Page 88 of All That Has Flown Beyond
He’d pulled away from Ahmik’s still-warm body with some half-hearted excuse. He knew they had to talk, that the well-being of the pack took precedence, but Kaiyo didn’t have any idea where to even begin. Instead, he’d suffered the indignity of having to go downstairs naked to find his clothes, Ahmik’s come still leaking out of him. He’d placed the amulet back around his neck before even his clothes and had run away.
Ahmik hadn’t tried to stop him.
Despite his self-recrimination, Kaiyo continued to avoid Ahmik for the next few days. Surprisingly, it was Ahmik who finally had the courage to face the issue head-on, finding Kaiyo in his conservatory, free from training Isla or any other engagement with a foreign pack.
“Hey,” Ahmik said as the door shut behind him.
Despite it only being late afternoon, the winter sun was already low in the sky. It cast a golden light on the dust in the air, a thin veil between this dimension and the next. It made Ahmik glow. His hair was pulled up, and the wisps of it escaping the bun made a halo around his head.
“Hey,” Kaiyo greeted. They looked at each other for a moment before Kaiyo tapped the leg of the stool beside him with his foot, making it wobble invitingly.
Ahmik made his way towards Kaiyo, shedding his coat and opening his grey hoodie as he went. He sat down on the stool, facing Kaiyo. Their legs were almost touching.
“You haven’t been to the pack house in a few days,” Ahmik said. His tone was conversational instead of admonishing, but Kaiyo felt his stomach tighten anyway.
“Yeah. Sorry.” Kaiyo could think of several excuses. He’d had a visitor from a nearby pack the day before last. He’d been drying herbs, training Isla, checking on the wards. But they both knew why Kaiyo had avoided the pack house.
“I don’t want…what happened, I don’t want it to affect what we’ve—”
“It won’t. I mean…I’m leaving when summer arrives. This isn’t permanent, so…it’s fine,” Kaiyo interrupted. Ahmik looked back at him, expressionless.
“Right.”
They looked at each other. They didn’t have to have a discussion about if it would happen again. Both of them knew it was out of their control.
“Oh, and I have a pack visiting in late February,” Kaiyo said, wanting to force the conversation back to normalcy. “I know I’ve had people visiting for work, but this is more of a social call. I’d like them to see the town. And meet the rest of the pack, if you’re okay with that.”
“Yeah. Sure. What pack is this?”
“The Kanbara pack. They’re located in the south of Japan.”
“They’re coming all the way from Japan for a social call?”
“Well, I guess they’re…”
“Courting you,” Ahmik finished. He looked away from Kaiyo, staring at where the sun was dipping through the trees, a mix of evergreens and bare branches letting thin streams of light peak through.
“Well, I guess you could call it that,” Kaiyo said, staring at Ahmik’s profile. At the way the light was cut by the bend of his cheekbones, how his eyebrows glowed, the slight scruff on his jaw revealed.
“You’d go to Japan, then? If you…joined their pack,” Ahmik said, jaw twitching slightly.
“Well, we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. But, yes.”
“Why so far? I mean, I’m sure there are plenty of packs here who would be eager to take you.”
“I guess…they just make me feel at home.” Kaiyo frowned slightly, looking down. That admission had felt a lot more genuine a few months ago.
“But your home is—” Ahmik cut himself off abruptly.
Kaiyo’s eyes flicked upwards to meet Ahmik’s.
“Not anymore, Ahmik,” Kaiyo said, ignoring the unwanted guilt twisting inside him.
The truth was, he had integrated into the Garrow pack and land in a way he’d thought would never be possible again. He adored Isla and Edu, felt protective towards Lars, and understood Amaya a lot better. He was becoming exceedingly more comfortable with Thea and Emil. And Ahmik…the less Kaiyo thought about him, the better.
And the land. The land had welcomed him with open arms, as if it had missed him as much as he’d missed it. His childhood, his mother, his happiest memories. They were all buried in the familiar earth.
Ahmik’s fists clenched for a moment on the table before relaxing. “Well. If the Kanbara pack…gives you that, then they’re welcome to stay here.”
