Read Online A Tale of the Other Kind: A Therian Novel by Leandi Cameron - Free Book Online Page B

became a difficult task, and usually ended in disaster when full cups broke like fragile porcelain by his mere touch. His human physique had changed overnight, making dressing difficult, as nothing fitted him anymore. 
    Staring out the window, he couldn’t stop thinking about Sienna and wondering how she was doing. He twisted around in frustration and buried his head in his pillow, trying to drown the nagging thoughts plaguing his mind, when a knock came at the half-open door. 
    ‘Go away,’ he growled through the pillow, but this didn’t deter Kai’s mother from entering the room. ‘Please mom, I need to sleep,’ he grumbled. 
    ‘You can sleep all you want later. It’s your birthday and we have reason to celebrate,’ Bethany said cheerfully. 
    ‘I don’t feel like celebrating,’ he mumbled into the pillow. 
    'Well, good morning to you too, birthday boy,' she replied. 
    'You mean, you actually want to forget that you are eighteen and that you now officially have all the freedom in the world to do as you please?' She asked suspiciously. 
    He turned on his side and looked at his mother who stared down at him with a smile. 
    ‘Open it,’ she said, laying a small gift-wrapped box beside him. 
    He opened the box and inside lay a silver dog-tag on a thick chain with the name Leo engraved on the back. He struggled to swallow, because he knew that the chain was the only reminder his mother still had of his father. 
    'Mom, I can't...' he murmured. 
    'Sure you can,' she said, smiling. 'It is yours now. I want you to have it.’ 
    'Are you sure?' 
    'More than ever. Your father would have wanted you to have it. It means more to me that you wear it than it lying in the drawer unused.' 
    Kai leaned forward and gave his mother a lingering hug. 'This means a lot to me mom.' 
    'I know,' she said, as she got up and headed for the door. For a brief moment, she lingered in the doorway, closing her eyes and whispered softly, 'I wish he could have seen the wonderful man you’ve become.' 
    As she left the room, Kai stared at the chain for a while and then slowly placed it around his neck. 
    ****
    As soon as his mother left the room, Kai lifted the chain around his neck to look at it shimmer, and felt a strange calmness come over him. He quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. He threw on a knee-length black coat and set off into the forest. 
    The outfit wasn't his usual hiking gear, but he felt like he needed to clear his mind. He slowly started into the forest behind the cabin. The sunrays that broke through the thick trees melted the last bits of snow left from the weeks before. He sat down next to a large tree overhanging the area, not far away from the house. The incident with the lion was still vivid in his mind, pulling at all his senses, making him question who he was, what he was and whether he had the capabilities to handle something of this magnitude. 
    He wished he could touch Sienna and hold her, but that dream seemed so far away now. The anger he’d felt was so intense that he couldn't control it, but it was controlling him. He knew that he shouldn't go close to her for fear of hurting her again. She was too precious to him and he didn’t want to hurt her. He picked up a piece of broken wood and scratched at the clammy ground, distracted. Thoughts kept racing through his mind about how he could make himself fully transform again. This time, he would be far away from anyone he could harm. 
    He looked at his hands and tried to think of the anger he had felt when he attacked James. He jumped up from the floor and started pacing the narrow grassy area, trying to get his heart rate up, but he didn't have enough room to manoeuvre, so he took off his coat, placing it neatly next to the large tree, and started running, running as fast as he could. In his mind he kept picturing James insulting him, pictured James touching Sienna, and his heart beat faster with every step, and his