Chapter 6
I had the wolf dream again that night. But at least this time it made more sense… except we were at a clearing in the woods and rock music was blaring around us from nowhere while little lights darted around the air. One light darted straight towards my face right before I woke up, and I swear I had seen a little person with wings.
When I woke up, the house wasn’t quite as silent as it had been the night before. I was curious by the faint sounds I was hearing, and got dressed before I slipped downstairs. I was confused by the time I got to the kitchen and found Alex cooking breakfast, because I could still sense the activity in the house, but I didn’t ever see anyone besides him. He nodded for me to sit at one of the stools around the island in the middle of the kitchen and set a plate of food on the counter in front of me.
“Eat. And Malcolm would like to meet you,” he recited nonchalantly, but I blinked up at him, surprised.
My eyes scrunched in confusion, but he was still staring at me. “Okay…?” I hesitantly responded and his gaze only briefly darted to the opened doorway leading back into the living room before a large guy stepped into it. He was all muscle, and big, like a super hero kind of big and I knew I was staring at him agape. It took me a moment to look past his build to see he had short cut light brown hair and eyes that almost looked black.
“Hi,” he said in a perfectly pleasant voice, not exactly what I had expected after sizing him up as he walked over to me and held out his hand. “I’m Malcolm,” he continued while I shook, or rather, he shook my hand, my hand disappeared into his.
“Hi,” I finally squeaked out and Alex chuckled beside me. “Um… do physiques transfer into wolf form? Like… you’re so muscular, does that transfer?” I wondered aloud and watched Malcolm’s black eyes dart to Alex who barely nodded his head before Malcolm stepped into a side room and pushed the door almost all the way closed. Only a moment later, a large light brown muzzle wedged between the doorframe and door and pushed the door open to allow out a humongous wolf, bigger than either Jack or Rayne had been.
“As you can see, it’s not exactly transferred,” Alex commented as wolf-Malcolm sat obediently in front of me for me to inspect, “He’s not excessively muscular, but he is larger than most of us.”
“I… I see that…” I stammered, staring into the large black eyes that looked back at me, “Thank you, Malcolm.” He barely nodded that huge head before traipsing, rather lightly for his size, back to the room and pushing the door closed.
“You have no attraction to Malcolm,” Alex stated with certainty, but my eyes darted back to him in shock, “Malcolm is the first to have very little attraction to you. He says you remind him of his little sister. Which I can understand with your coloring….”
“He’s kind of… intimidating…” I whispered, not wanting to offend Malcolm even though I knew he could hear, “At a glance, I mean… he seemed nice enough.”
“Malcolm is very kind to those he cares about, and very dangerous to those he doesn’t,” Alex surmised with a smirk, “You’re free to explore the house today, Arianna. Just know that the second floor is almost entirely bedrooms, and don’t try to force your way through locked doors. Oh, and Trina is going to be home sometime today.”
I nodded just as Malcolm re-emerged from the little room and smiled over at me, waving before he headed back into the living room.
“I would never want to be on his bad side…” I murmured and Alex laughed while he got up and put his empty plate in the sink and walked away.
I was in mild shock at the fact that I really was going to be left alone for the most part that day. I finished my breakfast in peaceful silence and followed Alex’s lead by setting my dishes in the sink. I considered which parts of the house I had seen and started wandering around.
I was literally discovering parts of the house for hours it was so huge! Bigger than it really looked on the outside, but nothing was really out of the ordinary until I found a short hallway, the kind that looks like it should have a door at the end of it, but instead, at the end of it was a giant grandfather clock. I kept getting closer to it as I was inspecting the gorgeously beautiful face which was some dark stone with sparkling stars of… diamond…? I realized it with a gasp, I was directly in front of the clock then and my hand started reaching for the strange wood.
Without any warning, Farren was suddenly behind me. His left hand pulled mine around my waist while his right hand ran up my right arm, clasping my hand in his and pulling it back to his lips.
“Come away from here, Arianna,” he beckoned in a whisper across my ear, but I couldn’t even breathe, much less move with how aware I was of him pressed to my back and still feeling where his lips had touched my hand. “Anna,” he reiterated and as he stepped back down the short hallway, he gently pulled me with him. When he was only touching my arms, I was able to breathe again, but he didn’t let go of my right hand, he actually slid his left hand down to hold it.
“Why…?” I whispered as he chuckled and pulled me down the hall.
“Lunch is ready. I offered to let you know,” he answered, “But Trina just got here… Alex sent Tobias after us and so if you would…” he trailed off and waved his arm for me to pass him, keeping hold of my hand as we walked through the hallways, running into Tobias only a short time later. It took him less than a split second to spot that Farren was holding my hand. When my eyes first landed on him, he was staring at our joined hands, but his confused gaze finally shifted up to my eyes.
“What was taking you guys so long? All the good food is going to get eaten,” he whined and I laughed which only made his eyes scrunch further.
“There’s plenty of food and it’s all good food,” Farren commented beside me as we kept walking and Tobias fell into step on my other side, “Why you, Tobes?”
Tobias chuckled and I realized the silver was around his pupils when he said, “He almost sent Jack but was afraid he wouldn’t make it back either. Trina’s really excited about meeting Anna… says she rushed back to meet her.”
“Why would she be excited to meet me?” I wondered and they both laughed that time, “What?”
“Um…” Farren hesitated, looking over at Tobias who laughed and shook his head, “So… the pack as a whole kind of thinks you’re going to like Aeril… and Trina is his cousin… but they’re more like brother and sister….”
“She’s been aware of us ragging on Aeril, so she wants to meet you,” Tobias explained and my eyes darted to the floor, “If she likes you enough, she’ll try to talk him into coming back sooner, and unlike us giving him a hard time, he’ll actually listen to her.”
“And if she doesn’t like me…?” I whispered and they laughed in unison again, but softer.
“That’s just not possible, Anna,” Farren remarked, lightly squeezing my hand before his warm touch completely disappeared and I realized we were entering the living room from a completely different way than I had earlier left it.
“This house is like a maze…” I muttered beneath my breath, starting towards the kitchen, but this girl came bursting through the swinging door and ran over to hug me, making me go absolutely still.
“Trina!” Tobias blurted in total shock, snapping me back to reality as I lightly hugged her back.
“Thatta girl,” she laughed, stepping back from me to look at me, “And shut up, Tobias. I know all about her from you guys, and if she’s going to be part of the family, she’ll have to get used to hugs.”
I found a smile tugging at my lips as I looked at her. She was, surprisingly, a little shorter than me, but really petite and cute in a way that didn’t fit her bold words. She had sparkly bright blue eyes and dark red hair that was nearly to her chin in the front and spiked in the back with chunks of golden blonde in it. I found myself hoping she was younger, because she seemed like such a perfect match to Jason, and then I froze again, the smile fading from my face. You absolutely, positively, do not want to get Jason involved in this mess.
“So, I’m Trina,” she started up again and I couldn’t help but smile, “And I told Aeril to come home earlier.” My gray eyes widened in shock and she laughed.
“I haven’t even said anything yet,” I murmured and she shot me a bright grin.
“Didn’t have to,” she stated with certainty, “Anyway! Let’s eat!”
“I… I don’t… understand…” I stammered, but she reached over and grabbed my wrist and pulled me out onto the back porch to another grilled feast.
“Aeril says he’ll be home tonight…?” Alex commented curiously, my eyes darting to him as my heart skipped in my chest.
“Yep,” Trina chimed happily, still tugging on my arm, “I told him to try to make it before sunset….”
My heart skipped again; Rayne was going to be let out of confinement at sunset. I felt all of their eyes on me for a moment, but ignored them. I collected my bit of food and followed Trina to a table since she was obviously determined to stay stuck to my side.
After lunch, I was left to wander around again. It was obvious Trina didn’t want to leave me, but I saw the look Alex shot her and she reluctantly did. But I walked over to Alex before he could disappear again.
“Is there a basement? I feel like there’s a basement, but I couldn’t find an entrance to it…” I questioned and his eyes swirled with silver before he sighed.
“As of right now, I can’t allow you access to anywhere else in the house. You’ve seen pretty much everything inside. There’s a fence that runs the edge of the property, but it’s a large property… if you want to explore outside,” he answered evasively, “If you happen to get lost, or something… just call one of us… you don’t have to be very loud.”
“Alex,” I called as he started off and he paused again, “Is there some reason… you’re leaving me by myself today…?”
“If you want someone around… call him, or her… but I don’t want you thinking you’re on lockdown twenty-four-seven just because you know our secret…” he paused, crossing to stand in front of me as his hand slid lightly across my cheek, “As my elite pack continues to return, it will be harder to keep them away… And you have some of your own decisions to make… things to think about… we’re here, though, should you need us.”
I only nodded and he smiled softly before finally slipping off into the house. After a deep breath, I started off towards the left, away from the iron gate and hopefully towards whatever fence line Alex had mentioned. The first thing I really noticed as I wound through the shrubbery was how strangely silent it was. With all the plants and everything, I would’ve expected at least bugs, if not actual wildlife, but it was so quiet I didn’t even hear cars passing on the street.
I paused and turned back towards the house, curious then as I quietly called, “Farren.”
He was in front of me only a second later, a wondering look on his face, the silver quickly sliding back into his eyes. “Everything okay? I know you’re not lost already,” he commented with a grin.
“About earlier…” I started, but his eyes widened with mild panic.
“It’s really quiet out here, huh?” he queried.
“Eerily so… why is that?” I responded, completely aware of his behavior and following his strange lead.
“Magic,” he chuckled faintly, “There are no barriers to deflect sound out here like there are in the house. There’s some privacy inside… but out here, anyone can hear the tiniest whisper from the complete other side of the property. Comes in handy a lot when we’re on outside guard duty.”
I barely nodded my head to show him I understood that he was pretty much saying to ask later.
“Will you keep me company?” I requested and he smiled and nodded, falling into step beside me.
It was a huge yard with a pond and shrubbery maze and even a tree house, amongst other things. Farren had stayed with me the whole time, laughing at my exclamations, especially about the maze because I got lost in its 6-foot high walls and he had to lead me out the other side.
“This yard is too big!” I proclaimed as we wound through the forest area hours later, heading back in the general direction of the house.
“You never even reached the back fence,” Farren chuckled, walking backwards, despite the underbrush and the trees and keeping his eyes on me, “You’re tired, Anna… I’ll carry you.” My already flushed face turned darker and I kept my attention on the ground to avoid tripping.
“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, running into him a moment later because he’d stopped. He knelt down in front of me and looked back over his shoulder.
“Hop on. I won’t do the whole princess carry thing,” he lightly remarked and my face headed into darker red territory as I gave in and climbed onto his back while he stood up again, his arms hooked up under my knees. “God you’re light!”
“Shut up…” I grumbled in embarrassment, resting my head against the back of his shoulder, “You’re tall.” He laughed and it vibrated through me as I almost jumped down, but this was so much easier.
“I bet you haven’t seen the game room yet, have you?” he asked and I shook my head, “I wouldn’t have thought so since it’s on the second floor; about the only non-bedroom room on the second floor.”
“Alex had told me they were mostly bedrooms, and I didn’t want to bother anyone,” I reasoned, blinking in shock when we were suddenly out of the forest. “How…? How did you get out of there so fast without my noticing?”
“Would you like to see the game room?” he evaded and I sighed, watching bits of his fiery red hair floating up away from his ponytail.
“I would like to stop by my room first, then the game room,” I answered and he nodded. That time I gasped when the shadow of the house came into view and he ducked through the door, kneeling down in front of the door to my room.
“I’ll be around,” he dismissed with a grin as I smiled back at him and laughed.
“Thanks,” I commented while slipping into my room.
A quick shower and change of clothes later, when I went to pull my door open, he was suddenly there. I heard the air settling and knew he’d done that werewolf quick travel thing, but looking at him, you’d never know he had.
“Feel better now?” he remarked with that coy smile as I nodded and followed his head jerk further down the hallway, towards the balcony at the end. Just before we reached it, he opened the door on the right.
It looked like the room had been recently vacated since there were drinks and snacks still lingering about on tables. Chairs and sofas were scattered about with a small snack bar over in one corner. There was a pool table, foosball table, air hockey table, television with loads of video games surrounding it, dartboard, and a table in front of a bookshelf stacked high with board games.
“The game room,” he announced, pointing towards two doors on the wall near the snack bar that I’d completely missed, “The game room’s bathrooms. You wanted to ask me something earlier today, and I couldn’t answer… now I can.”
“I have another question now,” I commented, distractedly racking the balls on the pool table, “If you’re tuning them out all of the time, can you hear them?”
“Alex can still speak to me, but other than that, I have to refocus on them to hear them… I can still keep them from hearing me, but it’s harder that way… I guess, the best way to explain it would be like turning the radio down as background noise while you’re talking to people. You hear the conversation you’re having much more distinctly than the radio, but if you want to hear the radio, you can, you just lose concentration on the person,” he explained and I stared over at him in awe as he laughed nervously, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No… that made total sense… but it’s pretty much the most information I’ve ever gotten from anyone here…” I admitted as his smile softened.
“You’ll get more soon,” he assured, “Probably more than you want. If you were going to ask about earlier today, I suggest….” He trailed off and motioned to on
e of the bathroom doors as I nodded and followed him into it. The door made that air-sucking sound as it closed before he spoke again. “What did you want to ask?”
“Why did you pull me away from the clock?” I whispered, minutely afraid of his answer, “How did you even know I was there?”
His gaze shifted toward the closed door and he bit on his lip when he looked back at me. “I can’t… When the pack leader makes an order… there really isn’t a way around it… I can’t answer your questions….” He glanced at the door again. “They’re getting a little suspicious, especially Trina… was there anything else?”
When I shook my head, he pulled the door open and practically everyone was scattered around the room as though they’d been there the whole time, except Trina waited with a cue stick in her hand, leaning against the table, her back to the door until it opened and she spun around. Whatever she had expected, with that furrowed look on her face, she didn’t see and she lit up into a bright smile, rushing over and dragging me back to the table.
“Do you play?” she queried and I shrugged.
“Kind of, but I’m not great at it,” I admitted which seemed to dim a little of that happiness, “I’ve never had a table readily available to practice on though.”
“Will you play with me?” she requested and I nodded, grabbing a cue stick and chalking up the end of it.
She let me break, and laughingly agreed to my favorite game of “craps” as I called it; I had no idea if there was a real name for whoever gets the most balls in the holes regardless of color but attempting to still sink the 8 ball last.
I was acutely aware of the excessive attention Farren was getting and was a little worried for him, but the two times I tried to intervene I was stopped by first Trina, then Farren himself.
The sun was just starting to set when Trina stopped short of actually hitting the cue ball, her head tilted to one side as her eyes darted first to the windows and then the door. The smile that lit up her face as she finished her shot and sank the last ball was almost scary, and immediately after, she dropped the cue stick, grabbed my arm and started pulling me out of the room. Silence had fallen around the room and I felt them following at a distance as she dragged me down the hallway.
Just as the stairs came into view, so did the person walking up them and my heart thudded in my chest, my feet stopping when eyes of a strange mix of very light green and gray shifted up to me from under a draping of chest-length pale blonde hair.
“Trina,” he gently scolded and there was that thudding heart in my chest again, “Let her go, Trina.”
“I’m not sure she’ll stay upright if I’m not supporting her,” Trina giggled as he made his way up to the second floor and I had to look up to see his eyes again.
“She’ll be fine,” he stated with certainty and Trina skipped off back to the others. I did reach out and grab the banister, but I didn’t fall over as his eyes shifted across me briefly. “In case you can’t tell from the way they’re all acting, I’m Aeril,” he greeted with the softest smile that nearly made my knees buckle, but I refused them that relief.
“I’m Anna,” I murmured, my face flushing red because I knew he already knew who I was but his smile just spread up to his eyes, “Welcome home, I guess?”
“Would you care to join me for a drive?” he questioned and I noticed his left eyebrow quirked up just a little and found myself trying not to laugh because it was just so cute.
“Sure,” I agreed and he held his hand out to me which I hesitantly took hold of as he led me back downstairs and out to the garage.
After he got into the driver’s seat of the black sports car and I was in the passenger seat, he sighed and leaned his head against the steering wheel.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” he chuckled faintly, letting his head fall to the side as his light green-gray eyes stared over at me and I searched them for the telltale silver.
“I can’t tell if you’re tuning them out or not… your eyes are so light…” I whispered and he smiled as they suddenly became a darker green-gray and the silver was a stark contrast.
“I tune them out almost all of the time, it’s a rare occurrence that I’m not tuning them out,” he revealed but I stared back at him in shock and he laughed, “You’re very pretty, Arianna… I liked you before they started teasing me… or, I should say, I liked what I’d seen of you… Now, Alex won’t let me take you out for dinner tonight… but do you like the park?”
I barely nodded as he smiled and cranked the car, backing out of the garage and heading away from the house. “How did you do that… with your eyes?” I finally had to ask and he laughed, making my heart skip.
“It’s just something I learned how to do. Even human eyes change colors a bit, they could probably control the change if they tried to as well,” he admitted, darting his eyes briefly to me, “I’m going to tell you something I could get in a lot of trouble for… but I think you have a right to know….” He paused for a long moment and I worried he’d change his mind, “Every werewolf has some sort of special magical ability… like mind-reading, seeing the future, seeing the past, seeing effects of choices, matchmaking, elemental ones with water, fire, air, earth… and there are many, many others….”
“Oh,” I gasped, it explained a lot including why Trina had told him to come home without my ever speaking, “That’s really good to know… Is someone… going to follow us tonight? I was told I’ve been being followed pretty much everywhere since I got here….”
“It’s possible, but doubtful. Since I’m with you, there’s no good reason for anyone to be following you, but someone might come to spy. I’ll be able to let you know if they do… if they do, we can hang out in the car,” he offered and I laughed softly, watching him as he pulled off of the main highway into a small parking lot which just led out onto an open field with sparsely scattered trees and benches and picnic tables.
He rolled down the window for a long minute, his eyes still filled with their silver before he sighed and rolled the window back up.
“Someone followed…” I realized from the look on his face, but his eyes darted to me in shock, “What?”
“Um… sorry… even my own pack mates have a hard time reading my facial expressions… I just met you…” he answered with a faint smile, “It’s a little weird… but yeah… Trina followed… I could send her back, if you want me to… or we could hang out in the car, which would probably spread rumors….”
“I say we hang out in the car then,” I laughed and he chuckled as he turned it off and turned in his seat to face me.
“You can ask… I’ll tell you,” he commented and somehow I knew what he meant.
“What’s your magic…?” I whispered, watching his lips quirk into a smile.
“Telepathy,” he stated, watching me closely, “I can listen to the thoughts of others, as well as project my thoughts into theirs. I won’t normally abuse it, but I had to test it with you… You didn’t ask when I first mentioned it, but you thought about how much sense things made now, Trina, was your example; and when I said you could ask, I projected the question to your mind.”
“Why are you willing to tell me things no one else is?” I queried and he shrugged his shoulders, “I mean… those magics you listed earlier… couldn’t someone find out what you’ve done, and you get in trouble…?”
“Alex isn’t going to punish me until you’re safely adjusted to life with us,” he told me with another shrug, “He’s been informed if he does, it might scare you away completely, or cause you to refuse anyone around you but Rayne.”
I laughed, deciding that Malcolm had probably been the one to tell him that, since I’d been left to my own devices since he’d arrived. Aeril watched me with amusement in his eyes and I decided he was probably listening to my thoughts again, so I thought them… Trina was probably the matchmaker… Malcolm could see different effects of choices… Farren definitely sees futures. Aeril chuckled and my eyes darted to him.
&nbs
p; “Are you going to be listening to my thoughts all of the time…?” I wondered and he quickly shook his head.
“Just when it might be important… I like you, Arianna… I like you a lot, actually…” he admitted with a soft laugh, “I don’t want to do anything to scare you off, or upset you….”
“Why…” I hesitated, thinking through my words, “Why are you so certain Alex won’t punish you…? Why does he think you’re so important…?”
“Because everyone that can… and has looked… has seen me with you in your future,” he revealed with a sigh, his other hand taking hold of my other wrist, “Right now, Alex is so concerned with trying to get you accepted into the pack… and get you to accept the life that is ahead of you… that he would do almost anything to keep you calm… and since everyone’s seen me in your future… he doesn’t want to interfere with anything involving you and me.”
“Hmm…” I mumbled, wondering if he was still listening to my thoughts, wondering if I pictured something if he could see it and the oversized grandfather clock popped into my head.
“That’s a door, to the basement,” he stated simply, “But it’s dangerous and you shouldn’t be near it… and I’m glad Farren stopped you from touching it.” I realized when my face flushed red that I’d thought through Farren pulling me away from the grandfather clock.
“Why is it dangerous?” I questioned, but Aeril’s green-gray eyes were watching me intently.
Aeril suddenly sighed, deeply, spinning around and laying his hand on the horn as I jumped in my seat. He sighed again before facing me and laughing to himself, “I’m sorry… that wasn’t meant to startle you… it was meant to startle Trina… She was irritating me… It’s apparently time to get you back to the house for dinner, so she just kept saying my name over and over again to get my attention.”
“Oh…” I mumbled, remembering Farren’s comparison of tuning out the pack to the radio which made Aeril chuckle. “Why do you tune your pack out almost completely?”
“Well, I get the pack connection, on top of my telepathy… and it’s really irritating… I couldn’t even really live my life because I was so involved in theirs… so it was easier to learn how to tune them out, than to shut off my telepathy completely… I can’t shut it off completely… I have to focus not to listen to someone….”
“Is that why you’re still listening to mine?”
“I was trying to figure you out…” he admitted, darting angry eyes out the windshield before he cranked the car again and backed out of the parking spot.
I lifted Aeril’s hand in mine as I inspected his long, slender, pale fingers; fingers which laced between mine and curled around my hand. “I don’t want to like you… because they thought I would…” but as I spoke, my fingers curled over his knuckles and pressed to the smooth back of his hand, “But I do….”
I felt him exhale with a strangled laugh and realized exactly what I had said and how it must have sounded. “They’ll know… they knew already… but I’m glad…” he chuckled to himself, his fingers tightening on my hand, “I’m really glad… You’re hard to read, Arianna.”
“Oh.” I was getting a very strong, very unrelated feeling right then, though, and Aeril looked at me in confusion.
“This is what your feelings are like…?” he queried and I shrugged, “Tell me what I need to do.”
“Get back to Alex’s… Jason’s there…” I revealed almost silently and he barely nodded his head before getting back on the road towards the mansion.
“Your little brother…?” he whispered and I nodded, “Your little brother… that you want to keep away from us…?”
I laughed faintly and nodded again as we sped into the mansion’s driveway to find Jack and Caiden outside with Jason.
“Where is my sister!?” Jason blurted, seeming to be repeating it as I jumped out of the car and his head spun to face me. I saw the flash of relief in his eyes before he seemed to catch how angry I was.
“Jason,” I muttered, walking slowly towards him as he dragged his feet to meet me halfway but not without darting his eyes to Aeril climbing slowly out of the car. When he was close enough, I grabbed his arms and stared hard into his eyes, “I told you not to come here. I told you not to get involved, and yet here you are… why?”
“You’re my sister,” he started beneath his breath, “You’re my sister, whether by blood or not, and I know you… you’ve been acting weird for days! Coming here, staying with them, after you seemed scared of Alex, is weird. It isn’t like you at all!”
“Why don’t you stay for dinner, Jason?” the voice that asked that question made my heart thump loudly against my ribcage and I froze for a fraction of a second before I realized it was getting dark, fast, and darted my eyes towards the front door.
“Rayne…” it came out of my mouth without warning, like I needed to say it as much as I needed air, but I realized detachedly that Jason was watching me closely, “I don’t want him here, Rayne… he knew that. He knew that and yet here he is and you’re saying I should reward him by letting him stay for dinner…?”
His hazel eyes which I stared into were leaning more towards their bright green when he spoke again, “I was thinking that since he’s so worried about you… maybe being around us for a little while will make him feel better.”
I sighed and looked back at Jason, “If I let you stay for dinner, that’s it. You have to go home right afterwards.”
“Fine,” he grumbled his consent and I sighed again.
“How did you even get over here?” I demanded, darting my eyes around in search of one of our cars.
“Bicycle, and the bus… I took my bike to the bus stop and the bus to the closest stop to here and my bike to here…” he explained and I had to marvel at his insight, but I was still angry.
“I’ll take him home after dinner,” Jack offered and I nodded appreciatively, pushing Jason over to Jack and Caiden.
“Go inside, they’ll take you where you need to go… I’ll be there in a minute…” I directed and Jason reluctantly did as told.
Once the front door closed, I turned to find Rayne and Aeril grasping each other’s forearms like a medieval greeting.
“Welcome home, Aeril,” Rayne recited, pulling Aeril into a hug that he returned.
“It’s good to see you, Rayne,” Aeril remarked back as they broke apart and I watched them, fascinated. It was the most interaction I’d really seen between any of them, and while it was oddly formal, there was still something underlying.
“You two…” I murmured and their eyes darted to me, simultaneously, “If I didn’t know better… I’d think you were brothers….”
“There are… cliques… within the pack, even within the elite group,” Aeril commented with a quirked grin, “You’ve kind of landed square in the middle of ours….”
I looked at them curiously but Rayne was watching me intently while Aeril laughed.
“I wonder what she’ll think of Evan,” Farren remarked from behind me and I jumped midair, spinning around to face him.
“Don’t do that sneaky, silent walking up on me stuff!” I blurted and he laughed.
“I don’t do it intentionally,” he answered with a shrug, “It’s habit. We should get inside, if, that is, you like sushi.”
I nodded and followed him inside with Rayne and Aeril behind me, keeping a close eye on their interaction throughout dinner until I was absolutely certain that their clique consisted of all three of them.
“Jay, do Austin and Dad know where you are?” I had asked almost instantly and Jason, with a California roll halfway in his mouth, had frozen and stared at the table. “Jason Reid Gray! You are being so irresponsible!”
“Ooooh,” chorused around us and I bit my lip to stop from laughing, but Alex leaned across the table with a smile.
“I called your house and your Dad and told them Jason was having dinner with us. But Jason,” he turned his attention to my little brother beside me, “You shouldn’t le
ave the house without telling someone where you’re going, especially so close to dark. And while I’ve allowed you to drop in unannounced tonight, it isn’t polite and you shouldn’t make a habit of it.”
Trina wasn’t at dinner, and I was kind of glad for that seeing as my gut reaction had been that Jason would like her, but I also felt a little bad seeing as she had just gotten home that day.
“She’s fine,” Aeril whispered into my ear, “Alex asked if she would mind guard duty since your brother showed up. He asked, and she agreed; it wasn’t an order.”
I sighed, watching Jason as he joked around with the others at the table, then tried something new, focusing my thoughts on Aeril when I thought them. It’s pointless, isn’t it…? Trying to keep him away… He’s going to end up here with you guys… just like I did.
In response, an image popped into my head, an image of my little brother, maybe a year or two older, running in a field with several of the werewolves in wolf form and Trina and Jack in human form. The image played until I caught a glimpse of myself, my hand intertwined with someone who was not visible to me, and then it stopped.
That was mean… But thank you… But… does that mean I shouldn’t send him home…?
“Do what you’re doing,” Aeril said in a breath across my ear, but I saw Alex’s eyes dart to us, anger flashing across his face with the silver swirls in his eyes, “Everything is going to work out just fine, Arianna.”
So when the meal was over, I chased Jason out of the house with Jack who loaded his bike into the back of a truck.
“Don’t come sneaking back over here again, Jay… I’m fine,” I insisted, staring at Jason as he barely nodded his head before hugging me tightly and jumping into the passenger seat of the truck. I watched until they were out of the driveway, then turned to find Alex behind me.
“What did Aeril tell you?” he demanded, but I stared at him silently, “He thinks I won’t punish him… but the fact is, if I don’t, others will act out as well and there will be chaos.”
“Why would Aeril think you won’t punish him?” I innocently queried and Alex sighed, “I’m not going to say anything, Alex… I don’t understand why you’re still not trusting me….”
“You’re not supposed to learn things before the pack approves it… and the pack hasn’t approved it yet…” he reasoned, but I caught a flash of something in his eyes and a shiver ran down my spine.
“That’s not the only reason…” I mumbled and his gaze shifted to me again, “Why else…? Why else do you not want me to know things about your pack?”
“It’s dangerous,” Alex dismissed shortly and I squinted my eyes to keep from letting tears escape.
“You don’t trust me at all…” I uttered, “Leave me alone, Alex.” I stared at him until he went inside the house and then spun and started walking towards the side yard and into the tree line. I felt, rather than saw, them following me at a distance—Rayne behind me, Farren somewhere off to my left, and Aeril somewhere off to my right. They weren’t stopping me, but they were there, if I needed them.
It was so dark outside, that I didn’t last in my wanderings for long and ended up turned around when I tried to start back for the house. Rather than panic, I tested the distance between us by calling to Aeril. I’m lost… I want to go inside….The response I received was a picture of a wolf approaching from my side, a pale wolf that glowed in the faint light with green-gray eyes and led me back to the house to meet up with a human Farren and Rayne. I stopped walking altogether and waited and sure enough, the pale wolf emerged just as he had shown me and stepped up to my side. I smiled and rested my hand on his neck and followed him back to the house. When wolf-Aeril darted into the house ahead of me and Farren and Rayne walked over to me, I looked curiously at them.
“Let’s go inside, Anna,” Farren beckoned, holding his hand out to me and I took it, following them in the side door which turned out to open into the hallway with the shorter hall that housed the clock.
“You were both following me in the trees… so was Aeril…” I remarked and Rayne chuckled while he closed the door behind us and my hand fell out of Farren’s.
“It’s not that Alex doesn’t trust you,” Rayne interjected calmly and I spun to face him, “He’s worried something might happen to you….”
“Arianna,” Aeril called, walking up behind me and slipping his hand into mine, “Someone caught a glimpse of a future in which you were locked in some kind of cell. Alex is afraid to tell you things in case that future comes true.”
“Aeril, you really have overstepped boundaries…” Farren sighed, shaking his head, “Let’s get back upstairs….”
We all headed back upstairs the same way Farren and I had gone before, but when I spotted Alex, I made an abrupt turn away from him and ended up in the kitchen with Jack, Tobias, and Caiden. Whatever they had been joking about with each other, they stopped, and grew completely quiet.
“Are you okay, Anna?” Caiden quietly asked, and I barely nodded my head as I slowly uncurled my hands from the fists they were in at my sides.
I caught Jack motion his head toward the door out of the corner of my eye, and looked up when Caiden and Tobias left the kitchen.
“It’s not you he doesn’t trust,” Jack remarked and I darted my eyes to him to find silver around his pupils, making his emerald eyes look absolutely beautiful. I was staring at his eyes so much that I didn’t realize he was right in front of me and I jolted when his hands slid down my arms. “He’s worried you’re going to run into a supernatural being and accidentally reveal things you otherwise wouldn’t….”
“I thought he said there weren’t any vampires around here,” I grumbled and Jack laughed softly.
“There’s more than just vampires and werewolves out there, Anna… Take faeries for example… they’re around, and they’re local… and they’re dangerous… and werewolves and faeries don’t get along… There are also trolls, goblins, witches, nymphs, ghosts, shapeshifters… all kinds of things that don’t keep quite as far away from pack territory as vampires do,” Jack explained as I looked at him in confusion, “So it isn’t you that he doesn’t trust, all right?” I barely nodded my head as his fingers slid across my cheek. “Now that you’ve met Aeril… are you still going to that show with me Friday night?” I barely nodded again as a smile slid onto his lips. “Good… you know I mean it to be a date…?” His voice turned into a question and I smiled softly and nodded again. “Is there anything you don’t like to eat? So we can grab dinner before the show….”
“I’m not a picky eater,” I replied and his smile grew bigger, “I’m still mad at Alex….”
“I know,” he whispered, ever-so-slowly leaning closer until he gently pressed his lips to mine, and then the swinging door banged against the wall so hard that I jumped, and Jack’s hands lightly resting on my arms kept me from falling over.
I spun around to find Trina standing in the open doorway, fury across her face as she glared at Jack. She was just staring at him, and he sighed as I looked back at him.
“What?” I whispered almost silently and he briefly smiled at me before looking seriously at Trina.
“Stop that. She has a right to know what you’re saying, and you know she can’t hear you telepathically,” Jack scolded which only made Trina’s glare worsen.
“She belongs with Aeril. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Trina growled under her breath, a bit of wolf growl slipping into her voice as I backed away from her and coincidentally into Jack, which only made her actually growl again as my eyes widened.
“Trina, stop it!” that voice came from the living room and Trina shrunk in on herself from the scolding as she slowly turned to face Aeril while he walked into the kitchen. His eyes briefly darted to me, scanned across me, and then he looked at Trina again. “Anna can do whatever she wants. I don’t own her, and I wouldn’t want to. Plus, you’re scaring her, so stop it.”
“But she belongs with you… everyone thinks so,
” Trina carefully stated, glancing briefly at me but Aeril laughed and shook his head.
“Nobody can know anything with one-hundred percent, absolute, complete certainty,” Aeril countered, shrugging his shoulders, “Leave them alone, Trina. I won’t ask again.”
Trina growled under her breath before she darted out the back door and disappeared into the yard. I watched her in confusion, and briefly widened my eyes when she shifted into a wolf and kept running.
“She won’t have any clothes when she comes back…” I murmured, startled when Jack and Aeril both laughed.
“I’ll put something out for her, or she’ll just go up to her room in wolf form,” Aeril reasoned with a distant smile, “Don’t worry about it, okay?” I barely nodded as I looked at him, my face shading pink before I looked at the floor.
“It’s late, Anna… why don’t you get some sleep?” Jack suggested, “Liliana and Violet should be getting home tomorrow.”
I only nodded and slipped past both of them, hearing them talking as the door swung closed. As I rounded the corner to walk up the stairs, I found Rayne standing in the entryway, just standing there, staring at the exact spot I walked into. He motioned with his head for me to follow him, and I did. We went upstairs into the empty game room and ducked into the bathroom where he closed the door behind us.
“You’re going on a date with Jack?” he asked, his tone completely normal as I tried to detect what he wanted as an answer. Instead, I only nodded and he sighed, slowly shaking his head. “Good…” he murmured, my eyes scrunching in confusion as I looked at him, “If you’re dating Jack… Alex shouldn’t mind my being around you… and Aeril shouldn’t get too big of a head about you….” He paused in his pacing as his eyes landed on me and he smiled distantly. “I didn’t want any of this for you… This pack is one of the biggest in the world, and it’s probably because they keep themselves so well concealed… but my brother never would have forced you to stay in a town you didn’t like just because you found out about us….”
“When did…” I bit on my lip and shook my head, “It isn’t my business… sorry….”
“When did the dayhunters get together and attack my pack?” Rayne calmly questioned and I barely nodded my head, “When I was eleven. My brother wouldn’t let me fight with the rest of the pack… he said we had to be sure to carry on our line, so he had our witch conceal me under the house… Dayhunters don’t usually unify like that… Sure, it’s not uncommon to find three or four of them living together… but this was over fifty of them that attacked at once, together….” He gasped almost silently when I was suddenly hugging him, and his arms slowly wrapped around me.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered and he exhaled a silent laugh.
“It had never happened before, and hasn’t happened since, to the point that a lot of werewolves don’t really believe me… if I wasn’t from the pack leader line, and they couldn’t tell that, they wouldn’t believe me at all…” he murmured, refusing to let go of me when I tried to back away to look up at him, so I rested my head against his chest, listening to the soothing beat of his heart.
“Why did you come here though? Why did you join Alex’s pack?” I wondered and he sighed.
“It is the biggest pack in the country… I figured it would be a safe place to lay low for a while… When I had all but decided to break from the pack and start my own back up… well… this strange girl moved into town, and I felt a need to stay,” he admitted with a faint chuckle.
“You’re still here because of me…?” I wondered while he rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Yeah… I guess I am…” he whispered, “You probably wouldn’t have figured all of this out so soon if I hadn’t been here… I should have left, so you could be living your life….”
“No,” I stated coldly, pushing on his chest until he let me take a step backwards and look into his eyes, “No… this is my fault. And whether you were here or not, I probably would have kept prying, that’s just how I am… and if I hadn’t known you guys… M…Mark….” He pulled me back against him.
“Shh,” he gently shushed me, “No one would have let him hurt you again….” He was silent for a long moment before he inhaled a deep breath, “It’s really late… you should get some sleep….”
He backed away from me and wiped the tears from my eyes with a distant smile, softly kissing my cheek before he took hold of my hand and pulled me out of the bathroom. Caiden and Tobias turned around on the sofa, video game characters dying on the screen since neither of them had hit the pause button.
“Anna…” Caiden murmured, those deep brown eyes searching my face, “Have you been crying?” He was over the back of the sofa and in front of me before I could blink again. “Are you okay?”
“I… I was just thinking about… if you guys hadn’t…” I trailed off and shook my head, “What time is it?”
“Three a.m.,” Tobias contributed from the sofa, “Caiden, let her go to bed. Rayne can tell us later, right, Rayne?”
Rayne sighed but barely nodded his head, leading me out of the game room despite Caiden’s argument, and walking me back down the hallway to my room.
“Go to sleep,” Rayne insisted, lightly pushing me inside my room, “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I nodded and shuffled over to my bed, climbing into it without even bothering to change clothes while Rayne watched from the doorway before he pulled my door closed.
The wolves weren’t in my dream that night… The troll doll was back again, fully healed, and grabbing the darting lights which I refused to admit were little winged people out of the air. I woke with a scream caught in my throat when it started shoving handfuls of the little lights into its mouth.
I darted up in bed, my eyes wide as I realized my shaking hands were clenching the comforter in fists. That was about the time I spotted the beautiful young girl standing in front of my door. She had golden blonde hair rolling down her back and startlingly blue eyes and like Trina, she seemed a little younger than most of the others.
“You screamed,” she whispered, but my hand slid across my neck as I looked at her in confusion. I could still feel the scream trapped in my throat. She smiled distantly and lifted her hand to her temple. “In here….” I was too focused on trying to calm my racing heart to understand what she meant. “Alex wants to come in…” she remarked and I only managed to nod my head before she stepped out of the way of the door and Alex was standing beside my bed while she pushed the door closed.
His strange teal eyes searched my face before he pressed the underside of his wrist to my forehead. “Are you all right?” he quietly asked and I barely nodded my head again, “Liliana says you were having a bad dream…? Was that all?”
“Weird dream,” I mumbled, slowly shaking my head, “I’ve been having a lot of weird dreams lately… some of them make more sense now….”
“Please tell me,” he requested, concern in his eyes as I laughed hollowly.
“The wolves walking around town like they belonged there… that makes more sense now… wolves attacking a troll doll… dancing lights in the woods with rock music…” I trailed off, but he just kept watching me, even though I caught the tiniest flinch in his eyes, “This one… the… the troll doll… was…” I shuddered at the thought that crossed my mind, “It was shoving the dancing lights into its mouth.” I blurted the words out quickly and almost threw up it disgusted me so much, but I still caught the brief panic that passed through his eyes and felt my heart sink. “What?”
“I don’t like your sleep being disrupted…” he reasoned, but I scrunched my eyes when I looked at him. “Jack says you have a date tomorrow night…” there was the slightest hint of disbelief in his voice so I nodded, “The girls want to take you out shopping, and to get your hair and nails done….”
“Which girls?” I pressed and he laughed softly.
“Lissa, Sage, Michaela, and Liliana,” he glanced back at the door where the girl was still standing, “W
ho says she forgot to introduce herself… So, Arianna, this is Liliana. She’s fifteen like Trina and Caiden.”
“Caiden’s fifteen?” I uttered in shock and he chuckled but nodded, “But… I thought his younger brother was fifteen…?”
“They’re twins,” Alex answered with a soft smile, “Caiden was born first, so he’s the ‘older’ brother. They don’t always get along… since Caiden is part of the elite group and Rai isn’t….”
“How does that work?” I wondered but Alex smiled that smile he would give me when he couldn’t tell me stuff and I sighed. “Why isn’t Trina on your list of girls wanting to go out and make a day of it?”
Alex’s eyes flashed and I spotted the silver around his pupils as he glanced back at Liliana standing in front of the door.
“Trina doesn’t like you dating anyone but Aeril,” Liliana stated with a smile.
“Should I not be…?” I wondered seriously but she laughed and Alex barely shook his head with a grin on his lips.
“You may date whomever you wish in the pack, with the sole exclusion of Rayne,” Alex answered with a chuckle, “I would hope that you can find someone within the pack… I think it will make things easier on you in the long run….”
“You mean since I’m stuck here for the rest of my life,” I coldly reasoned as his smile grew distant and he barely nodded his head.
“Why don’t you get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast and then you and the girls can get on with your day,” he suggested and I sighed but nodded. Those teal eyes scanned across my face again and I realized the ring of silver was gone before he stood up and walked out of the room, pulling Liliana behind him and closing my door.
I sat in my bed a moment longer, the dream still running through my mind. I winced when the troll doll shoved the lights in its mouth again, and finally flung my blankets off of me and headed for the bathroom. A quick shower helped clear my head, and finally changing out of yesterday’s clothes that I’d fallen asleep in helped too. When I went to step out of my room and head downstairs, I had to screech to a halt to keep from running into Trina. She looked up at me with a distant smile.
“Hey,” she greeted and I barely nodded my head, “Um… I just… don’t want you thinking I don’t like you, or something stupid… I still think you’re awesome. I just… I don’t think your dating anyone but Aeril is a good idea… and I can’t support you dating anyone else… but when you get back, I’d love to hang out, if you want.”
“As long as we’re not out super late, which I hope we aren’t because I’m not the biggest fan of shopping…” I paused when her eyes laughed, “I’d love to hang out when I get back. I need more pool practice.”
She smiled and nodded before she hugged me just a little too tightly, and just as quickly she was gone.
When I made it downstairs, I found Jack, Tobias, Caiden, and Malcolm on the sofa in the living room, but they all glanced at me before someone paused their movie and they headed for the kitchen. All of them went to the kitchen, except Caiden who jumped over the back of the sofa and walked over to me, his deep brown eyes sweeping across my face.
“Glad to see you’re all right,” he remarked but I just stared at him for a long moment until he laughed, “What?”
“You’re fifteen?” I questioned in confusion and he laughed again and nodded, “You don’t look fifteen….”
“I guess that’s a good thing,” he chuckled as I looked at him again, he was at least half a foot taller than me, I had to look up to see into his eyes when he was suddenly right in front of me.
“Why do you guess it’s a good thing?” I wondered as his fingers slid across my cheek.
“Because if you don’t think I look younger than you, maybe you’ll forget that I am younger than you… since you seem to really only allow yourself to go after guys that are older than you,” he reasoned with a gentle smile, “So… can I take you out the night after tomorrow?”
“Caiden…” I murmured, his eyes sparkling when I took a deep breath. I was just about to say fine when I spotted Sage standing in the doorway to the kitchen and my eyes widened as my breath caught in my throat from the absolute betrayal in her chestnut eyes.
“Sage…” Caiden sighed, slowly turning around to face her, but one of his hands slid down my arm and lightly held onto my wrist, “You can’t be upset with her… she always turns me down because of you… you know you’re like a sister to me….”
“It doesn’t look like she was about to turn you down,” Sage uttered, “Your brother is here….”
Caiden sighed again, shaking his head before he let go of my wrist and walked to the front door. “Don’t just stand outside,” I heard him remark, but I was watching Sage, and she was really hurt.
“I won’t,” I stated and her eyes darted back to me, “I don’t want to hurt you….”
“It’s not your fault…” she laughed distantly, “I know he doesn’t like me… I just….”
Her eyes darted up behind me and I turned around to find Caiden walking back into the living room with his twin brother. I knew it was Rai, because their faces were nearly identical. But Rai’s hair was spiked in the back, with long bangs that covered half of his face and were dyed dark blue, and he had a lot of piercings… one in his nose, one in his right eyebrow, two on his bottom lip, and one in between them below his lip (I think it’s called a labret), and several in his ears. I suddenly realized why Jason had picked a fight with Rai… Rai definitely looked like someone who would fight.
“Rai, this is Anna,” Caiden introduced when they stopped beside us, “Anna, this is my little brother, Rai.”
“Not little,” Rai growled but Caiden only rolled his eyes while Rai looked at me and smiled faintly, “Nice to finally meet you, Anna.” But then he turned his attention to Sage and smiled for real, “Hi, Sage.”
“Hello, Rai. What brings you here?” Sage replied while Caiden lightly grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the kitchen and out to the back porch. Everyone was there except for Sage.
“Alex wanted to have a ‘family breakfast’ this morning,” Caiden explained when I looked around the little tables in confusion to find everyone sitting at them, laughing and talking with each other.
I pulled Caiden back against the back door. “Rai likes Sage?” I queried and Caiden laughed faintly but barely nodded his head, “No wonder you won’t date her….”
“She has no idea…” Caiden chuckled distantly, “He came by to ask her out….”
“What is she going to say?” I asked but he shrugged his shoulders. A split second later, though, he flinched and pulled me out of the way of the door that slammed open as Sage stormed outside.
“It’s not a joke!” Rai blurted as Sage spun back to face him, but her gaze slid across me and her eyes narrowed into a glare when she realized Caiden was holding me. I quickly darted away from him and shook my head.
“I’m in love with your twin brother!” Sage hollered, pointing at Caiden, “Why would I date you when I’m in love with him?”
“But he likes Anna,” Rai pointed out while I tried to put more distance between Caiden and me.
“I don’t care,” Sage growled, “She respects me….”
“She respects…” Rai trailed off as his brown eyes landed on me.
“Rai, don’t you dare,” Alex growled but it was a little too late because Rai suddenly yanked me over to him and kissed me. I yelped when his teeth sank into my lip and tripped backwards away from him, my hand covering my mouth while Rai licked blood from the pointed teeth in his mouth.
“Caiden isn’t going to touch her or I’ll finish what I started,” Rai hissed as he spun on his heels and stormed through the house. I heard the front door slam just before Alex was in front of me, his teal eyes worried as he looked over my face and then slid his fingers across my lip.
“Shit…” he muttered, glancing behind me, “I don’t care what he threatened, Caiden… fix this now.”
Caiden sighed as he walked i
n front of me, his fingers slid slowly across my lip but he refused to look at me. When he pulled his fingers away, my tongue ran over my lip and I realized it was completely healed as I looked at him in shock.
“What is going on?” I whispered and Alex sighed, barely shaking his head, “Alex… what just happened?”
“Well… for starters… you have to stay away from Rai… come have breakfast now though,” he insisted, pulling me over to a table with Rayne, Farren, and Aeril who I realized all looked really pissed off and worried at the same time.
“Why do I have to stay away from Rai? What did he mean he’d finish what he started?” I demanded harshly, not failing to realize that Caiden and Sage were still talking in front of the back door.
“The only reason any member of this pack would consume human blood would be for a blood tie… As long as you don’t ingest any of his blood, it won’t be finalized…” Alex vaguely explained, “You know I can’t fully explain this right now… just… stay away from Rai, okay?”
“Why did he do it?” I pressed angrily, “What is a blood tie?”
“I can’t explain what… As for why… he figured since Caiden stole the girl he loved from him… that he’d steal you from Caiden…” Alex admitted with a sigh, “You really have to stay away from him….”
“I got it… but how do I do that?” I insisted and Alex laughed and then sighed again.
“As long as you’re with a member of the pack… you should be fine,” he stated, “Everyone knows to keep him away from you now….”
Sage finally sat down at a table with Michaela, Samantha, and Trina while Caiden sat down at the table with Tobias, Malcolm, and Jack. Rayne’s hand fell on top of my tightly clenched fist and his thumb ran across the back of my hand in little circles. My eyes darted up to him to find his hazel eyes intently watching me.
“Eat your breakfast,” Rayne suggested and I slowly unclenched my hands and barely nodded my head as I ate the food on the table in front of me.
For a ‘family breakfast,’ it didn’t turn out so well, and I felt a bit guilty about that even if I hadn’t been the one to actually disrupt the meal. No one really spoke; there was just the sound of forks and knives on plates and glasses being set back down on the tables.
When everyone finished eating, the girls stole me away from the table and we got in an SUV and left the house. I wasn’t the least bit surprised when Sage didn’t go with us, but Amy decided to join us, so it ended up being Lissa, Michaela, Amy, Liliana, and me. I was even less into the idea by the time we got to the spa; all I really wanted to do was get Rayne, Farren, or Aeril to tell me what the heck a blood tie was and what it would do.
The day turned out better than I expected, because we didn’t do a whole lot of talking, it was just really relaxing… what with the massage, the facials, the mani-pedis, and eventually getting our hair done which was when we were talking again. Everyone was in a better mood by then, myself included.
“So where is Jack taking you before the show?” Amy asked while the stylist worked on straightening her hair.
“Out to eat, but I don’t know where,” I answered while the stylist behind me was cutting layers into my long hair, “What do you think they’d do if I chopped off my hair?”
I saw Amy’s teal eyes widen in the mirror and laughed. “I think they’d faint, or die, or something… your hair is one of their favorite features….”
I smirked and looked up at the stylist in the mirror, “Cut it, chin-length. I’ll donate it.”
Her eyes widened and her hand stopped moving. “Are you sure? Your hair is really pretty….”
“It also grows really quickly… How about just shoulder-length then? And some swoop-bangs,” I decided, and she still hesitated, glancing over at Amy.
“It’s her hair,” Amy stated, shrugging her shoulders as I actually looked at her to find silver around her pupils, “But Alex is going to freak….”
I only shrugged my shoulders before the stylist tied my hair back and cut off the excess length of my hair. When she held up the length of ponytail, I felt the tiniest twinge in my stomach while my hair slid over my shoulders. When all was said and done, my hair fell just above my shoulders with layers up to my chin and bangs swooping across the left side of my forehead. I liked it, but I had a feeling the guys weren’t going to be as fond of it.
“Alex is mad because I’m still tuning out,” Amy laughed as she turned to look at me and smiled softly. “It looks great, but they are seriously going to freak out and I can’t keep tuning out.”
“I’ll be in the back seat of the car. Why don’t they meet us for dinner somewhere?” I suggested, standing up and pulling out my wallet to leave a tip for the stylist.
“The day is paid for, Anna. But I like your idea, so get out to the car,” Amy decided and tossed the keys to me when I looked up at her. I fumbled to catch them, but managed to get them before they hit the floor and went outside to the SUV. Not much later, the other girls piled into the front seats.
“I want to see it so bad!” Michaela blurted, but none of them turned to look at me and I laughed, “Amy says it’s sexy.”
My face shaded red as we left the spa and headed over to the mall. They climbed out of the vehicle, but left me sitting in the backseat with the tinted windows blocking anyone from seeing me. My heart was pounding when I looked out the window and spotted Alex, Jack, Tobias, Rayne, Farren, Aeril, Trina, and Sage standing in the parking lot.
“Where is Arianna?” Alex demanded, “Why have you kept her out of sight for so long?”
“She wanted it to be a surprise. Surprises aren’t easy when you’re dealing with a bunch of telepathic werewolves,” Amy laughed as she opened the back door and I climbed out of the SUV. Oh their faces were priceless! I wished I had a camera to catch the shock, anger, awe, and excitement I saw between them.
“What did you do to your hair?” Alex growled angrily but I tucked my newly short hair behind my ear and felt my cheeks flush at the look Rayne was giving me.
“I cut it. You don’t like it?” I queried coyly, looking directly at Alex and catching the brief pink on his face.
“I liked your long hair,” Alex reasoned, “Let’s go get something to eat… Amy said you still had shopping to do….”
“I think it looks hot,” Jack whispered as he walked beside me toward the mall, “You look hot. I can’t wait until tomorrow night.” He kissed my cheek and then disappeared from my side as we reached the mall and went into the food court.
Despite heading in several different directions to different food stations, we all ended up at tables in the center of the food court that the guys had shoved together. I also hadn’t been allowed to buy my meal, which kind of ticked me off, but I didn’t have the energy to argue with them about it.
Suffice it to say, the girls really enjoyed shopping and they kept me at the mall until almost midnight! By the time we finally got back to the house, I went upstairs, climbed into my bed, and fell asleep.