Chapter 22

Kendra POV

The three of us sit quietly at the table. Tete and Stephie do not know anything about me, other than the fact I rescued them from whatever in the hell Tobias was doing with them. He kidnapped them to serve Alpha. He said, to protect me, what kind of fucked up head game is he playing, pretending to love me. I hope he survived only so I can kick his ass myself.

Who do these wolves think they are? They kidnap women, hope they develop, fall in love with them, or become compliant enough to depend on the wolves to live. I almost fell for it. No, I did fall for it. I am thankful I am not pregnant by any of those bastards. I hope neither Stephie nor Tete is pregnant.

“What’s going through your mind?” Stephie asks me.

I turn to face her. She is eating like she hasn’t had a good hot meal in a while. Surely Tobias was feeding both of them well. He probably bottled feed the both of them.

“I was thinking that I am perplexed about everything that is going on,” I say.

“Me too,” Stephie says.

Tete doesn’t say anything. She keeps eating until all of her food is gone. Then she begins eating the cheese.

“Tete, you can have mine,” I say to her.

“I am sorry. I am famished,” Tete says.

“Did Tobias not feed you?” I ask.

“Milk from a fucking bottle and water; he never gave us real food. He kept us drugged too,” Tete says.

“He never fed you anything the entire time you were there?” I question.

“No,” Tete says as she eats my food.

I get up from the table. “I am going to ask Alissa if you can have some more soup,” I say to Tete.

The two continue eating everything that Alissa brought over for us. I will eat later. They need it more than I do. I walk out of the cabin. I stand for a moment looking at the water. The rocks make a beautiful setting next to the water. It almost seems like a dream in front of me.

“Hey,” Bradley says as he steps out of the office.

I step down from our cabin.

“Hey, do you think your mom would mind if we had some more food?” I ask him.

He holds open the door to the office for me. “No, she made plenty. She made extra bread too,” Bradley says.

“I gave them mine. They are starving,” I say.

He leads me through the office into the back where they live. “Well, I will put plenty in a big bowl so you can eat too,” Bradley says.

“Your mom says tomorrow is your birthday,” I say to him.

“No big deal for me, but for her, it always is,” Bradley says.

“I guess it is,” I say.

I help him fix a big bowl of soup to take back to my cabin. He wraps up more bread and cheese for me to take with me.

“Thank you,” I say as he hands it to me.

“If you want me to, I will help you carry it in. I know wolves scare people. I did not want to make you three uneasy,” Bradley says.

“That would be great,” I say.

He takes everything from me and carries it. “I can carry all of it, just get the door for me,” Bradley says.

He smiles at me. No one has ever smiled at me so sweetly, at least not in a very long time. I open the door to the office. He follows me over to the cabin. I open the door to our cabin. Bradley goes in, and he sets everything down. He turns to leave.

“Bradley, are there any people here are age?” I ask him.

“Not really, just me,” Bradley says.

He seems so sweet, so innocent, and all alone in this world like me.

“Would you mind walking me to the water?” I ask him.

“Sure, I only need to let mom know so she can watch the desk,” Bradley says.

“Okay, I will be out in five,” I say to him.

Bradley hurries off to tell Alissa to watch the desk. I want to leave the two ladies to decompress together. They seem to have bonded over their ordeal, and me being out of the room for a few minutes might help both of them. Plus, I need to get out of here for a second.

I stand outside, waiting for Bradley to come back. I feel free for the first time in a while. I watch the water crash against the rocks while I wait.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it, the way the water crashes into the rock,” Bradley says from behind me.

I turn around to see him. I didn’t hear him walk up; I am so caught up in watching the water.

“It is spectacular,” I say.

“Come on, Kendra, I will walk you down to the beach. It isn’t far. It is quite beautiful,” Bradley says.

“Is it safe?” I ask him.

Bradley raises his shirt, revealing a silver handle and rock-hard abs.”It kills wolves with one shot,” Bradley says.

“Thank goodness I have you,” I say.

“Not all wolves are like that pack. You know that, right?” Bradley asks.

“I know, I am not afraid of you if that is what you are thinking,” I say.

“I hope not. I am nothing like the wolves. My mother remarried. He is the only father I know. He trained me to hunt the wolves, like the ones that abducted you,” Bradley says.

“Is it hard to hunt wolves since you are a wolf?” I ask.

“No, because they don’t deserve to live after what they did to my mother or people like you and your friends,” Bradley says.

We walk for a few minutes. The water is beautiful, with the moon shining over it. We get to a small sandy area and stop.

“There are tables to sit at, or we can sit in the sand,” Bradley says.

“The sand would be nice,” I say.

We walk down close to the water to find a place to sit. “I guess I could’ve brought us a blanket,” Bradley says.

“No, this is great,” I say as I sit down in the sand. Bradley sits beside me.

“I do not want to make you nervous; I can move if you want me to move over,” Bradley says.

“Your mother raised you to be very kind, didn’t she,” I say.

“It is important to her that I am not like my father. I do not even know him. How could I ever be that kind of evil? My mother is one of the kindest people you will ever meet,” Bradley says.

“Seems to me, like you are too,” I say.

“Everything I am is because she was brave enough to escape,” Bradley says.

We watch the water rush into the rock and sand silently for a while. It is nice to sit with someone that doesn’t want anything from you: no rules, no discipline, only kindness from someone who doesn’t even know me.

“Bradley, you said that you hunt wolves like the pack that took me. Does that mean there are a lot of these packs?” I ask.

“Only a few, but the pack you were with is harder to hunt. Mom has an idea to stop the pack. My stepdad has always thought it was a bad idea, but I think now is a good time to act on it,” Bradley says.

I sit quietly for a moment; surely anything to stop the wolves cannot be that bad of an idea.

“Bradley, what is your mom thinking of doing to stop the wolves?” I ask.

Bradley looks out at the water and back to me. “She wants to use vampires to stop the wolves,” Bradley says.

“Vampires?” I inquire.

“The only people who hate wolves more than hunters are vampires, but she was afraid because I am a wolf that they might try to hurt me. I have never turned, so I should not be a threat,” Bradley says.

“It is none of my business, but why haven’t you ever turned into a wolf,” I ask.

Bradley reaches into his shirt and pulls out a talisman. “A witch made it for me when I was a baby; it is supposed to keep me as human as possible,” Bradley says.

“Do you always wear it?” I ask.

“I never take it off. I do not want to be a wolf,” Bradley says.

“I am sure you would be a good wolf,” I say.

“I do not want to find out,” Bradley says.

“I hope you never have to find out what it is like to be a wolf, “ I say.

We sit for hours watching the water. Bradley lets me soak up the peace. He seems to enjoy it too.

I turn to Bradley. I look into his beautiful eyes. Heis so sweet. He is unlike any man I have ever met. For some reason, I felt the need to kiss him. I leaned in, and our lips touched for only a moment. He pulled back from me.

“I’m sorry,” I say.

“No, I am sorry. I have never really dated or let the area much. I have never even touched a woman,” Bradley says.

“You are 26 years old and never dated?” I ask.

Bradley hangs his head. “I did not mean it like that,” I say.

“I am sorry,” Bradley says.

I touch his face and pull him back to me. I kiss him again.

“Now, you have been kissed,” I say.

“I should probably walk you back, and you need to eat something. I know you let the other women have your food,” Bradley says.

“If I crossed a line I should not have, I am sorry,” I say.

Bradley helps me to my feet. As I stand in front of him, our bodies touch. It is almost electric the way we feel standing close together. He leans in to kiss me, this time more confident and with more passion.