“You let her leave?” Jarren all but yelled at me, “What about the laws? The security of the pack is at risk if she tells anyone.” I stood slowly and glared at the angry male in front of me. He didn’t back down at once, instead his lips curled back to reveal his teeth. Good, I could kick his ass and clear my head. I could feel my smile, but it felt off, angry, wrong. Sadly, Jarren noticed it too, and he ducked his head in deference.
“She won’t talk to anyone,” I growled, stubbornly sticking by the woman who had just walked away from me when she learned the truth about me. “She may not accept us, but she won’t put us at risk.” A sob from Tegan softened my heart a little. I glanced at her, but her face was buried in her hands. Wyatt appeared suddenly, looking terrified of her emotions, but he pulled her into his arms. If my heart hadn’t been broken, I might have chuckled at his bewildered face while my sister clung to him, soaking his shirt with tears. Jarren was pacing the office and I needed to do something to calm the pack.
“We’ll go talk to her,” I decided. I couldn’t be sure it would help her accept werewolves in her life, but I could at least ensure the pack’s safety. Jarren relaxed just slightly and headed out the door. Tegan’s red rimmed eyes found mine and they were so full of hope. “I can’t promise you anything, Tegan, but I’ll try.”
Chapter Thirteen
Zee
A werewolf. I tried to wrap my head around the concept as I drove faster than the speed limit to get back to my apartment. I couldn’t stop thinking of how sad his brown eyes had looked when he nodded that I could leave. I felt a little heartbroken at the idea of not seeing him anymore, but I wasn’t made to deal with this kind of thing. Monsters weren’t supposed to be real. My boyfriend was supposed to just be a regular human being, not suddenly grow fur and howl at the moon.
I pulled into my parking spot quickly and dashed up the stairs to hide in my apartment until things made sense again. I was spending way too much time running and hiding lately. Who cared that I had just learned that the world was a little more diverse? It was time to suck it up and get back to the girl I was before I let Alex in my life.
When I walked in the apartment Delilah glanced up briefly from her computer. Her headphones were on and I could hear the music blasting all the way to the front door. It was amazing that her eardrums didn’t explode. She must have been writing a paper. She tended to listen to her music as loud as possible while she wrote. She claimed it helped block out the world around her. I was under the impression that it just helped her dance like a fool while she was typing. Even then she had started bobbing her head back and forth with so much enthusiasm that her whole body moved. It was a wonder that she could even type wiggling around like that. The sight brought a much-needed smile to my face.
Leaving my sister to dance her way through her homework, I decided to clean. Normally I wouldn’t clean randomly in the middle of the day. I did enough cleaning at both of my jobs. I was much more a clean the whole apartment once a week and then fuss if Delilah didn’t keep her messes contained kind of person. When my mind was racing though, cleaning helped it to stop. I pulled cleaners out from under the sink, making a mental list of what I would need when I went grocery shopping with Tegan. The thought of Tegan caused a pain, not quite as bad as the one I associated with Alex, to lance through my heart.
A sharp knock at the door made me jump. I calmed my erratic heartbeat as I sat down the bottle of glass cleaner and went to open the door. I assumed it would just be the jerk from downstairs. He loved to come and complain. Someone was walking too loudly, we parked to close to the line, his mailbox was empty, and he knew someone had taken his mail. I yanked the door open without checking if it was the neighbor, all ready to rip him a new one, and instead I took a huge step back in shock.
“Zee, can we come in?” Alex at least looked chagrined as he stood there. Jarren just looked angry. If looks could kill, that man’s hate would have burned me on the spot. Thank goodness he was just a werewolf and not a laser blasting mutant. What the hell could they want? I had already been given more information that I knew what to do with. Delilah cleared her throat behind me, and I jumped. I had completely forgotten my dancing little sister. I turned to find her standing up, looking at the two men with surprise and a bit of admiration. Yeah, join the club little sister, they were awfully nice to look at.
“Delilah, this is Alex,” I nodded to him and he gave her a trademark grin, his dimples making an appearance. I’m pretty sure I heard Delilah sigh. “This is Alex’s friend, Jarren.” He didn’t even acknowledge that I’d spoken.
“It’s nice to meet you Delilah,” Alex sounded genuinely pleased, “Zee told me so much about you. It’s great to put a face to a name.” He really was smooth. Delilah blushed and ducked her head and I wanted to
