Chapter 17-The Wolves

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Chapter17-The Wolves

Sydney Carrington's POV

"No, please please go away!" Sarah groaned in annoyance as she entered the kitchen. I watched in amusement as Rhett entered soon after.

"I'm thinking of something that you should do with me. It's a four letter word and it starts with the letter 'F'." Rhett says as he stole a piece of bacon from my plate.

Sarah grimaced as she crossed her arms over her chest, "You are disgusting!"

Rhett smirked and shrugged, "Feed. Feed me, I'm hungry. What word did you think it was?"

I stifled back a laugh and Sean choked on his cereal. "That was stupid." He groaned and Rhett glared at him, "Shut it."

Sarah on the other hand was trying not to laugh but failed as a wry smile crossed her face. "You're so ridiculous." Rhett flashed her a charming grin. "I know."

I smirked inwardly, even though Sarah denied it vehemently, it was clear that there was something going on between her and Rhett. And it seemed as if Sean felt the same way because he wrinkled his nose. "Gross, if you two want to flirt, do it when I'm not here."

Immediately, Sarah coloured up and glared at Sean and the arguing started. Once the arguing stopped, Sarah groaned angrily and stalked out of the room with Sean following to goad her even more.

"So, what's going on between you and my sister?" I asked curiously as I ate the lunch that I had cooked. Kingston was away for another meeting with the leaders and well Rhett skipped feigning illness.

Rhett shrugged and flashed a charming grin at me, "Nothing. Like I said she's pretty as you." I snorted and crossed my arms, "You're funny, but not that funny, come on, spill. What's up with you two? I've never seen you chasing after a girl so hard."

At this, Rhett scowled at me and made a face. "Yeah exactly, why is your sister so stubborn?" I burst into laughter at that and shook my head, "You're that interested? I assumed that you would have given up when my sister wasn't going to give into you."

Rhett snorted and crossed his arms, "She'll give in." He said stubbornly as a determined expression crossed his face. Suddenly he grumbled, "Why are you Carrington women so stubborn?"

I shot him a scowl. "What?"

A sly grin crossed Rhett's face as an innocent one took over, "I mean with you and Brendon. Like he's really making an effort with you and you're still in your old room."

I raised an eyebrow before rolling my eyes. "I don't see how is that any of your business Mr. I Can't Seem To Chase A Girl But I'm A Player." I mocked playfully and Rhett shot me a smug look before standing up abruptly.

"I'll prove it to you, Sarah will like me!" He smirked and I snorted disbelievingly under my breath. I knew my sister well, she wouldn't give in without a fight. "Anyway, do you know the location of the lake near the pack?" I questioned and Rhett opened his mouth to answer when a throat cleared.

"I'll take you."

I turned around and sighed inwardly from how good he looked. He was dressed in black buttoned up shirt and dark blue jeans. "I'll be painting and you'll get bored if you come along." I answered a little nervously as I turned my attention back to the granite table and Kingston shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I'll take you there now."

I nodded my head at his command that was laced with his words and went up to the art studio and took the art materials needed and went down the stairs. And as I reached the foot of the staircase, Kingston was waiting there for me. Without a word, he took the bag in my hand and carried it for me while I followed behind quietly.

Ever since we had almost kissed in the art studio, I couldn't really look at him properly without my cheeks flushing bright red. And I was pretty embarrassed because I had acted like a flustered teenager who didn't know what she wanted.

Also, I didn't know how Kingston felt about it too. So far, every time we interacted, it was pretty awkward. Mostly on my part I guessed. Considering I couldn't quite look at his face or his eyes without my face turning into a tomato.

And now that I had really thought about it, I wondered if I would actually kiss him if Sarah had not broken the moment. I sighed inaudibly and shifted on the leather chair of the jeep.

It was quiet and it was then I realised that a briefcase was among the bag I had brought. "What are you going to do while I'm painting away?" I asked curiously and wondered if he was going to watch me paint because I would feel really awkward if he did so.

I wasn't one to paint while someone was watching. It was one thing for a pair of eyes to be studying you as you painted but it was a total different thing if a certain pair of grey-silver eyes.

"I brought paperwork that is related to the pack. You don't have to worry about me studying you the entire time, though I'll to confess I would do so at times because it's captivating watching you paint." He answered and glanced at me through his dark sunglasses before turning back to the road.

From his statement alone, I could feel heat creeping onto my neck before reaching my face and I quickly looked down at my hands which rested on my lap. "Oh. I see." I murmured and I knew my face was getting redder by the second.

A low chuckle sounded and I looked up once again to see a small amused smile twist on Kingston's lips. And again, my heart sped up and all I could do was stare at his male beauty.

I knew he knew that I was staring at him at times due to the knowing edge of his lips where it lifted up at times when he had caught me looking at him. I was just plain appalled at my reaction towards him.

This was definitely not the first time I had seen a good looking guy, so why was I acting like I was fourteen and my favourite boyband was just in front of me?

Get a grip Syd! I berated myself and took a deep breath and exited the car. I was about to grab the bag containing my art materials when a large hand took it instead.

"You know I could take it. It isn't that heavy." I offered and Kingston took a side look at me as he walked on. "You know you could say thank you." He called out and I rolled my eyes.

Men and their need to prove that they were useful. I scoffed under my breath and hurried after him. "Well thank you, but you're carrying enough things already and I don't-"

"I don't mind." Kingston cut me off and stopped walking towards the lake. I eyed his suitcase, along with a picnic basket and a mat that was draped over it and lastly my art materials.

"Well at least let me carry the basket." I offered and reached out for it when Kingston continued moving again. "Kingston!" I almost growled out in annoyance, I didn't like being hand waited on and I really did appreciate the fact that he wanted to be a gentleman by helping me carry the bag but I didn't want to seem like I took advantage of it.

A low chuckle sounded and I slumped my shoulders in defeat as I followed after him. Soon, everything was set and I shifted comfortably to get started.

The weather was beautiful and the sunlight was reflected on the lake making it sparkle. All in all, it was a perfect day to paint and I studied my surroundings before starting.

As I painted, all thoughts and self consciousness about Kingston watching me flew out of my head. I was so focused that I didn't really notice that Kingston had been watching me for almost the entire time.

Had I known, I would have been painting uncomfortably. When I was halfway through, I sighed and put down the brush and stretched. Feeling eyes on me, I turned to see Kingston watching me with his silver eyes gleaming.

"What?" I questioned as I set the canvas to dry. Kingston simply looked at me before replying gruffly. "Nothing, just watching you paint. You're very good at it."

A smile crept up to my face as I smiled at him. "Thank you. I mean it's just a hobby and for me to release all the thoughts and emotions I have. My mother introduced me to it. She herself was a painter as well." I replied and I just realised that if Kingston had really been watching me paint so far and I had not noticed it, that meant that I was really comfortable to be around him.

My eyes widened at that thought. Not even I was comfortable enough with Will to watch me paint. But why Kingston? Was it because on some soul-searing level, I actually trusted him and was comfortable to be around him?

I sighed at that thought and decided to ponder on it later as Kingston stood up and sat beside me. "Here, eat."

I took the muffin in his offered hand and bit into it. "Thank you." I gave him a small smile and Kingston seemed to be taken aback by it.

We enjoyed the meal especially the fruits that Kingston brought along with a knife to slice them. And I just realised that if it was four weeks ago, I would have thought that Kingston would try to get rid of me by stabbing me.

But those morbid and dark thoughts were long gone. Because it didn't make sense for Kingston to try to get rid of me after all he has done. He had bound his soul to mine and if I died, he would die too. I didn't think an Alpha of the most powerful pack would want to wish death on himself. Also the way his actions showed that he did truly care for me. After all, actions speak louder than words.

"Tell me something about yourself." I blurted out and Kingston raised an eyebrow at my random and sudden question before settling down comfortably on the mat. "What do you want to know?"

I pursed my lips and shrugged, "Anything. Like a favourite colour or movie or food?"

Kingston frowned thoughtfully, "I don't have a preference for movies because I hardly watch them, my favourite food? I don't have a preference either, as long as its edible and not made by Rhett. Favourite colour would be blue. Deep sapphire blue."

I could feel my cheeks heating up from the way he looked at me. I know he was referring to the colour of my eyes and a small smile graced my lips at his words.

Sheesh, Brendon Kingston could be such a charmer. "What about you?" He questioned as his eyes burned with curiosity.

I hummed under my breath before sipping from my bottle of lemonade. "I like the colour grey, any kind of dessert especially chocolate and my favourite movie would be anything that is thriller."

I could see that Kingston was taking note of what I had just revealed about myself and I wondered if he knew that he was the reason my favourite colour was grey. His eyes were the most beautiful shade I've seen in my life and when he wore a grey shirt, his eyes seemed to stand out even more.

We lapsed into comfortable silence and suddenly a thought occurred to me. Maybe now was the perfect opportunity to ask Kingston about his wolf? But I knew I couldn't ask him what was wrong with his wolf directly.

I sat there thoughtfully as Kingston turned his attention to the paperwork in his hands. "What colour is your wolf?"

There, that seemed like a sensible question. I thought satisfied that maybe Kingston wouldn't see right through me. His head lifted up to meet my gaze and he answered. "Black with hints of brown."

"Oh. That's what I kinda expected." I said lamely and Kingston chuckled before turning serious. "I know you have questions considering both Cara and Rhett have big mouths that can't keep shut."

I flushed guiltily, was I that freaking transparent? Kingston smirked knowingly at me and for awhile, I was speechless. I hadn't really seen him to be so carefree around me. Sure, he was concerned but smiling and smirking and laughing? And I had to admit that I was actually really warming up to him.

"Yeah..." I trailed off embarrassed and Kingston chuckled lowly again and that sound did something to my insides. I didn't know what, but I felt something shift in me. Like as if a side to me had changed drastically. I couldn't explain it but I was left breathless.

"I'll let you know whatever you want to know. But I have to grab something from the car. Give me a minute." He explains and stands up before leaving.

I watched his retreating back and sigh to myself because damn the man for looking as good from the back as the front. What kind of questions should I ask? I knew what I wanted to ask first.

Why had you hurt me? Why did you choose me? What did Cara mean that your wolf is the darker part of you? What issues do you have with it?

I sighed, it seemed as if I had a million more questions to ask and I didn't know how forthcoming Kingston would be with his answers. I lay down on the picnic mat and shut my eyes and enjoyed the cool breeze rushing through my hair and against my face.

Somehow, my mind wandered back to that intimate moment where Kingston and I had nearly kissed. His lips were mere millimetres from mine and my hands were on his rock hard chest. His gaze was locked on my lips while mine was on his face.

I remembered the feel of his cool minty breath on mine and for a brief moment, his eyes flashed to mine and I saw hesitancy in them before his resolved harden as if he made his mind up. And at that moment, his face leaned towards mine and if I imagined closely enough, I could somehow feel the barest hint of his lips brushing against mine.

And that was when Sarah interrupted us. I opened my eyes and pressed my hands against my blushing cheeks. They felt hot to the touch and I felt uncomfortable as if I was wearing too much clothes. Which was ridiculous because I was wearing a thin summer dress with a black jacket.

The incident concerning my trip to the North American pack was something that I didn't want to talk about ever. But I didn't know why I spilled my guts out to Kingston. And at least I was getting over it, over the pain and hurt from Will's deception. I no longer cried about it because they didn't deserve my tears but now, I was more cautious of trusting people. And I guessed in way it could be a blessing.

A rustling sound caught my attention and I sat up, Kingston was back and I was finally getting my answers. I turned around and it wasn't Kingston that I was met with. Instead, a snarling brown wolf appeared on the edge of the forest.

Without warning, it lunged towards me and my fight instincts switched on. I grabbed the knife from the picnic mat and quickly avoided the snapping jaws and claws as it came towards my face.

Clutching the knife, I sprinted away from the picnic mat with the wolf following after me. It pounced on me and I dropped to the ground and swung the knife against its neck. The flesh gave way and blood flowed and the wolf howled in pain.

Clearly the wolf wasn't happy with that action and let out a loud enraged growl and began clawing at my body. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I plunged the knife into the front of the wolf. The wolf took a step back in pain and growled angrily as it yanked the knife out of its chest.

I cursed under my breath as the wolf made another attempt to swipe its claws near my throat. I gasped inwardly, that was a kill aim. This wolf wanted to kill me and now that my knife was gone, I was once again defenceless.

It took a lot to kill a werewolf and it was especially hard with a blunt knife. As the wolf lunged towards me and pinned me under it, my hands grabbed its snout and pushed it away with all my might so that it wouldn't sink its teeth into my throat.

As each second passed, I knew I couldn't stand the pressure of holding the wolf away and I shifted. This was a surprise to the wolf but that few short seconds was all I needed and quickly, with the instincts my wolf gave me, I turned the tables by sinking my teeth into the neck of the wolf.

The wolf bucked and tried to get me to release my hold on it and it succeeded by throwing me against a tree. And somehow, I landed wrongly on my right leg. My ankle exploded into pain and I whined.

The other wolf shook its head and advanced towards me slowly, clearly noticing that I wasn't able to attack too well. I growled warningly and an evil sneer crossed its face if that was possible. From the size of it, I guessed that the wolf was either a female or a really small male. I tried to catch its scent but there were too many distinct ones.

Whatever it was, I wasn't going down without a fight. I tackled it quickly and my claws sprang out and dug into the flesh of the wolf.

Suddenly, an enraged roar sounded and the ground trembled as a black wolf with black eyes bolted towards us. Immediately, my attacker shook me off and sped off into the forest where it can hide.

A breath of relief sounded as Kingston's wolf made its way to me. My ankle was burning and I knew I had several deep scratches on my body.

Kingston's wolf neared me and I gasped inwardly from how huge his wolf was. He was around the size of an average male human. His wolf nudged me at my side and I slumped onto the ground beyond exhausted from the fight I had put up with.

Soon, he shifted back to his human self and crouched beside me. His eyes were pitch black and he was vibrating with barely concealed rage. His fingers gently stroked my fur and he murmured quietly as he calmed down, "Your wolf is beautiful."

In my mind, I could sense my wolf purring in satisfaction that our mate liked what he saw. I nudged my head back against his hand and a small smile crossed his face before a murderous expression took over as he felt the several deep scratches on my body when some of my blood was smeared on his fingers.

Kingston looked as if he couldn't decide to leave me on the ground to chase after my attacker or to simply take care of me and to let the wolf escape. He shook his head and stroked my head, choosing the latter.

"Come on shift back. I'll take you to see the pack medics." His eyes ran over me worriedly and his jaw was set into a hard line as he stood up. Immediately, I was thankful that I was not in my human form because I would have been blushing furiously.

When Kingston and I had shifted, our clothes were gone and well, he was standing totally naked and not in the least embarrassed or ashamed.

I was not going to shift back because I wouldn't have any clothes to wear and didn't want to be naked in front of him and second, I didn't think I could look at Kingston with a straight face after all I have just seen. And dear god, he was huge.

Now that the adrenaline was fading, pain hit me square in the face and I gingerly stood up on my paws and whined when my ankle throbbed. By my guess, it was dislocated. Definitely not shifting back. I mused and Kingston frowned and crossed his arms.

"What's wrong? Your ankle?" He questions and I limped slowly towards him. "Jesus Christ." He swore under his breath and carefully touches my ankle. I growled at him as the pain increased for a minute.

"We're gonna have to set it later." I shut my eyes, knowing that the pain for that would be worse. "You don't have any clothes in the car do you?" He questions roughly as he swallows harshly and scoops me up in his arms.

I was surprised that he could even lift me up when I was in wolf form, because I should have weighed a tonne. But the way Kingston carried me was as if I weighed nothing.

"You know I wouldn't mind if you shifted back right?" He asks with a hint of a playful smirk and I swatted him on his face with my tail and he let out a laugh.

Although, he was laughing, I could see the rage and concern in his dark eyes. The fact that his eyes weren't the beautiful shade of grey and silver but almost black, showed that his wolf could be taking over any moment from now.

The fight with that wolf seemed like hours when it fact it was only mere minutes. And I was glad that Kingston had come in time because I didn't know how long I could last without collapsing onto the ground from exhaustion and the pain. But I was pretty proud that I managed to hold my own against the attacker for quite some time.

Kingston gently places me on the backseat of the jeep, taking special care of my dislocated leg. I watched him and that change in my body shifted even more from how gentle he was being with me.

Fortunately, as I was still in my wolf form, Kingston couldn't see how awkward and uncomfortable I was due to him being...naked. I mean his body was beautiful. Like well defined pecs and rope after rope of taut muscle with tanned golden skin. He had quite a few scars here and there but that made his appeal increase dangerously so.

I shut my eyes and slumped onto the seat. What was I doing? Ugh, ogling the man. I scolded myself inwardly. Maybe it was the pain making my brain fill up with so many suggestive ideas.  Kingston on the other hand was barking some orders on the spare phone in the car. I didn't catch much of the conversation but I heard the words injured and medic, so I assumed he was ordering the medics to prepare for our arrival.

We reached back to the house and true enough, there were a few pack medics waiting for us. Kingston got out of the car, not caring that he was in the nude and lifted me out of the car and into the house.

He placed me on the floor of my room gently and ordered me to get dressed with Sarah helping me so that the medics could quickly check me for any more injuries. Shifting back, Sarah gaped at my scratches and my awkwardly shaped ankle and helped into my undergarments and a dress.

The medics came in and propped me against the bed and took care of the scratches just as Kingston barged into the room. His eyes scanned my face and pure relief swamped him when he saw that I was alright.

I did notice that he was just dressed in a pair of jeans that were slung low on his hips and he was bare chested. Oh god. He came towards me and barked at one of the medics, "Have you checked up on her?"

The medic nodded and murmured something quietly to Kingston who in returned growled, "I'm not leaving the room!" The medic shrugged and gently laid my ankle out. Immediately I knew what was coming and bit my lip as he pushed my ankle back into its proper position.

I shut my eyes in pain and a large hand enclosed my left hand and stroked it comfortingly. "Alright Luna, your ankle will be fine but do try to stay off it, the wounds on your torso aren't too deep so I'll recommend you to have bed rest."

I nodded and the medics left and Kingston and I were all alone in the room. "Damn it!" Kingston swore out all of a sudden. I looked up at him in surprise and he shut his eyes as if he was in pain. "What's wrong?"

"I shouldn't have left you by yourself. Who ever attacked you wanted you dead and it was probably the same person who sent you those chocolates." He growled angrily, his voice full of anger and rage.

I clutched onto his hand tightly, "It isn't your fault and I manage to hold my own. I'm just glad that you got there in time." I offered quietly and Kingston raised an eyebrow but calmed down visibly.

I gave him a smile and Kingston sighed and brushed my hair behind my ears before gazing at me tenderly. "Rest. I'll send your siblings to look after you."

I nodded and shifted comfortably on the bed before giving Kingston one last smile. "Thank you." I said softly and without thinking, I reached out and kissed his unshaven jaw before closing my eyes.

***

A/N: Hey guys, here is your latest update and I do hope that this can be seen again. Like the previous chapter had a total mishap. Some of you could see it, some couldn't. Whatever it is, thanks so much for the people who responded! I really appreciate it! So I hope that this chapter wouldn't have any problems. Cross my fingers!

I hope that all of you will like this chapter. 'Cos I don't know, I have a mixed feeling about this chapter. Sigh. Let me know if you guys liked it because I'm uncertain with this chapter. Do vote and comment please? AHAH I hope that all of you guys liked it as this is the longest chapter yet. Like 4000+ words. Holy crap. Anyway, thanks so so so much for reading! Love you all! <3 <3 <3