Kaya & Caleb Pt. 2 - Age 10

It was a crisp autumn day one that had the perfect weather for walking. The wind blew casually through the fading trees rustling the leaves of reds and golds. It had been raining heavily the last few days but the gloomy weather brought warm sunshine and gentle breezes today. The heavenly scent of apple pie clung to the air floating out of a nearby window from one of the neighboring ranches. Charlie inhaled deeply enjoying the scent. And yet even more than that he could smell the new arrivals of families to the smaller outlets of Shadowvale. Many of them had come hoping for a fresh start in a new town not realizing the existence of creatures that inhabited the mountains above them.

Caleb was stuck indoors dealing with their fresh pack mates. With the onset of winter, many new bloods began transitioning and looking for an affiliation. The Savages weren’t keen on the large number of animals inhabiting their territory but it was either kill or accept. Caleb chose the latter though many had come to see their last day as well. Twelve newborns had been initiated into the pack with three more on the way in tonight. It was a very busy time of the year. Hoping to create a sense of home within the future Luna, Charlie volunteered to take her out and explore the area. Kaya saw it as an opportunity to get muddy and pick flowers. Activities she was always fond of back home.

She carefully plucked another budding daisy from the patch of wildflowers along the trail and stuck it in her pocket before wrapping her hand around Charlie’s once more. He smiled down at her as she kicked pebbles off the dirt path and rushed towards another puddle to stomp in. She had already soiled the bottom of his jeans, there wasn’t much more harm she could cause his denim. Kaya giggled as he kicked his feet trying to get the mud out of his boots and gently took his hand again.

“Charlie am I ever going home?” she asked wistfully knowing full well she wouldn’t get the answer she wanted.

He walked a little further up the trail, stopping just at the water’s edge before turning to meet her saddened gaze. “Why do you want to leave me? Did I do something bad?”

She shook her head no before offering explanation. “I bet my Mommy and Daddy really miss me.” Charlie was at a loss for words. It was a delicate subject, one he didn’t want to lie to her about but knew it wasn’t his place to tell her the truth. He always tread carefully when it came to the subject of her parents. “Why didn’t they want me anymore?”

The question instantly made the seasoned wolf drop to his knees and he held the little girl in his hands rubbing her arms as he felt the makings of her tears rumble in her shoulders. “Of course they wanted you Kaya, you’re a terrific kid. A little clumsy, loud sometimes and you have a funny looking face but you’re sweet and lovable. Your parents want you but you have to live with me and Caleb for a while. They didn’t want bad people to get you. You’re safe with us.”

She nodded not fully understanding what he meant but smiled just the same. “Come on, I’m getting hungry and I hear a gelato and cerise calling our names. What do you say?”

“Yeah!” she jumped eagerly and led the way towards the manor.

Five years later…

“Kaya don’t play in your food, eat,” Caleb sighed growing frustrated with her as she continued poking holes in her mashed potatoes.

“I’m not hungry!” she replied angrily. “I want my Mommy and Daddy!”

Caleb dropped his fork to his plate with a loud clink that echoed off the walls in the near empty dining hall. The pack had finished their dinners and Kaya refused to come out of her room to join them. And now that she had, it was just her and Caleb having a meal in silence. 

Another week had passed and Kaya had grown more and more suspicious and resistant. She could sense something was going on but whenever she asked, she was only told “when you’re older”.

Now she sat angry and confused and the people around her refused to give her a straight answer. “You need your strength Kaya. You do want to be able to keep up with the rest of the pack don’t you?”

“I said I’m not hungry!” she nearly shouted the last word as she jumped up from the table and stomped towards the door.

Caleb huffed in annoyance as she rushed up the stairs towards her room. He could hear the door slam shut as she dotted the exclamation mark on her point. It was clear to him how she felt and more and more he hated himself for the course of action taken five years ago. Day after day he watched her grow up around his pack learning all of their idiosyncrasies and habits. It made him proud knowing she was being molded into the great pack Luna they would all look up to one day. 

But at the same time he knew that she was not as happy as she once was in his home. The sounds of happiness and laughter day by day were replaced with silent sighs and angry yelling.  He wasn’t what she needed and he could never be. The days of her asking about her parents had long since passed but she never forgot them. Instead she filled her nights sketching them in her notebooks so that their faces remained indelibly etched in her mind. 

Their charcoal portraits hung everywhere in her room and it saddened him whenever he saw her staring. Against Charlie’s advice that he tell her when she was younger what had taken place that night, Caleb waited until she was maybe old enough to truly understand his actions and why it was necessary. But in his hopes of doing what was right for her he found that it only caused animosity to fester inside of her. Although he never lied about what became of them, he never actually told her the truth and that made her believe the worst.

Caleb pulled away from the table and followed upstairs after her. He stopped short as he noticed Charlie slip into her room and moved slower as he approached her door. Pressing an ear to the wooden frame he listened as his baby brother tried to reason with their ward. 

“You should eat something Funny Face. You don’t want to get sick.”

“I don’t want to eat his food.”

“What’s the matter? Find a hair in your soup?” She looked up at him annoyed and he snapped his fingers. “Darn. And I was hoping to replace that armpit hair I lost.”

“Gross!”

“Yeah but you didn’t find it so who’s to say Caleb didn’t eat it?” His response made her smile temporarily but hearing his name made the funny feeling return to the pit of her stomach almost as quickly.

“Beary Bear lied,” she sighed and placed her old stuffed teddy between her legs as she sat on the edge of the bed. “He’s not my friend! He’s not a nice person.”

“Why do you say that Kit-Kat?” Charlie took a seat beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders.

“Because, he hurt my Mommy and Daddy! I miss them.” She replied sorrowfully as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“I know you do and I’m sorry. Caleb is only trying to make things better for you though. He really doesn’t like seeing you sad.”

“But he’s a bad man and I don’t like it here anymore! I want to go home!” she cried harder as she squeezed her bear tighter in her arms.

Caleb felt his throat tighten as he listened to them through the door. It was as he’d expected and there wasn’t anything he could think of to make her see things his way. He held off on telling her for so long and now he was faced with her anger and hatred. Charlie continued trying to calm the girl but she wasn’t having it. He heard the candles blow out and his brother walk towards the door.

“Hey,” Charlie greeted him solemnly as he exited the bedroom. “You heard?” Caleb nodded and fell against the wall. “Look it might not be as bad as it seems. Right now she just needs time to understand it all and…”

“There isn’t enough time in the world to get over something like this Charlie. We are eternal creatures which means she could hate me for as long as we live.” He sighed and pulled away from the wall. “I’ll talk with her tomorrow. Perhaps she will be able to understand. But I think she’s already made up her mind about me.”

“She’s only 10 Caleb. Kids argue and say things they don’t mean all the time. She’ll get over this, I know she will. But it’s time you helped her. Tell her everything so that she can start grieving for them now. You can’t wait any longer.”

Caleb paced around his office as Kaya sat with her back against the cushions of his sofa. He had called for her over twenty minutes ago but said not a word when she entered the room. Instead he paced, and paced, and paced. Kaya looked back at him, his hands were interlocked behind his back, his bottom lip was stuck between his teeth. He had a worried expression on his face and she was beginning to get scared. Analyzing everything she had done over the last two days she sighed and pulled off the couch starting towards him.

“Am I in trouble?”

“Trouble? No Kaya, you did nothing wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about your parents.”

“Are they coming for me? Can I go home now?” An expectant and happy look crossed her face and Caleb swallowed hard as he looked at her hopeful appearance. The heavy cloud of worry and fear grew darker over his head; he knew this was not going to end well. 

“See that’s the thing Kaya, this is your home now.” He walked her back towards the couch and sat down beside her. Blowing a breath slowly through his pursed lips he began explaining the events of that night and why it all had to happen. When he’d finished Kaya was in tears and had curled up into a ball on the seat beside him.

He reached a hand to comfort her and she jumped up from the sofa and rushed up the stairs towards her room. Caleb again heard the door slam shut as she locked herself up tight away from him. Charlie stepped into the room behind Caleb and watched as the Alpha wallowed as he listened to Kaya crying upstairs. “She’ll heal soon enough Caleb.”

“Yeah. But will it be enough?” He drew from the couch and started towards his desk. There were three initiation ceremonies taking place tonight and he had to ensure everything was ready. For now he’d focus on that and try to get his mind off the heartbroken 10yr old crying her eyes out because of him.

Kaya had wept so hard she tired herself out. It was around 8pm when Andrea came in to make sure she was ready for bed; bathing and redressing the child Luna before tucking her in tight. She blew out the candles on the tables and silently shut the door behind her. But what appeared to be a peaceful night’s rest turned into something much more for the little girl.

Her pillow long since lost to the floor beneath the bed, Kaya began tossing violently in her sleep. The activity of her dreams apparent through her eyelids as they jerked and twitched rapidly from the visions playing out in her mind. “No,” she whispered and turned to try and shut out the scene. “Mommy!”

“NO! NO! NO!” she yelled louder and harder. Her breathing came out in rapid spurts, her chest heaving harder to keep up with the pounding of her heart and yet her eyes never opened. “MOMMY!” Caleb rushed into the room with a small lantern at his side. 

“Kaya? Wake up you’re having a bad dream.” He lit the candles at her bedside and moved the lamp away from the bed before returning to her side. “Kaya? Kaya wake up!”

He shook her lightly but she was unresponsive. Her body jerked harder beneath his grasp and her legs began kicking as if she was fighting off some unseen predator. “Please! No!”

“Alex!” Caleb yelled for one of the guards at the door. “Send for the doctor, hurry!” The elder wolf rushed from the hall and towards the clinic to grab the doctor.

Moments later a woman with raven black hair stepped into the room carrying a black medical bag. “What’s happening to her?” Caleb asked as Kaya moved more violently. He pulled away from her to allow the doctor room to work.

She rested her hand on Kaya’s forehead checking for spikes in her temperature and it seemed to calm her a little. The lids of her eyes fluttered open and she peered up at the woman who smiled in return. “You’re safe now Kaya. It was only a bad dream, you’re ok now.”

“It was a nightmare?” Caleb asked confused as Kaya rolled over again to sleep. Moving away from the bed, she pulled Caleb to the side to explain the incident in more details.

“No Alpha it was something different. Many associate it as a bad dream but it is known in the medical community as parasomnia or night terrors. There isn’t much information on what exactly causes them but what we do know is it’s not a nightmare. She is reliving an event or some terrifying and horrific vision that is acted out. It causes elevated blood pressure, heart rate and in some cases can lead to extreme episodes of violence.” 

“Well is there something you can give her to help her through them? Dogroot? Would that help any?”

“Unfortunately there are no medications I can recommend that will keep the night terrors from occurring. This is something that has to pass all on its own with age. Now she will have to be watched over when she sleeps until this clears up. Otherwise I fear she may end up hurting herself if they get worse.”

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