Midnight Whispers - Paranormal Romance (12 page)

Bryce
flinched as though she’d struck him, and she continued. “I have friends who
care about me, and an aunt who loves me and needs my help. What am I going to
tell them? And how will I ever be able to see them again if I am living with
you?”

“Kyra, I’m
sorry,” he said as she surged to her feet. “I…”

“… didn’t
think about my end of things very much, did you?” she finished softly, her blue
eyes sad. “I know. And that’s why I’m not sure I can do this yet.”

Turning on
her heel, she left Bryce staring helplessly after her, and did her best to
ignore the stinging in her eyes as she walked home.

****

When Kyra
came home, it was to find her aunt rocking quietly in her chair, a knitting
project sitting untouched in her lap. Lines of sadness were carved into her
face, and she looked about ten years older than she had at the funeral when
she’d offered Kyra a new home.

Grabbing the
stool by the fire, Kyra sat down next to her and took her hand. “You’re cold,”
she said, startled by the icy touch of Sylvia’s hand. “Too cold. Are you not
well?”

Her aunt
shook her head. “I think I’m just getting old, child.” She squeezed Kyra’s hand
gently. “It’s hard, seeing young people die. Their whole lives are ahead of
them, with such promise, and then it’s gone. Whereas I’m sitting here,
comfortable in my fifties.”

“I’m sorry, ”
Kyra paused. “How are the Bennets?”

Sylvia shook
her head. “Grieving. Poor little Katie, their daughter, is beside herself, and
Judy is in no position to comfort her. Kent simply stands around with a dazed,
lost look in his eye, like he’s a child instead of a grown man.” She sighed.
“The funeral is tomorrow. You’ll come?”

Kyra nodded.
“Of course.”

****

Like the last
funeral, she wore a borrowed black dress. Unlike the last funeral, it was
simple muslin, and not the stiff, costly taffeta that, despite its color, had
seemed almost too gaudy for a funeral. In this dress she felt simple, humble.
Just a woman, coming to pay her respects to the newly deceased.

The funeral
rites were not the boring, ostentatious and pretentious affair her parents had
been treated to. These boys were well-known and loved by everyone, including
the local pastor, and it showed. Rather than cold, stark faces, there were
heartfelt tears.

Nearly
everyone stepped forward to give their final words to the Bennet boys,
including Jake. He regaled a tale of mischief and fun that had everyone smiling
through their tears, and gave them a heartfelt goodbye that had tears rolling
down even Kyra’s cheeks, who hadn’t even known them. She licked her lips,
tasting salt as the caskets were lowered into the ground, and then covered.

After the funeral
was over, when Sylvia had gone over to the Bennet family to offer her support
once again, Kyra found Jake, who was standing off to the side, staring down at
the graves with a pensive expression on his face.

“This was all
my fault,” he murmured.

“What do you
mean?” Kyra asked, and he jumped, startled.

“Oh,
nothing,” he said, scratching the back of his head as he smiled at her. “Just
mumbling to myself, I guess.”

“I don’t see
how their deaths could be your fault,” Kyra persisted, not willing to let the
statement slide. “You did say they were mauled by a beast, didn’t you?”

“That I did.”
Jake sighed, his eyes returning to the grave. “I just… I wish there was some
way I could have prevented it. They were good men. We’d been friends a long
time.” Sadness swam in the depths of his blue eyes, and Kyra’s heart went out
to him. He seemed genuinely haunted by what happened to them.

“I think the
same way about my parents,” she told him, taking his hand and rubbing the back
of it with her thumb. He looked her way, startled, and then down at their
joined hands. “If only I’d thought to save them instead of worrying so much
about my own safety…” she shook her head. “I guess we truly find out what kind
of person we are when faced with a crisis. And I found out I was a
self-centered coward.”

“That’s not
fair,” Jake said, turning to face her fully. “You were frightened, and had
never been trained in how to deal with that kind of situation. You were facing
a group of men much stronger than you. There was no guarantee you would have
done anything except gotten yourself killed. And if that had happened, I never
would have met you.”

Kyra smiled.
“You always know just the right thing to say, don’t you, Jake?” She shook her
head. “I should be comforting you, not the other way around.”

Jake squeezed
her hand. “You are comforting me. You’re reminding me that there’s still good
in my life, despite the bad things that happen around us. That there’s always
something worth fighting for.”

He reached
out to touch her cheek, and Kyra stood, frozen at the depth of emotion in his
eyes. Suddenly she felt terribly guilty about running off to see Bryce
yesterday; Jake and her Aunt had been suffering even as they’d tried to help
the Bennets through their grief, and she’d been sitting in the lap of a man who
was not even remotely invested in her world. While they had been seeing to the
needs of others, she had been seeing to her own needs.

Hating
herself, she turned her face away, dropping his hand from hers. “I’m… I’m not a
very good person, Jake. Not like you.”

 Jake
laughed. “There’s always a battle between good and evil within all of us. I
don’t know anyone who hasn’t done things they’re ashamed of, made mistakes they
wished they could take back. What matters is what you do now, as you look toward
the future.”

Kyra stared
at Jake as though seeing him for the first time—he wasn’t just a
fun-loving farmer boy. He was a strong, intelligent man, attentive to the needs
of others, and willing to see more than what was just on the surface. “I don’t
think I’ve ever heard you sound so… serious before,” she said, only
half-teasing.

He gave her a
lopsided grin. “I can be serious when the mood strikes me.” He sighed. “And
today is a serious day.” He offered her his arm. “Why don’t we go offer our
condolences?”

Kyra took his
arm. “But I’m not sure what to say.”

He tugged her
forward. “You’ll do just fine.”

****

Kyra didn’t
visit Bryce the next day. Instead she took care of the chores at home while her
Aunt was visiting with the Bennets, and then just sat on the front porch for a
long time, staring out into the fields as she mulled over her situation. Should
she continue seeing both men? It seemed that whenever she and Bryce were
together, sparks flew, and it was hard to think of anything else but him. Yet when
she was here, away from him, and the mating call wasn’t pulling her toward the
forest, she was uncertain. She loved her aunt, and she cared about Jake. There
was a sturdy community of people here whom she genuinely liked, which included
Jake’s family. And she was certain that if she was given enough time with just
Jake that something could form between them.

But with
Bryce’s hold on her, it threw her life out of whack. She wished she didn’t have
to make a choice at all. It would be easier on all her loved ones if she could
just step back and walk away.

When her aunt
came home she was more exhausted than ever, and Kyra began to truly worry. But
Sylvia waved her off, simply asking Kyra to make her a pot of tea, and that she
would have some after a nap. Kyra sipped some of the tea herself as her aunt
slept, and then, finally restless, she wandered over to the Whitaker farm.

“Kyra!”
Jamie, Amelia’s little boy, rushed outside the house as soon as he saw her
through the windows. He threw himself into her arms, and she hugged him
tightly. “You’re back! Have you come to play with me?”

Kyra smiled.
“I would love to spend some time with you, little one.” She ruffled his hair,
looking up as Amelia came outside, a gentle smile on her face. It was a big
change from the wary look that used to enter her eyes whenever Kyra would come
by. “But first I did want to see your Uncle Jake.”

“He’s not
here right now,” Amelia told her. “He’s still at the Bennets, helping Kent with
the preparations for the Harvest.” She sighed. “My brothers are out in the
fields right now along with Father, and Mother went out to the market. It’s
been rather lonely here, and I’ve cleaned from top to bottom so that you could
eat off these floors.”

“It sounds
like you could use some company,” Kyra said.

“I would love
some.”

They played a
game of ball with Jamie outside, and then retired indoors for tea and biscuits.
Jamie wrestled playfully with one of the dogs on the floor while Kyra and
Amelia chatted about nothing in particular.

“It has been
awhile since you’ve last been by. What have you been doing these days?”

Kyra
shrugged, trying to ignore the jump in her gut. “Oh, just taking care of our
own harvest preparations, and keeping up with the chores. I… I think my Aunt
Sylvia isn’t feeling very well. She doesn’t complain, and refuses to see a
doctor, but she fatigues easily.”

Amelia’s eyes
widened. “Do you think she’s ill?”

Kyra bit her
lip. “I… I don’t know, but I know she’s much paler than she used to be, and
colder too.”

“It could be
that age is catching up to her,” Amelia remarked. “Still, if you need anything,
just let me know.”

Jake walked
into the house, looking sweaty and tired, but his eyes lit when he saw Kyra
sitting at the table. “Well hello there. Didn’t expect to see you when I came
home today.”

“I decided to
drop in and visit with your family.” Kyra smiled at him. “It’s been awhile
since I’ve last been here. But don’t let me keep you from cleaning up. You look
like you could use a wash.”

“You could
say that.” He grinned. “If you come close enough, you’ll say I smell like I
could use one too.”

Kyra held up
her hand and wrinkled her nose. “No thanks.”

She rolled
her eyes as he laughed and walked off, then turned to Amelia. “Your brother has
a peculiar sense of humor.”

Amelia
giggled. “Yes, but it’s one of the things I love about him.” Her eyes softened.
“He really does have feelings for you, Kyra.”

Kyra sighed.
“I know.”

Amelia
frowned. “Does that bother you?”

“I… no. I
know he has feelings for me, and I care very deeply about your brother. I
just…” she trailed off, not knowing what to say. She couldn’t very well tell
Amelia about Bryce, could she? “I just have other things to think about.”

Amelia
nodded. “I know better than anyone else the kind of damage jumping into a
relationship with a man can do when you’re not thinking.” Bitterness twisted
her lips briefly into a sneer. “But I know my brother isn’t that kind of man.
If you ever need someone to talk to…”

Kyra smiled.
“Thank you.”

Jake appeared
wearing clean clothes and looking absolutely stunning; his chiseled, suntanned
face lighting up, as he made his way closer to Kyra.

Kyra smiled,
approvingly. “How can you look so good even though you’ve just come back from
doing back-breaking labor?”

He grinned at
her, taking a seat at the table. “I’ve got lots of energy.”

Amelia arched
a brow. “With the amount of food you shovel in, you should,” she remarked as he
tucked in four biscuits in as many seconds. “If I ate as much and as often as
you did, I couldn’t walk!”
She grabbed the plate and stood. “I’m going to go clean up.”

Jake grabbed
the remaining biscuits from the plate as his sister passed by, and Kyra
couldn’t help but laugh.

****

The next
afternoon Kyra drug herself back to the shifter village—she’d barely the
night before even though it had only been a day since she’d last seen Bryce.
He’d been right about the mating call strengthening.

Bryce was
waiting for her at the end of the maze, and a profound relief swept over her as
soon as she caught sight of him. The emotion was mirrored in his own
expression, but it was tempered with wariness.

“You didn’t
come yesterday,” he said as they walked back to his cabin.

Kyra lifted
her chin. “I needed some time to think.”

He nodded.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said.”

Kyra blinked.
“You have?”

He arched a
brow. “You needn’t sound so surprised. I’m not completely insensitive. Although
considering the way I’ve been acting lately, I suppose I deserve it.
I know that
I’m asking you to give up your entire life for me, and that I haven’t really given
you much incentive to do so.” He paused. “If it were possible for me to leave
my village to come and live with you, I would. But even if I weren’t concerned
about my responsibility to the pack, the fact is that it would be too dangerous.
If anyone ever found out that I was a shifter…”

Kyra nodded.
“We would both be executed.”

“I’ve heard
that burning is in season right now,” Bryce remarked, making Kyra shudder. “It still
doesn’t excuse my behavior. If I want you to stay with me, I need to give you a
reason to do so. And so here we are.”

They turned a
corner, and Kyra realized that he’d led her past his cabin and into the village
square. The small, open space was filled with women chattering, but they all
stopped and turned as one to look at her.

Leah rushed
forward from the group, her hands outstretched, a welcome smile on her face.
“Oh, Kyra, it’s good to see you!” She gave Kyra a gentle hug, then beamed at
her brother. “I was worried you were wrong and that she wasn’t going to come
today, but I should know better than to doubt your instincts.”

“What is this
all about?” Kyra asked, taking a wary step back as she looked over at the group
of women. At least they were eyeing her with speculation and curiosity rather
than outright resentment or hostility… but Kyra didn’t like to be stared at
regardless of the reason.