Chapter One #4
That smile, months ago, would have been so warm and inviting.
Kimberly and Kaelyn had plenty of pleasant, though brief, chats either on their way to work or as they came home.
Kaelyn sometimes asked Kimberly for a cup of sugar when she ran out while making cookies for the kids at her daycare.
But that was all before the fallout, before Wyatt got it into his head that he could take over Tolstone.
Kaelyn had been part of Wyatt’s pack, and she, along with Dr. Nolan Harlow, was the only two Dominic allowed to stay when the rest of the traitor’s pack was kicked out.
If that were her only sin, Kimberly could overlook it, and her return smile would be genuine.
If Kaelyn hadn’t just let Nathan barge into her apartment on the night of the attack, maybe Kimberly wouldn’t hate it when Kaelyn stopped in front of the stairwell to wait for her.
If Kaelyn had even tried to come to her rescue, then maybe Kimberly wouldn’t feel so disgusted with the way her neighbor acted as if absolutely nothing had happened.
If Kaelyn had even apologized for what happened and pleaded her case that she had nothing to do with the attack, then Kimberly wouldn’t feel a tight ball of rage in her stomach.
Kimberly didn’t know why Kaelyn lied to everyone about that night.
She and Kimberly were the only two residents at home when Nathan came banging on her door.
There was no way Kaelyn could have just not heard Kimberly screaming from across the hall.
Their keen, shifter hearing could pick up a faucet drip in another apartment.
The only shifter who came to see what was up was the old army veteran who co-owned the local hardware store with his wife.
Levi Jewett raced through the dark, jumped the fence that divided the apartment complex property from his backyard, and chased off Nathan.
Precious minutes and seconds could have been saved if Kaelyn had rushed over with her dominance to scare away her own packmate.
Instead, Kaelyn claimed she wasn’t home.
Kimberly knew better, because she had seen Kaelyn go into her apartment just half an hour before Nathan showed up and didn’t hear her leave.
Even in the off chance that Kimberly was wrong and simply missed Kaelyn leaving her apartment, there were subtle clues in the weeks following the attack.
She avoided Kimberly. Wouldn’t make eye contact.
Didn’t say a word besides the casual greeting when they passed.
Shame was written all over her. It wasn’t until recently that Kaelyn seemed to forget the past and decided enough time had gone by.
She was more cheerful, more open, but Kimberly couldn’t forget.
Kaelyn and Nolan were only allowed to stay because the former had leaked vital information to Sheriff Cole Spradley about Wyatt’s plans.
Dominic granted her leniency, and they merged with Cole’s pack.
If Kimberly’s suspicions were right, that Kaelyn knew Nathan would show up that night to attack Kimberly and purposefully stayed out of the way, then she could only guess that the shifter had a change of heart and ratted out Wyatt afterward.
That was the only reason Kimberly didn’t do the same and tell Dominic about her lie and how she was an accomplice.
But that didn’t mean Kimberly had to bury the hatchet.
“We missed you tonight!” Kaelyn said once Kimberly joined her at the stairwell.
Feigning politeness, Kimberly shrugged. “I had other plans. Sorry I was missed.”
They climbed the metal treads, and Kimberly noticed that Kaelyn was still in her light blue polo with the logo of the Little Pups Daycare. Kaelyn’s blue eyes sparkled with interest as she, in turn, looked up and down Kimberly’s outfit.
“I love that dress,” she fawned, her half-pinup of golden curls swinging like ribbons on a birthday present. “It shows off your figure so well.”
“Thanks,” was all Kimberly could manage.
In her head, however, a nasty string of insults and biting comments played in her head, the same ones she wished she could have said aloud but didn’t have the courage.
Despite the way she treated Shane, Kimberly was not into confrontation.
She didn’t go looking for fights and definitely didn’t want to argue.
If Kaelyn wanted to be a two-faced, back-stabbing, traitorous—
“You seem a little stressed,” Kaelyn said, interrupting Kimberly’s thoughts. “I just need to drop off these leftovers, and I could come over if you wanted to hang out or talk.”
They came to the second-floor landing and were about to part ways, Kimberly to the right and Kaelyn to the left.
Keys at the ready, so close to sanctuary that she could smell the soil in her dozens of potted plants and flowers on the other side of her door.
But that invitation nearly sent her spiraling again.
She looked Kaelyn dead in the face and opened her mouth to say what she really wanted to say.
You practically left me to die at the hands of your own packmate and never even fessed up to it.
You are the last person on earth I would ever want to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with at a time like this.
But then again, she could think of another person who was down there at the bottom of her list of people she wished would just get the fuck out of her life.
Instead, she took a breath and said, “I’m just a little tired. It’s been a rough day. Thanks for your concern, but I’m all right.”
All right. Fine. Okay. Getting by. All were phrases she threw out like candy off a parade float to everyone who tried to get too close and fix her these days.
Her pack, her friends, her coworkers at the flower shop, all of them tried to make sure she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wasn’t alone in this fight.
They were all wrong, of course. They might have known about the attack, but nothing about her inability to shift.
If it were up to her, none of them would ever know.
This was her fight that she had to battle in her own head.
No one could do it for her, but there were plenty of people dragging her down and keeping her from dealing that knockout blow.
Kaelyn was one of them, someone who could have used what Kimberly didn’t possess to keep her safe.
Her father, Shane, and Isaac Snyder were the others, those who reminded her that she was unlovable and invaluable as she was.
If she couldn’t keep these dark reminders of her failures and worthlessness out of her head, she’d never be in the right mental space to start shifting again.
Kaelyn seemed to study her for a second, then nodded. “My door is always open, if you need it.”
She turned, and Kimberly waited until the last of her perfect little blonde curls were behind her apartment door before she flipped Kaelyn the bird. A hot cup of chamomile tea, a session of quiet meditation, and a good night’s sleep would fix Kimberly’s attitude … she hoped.