Rise of the Warrior Queen (Kaia and Silver) novel Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

KAIA’S POV

As I walked down the path from Elder Agatha’s house, my thoughts remained on the things she said.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was coming. Her eyes, filled with fear, stayed in my mind. Even now, I could hear her voice warning me.

And then there was the last card.

The one she refused to let me see.

Why won’t she show me? I wondered as I rubbed my hands together, trying to keep my mind calm.

“This isn’t good,” Lilac whispered in my head. “She clearly saw something she didn’t want you to know.” My lips pulled into a frown. “Do you think it’s about us?” I asked her quietly.

“Maybe,” Lilac said, her voice unsure. “Or someone close to us. Either way, Agatha is scared. That says enough.”

I let out a sigh and brushed my fingers through my hair, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling crawling under my skin.

“Do you think things will ever get better?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Lilac answered truthfully. “But we’ll deal with it. Like we always do.”

Even Lilac didn’t sound convinced this time, and that worried me even more. Normally she was the positive one between the two of us–my anchor in times like this. And now…

As I turned a corner, a voice cut through the silence. “What were you doing at Elder Agatha’s house?”

I froze mid–step. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Then I turned, and there he was–Gareth, standing a few feet behind me. He looked calm, like everything was supposed to be okay. But his eyes were sharp and curious, like he was trying to read me.

I said nothing. I didn’t feel like explaining anything to him. As a matter of fact, I decided I hadn’t even heard him.

Instead, I turned around and continued walking.

But then he followed.

“You didn’t knock,” he said, keeping pace with me. “Next time, you should remember to knock before you barge into my office, Kala. You knew I had a mate. You know I need privacy sometimes.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the words sitting on my tongue from coming out.

He was doing it again. Pushing me to say things I’d rather not say, And the audacity of him to tell me to know next time. I did knock earlier, didn’t I? He just hadn’t heard it because he’d been busy.

Asshole

Gareth sighed beside me when I didn’t say anything back.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“You know, Kala, I’ve been trying my best to be understanding with you these past few months because!

know you’re still hurting from the rejection. But your attitude is getting too much to ignore. I don’t like it when you try to hide things from me,” he added, his voice filled with annoyance.

My fists tightened at my sides, but still, I stayed quiet.

I knew what he was trying to do. I could hear it in his tone. He wasn’t just asking questions–he wanted to get under my skin. And he knew exactly how.

He started talking about Laura.

About how I walked in on them in his office. About how I interrupted their.. moment.

I felt my chest tighten.

He tried to sound casual, like it wasn’t a big deal. But I knew him. I could hear the edge in his voice. He was trying to hurt me. Rub it in. Show me that he’d moved on. That he was happy with her.

I clenched my fists but didn’t stop walking.

Ignore him, I told myself. Don’t let him win. Not this time.

“You always do this,” he continued, his voice now sounding angry. “You pull away. You hide things. Like what you’re doing with Agatha right now. I don’t like it, Kaia.”

And that did it.

I stopped walking and slowly turned to face him.

He looked back at me with folded arms, waiting.

I met his eyes and said in the calmest voice I could manage at this point, “Don’t worry, Gareth. I’ll try to go searching for a s**t–so I can give it to you. Because right now, I don’t have any.”

His jaw tightened, but I didn’t wait to hear what he had to say.

I turned back around and kept walking.

ard hi

I heard his footsteps behind me again, and I sighed.

He was still following me.

I stopped and spun around to face him fully, my voice sharper this time. “What is your problem? Stop following me, for goodness‘ sake!”

“I’m not following you,” he said through clenched teeth. T’m going to the hospital. It’s not my f that we’re

both going to the same place. I need to give Dr. Grayson the papers.”

“Then give them to me. I’ll take them, I said quickly, wanting to be done with this conversation.

“No,” Gareth said, holding the papers tightly in his hand. “I’ll take them myself. I still need to sort out what’s

going on with that stranger.”

His tone shifted, turning colder.

“And just so you know,” he added, “I’m still not comfortable with him around. I don’t trust him. I want to make sure he’s not a threat before hand anything over.”

I rolled my eyes and groaned quietly. How did I end up in this situation again?

CHAPTER TWELVE

Gareth wasn’t done.

“And since you’re the one who insisted he stay in this pack, we’ll go together,” he finished.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes for a second.

This day couldn’t get any worse.

I just want peace. Is that too much to ask now too?

Without another word, I turned and started walking again, heading straight for the hospital.

Gareth walked beside me. Neither of us said anything.

The silence was loud. Loud with things neither of us wanted to admit.

I remembered the way things used to be for me before I discovered I had a mate in a coward. Before Laura, before all the confusion, before everything broke.

Now, he looked at me like I was a problem he didn’t know how to solve. One would think I even wanted him to

begin with.

If only he knew the things I would give to get him to disappear completely from my life.

I sighed and walked faster, wanting to put as much distance between me and him as possible.

I didn’t want to think about Gareth, Or Laura. Or the look in Agatha’s eyes when she hid that last card.

I just wanted to drop off the papers and breathe.

Just one moment of peace. One moment where I didn’t have to feel like everything was falling apart.

But even that felt too far away.

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