Bedburg Hills

33

KIRA POV

I woke up, the sun was shining in my eyes. I rolled over and went to wrap my arm around Jace, only to realize that he wasn't there with me. I lifted my head up, moving the hair from in front of my face. I looked around, the door was shut and all the lights were off in the room. I stood slowly and made my way to the door, opening it. 

I was greeted with the smell of freshly cooked bacon and eggs. Smiling, I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. 

"Kira!" Grace yelled as she jumped up from the couch, "you're okay!" She ran over and wrapped her arms around me. 

"Hey kiddo," I smiled as I hugged her back, "yeah, I'm alright. You ran and got them?" 

"I'm sorry," she started to apologize and shake her head, "I didn't know what to do. I got so scared that something was wrong and I- I knew Justin would help. I-"

"I'm not mad at you," I reassured her, "thank you for being so brave." A smile spread across her face and she ran up the stairs. I walked over to Jace and wrapped my arms around his waist, "hey handsome." 

"Goodmorning my love," he turned and wrapped his arm around me, "how're you feeling?"

"I'm okay," I smiled, "everything is okay. How are you? How'd you sleep?" 

"Good," he smiled at me, "everything is okay, I slept pretty decently. I was the first one awake atleast I thought that until I walked out here and saw Grace peek her head around her door." 

"Oh yeah?" I started to laugh. 

"Yeah," he laughed with me, "I asked if she was hungry, she said yes, so here I am." 

"So here you are," I smiled as I looked into his eyes. I leaned forward and kissed him, "it smells amazing." 

"Well duh," he took a step back, "I mean look at who you're talking to." 

"Oh stop," I laughed harder, "you don't have to show off." He walked back over and pressed his lips to mine. 

"I'm so lucky I can call you mine," he smiled, "I'm so happy that I even have the chance to say it." 

I grabbed his hands in mine and smiled, kissing his fingers, "I love you Jace. Forever and Always." He kissed my forehead and the alarm went off. 

"Grace!" he yelled, "food is ready!" I heard her run out from the bedroom and down the stairs. 

"Is Justin awake?" I asked her as I sat beside her. 

"No," she shook her head, "he's still sleeping." I nodded and looked over at Jace. He smiled when we made eye contact. He walked over and sat down beside me. 

"What do we do about school?" he asked, "should we enroll her?"

"I don't know," I shook my head, "Grace, have you ever been to school? I remember Justin saying something about being homeschooled."

"Yeah Justins mom used to be all of our teacher," she nodded while eating, "I miss her. She was so nice. When my mommy died she let me stay the night with her all the time at night. She used to let me sneak down to the little area I made for her. I miss Sun." Her head hung low and I could see her aura. I stood and wrapped her up in my arms. She started to cry softly into my shoulder, "I know I'm not supposed to cry but I can't stop it." 

"You can cry," I nodded my head slowly, "you don't have to hold it in. It's okay to cry." 

"Max always taught us that wolves, warriors don't cry," she pulled away and wiped her eyes, "he has always reminded us of that and he always said it's the best way to control ourselves." She continued eating, "but school might be cool. I don't know." 

"Would you maybe want to give it a shot?" I asked her. 

"Will there be other wolves there?" she asked and her face lit up, "that I can play with?" 

"Well," I looked over at Jace and back at her, "I don't know. It would be best for you to keep that a secret. School is mainly where human kids go, there may be a few exceptions but just keep it a secret for now." She let out a loud sigh and continued to eat. 

"I'm gonna go shower," I looked at Jace and smiled, "I'll be back." He nodded and I headed up the stairs and into the bathroom. I shut the door and turned on the water. I slowly took my clothes off and stepped into the water, letting it roll down my body. I ran my fingers through my hair and grabbed my shampoo. 
________________________________________________________________________________

JUSTIN POV

I woke up, I heard the water running down the hall. I stood slowly and put on a t-shirt before heading down the stairs. Jace was sitting on the couch watching T.V. and Grace was playing with barbie dolls on the ground. 

"Nice of you to join us," Jace turned and smirked. 

"Yeah yeah shut up," I made my way down the stairs, "food left?" 

"In the microwave," he nodded, "leave some for Kira though, she hasn't eaten yet." I grabbed the plate of food and fixed myself a small plate before warming it up. The microwave beeped and I pulled it out, putting Kira's plate back in. I sat and ate at the counter, cleaning my plate and silverware after. 

I walked in and sat down on the couch, "what's the plan today?" 

"I don't know yet," he shook his head, "Alex just texted me not too long ago. He said he was going to go get Jessica but wasn't sure when. I assume they're coming here afterwards."

I nodded, "okay. Okay well, Grace what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders, "can I go out and play today?"

"Uhh yeah sure," I said confused, "you can play everyday." 

"As a wolf?" she looked up and me and smiled, "really?"

"Well we can't be wolves all the time anymore," I shook my head, "we don't live like we used to anymore. Out here, there are humans and if a human sees you while you are in wolf form, they will come for you and they will try to hurt you. You can only be a wolf when the rest of us are."

"Why would they want to hurt us though?" she asked, "if we are just running and playing, we aren't hurting anyone." 

"I know but you're different," I walked over and sat down beside her, "and in this world, different is scary to many many people. Whether you pose as a threat or not, different is still dangerous in their eyes."

She shook her head and continued to play with the dolls, "that's silly. I don't think they're dangerous."

"You should," I nodded, "they don't like us even though over half of them don't even believe we are real. If they all see us, and they all know, we will die." She snapped her attention to me. 

"That's a bit dark," Jace jumped in.

"It's the truth," I turned to him, "she needs to know the truth. It's the only way she's going to learn other than finding out for herself and I don't want that to happen."

"Then can we all go out and be wolves today?" Grace chimed in, "all of us?" I turned to Jace, he shrugged his shoulders. 

"Sure," I smiled, "why not? It'll just be us." 

"And Kira right?" she asked, "she's a wolf isn't she?" 

"Yeah yeah Kira will be there," I nodded, "she'll be there." 

"Someone's coming," Jace snapped his head to the door and back to us, "I don't know who. Hide her." I grabbed Grace and took ran her up the stairs.

"Do not open the door," I said. She nodded and I ran out, slamming it shut behind me. Jace stood by the door, "who is it?" 

"I don't know," he shook his head, "I can hear them, I can hear their hearts beating but no one is out there." I slowly opened the door and immediately felt a wave of pain. I fell to the ground, grabbing my ears. I watched as a bag went over my head but I saw no people around us. 

I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck and then something hit me hard in the back of the head.