Page 343 of His Hungry Wolf

“Do I what?”

“Do you forgive me?”

I looked at the guy I had thought about so much throughout my life. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t see him as a monster. He was human.

“Evan Carter, I forgive you,” I said surprised to hear it come out of my mouth.

He got off his knees.

“Really?” He asked excitedly.

“Yea.”

With a smile on his face, he threw his arms open about to hug me.

“No!” I said coldly. “I forgive you. But we aren’t friends. And, you need to get help. You owe it to me and everyone else you’ve hurt.”

I paused catching myself.

“More than that, you owe it to yourself. You don’t have to feel like this and there could be a really great life waiting for you on the other side.”

Evan settled himself. “I appreciate you saying that.”

“I never want to see you again, Evan. Is that clear?”

He took a deep breath. “It’s clear.”

“Good. And, good luck,” I said sincerely.

“Thank you, Kendall, for everything,” he said before turning around and walking off.

I couldn’t have imagined how cathartic my conversation with Evan could have been. Watching him walk away, I felt different. Everything felt different. As if a weight had been removed from my shoulders, I suddenly felt lighter. I don’t mean it figuratively. I was literally lighter.

More than that, there was a glow that was surrounding me. It made my skin tingle. I felt alive.

The veil that had covered me my whole life was gone. I could see colors I had never noticed before. I could hear sounds that hadn’t existed moments before. And through all of it I saw the face of two people who I had only seen in pictures.

“Mom? Dad?”

They didn’t respond. They just smiled. It was enough. I didn’t need anything more to know that it really was them.

I could have stayed in that bliss forever if something hadn’t rattled in the back of my mind. Whipped back into the real world I realized what had done it. Charging towards me with a wild look in its eyes was Evan’s wolf. The spell that had masked my scent was gone. He could smell me again.

I should have been scared but I wasn’t. Watching him as if he were moving in slow motion, I waited until he was in range and then lifted my arms and brought the world down on him.

It wasn’t actually the world. In fact, it was nothing anyone could see. But visible or not the weight of it landed on him like a boulder. In an instant, he was being crushed under it like a spider under a rock.

I calmly held it there for him to feel it. I didn’t want him to forget what it felt like. Then finally when his howls of pain became more than I could bare, I released him. Staggering to his paws, he ran off. This would be the last time I saw Evan Carter, and this time I was sure of it.

When Evan was gone, neither my parents nor the bliss returned. I wasn’t quite back to my old self, but I was close. I could still see colors I hadn’t seen before and occasionally hear new sounds. But the majesty I had experienced was gone. I was Kendall Seers again.

As my mind settled, I remembered casting the spell that hid my scent. It had been a little more than a wish. I had wanted to be left alone. And because I must have sensed what Evan was, a barrier that nose blinded shifters was the result.

Standing there thinking about what I had done to Evan as a kid and why, I was never surer about what I was going to do with my life. I had hurt him and he had hurt me in return. None of it would have happened if either of us had someone to help us deal with our pain.

I wanted to help little boys like Evan. Intervening with them early could change their lives and the lives of everyone around them.

But, it wasn’t just LGBT kids I wanted to help. There were adults. A lot of people in this world were in pain. I thought about it. Wasn’t Nero one of them?