Chapter 9:

"I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be"

Douglas Adams

Life's Book Lines



Kaoru had ran, ran from the looks, the appalled gasps, from the shouts of her name. She had run towards the room and cried her heart out, a worried Saichi her only form of comfort among the turmoil road that had become her life. Her stepmother had been after power the entire time, never had she loved the family that she had helped raise; never had she truly cared for Kaoru.

After what seemed like an hour the girl had sent her brother downstairs to have Hiko introduce him to papa Enishi, she didn't think it was fair to keep her brother from learning he still had blood relatives in the world that would care for him. If he chose to go away with the silver alpha Kaoru would not protest, she wouldn't take anything away from the child that had no clue how much he had already lost.

She buried herself beneath the sheets, covering herself from head to toe so that no one would bother her, so it was only normal she did not expect to be held in a tight embrace. Nor did the little submissive think she would actually lean into the warmth, crying silently beneath her shield of blankets.

It was as if her life had just started to climb a bit when someone decided to slip a stick beneath her feet and watch her fall from the endless cliff of grief and pain. And for some reason someone had decided to jump after her, even if it meant ending their own life to save her own.

Why did she feel so safe in these arms?

Gathering her courage the girl peeked between the blankets, and squeaked in surprise when a warm hand cupped her wet cheek and wiped away at the trail of tears. Soft amber looked into her eyes, and Kaoru couldn't believe the face of the alpha in front of her. Every sane thought screamed that she run, scramble away from the possessive creature, but her body was too comfortable to move away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Sincerity gleamed in his gaze, no pity. "I've been terrible to you, I promise you little pup, I will not act as I have towards you again."

He took the blanket and once more covered her shocked face, pulling her up against his body as the man moved his back onto the headboard, settling her on top of his body, between his legs. A hand rubbing the girl's back as she struggled to comprehend the alpha that was suddenly being bipolar once more.

"We must mate," he started, pausing when he felt her stiffen. "But I will not force anything but the mark on you." The redhead was being kind, caring.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over. "I didn't know, I didn't know what had been done to you, I'm sorry." The man sounded on the brink of crying, and Kaoru realized that he had taken his time on his venture up the stairs because he'd remained to talk to Enishi. The alpha had retrieved more information from both the two men who were familiar with her and had realized what her life consisted of.

Kaoru didn't know what possessed her to do so, what made her partially move the blankets from her head and wrap her arms around his neck. What made her sob without pause on his shoulder as he rubbed her back like her father had done when she was a child, before Yumi.

Everything in her life shattered, and at the moment the man she detested was her only anchor to reality. He was the only thing keeping Kaoru from running to the bathroom and taking her own life, from running back to her old home and getting massacred in the foolish notion.

For years Yumi had lied to her family, to her father! She was a wolf like Kaoru, and had planned on gathering the strongest of hunters to form a pack stronger than anyone in the region. Alongside Shishio, a man the girl had always been cautious of steering away from, she wanted to rule the world. Her plans, however, had gone terribly wrong when the girl she had been forced to raise had been unexpectedly turned.

Kaoru wasn't meant to be a wolf, she was supposed to have been killed as easy as any other human. After weeks of awaiting the young girl to wake from the slumber that had healed her wounds Yumi had realized that the turn had been a gift, and had decided to convince Kaoru to leave before she caught on to the scent of the other wolves around her. At times having convinced the child it was the mere smell of those that had been kept in the basement.

When the girl had been so convinced of her damnation that Yumi was positive she would take her own life the woman decided to kill her father in front of her (she would have also taken Saichi's life had it not been for Kaoru sending him away) and banish Kaoru. And her plan had worked; the girl had run blindly as the hunters chased her until she had collapsed over a cliff. Yumi still thought Kaoru was dead; she had no reason to believe otherwise.

So the little pup cried, for her lack of love in life, for her lack of family, and for her lack of fortune. Had fate truly been so cruel that they had cast only horrors in her wake? So why was this possessive alpha suddenly promising things she had never heard from anyone but herself speaking to Saichi? Why was he being so kind all of a sudden?

They remained in their position until Kaoru stopped crying, until her tears ran dry and only the small hiccups escaped her lips, until those hiccups turned into soft breaths as the pup fell into a dreamless sleep.

"How is she?" Came the question from the looming Hiko as he peered at their entwined bodies on the bed.

"She's asleep…I really had no idea." Battousai looked up with shame in his eyes, regretting his nature as alpha. "I can never stop being possessive of the little one, I can't stop the lust that I feel anytime I see her innocent eyes…I just didn't know this was the extent of problems."

Hiko nodded slightly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed where he would not disturb Kaoru but could still hold a whispered conversation with the one he had grown to watch over since as long as he could remember. "Her life has never been easy, I did everything I could to intervene, but it was nothing compared to the horrors she still had to face."

The alpha agreed, his hands tightening slightly on the bundle he finally cradled in his arms. He had requested that the pack stay away from himself and Kaoru for a few days, that while they gathered others around the country to form an alliance against the upcoming war he could court his young mate. The council had been taken care of, Enishi had assured. The man had been able to stop their decision with the simple fact that he was her creator and had a right to deny them the rights of mating unless it was of her wishes or of drastic needs.

"You're going to have to be kinder Battousai," the wolf (surprisingly younger then Battousai) explained. "If you want Kaoru to fall for you then you must show her the side that I grew up with, the boy that trusted and believed in others."

The alpha said nothing, but the nod he returned was enough assurance that he had understood the question. "I can't stop my anger when others are around, or when she attempts to hurt herself, but otherwise I'll restrain my temper."

Hiko looked taken aback for several minutes, and he showed the rage that showed the similarity between the two. "She's done what?" He growled low.

"I found her in the bathroom, slit her wrists more than once, the girl doesn't believe she is worth anything alive." He went to explain more when the voices from earlier interrupted the conversation, the ghosts that had briefly disappeared from the room earlier.

"Kaoru has been tricking into getting rid of herself if Yumi failed to do so," it was the smaller of the ghosts, the scarred one. He was sitting against the wall, a strong arm wrapped around his neck as the more intimidating creature silently studied them.

Battousai went pale, so did Hiko, neither were used to the idea that there were ghosts haunting the younger girl. It had seemed that she was familiar with them, however, when she had turned around before leaving the room and roared that the 'damned ancestors' find another family member to haunt.

"My name is Gabdeus," the man explained. "And my mate is Alexander, you might know him from the millions of legends and stories fabricated and told about history?" He grinned as he watched the two men nod slowly.

"I used to be a submissive, like Kaoru, and since my death have been watching over my line waiting for another one like myself to appear. Kaoru was destined to end up here since the day she was born, and she will want nothing but vengeance for as long as she lives." He explained.

"Yumi is her stepmother, not her real mother. In fact, to speed up the process the woman actually paid the midwife to kill her mother at the birth. As the caring woman willing to help Kaoru's father take the baby then she would be able to situate herself in a position of power, one that would grow as time passed. It was only a matter of time before Kaoru ended up at the hunter's backyard."

Battousai growled, his hold tightening on the sleeping girl. "Why the hell didn't you do something to help her, you bastard? If you knew the trouble, why didn't you stop it?"

The ghost shrugged, as if to say it wasn't his place to stop. "We all have a book written about us, it is only a matter of time before we find ourselves stumbling upon the lines of destiny, written in stone. I've come to beg that you find a way to change those lines…"

Gabdues stood up, walking towards the bed and stopping when he realized the freaked out looks he'd received from the men. "If you do not get Kaoru to mate with you within the next three days, Yumi will kill her."

Without warning the two ghosts started to fade, and Battousai watched in horror alongside his mentor. His amber eyes fell to gaze into the girl's blue eyes, open in matching shock of the words. Their gazes crashed, both holding the same turmoil emotions of the other.

Shit.


Hello,

So I hope this chapter made sense, if it didn't things are either going to be explained or just ask, if I don't answer, it's cause it will be explained later.

I am aware of Battousai's dramatic change, but he just learned of the true horrors of Kaoru's past, and things must change if he wants her to mate with him. Don't worry, arrogant, angry alpha is still there, just not so much so in this chapter. Tune in next time, a little bird might be making an appearance for the infamous Yumi.