Page 100 of Pack Kasen: Part 2

I open my mouth to tell him yes. That if I could wave a magical wand and he would disappear from my life, never to return, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

But those words don’t come.

“My whole life changed when I met him,” I tell him quietly. “It keeps on changing just when I think I’ve figured out who I am.”

He nods. “I think I know what you mean.”

We sit in silence for the next several minutes.

Eventually, Jasper heads for the bunkhouse, wishing me goodnight.

After he leaves, I stay where I am. I’m not ready to go inside and start packing or to deal with my wolf, who is already snarling and growling at me because she wants to stay here with Aren.

Wait.

She’d be whining. Maybe growling a little.

Not snarling.

A snarl is a warning.

I surge to my feet.

Too late.

White-hot fire slams into my belly, and I grunt as I double over, hugging myself.

The pain is excruciating.

It engulfs me, but I still hear it. The soft tread of footsteps racing toward me.

I sway, my knees loosening as I fall.

27

AREN

“Aren?” Finan leans into my face. “Aren? You’ve been staring into space for five minutes. What’s wrong?”

“Kat needs more than a dead deer.”

He blinks. “What?”

I step around him and stalk to the table. “She needs more than a dead deer, Finan.”

I set my half-finished bottle of beer down and grab a bottle of champagne. I don’t even know if Kat drinks champagne, but that’s not the point.

It’s thedoing.

But the doing isn’t enough. Just as the dead deer isn’t enough. Not on its own.

I have been doing and doing, but the saying is just as important as the doing.

I know what I need.

I need someone to show me that they mean what they say. That’s always been enough for me.

Kat needs more than that because she’s not me.

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