“I’m alright at the moment,” she admitted with a grimace. “It helps knowing something is going to be done about this. I was just so shocked at first I could barely handle it.” She leaned more into my shoulder, still looking up at me, her red eyes somber now. “I never imagined it was as bad as it’s turned out to be. Never imagined that…” Her voice trailed off.
She didn’t need to finish her statement though. I knew what she was implying – never imagined that my ex-wife would be a part of this, or that she originally had such heinous plans for my first daughter.
We both looked up when Lexi stepped back into the house, closing the door behind her, and then joined us in the living room, her expression sympathetic. She took a seat on the edge of the couch next to Freya, sitting a foot away while angling toward us.
I cleared my throat, feeling another rush of aggression, still speaking to Freya. “So how do you feel about taking this approach? Like, obviously she’ll get put in prison, but she might get a lax sentence if she helps them take down the rest of the organization.”
Another rush of aggression.
Freya sighed, removing her arm from my shoulders and leaning forward to pull my other arm around her so she could lean more heavily into me. “I’m upset, but it feels muted.” She glanced down at Winter. “I suppose I have you to thank for that. For helping me think straight. Because as much as I want to kill her, I know it would do more harm than good right now. We need the entire thing to be dismantled, not just one person.”
Another rush of aggression.
Winter met her gaze but didn’t respond.
I finally looked down at Winter questioningly. “Are you alright?” I wondered, causing Freya to give me a confused look, before focusing on her too.
Winter looked up at me, but didn’t say anything for a moment. Her pale green eyes were hesitant. She then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I almost killed her, Sam.”
Freya and I were both shocked.
“Wait, really?” I asked in disbelief. “Why? Because Freya was angry?”
She grimaced, looking down at Freya’s chest, just because it was like right there. “When I saw in Freya’s head who that woman was to you, when I realized she’d betrayed you in the worst way possible…” Her grip tightened around me, becoming uncomfortable. “It’s unforgivable. Betraying my alpha is unforgivable.”
Holy shit.
“Oh,” I replied simply, surprised by her intensity. I recalled her mentioning she had an issue with owning stuff, but didn’t think it applied to people. Yet that’s exactly what her tone just implied.
“Yes,” she said, only to look up at Freya. “Someone bringing harm to my alpha, my pride, is unforgivable.”
Freya reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder. “Thank you, by the way, for letting me bite you earlier. It scares Lily when it looks like I’m out of control like that, but I had to get blood from somewhere.”
Winter nodded. “I know. You’re welcome.”
I glanced at Lexi, her giving me a weak sympathetic smile, before speaking to Winter again. “Well, despite everything, at least part of me is glad you didn’t kill her.” Silently I considered that the other part of me wouldn’t have been too upset – not at all – although I knew it was better for her to be alive so they could track down the whole organization and bring the rest of those bastards to justice.
Winter didn’t respond, another burst of aggression hitting me even though she seemed impassive.
I cleared my throat again. “So then, is the aggression I’m feeling coming from you?”
“Yes.” She paused. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m not upset. It’s just, I mean, is it normal for me to be able to feel that coming from you?”
She shook her head, nuzzling her face against me for a moment while sucking in a deep breath through her nose, before turning to her original position. “No. That’s not part of my power. Your thought earlier was correct. You are feeling my emotions, but I’m not causing it. I can only assume it’s coming from you. A part of your own ability, possibly interacting uniquely with mine.”
I leaned my head back against the wall, slightly annoyed now, because it was just another mystery. Although, I had to admit this wasn’t the first time I’d felt little pangs of emotions that didn’t seem to fit with my overall mood.
Lexi finally spoke up. “Huh, you know Sam, you felt kind of angry for no apparent reason when we were leaving to pick up my sister. I wonder if Heidi was angry then, or if maybe someone in the house was upset around that time.”
I thought back to then, about being angry when I tried to think about her just as we were pulling out of the garage.
Unexpectedly, I imagined that guy’s face again, except I saw him pecking Heidi on the cheek. The sudden anger it prompted was so abrupt that Winter jerked up to focus on me in concern, and I could actually feel the sensation become muted as she used her ability on me.
She then looked at Lexi, who was looking back and forth between us in confusion. “I know it’s a sensitive subject, but can you ask your sister if that guy kissed her?”
Lexi’s eyes widened in surprise, before she nodded and ran upstairs to do just that. I focused on my second-sight as she slowly opened Rose’s cracked door, prompting both women inside to look up at her. Lily was holding Eden now, still sitting next to Rose’s sleeping form on the bed.
In the meantime, Winter was focused up at the ceiling as I assumed she listened to their thoughts.
Lexi gave Heidi an apologetic look. “Sorry, sis, but I have a question that’ll probably be upsetting. But it’s for Sam. We’re trying to figure out something about his superpower.”
Heidi looked at her in
