Luminous

by Noelle Marie

  Not really knowing what else to do, Katherine took one step forward and then another. She drew in a deep breath of air through her nose, and relying on nothing other than instinct, pivoted left. Praying that her nose wasn’t leading her to some weathered octogenarian not even standing in line, Katherine followed the innate feeling until it told her to stop. She inhaled once again through her nose, picking up two individual scents. They beckoned her in different ways, both smelling of citrus, but one was sweeter, and stronger, than the other. Not giving herself a chance to second guess the decision, Katherine reached forward, her hand landing on the bony shoulder of whoever stood opposite her.

  There was a sort of gasp that swept the room, and Katherine hesitantly pulled the blindfold off, taking in the stunned woman before her. She looked to be about mid-thirties, her brown hair pulled back into a sensible ponytail. Katherine was fairly certain that she recognized her as one of the teachers of the younger kids at school. The woman only remained in her shock for a moment, her open mouth soon closing and forming an elated grin. She pulled an unsuspecting Katherine into a fierce embrace, muttering, “thank you, so much” into her shoulder.

  Katherine wanted to point out that she didn’t do anything. After all, she wasn’t some sort of fertility goddess who could bless someone with a pregnancy. She couldn’t bring herself to do it, though, and merely offered the woman a smile in return, hoping it didn’t look as much like a grimace as it felt.

  Curious to see who she’d almost picked, Katherine glanced to the right to see a blank-faced Priscilla. Despite her lack of expression, however, she could see that Priscilla’s eyes were suspiciously wet, and Katherine felt the ridiculous urge to apologize bubble up her throat. Before she could say anything, though, the blonde merely offered her a tense nod before turning on her heel and disappearing into the crowd of quickly approaching onlookers.

  Sophie threw an arm over Katherine’s shoulder. “You know, I don’t put much stock into traditions like these, but I really hope you’re right. Charlotte’s about as nice as they come, and it’s well known that she and her mate have been trying for a baby for well over a decade.”

  Katherine gnawed at her bottom lip. She really hoped she was right, too.

  * * *

  “Parenting for Dummies? Should I take that as some sort of declaration?”

  Katherine rolled her eyes so hard that she was shocked she didn’t catch sight of her brain. She clutched both of the books in her hands – Parenting for Dummies and Caring for a Newborn 101 – tightly to her chest.

  She and Zane had traveled into town to pick up some books they’d asked one of Haven Fall’s runners, Harrison Smith, to pick up for them. Runners were people who had been designated by Bastian to make monthly “runs” out of town to collect certain supplies in bulk. They drove one of a handful of trucks to cities like Fort Saskatchewan to pick up things like fabric, cutlery, and feminine supplies – things they couldn’t extract from nature, basically. Runners also took requests for specific items, and Katherine had been lucky enough to catch Harrison before he had left on his “run” yesterday, and she had asked him to pick up some books on how to take care of a baby.

  Her baby shower a week ago had served as a wake-up call of sorts. The realization that she hadn’t a real clue of how to care for a baby had been a sensation not unlike being dowsed with icy water. Sure, she’d been forced to pretend a sack of flour had been a baby back in middle school with the rest of her class, but as little real life value as that exercise had offered, she’d failed at even that. The day before she had been supposed to hand the sack of flour back in to her teacher, her clueless father had accidently made pancakes with half of it. Katherine had tried duct-taping the sack back together, and she’d received a “C-” for her efforts.

  She couldn’t afford to get a “C-” at real parenting.

  Even if it did mean she’d endure some teasing for her newest taste in reading material.

  “Haha,” Katherine offered dryly.

  “I suppose I should just be happy that you’re showing an interest in learning something at least.”

  Katherine assumed that was a dig at her lack of study sessions with the man lately – they had taken a bit of a backseat to the whole “surprise, you’re pregnant” thing.

  “Hey, I like learning,” she protested. “At least when what I’m learning about actually pertains to my life.” She took a gander at the heavy textbook Zane had requested Harrison pick up. “Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology? Really? Maybe you should back up a bit before your nerdiness somehow rubs off on me.”

  Zane snorted. “There will be no rubbing going on, thank you very much. I don’t have a death wish.”

  Katherine stuck her tongue out at the ribbing.

  “And I’ll have you know,” Zane continued, “that cognitive psychology is a very useful subject to learn.”

  “And how is that?”

  “It aids in predicting behaviors,” he shot back immediately. “For example, you bite your lip when you’re nervous, and when you cock your hip to the right just so, it’s usually indicative that you’re about to rip into someone.”

  Katherine blinked. While she was aware that she had a penchant for chewing on her bottom lip, she hadn’t known she tended to cock her hip when she was mad. As she searched her memory, however, she realized it was true. “Oh.”

  “Yes, oh. Furthermore, you don’t always know what kind of knowledge you’ll need before you need it, so why not read up on as much as you can? I like knowing things. I consider my arsenal of knowledge a weapon of sorts; a weapon that this pack often relies on. It’s my way of contributing.”

  Katherine frowned, elbowing Zane good-naturedly. “I suppose you have a point. As long as you realize that we like you for more than your annoyingly clever mind... in spite of it, even.”

  It was Zane’s turn to look dumbfounded, a rare a sight on the usually serious man’s face as a red flush slowly crept up his neck.

  “Yes, well... I mean, I suppose...”

  Before Katherine could comment on the flush or Zane’s flustered rambling, however, the feeling of someone’s eyes on her had the hairs on the back of her neck sticking up. She turned on her feet and spotted a familiar couple on the opposite side of the street. Priscilla and Rip.

  The latter was so absorbed in ogling her ass that he didn’t even notice the former’s heated glare focused on the side of his head.

  “Gee, Rip, could you stare any harder?”

  Rip spared Priscilla an annoyed glance. “Don’t you ever shut up?” he muttered meanly.

  The blonde visibly bristled. “Don’t you ever stop staring? You spent half the time we were at the market looking down various stand owners’ shirts, and now this. You’re absolutely shameless to do it right in front of me; I mean, I’m your mate! You’re supposed to love and cherish me, not lavish your attention on the bodies of every attractive woman you happen to stumble across!”

  Katherine was secretly impressed by the little shove she delivered to Rip’s bicep.

  She froze, however – her entire body filling with white hot rage – when Rip pushed Priscilla back hard enough that she stumbled and nearly fell. Then he grabbed Priscilla by her arm and pulled her back to him, thrusting his face into her space. “Yeah, and you’re supposed to provide me with an heir, but that’s kind of hard to do when you’re working with a barren womb. I guess we’ve both been duped, huh?”

  That was it.

  It had been a long time since Katherine had been so mad, the fury she felt lapping at her collar. She didn’t think, just acted, and began storming over to them.

  “What-?” Zane started, attempting to grab a hold of her coat sleeve and stop her, but Katherine shrugged him off.

  “Hey!” she yelled as she stomped her way across the street. “What do you think you’re doing? Leave her alone!”

  Rip eyed Katherine up and down, his surprise at her approach quickly turning into a sardonic sort of amusement. “Why don’
t you mind your own business, girlie? As worthless as Priscilla is, she’s right about one thing: she’s my mate. That means she’s mine to do with as I please.”

  Katherine snorted in disgust, crossing her arms over her chest. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

  “Actually, I’m pretty sure it is,” he mocked, throwing one of his meaty arms over Priscilla’s shoulders and squeezing her to him. “Isn’t that right, honey?”

  Priscilla winced as his grip on her tightened when she didn’t immediately answer. Katherine just barely managed to bite her tongue. Eventually, the blonde offered a terse nod, and Rip released her.

  “God, you’re such a bully,” Katherine said, intoning as much abhorrence in her voice as possible. “You’re pathetic, picking on Priscilla instead of someone your own size.”

  Rip snorted. “Oh yeah? Are you volunteering, you heifer?”

  Smack.

  The urge to slap him come on so suddenly – so fiercely – that Katherine followed through with the impulse before she had a chance to question its wisdom.

  Still, she couldn’t help but admire the shiny, red imprint of her hand on Rip’s cheek before she took notice of his rage darkened eyes, his black pupils nearly completely overpowering his lighter-colored irises. He bared his canines at her and growled.

  Katherine didn’t get the chance to react before she was abruptly jerked backward by the back of her coat, Zane stepping in front of her and masking her with his larger body.

  Zane’s responding snarl was easily as loud as Rip’s – the man practically roared at him, really, spittle flying into Rip’s face. “I’d back away if I were you,” he suggested, his voice low and vibrating with more than a hint of a growl, “before the head alpha finds out you’ve been growling at his mate – his heavily pregnant mate. Given your shared history, I don’t think it’ll take much more than that to convince him that the town – the world, in fact – would be better off without you.”

  The air between the two wolves remained tense for a solid minute before Rip was apparently finally able to gain control of the animal rippling beneath the surface. “Whatever,” he muttered, taking a jerky step backward, “come on, Priscilla. Let’s go.”

  Priscilla look conflicted for a moment, offering Katherine an odd sort of half-embarrassed, half apologetic look before ultimately trailing off after Rip.

  As soon as they were out of sight, Zane turned towards Katherine and took her by the shoulders. He looked for all the world like he wanted to shake her and was only refraining due to the fact that she had his alpha’s child growing in her belly.

  “What were you thinking?” he demanded incredulously.

  Katherine frowned, taking a step backward out of Zane’s grasp. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “What do I mean?” he repeated dumbly, his incredulity at her apparent naivety obvious enough by his tone. “I mean why in the hell did you think it was a good idea to get in the middle of their spat and provoke that idiot?”

  Katherine’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “Did you not see what Rip did? Did you not hear what he was saying to her?”

  “That’s not your concern,” Zane immediately dismissed. “Regardless of how uncouth Rip’s words and actions were, he has a point. He and Priscilla have claimed each other as mates; it’s a sacred connection that’s looked down upon for others to involve themselves in.”

  Katherine gaped. “Oh, so if Bastian was treating me that way, it’d be okay? You’d just stand aside and let him push me around because we’re mated?”

  Zane looked downright insulted. “Bastian would never do that,” he refuted.

  “That’s not the point!”

  “Do you get my point? You can’t go around thoughtlessly putting yourself in harm’s why like that. Why, when I tell Bastian-”

  Katherine stiffened at the mention of his name. “When you tell Bastian what?” she demanded, cutting Zane off mid-sentence. “That I stood up for a girl getting bullied?”

  “No, that you slapped the six-foot tall, musclebound man who tried to assault you last year clear across the face. Honestly, I thought you were smarter than that. You have to think about more than just yourself now.” He glanced down at her protruding belly.

  Katherine’s face felt so warm that she was nearly positive it was glowing red enough to put Rudolph’s nose to shame. She wanted to point out that she had been thinking about more than herself. She’d been thinking of the girl Rip was pushing around: Priscilla.

  At the same time, Katherine knew that Zane was at least a little right. She hadn’t been thinking of the baby at all when she’d marched up to Rip, and having that fact pointed out to her... well, it stung. Badly.

  Katherine wasn’t sure if she was a second away from crying or slapping Zane across the face, too. Before she could embarrass herself by doing either, she spun on her heel and began walking in the opposite direction of where she and Zane had originally been heading: back to the Prince house.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Zane called, sounding exasperated.

  “Away,” she said shortly, sparing the man a glance over her shoulder, before continuing on.

  He threw his hands in the air. “You can’t just take off by yourself.”

  She heard the sound of his footfalls behind her.

  She spun around to face him. “Away from you and everyone else!” she clarified.

  Zane was quiet for a moment, just staring at her. If Katherine didn’t know better, she would think the typically stoic man seemed repentant over her obvious distress. “We’re only trying to protect you,” he finally said.

  “Yeah, well, what you’re actually doing is stifling me,” she shot back. Katherine knew she wasn’t being very fair. Their instinct demanded that they protect her, after all, and most of the time, their nearness reassured her. Right that very second, however, all Katherine wanted to do was be alone.

  Zane pressed his lips together, look conflicted. “What about the ice?” he asked. “And Rip – the man you just carelessly pissed off? I don’t think Bastian-”

  “Gah! Zane, I don’t care!” She ran an agitated hand through her hair. “Look in your damn psych book. What does it say about never allowing someone a frickin’ moment to themselves?”

  Zane remained stone faced for a long minute before abruptly releasing a put upon sigh. “Fine.”

  “Thank God,” Katherine muttered, wasting no time in once again turning her back to him and striding in the opposite direction. She was a little shocked at his compliance, but mostly just relieved.

  “You have one hour,” Zane called after her retreating back. “If you’re not back home by then, I won’t protect you from the worried search party that will undoubtedly commence.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, throwing up a hand to acknowledge that she’d heard him before continuing on her way.

  Despite the one hour time limit Zane had imposed upon her sudden freedom, Katherine took her time walking back into the heart of town. After all, regardless of what Zane had accused her of, she did care for the little being growing inside of her, and she didn’t want to slip on the ice and fall.

  As she walked, Katherine took the opportunity to clear her mind and just not think. She breathed in the fresh, wintery air and concentrated only on the sound of snow crunching beneath her boots. About ten minutes into her walk, a light snow began to fall, and she gave in to the childish urge to stop and catch a large, wet flake on her tongue.

  It wasn’t until she began meandering around Haven Falls’ marketplace that the idea to visit Melanie occurred to Katherine. She thought of the note that she’d had Penelope deliver to her baby shower. Katherine had known as she’d read it that even if she had wanted to go talk to the girl – clear the air, so to speak – that Bastian – the entire pack, really – would never allow it.

  But for the first time in forever, they weren’t around.

  Katherine bit her bottom lip. This would probably be her only opportun
ity to talk to Melanie in private before the baby was born. Maybe even her only opportunity ever.

  After a moment of indecision, Katherine decided to take it.

  She only had a vague idea of where Melanie lived, but knew it was somewhere on the outskirts of Luther’s property. He was the alpha who’d housed her before her perceived betrayal, after all.

  Luther lived on the opposite side of Haven Falls as Bastian so Katherine was forced to pick up her pace. Still, she was exceedingly careful to keep her balance as she trudged through the snow. She managed to reach Luther’s house in fifteen minutes and after another minute of searching, she spotted a well-worn path that led into the woods behind his house. Figuring that it must lead to where Melanie lived, Katherine started down it.

  She only had to walk a quarter mile or so on the packed snow before she reached it: Melanie’s... habitation, for lack of a better word.

  Katherine stared at the shack-like building she’d stumbled upon. It was small – maybe 300 square feet – and wasn’t much to look at. Despite its singular window and dingy door, however, it was protected from the elements, at least, with solid wooden walls and a steel roof.

  After a moment of indecision, Katherine walked up to the door, and juggling the books she still carried under one arm, hesitantly raised a hand.

  Knock. Knock. “Melanie?”

  Katherine frowned when there was no answer.

  Her gaze wandered down to the door knob, and she was debating whether or not it’d be appropriate to just twist the thing and let herself in when the sensation of being watched rippled down her spine. It wasn’t the same feeling that had overtaken her when she’d felt Rip’s eyes on her less than an hour ago; it was something else entirely. The impending sense of danger buzzed under her skin and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up on end. Katherine took a shaky step back from the door, intent on leaving and practically running back in the direction she’d come.