Blood and Tears (all 9)

Chapter 26

At the crack of dawn, the beams of sunlight began to light the dark sky. The purple lightened to lighter shades of orange and pink as the yellow orb began to rise. The glow from the sun cast everything in a gold hue, and the warmth began to chase away the coolness, warming my face.

I stared out of my window. Kearn was still asleep beside me. His arms were wrapped around my waist. His black hair, which had grown to his hips, was spread across the pillow, and the slight whistling of his snoring accompanied the rise and fall of his chest.

These men were dangerous. Everything about them seemed to seep into my thoughts when I'm unaware, but I knew that I didn't belong in a palace like this. I don't belong where people act nicely behind a smile, waiting for one to mess up. I once was imprisoned in a place that never accepted me and being accepted here made me want more.

Amara, I spoke to my shifter.

Purple eyes looked at me in understanding. Sang, you belong with them.

I frowned. Belong? I don't know that word. The only time I felt like that was when I escaped to the forest. That place was my home, and I wasn't sure I wanted to stay here.

I don't know if I belong, I murmured.

Amara sighed. You can if you open your heart to them. Remember, I'm always on your side.

A knock of the door interrupted my conversation with Amara. My door creaked open, and Silas poked his head in. His hair was pulled up into small bun, and tired eyes smiled at me. "Good morning, Sang." His dark eyes suddenly landed on the sleeping form of his teammate and brother next to me. It was obvious something had happened for Kearn to come to replace Luke's consciousness.

"What happened?" He spoke with such a serious voice that I blinked at him in muted surprise.

"Luke needed to rest for a bit," a deep voice said from the bed. Dark blue eyes looked at us calmly before sitting up and spoke silently with Silas. What they were saying, I didn't really care. I was tired. So tired, yet I knew that I couldn't take a rest. If I did, I would be tempted to just stay there forever, ignoring everything because I knew that Amara could take care of it.

"Sang," Silas' accented voice interrupted my thoughts and made me look at him. He looked at me with such concern that I had to fake a smile- which I had perfected- to ease his trouble. But he was always one to see past my mask. He had done so when we first me in the forest. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah." I spoke and frowned. It sounded so unlike myself. "Just tired."

Silas nodded before stating that breakfast was almost ready and to get ready for school. When he disappeared, I took that moment to crawl out of bed. Before I could even stand from the bed, fingers gently wrapped around my wrist. Glancing back, I was met with Luke's features with black hair that spilled against the sheets and midnight blue eyes. I knew it wasn't luke who was with me but Kearn. "Was last night...?"

I shook my head. "No. No, last night is not why I'm in this mood. I get like this sometimes. I just need to get some sleep. I'll be back to normal tomorrow."

His eyes narrowed, and his lips turned downward slightly into a frown. "You make it sound that you're forcing yourself to be whatever this is."

Sighing, I tilted my head back to look out the window. "Sometimes, it is. Right now, I'm tired of who I am. I sometimes ask myself if it's worth it."

"Worth what?" His thumb rubbed small circles against my skin.

"Worth living. I don't really do friends," I gave him a depreciating smile. Before he could say anything, I stood up, disconnecting his hand around mine. "I'll see you at breakfast."