Humanborn

After breakfast, Lia and Cora went to the kitchen to do the dishes. Kiara walked outside and inhaled the fresh air. She walked toward the woods. “Where are you going?” Kyle asked her.

“For a walk. You would do the same thing if you had been locked up for a week with no one around you.” Kyle sighed and nodded. They started walking.

“You have to understand that the fact that you don’t have a scent and that you hear a voice that, somehow, can control you and make you vulnerable is dangerous for our alpha.

“He doesn’t know if you’re a threat to the pack. That’s why he can’t take any chances.”

“I don’t have a scent?”

Kyle looked at her, surprised. “They never told you?” Kiara shook her head. “Wow, that pack was really good at keeping everybody in the dark.”

Kiara sighed. “Can I ask you a question?” Kyle nodded. “What happened between Dominic and his mother?” Kyle sighed and let his head hang.

“Why?” he asked her.

“Because she clearly had bite marks on her throat and arm, and she said that I shouldn’t blame him, because she pushed him too far.”

Kyle ran a hand through his hair.

“Cora came barging into his office the other day and disrespected him. Even if she’s his mother, Dominic—well, Mike mostly—will not accept disrespect toward him, being an alpha and all that.

“She said things she shouldn’t have, and that drove Mike over the edge.”

“Why did she disrespect him?”

“Because of you.”

Kiara stopped walking. “What?”

Kyle turned toward her and saw the confusion on her face.

“Because Dominic and Blake decided to cut you off from everything, and, basically, were torturing you mentally. You cried every day for the whole week.”

Her confusion was replaced by hate. “You don’t say,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Because Cora could hear you, she came to the office to get some answers. When she found out what they were doing, something in her mind clicked. Her wolf took over and attacked Dominic.”

Kiara’s eyes widened.

“Dominic threw her out the window, and they fought for a while. When they stopped, they were communicating through the mind-link, and Marline said something that drove Mike over the edge.

“I don’t know what it was, but Mike couldn’t hold himself back anymore. Dean intervened just in time, or Mike would have killed Marline.”

“Dean?”

“Zack’s wolf.” Kiara nodded and started walking again. Well, that explained something…

Not much, but it was a start. What had Cora said to drive him over the edge?

She sighed and walked farther. The forest was green, and it let in enough light. Back at her old pack, the trees in the forest were close to each other, and there was almost no light.

That explained the name: Dark Wood. She thought about them.

About her father, alpha, and beta who were somewhere out there. If they knew she was alive, they would come for her. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about being with them again.

Dominic and Blake were not the best company to be in, but they were better than her old pack. She walked farther and started to hear running water.

After a while, she saw a beautiful waterfall and a huge lake. The shore was beautiful green grass with some clusters of blue flowers. The sight was breathtaking.

This wasn’t the lake where she’d had the change error. How big was this territory?

She heard a girl scream and turned toward the sound. Lia, Jared, and Dave were in the water, and Zack, Dominic, Cora, and another woman were sitting on the grass. Kyle chuckled.

“Of course they are here,” he said. He smiled and walked past her to the wolves.

“Kiara!” Jared yelled. He came out of the water and ran to her.

Before she could get out of the way, he picked her up and put her over his shoulder and took her to the group. “I can walk, you know.”

“A queen doesn’t have to walk.”

“Be careful. I may just throw up on you,” she said, and everyone laughed.

“Don’t be mean, my queen. For I am your humble servant,” Jared joked.

“Seriously, I’m almost going to throw up. Put me down!” Kiara said as Lia and Dave laughed in the water.

“No!” Jared said.

“You call me your queen. If I really am, you must obey me.”

He stopped walking. “Maybe I’m also your lover, and that makes us equal.”

“Okay, that’s enough; let me go.” She struggled to get loose, but being a human held in place by a werewolf made it impossible.

She heard everyone laugh and felt his grip tighten. “Jared, let the poor girl go,” she heard Cora say. It didn’t matter what she did; she couldn’t get free.

She stopped struggling and thought about what she could do. “Giving up so soon?” Dave asked her. She swung her legs up and let them come down hard. She heard Jared growl, and they fell to the ground.

Kiara quickly stood up and saw Jared hold his stomach. Everyone laughed even louder, and she felt an arm wrapping around her shoulders.

The other woman looked proud. “That’s what you get for pissing off a girl,” the woman said. Kiara smiled. “I’m Mira.” They turned around and walked to the group sitting on the ground.

“I’m Zack and Jared’s mother.”

Kiara turned red. “I’m so sorry—”

Mira stopped her. “Sweetie, he had it coming. Don’t worry about apologizing.” Kiara smiled. Mira sat down, and Kiara’s eyes met Dominic’s. She couldn’t read his emotions, and that scared her.

“I have a question,” Dave asked Kiara as he came out of the water. “How could you slow down your heart rate?” Everybody immediately looked at her, and she turned pale.

“W—what do you mean?”

“That day you tried to run. You leapt over the couch, and when Ryan and I reached you, we couldn’t hear your heartbeat anymore.

“We both went to get Doc, but when we came back, you were gone, and Dominic was chasing you.”

Kiara started shaking. “I—I…” Visions of the time when she’d had to use it in the Dark Wood Pack came flooding back. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Kiara?” Lia said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She had a worried look on her face.

“I learned it when they started to abuse me on a daily basis. When it looked and sounded like I was too weak, they would sometimes leave me alone.”

Dave nodded. “I understand. Just wanted to know how you could do that. For most, that’s impossible because it takes a great deal of concentration.”

Kiara smiled. “Why would you both go and get Doc? One of you could have gone for her.”

Dave looked at Dominic and gulped. “We weren’t thinking, and Ryan followed me when I walked away.”

Dominic sighed. “Remind me to give you a hell of a training in an hour.” Dave whimpered and nodded.

“You want something to eat?” Zack asked Kiara.

“We just had breakfast,” she said.

Zack shrugged. “So? Are you full?” He looked at her with surprise.

“Yeah; I lived my entire life with just two meals a day.”

“That’s why you’re so skinny that you can almost see your ribcage.” Kiara looked away, embarrassed.

“It’s fine, sweetie. Just know that whenever you’re hungry, you can grab whatever you want,” Cora said, and Kiara smiled at her.

“Thank you,” Kiara said.

They heard a growl and looked to Jared, who was now changed into a gray wolf with patches of dark gray.

Evan.

“Evan?” Kiara said. His head tilted with surprise, and she felt everyone look at her.

“How the hell can she know my name, Jar?” Her eyes widened. ~“I don’t know, but it’s pretty hot. I wish she were a wolf. I would have taken her right here if she’d let me.”~

“Hey!” Kiara snapped, making Evan jump. “I’m not a wolf, and you won’t take me. Ever!” She’d just realized that she could hear a wolf talk to his human.

Not even a wolf in their pack had been able to do that.

“Can you hear me?” Evan took a few steps toward her.

She nodded a little. “I can…”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Kyle said behind her.

Without breaking eye contact with Evan, she said, “I—I can hear his wolf and human talk to each other. And his wolf can talk to me.” She heard the others gasp.

“How the hell is that even possible?” Cora asked.

Evan shifted, and Jared stood naked before the group. Kiara immediately turned around and met the eyes of everyone else. “What is happening to me?” Before anyone answered, her senses heightened.

She started hearing the heartbeats of the others, the breeze in the air, animals in the forest, and everything else.

Dominic was looking at her with worry. She focused on him and saw every line in his eye and all the little details on his body that a human normally wouldn’t see. It was the same with everyone else.

Her sense of smell kicked in, and she smelled the most amazing scent. It was the scent of the forest after the rain and of fresh grass. Where did that scent come from?

Dominic’s eyes changed into his alpha’s eyes, and he inhaled. The others did the same. “What’s going on?” Kiara covered her ears at the sudden sound and groaned a little.

She turned around and saw Blake’s eyes also turned into alpha eyes, and he also inhaled. He’s an alpha too?

She knew he was the leader of the rogues, but she never knew that he was an actual rogue alpha.

“What the fuck?” He looked at Dominic. Kiara did the same and locked eyes with him.

“Leto.”

Her eyes widened. She looked around her. Lia grabbed her wrists and removed her hands from her ears. “Kiara, what’s happening?” Kiara didn’t answer her and kept looking around.

“You’re hurt, Leto.” She glared at the water. ~“Come to me, Leto. Come to me.”~ Her body started moving, and she could look only at the water. Everything else around her faded.

“I will find you, Leto. You can’t hide.” She stood at the edge, and her body started to take another step to the water. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

She snapped out of the trance and landed on the ground. Her breathing was rapid, and her senses were normal again. Lia and Mira crouched down next to her.

“What just happened?” A tear rolled over Kiara’s cheek. She locked eyes with Dominic.

“T—the voice.” Her voice was husky. “It was back.”

“Voice?” Lia, Jared, Dave, and Mira looked expectantly at Dominic.

“I’ll explain later. What did it say?”

“It called me Leto and said that I was hurt and that he would find me. That I couldn’t hide.”

“Leto as in the original Wolf Goddess?” Dave asked.

“Yeah,” Blake answered. “What I want to know is why all of a sudden you had a scent.”

Kiara’s eyes widened. She stood up. “I had a scent?” He nodded. “Wait—had?”

“As soon as you landed on the ground, your scent disappeared,” Cora said.

“Did something else happen to you?” Zack asked her.

“As soon as I turned to you, all my senses were all of a sudden heightened.”

“That’s when your scent appeared,” Kyle said. “Do you still have them?”

Kiara shook her head. “As soon as I landed on the ground, they disappeared.” Everyone was quiet. She turned to Dominic. “What’s happening to me?”