Chapter 12
"Why do you have to go?" Mason whined while sitting cross-legged on my bed behind me, watching me decide which earrings looked best with my outfit.
"I told you, I'll get to hang out with Geira while I'm there, and besides, I already gave Axel my word that I would be his date." Spinning around, I asked, "Do you like the loops or the spangles better?" I had one in each ear.
"I don't know; I'm not a chick, remember?" He threw his arms in the air. "I don't like this one bit. You get to go running off all over the place while I have to stay here with all these nuts."
"Demetri will be here. I thought you two were good buds now?" I decided on the spangles.
"We are, but he's a vampire, Kylie. Everyone here is some kind of supe except me."
"Supe?"
"Supernatural. Even you. I miss Mom and Dad. They were plain ole normal people like me. I don't want to be the odd ball."
"Mason." I came to sit next to him on the bed and put my arm around his shoulders, which he immediately shrugged off as he stood to his feet. "I'm sorry you're feeling left out. Things won’t always be as they are now. You'll see, things will get better."
"Really? How? I'm going to grow up a human in a supernatural realm. You might as well be throwing me into a shark tank with a bucket of chum! I hate it here! I want to go home!"
"There isn't a home to go back to." I felt awful having to remind him of this seeing as he was so upset.
"Yes, there is. Maybe not in the same area or with Mom and Dad, but there are still places that are in the human realm that weren't affected by the tear. I can go there." He crossed his arms over his chest, giving me his stubborn face.
"And do what? You're twelve; how are you going to survive without someone to take care of you?"
His eyes brightened. "You could come with me, say you’re eighteen or twenty-one. No one will ever suspect. We could get an apartment and with your wicked new skills we'd never be without money. Come on, Kylie, let's go home. A real home without all this screeching, lightning, Slashers, shifters, demons and vamps. We could make new friends, normal ones." He took an advancing step toward me, trying to appeal to my sister side.
I could see plainly he was hurting and I hated it, but the things he was saying hurt me as well. I adored the lightning and the screeching kinda soothed me. I know he didn't mean to, nevertheless he was calling me abnormal.
"Can we talk about this when I get back later?" Shooting to my feet, I turned my back to him.
"No, we can't," he replied softly before leaving the room, slamming the door on his way out. Dropping my brush on top of the dresser, I started to go after him when my cell chirped. Picking it up off the bedside table, I saw the text was from Axel. It read pick u up in 10. Responding with a quick k, I went to put on a pair of sheep skin suede boots I'd found in the closet.
Come to find out, Svava had amazing taste in clothing. At first I felt odd about trying her stuff on, however I quickly got over it when I found that she'd taken her fashion sense right out Vogue, or at least, I assumed it was Vogue.
My thoughts drifted to what life would have been like if I'd been raised by her as a mom instead of my mom. We would have been able to share clothes and shoes, which was kinda cool. We could have hunted together, with me being able to learn directly from her. She would have taught me the importance of energizing instead of Rota. She would have still been a part of the five, and I would still get to be a teenager, a Valkyrie teen instead of a human one. I was starting to paint a rosy picture for myself until Rota's words drifted back into my mind, Ha, I can tell you this much, if you’d been raised by Svava, you'd have some seriously high therapy bills. With that, the rosy picture shattered.
Admiring my reflection in the mirror, I thought I looked pretty good. I'd gone with the layered look. I had faded skinny jeans paired with a burnt sienna, embroidered, chiffon tank with a fringe bottom, which was layered under a white, southwest-pattern yoke half-button tunic. On top of that, a brown-toned canvas, trimmed, snap-front, hooded vest and I’d finished the look with a studded, brown leather belt.
"Thank you, Svava, for keeping your closet updated," I whispered, feeling a little closer to her.
My cell chirped again, signaling that Axel was out front and waiting on me. Sliding my cell into my back pocket, I left the room, hurrying down the stairs to find Rune, Rota and Bryn standing by the front door. Great.
"Svava was right; if you keep clothes long enough, they come back into style. That outfit is right out of the seventies," Rota laughed.
"He isn't coming in to get you?" Bryn clucked her tongue.
"No, he's afraid you'll kill him before we even make it through the front door," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. I was nervous enough already that now, having to deal with these three, was a bit aggravating.
"Smart lad!" Bryn opened the door, waving her knife in the air in way of greeting.
"Do you have protection?" Rune blurted out next.
Not believing my ears, I reddened, feeling absolutely sick to my stomach. "Um, Rune, Mom had that talk with me years ago."
"Your human mom, what did she know about it? Nothing." Rune rolled her eyes. "I can see you don't have any protection on you. Rule number one of being a Valkyrie, never leave Valhalla without protection."
"I thought rule number one was kill first, ask questions later?" Rota yawned, plopping down on the sofa.
"This is a new rule system, Rota, and I say it’s number one." Rune glared at Rota who immediately shrugged and flipped on the television above the fireplace. My God, forget about surviving in the supernatural world, my real problem was surviving this conversation.
"Here." Rune tucked a sheathed, double-sided knife into my hand and that’s when I understood the Valkyrie meaning of “protection”.
Tucking it into my jeans, I hurried out the door before anyone else could open their mouth.
Axel was leaning against his bike when I came out, looking totally hot in his dirty styled jeans and leather jacket. His thick, dark hair glistened in the sun while a smile creased his face when he saw me. "Wow." I took that as a major compliment. "I tried to come in and wait for you, but Bryn started throwing knives. " He shrugged. "I thought it best if I waited out here. She could have totally ruined my jacket." Turning to glare back at Valhalla, I saw Bryn was peering out the window, knife still in hand as she gave him the finger. I flipped her off, giving her some of her own treatment and she died laughing.
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to Axel. "No biggie."
He climbed on his bike, firing it up—the most glorious sound in the whole entire world—then nodded for me to climb on behind him, and I did so, smiling. Wrapping my arms around his waist, his scent of woods and spice filled my nostrils. I was in heaven. He was incredibly warm; much warmer than your average person—a shifter thing. The wind was whipping in my hair, making me glad I chose to stick with the Celtic knot. One of the perks of being a supe, as Mase called it, was that you didn't have to worry about the average bumps and bruises, meaning I could enjoy this ride without wearing a helmet.
He took a corner a little sharper than I'd anticipated and I shrieked, gripping his waist tighter. He chuckled in response. He'd done that on purpose. I smiled, feeling more comfortable and resting my chin on his shoulder. I was having such an amazing time, which ended far too fast for my taste as he pulled into a woodsy area and parked.
As I got off the bike, I checked my reflection in the side mirror. Yes, I was windblown, but the knot had held and I thought it added something to my look as I ran my fingers through my hair to untangle a few messy clumps.
"You look great. I'll be the envy of the harvest." Smiling at me, he reached down, taking my hand and threading his fingers with mine, sending a jolt of electricity up my arm and butterflies to my stomach. "Come on, I'll introduce you before sunset when everything gets crazy." I nodded, not having any idea what he meant by crazy. I mean, really, what would be cons
idered crazy with this bunch. Yikes.
Axel and I walked out into the open space that had been cleared among the forest. It reminded me of the fall festivals we had back home with hay bales arranged in a circle and a giant bonfire in the center. They had stands set up all in a row filled with all kinds of fair foods; like grilled corn on the cob, Polish sausages topped with grilled peppers and onions, pulled pork barbecue, along with foods I didn’t recognize. They had desserts of all kinds, including one of my favorites, caramel apples. Well, used to be one of my favs. Now I couldn't stomach anything. I understood from what I'd been reading since my last energizing session with Rota that, in order for a Valkyrie to become pregnant with another supe’s baby, they had to begin eating again, and continue to do so through the duration of the pregnancy. Learning this had made me aware that my mother couldn't have accidentally become pregnant, as I initially had thought. No, she’d wanted me the proof was that she had made sure to begin eating while in this relationship. It wasn't something that came easily for a Valkyrie, especially one as old as my mother who hadn't consumed that type of nutrition since her awakening; this piece of knowledge made me feel a whole lot better.
"You okay?" Axel gave my hand a squeeze as he looked down at me.
"Sure. Just lost in thought, I guess. This whole scene reminds me of home," I said, smiling up at him. It did. I couldn’t believe how much as I looked out into the distance, spying a few carnival rides in full swing. They even had a Ferris wheel, Mason's favorite. I felt a little sad about leaving him and decided that the next harvest they had, I would make it up to him by bringing him along; if I received another invitation anyway. He would totally dig it.
"Really?" he asked, genuinely interested. He'd opened his mouth to speak again when we were interrupted by Geira and her mate; a tall, broad and drop dead gorgeous shifter. I saw the resemblance between Axel and his uncle immediately. He, like Axel, had a full head of dark locks and whiskey colored eyes, but they held a world more experience within them. He was broader and outweighed Axel. He was a glimpse of the man Axel would one day become.
I must have been staring because Geira winked at me before saying, "Scrumptious, right?" Oh, was he ever. Blushing, I looked away. "Zane, this is my niece, Kylie. Isn't she the spitting image of Svava?"
"That she is. Perhaps even more lovely." The scrumptious hottie with a deep pitched voice full of rumble and grit spoke as he held out his hand to me. "This clod has forgotten his manners due to your stunning beauty, no doubt. I'm Alpha of this pack." Oh, he was charming. I hesitated before taking his hand, beaming like an idiot and evoking laughter from Geira. God, I was never going to live this down. When my hand slid into his, a jolt of energy ran up my arm. It was much stronger than what I received from touching Axel.
"Wow," I breathed, embarrassed the moment the word left my lips. Receiving a snort from Axel at the same time I received a chuckle from Zane.
"Right?" Geira grinned as Zane released my hand.
"Nice to meet you," I managed to get out before I came off looking like a complete idiot.
"Show off," Axel muttered under his breath.
"You guys have a great time," Geira said as Axel so rudely began hauling me in the opposite direction. "I'll find you in a bit, Kylie." I turned to nod and wave at Geira, getting another eye full of Zane before turning back around.
"He's such a jerk, always throwing his Alpha status around."
Shifters, like wolves, lived in packs. This was something I read up on early in my research. It seemed odd to me at first until I thought of it as a family, the Alpha being the head of the family and what he says goes. Actually, it was more like a mob family than a regular family because you didn't cross an Alpha. Ever.
"I think he was just being nice."
He snorted in response as we walked up to a pack of teens all sitting around another fire ring.
"Who's your friend, Axel?" A busty redhead dressed in a leather mini skirt and a fluffy, red, cowl neck sweater that didn't reach the top of her skirt—showing tons of tummy, I might add—said while standing to come over to where we were. When she gave Axel a full frontal hug, he took a quick glance down at me before releasing my hand and returning her hug. I instantly hated her.
When she finally released him, he said, clearing his throat, "Kylie, this is Mist."
She never even acknowledged me. Batting her lashes and putting on a pouty face, she instead spoke to Axel, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I need to speak with you privately."
"Well, can it wait? I don't want to leave Kylie."
"I'm afraid not." She pouted a little more. Witch.
She was already pulling him by the arm when he turned to me with apologetic eyes, shrugging. Jerk.
As I watched them walk away I thought, There isn't a teen alive that is built that way, besides her anyway. At that point, a couple of shifter guys took advantage of Axel's momentary distraction to come over and introduced themselves to me. I decided I was going to be overly friendly in order to get a little dignity back from being tossed to the side by my date.
Pasting a huge smile on my face, I stepped over to meet them. I can be enthralling, too; when I want to be. "Hi fella's!"
I was instantly surrounded by shifter males, ages sixteen to eighteen. "You're Geira's niece, right?" asked a large shifter who had big green eyes and golden skin with long blonde hair, which was the exact same shade as mine, tied back in a leather tie.
"I am. My name is Kylie." As I beamed up at him, his face creased with a smile, exposing perfect white teeth.
"Lovely to meet you, Kylie." He began taking my hand in his as he bent down to kiss it, but right before, he growled playfully, "I'm Ryder."
I giggled as he held my gaze under the cover of his long golden lashes. Afterward, several others introduce themselves to me in a similar fashion. Their names I didn't retain, and seeing that Ryder had won, they all kinda scattered, going back on the prowl.
"This is really something. You guys really do this every full moon?" I asked Ryder in an attempt to make conversation and forget the fact that Axel was off with the shifter chick, alone.
"We do. It’s sort of a tradition with us. Although we do try to add more activities every few years or so just to keep it from going stale." I nodded. I couldn't believe that this would ever become boring for anyone, however. "Have you been on any rides yet?" Shaking my head no, I looked around for Axel. "Well, we can remedy that."
"I really should wait here for Axel." I smiled apologetically.
He looked at me with a little pity in his eyes, making me feel completely pathetic. "Ah, come on. They could be a while." He offered me his arm. Screw it! I wasn't going to sit around here, waiting on some stupid guy when there was fun to be had.
Making up my mind, I smiled brightly, taking Ryder's arm. "Let's go!"