Fears To Face

∞ Chapter 42 ∞

~ Kayley ~

Something warm and heavy woke me in the middle of the night. My eyes flashed open as I felt the weight of Rayne's arm slam the air out of my lungs. He hit me with one of his turn-overs in my bed during his sleep. That was going to leave a bruise, alright. I rested my hand on his hair when he lay still again as I turned over to look at him

Although it was hard for me to accept that the wonderful memories of the last day when he was a wolf where only mine. I hadn't bored him with the story and accepted that that's how it was. It wouldn't mean the same to him when he didn't know what it had felt like and to be honest, I would have traded those memories if I had been given the choice to get him back when I couldn't remember those moments, or live with him as a wolf and keep them, so it wasn't that depressing either. Yet, I couldn't stop that nagging feeling that I wished he did know.

The night was turbulent, but having slept on the cold hard ground under a thin blanket for days, made my bed, with Rayne right there next to me, warm and human, with its soft pillows and warm blankets feel so much better already I didn't seem to need sleep itself to regain energy. For me it was enough just to lay on the incredibly comfortable matrass and look at Rayne when I was awake. Every minute of sleep that came with the night was an extra bit of my expanding happiness.

Rayne had rolled from one side of my bed to the other dozens of times, groaning when he felt sick, cringing when he moved too fast, all night long. My attempts to calm him hadn't been so successful, but I hoped he could feel it a bit at least.

I snapped out of my thoughts as Rayne woke up, his breathing fastened, ragged, his body perched up halfway. "What's wrong?" I hit the small light on the nightstand so I could see better.

"Did your mother say anything about how the man looked like? After he turned? The man who shot me?" he asked with shocked urgency.

"Uhm...Yeah." I had to focus to remember what she had said. My mind was still halfway asleep at this time of the night. "He was around my mother's age, but he was tall and somewhat muscular. Uhm... Oh, yeah, and he had dark blond hair and brown eyes."

He choked on his breath. Even in the dim yellow light I could see the colour drain from his face. "Rayne, what's wrong? What is it?"

He slowly got back down between the pillows, his eyes on the ceiling, wide, but he didn't say a thing while his mouth hung open and every second that passed he grew more pale.

"Rayne, I can't take this. What's going on?" I grazed my wide eyes over his face, urging him to say something.

He slowly shifted his gaze to me and swallowed hard.

"Rayne, I'm going losing it here."

His eyes narrowed with concern and disbelief. He swallowed again as he finally lay his eyes on me. "It was David."

My breath stopped somewhere halfway my throat and I could feel my face turn just as white as his. David? Rayne's uncle who tried, almost successfully, with the emphasize on almost, to rip us apart? He had tried to kill Rayne? And I thought my hatred for that man couldn't go any deeper. I was wrong. When I had hated him with my whole heart before, I now hated him with my whole existence, every single cell I had in me. I finally managed to find my tongue back after I swallowed a couple of times. "How do you know?"

"Dream. Well, nightmare you should say. It's like I relived the moment. Have you let parts out?" He eyed me suspiciously. I looked down and swallowed. He didn't notice the guilt and horrified expression on my face that came with the memory. Rayne was gazing at the ceiling again. "He took distance so he was the first in the sunlight and turned. He only fired once because I cried so short and loud it looked like I was dead instantly."

My gut turned. How could he state these things so, objective? Like simple facts that held no emotion, only the truth? He just saw his own almost death!

He took my silence as a confirmation and looked at me again. "So you did know that. Why didn't you tell me?"

My eyes filled with tears. I looked down when I whispered, "I didn't tell you because I couldn't get those words out of my mouth. I didn't tell you because I turned sick when I only thought about it. I didn't tell you because I knew it would freak you out, which would have been normal, and I didn't want you to lose it like that just after you went through surgery. I didn't tell you because – "

He placed one finger on my lips and pulled me tight into his arms. "I get it. Forget that I even asked. I'm sorry that I did. I get it."

I inhaled deep, trying to steady myself, doing way better so close to him. "I would have told you, but not before you were better," I mumbled, but I didn't know whether that was true. As soon as the dejection left, anger took its place inside of me. My fists clenched when I said, "I won't let him get away with this. I will make the rest of his life just as miserable as he made those five days for you. I will find him and – "

"And then what, Kayley?" He cupped my cheeks so he could look me in the eye. "He is stronger than you and he's smart. If you're able to plan what he did while he was a wolf for hours in between, he has a control I can only dream of. He is dangerous. I won't let you get anywhere near him. You mean way too much for me to risk that. You have to keep out of his sight. You hear me? He's dangerous, Kayley."

We went back to sleep without another word. He thought he made his point and I would listen and that's what he was supposed to think. I knew David was dangerous, and I of course I would be careful, but there was no way that asshole could try to kill Rayne without consequences. No one could even consider that without me flying at their back. No one touched Rayne as long as I lived.