Chapter 18: Chapter 18

"Feeling like losing you showed me how to be lonely."

Kaitlyn walked back home, her hair covering her face. "Its cause you moved on, Kaitlyn." Moved on? She didn't know how to move on. Nobody could hold her the way he held her. Nobody could make her feel the way he made her feel. His hidden sass, his shy romantic gesture, his kisses...how could she forget how his kisses felt? Had she been so blinded by her hurt pride she hadn’t recognized the one man she wanted? Or had she willed herself to forget? She shook het head and opened the door to the house. "Kaitlyn. We have been waiting." She turned to see her father, Chris, the gamma and other elders of the pack sitting around the table, all eyes on her. Only Chris’s eyes went beyond her face, but she didn't even have it in her to protest. "Why are you wet?" "I don’t have an on-command umbrella popping out of the middle of my skull, Chris." She said, sparing him a glance, then focused back on her father, who cleared his throat. "Well, the pack's annual ball is in two months. We are preparing for the rites, the dances..." She nodded. "Can I get changed?" Her father nodded quickly. "Of course, go on." She nodded and turned away, walking feebly to her room. She locked the door behind her, knowing she wasn’t going back out. "I could recognize you in a bar full of girls, from your scent, Lyn. No, Kaitlyn." Why did he have to change the name he called her? She was standing close to the dressing mirror and when she looked up, her reflection stared back. This wasn't her. The girl, the real Kaitlyn was madly in love with Aiden. The real Kaitlyn knew Aiden. His smell, his eyes, his hair, she knew his high, his kisses....she knew his essence, his presence. Moving on? When all she wanted to do every waking moment of her life was to make him stay? When nothing she had could replace him or even come close? When she needed to tell him how much he meant to her? How much she cherished him, how much she didn't plan on losing him? How much she hated the thought of him being with someone else? She flung the stool away, and it hit the bedside lamp. It fell with a loud shattering sound. Her own heart was breaking more than those fragments, every piece retearing over and over and over, the pain filling every nerve. How could she move on? And then a little thud sound. She looked up, and the little shiny object stared back at her. She recognized it instantly. It was her ring. The ring he'd given her.

FB

"God, your eyes.." She said. They had just kissed, and she was staring into the nameless pools of divine color. He laughed hard. "Jealous?" "Yes." He pulled her, so her hair was on his chest, and she was inhaling soothing scent of him. "I will get you the color of my eyes, Lyn. Anything for you."

And he had. The very next day, he had brought a ring, colored exactly the same with his eyes. He'd worn it on her finger and heved to wear another ring on her finger, the day he'd take her as his bride and mate.

She picked the ring, her eyes closing. The cold feel of the metal felt warmer than anything she had touched in years. She had to get him back, and that was all. Life without him felt wrong, too wrong. She had imagined her dream life the day she'd met the quiet dark haired boy with maddening eyes, and no part of it didn't include him. She stood, and went to take a cold bath, her body calming down as she did. She didn't need anything else. She needed Aiden, and she would get him back. It will happen, she knew. She walked out dripping, and dried off, opting for a high waist jean and black turtle neck. Pulling her hair into a high ponytail, and watching her self in the mirror, she nodded. One day she would look into a mirror, and Aiden would come beside her, hug her from behind, peck her cheek and tell her she looked prettier than every other she-wolf. And she would believe. She would believe everything as long as it came from him. As long as he was with her. She would believe every single thing. She grabbed a white fur coat and set out, her father having little time to ask her where she was headed to, and getting no answer at all.

"I miss you more than life...."

"Ma'am. How do I serve you?" She waved him off. "I want to see the chief." The omega looked confused. "Do you...have a complaint you want to..." This guy talked too much. "I said I want to see the chief." She then turned to him, her brows raised. "Is there a problem?" One look at her and he recognized her. The sun was setting in the distance, and even though her hair looked more red now in the glow than blonde, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize the woman from earlier. "R..right away, ma'am. P...please sit." He pulled out a chair for her, then ran to the back immediately. "The..the.." The chief gave him a nonchalant glance. The worst had already happened, what was there to be scared of?" "That woman...from earliest...hair..." The chief straightened. "The alpha's daughter?" The omega nodded breathlessly. "Move, you dumb omega!" He said, pushing him out of the way, while removing his apron. "Ma'am. You're back. We are extremely sorry for the..." "Does Aiden work for you?" The chief paused, then nodded slowly, wondering what she was going to say. "Get him for me." He blinked. "Well, right away." The chief went behind, just as Aiden accompanied by Tom, walked out from the other entrance. Aiden had decided he didn't want to stay anymore, and Tom was going to accompany him home. "Aiden?" Tom said, nudging gently. Aiden murmured a response as he looked up. Tom tilted his head to the side, so Aiden could follow the directions. And he did. Big teal eyes met his and he swallowed. How much of a treacherous heart was his, that it wanted to run straight into the arms of the woman who had broken it? He watched as she came to him, her strides long and graceful. Tom backed away quickly, watching the scene unfold from far. She didn't stop even as she got to him, she already knew what she wanted, and how to get it. Her hands wrapped around him, pulling him to her, her scent engulfing him, her hair on his chest. "I missed you."