My Gift and My Curse

Chapter 14

I sighed as I looked at the freshly awoken Traitor as he stepped into the kitchen.

"G'mornin'," he said in his gravelly morning voice.

I pointed at the clock on the wall above the fridge and replied, "It's almost two p.m.. I would hardly call that a morning."

He chuckled as he started making coffee, "It's five a.m. somewhere."

I smiled slightly, "But not here."

"Shut up."

I laughed lightly as he drank his black coffee. After a moment, I asked, "How was your night last night?"

He sighed softly, "It could've been better."

I could tell by his tone that he didn't want to talk about it further, so I didn't push. Instead, he steered the conversation away by saying, "Why did you stay so long? I mean, couldn't you have left earlier?"

"With my teleporting, yes, but I didn't want to leave you." When he raised a brow, I quickly added, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you know?"

He smiled as he sipped his coffee, "Sure, okay."

I rolled my eyes playfully, trying to pass off the light heat on my face.

"So, you got any plans today?"

I shook my head. "I don't have work until after school tomorrow, why?"

He shrugged before continuing, "Just wondering."

I raised a brow, knowing he wanted to add more, and after a moment, he did.

"You wanna do something today?"

I shrugged, "Like what?"

"I dunno, just wanna get out of the house."

"Why do you always want to be away from home?" I asked as he finished his coffee and put the mug in the sink.

He sighed softly before answering. "The more I'm away from my father's Alpha talk, the better."

I stepped closer to him, replying, "You know, you have less time with the ones you love than you think. Cherish this time now, before you regret it later."

He looked at me sadly, but I turned away before our eyes met. I hated showing my vulnerable side, but sometimes, I couldn't help it.

All of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I inhaled sharply from surprised before turning around, meeting his gaze.

His eyes said all the words I needed to hear without actually hearing them. They were filled with such sorrow for me, yet had an underline of something else, something I couldn't place.

Out of nowhere, he grabbed me by the sides and pulled me close, wrapping his arms around me in a hug. I gasped at the action, not moving for a moment.

It was silent for a while before he said, "I'm sorry for...for not realizing that family is so...so important..."

I smiled as I hugged him back. "It's okay, just don't forget that at least you have someone to come home to."

I heard him chuckle lightly with a nod. "Trust me, I won't."

After a moment, he pulled away, giving me a warm smile. I returned the smile as he gently cupped my cheek. We stood there for what felt like hours- which in reality was probably only a minute or so- just staring at each other, but the moment was destroyed when we heard Ren's voice as she entered the kitchen.

"Ugh, if you're going to make out, can't you do it behind a closed door?"

"Oh shut up, Renelda," Traitor replied with a smirk.