Chapter 14 Distance

Chapter 14 Distance
Kieran Silvermane

I watched Elena disappear into the crowd with Sierra, my chest compressing against its walls. Returning to the clubroom, the music pounded around me and bodies pressed close on all sides. My wolf was restless, agitated by the confrontation and her accusations, leaving me partly disconnected from what was happening in the club.
“Kieran!” Jaxon appeared at my elbow, shoving a fresh drink into my hand. “Where’d you go, man? Come on, Vega’s about to do his big finale.”
I finished the drink in one gulp, letting Jaxon pull me back toward our group. Vivienne was there, dancing with some guy I didn’t recognize. And the blonde from earlier—Madison? Madeline?—smiled when she saw me, reaching out to touch my arm again.
I pulled back slightly, just enough to break contact without being obvious about it.
Subconsciously, my eyes scanned the crowd looking for Elena even as I hate to admit it.
Movement near the exit caught my attention, and I saw Sierra, pushing through the crowd with a thunderous expression, heading toward me.
My friends had always joked that she always acted as furious as a tiger, while Elena was like a meek dove.
“Oh shit,” Jaxon muttered by my side. “That’s Elena’s friend and she looks pissed. I did not do anything, did you?”
Sierra stopped a few feet away, close enough that I could see the fury in her eyes. “Alpha Kieran.” Her voice was controlled, but I could hear the threat underneath. “A word.”
“Sierra, is everything alright?”
“No.” She stepped closer, lowering her voice so only I could hear. “Everything is not alright. Because you keep hurting my best friend.”
“What do you mean?”
“Acting oblivious is not going to save you.” Her eyes flashed. “Elena came out tonight to have fun, just like every other person here but the self serving part of you that dignifies yourself so much, had to interrupt, spoiling her mood.”
“I would prefer you understand quickly that she’s done with all your shit that she had to endure tutoring you and hates to tolerate your nonsense anymore.”
What shit was she talking about? I did not put Elena through any shit.
“I am telling you in the nicest possible way, stop irritating her more than you have already done, else I promise I will make you hate yourself.” She let out an awkward smile, then added, “I will be going, Alpha.”
The threat was empty. We both knew it. A mid-ranking wolf couldn’t touch the Alpha’s son without severe consequences.
But the protective fury in her eyes was real. And grudgingly, I respected it.
Sierra held my gaze for another moment, then turned and stalked back toward the exit.
I watched her go, something bitter settling in my stomach.
Jaxon moved closer. “What was that about?”
“Nothing.” I lifted my brows slightly.
He didn’t look convinced, but he let it drop.
The crowd surged toward the stage where Vega was launching into what was clearly his closing number and the screams becoming even louder.
I turned back toward where I had last seen Elena, half-expecting her to have left.
She was still there.
Still dancing with Sierra, both of them laughing at something. Elena’s hair was down, catching the lights, and she was moving with an ease I rarely saw from her at the estate. I looked away, forcing my attention back to my own group. Madison was saying something about the after-party, asking if I was going. I made noncommittal sounds, not really listening.
My eyes kept drifting back.
Elena was completely absorbed in the music now, Sierra shouting something in her ear that made her laugh. And now, she wasn’t looking at me or glancing in my direction like she did when she had come in.
She probably hated me so much right now.
“Yo, Kieran!” One of the guys—Tyler, I think—was grinning. “We’re doing dares. You in?”
“What kind of dares?” I asked, though I already regretted engaging.
“Nothing crazy. Just fun stuff. Come on, it’ll be hilarious.”
Against my better judgment, I found myself pulled into their circle. Someone suggested increasingly ridiculous challenges like dancing on the bar, chugging three shots in under a minute and convincing the bartender to give us free drinks. I already made up my mind that if the convincing part fell on me, I would quietly pay for it and make them think I had gotten it free.
Luckily they had done many spins and it was yet to fall at me.
In a blink, Madison was in front of me, laughing at something Tyler had just said. “Okay, okay. Kieran’s dare. Madison has to sit on his lap and—”
Before he could finish, I interrupted. “That’s stupid.”
“Come on, man. It’s just a game.”
Madison was already moving closer, her expression playful. “I don’t mind.”
And every eyes were turning towards me.
“Kieran she does not mind, what’s stopping you?”
“Wait… is it the bond thing? Does your wolf still feel any pull even after the rejection?”
“It would make so much sense, because I have observed how he had been stiff with girls around him. The usual kieran would be pressing ass already.”
Somehow, they found their talk funny, and all of them were actually laughing.
“Fine,” I said.
Madison settled onto my lap, her weight light against my thighs. She was saying something flirty and meaningless and the group was laughing and egging us on.
I felt nothing.
No attraction or interest. Just the uncomfortable awareness that this was performative and hollow.
My eyes searched the crowd again, looking for—
Naa, she wasn’t looking. I guess she was not even aware this was happening. She was still dancing, completely absorbed in her own world.
Madison shifted, her hand on my shoulder, and I forced myself to stay still. To play along with whatever stupid game I got myself into.
The song ended finally. Madison stood, rejoining the group and another person was already suggesting the next dare.
I stood too. “I need air. Be right back.”
I pushed through the crowd toward the exit, ignoring protests from my friends. The cool night air hit my face as I emerged onto the street, and I sucked in deep breaths.
What was I doing here?
I had a mythology project due in three weeks. I had pack responsibilities. I had a dozen legitimate things I should be focusing on instead of playing stupid games in a club while—
“That was her!” I heard a familiar voice, high with excitement.
I turned. Sierra’s car was parked across the street, and Elena was climbing into the passenger seat while Sierra practically bounced in the driver’s seat.
“I’m telling you, he actually talked to me!” Sierra was saying. “Like, real conversation! He asked my name and everything!”
“You were backstage for two minutes,” Elena replied, but she was smiling.
“Two minutes of MAGIC. Lena, he shook my hand. Do you understand? Vega. Shook. My. Hand.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“No no, the moon goddess just blessed me with my dream man. There’s a difference.”
They were laughing together, and for reasons I was not sure of, my chest twisted uncomfortably.
This was what Elena looked like when she wasn’t around me. Happy. Relaxed. Free.
I was the one making her miserable. Me and my manipulation and my inability to just leave her alone because I have against my better judgment, always needed her since the first time she had helped me during a test preparation for a general course we shared together.
I should go back inside. Give her this moment without my presence tainting it.
Instead, I walked to my car and sat in the driver’s seat without starting the engine.
From here, I could just make out Sierra’s car and watch Elena in the passenger seat, her head thrown back in laughter at something Sierra said.
They sat there for several minutes, just talking. Sierra’s hands moved animatedly as she recounted whatever had happened backstage.
Finally, Sierra started the car. They pulled away from the curb, taillights disappearing around the corner.
I sat alone in my car, in the dark, and tried to figure out when everything had gotten so complicated.
I had rejected Elena to save her life. That was supposed to be the end of it. She was supposed to move on, hope for a chance at a second chance mate, live a long happy life without me.
Instead, she was living in my house. I went further at Jaxon’s advice, manipulating her into tutoring me. 
Unintentionally, my actions continously seemed like I was making everything worse.
My phone buzzed and a notification came in from Jaxon: Where’d you go? Come back, after party at V’s place
I typed back: Heading home. Not feeling it
The response was immediate: You ok?
“Yup!” I replied, then started my engine and drove out of the club’s parking lot.