It was after dinner when a commotion could be heard outside. Forks hit plates as the men jumped up and ran for the door to address whatever problem had arisen.
“Go to our room and lock the door,” Bradley told her as he trotted out, barely healed from his previous fight.
Curious as to what was happening, she instead locked the front door and watched from a nearby window, prepared to unlock the door to let them back in when needed.
The men were running toward someone, half of them shifting as they went. A couple of the bears already had him on the ground in his bear form. His fur was matted with blood as he tried to get to his feet, but they had him pinned too well for him to move. There was no way to make out who he was in his bear form, as he had no distinctive markings on his coat.
She watched until she saw the men changing back into human form, all but the one on the ground. He lay there, broken and bleeding. She couldn’t be sure if he were alive or dead, but thought it might be best that she make herself scarce. Rather than waiting around, she darted up the stairs and did what Bradley had suggested earlier. She went into their room and locked the door.
When Bradley finally arrived at the door, she was busy working in the spare room on redesign. She jumped up from her desk and rushed toward him.
“What is happening? Who was that?”
“No one for you to worry about, just a problem that the clan had to sort out. That’s all.”
“Sort out how?”
“There are things that happen here that you are better off not knowing, Kay.”
“So, you won’t tell me? After all that just happened? We almost lost one another and you’re keeping secrets from me?”
“I’m not keeping secrets, Kay. I am protecting you. You can’t be held accountable for anything you don’t know about.”
Kay looked at him, studied his face. What was this all about? What was it that they had done to the shifter outside and why? Was it another member of her clan, coming to settle the score? Was it one of their own? It didn’t seem like a case of him showing up and causing a problem. It was as if they had been expecting him or had perhaps even brought him there.
“Kay, please.”
“Okay, Bradley. I won’t ask again.”
He looked at her, his face somber. There was no doubt that he was fully aware that she would never accept being told not to wonder about something that was obviously very serious. For now, she’d play along, but things like this always had a way of spreading through clans like wildfire.
As the days passed, though, there wasn’t a peep about the event. It was just as mysterious as it had been when it happened. Kay tried to put it into the back of her mind, but it continued to plague her. Even as she went about her morning chores, she thought about it. She was already struggling to even remember the details.
With her work done, she went about her usual ventures while Bradley continued to do his bit around the ranch. She slipped to the house and changed to go for a quick run through the woods and a dip in her newly discovered pool.
This is where she found her peace. It was quiet and peaceful here. She could float about the water and think or shift and splash about in it. Today, she had a lot on her mind and wanted to just be mellow, float about and contemplate what she wanted to do once her contract was up with Bradley.
Things had changed tremendously, and she knew that she loved him. She had believed, after their discussion about her wanting to be more than just a mate and mother and the incident with Cullen, that she could be here with him forever. It’s what she wanted, and it seemed to be what he wanted too, but he also had secrets from her. She had none from him, but he kept things from her and that didn’t feel like trust, even under the guise of being a protective measure.
Frowning down at my stomach and chest, Kay was relieved to see that they were healing up. The water seemed to help with the scarring. She was surprised that there were such markings after the attack. She’d thought there were just welts until she had seen them, her skin streaked with angry tears from the roughness of the metal on Cullen’s belt.
She floated and looked up at the sky, admiring the clear day. It was summer now and the warmth on her skin made her feel more alive than ever. There was a complete absence of thought for a few moments as she contemplated the sheer beauty of it all and then everything was shattered by footsteps all around her.