Following the Feeling Ch. 05

Story Info
Later that day...
5.3k words
4.79
65.6k
56

Part 5 of the 9 part series

Updated 09/22/2022
Created 09/25/2008
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here

See the wait wasn't too bad this time, was it? I could have made this chapter longer, but I wanted to get it posted and move forward with Chapter 6. For the one poster, sorry there's no sex yet, but all these darn obstacles keep ruining Kiera and Grayson's alone time! I know rude, right?

Enjoy! CricketMuse

** ** ** *** ** ** **

Kiera entered A Typical Oasis, the bar she owned with her closest friends, at a quarter past four. Amber was sitting in the office absently flipping through a magazine. She looked up when Kiera rushed in and tossed her purse on the desk.

"You're late," she said without looking up.

"I know I'm sorry. Why are you here, I thought you were off today." Kiera plopped down on the chairs.

Amber simply shrugged. With no further response forthcoming Kiera stood and went to the front where Adam, Jasmine, Mason and one of their part-time waitresses got ready to open at five. She waved off her friends questioning glances and went behind the bar to get herself a bottle of water. Jasmine joined her as she slugged down the water in several gulps, half trying to cool herself off from the residual heat from Grayson's embrace, half to mentally prepare herself for the evening.

"Did you oversleep?" Jasmine asked. She noticed her friend's flushed face and wondered at the cause.

"No, I was out and lost track of time." Kiera couldn't keep the defensive tone from her voice. She was never late and Jasmine made a veritable habit out of it, but no one ever got on her case. Instead they laughed it off as one of the perks of owning their own business. Kiera bit her tongue from saying such as she sensed Jasmine's concern was genuine. No one in the room was suspicious, only confused by her out of character behavior.

"Did you call in Amber for a shift, she didn't say why she's here today," she asked.

Jasmine shrugged, "Nope she just showed up and has been hanging out in the office. When we asked what why she came in she said she wanted to."

The girls chatted while setting up the bar then Kiera went downstairs to work on inventory and the others opened up. Her knack for organization made her the best candidate to keep track of and order supplies. She also worked on the bookkeeping with Mason's help. Jasmine liked to keep things interesting by booking local bands or holding contests. Amber's contribution to the business was to be an efficient worker, but she rarely involved herself in anything else. As a team they had built a successful business that provided enough income to keep them living comfortably. It was a vast improvement from their individual careers, such as they were, and Kiera was very proud of their achievement.

The hours before her shift at the bar rolled by uneventfully, her mind wandering from time to time to her afternoon. She knew something was growing between her and Grayson, but didn't want to think far beyond the moment. Planning ahead had always led to problems in her life since unexpected obstacles often appeared just as she felt like she'd settled in normal society.

She recalled Grayson's question about growing up as an empath, knowing she'd left out a lot of details. Her parents, from what she remembered, couldn't understand why their little girl always cried. When she was old enough to talk and tried to tell them about the pain she felt they took her to the doctor. Of course nothing was wrong with her physically, but she couldn't explain how she felt other's feelings in her head. At the doctor's suggestion they took her to a therapist who asked her questions about her feelings, but when she told him that they weren't her feelings, that they belonged to others he said she had a delusional imagination. For a little girl it was scary to feel happiness, fear, sadness, lust and all other emotions far too advanced for her to comprehend. She just wanted to be loved by her family, but knew before they acknowledged it how much they despised her for being different. She was given to the custody of the state when she was eight and put in a home for disturbed children. It was a living nightmare for her, unable to escape the onslaught of untutored feelings that beat at her brain day and night. It was like a radio turned up to maximum volume until she couldn't sleep or think. She drowned in a sea of other people's emotions and started falling into the madness she'd been diagnosed with.

Then Amber found her one rainy day and without a word took hold of her hand. The simple gesture helped Kiera surface once more and focus on the serenity that flowed from the young girl. Amber was two years younger and put into the home when her drug addicted Mother tried to sell her for heroine. Kiera always suspected Amber was calm because of the drugs that had polluted her body as a babe. They provided her brain a respite from the visions that came unbidden to her. What she knew for sure was that Amber saved her sanity that day and many days forward. Together they worked on controlling their abilities and eventually Kiera could filter the constant stream of human emotion into a manageable hum. As she aged her abilities grew until she could track people familiar to her and project feelings into others. At fifteen she escaped from the home with Amber. They moved to a little Midwest town where she got a job as a waitress. With the money they made she was able to attend the local college and graduated by the time she was eighteen with a degree in education. They moved to Baton Rouge and with forged documents Kiera got hired as a professor, working mostly in the evenings.

They lived comfortably for a couple years and then Amber had a vision about a girl in trouble. The girl had turned out to be Jasmine. They found her outside a night club being accosted by a group of men. Her exotic Persian looks made her a target for small town good old boys who'd had too much to drink. In their first tandem act Jasmine used the confusion caused by Kiera and Amber's appearance to force the men away from her. She used her telekinetic ability to knock them over like bowling pins. Kiera injected their minds with fear, the emotion she was feeling strongest, and the men scattered in terror. It was an acquaintance built on their paranormal abilities, but quickly grew to friendship. Likewise they met Mason when he, capable of astral projection, insinuated himself into Jasmine's dreams. Using the link they tracked him down in Texas and confronted him. Caught off guard he'd admitted that it was an accident, but in finding Jasmine attractive wanted to get to know her better. The threesome accepted his apology and Jasmine and Mason dated for a few months. The relationship fizzled, but they remained close friends and eventually decided sticking together was a good plan. Paranorms banded together in a norms' world.

And so it went through good and bad until they opened their little bar with an unexpected infusion of cash and a silent fifth partner. Moving to Aventon was their clean slate, a new town with no preconceived notions. They chose it because of the warm weather and distance from their previous locations. Three years later they ran a steady business and had their version of normal lives.

Kiera's life had taken a turn for the abnormal 48 hours ago with a painful shock of terror in her weary brain and the introduction to a world she'd never suspected. She guessed her normal life was a thing of the past as long as Grayson pursued her with his smoldering gray eyes and hot touches. The realization brought her train of thought full circle. She couldn't continue to resist Gray's advances, but didn't want to plan beyond the moment.

** ** ** *** ** ** **

With no valid excuse Grayson gave into Lena's urging to join her and Alistair for dinner with Gareth. The man was affable and curious, asking questions about their species and how the myths differed from reality. Lena and Alistair answered most of his questions while Gray sat quietly. He listened as Gareth regaled them with the tale of how he met Kiera and her friends.

He'd been out with his boyfriend in Baton Rouge and they wandered into bar for an after dinner drink. Kiera had been seated next to them and struck up a conversation with them over a bowl of peanuts. Before they left for the night Kiera had handed him a napkin. He'd thought she was trying to give him her number for some reason, but when he got home he'd opened it and saw a note.

He's cheating on you.

Gareth had confronted his boyfriend, Leonard, who after lengthy denials finally admitted to be seeing someone else and using Gareth for financial reasons. He'd gone back to the bar every night for a week looking for Kiera. When she showed up he'd cornered her and asked how she knew about his boyfriend's infidelity. She first told him that Leonard's demeanor gave him away, but confided in him about her empathy when pressed for details. Being a law student made him skeptical to New Age practices so it took another demonstration to convince him. His disbelief sparked her anger and she made him cry in front of everyone. It was hilarious in retrospect, but terrified him at the time. She apologized, offered to buy him a drink and by the end of the evening they were fast friends. He'd met the other girls soon after and the foursome hung out frequently until they moved away. A couple years ago he decided to leave Louisiana and looked for a position in the area and was hired at a prestigious law firm downtown.

"So," Grayson queried, "you two were both in college together?"

"Yes and no. I was a student and she was a professor in the Sociology Department. She helped me through some tough assignments. It wasn't until later I found out the little faker was lying about her age. I'm actually a year older and there I was running to her for help," Gareth laughed.

The three wolves exchanged glances. Things that didn't add up in the background check suddenly made sense. It seemed Grayson's new interest had less of a clean paper trail than they thought if some of the information they received was false. The realization reinforced Grayson's desire to learn everything about the little empath. 2:30 couldn't come soon enough in his opinion.

The conversation veered to other topics like the businesses owned by the pack and how long they'd been settled in the area. Sharing private information about the pack attested to their trust in Gareth. He was used to keeping secrets, first about his sexuality and later about Kiera and friends, so the gesture of faith was not lost on him. He hoped that Kiera was also able to make friends with them since he hated to keep secrets from her. Besides, he reflected, Amber was sure to envision their secret sooner or later. Gareth had found out early on that few secrets could be kept from that bunch. He made a note to talk to Kiera later to find out if she'd told them anything yet.

** ** ** *** ** ** **

Grayson checked the time again. The evening was wearing on his patience and the comfortable small talk taking place didn't help. After dinner they had adjourned to one of the leisure rooms to continue chatting. Both Derek and Danny from the kitchen staff joined them and for the past hour the wolves and Gareth had been sharing anecdotes. The jovial air was a constant reminder of his date with Kiera that afternoon. The time with her had flown by while these few hours had dragged on.

Despite smiling at the appropriate times while they talked, he started to plan what they'd do when he saw Kiera again. Part of him wanted to fill in the spaces between the stories Gareth had shared. He felt like he'd learned much, but not nearly enough. However another part of him wanted to drag her to the closest dark corner and ravish her. That part was currently making him restless and irritable.

"I want to be able to thank her again," Derek was saying, "for everything she did. Kiera was a really my guardian angel that night. First with the way she found me and then how she kept me calm. I can still feel the warmth of her hand in mine like an anchor…"

Derek's gushing accolades were interrupted by a rumbling growl.

Everyone turned to look at the source, a glaring Grayson. The lesser wolves immediately ducked their heads in submission as Gareth looked around in confusion. Alistair ignored the growl's intent and smiled back at his Alpha.

Lena scowled at him and addressed the group. "Yes we're all upset about the other night, but fortunately it appears that it was an isolated attack. We're lucky that no one was harmed permanently and I've been meaning to mention just how brave you were that evening, Derek."

Upon being addressed directly Derek raised his head, nodding in acknowledgement of her words.

"Nevertheless," she continued, "we must all remain vigilant. Isn't that right, Náčelník?"

"Indeed" was the curt response. "In fact," he continued with sudden insight, "I think we should extend our protection to our new human friends. It's the least we can offer after their bravery."

He didn't say that he intended to keep a very close, personal watch on Kiera. But until things were settled between them the pretext of acting as the protector would bypass any more suspicion about his interest. In the least it should silence the rumor mill for a few days. And after that, if things progressed as he planned, then he could confirm their relationship with the pack.

With lifted brows Gareth responded, "Well I wouldn't mind some extra company," he smiled at Danny, "but Kiera likes her space. And her privacy. And she's not really thrilled about our new acquaintance."

It was apparent to the Alphas and Alistair that the empath hadn't shared details about her recent interactions with Grayson. Perhaps she hadn't had time to talk to him yet, but most likely she was keeping the burgeoning relationship private. It was another point Gray would have to discuss with her. Being as close as she was with Gareth, who knew what he was, and her friends, who didn't, the news was sure to break soon. He could help her decide was safe to discuss and what was best left unsaid. He'd have to get to know her friends better before deciding if it was safe to share the pack's secret.

"I'll run it passed her tonight and let you know how she reacts," Gareth announced.

Gray grimaced. If Gareth stayed late they were sure to cross paths at the bar. He surmised he'd have to have that particular talk sooner than later. Having a one night stand with a human was far less complicated.

** ** *** ** ** **

The Saturday rush gave Kiera very little time to talk to Gareth. He'd arrived around midnight excited about his evening with the werewolves. She told him between serving customers that they could talk later, but he decided to hang around. She worried that he'd stay passed closing and find out she was meeting Grayson. It was sure to cause a stir with her friends, but couldn't encourage him to leave and call tomorrow. She'd already planned to leave a few minutes after closing and meet Grayson outside.

Her nerves were a constant distraction. She'd already failed to alert Adam to growing anger that led to a fight. Fortunately it was quickly contained and her friends blamed tiredness on her lapse. They didn't seem to suspect she was preoccupied with a pair of gray eyes set in a handsome face. Eyes that had been singed in her mind as they watched her with a predator's grace all afternoon.

"Last call!"

Mason's 1:45 announcement was met with the usual rush to the bar. They served the last orders quickly to get everyone out. By ten passed two the place was mostly clear. Only a couple of people chatted while finishing their beverages. One man slumped passed out in a booth. Mason's attempt to rouse him failed so they let him be for the time being. They worked in unison to close up and clean, Kiera's butterflies exacerbated by Gareth dogging her heels. Amber opted to stay in the office asserting it was her day off.

Two thirty came with another flush of nerves for Kiera, but the door didn't open. She half hoped Grayson was either running late or decided not to come. She ignored the ache she felt about the last option.

"We need to talk, K," Gareth was saying again.

"I know, Gareth, and I think we should arrange to hang out tomorrow. I've had a long day and I'm bushed." It wasn't a lie; the ups and downs of the day had left her exhausted.

"But I need to talk to you about you know what," he insisted with a surreptitious look at the others.

She sighed. One of the reasons Gareth was a great lawyer was his persistence. Deciding some truth was in order she said, "Gareth, I'm not free tonight. I have plans after this."

"Plans?" he exclaimed loudly.

The rest of the group turned to the duo and then turned to the door when it swung open. Grayson walked in followed by Zach and Zane.

Kiera saw the light go off in Gareth's head and then exchanged glances with Gray. He hesitated at the entrance unsure of his welcome. Kiera felt his indecision and laughed suddenly.

"You might as well come in. The cat, as they say, is out of the bag." To her surprise she actually felt the tension that had been building up all day dissipate.

Her relief trigged Grayson's and he moved forward to kiss her lightly.

"Hi," he said with eyes gleaming.

"Hi there, it's nice to see you again. Gareth, guys, you've met Grayson. Well the lot of you hasn't been introduced, but I'm sure you remember him."

Jasmine, Mason and Adam all nodded dumbly, shocked. Gareth attempted to compose himself.

"Long time, no see," he quipped.

Grayson cleared his throat and introduced them to his bodyguards. Kiera bade them to sit at the bar while the rest finished closing up. The mood had turned quiet with unanswered questions, but Kiera didn't pick up on any negativity. In fact she a strange combination of glee and triumph skitter through her mind. Fifteen minutes later, sans the usual chatter, the place was ready to lock up.

Kiera went over to wake up their lone patron who'd not stirred during the closing process. She could impress her will to get him moving quicker than the force Adam would use. She grasped the man's warm shoulder and shook slightly.

"Time to head home," she whispered. The man stirred sleepily and she turned to unlock the front door for him.

Amber stepped out from the back, looked around and said, "Now is now."

The group all turned their attention to her except for Kiera. A muscled arm clamped around her waist, the other grabbed her throat.

"Ah," was all she managed to get out.

"You!" Gareth shouted. "It's the man from last night!"

The others turned to see her restrained by the drunk. A deep growl rumbled in Kiera's ear. She shivered, trying not to be overwhelmed by the hateful feelings that emanated from the man. There was still glee and triumph, but also a coarse aggression.

"Let her go," Grayson ordered. He sniffed the air to determine the threat and discovered the man before them was were. He'd missed it on entering, as had his guards.

"I'll let the human go," the gravelly voice said, "but I want you in return."

"Who are you, what do you want with me?" Grayson demanded.

"I want your blood."

With that Kiera was held tighter to the man's body. The man burned like a furnace and she squirmed. Her mind was just adjusting to her predicament when the arms around her changed. They grew longer, hairier, more muscled and she heard popping behind her. Her friends watched in horror as the man turned to something they never imagined. Jasmine screamed.

Grayson watched the wolf change and felt fear for Kiera. Within the embrace of the beast she could be broken in mere moments. He fought his own wolf which tried to surface in response of the threat. He knew the twins wouldn't make a move without his command. His first priority was to get Kiera safely away from the werewolf.

12