CHAPTER FIVE
Declan
I can hear my badass baby sister singing on the deck, and she is a badass to be able to use her skills as she did on me in the gym; I’m so proud of her, but it still scares me shitless, I just want to wrap her in bubble wrap and hide her in a tower, but my baby sister is not the princess type.
The song brings my mind to my best friend, who’s undercover at the moment with only his shadows as a backup; I can't believe he's Ember’s Mate; I’m happy because I trust him with her life, I know the type of person he is, but at the same time she’s my little sister and 'shudder' yeah, yuck, don't want to think about that, I rub the base of my back, I’m all bruised up from where Ember slammed me to the mats. Good job, it won’t hurt for long, vampires heal fast.
She’s right I should have checked, she’s not survived all these years being a flower fairy, the thought of her as a kid gives me images of her in dirt covered dungarees wielding a slingshot or a baseball bat, riding on Dex or Levi’ back so she’s not left out, the idea of her wearing a tutu and fairy wings like the other girls did when we were growing up is laughable, wonder if I can talk her into it for Halloween.
I grab a coffee and head to the deck; where two flower fairies stand there sneering at my sister; I know she can look after herself, but I’ve noticed she still gets self-conscious and puts herself down; I want to murder every person in her past that told her she was broken and worthless, like I said, I know she can look after herself but I want her to know I have her back every time even if that is her mouthing off to royal demons, which we still need an explanation off.
“You need to find something else to occupy your time; I think you've woken all the bears from hibernation with your squawking,” Blondie says; as if she timed it, three of our bears come out yawning and sit drinking their morning coffees, Ember chuckles at the three as they put their coffees down and dig into their oatmeal with berries and honey. 'Talk about stereotyping ha-ha.'
“Yeah, and your doodles belong in the kiddy box”, the other girl simpers; Em just hums, still shading her work and sipping her tea; she doesn't care what they think, yet when one of the guys react like they don't like her work she shuts down, the sketches of the people from her past were amazing, enough that we have facial recognition on most of them.
“You need to watch yourself, too. My older sister will be home from college soon, and she won’t like you trying to move in on what’s hers!
Even if it’s only trying as you won’t get far, our guys don't like fat ugly humans” The dark-haired girl tries to be intimidating, but she really isn't and knowing Ember's first meeting with Saint was him shifted and very pissed off I wouldn't imagine even a pissed of Bas shifted and roaring in her face would bother her, Guns ‘n’ Roses November Rain comes on one of dads favourites on Karaoke nights, not that he can carry a tune and Embers head bobs as she hums along.
“Yeah, my sister has already texted me for info as she thought it was her place to answer my sister's fiancés phone when she called him,” Blondie's statement makes Ember freeze and play with the bracelet Saint gave her; she closes her sketch pad, placing it on the shelf behind her, before frowning at her empty mug, then stands.
“The only person's phone but my own I’ve answered was one of my marked mates,” Ember twists slightly, keeping the girls in view, but she looks at me, again showing that she knows how to survive, and that even without me announcing I’m here, she knew, which means some of her supe senses are better than a humans
“Is Saint engaged to Lila? I threw his phone at you after I answered, so I could get my goodbye kiss!” she got the wrong name on purpose; she’s also putting a bit of an airhead persona on; she is anything but, and it’s hard not to laugh, she's even doing the head tilt and hair twirl thing, J is hiding his face as he’s laughing so hard.
“No, he's not, other than a few one-night stands with some humans he's never dated,” I know I’m not breaking that unspoken bro code, as we are all either virgins or have only been with a few humans or in Devin and Darby’s case, each other.
“Come on, Charlotte, we will just make sure we have front-row tickets when Lisa and Shannon come to kick her ass for touching Saint and Paxton.” The dark-haired girl tries to giggle, but it's more like a broken dog squeaky toy.
“You’re right, Beatrice, we might have to treat ourselves to a little popcorn to watch with, but not a lot; we wouldn't want to get fat and disgusting like the fake ginger,” I walk over to my sister, putting an arm over her shoulder, as they strut away like they are on a fashion show,
“You know everything they said is bullshit, right?” I ask; she sighs.
“Yeah, I know it will be fun if their sisters do try to fight me; think I got a chance?” she chuckles and looks up at me with her eyelashes fluttering
“Maybe. Lisa has had proper training; she’s currently part of our unit”, I reply, and she just hums, grabs her mug and moves to head inside.
“Love you, baby sister”, I say in Gaelic; I started using it more when Darby moved in, but now mostly with my siblings.
I never learned the language. Dad, Liam and Nate think it has to do with my Bio dad, but I have never wanted to investigate it.
It confused the hell out of them when I would randomly start yelling in a language none of them knew until a visiting shifter recognised the language.
“I love you too, big brother” She pats my chest over my heart, and I try not to blub like a little girl, not only at the Brother comment that I have been waiting 17 years for from my sister, but also the fact she does it in Gaelic, I look round and see most of the guys relax as she heads inside and they all start to talk about random stuff happening at school.
I have another coffee, soaking up the time with my siblings and extended family, before I head off to get some work done.