I smiled.
They’re back.
• • •
I hadn’t even reached the bottom step when my hackles rose. My hands tightened as I turned the corner, and my legs became leaden.
Upon entering the kitchen, I halted.
All air seemed to vanish as if it had been sucked from the room until I could scarcely breathe.
My worst nightmare had come true.
“Hello, Jem.”
I tried to rein in my scowl at Marianne’s greeting but didn’t succeed. Eyes narrowed, I took everything in—pans bearing serving spoons spread across the table, sliced meat on a plate in the centre, the whole pack, bar me, surrounding it.
I turned to my seat beside Sean.
Taken.
By Marianne.
My fists curled further, and my breaths deepened.
From Marianne in my seat beside my Sean, my attention lifted to the woman standing behind her—and I almost did a double take.
Marianne and her sister looked so alike, some kind of scientific experiment could have been involved in their creation. They had to be twins—I guessed identical. The only feature to set the two apart came in the other’s hair, brushing her chin in its short bob cut.
Two of them.
Just great!
I looked back to Marianne. “You’re in my seat.”
“Oh.” She and the clone moved in unison as Marianne scraped back my chair. “Sorry, Jem.”
I ignored the apology and sat the second she’d left.
The pack’s stares weighted my movements as I spooned vegetables onto my plate, speared beef and Yorkshire pudding with my fork, piling it on my plate. With my gaze averted, I poured a generous helping of gravy over it all.
Josh’s stare drilled into me the heaviest, yet I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
He’d disappointed me—pure and simple.
He could have warned me. Would it have been so difficult for him to pick up the phone and let me know his plans?
Tension mounted in the warm kitchen, coiling muscles around the room.
Their invasion upon our Sunday ritual filled me with agitation too thick to be controlled. The silence deepened—other than the clink of cutlery as I stabbed with viciousness at my food—and my irritation spiralled right along with it.
Glaring at my meal, mouth full, I mumbled, “Nobody hungry?”
“No,” said Josh. “We’ll have ours later.”
My hand paused mid-stab, yet I didn’t raise my head. “So, you’re not eating with us …again?”
“Come on.” Josh urged his chair back. “We’ll go in the living room.”
Tempered breaths made it difficult to swallow. I gave up on chewing, half tilted my head to watch them leave.
From beneath hooded brows, I tracked the path of the two girls followed by Daniel.
Josh’s swagger and balled fists told me just how furious I’d made him.
He clenched and unclenched his fists, jiggling something around his wrist. For reasons I didn’t understand, the second my brain drank in his new adornment, a low rumble built in my chest, and cold dread settled into my stomach.
I whipped out a hand and snared his arm, gripping tighter when he yank back. Standing, I raised his wrist. “What the hell is this, Josh?”
“None of your business.”
Eyes narrowed, I glowered at him. “Where did you get this?”
“It’s none of your business.” He growled, snatching his arm away.
Through strength lent of temper, I dragged him back and poked the bracelet with a finger. “Is that …hair?”
“Let go!” Josh’s jerked retraction of his arm snapped me to the side.
A snarl bubbled in my throat, cut short by Marianne stepping back to the kitchen doorway. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
I glared at her, pointed to Josh’s wrist, which he did a poor job of concealing in his pocket. “Did you make him that?”
Her eyes widened.
“Jem!” Nathan said.
“This bracelet is fucking made of hair.” Why the bracelet being made of hair bothered me, I didn’t know, but it did—big time. That it matched the dark colour of Marianne’s only added to my concern.
“Jem, mind your language at the table,” Nathan said.
Sean’s fingers folded around my arm, but I shrugged him off, my focus still on Marianne. “Did you make this?”
“I . . .” The tremble of her hands and moistening of her eyes did not go unnoticed. For the first time, she looked afraid of me.
“Jem?” Sean’s tone arrived quiet as he took my arm again.
I snatched it away, rage twisting my features as it merged with unexplained panic. “Did you make him this fucking bracelet, Marianne? Yes or no?”
Her hands lifted to cover her eyes. Sob-like sounds left her lips. I didn’t believe for one minute the tears would be genuine.
“Nice one. Now look what you’ve done.” Josh’s arm settled protectively around Marianne’s shoulders, and he led her away from me.
As they entered the living room, his words of apology to her drifted through.
I took a step forward. “Don’t you dare apologise to her on my behalf!”
Josh’s head poked back round. His bared teeth offered an imposing attitude usually hidden beneath his relaxed personality, and his eyes darkened as he shook his head. “Too far, Jem.”
My fist impacted with the doorframe, the jolt spiking through my forearm.
“Sit down,” said Nathan.
I whirled on him.
“Sit down, and eat your food.”
My barely eaten meal still sat on the plate. I reached over, shoved it halfway across the table to Connor, gravy splattering on the oak top. “Give it to your damn guests. I’ve lost my appetite.”
Before they could retaliate, I rounded the table and flew out the back door.
As I sprinted across the lawn, my hands tore at Josh’s clothing. The rending of fabric should have encouraged me to ease off but only made me shred harder, and grey, Josh-scented scraps of cotton floated to the grass.
By the time I crashed through brush into the forest, feet pounded the ground behind me. “Jem!”
I didn’t pause or slow but surged forward—in the beginnings of a change as well as my run.
“Jem, wait!”
Mud splattered the backs of my ankles. Sean would be upon me any second. He’d need to be quick, though. Ripples had already staked a claim to my flesh.
“Please, wait!”
The first shot of agony hit me like a cattle prod. I gasped, tilting my head at a quieter sound from Sean behind as the sensations of my change affected him. Still, I didn’t stop but pushed faster.
“Please.” His breaths arrived loud. “We need to talk about this.”
I almost stumbled in my haste to get away.
When his fingers brushed my hip, I snarled.
My chest heaved. My heart pounded. Tears threatened to blur my vision.
As splintering pain stabbed my limbs, my knees folded, dropping me to the ground.
Sean crashed into my side, his body bowling over mine. He rolled through mulched leaves before coming to a stop, and he spun, naked, facing me in a crouch.
Glaring at him, I pushed the change on a little further.
“Not yet.” His jaw tensed. “We need to talk about this.”
Breaths burst from me in short spurts. I spotted the throb at his temple, knew my lack of control held responsibility for its creation.
“Will it help at all if I tell you I think Danny and Josh were wrong to bring those girls here unannounced?”
I studied him—his bunched muscles and intense eyes.
“Will it help if I tell you you’re not the only one to have alarm bells ringing about that damn bracelet?”
My head tilted as my brow furrowed.
“I felt something off about it, too,” he said.
As I stared harder, only sincerity greeted my scrutiny.
“The second you said hair, something inside clicked. Like a—”
“Flicker.” My voice arrived deep. “Like a memory you couldn’t quite grasp onto.”
“Yes.” He nodded. “Can you explain that to me?”
Confusion re-creased my brow. Sean never asked me questions about our past—he usually had all the answers.
“You felt it, too. What made you panic so bad?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
Both still crouched, palms flat against the forest floor, I realised my body had calmed, the ripples had vanished. My body was no longer under attack from the agonizing reconstruction of my form.
“We should go back,” he said.
I shook my head. “Not with them there.”
“I meant back home.”
I released a small sigh, watching him for a few beats. “So, we’ll go home?”
He nodded. “We’ll wait for Dad. Try to explain what bothered us.”
“Do you think he’ll listen?” I didn’t think so. He’d looked seriously pissed at me.
“We’ll make him listen.” Sean smiled as he stood and stepped toward me with his hand outstretched.
I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet and encase me in his arms. “How long do you think we have before he gets back?” My cheek pressed against his chest.
“An hour, maybe.” His breaths hit my crown, their warmth contrasting against his cold flesh.
I swept my hands over his back, across the contours of his shoulder blades. When I looked up at him, he brought his mouth down for a kiss.
His heady aroma filled me with a deep inhalation.
“Run with me,” I whispered.
His lips curved against mine. “You know I will.”
• • •
Harsh pounding bounced inside my head before I roused enough to understand the reality of the racket.
“They’re back,” Sean murmured against my ear.
A glance at the illuminated digital numbers of the clock showed five p.m. had arrived without my realisation. After our run, we’d returned home and enjoyed a private session of lovemaking in the empty house. Falling asleep had been unintentional.
More bangs echoed through as the door vibrated beneath heavy blows. “Come on, you two!” Nathan’s voice boomed through the wood.
“We’re awake,” Sean said.
“Good!” The door swung wide, and Nathan strode across the room. His body shadowed the bed as he leaned forward, looming over us. He pointed his finger at me. “Your behaviour at Connor’s was unacceptable.”
“Dad, listen—”
“No!” he snapped before turning back to me. “I know you dislike Josh’s new girlfriend, but when you are in their home, and Josh brings her there, you have no right to react the way you did.”
The duvet slid from Sean’s chest as he sat up. “Josh should never have brought those girls there in the first place.”
Nathan glared at his son. “That’s beside the point. The point is that Josh and Daniel brought humans home today, and once they were there, there was little we could do without making a big deal out of it and drawing attention to ourselves. But you”—he prodded his extended finger in my direction—“managed to make more out of it than that. And what the hell was the deal with the bracelet? What were you thinking, screaming at Marianne over something she gave him?”
“Actually, we’ve been waiting to talk to you about that,” Sean said.
Hands on hips, Nathan glowered from Sean to me, back to Sean.
I hadn’t moved since his intrusion. Only my face peeked out above the duvet—seemed safer that way.
Nathan lifted his hands, brushing across his hair, and lowered them again with a nod. “Okay, get up. I’ll wait downstairs. Then you can explain to me exactly why I’ve spent the best part of the afternoon dishing out apologies on your behalf.”
One more parting glance to each of us, and he marched from the room. The door rattled as he slammed it closed.
6
Nathan’s heavy gaze settled on me once in the kitchen. “Talk to me, Jem, and make it good.”
I sent Sean a glance before giving a small nod. “For reasons I can’t explain to myself, let alone you, the moment I saw that bracelet on Josh’s wrist, something twisted inside me.”
Nathan’s expression didn’t waver. “Try to explain it.”
I blew out a small breath. “Seeing the bracelet seemed to trigger a memory—one I can’t quite piece together—and it sounded an alert that something was amiss.”
Nathan turned to Sean. “Do you know what memory she’s talking about?”
Sean shook his head. “No, but I think it’s one we both have. It’s just buried too deep. Neither of us are getting all the details, but as soon as Jem recognised the bracelet as being made from hair, something clicked inside me, too.”
Nathan swung back to me. “Are you sure this isn’t just because Marianne gave it to him?”
I returned his expression with an unamused one of my own.
“I know you don’t like her.”
“I don’t trust her.”
“Because she’s after Josh?” Ethan piped in from across the table.
“This isn’t about jealousy, Ethan. Before she’d even spoken to Josh, I felt there was something off about her.”
“Because she’s young, fit and after Josh?” Ethan asked again.
“No.” My fist thumped the table. “It has nothing to do with any of that. I just don’t trust her.”
“Why not?” Nathan asked.
“I . . .” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know, but …man, it’s an intense vibe I get off her.”
“Do you understand how much you’ve upset Danny and Josh over this?”
I nodded. “I have a good idea.”
“You’ve got some serious apologising to do,” he said. “I will not have discord amongst my pack. Do you understand?”
My gaze dipped. “I’ll apologise to Connor for behaving rudely in his home. But Josh and Dan …they should never have brought them—”
“You will say sorry,” Nathan said.
“What about them?” My tone bordered on sulky. “Do they have to say sorry?”
A mixture of exasperation and an underlying hint of temper moved across Nathan’s features and chilled his eyes.
“When Josh and Danny are ready to apologise to me for their inconsideration, feel free to send them my way, and I’ll say sorry in return.”
“You’re behaving like a child,” Nathan snapped.
“No, Nate.” My other fist hit the table with a quiet thud. “I’m behaving like the only female member of the pack, whose relationships are under threat. And not just by the presence of female humans but female humans I don’t trust.” My fingernails dug into my palms as my hands clenched tighter. “I’m behaving like a female pack member who cares about the male members of this pack. One who doesn’t want to see Josh get hurt. Like—”
Nathan held up his hand. “I get it.” His lips gave a slight twitch.
I uncurled my hands, placing both palms atop the table as I waited to see if he’d speak.
After a long silence, he said, “Tomorrow, you and Josh will sort this out between the two of you. You will both apologise—”
“But—”
“You will both apologise,” he repeated. “I will keep an eye on Josh’s new girlfriend, and decide if she’s up to anyth
ing. And you two”—he pointed from me to Sean—“will try to remember what disturbed you so much about that bracelet.”
• • •
Connor paused in his work as we climbed from the truck Monday morning.
“Where’s Josh and Danny?” Nathan called the second his boots hit dirt.
Connor pointed over his shoulder. “They’re inside. You want them?”
“Yes. Tell them I want to see them in the cabin.”
Connor nodded and strode away.
“Now!” Nathan called before adding, “Please, Connor.”
Connor continued walking, gave another nod.
As I didn’t really want to be around for the boys’ ticking off, I made my way in to get on with my painting. One leg in my coverall, I lifted the other to feed through when footsteps in the outside hallway pricked my ears.
Following Connor past the open doorway to the apartment, Daniel and Josh peered my way.
At the lack of warmth in Josh’s eyes, the smile I’d been about to give evaporated. A hollow void expanded within my chest—my emotional defence against dealing with the hurt.
Making up would not be easy.
Ignoring the physical symptoms caused by Josh’s glare, I stirred the Roman Stone emulsion. The globby liquid spiralled around like a whirlpool, and I lost myself in its squelchy tune until blobs flicked into the air and thick paint spatters decorated the concrete floor surrounding the tub.
My mind wandered to the day before. In bed, Sean and I almost induced migraines with our desperate attempts to recall whatever had bothered us so much.
Before Sean and I re-met, each had been aware of the other, thanks to us both experiencing dreams with the starring roles played by ourselves. Every dream, we’d learned, represented memories of past lives together. Sean’s eight years of memory-stirring dreams surpassed my couple of months’ worth, but none of them had helped. Whatever had us alarmed—if something from a previous existence—refused to fully surface.
“Jem?”
My arm jerked up at the interruption. More emulsion sloshed over the side. Wiping my hands down my trouser legs, I stood and turned to face Daniel.
Blue Moon Page 6
