It was well after supper by the time the nausea wore off and I was beginning to feel more like myself than I had been in the past weeks. My wolf was still slightly on edge about seeing Kieran again. We both had missed him immensely.

When ten o'clock rolled around we were beginning to think he wasn't coming and that's when my wolf's ears perked and my heart beat sped up. We had been here for seven hours. If the distance was as Kieran said it was, he should have been here two hours ago.

Now he was close. We knew it.

I also knew he was tired, and anxious and angry and relived. He was a whole bundle of emotions that I couldn't even begin to separate or understand yet.

Kaelyn burst through my door as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom wearing a freshly washed, flowing sundress that she lent me after my shower. It was the most comfortable I had felt in days. I was finally clean again.

She smiled at me and clasped her hands together excitedly. "He's here. One of the wolves spotted him just north of here. He'll arrive at any moment. Are you ready to see him?"

My heart leaped. "Always," I whispered. "I'm always ready."

And it was true. That's why without any other words I rushed from the room with energy brimming just under my skin. I couldn't wait for him to find me. I would find him first.

I followed my instincts to the a side door of the house that lead to a huge fenced in side yard, with a huge iron gate with a wolf's head mounted on the front. It looked like something straight out of a horror movie and yet it was so beautiful all at the same time.

I pushed my way past it and let it clink shut behind me. The cool blades of grass between my toes didn't even deter me from my mission.  At that point I felt him even closer than before and my wolf nearly leaped out of my chest. Any minute now he would make an appearance just over the hillside and I would be here waiting.

A soft wind blew, throwing his scent all around me around. He was right there. And that's when I saw him. But not just him, he wasn't alone. Beside him were Alpha Clint, and Dorian. And directly behind them spread out in a large mass were the rest of Kieran's best fighters. As soon as Leland saw me, his eyes lit up and Kieran's soon followed.

And that's when he leaped from his wolf form into his human one and ran at me at full speed. One would think he was about to run me over if they didn't know him. When he was just a breath's distance apart we threw our arms around each other and our mouths met.

His lips burned mine with the heat of a passion burning with intensity from each other's absence. His wolf had missed me as much as mine had missed him and it was enthralling to experience. He lifted me off the ground in one swift motion and spun me around and then with one more quick, but intense, kiss he sat me back down.

I let my hands travel down his bare torso and soon to his biceps and I gripped them tight. I didn't ever want to let this man go ever again.

"Claire," he breathed resting his head against mine. It was enough to send shivers down my spine and back.

"I love you," I told him in response. "I love you so much."

"I can't even begin to tell you how much I love you. I love you so much I lost myself.  My wolf lost it, Claire. Without you..." He could even bring himself to finish the sentence. He winced in pain.

"Shh," I told him, bringing my hands up to cup his face. "I'm here now and we'll never be sep..."

My voice faltered when I saw the blood on my hands and now on his face. It was wet and sticky and my nostrils filled with a coppery scent that made my stomach roll. And that's when I noticed the rest of the wolves too.

Nearly fifty wolves stood before me, all of them covered in blood; some more than others. It was a sight I had never saw in my life. It was frightening. I dropped my hands from Kieran and stepped away.

"What..." I swallowed. "What happened?"

I studied all of them. Clint looked worse than all of them except Kieran. I looked at him again. The entire left side of his body was covered in blood. How had I not noticed it before? Perhaps my wolf was in such a high over seeing Kieran that I didn't notice. Now that I did notice though, it looked bad. Really bad.

He had dried blood from his left rib cage to his ankles. I could see that most of it was from a mostly healed wound of four claw marks. The rest, I couldn't even gauge where it came from. It was in odd places, like splashes from another incident.

"It's okay.  I'm okay," he said slowly. "It isn't all mine."

"What happened?" I repeated a bit stronger this time.

"We had a run in with..."

"Oh God!" Kaelyn screamed from the same Iron Gate I bust through earlier. She was running toward Clint, eyes blurry with tears. She didn't seem to mind the blood as she threw her arms around her mate. "What did you do? Are you alright? I'll get the pack doctor."

"No." He quickly stopped her with his voice. "I'm fine. It isn't even my blood. It..." he stopped short and glanced back at Kieran who nodded at him to continue. "It belongs to Tobias, one of Axel's lackeys."

My heart thundered as I spun to Kieran. "What? When did you see Tobias?"

"We crossed paths with them on our way here. Clint spotted them first and was engaged in a fight when we arrived shortly after."

"And that's when you were hurt?"

He nodded. "It was a surprise attack. I was jumped by another wolf."

I gasped.

"Don't worry; he wasn't a problem for long. He's dead now."

"I don't understand. How did you survive? Axel is ruthless. He would have never let you walk away from a fight with him unless you killed him? Did you?"

This time Clint spoke up. "He didn't have much of a choice. If he hadn't left his pack to be slaughtered he would be dead too. If he didn't have the numbers we would have had him."

"We'll find him. Don't worry," Kieran assured me. "He can't run forever. We've sent some wolves ahead to feel out his territory. We're taking prisoners. We'll have the answers we need by the end of the week. We plan to question everyone."

"Did anyone else survive? What about Daniel?"

Kieran was quick to answer and there was a certain coldness to his voice that sent chills through me. "He's gone. I killed him." He was void of remorse. He spoke as if he were speaking of an insect that made it's was inside his house.

He studied me for a reaction, but I all I felt was shock. Daniel was dead. Kieran had killed him.

"He's dead," I repeated almost in disbelief.

Kieran nodded. "Does that bother you?" Again he studied me.  

"I'm just surprised, I guess," I told him. I didn't really know what to feel.

Did I really expect Daniel's story to end this way? Sure he was a delusional, but he had lost it when he lost Jasmine and his baby. If I were to lose my baby too, would I be in the right frame of mind? Maybe instead of death all he needed was help.

"Now we have only one real threat. Axel. He's next. And we'll question the rest of his pack by whatever means necessary to find out where he's hiding. They have to know something."

By whatever means necessary. I knew what that meant. It meant a lot of wolves would suffer and probably even die if Kieran didn't get the information he was looking for. And if Axel didn't get back to his pack before Perilous pack did, then one of those wolves that would suffer would be my friend, someone I had grow to care about of the past few weeks. Celia.

My stomach dropped.

"Kieran, you can't. There are good wolves there. Some that can't help being there. Kids."

He nodded. "We've taken that into consideration.  None of the children will be harmed, but all will be questioned."

"And Celia," I added. "Don't harm her. She can't help what Axel has done. She's a good person."

His face twitched. "I can't imagine any mate of Axel having a good bone in their body."

"But I know her," I argued. "She is innocent. She was hardly in any position to go up against her mate. If not for her I might still be at the Underground Pack. "

He seemed to consider that for a moment, but his expression didn't change. "We'll take that into consideration when we talk to her. I'll let you know what I decide."

His words echoed back to me a little harsher than he meant them I'm sure. "You mean, what we decide."

He sighed and I noticed Kieran looked tired. Besides when he first swept me off the ground and into his arms, this was the first human emotion I'd seem from him. "You just went through a very traumatic experience. Are you up to making these though decisions? It's true we have the final say, but as a whole the pack has to vote. I take their wishes into consideration when I decide to fate of other wolves."

"I am able if you are. Despite everything, I am no less of a Luna than I was before I was taken. If anything this experience has made me stronger. I was there. I saw everything first hand. I know who is guilty and who is not. But the question that remains, are you going to believe me?"

Without hesitation he spoke. "Of course I believe you, but your judgment may be impaired. Experiences like these tend to do extensional psychological damage. I would feel better if you were examined by Heath before you make any immediate decisions."

That stung. I think Kieran understood that when his words made me flinch. It was as if he'd slapped me. "You want me to go through a psychological evaluation? You think I'm crazy?"

Kieran looked more and more exhausted the longer this conversation continued.

"You were with them for a long time, Claire. Stockholm syndrome isn't something I made up. It's a real symptom of being held against your will. You might feel like your loyalties lie with them, that you've created a home with the enemy."

Before I had time to even think about it, the words were out of my mouth. "How could you say that?" My voice trembled.

"Please don't overreact," he begged. "It's only a precaution."

"You're treating me like a traitor."

This conversation and what was once a happy reunion had just taken a drastic turn for the worst. How did we get here?

"Clare," Kieran reached out for me, but I quickly jerked away.

"No! No." I turned back toward the house and stared up at the windows. "I need to get out of here. I need to think."

"I'll come with you," he insisted.

"Alone," I added.

"You can't be alone. I just got you back."

"Alone, Kieran," I repeated. "Unless you are going to tie me down to a chair, I'm going alone and you can't stop me."

*****

I didn't stop the tears once they finally fell. I think I needed to feel this. It made me think about everything.

Was I overreacting to Kieran's request about seeing the doctor? Or should he have trusted me and my mental stability just by my mere declaration? Would I trust him if the roles were reversed? I'd like to think that I would.

The faint sound of movement behind me alerted me I was no longer alone, if I ever was. I didn't bother to turn to see who it was. It was probably Dorian, or Leland, or one of the other wolves that Kieran usually assigned to watch and protect me.

After a few more minutes of walking around Clint and Kaelyn's home, the feet finally caught up to me. "Are you okay?" I was a little surprised by the voice that spoke.

I looked sideways at Wyatt. Where had he been during this entire thing?

"I'm fine," I lied.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You look like a mixture of hurt and anger. Are you sure you're fine?"

My shoulders dropped. What was the point in lying to him? "I don't know. I'm just confused."

He folded his hands behind his back as he kept his pace with me. "Is this about what Kieran said?"

"So you were there?"

"I overheard from a safe distance. I'm waiting to talk to Kieran once everything has settled down. I got you out of Underground Pack safely, but I'm not sure he's forgiven me yet."

"There is nothing to forgive. You didn't betray him. You had to make a hard decision as an Alpha. And it's a good thing you did too or Axel may not have welcomed you with open arms when you showed up. How else would I have gotten out?"

"Kieran can't see it that way yet. He's still blinded by his anger. He just needs some time to calm down." He grinned. "But I'm afraid that with the way things just went down between you two, it's going to take more time for him to calm down. He's furious you walked off like that."

"Well, I'm furious too so I guess that makes two if us."

"You'll work it out. Your wolves won't allow you two to stay mad at each other long. Their instincts will take over and they'll reconcile."

I blushed. Hopefully not before I'm ready.

At that, I decided to change the subject. This was not a conversation I wanted to have with Wyatt.

"What are we going to do about Axel? You know he got away."

He looked down at the ground and contemplated what to say next. After a moment he looked back up. "I don't know. Question a bunch of his wolves and hope we get some answers?"

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then things get really messy. Kieran's wolf isn't just going to let this go. It will drive him mad trying to find Axel. After everything with his parents and then you, he will make Axel suffer a slow death regardless of what he has to do to make it happen."

I nodded. I guess I expected something like that.

"Are you going to tell him about you?" he asked cautiously. There was carefulness to his voice, making sure to tread lightly on the subject.

"I guess I have to. Despite my feelings about Kieran right now he deserves to know about his child."

"You should probably tell him before the good doctor does or he'll think you were hiding it from him."

I nodded. "I know. I'll do it before we leave for our pack."

That seemed to please him.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Always, Luna."

The formal title took me by surprise and I quickly realized I should be talking to him as a leader instead of a friend. As a Luna I shouldn't be second guessing my decisions. I should make them with confidence. Still that didn't stop me from asking.

"Do you think I overreacted with Kieran? Should I have agreed to the evaluation without argument?"

Wyatt seemed to think about his words again before proceeding. "You have to look at things from Kieran's perspective. He has to keep our pack safe. They look up to him and to you. Every decision he makes has a reason behind it. He doesn't do anything without reason."

"So he's trying to protect my image with the pack?"

"He wants the pack to know without a shadow of a doubt that you are okay and that being with Underground pack for so long hasn't changed you. Everyone is going to be watching you more closely now, looking for signs your about to break. So yes, Kieran is protecting you in his own way. It wouldn't hurt to give him a break."

That made sense. I suppose he was on to something. "Maybe you're right."

"Kieran is stressed. His wolf snapped a few days ago. We may have had a small victory today with the Underground Pack, but all that stress is going to come back in his search for Axel. We just have to lesson it as much as we possibly can. Kieran needs us just as much as we need him."

I hadn't ever really thought of it like before. Despite being wolves, we are also human and humans are not without flaws. We all need help at some point. Kieran included.

"You're right. Thanks, Wyatt. Sometimes you're really wise."

He grinned. "Well, not to brag, but I am the beta."

I laughed. It was settled then. I would go find Kieran and I would tell him I would see the doctor. If it helped ease his mind I suppose it was my duty to him to do it. And I loved him, so I would swallow my pride if I had to.

A/N

I hate when Kieran and Claire fight. It doesn't seem right. Anyone else feel that way? How did this chapter make you feel? Was Kieran right to ask what he did of Claire or was it out of line? Sound off in the comments below!

By the way, I have an Instagram and Twitter again. For those of you who want to follow me on either of those please stop by my profile and find the links there.

The fight scene will be uploaded into another book because of maturity ratings. There will be a mature book for all of my mature chapters. Unfortunately only follows will be able to read it.

Thanks for reading!