Bound Trilogy: Budding: A Supernatural Story (WLW)

Chapter Thirteen

It had been two days since Kimiko laid herself bare to Imogen and she'd been tailing her since. By all accounts, Imogen was perfectly fine ignoring their bond, so she wasn't necessarily rejecting it any longer, otherwise she wouldn't even be functioning this well. The bruises that had formed along Kimiko's abdomen the morning Imogen had rejected her were also gone, which meant she couldn't have been completely defying it. On top of that, each time their eyes met Imogen visibly fought to not go to her. Her desire hung in the air so palpably Kimiko could taste it and she always tensed and appeared to be actively straining her muscles to obey her command and turn her away.

Why was Imogen making this so difficult? If she wasn't going to reject it, sever it, just what did she want from it, if anything at all? Was it really that hard for humans to wrap their minds around bonding?

Kimiko watched Imogen speak with one of the suits that stood next to her and a growl rumbled in her throat when the man started casually touching her shoulder as he talked. Something about the man rubbed her the wrong way, but Imogen looked completely relaxed under his touch. It wasn't possessive, but still riled Kimiko up nonetheless.

She stepped out of her truck and leaned against the door wanting to see the man's face as soon as he turned around. He'd held his back to her since arriving and that alone struck her as all too awry. Imogen finally reacted unpleasantly to the man's touch and cringed, placing her hand on her stomach as her skin blanched. That was more than enough reason to intervene, but someone stepped in front of Kimiko before she could.

"You're Imogen's new puppy guard, right?" A man said as he stepped in front of her and she looked at him. It was Imogen's uncle. What was his name again? Miles? "She told me all about you. And that you saved my wife in that accident. I've been meaning to thank you, but I'm sorry, I've just been so busy."

"That's fine." Kimiko tried to inch around him and he sidestepped, blocking her moves. She softly grumbled and, with exuberant irritation, she felt her canines shifting. Speaking through barred teeth as her need to get over to Imogen grew, she asked, "Was there something else you needed?"

"Well, now that you mention it, could you possibly leave my niece alone?" Kimiko furrowed her brow and scowled at him. Leave her mate alone? Was he out of his mind? "It's just... She's tried so hard to get back to a resemblance of sanity. She went through so much in Britain. What with her parents disowning her when she came out to them, her ex-girlfriend cheating on her with several women and then the incident--"

"Incident? Are you referring to when the feral wolf attacked her in Britain?" If Miles knew about it, perhaps Kimiko could get some more specifics out of him.

"Yes. It was terrible. I was visiting family there and checked on her just after it happened. Imogen had to stay in hospital for several weeks on machines and when she finally got to leave, she was hold up in her flat for even longer." He shuffled his feet and nodded while recalling it all.

Kimiko imagined Imogen being hurt and how close she'd come to it yet again, then felt heat rising up her cheeks as her ears rang out in pure rage. Still, there was one positive thing to take from the knowledge she'd just obtained. Imogen didn't carry the genes to change from a scratch and it was so rare to even be affected by a bite unless a human is already bonding with a wolf. If Imogen had been affected, they may not have ever met in the first place as most humans couldn't even survive the fever. The idea sent disgust to Kimiko's gut as she was pulled back to everything Miles was saying.

"She wouldn't let anyone inside. Frankly, the last thing she needs right now is another shifter causing her problems." He gazed at her with concern. "They've brought nothing but problems for her. I mean, she's had to move halfway around the world, for Christ's sake."

Kimiko's muscles tensed and she had to work to calm her wolf. He had some nerve and that smell drifting off of him told her quite the different story. Something was off about Miles. She could taste it in the air. Something on him scented sweet, but she couldn't discern its origin. He was holding back something important about everything going on with Imogen and she wasn't going to wait for answers.

"Did you know we can sense the emotions of humans?" Miles stiffened and took a step back. "You're nervous as fuck, man. There's even sweat on your forehead. Care to tell me the whole truth? What aren't you saying, Miles?" He let out a nervous laugh and turned to leave. "Whatever it is, I'll find it out."

"If wolves are so capable, why do you keep failing, Agent Fujiwara?"

Upon his last words, Kimiko jolted as he side stepped and revealed Imogen was gone. Everyone was gone and the lot empty aside from them both. She pushed past him and couldn't even get a read on where she disappeared. Her car was still in the lot, but the man who'd been speaking with her was also gone...along with his vehicle.

Kimiko spun around toward Miles and grabbed the scruff of his shirt, but he sprayed something in her face before she could do anything more. She gasped, then sneezed and pushed him away. Her blood began to boil. Every instinct told her to shift and she buckled over trying to fight it. Kimiko tried to find Imogen's scent to keep her wolf at bay, but her claws erupted and she fell to the ground.

She heard Miles scurrying away to his truck as her snout emerged and she began to writhe around. Her wolf was coming out whether she wanted it or not, there was no way around it. Suddenly, a savory, succulent scent washed into her nostrils and she jumped to her feet. Kimiko needed to find that scent. Whatever it was made her want to run and run. Her wolf came out and she howled at the sky, taking off toward the woods and toward that scent.