Chapter 12

“And this is my room,” I told Pierce coming to the end of our tour. “Well, it will be when I fix it up,” I corrected.  

I pushed open the white door and flipped the light switch to on and took a look around. I had only ever been in this room one other time, so I was still getting used to it. It was definitely not as grand as Kieran’s room, but it was still very nice and would suit me perfectly. Everything was white and wood colored.

Tomorrow I’ll have Kieran take me into town and pick up some paint for it. I think it would look beautiful with half purple and half white walls with a thin border separating them. I could practically envision the whole thing. 

“It’s nice, I guess; for a girls room anyway,” he said.

“Well I guess it’s a good thing you don’t have to live it then,” I laughed slapping his shoulder teasingly.

He walked further into the room and looked around before plopping down in the pale pink chair in front of the window. He kicked his feet up on the bed next to him and let himself relax.

“Well, I would say make yourself at home, but it looks like you already have,” I smiled.  

Placing his hands behind his head and leaned back into the chair, a wide smirk covered his face. He looked at me expectedly.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“So…you and the Alpha huh?”

My smile dropped and I groaned and rolled my eyes at him before plopping down on the bed where his feet laid.

“Don’t start,” I warned him. “You don’t even know him. This isn’t like the time you teased my boyfriend in the sixth grade, this is real life. Kieran won’t stand for your careless attitude and disrespect towards his pack.”

“Well, it certainly seems like he’s got you bowing down to him,” he stated with amusement.

I frowned at him. “No, I just have respect for him. Something you know not of. Just because you got away with everything in Daniel’s pack doesn’t me that you can here. Or in The Red Moon pack for that matter. They actually enforce rules around here.”

“Yeah, yeah, so I’ve been told,” he chuckled brushing off my statement.

“Why did you choose The Blood Moon Pack anyway?”

He shrugged. “Harley’s sister Marci is mates with the Beta, Dawson. He said we’re welcome to join. They won’t start us out at the bottom of the pack there.”

I raised my eye brow to him. I know there had to be more. “And?”

He smirked. “And…I might have my sights set on a girl over there.”

Of course. I rolled my eyes and giggled at him. “I knew it had to be something like that. I feel sorry for your mate when you finally meet her. She’ll get a girl chaser for a mate.”

“What can I say, I can’t be tamed. I don’t think there are mates for guys like me anyway.”

I knew he was trying to joke around, but I didn’t miss the brief flinch at his own words. I felt bad for him. I hope he honestly didn’t believe that about himself. It would be pretty depressing to go through life thinking you didn’t have a mate.

“Every wolf has a mate, so don’t go getting crazy idea’s in your head,” I said.

He offered me a small smile before he yawned and looked down at his attire. His shirt was still ripped, he had dried blood on his skin where the wounds had healed, and his hair was disheveled. He looked horrible.  

“Is there somewhere I could get cleaned up?” he asked. “I’d hate for Tara to see me like this today.”

“Yeah, there’s a bathroom down the hall. Unless you’d like to use the one is Kieran’s room,” I joked.

He shook his head and laughed. “Nah, I’m good.”

“You should get some sleep. Red Moon isn’t expecting you until later today anyway and I’m sure you’ve been running for a while.”

“Just from town. Lyle and Harley stopped off there on the way so I came without them. They’ll swing by and pick me up later. I think they wanted to get a feel of the big city before they joined the pack. I don’t know what kind of crap they’re going to get into this early in the morning, but more power to them.”

I nodded and stood up from the bed. “Well. I’ll just go find you another shirt and leave it here for you. This room hasn’t been used in a while so if you decide to get some rest, I don’t how comfortable the bed actually is.”

“I’m used to sleeping on the hard ground during border patrols. A stiff mattress would beat that any day.”

I shook my head at him while he only grinned. “Sleeping on the job; why am I not surprised?”

I doubt he’ll ever take anything in life seriously. He’s nothing more of a big goof off most of the time. He get’s that from his dad, Uncle Rob, no doubt.

I gave Pierce directions to the bathroom on our floor before searching through my bags in the room. The same one that had been there since the day I arrived. I’m glad they were out of Kieran’s room though because I’d feel bad to crowd Kieran’s with all of my stuff. I had a lot of things.

I smiled when I came across my iPod in one of the bags and stuffed it in my pocket for later use. Shirt after shirt, I threw out of the bag, until I finally came to one of my oversized night shirts that I often slept in. They were just so roomy and comfortable. I felt nostalgic when that scent of home hit me from my shirts.  It gave be a brief sense of happiness while thinking of my parents.

I really should call them again. I miss them.

I laid the large white shirt over the bed like I’d promised and continued packing my things back up when a familiar scent hit me. This time it wasn’t the smell of home. It was Kieran. He was there with me, in the room, standing above me.

“Did your cousin decide not to stay?” he asked. I could hear the happiness in his voice form that thought.

“No, he went to get cleaned up from what your wolves did to him,” I said matter of factly. I was still unhappy about that and had yet to let Kieran know how angry that made me.

“They wouldn’t have had to do anything if he would have stated his reason for being on our territory and who he was when he arrived. He was just asking for it by snapping at Dorian like he did,” he replied with an edge to his tone.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Pierce knew what he was doing by provoking the pack. That’s just who he was.

“I told him what you asked me to. I don’t think he’ll be causing anymore problems while he’s here.”

“Good.”

I placed the last of my things in the suitcases and zipped them back up before turning to meet Kieran. He had been watching me the entire time.

“I’m tired,” I sighed. “I think I’ll try to sleep for a couple more hours before I get my day started.”

“You did get up pretty early,” he noted. “You probably should get some rest. I don’t want you to start feeling bad again.”

I shook my head. “Me either.”  

“Come on. I’m sure Pierce can find what he needs by himself,” he said offering me his hand. Yeah, he probably can.

I gave Kieran a tired smiled and accepted his hand before he walked me from Pierce’s room and then to ours.

I slept longer than I intended to. It seems getting up before the sun takes a lot of out a person. I made up for my lack of sleep this morning by sleeping until 11 a.m. Kieran didn’t stay to sleep with me, instead he decided there was too much to be done and spent the remainder of the morning with Wyatt doing pack duties.

By the time I was out of the shower and dressed, most of the pack was out of the house. I knew that because it was unusually quiet. Since I had missed breakfast again, I went to the Kitchen to find me something for lunch. I settled for a simple sandwich and some Doritos.

When I was finished eating, I was delighted to see I wasn’t alone. Lana entered the kitchen before I left and met me at the door. We nearly bumped into each other causing us stop and laugh.

“No school today?” I asked her.

“No. I don’t have any classes on Friday. I have a three day weekend,” she replied happily.

I smiled at her. “Lucky you.”

She ran a hand through her long black hair and sighed. “I’m bored. It’s such a pretty day to be stuck inside the house. I’m thinking of going out. Would you like to come? I could show you around the town; you know, where all the hang out’s and good places to shop are?” 

I jumped at her offer. “Yes, I’d love to. I haven’t had any girl time in forever and I could really use some time away from here.”

Apart from going out with Kieran a couple of times to eat, once on the way to the pack house and another time last night, I hadn’t really done much sightseeing. Plus, I felt it would be fun to hang out with Lana for the day.

“Where are we going?” Pierce yawned walking into the room with Lana and me. I didn’t fail to notice the smirk and wink he sent her way upon entering. She smiled and giggled at him.

I sighed. I’ll have to introduce them now.

“Lana this is my cousin Pierce. Pierce this is my friend Lana,” I said plainly.  

She held out her hand to him. “Nice to meet you.”

He kept his smirk in place while he accepted her hand and kissed it. “The pleasure’s all mine.”

 When he backed away and released it, she giggled again. She was obviously smitten with him. Maybe I should warn her about him before she gets too interested.

“Lana and I are going out, wanna come along? Or is your new Alpha waiting for you already?” I asked him.

“It’s cool. I’m going to hang with a favorite cousin and her hot friend today. I’m not meeting with him until later.”

I rolled my eyes at him and looked at Lana. “Be careful with this one. He can’t be trusted.”

She looked at him and smiled but nodded. “Got it.”

He tore his eyes from her and threw his hands up in defense feigning hurt. “Hey, what did I ever do to you?”

“Are you kidding? Where should I start?” I scoffed. “My childhood or grade school?”

“Okay, okay,” he replied lowering his hands and taking a step back. “I may have done a few things that weren’t exactly nice, but hey, the past is the past, right?”

I crossed my arms over my chest trying to look angry, but Pierce’s sad face made me give in and felt a smile form on my face. I knew he was so playing me with the pitiful look, but oh well.  He’s right.

“Yes, it is,” I sighed, side stepping him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have somewhere to go.”

Pierces looked excited. “Awesome, so where are we going?”

I glance at him and shook my head. “We aren’t going anywhere, Lana and I are.”

He huffed and looked just like a little boy who was upset with his parents. “That’s not fair. I came here specifically to see you. I even ditched my friends for you. And now you’re ditching me?”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at him. “Fine, fine, you can come along. But behave or I’ll leave you somewhere.”

That seemed to please him. He shot me a lazy grin and shrugged. “I’ll try.”

Kieran was sitting in his office with Wyatt when I arrived. They seemed to be submerged in more paper work and business deals and I felt bad for interrupting. It was clear Kieran smelled me as soon as I walked in. He didn’t even look up from his papers when he spoke.

“Claire. What brings you here?”

“Claire,” Wyatt said acknowledging me with a smile. He quickly noticed the pocketbook on my shoulder. “Going somewhere?”

Kieran’s head instantly snapped up in my direction after Wyatt’s question and frowned. “You’re leaving?”

I took a couple more steps inside the office until I was almost directly in front of his desk and nodded. “Yeah, I was just coming to tell you that, Lana, Pierce and I are going out for a while. I thought I’d go get some paint for my room.”

“Alone?” he questioned. He did nothing to hide his displeasure in that fact.

“No, I said I’m going with Lana and Pierce,” I repeated.

He shook his head and stood from his desk towering over me. “You’re not going alone.” His words held finality and his eyes were serious.

“Did you not hear anything I just said?” I asked with disbelief. “I’m not going alone.”

Wyatt was standing next to Kieran watching between the two of us while we entered a staring contest. Neither one of us were backing down.

“You’ll take Leland and Felix with you,” he finally spoke. “You can’t go without protection. With news about us is spreading like wildfire, you will be number one target for rogues. They know we are saving each other from loosing ourselves and the rogues don’t like it. They want to see me fall. My pack is large and tempting. They want it and think it will be easy to obtain given the circumstances. I know how they work. I’ve dealt with them enough.”

I felt guilty again. Of course he has. He lost his parents to rogues. They can’t be trusted. He’s just watching out for me.

“Okay,” I agreed. “We’ll take them.”

He relaxed at my replied and nodded. “Good.”

He pulled a set of keys from one of the desk drawers and walked around to meet me. “But actually, they will be the ones taking you. Felix will drive. You’ll use one of the SUV’s. It’s safer that way.”

So much for our girl’s day, I thought.

“Fine, but I have a feeling Lana wanted to drive. She’ll be disappointed to learn otherwise.” I feigned sadness. Though Kieran being Kieran could see right past what I was trying to do. Guilt didn’t work so easily on him.

“You’ll both survive,” he chuckled. “If you have any problems, call me.”

“Okay, Dad. I’ll be sure to let you know,” I joked. “Anything else you’d like me to do?”

He crossed his arms not liking my joke and frowned. “Not that I can think of, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know.”

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed before turning from the room and walking out in front of Kieran. “I’ve already messaged them. They’ll be waiting for you by the car,” he added.

I nodded walking into the living room and was just about to open the door when Kieran placed his hand on my arm to stop me causing me to look up at him. “Oh and before I forget, I’d like you to be home by five. A friend of mine, Clint Collins, Alpha of New Dawn Pack, will be here to visit and I’d like it very much if you met him and his mate.”

Another Alpha friend? First Sawyer and now Clint?

“You’ve have a lot of connections,” I stated.

He shrugged. “It pays to know people.”

I smiled at how very true that statement was. The more people you know, the more connections you have. And the more connections you have, the more protection you have.

Kieran’s hand reached forth and gently trailed his fingertips down my cheek. Unintentionally I closed my eyes and leaned into him. It was an action the completely took me by surprise.

I think by spending so much time with him, the soul intertwining was already starting to take place between us. Dr. Heath had stated that could happen. I just didn’t know it could happen so soon.

“Come back safely,” he said before letting his hand drop.

Trying to make sense of what just happened, I simply nodded and stepped back, trying to get my head together. Something was most definitely wrong with me.

“I will,” I mumbled barely above a whisper.

With that, he let me leave and I did my best to get my breathing under control before meeting up with my travel companions. I didn’t want any question to arise.

That was just weird.

Leland and Felix seemed more than happy to accompany us into town. Today Leland was being his usual funny, laid back self and it was a refreshing change from the past couple of days. I liked fun Leland much better than serious Leland.

After an hour of torturing the guys with girly songs on the radio Lana and I chose to listen to on the way to our destination, we arrived at Home Depot.  

We all piled out of the vehicle one by one and made our way into the huge store. I already felt lost and I hadn’t even begun looking for what I needed yet. Leland saw my overwhelmed looked and offered to lead the way. Thankfully he knew his way around much better than I did.

In my town we only had a small hardware store off Main Street and the selection there was very limited. Anything that wasn’t used on a semi everyday basis had to be special ordered.  It took days or sometimes weeks to get what you needed. Being in such a big city really made me realize how limited my hometown really was.

Here, I was like a fish out of water. This was definitely going to take me some getting used to if I was going to fit in here.

“So, what color are you going for?” Leland asked as we viewed the paint section laid out in front of us. The overwhelming feeling quickly made its way back over me when I saw all the different variations of colors.

“Um…” was all I was able to get out. I had no idea where to start.

Leland, trying to be the comedian he was, pulled a few color swatches from the display and held them out one at a time in front of me.

“Let me take a wild guess, hot pink?”

I felt nauseous just looking at the unusually bright color of paper he held in front of us and I cringed.

“Definitely not,” I said shaking my head.

“Okay then.” He placed the colored swatch behind the other and moved on the next on. “How about this one?”

Again I shook my head at his color choice. “I don’t do pink at all.”

He looked genuinely surprised by response and acted like I was some kind of foreign creature.  I couldn’t help but giggle. “You are completely stereotyping me in an unfair way.”

“No I’m not. I just assumed all girls like pink,” he said switching the swatches.

I shook my head at him in disbelief and crossed my arms. “Exactly, that is such a stereotype.”

I reached towards him and grabbed the swatches from his hands and turned to look at my friends behind me as I spoke.

“You are such a guy. Just go do whatever it is you guys do and leave this to-” I paused when I saw only Felix standing with us and frowned. “What happened to Lana and Pierce?”

Felix smirked. “They disappeared together the minute we entered the store. He’s nothing if not persistent. He’s trying too hard.”

I sighed. “Well I suppose you two will have to suffice. I want three buckets of this color,” I said picking a fresh swatch from the color choices.

“Deep purple, I suppose it could be worse.” Leland noted. “But if you are painting the whole room you’re gonna need double the amount of paint. It will take several layers.”

“Nope,” I disagreed. “This will do. I’m only painting half the room. The bottom panels will remain white.”

“It’s still a girl color,” he teased.

I just smiled at him and laughed. “Well it’s a good thing I’m a girl then.”

 While the associate that was helping us mix up the paint, Lana finally showed up with Pierce behind her pushing a shopping cart. I smiled brightly when I realized what they had collected.

“You found the brushes,” I said.

She nodded. “They were in the next isle over. I didn’t know what all you needed so we just got a bunch of stuff.”

“Well that is a lot of stuff,” I noted looking inside the cart. “I don’t think myself alone will need so many brushes and paint rollers.”

“No, but a few people will. You can count on me and Pierce to help you,” she added.

Pierced looked like he hadn’t even heard of the idea before and quickly protested. “Hey, I never agreed to anything.”

“She’s your cousin,” Lana stated. “Family helps, family.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “And don’t forget I saved you last night. You owe me.” I teased.

Lana was the only one there that hadn’t heard what happened yet. I was kind of keeping it on the down low. I’d hate for the pack to know how much trouble he’d caused.

“Sorry, I’m leaving for Red Moon territory today,” he said thankfully.

Leland rolled his eyes at him while Felix acted as if he wasn’t even there. He seemed too distracted with his phone to pay him any mind.

“No worries,” Leland piped up. “I have the next twenty-four hours off from pack duty after we get back and I’ll help you. Beside’s I’d hate for you to get paint everywhere.”

“Please,” I scoffed playfully. “I’ve painted a room before. I helped paint the diner at my previous job and it looked quite nice, if I do say so myself.”

“Of course you would. You painted it,” he laughed placing the buckets of paint inside the buggy. Felix quickly helped him before steering the shopping cart out of the isle and to one of the many open registers.

After a brief argument over who was paying, Leland won. Apparently Kieran and insisted on buying the supplies since I was doing all the work and warned the guys, before I left, not let me pay. I was not at all happy about that since I felt I should be contributing more.

Once everything was loaded up in the vehicle Lana and I had Felix swing us by the mall for a couple of hours so we could do some light shopping.  Well, I did some light shopping. Lana, on the other hand, did anything but. She piled the SUV down with shopping bags while Pierce, Leland, Felix and I only had a couple bags each. I wondered to myself if maybe they were regretting bringing us yet. Not that they had much of a choice in the matter anyway.

Nearing the latter part of the evening, Pierce had took it upon his self to choose our dining location, which also happened to be where the few guys from my old pack where eating. They were the ones who were traveling with Pierce when he left them to find me. They would be joining Blood Moon pack later today as well when they met with Alpha Sawyer.

Leland and Felix were not happy about this and considered calling Kieran to tell them about our dinner/lunch plans, but after some serious begging, and convincing, they decided not to say anything until we got back home. They didn’t like to keep things from Kieran anymore than Kieran liked keeping things from them. Like I had learned from the very beginning, they had total disclosure.

 “You look good Claire. Perilous pack really looks good on you,” Harley stated with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s as if the last two weeks didn’t even happen,” Lyle added thoughtfully.

I shrugged and smiled. “That’s just Kieran. He’s helped me a lot.”

“You liked him don’t you?” Pierce asked watching me carefully.

Before answering their question, my eyes flickered between Leland, Felix and Lana who were setting next to me in the large booth. I blushed. They all watched me with curious eyes as they awaited my answer. It only served to make me more nervous than I already was. I wasn’t used to answering questions about Kieran and me yet, mainly because no one had asked.

The people in my new pack were kind of, ‘in the know’, unlike my old pack. I wasn’t sure what we were telling people yet, so with that thought I decided to be vague.

“Yes. He’s a really good person and he treats me well. I couldn’t ask for a better mate.” I didn’t miss the pain that shot through me when I said that. I still wasn’t over Daniel yet and I knew it, but I would never let anyone else know that. I was ashamed of the feeling I still had for him.

Things would have been so much easier if he would have just accepted us. Now everything different, it’s more complicated.

Why couldn’t I have just been Kieran’s ate from the beginning? That’s the same question I kept asking myself again and again. Why did fate have to screw us over? We were the innocent victims in all of this.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” Harley said sincerely. “Everyone was worried about you. I couldn’t even imagine rejecting my mate. It’s just not right.”

“Yeah, and if I were rejected I don’t know how I would deal with that,” Lyle added. “How do you deal with the pain?”

“You just do,” I said bluntly.

As nice as it was to have them sympathize with me, the whole mate rejection story was getting a little old and I was growing tired of having to be constantly remind of it. I just wanted it to be over already. And there was one way I knew that could actually happen; to let Kieran claim me as his. And now, more than ever, I think I was actually ready for it.

I was tired of being labeled as the poor girl who got rejected. I just wanted to move on and be happy. And most importantly, be a Luna.

After we left the diner, Pierce decided to stay behind with Lyle and Harley and travel with them to The Blood Moon Pack after we left. I was actually excited to have some of my pack members close again. I always liked Lyle and Harley both, even if they did have a poor choice in friends.

Dang. Why is Pierce never around for my good ones?

The ride back was quicker than the ride into town earlier today. Perhaps it’s because I was tired and ready to go home. I smiled at how comfortable I was actually becoming in my new place, even enough to call it home.

“You two can go in. We’ll carry everything inside,” Leland offered.

Neither Lana and or I minded that and we wasted no time accepting his offer. We were both worn out from all the shopping today anyway. Once inside the house we both parted ways and agreed we’d see each other at dinner, even though we’d ate so late that neither of us would probably be hungry.

Upstairs in our room, Kieran was getting dressed. From the smell of things, I could tell he had just gotten a shower, something I very much longed to do before our visitors arrived.

My breath caught in my throat when Kieran stepped out of the giant closet with nothing but a pair of low hanging dress pants. His abs would have been mocking any other male in the room. No one’s could quite compare to his. That would be hard.

“Have fun shopping today?” he asked when he noticed me standing in the middle of the room observing him.

I decided to just nod along not trusting my voice in that very moment. I hated gawking at him, but most of the time, I just couldn’t help it. It was hard not to stare.

The sound of the closet door broke me from my thoughts and I shook my head of him. Thankfully he was putting on a shirt now and I could properly concentrate now.

“Clint and his mate will be here in an hour. Will you be ready?” he asked coming to stand in front of me.

“I believe so, but I kind of wanted to talk to you about a couple of things first,” I said nervously. I placed my pocketbook on the foldout sofa at the bottom of the bed and sat down on it too.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Well first, you have to promise you won’t get mad at me,” I said.

His expression turned grave at my request. That didn’t make me feel any better about telling him. “I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.”

After some thought, I realized that was better than nothing and sighed. Okay, here it goes.

“Today I had a late lunch with Pierce and a few other guys from my old pack- the same ones that are joining Red Moon Pack today. I considered not telling you, but Leland and Felix insisted I did. If we’re going to be mate’s than I shouldn’t be keeping things from you.”

He looked a bit irritated. “You were alone with a bunch of rogues?”

“They’re not rogues, and no, I wasn’t. Leland, Felix and Lana were with me the entire time. I didn’t leave their sight once. I did just as you asked.”

“Except not telling me about your friends,” he finished crossing his arms.

I sighed tiredly and ran hand through my blonde hair. “Can we not dwell on that? Yes, I should have told you before I did it, but you can lecture me later. There are much bigger things to discuss right now. I’ve come to a decision about us.”

He looked like he was about to come back with another retort until the last of my words caught him by surprise and he closed his mouth. His serious expression morphed into one of curiosity. He nodded for me to continue.

I took in a deep breath. “I’ve decided to let you claim me.”

“You have?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve decided I have to completely move on. And these dreams….I don’t think I can handle them any longer. They’re becoming too much for me. You were right. I do need you. We need each other. I’m just sorry it’s taken me so long to completely accept that.”

His face held interest at my words. “Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I guess I just never liked to admit I needed help. When you offered me that, I accepted it, but then after I got here, I thought there was just enough space and distance between Daniel and I that I could make it by myself. It’s only now that I’m realizing how wrong I was.”

He didn’t reply, but his eyes held some sort of insight and he slowly began to smile at me.

“So…” I continued, “If the offered still stands, I‘d like it if you’d claim me as yours.”

“That’s all you had to say,” he said.

He bent down in front of me and became level with my height. He tucked some loose strands of hair behind my ear, his cool breath fanning my face from our close proximity. I swallowed not knowing what he was planning to do next and noticed my breathing pick up.

I didn’t move when his hand cupped my face and brought me closer to him. “Tonight, after our guest leave, you, Claire Hope Warren, will be mine.”

And without any kind of warning, he leaned in, pressed his warm lips to mine and consumed my every thought.

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A/N

Yay! Claire and Kieran are finally taking the next step in their relationship. Who is excited about that? I kind of feel like this chapter was off. I don’t know why. I almost scrapped it and started over again. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t as much drama in it. The next chapters will be pretty intense, so be expecting that.

Song of the chapter is Love Someday by Maroon 5. After listen to it a few times, I just realized how perfectly it suits this story. The lyrics are perfect! Check out the lyric video and Leland to the side.  >>>>>>>>>

 Please leave your comments below and don’t forget to vote!

The next updates, my not come as quickly since I have no chapters prepared yet. But I do have them planned out. I just need to write them.

By the way, besides the obvious Claire or Kieran, who is your favorite character in the book so far?