Kano's War

Chapter 28

The room went silent. The words dropped like a stone in water.

I didn't need to look up to feel my dad's change in posture. A protective stiffness. Not anger, but urgency.

"Take her," he said to Kano. "Go back to the ravine. The cabin—her mother's place. It's safe and far enough from the pack grounds. She'll need privacy. And so will you."

"I can walk," I murmured, trying to lift my head. But even that felt like a lie.

"You shouldn't have to," Kano said, already bending to lift me. "Let me."

I hated how easily my body melted into his. I was already warm with his presence, but now I was on fire.

"You need to go quickly before her smell affects the other pack members." My mother urged. "Everything you need is in there. I guess we're lucky this occured on our land and not somewhere else." My mind practically ignored her. Knowing my heat was coming now made me want to panic.

He held me to his chest like something precious—no hesitation, no second thoughts. And though the tension between us hadn't disappeared—not after our fight, not after Kelsey—it faded behind the urgency of something we couldn't ignore.

As he carried me out of the room and down the steps of the pack house, I let myself close my eyes, resting my head against the curve of his neck.

The night cold air bit against my flushed skin, but it was nothing compared to the storm rolling through my body. It was obvious winter was here, which actually was great for me.

We reached the edge of the ravine faster than I expected. I recognized the small hidden trail my mother, Kano and I used before, and Kano followed it instinctively, like he'd already mapped it.

Neither of us spoke much on the way down.

What could we say?

We were walking straight into something we had been dancing around for weeks. Something inevitable.

By the time the cabin came into view, my breaths were ragged. Not from the walk—but from the need. Every brush of Kano's skin, every inhale of his scent, made my wolf stir restlessly.

He set me down at the edge of the porch. "You okay?" he asked softly, his voice husky, eyes searching mine.

"No," I admitted, reaching out to steady myself on his shoulder. "But I will be."

He opened the cabin door. I stepped inside first, it was still warm in here, not like we were gone very long. My mother's smell still lingered in the air. The same bed. The same ceiling light. The same soft wood smell.

We stood there for a moment, suspended in silence.

And then my legs wanted to give out. I let out a large breath I didn't know I was holding when I felt the temptation to mate hit me harder. Based off experience I knew it was going to get worse.

On top of that, this was the second heat that we hadn't mated, meaning it was going to be way worse then the first.

Kano's hand came to rest on my back and he pulled me closer, holding me close like I was something fragile. His restraint was palpable. He was breathing harder now, but still controlled—barely.

"I can feel it too, you know," he said, his voice low and rough. "But I'm not going to touch you unless you want me to."

I nodded, swallowing hard. "I know."

He gently guided me to the bed. I sat on the edge, trembling. The ache was pulsing now—deep and gnawing and desperate.

"I don't want to take advantage of this," I said quickly. "But, I know this will be worse than my first one."