Chapter 1 #2
As much as I try to loathe Sebastian Sol in public, I can’t.
He makes my mother happy, and that is something I can never hate him for.
My mother isn’t for everyone. I’ve heard people call her a hippie, a free spirit, but those are the kind versions.
Witch, irresponsible, kook; those are the versions I wasn’t supposed to hear.
I know what people say, and I protect her because my mother is the sunshine in Sunshine. She just radiates joy.
“Have you seen my project, Sebastian? It’s going to be amazing. I want to make a natural line of products with natural dyes. That’s where the soap comes in.”
“You are brilliant, Julia!” he says, and he means it.
He spins her around, and she lets out a happy giggle.
“You look prettier every day. But the flowers are an extra touch, I love it.”
I fold my arms over my chest and watch him smarm his way into my mother’s graces. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flash of sun glare on one of my favourite photos. The photo is of me and Mum standing with a massive chocolate palomino gelding.
Without a word, I slip into the hallway, needing to escape this sickening betrayal.
“I’m going to see my baby,” I say, waiting for anyone to care. They don’t.
When Sebastian is around, no one notices anything else. Half the girls at school were in love with him. The tourists come to Sunshine Cove and follow him around. He entertains them sometimes.
“Okay, I’ll be back. Maybe. I might also run away. It’s fifty-fifty. Could take up the trapeze and join the circus!”
I glance back at Sebastian kneeling in front of my mother, looking at whatever she’s showing him. He’s completely absorbed in her story.
He doesn’t even notice me.
I walk out the back and up to the paddock, grumbling about that particular Sol.
“Gale, baby!” I shout.
I tuck my shoulders as the brisk air and chill hits and wait.
Winter’s Gale or Gale lets out a ringing call and canters down towards the gate.
I slip inside and walk towards the stables, waiting for him as he tosses that beautiful white mane of his.
He’s a stunning chocolate colour and was a gift from my mum when I was fifteen.
Gale is the love of my life and the freedom I can’t have.
He stops in front of me, stamping a hoof and snorting in my hair. I wrap my arms around his thick neck and inhale that horse smell that I never get sick of. It’s comfort, companionship, and love all in one big, giant, beautiful horse.
“Shall we call it a day, then?” I murmur to him. “The gallery can wait until tomorrow. I just want to spend time with you.”
He pulls away and offers me his back.
I shouldn’t. I don’t have time, but I need to fly. With a chuckle, because how can I refuse such eyes, I walk to the fence, climb up as he approaches, and when he gets close, I grab his mane and pull myself up.
He takes off.
I lean over his neck, laughing, as he races around the paddock, noisily snorting and blowing.
“Such a big baby,” I say to him.
He spins in a circle and takes off again.
We run until I forget everything but the icy burn of the winter’s air on my cheeks, until it’s just us. He heads back to the stable at a walk, and I lay on him, hugging his neck.
“Soon, the daylight hours will start getting longer, and we can play more,” I promise him.
Right now, the days are short; the sun rises late and sets early. June will be here in a week, and the winter solstice will be here before anyone can blink, then it will be summer.
The evening has grown chilly, so I tug my jacket around me, wishing I’d thought to bring my fingerless gloves. Instead, I ignore my discomfort and get to work making sure Gale is set for the night.
I put a rug on him and set him up in the stall I’ve cleaned this morning. He’s happily munching and getting all sleepy when I head out and check the water and yard. When I’m done, I lean over the stall in the stable, staring at him.
“I love you, Gale.”
He lifts his head, and those soft velvet lips tickle my face. He turns around, and I get the impression that he’s telling me enough now.
“All right, I will harass you tomorrow. Love you, you big goof.”
He snorts, but he’s set up, so I shut the stable and head back to the house.
I’m distracted so I don’t notice him until I bump into his chest. But my gasp is loud; the way his hands grab my upper arms is startling. Everything about me comes roaring to life.
‘Sebastian, Sebastian, Sebastian,’ my heart shouts.
Ugh, what is wrong with me?
His scent hits me, then, it always hits with a punch, and this time is no different. By force of will, I don’t let out the needy whine that always, always tries to slip free when I'm around him.
“Sebastian.”
Damn, the way I say his name is just…obvious. He doesn’t call me on it, though; he never does.
“Cordelia,” he draws my name out and grins, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. No, he always stares at me like a hunter.
I sigh.
“You slammed the door in my face.”
“I did.”
“Aren’t you sorry?”
“I am not.”
“You wound me.”
“Not yet, but there’s still time,” I murmur and struggle free of his hold because if he keeps touching me, I might do something stupid and throw myself at him.
Sebastian pretends as if I've shot him in the chest and staggers back. My stomach flips wildly, and I fight to hide a smile.
“How did you get in?” I snap.
“Your mother gave me a key.”
My mother gave him a… I grind my teeth. “Give it here, and go home, Sol.”
Sebastian leans in over me. His breath wafts against my cheek, and I hate that my body reacts to him like he’s the most desirable alpha in Sunshine Cove. I get hot, and a tug between my legs has me swaying towards him. I catch myself and stiffen, staring back, refusing to back down.
“I’m absolutely not going to give it back, Lake. Who knows when I might need it.”
I growl and try to step away from him, but he grabs my upper arm and swings me back around.
“So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but anything that can make you glare at me the way you do is not something I can pass up, and I have something that might make you scream.”
I narrow my eyes. “The fact that you get so much pleasure out of seeing me mad is sick, Sebastian.”
“I can’t help it; old habits die hard. Besides, you’re like a little sister to me,” he mocks, repeating the words people have said to us about fighting like siblings.
I flinch. “We are not related.”
Sebastian makes a face. “Aww, I’m hurt. That’s not what Dougie thinks.”
“There’s a point for me. And stop calling him Dougie, it’s Doug, and he’s probably on the other side of the continent by now.”
I stalk away from him.
“Mum matched you with a pack. For Light Knot Night.” His voice throbs with some unnamed emotion. “Go and tell her to unmatch you.”
I freeze, trying to register those words. “As long as I’m not matched with you, all is well.”
Sebastian laughs. “Oh, you would love to be matched to me.”
“Did you hit your head? Are you sick? Has someone finally broken your teeny-tiny brain?”
Sebastian reaches out, I flinch, but he pulls a leaf from my hair. My reaction has just given him all the answers this big-headed buffoon needs. He affects me. I might hate it, he might not care for it, and I can hide it everywhere else, just not when he touches me.
“I’m just going to be so happy to see you find love,” he purrs, but that sound doesn’t sit quite right, and for one second, I think he’s angry.
I turn towards him and let out a growl. We’re about to throw down, I can feel it.
“Awww, you two are going to have the most adorable babies in the world.”
My face heats up, and I have no doubt it turns scarlet. “MUM!”
“When is the bonding ceremony?”
Sebastian, the traitor, smiles and puts an arm over my mum’s shoulder and guides her back into the house. “I haven’t convinced her yet.”
“Well, then, young alpha, you need to work harder.”
I close my eyes. Mum’s favourite fantasy is this one, where she ‘remembers’ Sebastian and me being together when we were teens. She is convinced we’ll just wake up one day and be lovers.
“I’ll do so,” Sebastian says, winking at her.
“When I think of all the years she pined for you.”
I close my eyes, my mortification complete.
“I knew you two would end up together.”
There is no point in trying to get her to stop. She will just get upset with me for not being able to take a joke or lighten up. Sebastian gets her to sit down, while I go and turn on the kettle, watching the pair of them with resignation.
Sebastian looks at me, and there’s a strange expression on his face. Almost concern.
“Mum wants to talk to you, Cordie. I’ll stay here with Julia. We can catch up and plan how to get you to agree to my proposal.”
He doesn’t see how hard I flinch. To him, the teasing is just that. Teasing.
“All right, I won’t be long,” I say.
It takes me a few minutes to walk to the Sol’s house.
Where our house is smaller, with peeling white paint and a garden that is heading back on the evolutionary path, the Sol’s house is a pristine and lived-in mansion with a rare and beautiful lawn.
I’ve spent half my life running in and out of this house.
I walk in, dump my keys in the bowl, and draw an infinity symbol on their whiteboard. It’s a strange tradition, but it's a habit now to follow the Sol’s and their weirdness. I wonder if anyone noticed that the only reason my symbol is an infinity is because Sebastian’s is the number eight.
“Lorelei?”
She pokes her head out of the kitchen. “Here, dear.”
I walk in and take a seat at the island. She slides a cup of tea in front of me. I’m disappointed it’s not secret recipe cocoa, but I will take anything warm.
Lorelei Sol looks like her son. I know a lot of people might argue, but he’s got her hair colour, the dimples when she smiles, the spark of stubborn pride. Her temper. Sebastian is her son through and through.
“So, I don’t know if-”
“Sebastian told me you’ve signed me up for Light Knot Night and found a match.”
Lorelei presses her lips together and scowls, looking so much like Sofia that I laugh.
“Drat that boy.”
I want to protest. He’s not a boy; stop treating him like one. He’s an alpha, a big powerful alpha who- stop that, right now.
I rub my hand over my face. The truth is, the truth I’ve been trying to hide from for years now is that Sebastian is an alpha I don’t think I’m ever going to get over. Especially not when we live a three-minute slow stroll from each other.
“I think it’s time, maybe to find someone for you. Alphas who will,” Lorelei bites her lip, looking away. “They will return your affections,” she finally says.
She knows.
The entire world knows.
I burn with humiliation.
“Okay, sign me up. Find me a match,” I say in a tight voice. It’s easy to agree. But then that’s what Cordelia Lake does. She just says yes.
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m prepared to try.”
Lorelei squeals and hugs me hard. “I’ve found the perfect alphas for you.”
I try to smile, but all I can see is Sebastian. He’s all I’ve ever seen.