Chapter 8

Kieran placed the last of the bags in the back of his truck. My parents stood by the door, my father bracing her as she watched us with tear filled eyes. It was a mix of both happy and sad tears. Although she was happy I was getting a fresh start, she was sad to see me go. It was the same for me.

I had spent the last half hour, while Kieran was loading up, telling them goodbye. I hugged and kissed them at least a dozen times. I wasn’t sure they were going to let me go.

“Are you ready?” he asked closing the tailgate and proceeding to my side of the vehicle. His hand rested on the door handle while he awaited my reply. He watched the brief exchange of emotions between me, my Mom, and Dad.

I smiled at them and they returned it just as happily despite their tears. They were truly happy ones. I lifted my hand and gave them a last wave goodbye with the slight movement of my hand while trying to convince myself this was the right thing to do. I knew that it was, but now, here in the moment, I found myself talking myself out of going, all for the sake of my parents. 

Leaving them was hard.

Kieran placed his hand on my shoulder, which brought me from my reverie. I turned my head to face him and offered a faint smile. He returned it with an encouraging smile all of him own. I nodded to him.

He pulled open the door and waited. Watching my parents as I got in, he closed the door after I was settled in the seat.

The window was down and the sun was beating down, hot on top of us. The heat had already settled in the cab of the truck and suddenly the tank top and shorts I was wearing was not cool enough for this entirely hot day.

Kieran rounded the vehicle to his side and was next to me in only a few short seconds. The engine roared to life, startling me with the loud sound. I flushed light pink when he grinned at my slight jump.

He put the truck in reverse and slowly backed from my drive way, being cautious of his surroundings. Glancing out the side view mirror, I watched my home become smaller into the distance until it eventually disappeared all together, my mom and dad waving the entire time.

With my whole room packed into the back of the truck and my past behind me, I let out a sigh of relief. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

This would truly be a fresh start for me.

Kieran and I took turns fiddling with the old antique radio inside the truck. I was surprised it picked up any radio stations at all given its age. Out of the three radio stations it could pick up, two of them were older country stations, airing Johnny Cash, Hank William Junior, Willie Nelson and others like them. I remember, while spending time on my grandparent’s farm as a kid, listening to these kinds of stations while my grandpa worked on his vehicles. It wasn’t my taste, but it did bring back some fond memories.

I was happy to settle on the nineties and early 2000’s station, the only other one we could get somewhat clearly.

We had been on the road nearly two hours when we decided to stop for some food. My stomach couldn’t have been happier. Eating had not exactly been on my list of things to do today and I was now paying for it.

When Kieran and I got out of the truck, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I wasn’t used to bigger cities. I could count on one hand how many times I had been in one. The large buildings intimidated me. However, they didn’t seem to bother my travel companion nearly as much. It was odd how much he seemed to fit in here.

Sitting in the brightly lit restaurant, waiting on our food, I was finally able to study Kieran a little better than I had before.

His think dark hair swooshed down over the right side of his face, almost completely covering his eye. It added to his mysteriousness. His hazel brown eyes held a certain level intensity that drew me in. It made me curious to learn more about him and that frightened me. My eyes traveled downward and landed on his muscular chest and arms. There was some kind of tattoo hidden behind his short shirt sleeve, over his left bicep. I quickly noted how he excelled in the looks and build department.

I blushed when his caught me staring.

“Does something interest you?” he asked teasingly.

“Um actually, I was just noticing your tattoo.”

His eyes traveled down to where mine were studying the darkened skin and he sifted in his seat awkwardly. He fumbled with his sleeve trying to pull it over the mark, trying to cover it up.

“It’s nothing,” he replied when he was satisfied with the shirt’s coverage. He voice was a little hard.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, it just caught my attention,” I explained.

“No, it’s not you. I’m sorry. It’s just a touchy subject with me,” he said, he voice returning to its normal tone.  

The read haired waitress returned with our food and sat the plates down in front of us before refilling our beverages. 

“Can I get you anything else?” she asked us, while stealing glances at Kieran.

I tried not to giggle. She looked to be at least sixteen. She was human and wasn’t hiding her infatuation for him well. When he sent her a friendly smile she squealed and returned it, showing off her braces.

I thought it was cute.

“No, thank you.” he answered her trying not to laugh himself.

“Okay, just let me know if you change your mind.”

She quickly disappeared from the table, Kieran chuckling after her.

“It seems you have some allure around here,” I smiled, amused.

He took a bite of his burger and chewed for a few seconds then swallowed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, just now with the waitress and the hostess who seated us earlier,” I explained.

“Hmm…” he mused. “I guess I do.”

I rolled my eyes at his casual response. Please, he would have to blind not to notice. I’m sure this happens often with him. How could it not? He was Kieran Knight after all.

Watching him eat was increasing my appetite enormously and I looked down at my pasta and wasted no time satisfying my hunger. It tasted just as good as it looked. I even burnt my tongue in my eagerness to fill my stomach. Kieran laughed at me and I glared.

An hour later it was starting to get dark out so we quickly finished our food and left. He said we weren’t far from his territory then.

Just outside of the city we turned down a paved back road and then turned down another that was graveled a while after that. At that point he said we were only a few miles away.

Twenty minutes later an insanely large house came into view. Probably the biggest one I had ever seen personally. It was as over the top and extravagant as the mansions I had seen on television. It was definitely beautiful. My mouth was gaping at its marvel.

The tan three story house was breath taking. The twilight sky setting in the background made the view picturesque. There were more windows on the mansion than I could count. A few pack members stood outside watching us as we pulled up, a few with puzzled expressions.

There was a large garage off to the side that stood alone, separated from the house. When Kieran raised the garage doors with the click of a button on his key chain, I was even more in awe. There were a couple of sports cars, a motorcycle, and three solid black SUV’s lined side by side. I looked like something the secrets service would travel in.

 My mind was reeling with one very significant thing on it.

Holey crap! He was rich.

“This is your house?” I gasped.

He chuckled as he parked the truck. “You seem surprised.”

I flabbergasted. “Are you serious? Look at the condition of this truck. What am I supposed to think?”

He shrugged killing the engine. “I had to remain inconspicuous.” He turned towards the other cars in the garage then back to me. “Driving any of these would have drawn too much attention to me.”

“Yeah, someone might think you’re a millionaire or something,” I said stating the obvious.

“Actually, it’s the pack house, not just mine,” he corrected.

I furrowed up my eyebrows in confusion. I had rarely heard that term but I knew what it meant. I really didn’t think anyone used those anymore. “Pack house? You mean everyone lives here together?”

“More or less. There are some who prefer to live on their own. We have housing for them in a community in the wooded area behind the house. We’re all very close in distance.”

This was something completely new to me. My territory didn’t have a pack house. Our territory was solely made up of the Alpha’s house and the pack members houses that surrounded it. All business for the pack was handled in the home of the Alpha seeing as it was the biggest and house on the land and could hold all of the pack members.

“It must be nice to have so many people in one house, easy to communicate.”

“It is,” he agreed. “I keep my beta and third in command very close along with all the fighters. They occupy most of the rooms on the top floor along with me.”

We sat silently for a couple of minutes, both of us taking in what surrounded us, until a very important question came to mind.

“So, what’s our story?”

He seemed confused by my question. “What do you mean?”

“Who am I to you? What are we telling people? I don’t know what they know.”

He nodded in understanding. “I called my Beta, after I left you to pack your things, and told him everything. In our pack we have complete disclosure. I don’t believe in keeping secrets. Secrets separate people, and if we are separated, we can’t be a strong pack.”

Well, that made sense.  I didn’t know what that was like having someone being so open and honest all the time. I always felt like our pack had its secrets.

“Okay, to honesty then. I like that.”

“To them you’re my mate and that’s all that matters. They are just happy that I have found someone after Jasmine.”

His voice sounded a little strained at her name. Talking about her still affected him how thinking about Daniel still affected me. It was hard to think of one of them without thinking of the other. After all, she was my mate’s, mate.

He cleared his throat and stepped from the vehicle. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to our pack.”

That single word clicked in me and I paused whilst opening the door.

“Our.” That word had more meaning now than it ever did. He was right; this would be our pack now. Well as soon has he takes it back again, it would. That was exciting for me and scary all the same time. I just hoped they will accept me.

When he stopped in front of me with his hand extended I broke from my thoughts. I stared down at his palm facing upward waiting for me to take it.

“Unity,” he said, answering an unspoken question. “It’s important to me and the pack.”

“Right,” I answered dumbly.

I placed my hand in his large one, the heat enveloping it. While he seemed comfortable holding on to me, I was stiff. This was something new. He gave it a light squeeze and smiled teasingly.

“Loosen up, we’ll both have to get used to this eventually.”

I smiled back, though it mostly forced and tried to take his advice. I loosened up. I let my shoulders fall into their usual place and let out a long breath. He’s right. I can do this.

I gripped his hand a little tighter and nodded to him. “Okay, I’m ready.”

He seemed satisfied and pulled me along next to him, away from the garage. The large house came back into view and automatically I stiffened again. Anyone would feel nervous meeting another pack for the first time. Especially one they would soon call their own.

“It’s alright. Trust me,” he said.

Again I forced myself to relax. He’s right. This is his pack, and he knows them much better than I do.

A few of the members that were standing outside when we arrived were still there, only it seemed now they had a few more people join them.  They all starred for a moment before dropping their heads in the presence of their Alpha.

“Alpha,” they each spoke as he walked past them. He nodded to each of them in return. They all seemed so formal. More so than my old pack did back home. They also seemed to have a much bigger population, if his house was any sort of clue.

“Hello,” a few of them greeted me kindly. I was able to return the greeting to most of them just before Kieran opened the door and pulled me inside the house.

The first room we entered was foyer with stairs leading up to another floor. Then, to the right, was an arched doorway that led a living room. It was crowded with people. It almost looked like a house party except it was missing the beer and music. There had to have been at least thirty people in the main room, making the large space look much smaller then what it really was. If there were this many people in this room I could only imagine how many the other rooms held.

No one had noticed that we had entered the room yet.

“How many people are in your pack exactly?” I asked in amazement.

“Two hundred and fifteen,” he replied easily. The number seemed to just roll off his tongue.

My eyes widened in surprise. “That’s almost double what my previous pack was.”

“We are one of the biggest one’s in the country. The last time I checked, we were tired for number three.”

I huffed out in a breath of air in disbelief. And this is the pack I’m supposed to help Kieran run? Is he crazy? This is a huge job.

“I’m gonna need you to trust me again,” he smiled.

I think he liked seeing me panic more than he let on. The amusement on his face was very blatantly obvious.

Once he turned from me his expression turned more businesslike. He cleared his throat rather loudly to gain everyone’s attention. I was not prepared to meet the wondering eyes of the pack members that stared back at me.

“Alpha,” someone said causing them all to bow in respect.

When they raised their heads again every single eye was on me. I could feel the sweat forming between mine and Kieran’s hands from the nervousness I felt.

Kieran shot me a ‘remember what I told you’ look, but that seemed hard to do right now. I swallowed.

“As you all know I have been away for a while. I’m sure Wyatt has filled everyone in on the reason why.”

Just then a single person emerged from a connecting room and bowed his head in respect of Kieran. Several people followed a short distance behind him.

“Wyatt,” Kieran acknowledged.

He looked between Kieran and me quickly, and then smiled at him in a way that it seemed to convey some sort of inside joke between them.

“Claire,” he said bowing again. I bowed back in return.  

“I won’t explain everything to you again unnecessarily, but what you have heard is true,” he continued then squeezed my hand and looked at me. “This is Claire. She is to be my mate and your Luna by the next full moon.”

I tensed at his words. The next full moon? We hadn’t discussed our mating date yet. Wasn’t I supposed to be a part of that decision?

I shot him a disgruntled look. I’ll wait until after this is over before I question him about that.

“I hope you will all give her a warm welcome to our pack. I want her to fill at home here,” he finished. He shot me a breath taking smile that surely would have melted me like butter if I wasn’t still hurting due to recent events.

There were murmurs of kind words and delighted looks of the faces of the pack. Almost immediately people were lining up to greet me. They had obeyed Kieran’s request with issue. None of them seemed forced to be polite. It honestly felt like they wanted to, because I meant something to Kieran.

“It’s nice to meet you Claire,” an older woman said shaking my hand. “I’m Maggie, Kieran’s Aunt. It’s nice to finally put a face with the name.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” I replied.

She smiled fondly at Kieran. “She’s so pretty, Ken. You picked a good one.”

Ken? I looked at him questioningly. Was that a nick name or something? He quickly brushed it off and shook the next person’s hand in line behind her.

“And I’m Roger, Kieran’s uncle,” a man said causing me to turn my attention to the person behind her.

“Hi,” I said.

It went on like that for the next hour at least. I met everyone; friends, family, the beta, the third in command, and every other person in the pack. By the time it was over I felt exhausted. It had truly been a very long day- emotionally and physically.

I was yawning before Kieran even finished the house tour that followed after the meeting. We had finished the bottom level of the house when I requested to put the rest off until tomorrow.

When we reached the third level he paused at the top of the stairs and turned to me. “There was a little problem with getting a room together for you at last minute so you’ll have to share mine tonight. I’ll take the fold out couch, you can have the bed.”

“That’s not necessary. I can take the couch.”

He frowned. “What kind mate would I be to let you do that? I’ll taking the couch.”

He didn’t leave much room for argument. His eyes dared me to go against him.

“Okay,” I sighed. Arguing would get us nowhere. Besides, it’s only temporary. “If you insist.”

He nodded and continued to lead the way to his room. It was during our walk that I had time to think about the events of tonight. That’s when I remembered something.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you picked out a date for our mating?”

He shrugged. “I really didn’t think you’d mind. I thought that it would be best to go ahead with it due to the circumstances.”

“It’s not that. I just thought you’d tell me before announcing it to everyone.” There was a little irritancy in my voice that couldn’t be helped.  

His expression was apologetic. “It’s an old habit. I’m just used to making decisions on my own.”

That’s understandable.  The slight annoyance I had over the subject vanished and I nodded.

 “Well, I’m here now. You don’t have to do everything on your own anymore.”

“I’m glad,” he said honestly. “I’ve been doing things on my own for so long I don’t know how to let someone help me but I’d like to try.”

Confusion crossed me again. “What about your parents. Where are they?”

I didn’t recall seeing them tonight.

He grimaced. “It’s too late to get into that tonight, maybe some other time.”

I guessed that was a touchy subject too.

He finally came to a stop at a set of white double doors at the end of the hallway. I already knew before he opened the door this was the master bedroom. It was confirmed with the opening of the doors.

The king size bed in the middle of the room was neatly made, with carefully organized pillows at the top. The blue carpet matched the bed spread perfectly. There was a two person couch at the end of the bed with a pin stripped pattern. That must have been the fold out sofa Kieran referred to earlier.

Besides the bed, freakishly large closet, TV and dresser, there was nothing else in the bedroom. It was certainly roomy. There was another door along the same wall as the closet that I could clearly see led to a master bath. The pristine bathroom was perfectly visible from here. I don’t know what I would do if I had a bathroom this big at home. Live in it maybe?

“Make yourself at home, I’ll just go down and have someone help bring up your bags.”

He quickly disappeared from the room leaving me to myself and the beauty of the room. My eyes wondered back to the bed and I silently wondered if the bed was as comfortable as it looked. It seemed like one of those beds you could just sink into and never get up from.

I decided to test it out.

As soon as my body lay across the bed I let out a contented sigh. The mattress formed to my curves and offered comfort to every inch of my body. Yes, it was a comfy as it looked. And as predicted, I never wanted to get up.

Unfortunately, the sound of someone shuffling into the room didn’t make that possible. I quickly sat up to see the person that had invited themselves in.

I felt as surprised as the chestnut haired young girl that was standing at the door awkwardly.

“Oops. I’m sorry. I was looking for my brother,” she apologized.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Kieran?”

I didn’t know he had a sister. Why didn’t he mention it to me? I thought I had met all of his family tonight.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I just got back from my friends house. Can you let him know that Keely made it back home okay? I’m just gonna go to bed.”

“Sure,” I smiled. “I’m Claire, by the way.”

I was a bit worried by the excitement that crossed her face at the mention of my name. She decided to enter further into the room and sat next to me on the bed.

“You’re Claire,” she said. “Of course you are. I feel so dumb. I was hoping I’d get to meet you, soon. I just didn’t think it would be this soon, you know? I thought my brother might keep you to himself for a while, if you know what I mean.”

Who wouldn’t know what she means? We both blushed at her comment.

“How old are you exactly?” I giggled.

“Fifteen,” she answered. “I might not be an adult yet, but I know how mates work.”

True mates’ maybe, but Kieran and I weren’t exactly the traditional type.  Maybe she didn’t understand the distinction.

“I’m glad he finally found someone. Everyone has been worried about him since our parents, you know?” she said.

I shook my head. “Your parents?”

“Yeah, he’s been kind of….how should I put it?” she thought to herself. “He’s been kind of strict, firm, serious... Nothing but pack business. Well until a month ago that is.”

“I didn’t know.”

“It’s probably a touchy subject with him still. He’s really had to grow up fast,” she explained.

I started to feel really bad for him. I wish I knew more about him and his life. He is such a mystery to me, so hidden.

“Keely, what are doing in here?” Kieran asked as soon as he stepped in the room.

“Kidnapping your mate,” she answered sarcastically with the roll of her eyes.  “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“You should go to your room. It’s getting late and you have school tomorrow,” he said with parental authority lacing his tone. 

She sighed not hiding her annoyance at her brother and stood up. “Fine, I was going there anyway.” She turned to me as Kieran sat some of my bags at the door and smiled. “Good night Claire.”

“Good night,” I replied.

She continued to the door before shooting her brother an annoyed look and disappeared. I wanted to laugh, but Kieran did not look like he was in the mood for joking around at the moment.

“The rest of your stuff is in the room next door. I’ll have someone get it ready for you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I yawned.

It’s really a shame I have to say goodbye to this bed so soon. I wonder if Kieran might let me have it. Wishful thinking I suppose.

I got ready for bed a quickly as I could. I was already missing the bed’s comfort and I need some much need sleep. Kieran already had his bed ready by the time I was out of the bathroom and back in the bedroom. He laid down as soon as I reached the bed.  We both bid each other good night.

I couldn’t help by want to question him about his family, but I didn’t know if he really considered it any of my business or not. He knew so much about me and I still knew so little about him.

I waited until we were both comfortable in the bed before I switched off the lamp next to me. The darkness seemed to bring a sense of quiet along with it. How I desperately wanted to break it.

His breathing was quiet, controlled. Was he already asleep?

“Kieran?”

“Tomorrow.” He answered automatically, as if he had been expecting my question. Maybe I was just that transparent.

I let the silence be my reply. I wouldn’t press him on it if he wasn’t ready to tell me. I looked at the clock and debated calling my parents to let them know I made it, but it was too late. I knew they would already be in bed. I guess it will just have to wait until tomorrow.

I yawned, another wave of drowsiness washing over me. My mind was telling me to rest. There would be more time for questions later.

I didn’t try to fight the sleep that was invading my every thought; instead I embraced it and gave in to darkness that closed in on me.

Very soon, I was out of it, and falling into a dreamless state of sleep, eager to find out what the next day had in store for me and Kieran.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N

This chapter seemed like it took forever to write. Whew! I hope you enjoyed it. More coming from Kieran and Claire very soon….

Please- Comment…Vote….Follow!