The future that awaited Aric broke my heart. Whether we were together or not, I wanted him to be happy. “I wish the Elders would have chosen someone more to his liking.”
Koda huffed. “Anara didn’t choose Barbara for Aric. He chose her because she comes from a long line of fertile purebloods. Anara’s focus is to help reestablish the were race at all costs. If he or the other Elders gave a damn what Aric wanted, they’d allow him to be with you. You’re who he wants. And you’re who he needs.”
I closed my lids tight, not wanting to release more tears. My tigress rose to the surface, giving me much needed courage, despite how much she missed Aric’s wolf. “We both know that’s not going to happen.” I walked slowly around Koda and into the house. He mumbled a curse and followed me.
My sisters were taking the food out of the oven and placing it along the black and tan granite counter when we entered the kitchen. Bren and Liam met me with smirks and implicit challenges. It was a game my fellow ravenous beasts and I frequently played at chow time. I smiled despite myself. It was great to be around those I loved and who loved me back. The Catholic schoolgirls weren’t cutting it.
My sisters hurried out of the way. Shayna lifted a dish towel from the safety of the family room. “Get on your mark,” she said. The wolves and I crouched. “Get set.” My tigress flicked her tail in anticipation. “Go!”
The wolves and I raced to the stacked plates, playfully elbowing each other in an effort to be first in line. Never get between beasts and their meals. I made it first, my small frame and quick speed allowing me to slip around the snarling pack of “big bads.”
Bren’s growls were especially loud—after all, there were blueberry-stuffed crepes and sausages at stake. Taran shoved us into the family room as we finished filling our plates and then grabbed a few things for herself. I sat on the cream-colored sofa with Danny and Bren and dug in.
“So, witch fire, huh?” Liam said through a mouthful of bacon.
I sipped my milk, then placed it back on the coffee table. “Apparently. There are no signs of anyone entering Misha’s home—”
“Which means one of the unholy bastards tried to snuff you.”
Gee, Koda was pissed. There was a shocker-roo.
“Misha says the lake has been whispering sweet nothings in his ear again,” I said. “Apparently some dark critter sees me as the end to its existence. Did you happen to pick up on any would-be psycho wearing a ‘Celia Wird Marks My Doom’ button when you reviewed the recordings from the surveillance cameras?”
“Nope. I went back a week—nothing unusual near the Hummer.” Koda’s tumultuous brown eyes cut to me and narrowed. He continued making his eggs Benedict his bitch without much comment. I’d tricked him into admitting he’d hacked into the vamps’ surveillance system. And he hadn’t liked it one bit.
“Aric wants you home,” Gemini said. “Once he hears what the vampire has discovered, he’s not going to be happy.”
Without Aric there, home wasn’t exactly the same, even though my sisters remained and the wolves frequently stayed with them. “As an Alliance member, I’m trying to bring down the Tribe just like the other remaining weres, witches, and masters in the coalition. It’s not any less noble because I happen to fight alongside the vampires.”
“The same dead ass**les who are trying to kill you,” Koda snapped. Shayna cupped his knee with her long slender fingers, instantly calming him.
“You don’t know that.” My gaze swept the room. “And what’s to say I would be any safer here? Our days of flying under the radar and avoiding the supernatural are long gone, peeps.”
Taran placed her half-eaten plate on our heavy wooden end table, between the picture of our parents and foster mother. “But at least then you’d be with your kind and with your family—where you belong, Ceel.” I could taste an inkling of her bitterness. She hadn’t liked it when I informed them I’d be leaving home to work for Misha, but as the months went by, her dislike had turned to resentment and now loathing.
“I’m not moving back. If someone or something is trying to kill me, I want to keep it as far away from you as possible.” I tried taking a bite of my waffle. It was cold and suddenly didn’t taste as sweet. “Misha wouldn’t be investing so much time in me just to off me later.”
“No, but he would to bang you.” Bren didn’t mince words nor did he apologize. He continued to dig into his plate. “Keep your eyes open, kid. Murderous psychos aren’t the only thing you need to worry about in vamp camp.”
“Son of a bitch. Is this shit real?” Taran opened her presents the moment Bren swallowed his last bite of food. She’d gone insane over the car. The shopping spree from all of us had floored her, and you could have heard a pin drop when she pulled the necklace from its velvet case.
Emme shook her head. “Maybe they’re Austrian crystals.”
I played with my hair. “Knowing Misha, they’re real diamonds.” I explained about Agnes and Edith’s naughty ways and how Misha had chosen to punish them. That made everyone else, with the exception of Gemini, more accepting of the gifts. Taran immediately clasped it around her neck. As with everything else, it looked stunning on her.
Shayna shielded her eyes as if blinded by the dazzling necklace. “Holy sparkling rocks, Batman,” she said.
Taran admired her reflection in the hall mirror. “Damn. You can say that again.” Another small velvet box remained. Gemini snatched it off the table and shoved it into his pocket. I noticed, and so did Taran. “Babe, what are you doing?”