The Hunting
Chapter 22

"Kia, this is David. He's the only person I'd trust with my ink. And now yours." Tobias said as he playfully pushed Kia forward.

"So, Kia? Tobias tells me that you want some serious ink. I can't imagine why?" David said as he eyed Kia slowly.

Tobias growled, not liking the way he was looking at his mate.

"Yeah, maybe you'd understand now." Kia said as she removed her shirt, revealing her scars.

David didn't so much as bat an eyelid. He slowly moved his eyes over every inch of skin that had a scar, before he looked up at her face again and smiled.

"You must be one heck of a warrior, little miss." he said, chuckling.

Tobias cleared his throat uncomfortably, "My father gave her those." he admitted.

David's smile fell as he stared between the two of them, his mind racing to process the new information.

"Now I believe you're a badass warrior more than ever. No, not even just that. You're a survivor." David said as he pushed his chair back to gather his things.

Kia and Tobias both let out a shaky breath before Kia walked over to the bed and sat down.

"So, what am I getting?" Kia asked, glancing between Tobias and David.

David laughed and Tobias quickly jumped in, "Its a surprise."

Kia shook her head and turned her focus to David. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.

"I like her already..." David said, throwing Tobias a sneaky smile. "Just take off your pants as well and lie down for me. We'll start in the front and work from there." David said, his face turning into what can only be discribed as 'professionalism'

Tobias' eyes darkened as he watched Kia slip out of her sweatpants, leaving her in only her undergarments. A bright pink set with lace. He didn't like the thought of another male seeing his mate like this, but he knew if there was one person he could count on to not be fazed by this at all, it was David. To him she'd just be another blank canvas that he got to brighten up.

The tattoo was slow going, it was a big piece, stretching from her shoulders, down her arms across her stomach where Thomas' name was carved out, down and around her legs and finally covering her back. She had little skin left that didn't have scars and since she wanted it all hidden, she gave up most of her body to the tattoo.

It took David two days but he finally finished the whole thing. Kia jumped off the bed excitedly, wanting to see the finished work.

"There's a mirror over there." David said, pointing to the left.

Kia stood in front of it and gasped. The ink was mesmerizing. She had traditional Irish tribal tattooing over her left arm, laping over across her stomach. Her right arm was covered in something that looked like armor, with roses and their thorns weaving through it. Her legs had forest scenes on it, from the looks of it, it was her pack forest, the whole picture coming into view when she stood with her legs side by side. When she turned around she almost broke down in tears, across her back proudly stood two wolves. One dark brown with icy blue eyes and the smaller one, golden with vibrant green eyes. The golden wolf was laying on the ground, the larger brown wolf crouching over it protectively. Around them there was fire and smoke, sunlight lightly peeking through the smoke here and there. Beneath it were the words, the one you feed.

She turned to Tobias as he began speaking. "Tribal to mark your heritage, your father told me you came from Irish decent. The armor is a symbol of your strength, because of everything you've been through." he said.

"That's why I had the roses grow through it like that." David explained.

"You're legs are covered in forest scenery from home. A reminder of where you came from and who you truly are. And your back, well.." Tobias said, scratching his back. "That's my reminder to you, that no matter what you go through or how bad everything seems, I'll always be there to protect you, give you strength, help you when you're struggling, guide you when you feel lost." he smiled at Kia, his eyes softening. "A reminder that my love is never ending."

A few tears slipped out of Kia's eyes as she stared at Tobias, everything she felt for him, everything he felt for her, the realization that he stood by her, even after what happened to her, even after they ruined her body, everything just hit her all at once and the emotions she felt was overwhelming.

"Thank you." she whispered, looking to David and then Tobias. "I love it."

David smiled, "Now go on, go show it off to the world." he said, shooing them out the door.

Kia linked her hand with Tobias' and held on tight, she never wanted to be without him again.

"Kia, you're done?" Clayton asked when he saw them walking into the house.

"Yeah, want to see it?" Kia asked. Her father gave her a nod as her mother joined them. Kia took her clothes off and turned so they could see her back as well.

"Oh, it's beautiful..." Elaina said with a small gasp.

Clayton smiled and hugged his mate. "Indeed." he said, throwing an appreciative look to Tobias.

Everyone could see Kia was herself again, having covered up all the ugly memories, she seemed to be able to move forward. She didn't feel as self conscious anymore because she knew people would stare, not because she had scars but because they would be admiring her art.

Kia got dressed again and someone knocked at the door.

"Alpha Henry." Clayton said as he opened the door and stepped aside to let him in.

"Ah, everyone's here. Good." he said as he looked at Kia and Tobias. "Our council meeting is on Monday. We'll leave tomorrow." he said.

"Very well Alpha." Tobias said as he squeezed Kia's shoulders.

They all shared a look, each wondering how this trip would work out. Everyone had a fear of the unknown, how will the council react to what they would be telling them. Will they punish the pack, it's Alpha, the one who did the killing, will they be upset and try and make an example out of them. Or, will they be understanding, will they realized the pain and suffering Kia went through, will they realized the desperation everyone had to put an end to Morris' wrath, which if gone unchecked would have continued to spread to other unfortunate souls.

No one knew for sure, the council were unpredictable people. They hardly ever found justice in favor of your expectations. Even when you expected the unexpected from them.

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