. Sorry for snooping, but you needed clothes.”

“And she loves shopping. A little too much, if you ask me,” Kyle said, and Lia rolled her eyes at him.

“Do you like it? If not, I can go get other clothes for you!” Lia got up and started walking toward the door. Kiara grabbed her arm and turned her around.

“They’re absolutely fine, Lia. Thank you.”

Lia jumped in excitement and hugged her again. “Now go take a shower! There is still some blood in your hair from your head injuries, and you’re dirty from that cell.”

Lia pushed Kiara to the bathroom.

“I’ll wait outside.” Kyle walked out of the room and closed the door. As soon as she stepped inside, her mouth fell open. The bathroom was huge.

The floor was white marble, and there was a bath and a rain shower with glass doors. The sink had a huge mirror above it. It was like she’d stepped into heaven.

She slowly walked toward the cabinet to grab a fluffy white towel. She made her way over to the shower and turned it on.

She removed Dominic’s shirt and her bra and panties and carefully untied the bandage around her hand. She walked to the shower and stepped in.

Her muscles immediately relaxed when the warm water ran over them. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a shower like this. She hissed as the water ran over her burned hand.

She grabbed the shampoo bottle. “Fuck…” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Lia…?” She knew she didn’t have to yell and that just saying her name was enough.

The door opened a little, and Lia’s head popped in. “Everything okay?”

“No… I can’t do a thing with my burned hand. Could you help me wash my hair?” She could feel her cheeks turn red. Lia walked in and closed the door behind her.

“Wait…” Lia stopped. “Just promise me one thing,” Kiara said to Lia, who looked concerned. “Don’t tell anyone what you’re about to see.” Lia didn’t hesitate.

“I won’t.” Kiara smiled at her, and Lia walked over to her. She opened the shower door and gasped as she saw Kiara’s back. “Holy shit, Kiara…” Kiara felt a tear on her cheek.

She knew exactly what Lia saw. Her whole back was covered in scars that had been inflicted by a whip with metal at the end. Her whole back was ruined. Kiara felt a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through all this,” Lia said. Kiara smiled a little and nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” She shook her head. “Just know that I’m here for you.”

“Thank you, Lia.” Lia took the shampoo bottle and began washing Kiara’s hair. She had to be careful not to reopen the wounds on her head.

“You’ve really been through hell and back, haven’t you…,” Lia whispered to herself, but Kiara heard it still. It took a while to wash her, and when she was done, the water had run slightly cold.

Lia took the towel to Kiara, who clutched her arms against her chest to hide herself a little.

“I’m a wolf. Nudity doesn’t mean a thing to me, unless it’s my mate.” She winked at Kiara, and she chuckled.

“Still.” Lia looked at her stomach and saw the big scars. Pain flashed over her face when she met Kiara’s eyes.

“It’s okay, Lia. I know it’s not something someone wants to see.” Lia nodded and helped Kiara dry her body and hair.

After that, she helped her into some new black underwear, blue jeans, a black long-sleeve shirt, and some combat boots. Lia wrapped a clean bandage around Kiara’s hand and began brushing her hair.

“I wish I had hair as long as you.”

Kiara chuckled. “The only thing I’m proud of.”

Lia chuckled also. “I can understand why.” Kiara looked at the girl helping her. She had seen all her scars and hadn’t run away. She wasn’t even disgusted with her. She treated her normally.

It was nice for a change. When Lia started to make a braid, Kiara thought back to the time when her mother used to do that. A tear escaped her eye. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Lia asked, shocked.

“No, I was just thinking about how my mom used to braid my hair.”

Lia had a sad smile. “Everything will be okay, Kiara. You’ll see.” The door opened, and Kyle came in. He looked at Kiara and smiled. She stood up and looked at herself.

“What?”

“It’s nice to see you fully dressed and not looking like you just crawled out of a hole.”

“Oh, well, thanks, asshole.”

Kyle started laughing. “You asked me what, so I answered.” Kiara rolled her eyes.

“I’m hungry. Let’s get some food,” Lia interjected. Kiara nodded, and Lia pulled her out of the room to go downstairs. The kitchen was filled with pack members.

Everybody looked at Kiara as she entered. Her cheeks heated up and she looked down. Someone walked over to her.

“So nice to see you again and freshened up,” said the woman who Kiara remembered from the hospital. “My name is Cora.” Kiara smiled, but her gaze froze at her throat. There were red marks on her neck.

She heard Cora sigh. “Don’t worry. I pushed my son too far, and he couldn’t control Mike anymore. It was an accident.” Kiara looked at her in shock. “You’re Dominic’s mother?”

She smiled and nodded. “Now come; you must be starving.” Cora grabbed her hand, and she saw more red marks on her arm. Dominic did this to his own mother?

Why?

What did she do to push Mike over the edge?