47. Kaycia
Chapter 47
Kaycia
W e rode home before dawn. The misty remnants from the night’s storm washing us clean as we reentered Argent. Lana agreed to drive Colton’s truck back, while his pack members carried both Colton and the other shifter’s remains in the SUV this morning. Shane and I will leave to follow after I say goodbye to Meg.
Kelly didn’t ask many questions when I called to check in this morning. She just asked if Shane was all right and told me to take a break after the excitement and bad luck I’d had over the last few weeks.
I expected Meg to be more difficult to convince. But making excuses for rushing out of the show was easier than I anticipated when we met her in the lobby of her tourist-filled hotel mid-morning. She was grumpy at first, lamenting about our lack of girl time, but perked up when I introduced Shane and said he was going to pay for brunch—including bottomless mimosas—to make up for ruining the night. If she noticed how haggard Shane and I look, she doesn’t mention it.
“It was a misunderstanding,” he says smoothly, taking a sip of his mimosa. “I was supposed to come with Max, but my bike broke down. I could have fixed it with a few things from my shop but I was in the middle of nowhere without cell service, so everyone started panicking. Max picked me up walking back to my cabin and Kaycia and Raquel showed up shortly after. I’m sorry if she had you worried.”
Smiling, I roll my eyes and shake my head indulgently, as though to say “men!”, masking the traumatic night we actually dealt with.
“Motorcycles are so dangerous. Kaycia, I can’t believe you actually ride on that thing with him,” Meg fusses in jest while she looks out the window at Shane’s bike parked at the curb.
“I promise I drive safe with her.” His hand finds mine and squeezes.
“You better. And you better be good to her, or I’ll come up here and kick your ass.” Meg laughs and pours another glass of champagne with a splash of orange juice before our overpriced plates of eggs benedict, fruit, and pancakes arrive.
“Don’t worry I’d never let anything happen to Kaycia.”
If Meg knew the chaotic truth about last night, she would be screaming at Shane and dragging me onto the plane home. Maybe I should let her, but I just squeeze his hand back and smile up at him.
“So how did the exhibition end up doing?” Meg asks, waving over a bartender for a refill.
“So much better than I could have imagined! I spoke with Kelly this morning and she said that there were only two pieces that weren’t spoken for. And a few people left their contact info for commissions, too! I should be busy for a while. She even mentioned a potential residency opportunity.”
“That is so amazing! People seemed to really love it though,” Meg gushes. “You can do anything, friend.”
If she only knew.
Shane slides his hand up my thigh, squeezing gently with a soft smile and pride in his eyes. “Yeah, she can.”
It feels strange to be so excited and happy about my artwork and my future when a man died last night, even if he would have killed Shane without a second thought. I haven’t had time to really parse through my feelings yet. I can’t imagine how I’d be handling this morning if Lana hadn’t stopped Colton from shooting Shane. I certainly wouldn’t be pretending I was doing well over brunch.
I wish I could share everything with Meg, but I know she’d never believe me if I told her Shane and his friends are shifters. Let alone that he was involved in a deadly battle for pack alpha last night and that’s why I had to run off. I’d be getting dragged home for an entirely different reason then.
Brunch passes smoothly. Shane answers all of Meg’s questions with concise answers, and he comes off as polite, if not a bit shy. Very much how I viewed him before I hit him with the canvas and started this fever dream of a relationship.
Meg and I wait while Shane pays the tab and she squeezes me and laughs, the last mimosa making what she thinks is a secretive whisper more like a shout. “He’s so cute, Kaycia! Way to go, you!” She manages to tone it down when Shane huffs a laugh behind us, asking, “You think this is the real deal?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I smile at Shane. I know he can hear every word with his wolf senses, even if we whisper. Turning back to her, I reply, “Yeah, Meg. I really do.”
“I’m so happy for you, Kay. Be sure to drag him down to Summerville for the holidays, okay?”
“I will. And I promise that the next time you visit we’ll have more time to show you around.”
“It’s no biggie! I should have let you in on the secret. My flight home is this afternoon anyway. I’ve got to get to the airport soon.”
We say goodbye in the lobby, and I watch Meg get on the elevator. She blows a kiss as the doors close, waving and grinning until we can’t see her anymore.
When we turn to leave, I tug Shane back toward me so he stands at my side in the reflection of the mirrors that line the elevator lobby. He’s just as handsome as the night of our first date, even if his hair is longer and his eyes are deeply shadowed from our late night. A shiver runs over me when he slides a finger down my spine, his eyes flashing the gold of his wolf in the reflection. My hair hangs loose, the blonde waves fluffy from the residual humidity in the air, but instead of having trouble recognizing the slightly wild-looking woman staring back, I simply see myself. The person I’ve always been underneath the people pleasing and overthinking.
I lean my head against his shoulder for a moment, like we’re posing for a picture, then, we walk hand-in-hand to the curb where Shane hands me my helmet. Within minutes we are heading to the apartment where our bags are packed and waiting. Max agreed to let us use his truck for the drive to Shane’s parents’ house since a multi-state trip on the back of a motorcycle is where I draw the line for adventure. Max hands off his keys after Shane tosses our bags into the backseat of the truck.
“Be good to her,” Max says seriously. “Don’t wreck my shit or I’ll hunt you down.”
“I’ll take care of your truck, Max. You keep an eye on our places, yeah?”
“I’ll water your plants,” Max says, winking at me. I don’t have nearly as many as I should now, but I appreciate it anyway. The little pothos I gave Shane managed to make it unscathed through the ransacking of his apartment—I’ll take that as a good sign.
Raquel and Jamila pull up in Jamila’s hatchback to give Max a ride back to his condo.
“Be careful with the wolves, Kaycia. They’re all a bunch of moody fuckers,” Raquel advises, but her grin spreads quickly as she chucks Shane on the shoulder. “Stay out of trouble.”
“And hey, Shane?” Max calls as Shane shuts my door for me. “Tell your sister to give me a call. I’m happy to show her around the city if she comes to visit her big brother.”
Shane rolls his eyes, then clasps hands with Max, pulling him in for a hug complete with back pats. I wave to Jamila and Raquel as Shane slides into the driver’s seat, then laugh when Max and Raquel argue over who has to ride in the compact backseat.
Before he starts the truck, Shane turns to me, a serious expression on his face. “I promise, once we get through with this, I’ll make it up to you for missing your exhibition.”
“Oh, I know you will,” I reply with a sly smile. He just chuckles until I add, “I managed to pack a little something extra. I figure we can take advantage of the night at the hotel away from other wolfie ears. I believe it might be what you heard through our thin walls.”
His cheeks flush and he gives a sideways grin, but swiftly changes the subject, exhaling and turning the key in the ignition. “You ready for this?”
“To meet the parents? Sure! Parents love me. I’m sweet.”
Shane laughs, reaching his hand behind my seat to rest his palm on the headrest before leaning over to kiss me. “Yeah, you are, baby girl,” he whispers, then kisses me once more, nipping at my lower lip. With a final deep sigh, he puts the truck in drive and pulls away from the curb, heading home.