The Moonlit Curse

Ch 30: Late

Sun streamed through the ice building up on the windows, and Kiya snuggled deeper into the covers so only her eyes were exposed to the frosty air. The bed was comfortable enough, certainly more comfortable and warmer than the floor, so she was in no rush to get up.

Her eyes wandered towards the man on the other side of the room. August lay facing her on a pile of fur. A single, heavy quilt covered him up to his elbows revealing the powerful muscles in his arms and chest. Arms that held her so tenderly when she was cold, but then pinned her so easily against a wall when he was angry. Gentle and rough, all in one man that she could not get out of her head. It certainly didn't help that she hardly got a second alone to compose herself.

August grunted in his sleep and rolled over onto his other side. Heat suddenly flooded her chest as an uncontrollable anger rose in her chest. Several long, pale scars raked down and across his back from his right shoulder. Scars like that came from wounds that were deep and old. He would have been a much younger man, maybe even a teenager, when that was done to him. If she ever met the person who dared lay their hands on him...

She sat up in the bed and scrubbed her face with her hands. It was just the magic playing with her emotions. It had to be. There was no reason for her to be so angry about something she only had assumptions about.

Without the fur and quilt to keep the cold at bay, Kiya was shivering by the time she was standing behind the privacy screen. Changing only put her in a worse mood between the cold and, for the third day in a row, distinct lack of blood from her cycle.

No longer caring if she was going to wake up August, she stormed out of the cabin. Ripping her sword free from its sheath, she brought it down against the nearest tree. Then again and again. With every strike, she felt the tension seeping out of her muscles. While the healing burns on her hands screamed in pain, it felt damn good to hit something. It warmed her up too, doing a hell of a lot better job than the stove ever did.

"There's an axe, you know," August's voice called from the cabin door. "No need to wreck your blade."

"We also have a whetstone," she spat back, taking another chunk out of the tree.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Just waiting for you to get your lazy ass out of bed so we can get to work."

"You could have woken me up some other way than trying to cut down a tree with a sword."

"That's not my job. You're the master, I'm the student. We go on your schedule."

Kiya turned to bring her sword around to strike the tree again, but August was closer than she expected. A clash of metal on metal rang out as he stopped her blade with his. Breathing heavily, she stared at the weapons, not quite understanding what they were. A set of four long, silver blades were strapped to each of his hands. The parts that touched his gloves were made of steel and leather and looked adjustable.

"Master, huh?" he purred, and a thrill of nervous excitement pulsed through her spine.

"Don't read too deep into that." She couldn't control the tremble in her own voice and tried to take a step back. "I call all of my teachers master."

"I like it though," he chuckled darkly and slashed out with his other set of claws, Kiya barely deflecting the attack in time. "You've shown you'll always fight against fully submitting to an alpha. Goddess knows you'll always be a pain in Hadyn's ass. But you are the type of person who will always show respect for your master."

Submit.

There was that word again, and it hit her as hard as his claws struck her sword. Every hair on Kiya's body stood on end while a warmth spread though her abdomen, and her knees wobbled as she fought to keep her focus.