Chapter 39 The close call 2

Chapter 39: Chapter 39 The close call 2

Talia’s POV

I wanted to ask about Kaelen, and what he was like. But I did not want to make her uncomfortable, so I dropped the thought.

Nora worked in silence for a moment, then she handed me a carrot.

"You can peel this," she said. "The cook is not looking this way."

I took the carrot and a small knife gratefully. I sat on a stool in the corner and started peeling.

It felt good to do something again, aside from walking around to nowhere and lying down in my room. I felt the relief of using my hands again for something useful.

Nora worked beside me, chopping vegetables with speed and dropping them into a bowl.

"Why are you being kind to me?" I asked, as I admired her way of working.

She shrugged. "Why not?"

"Everyone else stares at me, they whisper when I pass, and I know that they are waiting for me to fail," I said.

"They are afraid," Nora answered. "New things scare people, and you are new, my Luna. You are also the Alpha’s mate, and that scares them even more."

I set the peeled carrot in the bowl and picked up another one.

"What about you?" I asked. "Are you scared?"

Nora laughed. "I am too busy working to be scared."

I instantly fell in love with her humor and carefree life. I wished I could also be carefree, but the Luna trials were coming fast.

I stayed in the kitchen for an hour. I peeled carrots and potatoes, and I listened to Nora talk about her family, her pack, and her dream of opening a small bakery someday.

"You can come back anytime," Nora said when I stood up to leave. "The cook will not let you work, but I will."

"Thank you," I said, smiling brightly.

She smiled. "That is what friends are for."

I froze as she said the word FRIENDS.

I had not had a friend in Cresswood except Piper. So the word felt strange on my tongue, and to my ears.

"Friends," I said.

Nora nodded. "Friends. Only if that’s okay with you, Luna."

I smiled. "Yes, it is."

I left the kitchen and walked through the pack house.

I tried to find other places to help: the library, the healing wing, and the storage rooms. But everywhere I went, someone told me the same thing.

"You are the Luna, so you do not need to work."

Frustration burned in my chest.

I was not used to sitting still. In Cresswood, I worked from sunrise to sunset scrubbing, cleaning, and serving. But now I was expected to do nothing.

I walked back to the room, so I could calm myself.

The door was closed when I reached the room.

I reached for the handle, pushed it open, stepped inside, and froze.

Kaelen was standing in the middle of the room with his back to me. His shirt was off and draped over the back of a chair. The muscles in his shoulders were tight, and I could see the scars that crossed his skin.

He turned, and his gray eyes met mine.

He did not look surprised, and he did not look angry. He just looked at me.

I should have left. I knew that I should have stepped back, closed the door and pretended I had not seen anything.

But my feet would not move.

We were inches apart, and I could feel the heat coming off his skin. I could smell pine and sweat and something else that made my heart pound and my hands shake.

Neither of us moved, and the mate bond pulled between us, tight and hot and impossible to ignore.

My breath caught in my throat.

He stepped closer to me, reached up, and his fingers brushed my chin for just a moment. Then he let his hand drop.

"You should knock," he said.

His voice was low, and quiet.

I nodded, but I did not speak.

He stepped back and picked up his shirt. He pulled it over his head, and his muscles disappeared beneath the fabric.

I turned back quickly and walked out of the room.

I leaned against the wall in the hallway, pressing my back against the cold stone. My heart was pounding, my face was burning, and my hands were shaking.

I had been inches from him, feeling the heat from his skin, and I had not wanted to leave.

I needed to be calm before I went back in, so I pushed off the wall and walked away.

I did not go back to the room that night. I wandered the pack house until the torches burned low and the halls were empty.

When I finally returned, Kaelen was asleep on the floor, and his breathing was slow and even.

I quietly climbed into bed and lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling.

I could still feel his fingers on my chin, and I could still smell the pine and sweat that came from him alone.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

But it did not come for a long time.