Page 26 of Hidden Pain

A sparrow jumped down from a tree and dug into the ground, searching for a worm. Kingsley watched as it flapped its wings. He shut his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and then flicked the pencil over the paper to form a feather. When it was complete, it actually looked like it was supposed to. He shaded around the outline with a grey HB pencil and formed movement in the feather, making it appear to be fluttering down to the ground. He’d finally drawn something. Desperate to show Hunter, he grabbed his drawing materials together. The wolf had disappeared for a meeting that morning, and they hadn’t seen him since. Something was up within the pack, though. There was a tension in the air, and small groups of pack members huddled together in the corners of rooms, talking quietly among themselves.

He was about to re-enter the house through the patio door when raised voices drew his attention. One of the voices was Ebony’s, and the other belonged to Christian, the pack’s beta. Kingsley stopped, and from his vantage point, he observed the couple.

“I thought you were going to force the vote?” Ebony stamped her high heeled foot down firmly on the ground.

“I can hardly compel something to happen when half the pack doesn’t agree with it, can I?” Christian responded, his thick set arms folded firmly across his chest in defiance at whatever Ebony was moaning about.

“You had one job!” She rolled her eyes at the beta and made her way up the garden toward Kingsley as Christian disappeared into the woodland.

“Lover’s tiff,” Kingsley teased, and Ebony froze. Her nose twitched, and he knew she was smelling him.

“You really do stink. Don’t you wash after you fuck that filthy bear?” She smirked at him in a fake friendly manner.

“She’s so good it must take a while to get her out of my skin. Shame she’s never told me that Hunter smells of you.”

“Ha, bloody, ha.” Ebony placed her hand over her stomach. “I think you’ll find out soon enough that Hunter and I work very well inthatdepartment.”

Kingsley shook his head in disbelief.

“At least he saw through your lies about me hitting you. Did you walk into a wall after drinking too much wine?”

Ebony snarled, her fangs showing behind her bright pink tinted lips.

“Wine, what wine? I can’t drink.” She patted her stomach again. This time, Kingsley got the message.

“He’ll also see through that lie in no time at all,” he responded.

If Ebony was pregnant, which she was obviously insinuating by the repeated rubs of her flat stomach, then there was zero chance of it being Hunter’s baby.

“Poor, poor deluded, Kingsley. You actually think you’re safe here. Heed my warning…” Ebony prowled around him, her high heels clicking on the patio surface. “Hunter is the father, and that means I’ll get whatever I want. Riches, power…and you for dinner. I’d leave now, while you still can. Although if you stay, I’ll certainly enjoy the chase.”

Kingsley put his drawing equipment back down on the ground beside him.

“What is your problem, Ebony? Why can’t you let Hunter make his own decisions? Why don’t you go find some other pack to destroy? I know a good one in Canada with a polar bear at the head of it. He’s a bit of a tyrant, but I’m pretty sure you’ll get on well together.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Sending me off to join Nuka. You really are a fool. Everybody is busy fighting him when he’s the only sensible one, in my mind. Humans are filth. You’ll turn against Hunter and Lily the first chance you get. I don’t doubt it.”

“I won’t turn on my friends. My enemies…maybe,” Kingsley interrupted the she-wolf’s sermon.

“You seriously believe that, I’m sure. But it’s in your nature andyournurture. Your father’s beliefs will have wormed their way into your head: shifters are evil, they’ll rule the world if they can, we must have no tolerance for them. Humans are so up their own asses with pride—they think they are superior to everyone in the world. That’s the reason why wars have been waged. You think it was humans who won World War Two? No, it wasn’t. Humans may have started the war, but Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt were both shifters. Winston is my two times great grandfather. A superior wolf if ever there was one. He knew the evil threatening the world was purely human and how to put it down,” Ebony smirked.

“It’s a shame he didn’t do it before millions of people died since he was so superior. Maybe shifters did help bring about the end to the fighting back then, but that war was different to the one coming now. This one will be led by a shifter on an ego trip and has nothing to do with humans not wanting to co-exist with shifters. I fully agree that there will be many humans who are ignorant and will panic about us living among them, but the vast majority will have no issue with it. Look at me and Isobel. I’m living here. I’m not scared of the strength you possess, and my sister is married to a man who turns into a bear. He could kill her with one swipe of his paw. The ignorance is coming from your lack of understanding about what is happening, not mine,” he retorted.

Ebony growled deeply.

“How dare you?” She shifted her hand into a paw with the claws extended and slapped him across the cheek. He felt the skin tear and warm pools of blood collect. “I’m not a fool.”

“No, I never said you were a fool.” Kingsley wiped at his cheek, blood smearing on his hand, “I just said you were ignorant. You have too much pride, and it’s clouding your judgement.”

“Enough.” Christian appeared from nowhere and pulled Ebony toward him. “How dare you insult her,” he growled, snapping his gleaming fangs at Kingsley.

“How dare she attack a visitor welcomed into your pack by the alpha?” Kingsley responded. He was sick of this display of aggression against him. It was foolish of both pack members because he knew the second Hunter saw his face they’d be in big trouble.

“It’s no different to what you did to her,” Christian argued.

“I did not attack her,” Kingsley defended himself against the false accusation again.

Ebony pushed herself in front of Christian. The beta’s hand rested protectively against her stomach and the baby within. The gesture sent shivers of confusion up Kingsley’s spine. It didn’t seem normal. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right here, but he couldn’t prove it, not yet.

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