Bound

It's All In Trust

Sophia's POV:

I have a massive headache. Like a hangover type of headache. But, I for sure remember that I didn't drink at all last night. I got up, but winced at the sudden pain in my arm. I looked at it, and saw that there a bandage wrapped around my forearm. 

"You're awake." Kai's voice came from behind me, he was lying on the opposite side of me. 

"Kai...." I instantly remembered what we saw at Odetta Lake last night. He looked at me and then sat up, the blanket crumpled at his waist. 

"Lina was.... everything. But, clearly I put my trust in the wrong person." He said, looking out the window at the rising sun, "Even after she cheated on me, I felt attached to her. I cut myself off from everybody, including my father." 

He then showed me his right hand, the same hand that we had been cut on for the bond that binds us together. There, the cut that I saw on that day was there. 

"She cheated on me, and that hurt Arkane more than me." He said. Arkane must be his wolf. 

"He truly did love her. Even though she was a human, and he was a wolf, he felt that Lina was our responsibility, and pretty soon, we both started to feel something for her."

"Kai.... I'm really sorry that you had to go through that." I told him, turning around to face him.

"No. I should be sorry, Sophia." Kai said, shaking his head, making his wavy, black hair fall into his eyes, "If I'd known you'd been through.... what you've been through, I swear, I would've tried to at least be nicer. It's all in my trust. I just can't seem to put in someone so easily. Not after Lina."

"She showed up at our ceremony." I told him. Kai's eyes slightly widened and he looked at me.

"I didn't know that she was someone that you had been close with once, so I just ignored the nasty looks she gave me."

"Well.... that's something." he said, then he looked at me, "I suspect your head must be hurting?"

I nodded, gently rubbing my temples. Kai smiled, a full grin.

"I'll get us some headache pills." Kai said, getting up. I grabbed his wrist before he could leave. 

"Stay. Just for a bit longer?" I asked him, still shaken from my encounter with that vampire last night.

Kai smirked and sat down beside me. "Sure. I take it you're still a little traumatised after that little chat with the vamp in the woods."

"How did you know?" I asked him. I hadn't told him anything about the vampire.

"I could smell it on the pathway home," He said, and then smirked, "While carrying your sleeping body in my arms."

I blushed. Not because of shyness, but embarrassment. "Was I heavy?"

Kai scoffed. "Heavy? You were as light as a feather. I'd suggest you eat more."

I smiled. "Around the time of our anniversary, Daniel started telling me I was a little heavier than before."

"Daniel can go fuck himself." Kai said, shaking his head, "I mean, around the anniversary, too. He's a disgrace to love."

"Yeah, well, Lina can go fuck herself as well. Nobody needs those two in the world." I said, tilting my head to meet Kai's gaze. He chuckled, his eyes sparkling.

"Wanna go eat something?" I asked, getting out of the covers. I brushed my bandage gently, and looked at him.

"Yeah. Let's go." He said. 

"Thanks for bandaging my arm." I told him and walked out before him. I just knew it was Kai who'd done it, considering how wonky and uneven it was. But, it covered up the wound tightly, so it would do for now.

"You're welcome." He said softly. He then turned around and went to the right side of the bed, grabbing a black hoodie from the floor and pulling it over his head. I walked downstairs with him following shortly behind, and went straight to the dining hall.

Marina saw me and immediately ran up to me, hugging me. I could feel my shoulder get wet by her tears. 

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Everything's fine. I'm fine. I'm okay." I reassured her, gently patting her back as she hugged me.

Marina pulled away, hiding her face with her hand. "I thought something happened to you! You left in the middle of the night and didn't come back for 2 whole hours!"

I cringed. "Sorry, Marina. I'll tell you next time."

"There won't be a next time." Kai said, his voice authoritative. I looked up at him behind me.

"Yeah. I don't want to have to do that again." I told him, "But, I was referring to telling Marina where I'll be going if I'll be going anywhere. Not the... incident... that happened."

Kai nodded, and then took his seat at the table. 

Marina and I walked towards the dining where everybody was staring at Cory's empty seat.

There was a cream coloured envelope on the table spot.

I inhaled sharply, and walked towards his spot. 

The envelope was addressed to me. The blood drained from my face and I physically felt myself  go pale.

I picked it up with a trembling hand and let go of the breath I was holding with a huff.

I opened it and took out the note. The words were written in black pen, all capitalised except for the last one.

"Your friend is mine. Lest you value his life so little, you will come save him. Alone..." I read out loud, my voice shaky.

I felt tears blurry my vision and tore the note into pieces. I felt myself go light-headed, so I placed both my palms on the table with a thud, making all the cutlery clatter.

"No phone number... no address.... not even a name." I said my thoughts out loud for everybody.

Just then, my phone chimed with a message. My breath stopped and I looked up at Kai.

His eyes glinted once and he stared at me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

Unkown.

Unkown: "7849 Petal Pusher Drive. 6pm tomorrow. ALONE."

"Kai..." I muttered. I feel like throwing up. My head feels so light.

Kai immediately came up to me and grabbed my upper arms from behind, bringing me closer to him. He wrapped an arm around the small of my back and looked at my phone with his free hand.

"You will not respond to this message, got it? Not at any point." Kai said, tucking my phone into his pocket.

I nodded. "What about Cory, though?" 

"We can't be sure. That's my problem, okay? You're not going anywhere to meet a stranger alone. Either I'm going, or the hunters go with you."

I looked at him, touched by his sudden protectiveness. I smiled at the thought.

He looked down at me and realised how much of a protective mate he'd just been. 

He rolled his silver eyes and gave way to a smile. "Catch my every detail, don't you?"

I laughed softly. He'd changed quite a bit in one night. 

I liked that.