Chapter 141
Chapter 141
Kennedy
After a grueling evening of scraping injuries and cleaning out silver from wounds, I felt exhausted.
When the last warrior left, I checked with Deborah and told her to head to bed. I have no idea how late it is, I just know that I’m exhausted. I finish cleaning up and check the room Deborah was working in before walking out to the main entrance. I’m turning off lights as I go, barely able to keep myself standing when I smell him.
“You look exhausted.”
I look up and see my mate in the dim light of the waiting room.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Waiting for you. I thought you’d be done earlier but when I got here, there were still several warriors who needed to be
seen.”
“A lot of them came in tonight. I was surprised, but glad,” I tell him.
His eyes narrow and he takes my hand, pulling it to him and looking at my palm.
“Why do you have a wound that isn’t healed?”
I shrug, not sure I can talk about it without breaking down. I’m too tired right now.
He looks at me, then back at my hand before pulling it to his lips and kissing it. “Some of the warriors accepted you as their Luna because they don’t plan to be here this weekend?”
I nod, feeling myself losing the battle with my tears. Suddenly, Quirin scoops me into his arms.
“Someone has worn herself out today,” he says. I nod and lean against his chest.
“Thank you for healing the pack,” he says as he turns to carry me out of the hospital. I lean over and turn off the last of the lights before curling up against him again.
“You’re welcome. I’m just glad they came. There were too many of them that had injuries, injuries that were getting infected and not healing. Too many of your pack’s wolves were beating themselves up, overworking themselves to try and heal a wound that was never going to heal without medical attention.”
He stops and after a moment, I look at him. He has lifted his face to the night sky. His eyes are closed and he’s just breathing in the air.
“Is everything okay?”
He gives me a half grin before looking down at me. “I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to enjoy quiet moments like this,” he
says.
I realize that it is very quiet. It must be very late if the pack is quiet and only the patrols are running. The moon is high and it’s a cool night. It would be perfect if I wasn’t exhausted.
“It is a nice night,” I say, resting my head against his shoulder.
He presses a kiss to my forehead. “You know I love you, right Little Pup?”
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Chapter 141
I nod. I do know. “I just wish you realized that I wasn’t a little pup anymore,” I say.
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He chuckles as he begins to walk again. “Kennedy, I never would have had sex with you if I thought of you as a pup. Believe me. I may not be perfect, but pups are off limits, always have been. It’s just my name for you, Kennedy. That’s all.”
I close my eyes, wondering if that’s true.
The next thing I know, I feel like I’m in water. I jolt, but Quirin’s strong arms hold me steady.
“Easy, Little Pup. I’m just washing off the scent of the pack. I thought you’d sleep better if you smelled like you and me,” Quirin says. I’m so tired that all I can do is nod before falling back to sleep.
Much, much too soon, Quirin is shaking me awake.
“Kennedy. Kennedy!”
“What?” I ask groggily.
“Baby, you need to get up. You need to eat something this morning.” The last thing I feel like doing is eating. My stomach feels like it might revolt.
“I’ll eat when you’re done with warrior training,” I say.
“Kennedy, it’s seven o’clock. I’ve already finished warrior training.”
“What?” I ask, forcing my eyes to open before they fall closed again.
“I let you sleep in, but you were still sound asleep when I got back. You need to get up and get some food. And Susie says they need you to help them order food for this weekend.”
“Oh, right. The Luna ceremony. Maybe we should just skip it, Quirin. Almost all of the warriors told me they were leaving anyway. If they’ve already accepted me, what’s the point of having a stupid ceremony?”
“Hey, that’s not you. Open your eyes and look at me, Kennedy,” he says, stroking my cheek.
When I force my eyes open, I see Quirin frowning down at me. “This is important. It’s important to you and to me. You’re my mate. You are this pack’s Luna. The pack doesn’t have an issue with you, Kennedy, they have an issue with your father.”
“You realize that’s like saying that they don’t have an issue with you, Quirin, they just have an issue with me? He’s my father. I’m their Luna. Whatever beef they have with my father they should get over it. How many years has it been, Quirin?”
“It’s not that easy, Kennedy,” he growls, standing up.
“It is if you actually try,” I say, getting up and walking into the bathroom. I close the door so I don’t have to continue this conversation. I’m still exhausted and I’m still hurt that so many warriors want to leave this weekend.
Echo is quiet in my head as I get ready and I know that she’s feeling the pain of so many warriors leaving the pack as well. When I step out of the bathroom, I expect Quirin to be gone, but he’s sitting on the bed waiting for me.
“Kennedy …”
“I don’t want to fight, Quirin. I’m tired and I have a lot to do before this weekend. Let’s just go,” I say, heading for the door.
“I want to train with you tonight,” he says.
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Chapter 141
11
1 11 “kww say, moure where $ges the energy for that, but find it somewhere
be we get to the bottom of the airs, 1 see several warriors standing around. They have no reason to be standing here unless they ** waiting for me or Quiru Since all of them accepted or as their Luta last night, I expect that they are here for Quin. 1 byw to walk past them, leaving Quirin to deal with whatever this is.
“Low, cond we have a word please?” one of the warriors acks. I stop and turn to huma
He smiles. “You’re our Luna, figher
1 take a deep breath. “I guess so
I watch as his wolf pushes forward. 1 suddenly remember that this is Terrance. He’s the one who challenged me last night and had the path on his stomach
“Lama, you may not remember, but my name is Lonan, Terrance’s wolf begins.
“I remember you, Lonen” I tell him.
“My buman and I had a long talk last night. I was ashamed that he accepted you as our Luna and didn’t plan to stay for your ceremony, You beded was, even though we disrespected you. I had started to feel like I wasn’t worthy of being a wolf spirit for a fijner as strong, as my human, but now I realize that it wasn’t me at all. I feel so much stronger today because of you. 1 don’t know how to thank you Luna, but if you can forgive my human for his actions, we’d like to stay for your ceremony this weekend,” Loman says,
I feel Echo push forward and before I have a chance to respond, she does. “You did disrespect us, both of us. While I was offended, my human hurt. Pat the still worked tirelessly to help every single warrior and pup that came into the pack hospital last night. Many people underestimate my human. You would be wise not to do it again”
I watch as not only Lonan, but every warrior standing in the hallway exposes their necks in submission.
“Terrance, I won’t force you to stay. But if you choose to stay for the ceremony, I would be glad to have you,” I tell him.
“Thank you, Luna. You called us arrogant last night and I see now that it’s exactly what I was. I wasn’t listening to my wolf. You’ve not only healed him, you’ve helped us reconnect in a way that we needed to.”
“Good. It’s never easy when a human and their wolf are on the outs,” I say.
“No, it isn’t. Today, for the first time in a long time, I feel like Lonan and I are finally back on the same page. Thank you for your forgiveness, I won’t disrespect you again.”
“We all feel the same way, Luna,” a warrior says.
“Yeah. All of us are stronger today because of you. All of us, humans and wolves, know that we have you to thank for healing us and making us stronger,” another warrior says.
“All of us would like to stay for your Luna ceremony, if you will have us Luna,” a third warrior says.
1 look at the group. There are about fifteen of them.
‘It’s more than we had this morning, Ken, Echo says to me.
Yeah, I guess we’re doing something right, I tell her.
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Chapter 141
“I would love it if all of you stayed for the ceremony this weekend.”
“Thank you, Luna.”
“Thank you.”
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“Thank you for your forgiveness,” they say, as one by one, they lift their necks and head to whatever tasks they have today.
“That’s eighteen now, Kennedy, Echo says, keeping track of how many warriors we have on our side. It’s more than I would have hoped for and more than I expected.
Suddenly, I don’t feel quite so tired any more.
AD
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