Humanborn

Leto.

Kiara heard a voice, one she did not know.

~“Leto!”~

Who was calling, and why did he call her Leto?

~“Leto, come to me now!”~

Kiara shot up in the dark room. It was 1:30 a.m.

That was a weird dream. Why would someone call her Leto?

She’d never heard that name before. But somehow, it sounded familiar. She shook her head. It was just a dream. It meant nothing.

Her whole body ached from leaning against the window. She stretched her back and looked at the moon.

The next full moon would be in two weeks.

She wondered if Dominic’s pack had the same traditions Jamie’s had had during a full moon.

They would always have a run around the borders of their territory and a feast afterward. Shivers went down her spine as she remembered the feast. The feast was not a normal one.

The she-wolves went into heat during a full moon, and the men took them right where they stood. It didn’t matter whether they were outside or if others could see them.

She remembered the sight. Her whole pack was at it everywhere she looked, and it wasn’t always willing on the female’s side. The men didn’t care. They didn’t care if they raped someone or not.

All they wanted was to have sex during a full moon. Because she was human, they left her alone. Also because her mother locked her in her room and made sure no one was able to get to her.

Which she was thankful for.

She really hoped that Dominic’s pack did things differently. She looked at the bed and saw that he still hadn’t come back. She stood up and walked out of the room.

The house was big. The more important pack members and their mates lived here with the alpha. Downstairs, she saw two guys and the she-wolf she’d met earlier sitting on the couch.

Two other guys were playing against each other at the foosball table. They were all around her age. As soon as she was downstairs, they all looked at her.

She felt her cheeks redden and looked down. She realized that she was still wearing the shirt and nothing else. She really needed some clothes.

She looked around, and her eyes froze at the door. The urge to go away from here and live as a human was still strong, but she couldn’t answer it.

Yet.

The she-wolf followed her gaze. “Oh no you don’t,” she said. Before Kiara could blink, the she-wolf was in front of her. “You’re not gonna run away again.”

Kiara rolled her eyes and walked past her. “I’m not going to run. I know that you guys will catch me again.”

“Good. I’m not in the mood for a midnight workout.” Kiara chuckled. “I’m Emilia. Everyone calls me Lia. Those two knuckleheads on the couch are Jared and Dave…”

“Hey! Who are you calling knuckleheads!?” Lia rolled her eyes and continued. “And by the table are Ryan and Daniel.” Kiara smiled at the guys.

Ryan and Daniel both had dark-brown hair and icy-blue eyes. They must be twins, she thought. Jared had blond hair and hazel eyes, and Dave had strawberry-blond hair and green eyes.

They were all dressed casually in T-shirts, jeans, and combat boots. She could see that they all were well built. “I’m Kiara.”

“We know. It was brave what you did,” Dave said.

“What was?”

“You jumping between two alphas who were about to kill each other. There are not a lot of humans who would do the same.” Dave smiled proudly at her.

“Yeah, well, not every human grows up in a wolf pack,” she replied. He nodded.

“You’re really something else, aren’t you?” Jared said.

“You tell me.”

He smirked. “Keep walking around like that, and I will.”

Kiara blushed.

“Uh-oh, be careful, Kiara. If you’re not, you’ll do the walk of shame soon,” Daniel teased.

“Yeah, the walk of shame out of his room,” Ryan added.

“I would never do that to her. But if we ended up making love, I wouldn’t mind,” Jared said. Kiara started laughing. Everyone looked at her.

“What’s so funny?” Jared looked hurt.

“What’s funny is that you think you actually have a shot at getting me,” Kiara replied. Everyone started laughing except Jared.

“I think you’ll fit in just fine here,” said Lia, winking at her. Did they really think that she was going to stay here?

“What’s so funny over here?” asked Dominic, who was standing in the doorway with Zack and Kyle.

“Kiara just told Jared to keep dreaming.” They all chuckled, and Dominic looked straight at Kiara. There was something different about him. She could sense his tension.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Kyle and Zack exchanged a look. Kiara looked at the others around her. “Seriously, mind-linking each other so I won’t hear?” No one said a word. Fuck this.

She walked past the three men to the door. Dominic grabbed her arm. “Where are you going?” he asked her.

“Away from you.” She pulled her arm out of his grasp and went outside, where she was greeted by the entire pack. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at them with big eyes.

Everybody looked at her with surprise. The pack was bigger than her old one was.

“Thank you all for coming,” Dominic said behind her, but she couldn’t turn around to face him.

“There have been some things going on for some time now, and I would like to enlighten you all.” Dominic walked past her and addressed his pack. She felt two others standing close behind her.

This was not something she was going to like. “First of all, I would like to introduce Kiara; she is supposed to be a human.” Supposed to be?

I am human!

Aren’t I?

What the fuck is he talking about?

“Second, the Dark Wood Pack has been attacked by Blake’s pack.” The pack gasped. “He killed off most of the pack except Alpha Jamie, Beta Mikah, and…” Dominic stopped talking and looked at Kiara.

She had tears in her eyes, and her heart was racing. “And one of their pack members called John survived.” Her heart dropped, and everything went by her in a fog. She was numb.

Her father had survived…

She knew he would come for her. She would never get the chance to be a normal human.

“Kiara was a member of the Dark Wood Pack. Her parents were both werewolves, and somehow she was humanborn. When Blake attacked, he captured her; we got her out of his grasp, but we can’t let her go.”

Kiara was thrown back to reality and looked at Dominic. “She isn’t a human as she claims to be. My encounter with Alpha Jamie confirmed that.”

Kyle and Zack grabbed Kiara by her arms. The tears rolled down her cheeks, but she was quiet. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Dominic had claimed that she was something else. Not a human. What the hell was she supposed to be, then!?

“She will be confined until we find out what she is. I want you to know that I don’t do this out of cruelty. I’m doing this to protect you. My pack.

“The Dark Wood Pack had a reputation that I need to think of. She may have been tortured and abused by them, but that doesn’t mean we can trust her.”

She felt her rage grow.

Why was she even worried about him!?

“Bring her downstairs.” Zack and Kyle led her back inside the pack house, and she exchanged one look with Dominic.

Asshole!

BEFORE THE RETURN

“Are you sure about this, Nic?” Dominic walked with Kyle and Zack toward the pack house.

“I don’t want to, but I can’t trust her. She isn’t human, and if she’s a danger, if I put my pack in danger, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“You’re seriously going to lock her up?” Blake asked as he approached with Spencer and Kai.

“You? Dominic? Loving alpha of the Silver Pine Wood Pack is going to lock up an innocent?”

“She’s something else. Innocent or not, I can’t take the risk,” Dominic said.

Blake grinned.

“That’s exactly why I’m here. I knew when I realized she didn’t have a scent that she isn’t human. But what else she is, I don’t know. She isn’t a wolf, or else she wouldn’t have those scars.”

Dominic nodded. “I’m going to find out,” he said.

“Let me help,” Blake said.

“No!”

“You know we have a better shot at figuring things out if you let me help. We may have different techniques, but they are effective.”

Dominic growled. “I’m not going to torture her, Blake.”

Blake sighed. “I wasn’t talking about torture.”

They exchanged looks and Dominic nodded. “Fine.”