by Lyla Oweds
But then Gregory had to interject, “Well, you’re a youngest child stereotype!” His voice was rushed and tone petulant. “Just thought you ought to know.”
I rolled my eyes, and even though they couldn’t see it, the action was still satisfying.
“And you’re about three minutes too slow.” I didn’t even look back. “You best take your effort and apply it to some self-reflection.” I continued toward the bus stop, putting distance between us as I called out my goodbyes. “Farewell, comrades. Perhaps Monday you will have grown into worthy men.”
Michael laughed again. Even though I was farther, it didn’t take any reliance on my sensitive hearing to pick up on his next words. “And that’s why I love that woman.”
Chapter Eight
It was dusk by the time I got back home, but the lights were on in my parents’ house. Their two-story home seamlessly blended with the other red-shuttered dwellings and manicured gardens within our pack development. Every house, picture perfect. Every lawn, magazine ready.
Everyone on the block, waiting for the Alpha to command their next movement.
It was a sophisticated lie, carefully cultivated by leadership.
But that was the least of my concerns. How Alpha MacClure strove for perfection was the problem of those who ranked. He had a vision for the future, which I understood. I was grateful he had ignored me for this long.
However, while I was one step closer to Grace, it still felt as though I was wasting time.
Today had been Friday. Which meant I would have two days of uselessness before I’d be allowed back into the offices again. Two days wouldn’t hurt, I supposed. As it was, I had no idea where to begin in order to access our older casework.
But I knew who would. The only problem was, how would I convince Gregory and Michael to allow me to do my own research?
I’d been waiting eighteen years at this point. My sister would surely be okay to wait another few months.
I could do this. I could bring Edward Cole down. Even though he might have been a highly ranked judge, the man had kidnapped my sister. She was still his prisoner. I only needed to find his weakness. Any time where he might have gotten lazy in the past.
If I could find that and expose him for the scum that he was, Grace would be free.
But first, it was time to deal with our trespasser. Because while the lights were on, I knew my parents wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.
“Hello,” I called out as I closed the door behind me and entered the foyer. Nobody answered me, even as a familiar presence moved in the adjoining room.
He had been hoping to escape without confrontation. He was most likely here to mooch off our parents again.
Every time, he seemed to forget that he’d never been able to hide from me.
“William, don’t bother. I can smell you.” After grabbing the small stack of mail from the entryway table, I stepped into the living room.
My older brother was halfway across the room, making headway into the kitchen, before I called him out. By the time I’d crossed my arms and braced my hip against the doorway, he’d turned to face me.
“Gloria!” William tucked the tail of his shirt back into his pants. More evidence that he’d been lazing about, making himself right at home. “What are you doing home so early?”
“Early?” I raised my eyebrow, glancing at the grandfather clock across the room. “It’s seven at night.”
A salty taste hung in the air, tickling my tongue. Making me hungry.
“Were you eating my crisps again?” I asked, glancing at the television. There were greasy fingerprints on the dials. “And watching Mom and Dad’s TV? You’re not supposed to eat in here. Why aren’t you home?”
“Gloria,” he whined, falling into step behind me as I moved past him toward the kitchen. I’d kicked my pumps off at the door and walked softly over the laminate flooring.
It was a little annoying, because from the state of the kitchen he’d not even attempted to make dinner. If he planned on staying and being a bother, the least he could have done would have been to make dinner. “Real nice, Will.”
I frowned at the clean countertops. He was a passable cook. In fact, when we were children, he’d done a decent job of making sure I was fed while our parents were busy.
William was six years older than me. And Grace was eleven when I was born. I was five when Grace disappeared, and by that point, William had taken on many of the parenting duties.
He’d raised me as my parents were pulled into investigations, reports, and searches. He’d cooked, cleaned, and made sure I had everything my five-year-old self needed.
But as we’d grown, it became obvious to the both of us that I outranked him. He wasn’t Omega—that role had fallen to Grace—but he wasn’t far ahead.
So to this day, even though he was my older brother, I felt protective of him. He needed guidance and a firm hand to guide his easily-influenced thoughts.
“Steph kicked me out.” William ignored my glare, sighing. I grabbed the white ruffled apron off the counter, tied it on, and began to roll up my sleeves. As he watched me, he leaned over the counter, whining under his breath. “And I had nowhere else to go.”
“Well, you can’t stay here. Your bedroom is now my office,” I pointed out, setting out the ingredients for spaghetti. “Why did she kick you out this time?”
It wasn’t until everything had been laid out, and the water was on, that William nudged me. He tugged the knife out of my hand and pushed his way in front of the cutting board and onion. He worked silently for a moment before he finally responded.
“She saw me talking to Cass today.” William’s gaze was trained on his hands. His movements had slowed as he spoke.
“William!” I chided, elbowing him in the side. “How could you?”
His shoulders slumped as he glanced at me from the corner of his eyes, the edge of his glasses reflecting the light. “It was nothing.” His voice was low. His expression was soft, and his reddish hair was in disarray. As if he’d spent the time before I’d gotten home in anguish.
He looked boyish and innocent. And he sounded so sincere, that I wanted to believe him. But…
He knew better.
We all knew.
Mother, Father, William and I… We’d talked about this before. His actions had been one of a few things that made us the laughing stock of the pack. He knew better than to talk to Cassandra Getty.
William was sixteen when he first met her. Cassandra was a shifter who’d recently transferred into his class. Despite being told otherwise, they started seeing each other. It was a disaster in the making, because William and Cassandra both knew full-well that she wasn’t his mate.
The mate-bond happened after you reached your sixteenth birthday. But as we knew, some people might not ever find their mate. I was an example of that, so I couldn’t speak from experience how it felt.
How you’d know ‘the one’ was difficult to explain.
Some mated couples claimed that when you saw that one, you’d just know. They said that within a heartbeat, the center of your universe shifted. At that time, your every thought turned to ‘us’ while you abandoned yourself.
And so, inevitably, that also happened to William.
He’d been warned to not get too close, they weren’t mates. It would only end badly. But he claimed to feel a connection with her, and she with him. So they ignored decorum and the warnings of both sets of parents and continued to date anyway.
Then my brother met Stephanie, Cassandra’s best friend.
It was always a celebration when a mated couple first met. And so it was when Stephanie and William confirmed their bond. Except, in this instance, there’d been three people who didn’t join the festivities. Three people who’d been less than happy about the news. William, Cassandra, and Stephanie.
Mate bonds were only meant to be shared between two people. It was a biological fact. Relationships were only shared between two. That much had been drille
d into all of our minds since childhood. I wasn’t sure if this was true or not, considering my own past. But the more passive of us—like William—normally would not question tradition.
Yet William—in an act of defiance unlike himself—fought against tradition.
I’d accidentally overheard the conversation. Once again, I’d been somewhere I shouldn’t have been. During a time I wasn’t meant to be there.
And meeting alone in the dark, hidden away behind the high school where they’d met, they were there. They’d abandoned their own celebrations—and their own senior prom—to discuss William’s ludicrous idea. He’d been so confident, been so sure that everyone would be happy.
But it didn’t work.
Stephanie was open to the idea of sharing, but not brave enough to disappoint her family. And Cassandra, a mild person by nature, was afraid to overstep. In the end, William had been unable to step up for something that he obviously believed in.
And now, years later, they continued to suffer.
Cassandra had never found a mate. Stephanie felt sorry for her friend but was terrified of spreading rumors. In her paranoia, she’d forbidden William from speaking to his ex. Especially after they had my nephew. She grew anxious and bitter, upset at the thought of being seen as less than the perfect family.
I still saw Cassandra around town every once in a while. She’d always been so nice, and now always looked so alone. And William, he felt guilty…
But he was wrong. In his quest to try to make everyone happy, he’d ruined three lives. If he hadn’t dated Cassandra to begin with, none of this would have happened.
“You can’t talk to her,” I whispered, glancing at him. “It’s never nothing between the two of you.”
“I can’t help how I feel,” he argued, cutting into the onion too aggressively to be unintentional. “I care for them both. Still. I always have.”
“You’re wrong.” My eyes watered as the onion’s vapors rose. “You’re too nice. That’s all you feel. They say it’s biology. Your mate is Stephanie.”
“What do you know about it?” William said roughly. “You always wanted to be alone forever, and now you’re going to be. You’re too good to run with the pack, with your family. Hell, you won’t even shift with us anymore. You’ve never been interested in fitting in or finding a mate of your own. So don’t lecture me on how to feel.”
At his statement, my heart skipped, hurt rushing through me. And William, he glanced up an instant after he’d said it, regret lining the tired lines around his silver eyes. “I’m sorry, Gloria. I didn’t mean it like that.” He put the knife down on the counter. “I just wish you—”
But I stepped back, out of his reach. “If it means giving up on my dreams, I would rather not have a mate.”
“Gloria.” William frowned. “I know that you’ve finally started work. But you’re setting yourself up for—”
“I’m fine,” I interrupted, sliding the large mixing bowl toward him. “I have a goal, and I’m not giving that up.”
“What are you working so hard for? What are you trying to prove?” William continued to watch me, and when I didn’t respond, he sighed. “Never mind, you stubborn idiot. But one day, you’re not going to be able to hide it anymore. Alpha MacClure was asking about you today.” His voice was nonchalant as he began to work on slicing the celery next. “I’m breaking protocol by telling you this… but he’s recently expressed interest in your relationship status.”
“What?” My breathing hitched. Him asking around about me now was too much of a coincidence.
First, there what Joe had said earlier in the week—that my own Alpha had set me up for failure. Then, today, with Gregory’s casual observance of some of my deepest secrets. No one, except maybe William, even suspected that within our pack I’d rank.
And I had deliberately made it that way. If anyone in the pack knew I couldn’t shift anymore…
I couldn’t hold back my shudder, and the room grew cold around me.
My plan was falling to pieces around me. I’d hoped that by establishing a position at a district office, I’d be closer to Grace. However, it was quickly becoming a nightmare. These politics threatened to destroy the image I’d carefully crafted all these years.
But I didn’t understand. Why would Alpha MacClure ask about my relationship status? Why did it seem as though he had it out to get me now?
Blake MacClure was no one to me on a personal level. I barely knew him. Even though he had been in my brother’s class, and he’d made my brother the pack accountant, the two of us hadn’t been close.
“I’m not sure.” William fished out the softened noodles from the boiling water. “But if it’s anyone’s attention that you’re seeking to avoid, you might want to keep a low profile for a while. Normally, no one cares what you do, but Blake has been acting strange.”
A low profile…
It was too late to avoid it anymore. In fact, if Alpha MacClure knew what I was working on, I was certain that he’d not be happy. But it wasn’t like he’d ever find out; he had no involvement in this case.
Hopefully.
“Sure.” I swallowed, trying to ignore the growing darkness that threatened to consume me.
The sounds of footsteps pulled William’s attention from our game.
He was a difficult person to best. But even though he’d made a mistake due to his sudden nervousness at our parents’ approach, I wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
“Rummy,” I said, grinning.
His gaze returned to the pile between us. I’d already made my move. Of course, it wouldn’t help me win, but it was worth it to see the disappointed expression on his face.
“Gloria!” He frowned at the eight of spades that was now in front of my knee. “You know that was an accident. I want a do-over.”
“No do-overs.” I picked from the face-down pile. “That’s for sore losers. You’ll just have to do better next time.”
He pushed his glasses up his nose with his pointer finger as he tossed me one of his snottier looks. “I’m older, I make the rules. Besides, you’re the one who’s losing. Badly.”
“You don’t make the rules.” I barked out a laugh. “I’m a better fighter.”
William frowned at me before he set his cards to the side. “You think so? You do know that shikigami will drag lying little shifter girls to hell in order to devour their souls?”
“I’m not lying, nor am I a little girl.” I called him out on his empty threat. I studied him curiously, and my heart beat faster in anticipation. Was this a challenge? It had been so long since I’d seen his fun side. “What are you going to do about it?” I asked, laying my own cards aside.
He wouldn’t shift, he never did anymore when we played. We’d gotten into a fight on my seventh birthday and he’d shifted. I’d been so scared that I cried, unable to explain to my brother why I was afraid. He hadn’t challenged me in that way since.
But that wouldn’t stop him entirely.
My lips curled as, sure enough, he moved from his cross-legged position on the floor, aiming to tackle me.
By the time our parents had stepped into the room, the conversation died on their lips. My brother and I rolled on the carpet—our card game destroyed—as he tried to get me into a neck hold. A geek he might have been, but when it came to playing dirty, he was the best.
“What in the world is going on here?” Father’s bass voice boomed across the room as he furrowed his blond brows.
William slammed onto my stomach. And my cheek was pressed against the floor as he sat on my back. It took some maneuvering, but I was finally able to push myself onto my forearms and meet my father’s eyes. “He’s trying to murder me.”
“I am not!” William gasped. “You started it.”
“No.” I squirmed, trying to escape. “You started it…”
“How—” he interrupted.
“He’s being a sore loser,” I finished, not missing the bemused glances my parents t
hrew in our direction. “Guess what, I beat him in rummy.”
“You did not beat me!” William protested. “I only missed one card! I’m like two hundred points ahead of you.”
“Are you really?” I asked, noting the cards spread across the room. “Is that why you messed up the room? So no one could bear witness to your loss?”
“I did not lose!” William pressed his hand on the back of my head, squishing my face into the floor. “You’re a liar!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” My voice was muffled against the carpeting, but I still pushed against the floor, trying to get him off my back.
“Children!” my father scolded. His voice spread through the room like darkness. “Both of you are over twenty. You should have outgrown this childish behavior. You’re too old to be wrestling on the floor in your pajamas.”
“What then… should we be fighting in our work clothes?” William muttered.
“You shouldn’t be fighting at all!” Mother scolded even as I noted how conveniently William was resting his hand near my face. Without a second thought, I pinched him on the arm—hard.
He cursed, jerking his arm back as my mother continued. “And Will, what are you doing here?”
William tensed over me, a low sound in this throat. So I answered for him. “He was talking to Cassandra today. He doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“Gloria!” He smacked the back of my head.
My parents, they didn’t respond. The following silence was enough to deafen the room. William shifted, moving to the floor beside me, and I pressed my upper body off the floor, glancing at my parents.
They were looking at each other. My father’s expression serious, while my mother was frowning. There was something strange about their postures, the glances. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I was young when things happened between William, Stephanie, and Cassandra. So outside of my father’s displeasure and my mother’s grief, I’d never known any other of their thoughts. I only knew that the relationship my brother suggested couldn’t happen.
