Monster: A Werewolf Romance

72. BITTER

KYLE

Talk about bittersweet. I was happy for her, I genuinely was. I was hopeful for us. But holy fuck, did it hurt.

I took a deep breath. You can never get everything, can you?

We had returned just after sunset, because we had spent too much time strolling around the campus losing track of time.

I checked the door handle- it was open. No surprise there. I lived with the pack, and no one was really going to break into our house. That might have been a slight overconfidence, but it wasn't going to do us any good to pretend we didn't trust our own pack to not steal from us.

The door opened, but just as I pushed it, someone pulled it from other side. I stepped back, a little surprised. It was late at night, and I didn't think my mother would be awake, or that my father would be back. But salt and pepper hair greeted me, someone slightly smaller than me, with a cruel smile and even crueller eyes.

My mouth suddenly tasted bitter.

I almost wanted to pinch myself to make sure I was seeing right. Maybe my emotional spillage to Kaea that day had given birth to hallucinations.

But he smiled, and I could see a little surprise in him on seeing me too. "Hello, son."

"Uncle." I said.

I could feel my hands turning into a fist, aching to beat the shit out of him as he had done to me. But I took a few more deep breaths, and from the base of my stomach I felt a familiar emotion returning. Something I thought I had buried down long ago. Something I thought I would not feel again, not like this. Fear. Dirty, horrifying fear.

I tried to suppress it but it wouldn't go.

"Come inside. Your mother is in the drawing room."

I didn't respond. I just silently went inside, closing the door slowly behind me. I was a grown man now. I am perfectly capable of dealing with the likes of him. He was smaller than me now, when he seemed so much bigger then. He had been a monster to me, in size and in action. Nothing about him made me think of him as anything less than that.

He is just a person. I reminded myself. But fear is irrational. It wouldn't go away. My mouth was dry, and my chest felt tight.

"Kyle!" My mother said, her voice smiling. I knew she was happy to see her brother. I had often wondered why he never came back after that summer, but I was always glad. I suddenly wondered how many other children had suffered at his hands all those days.

"What is he doing here?" It slipped my mouth before I could stop it. My mother started, surprised at the tone of my voice.

"He came to see us, Kyle. Don't you remember? He is your uncle?" My mother looked at me like I was suffering from some kind of amnesia. I remember quite well who he is.

"I am aware." I said, trying to loosen a little. She was getting suspicious now. People think that my mother is caring and forgiving, motherly to the core, which she is. But what they don't understand is how incredibly sharp she is, picking up on things. I wondered how she never picked up on my attitude right after this man left. When I was aloof and edgy, alone.

But her face relaxed. And I remembered, this was why. She didn't think anything went wrong, she implicitly trusted her brother. And I had a habit of telling her a lot. Something I had stopped, but there was no real reason for me to behave this way, was there?

And she listened to reason.

"He is here to help your father. He has information on some of the rogues."

He might have had that because he lived like that. Technically part of the pack but never here. I didn't know if he even had a home, but there was nothing I knew about him.

"Is there a problem?" He asked.

I looked at my mother, and said steadily. "No."

***

When I lay down on my bed, I had texts from Kaea. My mood was considerably sour, and my whole body felt tense. I let them sit in my phone, closing my eyes. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

I don't dream, but as soon as sleep caught me, I had nightmares of those days. I was a child again, powerless, hopeless. The numbing loneliness I felt after every beating as I held myself tightly while my back raged with pain, as I tried to keep my cries at bay, because I was going to be an Alpha, and Alphas don't cry.

The memory surprised me with its familiarity, as if I had been locked here everyday. Waiting to burst out.

I woke up, my mouth dry. I didn't want to dream. I didn't want to sleep.

I cursed loudly, deciding to stand on the balcony. But he was there, down, eyes closed, and a cigarette hanging from his mouth.

I wanted to punch him so hard, his teeth fell out. So he could experience the pain he had put me through. He had made my life hell, he deserved a little of the taste. My mind conjured up of ways I could torture him, of letting him know how bad it felt, when I caught myself.

This exactly turned me into the monster Kaea hated, I won't be that again. But it felt like the edge of a hole, as if a little push will make me fall over. And I hated that I wanted someone to push me over.

__________________________________________

Hey guys! A shorter chapter but that couldn't be helped. The last leg of the story has begun. 

I hope you don't feel it takes away from the story. I had planned this particular event long ago. The thing is as much as it is a werewolf romance, it was also a lot about the character developments of both Kyle and Kaea for me, and this is definitely something Kyle needed to confront. 

In the media box, you'll find, "and by EDEN". This song is so close to my heart.

K R Y S T L E