Big girls don't cry (Aleida series #1)

16. Retracted heart

Kian's POV

We're just looking at her. I can't understand how such a small and beautiful creature can hold such wrath within herself without bursting. She deserves warmth and closeness, not the grief she lived all her life through. Of course, I've had to go through numerous trials in my twenty-six years.

That's probably why I can see her pain and understand it, because she doesn't know that I've been at the place she's at right now. She doesn't know the pain I had to endure to find her; how can she when I haven't told her?

Someday I will show her, but not now; it's she who needs my focus right now and not the other way around. Somehow I have to convince her that she can trust me. It hurts to see how she trusts Henry more than me.

When I pointed that out to Henry earlier, he just contradicted that he had more time with her than I did because he found her. She had been tense about the whole car trip here before she went to sleep and avoided her anxiety for a little while.

You're probably wondering how I could have looking for her all these years? I met a witch many years ago who described my future mate to me. I had given all my warriors and contacts the description of her appearance, with orders that she would be found at all costs, no matter what.

They all wondered how I could know what she looked like; I had answered with a simple "I can feel it" that everyone believed in, except Henry. It's against the law to do business with the witches because most are evil and have created many problems for our werewolf community.

They had been thrown out and threatened never to try to enter again; they will face death if they do. It may seem foolish to threaten a dozen witches, given their powers. But we're more than them in numbers; they can't attack us all at once.

Our quantity is our most significant advantage, and the witches know that, which is why they accepted our order and left the city. We all live in a big city with the name "Red moon city," and the city divide between all the packs that live here. My pack owns the majority of the land in the city.

We have some alliances, but everyone hardly likes us. It's impossible to keep all residents happy; just as with everything else, conflicts arise that we can't always resolve. It isn't in that way that there's a war going on, but we have a lot of eyes on us because we own almost a third of our shared society.

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over. You're welcome back tomorrow," a nurse says, who opens the door to the room ajar.

I look at Aleida, and her eyes shine back at me with an understanding.

"You see why we have to keep you in here for a while, right?" I ask uncertainly, and she nods slowly.

"Yes, I'm a danger to myself, but, above all, to others," she calmly answers.

Her answer astounds me; the concern for others reflects through the dark in her mind even now that she's at the bottom.

"You truly are a remarkable she-wolf, Aleida," I say and chuckle low.

She sits down on the bed and gives us a little wave before we walk out the door. The nurse is standing by outside and locks the door when we leave. I don't particularly appreciate having to lock her up, even though it's for her safety.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Henry asks when we walk side by side to the elevators.

"I honestly don't know. I want to say yes, but right now, the whole situation is so uncertain. None of us can know for sure how Aleida will be affected with time. Of course, my greatest desire is that she'll be able to start reasoning again and accept me as her mate. I think her wolf could have helped her with that. Unfortunately, it seems that her wolf is forgotten and hidden somewhere deep within her. She's not ready to let her through yet," I answer with a deep sigh.