He’s right, Mate. We need to go.
Without another word, Shyla palmed her Glock and left the room, waiting just outside for us to follow. I stared at Avery for a moment longer, before looking over at Demon.
“I got her,” he said, his eyes on Avery.
I bumped Shyla’s leg with my head, then moved past her, making my way swiftly down the stairs knowing they were all right behind me. It didn’t take long for us to get out the back door and head out into the quiet of the night. The sounds of the party we’d heard in full swing when we first entered the house were gone, replaced by stillness, except for the crackling of the fire. Large cats began to appear from the dark, all different kinds, from leopards to a huge Bengal tiger. They surrounded us, closing us in and keeping the women safe as we moved across the yard and away from the smell of death.
149
Shyla
I glanced over at Avery, my heart going out to the young woman. She was huddled next to the door, tearstains on her face, wrapped tightly in a blanket one of the patch members had given her. She hadn’t said a word since we’d left the farmhouse and started toward Phoenix to take her home. Of course, I hadn’t tried to talk to her, either. I was conflicted, unsure what to say or how to feel. She hadn’t known I existed, either. We looked nothing alike, except for our eyes. Eyes we both got from our mother. And, while I didn’t have anything else of my mother’s features, Avery looked just like her. Black hair, green eyes, small, delicate bones. So petite.
“What kind of shifter is she?” Brady asked quietly from the front seat. I was sitting next to Avery to try and alleviate some of her fears, but I wasn’t sure it was helping. Although, she was sleeping now, so she must trust us somewhat. Unless, she’d just passed out from exhaustion.
“Some kind of bird,” Griff said, his eyes meeting mine through the rearview mirror. “Right?”
I bit my lip, looking over at my sister, before nodding. “She’s a falcon. So are my mom and Del. My birth father was an ocelot.”
“So, she met Del after your mother had you, and he is her fated mate?”
“Yeah.” Staring out the window next to me, I explained, “My mother told me she went through a time where she hated the life she was living. She packed up and took off, not having a clue where she was going. She ended up in Nashville, where she met my father. He wasn’t her mate, and it didn’t last long. Afterwards, she found out she was pregnant. She tried to raise me and stay in the big city, but it was just too much, so she ended up moving back home. She met Del a year or so later.” Sliding a hand through my hair, I sighed. “Everything was wonderful at first. He seemed to love me like a daughter. He even adopted me. He used to show me how to work on cars and he took me hunting with him. Then, everything just changed. It was almost like it was overnight. He started acting funny around me, and I remember my mom crying a lot. There were some heated discussions, but I never listened to them. I loved my parents and was afraid of what I would hear.”
My life had been near perfect before Del kicked me out. I was adored, treated like a princess, loved above anything. Not once had I felt as if anything was wrong. Which was why it had been such a surprise when I found myself out on my ass.
“Dad never said why he made you leave?”
As Avery’s tentative words reached me, I glanced over at her, shaking my head slowly. “No. I showed up after school one day and my bag was packed. He handed it to me and told me not to come back.”
“Mom has this little pink blanket,” Avery whispered. “It looks old, and well used. She sits with it sometimes. Just holds it, looking kind of lost. It has an S on it.”
My breath caught in my throat as I rasped, “It’s mine. She got it for me as a baby. I used to carry it with me everywhere, until I was about seven or eight, I think.”
“I saw Dad with it one night. He was in front of the fireplace on his knees, like he was praying.” Avery reached up to swipe at the tears that were streaming down her face. “He was sobbing. I’d never heard him cry like that before. I never asked about the blanket, because it made them both so sad. I thought maybe they lost a baby or something. I didn’t know.”
Del had cried for me? He was the one who sent me away, why would he shed tears afterwards? Slowly, I reached over and covered one of her hands with mine. “It’s okay. How would you have?”
She was quiet for a moment before she whispered, “You’re really my sister?”
“Yep.”
A slow smile crossed her face as she turned her hand over and clasped mine. “Good.”
I wanted to ask her so many things, but in the end, I just sat there holding her hand until we pulled into our parent’s driveway hours later. The front door opened, and I held my breath when Mom stepped out, Del right behind her. Avery opened the car door and stepped out, crying for her mother and father as she ran to them. I watched for a long moment, before finally crawling across the seat to slam her door shut. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t you want to say anything to them?” Griff asked, reaching a hand out to me.
I did, so badly, but one look into my stepfather’s eyes as he glanced over at us was all I needed to realize he didn’t
