Opal

15 ☾ Regret

Keifer POV

I throw my suitcase back onto my bed, the thing is still heavy with my things from Spearhead. I haven't unpacked anything yet, so I start to rip clothes out of the case, ready to pack them up all over again in a small backpack.

I need to pack light, and I need to hurry. I want to be gone as soon as possible.

Going around my old room, I hardly look at the childhood bedroom I used to call home. It's filled to the brim with old memories that haunt me with their reminder of a better time. So many memories, both fond and depressing.

I grab only the essentials, a few changes of clothes and some toiletries. By the time I'm done I'm seething. All I can think of is Opal, and the guilt I feel over not going out to find her sooner.

And then there's the guilt I feel over Rain, and how I can't be here for her. My little sister is about to shift, and I'm leaving. It should a hard choice to make, but it's not at the same time. I've always been there for Rain, always watched out for her, but I can't be here for her now.

How can I be here when my mind is out there with Opal? How can I stand around when I don't know where she is, or if she's safe?

I know the answer already. I can't. She's my mate, my priority. I can't justify staying when I have a mate to find. The little idiot left without a note or a phone, completely at the mercy of the human world that she has no idea about.

Still pissed and getting worse, I storm out of my room and past Rain's room, hoping my parents don't hear me when I take the creaky stairs two at a time. The both of them disappeared in Rain's room hours ago.

They're so focused on their daughter, how can they care where I'm off to? Dad knows I'm here to find Opal. That should be good enough.

But, I'm not so lucky to go completely unnoticed in a house full of people. Titus stands in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a jar of peanut butter in his hand, and a spoon in the other. He looks up at me with curiosity gleaming in his blood colored eyes.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" He wonders, casually shoving another spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth.

I roll my eyes at him, playfully roughing his hair as I head towards the pantry.

Even though he's almost as tall as I am, he's still my little brother.

"Out." I answer in a low voice, hoping he doesn't pry. He doesn't, but he does follow me with a lazy stroll and too much wisdom on his face.

"Mom's not going to be happy." Titus insists, but that's all he says as he observes me grabbing a handful of snacks for the road and shoving them in my bag roughly.

I straighten, staring at him eye to eye and finding it so relieving to be back home once again. I never expected it to feel so natural, so right. It's not perfect, nothing will be as it should until Opal is safe at home.