Skinned

¤ Where Boundaries Break ¤

It was quietude that first greeted me in my wake, along with the empty side of the bed. My arms were wrapped around a pillow that carried Killian's unique scent, and I buried my nose deeper into the pillow, completely enamored by his smell alone.

I couldn't bring myself to leave the bed, as if the comfort of its mattress mixed with the lingering traces of Killian bound me down into place,

They felt like shackles, but the only difference was that they were the type of restraint that I was more than willing to indulge in.

And I frowned at myself, realizing that I was never going to be able to sleep in my room when I knew that my peace lied only on his bed.

I allowed my hazy eyes to go through the contents of his bedroom, and came to notice how the wall in front of me had been covered by the maps of our territory with a few locations marked by circles and his handwriting, most of them residing only in the Northern part of the land. Around the maps were his pinned notes and sketches, all of which were done in different types of paper.

From there my interest was piqued, and I slowly crawled out of bed and let my feet take me closer to the wall that held the rest of his mind's concerns.

I found myself tracing the red lines with a finger, noticing how he marked the exact place where he had been discovered, up until it passed through our border.

He had been trying to figure out his origin, but based from the maps that were presented in front of me, he was far from finding it out.

Other markings were of color blue circled around various locations and scattered around the borders of the land, and I figured that they were connected to the recent intrusions occurring around the area, making me wonder if he had found resolve to the many times the pack's border had been breached since he took position as an alpha.

I went on to the notes and sketches around the maps, some of them a drawn image of delicate flowers, and I grinned at how he made sure that he captured every detail that met his eyes. But then I noticed a drawing pinned below it, my mouth parting in astonishment as I quickly realized what he had managed to portray.

Me.

My dark brown hair was long and framed my features, eyebrows drawn into a concentrated frown that equaled to the glare of my brown eyes. He had drawn freckles, dotting them along my cheeks as well as the bridge of my nose, and captured the exact curve of my parted lips. He even set a shadow that emphasized my cheekbones and the cut of my jaw, completely capturing my expression at a brooding character.

Each detail of my features had gone unmissed by his keen sketch, and I found myself lost of words upon realizing that he had memorized me so well.

But I felt my heart stop upon noticing the bite mark drawn at the side of my neck.

"Valerie," Killian called out as he suddenly appeared at the open door.

I jumped away from the wall and dropped my hands to my sides as my head quickly snapped to his direction with widened eyes, and I noticed how his features flushed, his eyes nervously shifting to me and the picture he had drawn.

"There's—," he cleared his throat, "There's breakfast in the pack house. I was going to ask if you're going to come with me or I'll bring the food here."

I blinked at him, taking his offer into consideration, and ended up dropping my gaze in shame.

I didn't think anyone in the pack would want to see me. The number of judging eyes I was going to meet in that room would only contribute to my shame.

I shook my head and tried to swallow down the familiar ache in my throat, "You can bring my food after you're done with your breakfast."

"Okay," Killian nodded, his eyes thoughtful. He didn't need to ask to know what was going through my head, and his expression alone told me that he knew exactly why I couldn't bring myself to face the members of the pack.