Shadows Surround Us

Chapter 10

xx Kena's POV xx

Cool water splashed my face, effectively waking my senses up. Taking a towel, I slowly patted my face until it was dry. My reflection in the bathroom mirror gave away the tiredness I felt. Sleep didn't come easy for me after my interaction with the shifter...Myles. I played the conversation in my head over and over the past couple of days. As hard as I tried to push those thoughts away, I couldn't escape them when I was by myself.

I wasn't sure what to make of it. Everything I had been taught about an encounter with a shifter didn't happen with mine. It was confusing and brought up a lot of questions that I would never ask.

I didn't tell anyone about my talk with Myles. I couldn't. My insubordination would be the end of any type of role in the hunters. My dad would probably explode and permanently disown me. Things would never be the same. I contemplated bringing it up to Damien or even Cyrus but my throat would get dry as the words wanted to push past my lips. Even though they were the closest people I had here, it would be foolish to tell. I knew that. So I stuffed the feelings down, as far as I could.

A soft knock on the door brought my attention back to the present. "Come in," I called, cutting the bathroom light off and walking fully into my room. Marcus opened the door and looked around the room until he spotted me.

"Dad wants you to meet him in his office," he said, his tone official and clipped. He was just like my dad. All business. My heart clenched slightly at the summons. I kept my face nonchalant and gave him a curt nod. Once he left, I let myself briefly panic. There's no bad reason for him to be summoning me. Maybe he just wanted to talk about patrols or something else mundane. But I couldn't help the anxiety that washed over me, the conversation with Myles trying to bubble up once again.

I padded softly down the stairs, my socks silencing my steps. The house was fairly quiet even though I knew everyone was up. Nine o'clock in the morning would be considered late in this family.

My dad's office door was cracked letting just enough of the light filter through. I could hear him grunt with frustration, most likely over the papers that would be sprawled out over his desk. As much as I wanted to change my course to grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen to awaken my muscles, I refrained. I took a breath before bringing my hand up to knock on the door.

"Come in Kena," my dad said. Pushing the door open, I saw him quickly look up to see me enter the room before putting his head back down, the papers I knew would be there stealing his attention.

I came to a stop in front of his desk, my hands folding together behind my back as I waited for him to speak. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I almost said something but he broke first.

"I'm getting reports that your patrols have gone well over the past couple of weeks since the clearing," he said with a sigh and leaning back in his desk chair to give me his full attention. I wince slightly at the mention of the clearing, where I had failed to act and caused him embarrassment.

"I'm glad," I replied coolly, trying to relax my shoulders. I kept my face straight, like the soldier that I am. The interaction with Myles began to bubble up yet again. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from speaking. The metallic taste of blood signaling me that I was biting too hard.

"This pack has been particularly elusive," my dad said, moving a paper to the side to look at the one below. He wasn't lying. The Cardime pack was taking the longest time to find and eliminate that I can remember. Maybe even ever in the history of our camp but I'd have to look back at our past logs in order to verify that. "What do you think our next move should be?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest, eyes fixed on me.

I tried to hide my surprise although not sure that I was successful. I was the leader's daughter, sure, but I wasn't exactly high on the totem pole when it came to the inner workings of the camp. He never asked me my opinion. I took a hesitant step forward to look at the desk of papers. A map laid sprawled beneath them with many notes and markings making it almost unrecognizable in spots. My dad waited in silence, waiting for me to give him something. Whether he'd take it or scold me for my stupidity, who knows.

I let my brain filter through any and all information that I could think of over the past few weeks of patrols. An image of Myles passed through my mind. I thought briefly about saying something. Not that we had interacted. But maybe that I had seen a wolf near the river. It would give him a direction without completely spilling that I hadn't shot at a shifter yet again. As much sense as it made to tell him, I found myself saying something else.

"I think we should search more in the western corridor," I stated, running a finger along the map in the spot I was mentioning. My dad leaned forward slightly to follow my finger. "It's the only place where we've had any interactions or sightings of shifters. The attack in the opening had to have been a response. Maybe we were closer than we thought."

He hummed as he thought about my suggestion. I'm sure it had been mentioned before so it was an easy, safe response. "That is all," he said, essentially dismissing me without another look. I pulled the door closed behind me as I left, letting out a breath. I made my way to the kitchen to get the coffee my body desperately craved.

Sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, I took a long drink of coffee, feeling the warm liquid go down my throat. I internally cursed myself. I should have said something about the river. Any other hunter would have. So why didn't I? I couldn't suppress my curiosity. Everything in my mind told me not to. My training showed me what to do. But the lingering questions and wanting to understand this enemy I had grown up being taught to hate was strong. I set the mug down on the counter, knowing that my next decision could be catastrophic but my mind had been made up. I was going to try to connect with Myles again. This time, I was going to get some of my questions answered.