Seven Years

“It’s my house,” I argued. “If I want to prance around in my underwear, I will.”

Maizy giggled and when she started humming the kissing in a tree song, I lifted her off the counter. “Go watch cartoons, sweetie.”

She jogged into the living room clutching a little stuffed dog I kept around for her. Maizy also had her own drawer of clothes for her visits, although Auntie Naya had a whole wardrobe for that child. Naya treated her like a girly girl and Maizy adored her. The last time they went swimming, Naya bought her a pair of pink sunglasses shaped like two hearts. Maizy wore them for two weeks until they finally broke when she fell asleep with them on.

Austin scooped up the pancake and put it onto a plate. “You want me to make you one?”

I cracked a smile. “You want to cook me breakfast?”

While wearing no shirt and doing his infamous lean against the wall, holding a spatula in his right hand. He had great arms. Cords of muscle that roped around, but not the kind my meathead ex had with the bulging veins. Austin was built like a man should be, all the way down to the V-cut that peeked out of his jeans, which were slung low on his waist.

Damn, that lean.

I grabbed the pitcher of batter and made an attempt to do something creative in the pan.

Austin came up behind me and peered over my shoulder. He took my hand and guided the drizzle that shaped into a snake. Then I realized he was trying to do his own rendition of my version of a dragon.

“Cut it out,” I said with a soft laugh. He used a knife to shape the legs. His left hand slid around to my stomach as his chin rested on my right shoulder. Then his breath grew heavy and he suddenly stepped back.

Austin tossed the knife into the sink and raked his hands through his hair. “You’re right,” he said. “You can’t stay at my house. Not right now.”

I turned off the burner and moved the pan. “I’m glad we see eye to eye. What’s really bothering me this morning is what Lorenzo said. I don’t know anything about pack rules, but why would his uncle have murdered his wife?” Then I thought about it. “My mom.”

Austin had a pensive stare that made me uneasy. “The greatest shame on an alpha is for his woman to go to another man’s bed. Having his baby? Even worse.”

“Divorce?”

“It’s not the same with us as it is humans. When we choose a mate, we mate for life. Some alphas have more than one mate, and that’s their prerogative, but loyalty is expected on both ends.”

“He’s hardly loyal if he has more than one wife.”

“If it’s consensual, it’s loyalty. If he strays outside of his females, it’s infidelity. His pack won’t respect him if his woman doesn’t.”

“That’s really scary, Austin.”

“It goes on in the human world,” he said indifferently. “It’s not commonplace, but I see his motive. Had it been proved, he would have been put to death. That would have shamed his entire pack, so maybe that’s why they covered for him and kept it a secret.”

I stared at his abs and began daydreaming about how close Lorenzo was to having his way with me. My mind drifted back to what the Mage said about Wes. Austin had taken care of the killer years ago, but not the man who put a hit on him. And if my father stole diamonds, why did he come back? My head was swimming.

“Did you hear me?”

“Huh?” I glanced up at Austin’s messy bedhead as he was raking his fingers through it. He yawned and casually leaned against the sink.

“I was just asking if I could take you to The Pit for dinner. It’s been a while since I’ve gone there and I’d like to take your mind off all this. You got nothing to worry about with your mom; I trust Ivan will keep to his end of the deal. We can talk about old times.”

Then I got nostalgic. Me tagging along with Wes, Austin, and two more of their friends one Friday night at The Pit. I felt like I was part of the cool crowd. Wes had this thing about keeping his cigarettes under his shirtsleeve and when we sat at the table, I snatched the box and pulled out a cigarette. It broke when Wes grabbed it from my hand. His friend Randy complained, “What are you, her dad? Let her have it. She’s a big girl.”

So Wes let me have my first cigarette. He admitted later on he wanted me to get sick smoking it so I’d never pick another one up again, which is why he kept telling me to take another long puff. It worked. Fifteen minutes later, I ran outside and threw up by a newspaper stand. Then I started to cry. I was only fourteen at the time, but I felt humiliated in front of his friends.

I crouched down on the curb, hugging the yellow stand and crying relentless tears. I was too embarrassed to go back inside and I had no other way home. All I could think about was hearing them laugh as I bolted from the table, and it burned me because for a split second, I thought they had accepted me. Stuff like that’s a big deal when you’re a teenager—it’s your whole world.

There was one person who didn’t laugh.

I’d made it two blocks when Austin pulled up in his Camaro. He helped me inside the car without saying a word and drove me home. I’d always assumed Wes had sent him after me, but now I wasn’t so sure. In retrospect, there were a number of memories I had of Austin looking out for me, I just never thought of it that way at the time.

“Well?” Austin asked, setting the spatula on the counter and wiping up a splatter of pancake mix. “Unless you’d rather go somewhere else.”

“I need to find out if Naya can watch Maizy for a few hours.”

“Bring her,” he suggested. “If they still have crayons at the table, she’ll have something to do.”

“No, I’d rather her stay with Naya. I won’t be able to talk to you about certain things with her there. She’s been asking where her mommy is and I don’t have an answer. I just don’t know what to say.”

Maizy suddenly ran into the kitchen half-dressed with her blond hair in wavy tangles. Her pea-green summer dress was open in the back due to a stubborn zipper.

“Lexi, can you fix me?”

“Sure, sweetie. Turn around.”

“Can we go to the pool?” she asked hopefully.

“No, not today. You don’t have a bathing suit.”

I knelt down and straightened out the fabric. “What time did you want to go out?”

“Where are we going?” Maizy asked.

“Not you. You’re going to stay with Auntie Naya tonight while me and um…” I started thinking about all these aunts and uncles and how confusing that was going to be for her. “Mr. Cole and I are going to go out and talk about grown-up things.”

The zipper got stuck and I tugged it a few times, but a stubborn thread was wrapped around it.

“Here, let me try,” Austin said. He knelt down and as he grabbed the zipper, he froze.

“I like Auntie Naya,” Maizy went on. “She’s pretty, and so is Misha even though she hides from me.”

“What’s wrong, Austin?”

He was staring at her back. “What’s this?” he asked in a whisper, pointing to a mark on her shoulder blade.

“It’s a birthmark, silly.”

He leaned in and looked closer, rubbing the pad of his thumb over it. “I’ve seen that pattern before. That’s no birthmark.” Austin yanked up the zipper and Maizy took off.

“What was that about?”

Austin stood up and covered his mouth. His eyes were sharp and wide.

I shoved his chest, coaxing him to talk.

“I met an old woman when I was up in Wyoming. She was one of the ancients—a Chitah.”

“What the hell is a Chitah?”

“It’s not just Shifters out there, Lexi. Chitahs live much longer than we do and while they don’t shift, they have an animal spirit within them. The woman had the same exact mark on her wrist.”

“So?”

“Some are born into the Breed, but not everyone. Humans can be transformed into a Mage or a Vampire if