Chapter Thirteen
Sunday, I got a call from Steve and Nicole. They were leaving on their trip and checking in to make sure I was okay or if I needed anything. I reassured them I was fine and told them to have fun and take lots of pictures. There was no way I could tell them about my shifter life, since they were strictly human. I didn’t need to worry about their safety on top of everything else lately.
I was finally getting into the groove with my classes. My professor was impressed with my portfolio compilation and I was striving to diversify my drawings. Thursday afternoon I was sitting under a tree on campus, soaking up the sun’s rays and reviewing my latest assignment when a voice called out to me.
“Hey Kendra!” I looked up and saw Seth making his way toward me. Jake was two steps behind him. I hadn’t talked to or seen either of them since the fight last weekend. I was curious why Jake was there, but it was a place I shouldn’t have been either. Seth sat down beside me and glanced at my drawing of the campus building in front of us.
“Wow, that’s really good.” Seth admired.
“Thanks.” I answered, slowly putting my drawing away. I was still self-conscious about my drawings until they were finished. “Are you guys done for the day?” I asked. It was the middle of the afternoon so there was a good chance they were just finishing up with classes.
“Yeah,” he replied distractedly. “Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat tonight with me. Just as friends,” he smirked, “I’d like to hear more about you.” I hesitated, wondering where this interest was coming from. Seth was a great guy, but I didn’t want to hang out with him by myself.
“Hey, I thought we were hanging out tonight.” Jake protested, looking at Seth.
“Yeah, but Kendra can join us.” He shrugged and looked over at me. “We were planning to meet at the small diner a couple blocks off campus. I can send you the address if you’re interested. I’ll even buy your supper.” He winked.
“Just as friends?” I asked, hesitantly. I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea.
“Of course. Just friends hanging out for an hour or two. What do you say?”
“Um, sure.Okay.”I nodded.
“Great, I’ll text you the place and you can meet us there at six. Unless you want me to pick you up?” He offered with a smirk. Laughing I shook my head.
“No, I’ll just meet you guys there. Thanks.”
“No problem. See you later.” Seth waved and headed the other direction. Jake waved too and followed him.
I turned back to my drawing, thinking over Seth’s invite and Jake seeing me at the fight. Would he bring it up? Should I? I was curious to know if he was a regular and how he felt about the fight being busted. Did they see the non-wolves getting detained as wrong when there were clearly other wolves there too? I shook my head and packed up my things. I had a few hours I could put in at the store before going to meet Seth and Jake.
Walking toward the outfitters, I heard my ringtone and glanced at my phone to see Cassie was calling. I debated answering. I hadn’t really talked to her all weekend, even though she tried texting me throughout. I responded with one-word replies, which in hindsight, was a bad idea. That would just make Cassie even more suspicious that something was going on. Sighing, I answered the call.
“Hey Cassie.”
“Kendra? Oh my God, you are alive. I was starting to wonder,” she replied sarcastically. I could still sense the hurt in her voice, and I never wanted that. I was just confused about Cade and worried about him. Not to mention all the other stuff that piled up talking to Luke.
“Oh, no, sorry. This weekend’s been a little hectic.” I replied vaguely.
“Oh? Out partying with your college friends?” I could sense a little jealously in her statement.
“Something like that.” I sighed. “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk for a while. Classes and work have kept me busy. Not to mention we took a road trip to one of Amber’s neighbors on Saturday.”
“Hey how’d that go?” She seemed to perk up a little. “I know you mentioned meeting with another latent to learn about shifting.”
“Yeah, it went all right, I guess.” I was hesitant to say too much over the phone. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I was afraid the High Council would be tracking or recording my calls somehow. Maybe I’d been watching too many action movies.
“Well, you can tell me all about it this weekend,” she said excitedly.
“What’s this weekend?” I asked, drawing a total blank. I waited at the crosswalk as traffic zoomed by.
“The gala, silly!” She exclaimed. “Since we graduated, we can attend with the older members of the pack. It’s a great opportunity to mingle and meet new wolves.”
“Oh, that gala.” I nodded, vaguely remembering someone saying something about it. I could tell Cassie was using this excursion as an opportunity to get out of pack lands and stretch her legs. “Is it going to be safe for us to go? Everyone is always so worried about your safety when we do anything.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she replied. “This thing will have max security because the High Council will be there.”
“Say what?” I asked, but then thought how stupid of me to assume they wouldn’t be there. This gala was for all the high-profile packs across the continent, from what I remembered. I’m sure the High Council members would want to be seen.
“Yeah, but don’t worry. There will be so many wolves there that they will hardly notice you.” She reassured, and in my mind all I could think about was how I was going to go unnoticed. “Oh! And Cade will be there as well.”
“He will?” I asked, my voice sounding a bit strangled. I fell in line with a few pedestrians as we traveled down the sidewalk.
“Yeah, but he has to meet us there.” She sighed. “He said he was traveling with his training team and they were using this opportunity as part of their training.”
“So, he’ll be doing security the whole time?” I was trying not to sound too hopeful.
“No, not the whole time.” Cassie burst that bubble real fast. “Probably preparing and the occasional report in during the event. But mostly he’ll be with us.”
“I don’t know if should go,” I hesitantly said. “I need to keep a low profile and-”
“Well, you not going isn’t really an option,” Cassie admitted softly.
“What do you mean?” Her statement caught me off guard and I had to remind myself to keep walking.
“I overhead my parents talking, and the invite specifically stated you had to attend.”
“So, you saying before that I would go unnoticed?” I asked dryly.
“Just trying to reassure you?” She replied sweetly.
“Thanks for sugarcoating it for me.” I answered sarcastically.
“What are friends for? But don’t worry. Dad and Mom will be with us the whole time. Not to mention almost the whole enforcer group.”
“Why such a big group?” Our pack was large, and if the picture she was painting was true, we’d have close to thirty people attending.
“This gala is all about show. We want the other packs to recognize we are a strong pack that can lead well.”
“So basically, this is going to be a huge dog and pony show to see which pack can outshine the other.” I grumbled.
“Exactly.” Cassie replied brightly, totally missing my frustration. “Besides, Cade will be glued to your side all night.”
“Uh huh.” I replied, not trusting myself to say anything else on the matter of Cade.
“Am I sensing some marital bliss issues?”
“Oh please, we aren’t married.” I rolled my eyes and bumped into another person. I glanced back to mumble an apology and the guy met my eyes briefly. My breath caught in recognition. It was the same guy I saw in the shop and at Seth’s party. That brief moment when our eyes locked, recognition passed over his face, then he swiftly turned around and faded into the crowd. I felt a need to chase him down. His scent didn’t remind me of any other shifter, but he definitely wasn’t human. Just a shifter I hadn’t run into yet. His face was familiar, but I couldn’t place him outside of the few encounters we had. Was he a student? He looked young enough to be attending college here.
“You basically are.” Cassie dismissed me, reminding me that I was in the middle of a conversation. “But seriously, did something happen? I thought you and Cade were good.”
“Well,” I tried to pull my thoughts together and forget about the guy. “Long story short, I ran into him last Friday. He was on assignment, not happy to see me, and pretty much brushed me aside and told me to leave.”
“That doesn’t sound like my brother.” Cassie argued.
“That’s what I thought but that’s what happened.”
“Where were you?” She asked curiously.
“Um…a fight.”I admitted.She gasped.
“You were at one of those underground fights?” She whisper-hissed into the phone. “And you went without me?”
“It was one fight.” I sighed, rubbing my hand across my forehead. That night was exhausting, and I didn’t want to rehash it. “A friend was fighting, and he wanted us to be there for support.”
“It’s that Ian guy, isn’t it? I knew he was one of those bad boy types.”
“Ian’s a great guy.” I protested.
“Oh, does someone have the hots for mister tiger?” Cassie teased.
“Please,” I scoffed, fighting off the blush that sprung up. I liked Ian but didn’t see him as more than a friend.
“But seriously, you were at the fight when Cade found you?” I could imagine her shudder at that thought. “Yeah, I can picture how well that went.”
“It didn’t end well, and I really don’t want to talk about him right now.” I looked up and saw that I was almost to the store. “Look, I have to go work for a couple hours. What time do I have to be home?”
“Friday night. I have your dress all ready to go, I just want you to try it on and be sure it fits.”
“I suppose a dress was unavoidable.” I mumbled.
“It’s a gala, Kendra. You have to wear a dress.” She sighed. “We’ll leave in the morning by plane to fly into Vancouver. We won’t leave until Sunday, from what I’ve been told, since the gala is Saturday night.”
“It’s going to be a full weekend, then.” I resigned myself to things out of my control.
“Yep, but we are going to make it an epic adventure. I’m so excited to have the pack back together again.”
“It will be good to be together again,” I agreed.
“Okay, I’ll let you go. See you soon!”
“Yep.See you Friday.”
We both hung up and I gathered my thoughts before entering the store. A flash of movement caught my attention and I looked back down the sidewalk to see someone jerk out of view. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and my pulse jumped. Was someone following me? I didn’t get the creepy vibe from the other guy that I ran into, so was this someone different? I ducked into the store quickly and found the store bustling with customers.
Clint and Jason greeted me from the counter, and I was quickly immersed in things to get done for the next couple of hours. I totally forgot about the second person I saw on the sidewalk. Time passed quickly, with us joking and having fun at work. Before I knew it, I needed to clock out to reach the diner in time to meet Seth and Jake. I double checked my phone for the address, and found it was only a few blocks away. I waved to everyone and booked it to the diner.
Halfway there, a hand reached out from an alley and pulled me into the darkened space. The person spun me around, so my back was pressed up against the brick wall. I finally got a good look at the person standing in front of me and scowled.
“Dusty,” I spat out. “What the hell do you want?”
“Aw, don’t be like that.” Dusty cajoled with a sneer. “It’s been so long I thought it was time we catch up.”
“I could go a lifetime without seeing you and be perfectly happy,” I replied. He glowered at my answer.
“Little miss latent thinks she’s big stuff now that the High Council knows about her.”
“I could do without them too,” I commented dryly. Dusty didn’t seem to care for my humor. He stepped into my space, boxing me in a little more.
“Watch your tongue,” he growled. “The High Council is to be respected at all times.”
“Did they teach you that in your stupid training?”
“It’s not so stupid when I get to beat up on your boyfriend.”
“Pfft, yeah right.” I laughed in his face. “I’m sure Cade has you cowering with your tail between your legs.” I taunted. Dusty lunged for me and braced his forearm across my neck, cutting off most of my air supply.
“Listen here you little bitch,” Dusty bit out. “We’re watching you. You and your little shifter friends. Don’t think you living with a bunch of filthy mongrels hasn’t gone unnoticed.” His words registered but I gasped, trying to breathe past the pressure on my neck.
“Screw you Dusty.” I managed to say around the pressure on my neck.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you,” he glanced down my body and I recoiled at the implication. “Sorry, we don’t have time for that. Teams moving,” he touched the side of his ear. He must have had one of those earpieces in to communicate with others. “Say hello to that hot panther you have living with you. Wouldn’t mind getting my hands on her.”
“You’re sick.” I ground out. He laughed in my face then leaned closer like he was telling me a secret.
“Be a good girl, Kendra. Wouldn’t want to give me a reason to arrest you and throw you in a cell for all eternity.” He stepped back and I gasped, trying to fill my lungs with air. “See you around, Kendra.” Then he disappeared around the corner of the building and I was left alone in the alley. I bent over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath and not vomit with the thought of Dusty being that close to me.
I glanced at my phone and saw that I was running late to meet Seth and Jake. Taking a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, I brushed my fingers through my hair to make it lay nice again and merged with the foot traffic on the sidewalk. I managed to slide inside the diner ten minutes after six. I looked behind me a couple times but didn’t see Dusty hanging around. I wondered why he was in the area, but I didn’t want to meet him again to find out.
I looked around the cozy place and found Seth and Jake in the back corner, taking up a round booth. I weaved through the tables and sat down so Seth was in the middle.
“You found us.” Seth grinned.
“Yep. Have you ordered yet?” I pulled out the menu from the middle of the table and started glancing through the options. I was sure my heart was beating a mile a minute yet, but I tried to take deep breathes to slow it down.
“No, we were waiting on you.” Seth smiled my way. The waiter showed up shortly after that and took our orders. I turned to Seth and smiled, nerves mostly under control.
“So, what do you want to talk about?”
“To the point I see,” Seth laughed.
“Well, I just figured I’d get us started.” I shrugged.
“Okay, fine. Let me think,” Seth took a moment to fake ponder a question before snapping his fingers and grinning at me. “I got one. What was it like growing up in the McCoy pack? They are almost like royalty to the rest of us lowly wolves, I can’t imagine all the perks that go with being raised in that pack.”
“Well, I actually didn’t grow up there. I’m an implant. Adopted.” I admitted with a shrug.
“What really?” He seemed shocked by the idea. Like, it was unrealistic that the McCoys would adopt anyone into their pack. “What pack are you from then?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I was in the foster system since I was little. My foster parents happened to move into the McCoy lands my senior year and the rest is history.”
“No kidding,” Seth shook his head. “And here I thought you lived a life of luxury.”
“Well, the homes I stayed in were anything but.” I replied dryly.
“When did you find out you were a wolf?” Seth asked.
“Not until this last year.” I hedged, trying to figure out how to steer the conversation to safer topics. I didn’t want my latent status coming out if I could help it, remembering Liam’s warning. “How big is your pack?” I asked Seth and Jake, looking between the two. “You said it was smaller than McCoy’s, but that doesn’t tell me much.” The waiter brought our drinks over and we waited until he moved on before Seth responded.
“Around forty or so members.” Seth replied. “We don’t own as much land, so it’s hard to expand our pack. And most of our members are mated, except for the handful like us.” He motioned to Jake and him. “Our families don’t have many kids, one or two each, so we’ve kept pretty small.”
“Was the family size by choice?” I asked curiously. I took a few sips of my drink, parched from my earlier encounter.
“Mostly. We don’t have the financial security.” Seth shrugged and glanced at Jake. “One of the reasons Jake here is planning on working for the High Council.” I turned my attention to him.
“You said you’d be working in finance?”
“If I get hired,” Jake grinned. “I’m working to build my resume and reputation in order to position myself in a better light when I graduate.”
“Are you working at a bank or something?” I wondered. I would think that would help him hone his skills in financing at least a little.
“I do actually, but I also help the Enforcers from time to time.” Jake replied. My heart skipped a beat at the mention of the Enforcers.
“What do you mean?” I asked on edge. Working for the Enforcers sounded…sketchy.
“Like the gala coming up,” he started. “I was invited to attend so I could see the finer side of wolf politics and meet the Enforcer I’ve been communicating with.” He seemed excited by the prospect. “Our pack has never been in a high enough standing to be granted an invite, but with everything I’ve been doing on the side, they invited me and a guest to attend.”
“And since our friend Jake here is unattached, I get the privilege to attend as his plus one.” Seth grinned, also excited. “Your pack will be going, right?”
“Yeah, I was just talking to Cassie earlier, you remember her from the party?” I asked and they nodded. “She said a bunch of us would be going this year.”
“Sweet, you’re going too?” Seth asked.
“Seems like it.” I answered, not near as enthused as him.
“Great. Then I can practice dancing with you.” He caught himself and with a sheepish grin hesitantly asked, “If you don’t mind?”
“Well, Cade will be there, so I don’t know if that will work.” Thinking Cade would probably not appreciate another wolf, male at that, paying attention to me.
“Who’s Cade?” Seth asked confused.
“The heir of the McCoy Pack.” Jake offered, then looked at me. I was surprised he knew about Cade. “Why would he care who you dance with? I assume you two aren’t lifemates if you’re here, and he’s there?” Jake was not pulling any punches, was he?
“No, we aren’t.” I stated matter-of-factly.
“So why would he care if I danced with you?” Seth asked confused.
“Cade’s just a little protective.” I shrugged. “I’m sure we can work it out.”
“Sweet. I can’t wait to go. It’s going to be so much fun.” Seth smiled. I, on the other hand, was picturing a stuffy atmosphere, stuck up rich people, and eyes following me everywhere. Not my idea of fun.
“How are you guys getting there?” I asked.
“Oh, we are taking off tonight and driving up. Flying is too expensive.” Seth replied.
“Huh.” I answered, thinking over our flight Saturday morning. “I could ask Liam if you two could travel with us, if there’s room. Unless there’s some pack territory thing I don’t know about.” I added hastily.
“Really?” Seth looked back and forth between me and Jake. Jake seemed to slide forward in his seat in his eagerness. “What do you think, Jake? That would save so much time and we’d be traveling in style.”
“Being seen with the McCoy Pack wouldn’t hurt either.” Jake considered. I frowned, not liking the thought behind that statement. “If Alpha Liam says yes, then I’m all for it.”
“Let me text Cassie.” I pulled out my phone and shot off a text asking the question. While waiting for a response, our food finally arrived. We all dug in and it was silent for a few moments as we all enjoyed our meal. My phone pinged with an incoming text, and I saw that Liam had agreed. “Looks like you guys are in.”
“Yes.” Seth exclaimed and grinned at me, I smiled in return. Jake smirked and seemed to be thinking about something, lost in his own world. That reminded me about his comment on meeting an Enforcer at the gala.
“Hey Jake, you mentioned you’re in contact with an Enforcer. Do you mind if I ask which one?”
“Do you know some or something?” Seth asked curiously.
“Just a few in passing. They spoke with Liam from time to time.” I was stretching the truth a little since the only time I’ve ever seen a High Council Enforcer was in Dallas for our impromptu meeting, set in motion by Dusty himself. Besides the one visit from Enforcer Carver, that is.
“His name is Enforcer Garner. Been an enforcer for ten years or so, I think.” Jake shrugged and took another bite of his burger. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it. I was curious if Jake had been in contact with Enforcer Carver, which would explain why he’s been so uptight on my whereabouts lately. But it seemed like he was contacting another Enforcer.
“What kinds of things do you talk to him about?” I asked, trying to act innocent while digging for information.
“Just things that are going on around here. He said they have people helping them from across the continent that report in disturbances from time to time. It helps them stay on top of things.” He shrugged. “Enforcer Garner only wants the facts and doesn’t have time to discuss anything. Seems a bit of a hard ass but I suppose if you were dealing with the things they do day in and day out you would be to.”
My breath caught as I had a lightbulb moment. Enforcer Garner. He was the one the High Council talked about to give Dusty special training regarding the difference between humans and wolves. If my memory served me right, Enforcer Carver was not a fan of him. If Carver didn’t like him, I’m sure he had a valid reason. I worried that Carver and Garner were not on the same page regarding equality among shifters. If he was Dusty’s lead Enforcer, then that meant he was here with Dusty since Dusty mentioned the team was moving. Why was Enforcer Garner in the area? What were they planning?
“Anything recent you’ve told him?” I asked casually, trying not to let my panic seep into my voice.
Jake shrugged. “Just the fight involving the tiger at our party. He also wanted to know names of any one at the party. Oh, and the underground fights. He seemed keen on those.”
“Dude, you told him who was at the fight?” Seth hissed, under his breath.
“No, not those.” Jake’s eyes slid to mine, then back to Seth. “Just at the party at our place a while back.” He looked back at me. “Come to think of it, he seemed especially interested in your pack being there, Kendra.” I’m sure he did, I said to myself, but only nodded. The High Council Enforcers, I’m sure, were well aware of my latent status.
“Did you report on all the shifters that were there?” I asked, wondering if he reported Amber and the others.
“Just a few,” Jake shrugged. “I couldn’t remember their names. He later sent me pictures of some other shifters and I had to identify which ones were there and which ones weren’t.”
“And you did this without question?” I couldn’t hold back my incredulity anymore. Jake looked at me sharply.
“Hey, I was just doing my job. Enforcer Garner said if I helped with these things from time to time, it would help with being hired after I graduate.” Jake defended.
“And you see nothing wrong with that?” I asked heatedly.
“No one got hurt, so what’s the big deal?” Jake narrowed his eyes at me.
“It’s a big deal because you are putting those lives at stake!” I fumed. I huffed and threw my napkin down on the table while scooting out of the booth. “That underground fight you reported? People were arrested. No one knows where they are or if they’ll be back. Think about that the next time you make a report to Garner.” I turned away without another word and stalked out of the diner to a few stares. I was too mad to care about the impression I’d make.
I stomped down the sidewalk, angry and upset to think I probably looked like a child as I made my way back to my car near the shop. I figured by now Dusty was long gone with his team. How did no one see the big picture? Well, I shouldn’t say no one. Wolves were the problem. Non-wolves understood. They’d been living with the fallout for years and just trying to get by. Wolves, like Jake, had no problem using others to get ahead in life. He didn’t see the issue with throwing others under the bus to get what he wanted, a job with the High Council. He’s probably never even met anyone on the High Council! Doesn’t he realize what a bunch of stuck up asses they all are?! Who would want to work for that? And just for a job that would give you money and prestige. But I supposed in the world they lived in, that was all that mattered. Money, who you were, who you knew, and what they could do for you. What a culture to grow up and live in.
I was thankful the McCoy Pack was the way they were, but maybe I had blinders on too. Did my pack act that way? Were we just as blind to the issues others faced and only concerned with wolf politics? I sure hoped not otherwise I’d be leaving and lone wolfing it as soon as possible. I didn’t need a pack. I grew up alone, I could manage life without them. At that thought, my wolf whined inside, and I had to place a hand to my chest at the pain emanating from inside. Okay, maybe I was a little rash, I admitted to my wolf. I felt her brush up against me in support before settling back down. My phone pinged with a text message.
I’m sorry for Jake, if you don’t want us to travel with you, we can start the drive tomorrow night.
I thought about Seth’s response, and seriously considered retracting my invitation. But I knew that would be petty of me, so I put on my big girl panties and reassured Seth.
No, it’s fine. Just be at the McCoy house Friday night. Leaving early Sat morning.
You sure?
Yes. Don’t be late.
Thanks. Looking forward to it. :)
I sighed and text Cassie to let her know Seth and Jake would be staying Friday night to leave with us Saturday morning. She was excited to have company outside of the pack.
When I arrived back at the house, I was still in a mood. I could hear Amber moving around in her room with music playing softly. Clint must have still been at work at the store or out with the boys. Feeling the need to draw, I dropped off my backpack in my room and grabbed my larger sketch pad. It was time to lose myself in my drawings. I didn’t want to think about the random stranger I kept seeing, running into Dusty, or what misguided Jake was doing to jeopardize my friends.
Around an hour later, Ian dropped by. He strolled through the front door without knocking, but by this time, I was so used to them coming and going like it was their own house, it didn’t bother me.
“Hey Ian.” I glanced up from my drawing to smile at him.
“Kendra.” He nodded and bypassed me to grab a drink from the fridge. Amber emerged from her room with her purse slung over her shoulder.
“I’m headed out.” She announced, then caught sight of Ian. “Ian, what brings you here?”
“Just checking in.” A man of few words.
“Well, sorry I can’t stay. Need to do some shopping. It’s Zach’s birthday this weekend so I have to buy the little monster a present.” I smiled, knowing Zach wouldn’t appreciate his big sister referring to him as little. Monster, maybe.
“What are you going to get him?” I asked.
“Something embarrassing if I can find it.” She grinned. I laughed and Ian smirked. “Well, someone has to keep him on his toes.”
“You do that well.” I smiled. Amber smirked before waving at us both and leaving. Ian approached the table and sat down near me before looking at my drawing. It was almost finished, I just had to put the remaining details on it. Ian’s reaction was surprising. His entire body froze, as if someone had encased him in solid ice. The only thing moving was his eyes as he took in my drawing. I looked down to make sure I didn’t draw someone naked or something. That would be a first, but when my mind wandered, I wasn’t always aware of what I was drawing.
It looked normal to me, seeing as I’d drawn the same house numerous times over the years. This one was slightly different, with a tiger cub playing near the house and was in the middle of preparing to pounce on a nearby soccer ball. The wolf was missing this time, but the house remained the same. Same glow, same feeling of peace. I glanced up to see that Ian was still staring at the drawing. I wasn’t sure he was even breathing.
“Are you okay?” I asked quietly.
“How…” he trailed off, his voice barely audible. “How do you know what it looks like?”
“Wait,” my heart skipped a beat as I looked down at the drawing then back at him. “You know this place?” I asked excitedly, thinking of all the times I’ve drawn it and never knew where it was or when it happened.
“Yeah,” he cleared his throat and looked up at me. “But, how do you?”
“The images, they just come to me. I don’t have any control over it.” I shrugged.
“Your latent gift?” He asked softly.
“Or curse, depends how you look at it.” I tried to joke, but it fell flat at the lost look on his face.
“Where is it?” I asked quietly.
“It’s…it’s where I lived. Until my family was killed.”
“Oh, oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Ian.” I bit my lip, at a loss as to what to say. Did him being near me trigger the drawing? But that didn’t make sense either. I’d been drawing that house since before I could remember.
“I can’t believe you drew that. You captured every detail. May I?” He asked, wanting to slide the drawing closer to him. I nodded and he pulled it over to sit in front of him. “I miss this place so much. We were all so happy there.”
“You and your parents?” I asked.
“Yeah.And my sister.”
“You had a sister?” I asked, wondering why I didn’t know that before now.
“Yeah, Luke said she was two years younger than me. I don’t even remember her name. I was so young. Luke never talks about them. He only mentioned my mother’s name once, when I asked. We were so young when they came.”
“Who came?” I asked, trying to follow his story. He was transfixed by the drawing, barely conscious of my presence.
“We were at the cabin. Dad and me, Mom and my sister. I was only four, so my memories are a little fuzzy. Dad heard them coming, he told us to go out the back. I worried for him, but Mom grabbed my arm and pulled me behind her. We made it into the woods before I heard the fighting. I wanted to go back and help, but Mom, with tears in her eyes and holding my sister, kept pulling me away. We went a little farther and I tripped, ripping my skin open on a sharp rock. I sat there, crying because it hurt so much, and I remember looking at Mom, seeing the desperation on her face.” He looked at me, pain etched across his face at the memories.
“That’s when Luke appeared and picked me up. I don’t remember what they said, but Mom gave me one last kiss, and with a devastated look on her face, took off in another direction with my sister. Luke hauled me up in his arms and ran in the opposite direction.” He took a deep breath and looked over at me. “That was the last time I saw my mom or sister. Luke never spoke of them, beyond telling me they had died that night too. I was devastated.”
“I’m so sorry, Ian. I can’t even imagine.” I felt the wind go out of my sails and couldn’t meet his eyes. What did you say to that? I pulled my necklace out and ran the pendants along the chain, feeling his pain in my bones. I suddenly remembered all the other drawings recently of the house and jumped up. “Wait here.” I rushed to my room and tore out the ones of the house that I’d drawn over the last few weeks and went back to the table to show Ian. I stood across from him and spread the drawings out on the table. He stood up to take in all the pictures. I leaned over to move some around and my necklace dangled in front of me. Ian instantly grabbed the pendant, startling me and forcing me to lean farther over the table at an odd angle.
“Ian, what the hell?” I said, struggling to maintain my balance.
“Where did you get this?” He ground out, a growl emanating with the words.
“I’ve always had it. Can I have my neck back now?” I asked, still struggling to not face plant into the table. He let go but leaned forward, with his hands on the table and looked at me intently.
“How long?”He bit out.
“It was left with me at the church where I was dropped off as a baby.”
“How old were you?” His rapid-fire questions caught me off guard.
“Two.”
“The necklace was the only thing left with you?”
“And a note.”
“What did the note say?”
“That it was safer for me to stay away. That I was two. And it was signed at the bottom.”
“Who signed it?” He seemed to have stopped breathing.
“I assumed whoever dropped me off.”
“What was the name?”
“Clara,” I replied.
Ian instantly closed his eyes and hung his head. He looked like he was in pain again. I came around the table and hesitantly touched his arm.
“Ian, are you all right?” His arm instantly shot out and I found myself engulfed by Ian, my face buried in his chest. He was squeezing me so tight, I wasn’t sure I could take a deep breath.
“Hey, need…to…breathe,” I gasped out. He let up slightly but could tell he wasn’t letting me go. He rested his head against the top of mine, and I felt a shudder run through him. “Are you okay?” I asked again.
“Better than okay.” He mumbled before backing up but keeping an arm around me. He lifted my necklace that was still on top of my shirt and looked at me.
“My mother always wore this necklace.” His answer made my heart stop. Was he saying…he wasn’t seriously considering…?
“I’m sure it’s pretty generic.” I replied, trying to write off his comment. It was impossible we would be connected at all, right?
“Her name was Clara.” His eyes met mine and I froze. My heart skipped a beat and then took off like a racehorse.
“How?” I finally managed. Looking up into his dazed eyes.
“I can’t believe it. It has to be you. Everything else lines up.” Ian muttered.
“But you’re a tiger.” I protested, pointing out the obvious.
“Mom was a wolf. Dad was a tiger.” Ian responded.
“I thought those relationships were non-existent?”
“They were frowned upon. Luke mentioned once that was why my parents lived in the middle of nowhere. So, no one would find out.”
“So, you really are…?” I couldn’t bring myself to say it. It was too unreal.
“Your brother.” He whispered. He pulled me in for another hug and added, “And you’re my baby sister.”
“Hey now, I’m not a baby anymore,” I protested lightly, trying to add humor to the serious moment. I had a brother! Chuckling, Ian pulled back.
“No, not so babyish anymore,” he agreed. “But now that I know, I’m going to keep you safe. I’ll protect you.”
“Hold on,” I held my hand up in protest. I knew what was coming. “I’ve been taking care of myself for years, I don’t all of a sudden need a protective big brother.” I said and immediately regretted my words at Ian’s crestfallen look. “Well, maybe small steps, but don’t try and stop me from doing things.” I tried to reason.
“Like underground fights? You’re not going anymore.” He shook his head. “Those are too dangerous. Especially with the Enforcers snooping around.”
“May I remind you that you invited us?” I pointed out.
“Yeah, well, that was before.”
“So being your sister changes…” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Everything.” He breathed. “It changes everything.” I had to agree with him. My mind raced and made it hard to concentrate on one thing. Who knew Ian was my brother? Did Elder Nicolas know? Suspect? He never said anything, but he also only shared so much information. Enforcer Carver? He seemed to know a lot about me without me having shared the information. How would Cade take the news? Oh, no. No way, I couldn’t tell the McCoys yet. We needed to get through the gala first, then we could deal with the surprise after.
“Ian, this is going to sound, well, probably rude, but can we keep this fact between us until next week? I don’t want it getting out with the gala coming up.” He stepped away from me with a frown on his face.
“Gala?”
“It’s this weekend. I have to go with the pack.” I explained.
“Why? You don’t want people to know we are related?”
“No, no, that’s not it at all,” I tried to reassure. “It’s just with the High Council breathing down my neck, and the latent stuff still going on, this,” I motioned between me and him, “will probably be the icing on the cake for the High Council to throw me in the deepest, darkest cell they have.”
“We won’t tell them.” Ian reassured, clearly missing my point. I could see his mind racing at all the possibilities and the implication of the High Council finding out our connection.
“These things tend to get out. Let’s get through this weekend, then slowly tell people. I want my family and friends to know, just not right now. Is that okay?”
“I don’t like it, but I understand where you’re coming from. This weekend, then I want everyone to know I have my sister back.”
I smiled at him, happy to finally have family by blood I could claim. “I want to tell everyone I have a brother too.” I stepped into him to give him one more hug just as Clint walked into the house. He paused in the doorway with a smirk.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” Ian replied, but didn’t elaborate. I pulled back and quickly picked up the house drawings into one stack.
“I’ll just put these back in my room.” I said in the awkward silence and didn’t meet Clint’s eyes as I passed him. I shut my door behind me to avoid any unnecessary looks. Clint and Ian exchanged a few more words, nothing about the recent developments, before Ian left. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. A knock sounded at my door and I walked over to open it. Clint stood on the other side with a hesitant smile.
“You okay?”
“Yep, fine. Why?” I shuffled the drawings around on my desk, not meeting his eyes.
“Ian doesn’t usually hug people, so just checking,” he shrugged.
“No, we’re good.” I assured.
“Anything going on between you two?” Clint asked, and before I could say anything, he added, “I’m sure Ian could take him, but I don’t think Cade would take kindly to you two getting together.”
“No, there’s nothing going on. We’re just friends. Promise.”
“Uh huh.” Clint didn’t seem convinced. I didn’t want to try and explain myself anymore.
“I’m tired, I think I’ll turn in early.” I smiled too brightly. “Night.”
“Night.” Clint turned, still with an amused, if not slightly confused look on his face, and I shut the door. Sleeping was out of the question after that revelation, so I worked on packing and finishing up homework for the beginning of next week. Tomorrow I’d leave for home to travel to the gala. There wouldn’t be much spare time to mess around with packing then.