THE RISE OF AN OMEGA-Chapter 21: The Art Of Manipulation

Kira’s POV

After everything Mira had told me before she left my house, I sat down on my couch for a while, thinking about everything she had said, I didn’t know that it was late. The rumbling of my stomach was what made me know that it was way past dinner time.

I looked at the time, and it was too late to start making something for dinner, Plus, I didn’t even have an appetite, so I decided to just go to bed.

Sleep did not come so easily. While I lay on the bed, I tossed and turned; my mind kept on replaying everything she had said earlier. It felt like she had taken every single thing I knew about Ryker and twisted it just enough to make me question my knowledge about him.

Never have I ever doubted Ryker; from the very first moment I appeared in the pack, all he had been doing for me was nothing short of good and kindness; he had provided me with shelter, protection and guidance.

He also trained me; he was my very first trainer and instructor; he helped me to learn how to protect myself even before all this prophecy about moon keeper this and moon keeper that. He encouraged me to hone my skills and control my abilities. The most surprising part of it all was that he never asked for anything in return.

Or had he?

I turned my back and looked at the ceiling. My eyes were fixed on it as if I was waiting for something to show up from the ceiling. I wondered what Mira had meant when she said that Alphas never did anything without an ulterior motive.

Is it possible that Ryker has hidden reasons for accepting me and training Me? Protecting me?

I hated the doubt creeping into my mind, but it was too late. There was nothing I could do about the doubt. It had settled, and I couldn’t shake it off.

Was Mira truly looking out for me, or was she planting these thoughts for her selfish reasons? Could she have been sent by someone in the pack to test Me maybe even Ryker himself could have sent her.

I took in a deep breath and released a heavy breath, then closed my eyes. No matter how badly I needed the answers to show up, I was one hundred per cent certain that I wouldn’t arrive at any meaningful answers; instead, more doubts would keep on creeping in.

I began to feel pains in my body due to the training, and exhaustion was kicking in as well, and it was finally winning the battle against my thoughts and my body.

I allowed myself to be taken away by sleep, though I had disturbing dreams, Ryker’s images appearing everywhere in my dream; his face was unreadable; he had this bland facial expression, and his eyes were staring at me, filled with an expression that was hard to determine.

By the time it was morning, I still felt very tired, but I managed to push myself up from the bed because I needed to train. I also thought that maybe throwing myself into practice would make me able to clear my mind.

As if on cue, I heard a knock on my door; there was no need to start wondering who it was, or even asking who it was. There’s only one person who could come to knock on my door at a time like this.

So yes, I already knew who was standing on the other side.

I opened the door, and there she was in all her glory, her big blue eyes staring right into mine; she smiled at me. I looked at her wondering why she was smiling as if she had not just turned my world into a pile of mess the day before.

"Good morning" she greeted still smiling

"Morning Mira", I muttered, moving away so she could enter my home.

She walked majestically inside, scanning my room as if she was trying to check for traces of Ryker or maybe if something had changed overnight.

She probably thought Ryker had come to see me; maybe she was also expecting me to tell her something new.

But what could I have told her? Besides, there was nothing to tell her.

"Ready for training?" She asked stretching her arms.

"Never been more Ready" I replied, smiling, trying to push the growing thoughts aside.

We finally went outside, heading to our usual training spot. The morning air was fantastic but it did nothing to ease my worries.

"So today we would start with control exercises," Mira said, hovering and hovering around me. Her tone was sharp and clear, confident as always. "Let’s check your abilities to move heavier objects today."

I nodded, focusing on a very large boulder up ahead, not so far from where we stood. I tapped into my powers, wrapped my mind around the boulder and slowly, it began to lift.

Honestly, I was surprised at how fast I was able to lift the boulder. Mira watched closely as I moved the boulder from side to side, exactly as I had done with her the other day.

"Very good", she yelled, clapping "Now attack!" She yelled again.

I tapped into a little more of my power as I needed a certain amount of force to be able to push it.

I pushed my power forward, sending the boulder flying. It crashed against a very big tree and then split into two.

Seeing that I was able to split the boulder without strain or stress, I expected Mira to praise me, but she didn’t; instead, she stood looking at me, arms crossed, giving me a very calculating look.

I wondered why she had such a look on her face.

"You are getting stronger," she said

"Isn’t that the goal? I mean, what’s the use of training consistently if you are not getting stronger."

She tilted her head, taking a step forward. "Yes, it is the goal, but have you stopped to wonder why Ryker wants to train you so badly?"

I gritted my teeth, my hands clenched into fists "Mira, please not this topic again."

She didn’t listen to me, "You have to think about it, Kira; Alphas train their pack warriors for battle, for protection, for power, but why is he training you? You are not a warrior, neither are you a wolf."

I flared up, growling my eyes turning blue "I am a wolf "

"Oh, sorry that came out wrong, calm down; I didn’t mean to say something like that."

I swallowed hard and turned my face away, trying to calm myself down.

"Maybe he just cares about me and wants me to be able to defend myself," I said

Mira scoffed "Defend yourself? Against what exactly? Is someone coming after you? Are you being chased?" She paused, then exhaled, "Look, Kira, if Ryker cared about your safety, he wouldn’t think twice about assigning wolf guards to you; he wouldn’t train you to become a weapon."

I drove at her words, oceans of thought passing through my head.

A weapon?

Was that all I was?

My heart bled at the possibility of Mira’s words being fact

Mira took a step closer "Has he ever told you the reason he wants you to get stronger?."

I was about to say something but I stopped myself from talking, she was right Ryker had never told me why I needed to get stronger but I was the one who wanted to get stronger in the first place, I had been controlled and defeated all my life and for once in my life I wanted to be strong, mean something to someone.

I scoffed "That’s not necessary"

"You think so?"

After Ryker was aware I wanted to get stronger, he encouraged me, pushed me, and told me I had potential. But never did he once tell me the major reason he had agreed with me that I needed to be stronger neither did he tell me why he was so invested in my progress.

I guess Mira saw the hesitation in my eyes and smirked "See? You don’t even know"

I shook my head, trying to push the thoughts, the doubts. "No, Ryker would never do a thing like that; he’s never forced me to do anything; I chose to be stronger on my own; I chose to train."

"Of course not,", Mira said smoothly. "That’s clearly how manipulations work; they let you have the first thought, then they begin to feed on that innocent thought of yours, making it hard for you to know if you are carrying out your will or theirs."

"No, I don’t believe you"

"Then ask him", she challenged "Go to Ryker now, look him in the eye and ask him why he’s training you. Ask him what exactly are his real intentions. If he truly has nothing to hide, he should be able to give you straight answers."

I turned away from her, my greatest fear coming faster.

Every part of me wanted to trust Ryker, wanted to bet my life on it that he wasn’t the way Mira thinks he is.

But could I?

Mira came closer to where I stood and placed a hand on my shoulder, her voice gentle now. "I just want you to be careful, Kira. You are like a sister to me now." She placed her forehead on mine and then leaned back.

I swallowed hard then nodded.

"Let’s keep training,"

Mira smiled, it seemed like a victory smile.