“Cool. Good night.”
“Good night Kira.”
Kira waved and jogged up to the front door. She turned back to see Gabe banging his head on the steering wheel. Slipping into the house she leaned back on the closed door and smiled. There was no way he wasn’t affected by her. She just had to be patient…
She jumped as the phone started ringing. She walked to the kitchen and reached to answer it but hesitated. Jolene hadn’t said anything but she might not like her guests answering her phone, and besides it might be Joseph on the other end.
Instead she dropped her hand and waited until the answer machine kicked in. She heard Jolene’s recorded message and then froze as deep breathing came over the line. After a couple of beats a low male voice said ‘sorry wrong number’ and hung up.
Kira exhaled loudly and willed her hammering heart to slow. Her wolf whined and Kira willed her to settle down. It wasn’t a voice she recognized; it wasn’t a member of the Charming pack. Kira shook her head and crept up to bed. The joy she felt only minutes before dulled.
*
22nd November
Kira hummed as she and Lilah raked leaves together. Last night the car journey with Gabe had almost been a repeat of the previous night. Alright so they hadn’t made any progress but for now she was just happy spending time with him.
Her wolf yowled in disapproval. If the animal had her way they’d be bonded, living together and expecting their first pup! But Kira shushed her. Slow and steady wins the race. She didn’t want to admit it out loud but Lilah’s experience with Joseph had soured her a little on male wolves.
Lilah and Joseph had met and married within two weeks. Everything about Gabe told Kira he was different and wouldn’t treat her badly, but then there really was no reason to rush things. But god knows it wasn’t easy, he was just so darn hot! Her sex fluttered thinking about him.
Kira yelped as something hit her back. She spun round to find Lilah grinning at her gleefully grasping a handful of slimy leaves.
“You just threw some leaves at me!”
Lilah stuck out her tongue. “You were just stood there staring into space dummy! I was worried you’d stop breathing.”
Kira raspberried. Scooping up some leaves she returned the favor. Lilah squealed and pelted some leaves back at Kira.
“That’s it! It’s war!” Declared Kira.
The twins yelped and giggled as they ran around Jolene’s yard hurling leaves at one another. Finally exhausted they collapsed onto the ground hiccupping with laughter.
Kira felt an alien surge of happiness flow through her and gasped.
Lilah turned on her side. “What’s wrong?”
Concern now rippled through Kira and she beamed excitedly. “I can feel your emotions again, my Omega abilities are coming back.”
Lilah’s mouth curled up. “Yeah me too. Why do you think I threw the leaves at you in the first place? All that lust you were emitting was making me jealous.”
“What?! I wasn’t… I mean… I…” Kira groaned and slapped her hand to her forehead. “There’s really no point in pretending is there?”
Lilah sniggered. “There really isn’t.”
Kira snorted. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missed us hanging out. I wish I’d been around for the last couple of years.”
Lilah sighed. “Me too. But I understand why you weren’t around. I’m sorry about what happened to Airis, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when it happened. Joseph…” She sighed again. “I never really noticed at first how controlling he was.”
Kira grunted. “All male wolves are pretty possessive.”
“Yeah but Joseph took it to an insane degree. Things just gradually got worse as time went by. He started telling me what to wear and who I could talk to. It got so bad that I didn’t have any friends. I didn’t have anyone.”
Kira’s wolf whimpered sadly. He opened her mouth to speak but Lilah quickly interrupted her. “And even if you were around I doubt it would have made a difference. Joseph would have just used you to control me.”
“What do you mean?”
Lilah closed her eyes and relaxed into the leaves. “Whenever I tried to get away from him he told me he wouldn’t let me shame him. He threatened to hurt you if I did anything stupid. When you were away I kind of thought you were safe and out of his reach and tried to leave a few times, so instead he started threatening our parents and baby sisters. I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone getting hurt because I’d married an asshole. Then when you came back to town, I kind of froze you out. I wanted you to just go back to New Mexico, away from Joseph.” Lilah sniffled. “I’m sorry.”