“There you are. God forbid you are actually in a place where you’re supposed to be.” He had been waiting for only three minutes, but she didn’t need to know that. Katie had asked to wonder in a store next to the meeting spot, Rhys said she was not allowed to shop alone. He was fearful, because she looked so young, that someone might try to hurt her and her wolf would lash out. It would hurt the pack irreparably if Katie would have to be killed.
Altan would probably not last long if that happened, it was well known throughout the pack that if you messed with Katie you’d come face to face with the Moor of Legend.
“Oh, I’m sorry, next time don’t make that backpack leash so easy to get out of.” Sunny shot back. Altan paused in his retort and observed her. She was frazzled about something, her bubble gum hair was in disarray, she liked to tug on the ends in a show of nerves he knew, her cheeks were flushed, and in her hand, she held one beat-up box of cloth, it was squeezed so tight her normally brown knuckles were white.
“You are upset.” He blurted, biting his tongue too late to stop himself.
“I shoplifted.” She mumbled, holding her box up in the air. Altan tilted her head and furled his brows.
“Is that why your cheeks are flushed?” He asked. Sunny snapped back to attention and petted her cheeks.
“They are?”
“Yes.”
“You can tell?” She asked.
“Yes, Sunny, I can tell. Your pulse is beating faster than normal, your skin is heated, and I smell the excitement.”
“Well, that’s just hella creepy.” She blurted.
“Don’t you know how to smell things like that?” He was growing concerned, the nose was a powerful asset. Did she learn anything about her animal side in all her years?
“No. Our parents don’t care for our abilities, and besides Moony has the better scent skills out of the both of us anyways.” She explained, strolling over to sit on an empty bench.
“So your parents…” He began, unaware of how to breach the subject.
“Hate us? Yeah. They never wanted kids, we’re a mix of an unexpected pregnancy and health care plans only offering to cover an abortion if the woman's life is endangered or her health is severely compromised. My family was too poor to get one so here we are.” Sunny leaned over to retie her shoe. It hadn’t come undone.
“I’m sorry.” It was all he could say. What do you say to that? ‘I’m sorry’ seemed like hollow words to him. Is this what Asim feels like? When was the last time he returned his calls? Ten years ago?
“It’s alright. My father’s brother is a Walker too, he pretty much raised us. Wait, no, he did raise us. It’s hard living in a small town when they all know who your emergency contact is and why it’s not your parents.”
“Your uncle? What is he?” He was trying to lighten the mood, trying to ease her pain.
“A Golden Eagle. The largest bird of prey in North America. See, he couldn’t help us with learning our animal counterparts, though he tired is damnedest, he’s just not like us.” She paused and sat back, eyes gazing unseeingly through the skylight above. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I’ve never told anyone this.” She turned and looked at him with her large brown eyes.
Oak fingers tentatively reached out to touch his face, they rested on his cheekbone, then went to the long scar he had on his brow. “Why do I feel this way?” She whispered, eyes locked on his lips. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he thought of taking her first kiss, he thought it’d be in some grand, romantic way, not an old bench in a run-down, public mall, but he leaned forward anyways.
“Mi Sol, I have to tell you something.” He breathed, her eyes were closed and her hand still on his cheek. His skin felt aflame from her touch.
When first he looked upon her face, it was not on the perfect features that he dwelled - not the gold-flecked black eyes, nor the pomegranate pink lips. Instead, it was the small blemishes and insecurities that allured her. The small scar on the forehead, the sashay walk, the very slightly crooked smile she flashed so often. That was the moment he had found the person who was perfectly imperfect for him.
“What?” She said, tone matching his.
“You know that I am a werewolf.” He smiled at her face, at the way her eyes opened in confusion.
“You are? I feel betrayed, here I thought you were a were-bunny.” She sassed, her little tongue peeking out to lick her lips.
“There’s this bond, a mate bond, between a wolf and another. It is very rare to happen, most spend years with their chosen before the wolf will accept them as his mate.” He began, Altan switched positions quickly, taking her oval face in hand, rubbing small circles over her plump cheeks. He liked how her face wasn’t thin, he liked the apple cheeks she had.
“What are you saying?”
“Mi Sol, I think you’re my mate.” Sunny’s eyes went wide, then flashed a bright yellow and the pupils turned into vertical slits. Altan knew this was her mountain lion speaking to him.
“Altan!” Called a voice of pure silk. Sunny spun around so that she was facing Sasha as she strolled up to them. Altan, at the same time, had leaned forward to kiss her but hit her cheek when she moved. “What do we have here? A little rendezvous? He is the best lover is he not, Sunny?” She purred, Altan was surprised by the sharp flare of jealousy he smelled.
The sex had meant nothing to either of them, but it meant something to Sunny. He'd have had to be human to miss the hurt and mistrust in her eyes at Sasha's thrust.
"Play nicely, Sasha," he told her, abruptly impatient. He put a little force in his voice as he said, "Go find Katie. She is in the shoe store."
Her eyes lit with rage and she drew herself up. Sasha was fairly tall, not as tall as Sunny, and not nearly as tall as him. She was beautiful in her own right, with her milk and cream skin and her honey hair. He desired her once upon a time but now? Now she was nothing but a past fling.
"I am not our Alpha," he said softly. "You don't want to try the shrew act with me." Fear cooled her temper, and his, too, for that matter. Her perfume might have hidden her scent, but it didn't hide her eyes or her clenched hands. He didn't enjoy frightening people, not usually. He was reluctant to face Sunny, though he had no idea why he should feel so guilty for doing something long before he'd ever met her.
“I wouldn’t know, I am not as lose as to sleep with a man I have just met, that may work for you, but not for me.” Sunny stood with a grace of a seasoned dancer. “I’ll get Kat, let you talk for a bit.” And with that, she left, back rod straight as she did.
Fuck. He did it this time.
He watched her go, never letting his gaze stray until she made it safely in the store, where he saw her catch up with Katie. Only then did he turn to address the blonde wolf.
“That was uncalled for.” Sasha scoffed and rolled her cornflower blue eyes.
“Hardly. She should know what she's getting into. Girls have to look out for each other.” While her statement was true, Altan could smell the lie in her voice.
“Do not lie to me Sasha Hardin, it might offend me.” He said, voice like smoke. He stood silently and strolled towards her, hands clenched in rage behind his back.
“So Altan, this is your new chew toy? I suppose you could do worse.” She remarked, tilting her head to stare heatedly at Sunny’s back.
“Sasha, dear, jealousy is never a good look, even on one as pretty as you.” Sasha glared at him, but Altan just laughed. “Oh please, dear, I have seen that look before.” He paused and leaned close to whisper the next part in her ear. “It was better six hundred years ago.”
“Hey now, there are children present, I must request you keep it PG,” Sunny announced, maybe if he was a little more focused he could have heard the hurt in her husky voice.
“Oh don’t stop on my account.” Katie drawled, crossing her arms in defiance. It seems she had picked favorites, and judging by Sasha’s face, she knew it wasn’t her.
“Katie, please,” Altan said. She narrowed her eyes at him in response.
“Damn, Blondie, if looks could kill I don’t think even Wolfie’s advanced healing could save him,” Jacy remarked in his distinctive baritone voice. Katie’s mood changed dramatically with the new arrival, she skipped over to the long-haired man, happily. Altan had his eyes locked on Sunny’s face, so he didn’t miss the flash of displeasure.
“Hi, Moony! Whatcha get?” She chirped, Sunny strolled casually over to her brother, careful to give Altan a wide berth. It stung.
“Not much, but I found a book on quantum mechanics that seemed fun.” He pulled out a book thick enough to break a bone and waved it in the air. Katie snatched it from his grasp and flipped it open.
“Only you would think a book about quantum mechanics is fun.” Sunny joked, Jacy frowned and Altan saw his nose scrunch up. He was smelling his twin. Eyes sharp like daggers flashed his way and Altan cringed. It seems he was not the only one to smell her discomfort.
“You smell like a man.” Her brother admitted. Sunny tilted away from him in distaste.
“Okay, enough of people sniffing me.”
“Who?”
“You’re probably just smelling me, we were sitting next to each other.” Altan ignored Sasha’s rude snort.
“No, I know your scent. This isn’t yours.” Sunny lifted up her arm and took a deep inhale. Altan did the same, albeit with more discretion.
“You do.” Katie had her nose tucked into Sunny’s elbow. The native woman let out an enraged growl and shoved both of them away.
“No more smelling me, please. I feel like a discount perfume store.”
“So, did you get your stuff?” Jacy asked, in an effort to cool his sister’s fiery temper.
Sunny looked down at her hand as if she had forgotten it was there, she looked back at her brother and Altan saw the sudden recognition in her brown eyes. “I shoplifted.”
“Yes and no.” Altan spun around to face the new voice. It came from marginally, at least compared to him, handsome man. Maybe some women might find his clear blue eyes alluring. Maybe.
“Greyson!” Sunny chirped happily, Altan frowned. She never took that tone with him. He felt a small pat on his arm and he looked down to find Katie attempting to comfort him. He smiled at her and ruffled her silky blonde hair. “Wait, what do you mean ‘yes and no’?”
“I noticed you hurried out so fast you forgot to buy your stuff. So I did.”
Sunny scrambled to pull Altan’s wallet from out of her pants, how she could have forgotten it was there was a mystery. “Here, let me pay you back.” She held out a wad of cash the Spaniard knew she hadn’t bothered counting. The intruder, Greyson, just laughed and gently closed her hand back around the money.
“Daddy, why does she have a wallet in her pants?” A little girl asked. Six pairs of eyes locked on a tiny little girl standing beside what Altan presumed was her father. Whoo, that was close, the fool was married. She ducked behind her father’s leg and peaked round it, to stare at Sunny.
“Uh, well. It’s a long story involving men of mystery and subterfuge.” Sunny explained awkwardly. The little girl frowned, blue eyes that matched her father’s narrowing at her.
“Did you win?” She asked.
“Considering I have all of his financial information and a hefty wad of cash I’m gonna say yes.” The brunette haired girl nodded her head with a surprising amount of intensity.
“Good. Down with the oppressive patriarchy!” She cried, vehemently.
“Oh? Way to go!” Sunny raised a hand to knuckle bump the child and beamed at her. “Death to the oppressors!” The intruder laughed and shook his head. Altan followed the movement of his right hand as he threaded his ringless fingers through the hair of his child.
Fuck. He was going to have to kill him now.
“Remember, Al, there’s no rose tea in jail.” Katie mumbled out of the corner of her mouth. Altan glanced down at her and grinned, it appears he had at least one person on his side. And if Emily came back soon, he’d have two.
“Sunny, this is my ankle biter, Dory. Dory this might be your new ballet teacher.” Altan’s head snapped in the direction of his suburtern mate’s and stared. She hadn’t told him about this.
“Oh really! Oh, please, oh please, please, please!” She bounced up and down in her excitement.
“Um, well I haven’t decided yet.” Sunny rubbed the back of her neck. Dory stopped her dance and stared with intense eyes, Altan could see Sunny’s resolve break. He wondered to himself if Sunny was this passionate when she was young.
“Well, why not?” The girl asked, hands on her hips she had to have learned somewhere.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know if I like the idea of being apart of a coup d'é·tat.” Sunny explained in a gentle manner.
“Could you think about it some more? Please?” The father asked. Taking a sniff Altan now knew this man was the scent he and Jacy had smelled. Well, the pack owned lots of land he could hide his decaying body. Mag would help dig and Katie would scout out the spot.
“Okaaay.” She mumbled quietly. “Dory, could you do the first position please?” Dory stepped back and attempted to bring her feet to be horizontal to her body. Her little tongue was sticking out of her mouth in construction and her little body was wobbling. Sunny got down to the five-year-old’s level and began to fiddle with her.
“Dang, kid. You learn this in the first week. How long have you been taking classes from your teacher?” With one tan hand on the left foot and the other on the right, she pulled the legs into the proper position. Dory let out a squeak of pain. Altan was with her, that did look painful.
“A year. I knew Miss Clawing was teaching us wrong if she was teaching us at all. Most of the time she just cries about her no-good sank of a boyfriend who was screwing around with a no-good sank of a girl.” Dory remarked, too focussed on her position to notice the horrified look on all of the adults' faces. “Besides she wears neon blue eyeshadow and we aaall know she’s a spring. What? Why are you looking at me that way?” She asked, looked up through her lashes with a pout. She glanced at her father in confusion.
“You have to take them now, Sun.” Jacy imputed. Dory spun around and stared at the six-foot-six Jacy. If he was honest Jacy’s height sacred even Altan.
Comments (0)
See all