Chapter 2Elijah
Chapter Two
Elijah
" H ere," I reach into the backseat and grab a flannel, giving it a quick sniff to make sure it's good before tossing it on her lap. "Dry off a little."
Maisie looks at me, and then reluctantly begins toweling her hair with the long-sleeved shirt.
"Don't want to ruin your fancy leather seats.” She says, with a lot less venom than I expect.
"Fuck the seats. I’m more concerned with you catching a cold.
” I start up the engine and flip the air conditioner to heat, directing the vents towards her.
I'm not as bad off, but I also didn't get the worst of it trying to fix my car.
"What were you thinking, standing out there in the middle of the road?”
“It's just a little rain, and I was on the shoulder.” She looks over at me, brown hair already beginning to dry into effortless waves that remind me of summers down at the lake.
Maisie Echolls is all grown up. I can’t believe that it’s been 18 years. She’s always been pretty, but now she is bordering on breathtakingly gorgeous, even sitting beside me looking a bit like a drowned rat. Especially now.
I’m driven to distraction by the way her cute little jean shorts are practically glued to her black leggings stretching over her generous thighs, accentuating a soft waist and gently rounded belly.
She’s also clearly still pissed at me after all this time. I’m not sure what I did, but it feels good to have her home for the weekend despite how much she hates me.
“What is this?” She lifts her foot, plucking a crumpled paper from the bottom of her shoe.
As she smooths it out on the dash, I catch the cobalt blue background and almost throw myself into the passenger’s seat trying to grab it away.
“It’s nothing. Just some trash.”
“Trash.” She teases, holding it out of my reach, “Axel and Rodd Auto Shop. Lube jobs for $69? Who wrote this? A 12-year-old? Please tell me you didn’t actually use this ad for the circular.”
“No,” I snatch the paper, balling it and tossing it into the back seat. “We don’t exactly have the budget to hire a prestigious social media marketing specialist to consult with on our ads.”
Maisie’s expression falls, and she turns to look out the passenger side window, lifting my flannel and squeezing the ends of her hair.
I pull out onto the road, glancing over as her phone lights up with a notification, a photo of her and her boyfriend on the lock screen. A sharp pang of jealousy shoots through me.
Odd. I don't smell him on her.
With a deep inhale, all I sense is the grass and mud caked to her shoes, the cool rain clinging to her skin and the faint hint of cinnamon.
“ I can’t believe the car broke down and now I’m stuck with Elijah of all people. This day couldn’t get any worse if I tried. ”
“Maybe you should have asked a bridge troll for a ride.” I mutter under my breath, trying to ignore the sting in her words.
She pins me with those rich red-brown eyes, brows furrowed, and I realize entirely too late that she hasn’t said a word.
That snarky comment played straight into my thoughts, similar to the way our pack communicates with each other. There’s no way. This cannot be happening.
Maisie is my mate.
* * *
She spends the rest of the drive to Hannah’s staring out the window and holding my flannel to her chest like a security blanket, silent except for the random thoughts that manage to filter through.
Maisie notes how the center of town is decked out in bright autumn themed decorations ahead of the festival, how she can actually smell the trees and circles back to how terrible her day is going now that she’s stuck in the car with me.
I try not to take it personally since I know she can’t control it, no one has taught her how, and I’m not sure how I’m going to explain it to her. All I can do is throw up my own mental block and keep my wolf at bay.
It figures that she’d be my mate. We all practically grew up together. I can remember the day she came home with Hannah after school. Her father had just moved to Ghostlight Falls for work, and it was that or taking a chance with the school bus.
They’re only two years younger than me, and I was never too cool to hang out with my little sister, at least not until junior year. Maybe that’s why she’s still holding a grudge. But by that time, I was busy hanging out with my friends and apprenticing at the shop.
Not that she wasn’t my friend too. Truth is, Maisie was probably one of my best friends growing up, and I’d gladly take the brunt of her anger just to see her smile at me again.
"Hold on." I jump out of the car and run around to the passenger side, opening the door for her.
Maisie looks at me like I've grown another head and takes my hand, "The Air Force really did a number on you."
"It tried," I incline my head and follow her up the sidewalk.
The rain has subsided just long enough for the sun to disappear for the night, and at least half of my family is waiting in Hannah's small three-bedroom home, ready for the weekend.
Maisie gets to the door before I do, leaving me to hear the chorus of excitement at her arrival, including Alexis' screaming her name and Jacob's father joking, "Oh, and look, Eli is back too."
"Ha ha." I close the door behind me and look for Hannah. Knowing her, she's still toughing it out in the kitchen, pretending the storm isn’t bothering her hip, or else she’d be in here with everyone else.
Sure enough, she's disassociating in front of the sink with aplate in one hand and her small smiley face sponge in the other.
"Hey," I settle beside her, grabbing the plate covered in suds from her hand and relieving her of the sponge, "Let me help."
"Thanks," she sighs, moving to tuck her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear but thinking better of it, "I really don't know how Mom and Dad managed this when we were younger. Twice.”
“If it makes you feel any better, you’re doing amazing.”
Hannah rolls her eyes, "Thanks to you. Really, you didn't need to take so much onto your plate this weekend."
I nudge her, "Don't get all mushy on me."
"Fine,” she smiles, “How's Maisie?"
“She’s good, a little damp, but she’ll survive.”
“What about her car?”
"I’m going to put a call in to get it towed. From the sound of things, it shouldn’t be anything major.”
“It’ll be nice having her around.” Hannah says, taking the sponge out of my hand and tossing it back in the sink, “I hope you’re going to be on your best behavior.”
I scoff, “I’m always on my best behavior.”
Though I’m not going to let it slip that in our short 15 minute car ride, I’ve already managed to offend her and she will likely avoid me for the rest of the weekend.
“Speaking of, where’s Mason?” I ask.
"Mason?" She glances over at me.
"Maisie's boyfriend. The one with the hair." I gesture, trying to encapsulate the effortless style that I’ve only seen in pictures online.
“His name is Max. Why do you care?” Hannah turns, placing her hand on her hip as she stares me down.
It feels like the next words out of my mouth will put me behind enemy lines.
“I’m a little pissed he let her drive all that way alone without at least getting her car checked out beforehand.”
"Maisie is a grown woman, she’s made that trip dozens of times, and I don't think anyone could have foreseen her car troubles. Not to mention, they broke up months ago." Hannah’s grey eyes search my face, her expression softening, "Eli.“
“What?”
A scream erupts from the other room, and I turn, sprinting towards the sound, to find Maisie laughing and clutching Alexis's pet frog, Jeremiah, to her chest as he scrambles to climb closer to her neck.
“Alexis,” Hannah says in her most intimidating mom voice, "I told you to keep him in his terrarium."
"It's fine." Maisie smiles, cradling the frog and looking over at me, the soft look in her eyes catching me off guard, “We’re fine. He just startled me.”
I wince at the steady rhythmic thudding behind me, and look to see I’ve partially shifted, my tail hitting the side of the hall table. When I turn back, Maisie quickly dims her smile as she hands the frog over to Alexis, leaving me with the ghost of its warmth.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Hannah says, crossing the room and enveloping her in a hug.
“It’s good to be back.” Maisie sighs, “I can’t wait to take a shower and change into some clean clothes.”
“About that,” my sister winces, “We let Jake’s parents take the spare bedroom. Turns out all the hotels in town are booked solid for the festival.”
“Oh, that’s fine.” Maisie waves her hand, “I can figure something out.”
Hannah looks between us, “Hey, why don’t you stay with Elijah?”
All eyes are suddenly on me, except for Maisie, who stares at her friend with a look of betrayal in her eyes. My tail slaps against the table one last time, hard enough to rattle the glasses on top of it and send a jolt of pain up my spine.
"What?!” Maisie and I exclaim in unison.