me a squeeze and I press into it. “It’s a pleasant attack.”
I smile as I tuck my head tightly against him. “My sister really liked the woods and nature.”
“You… have never said anything about a sister,” he says, sounding hesitant.
“I know. I don’t talk about her much. But we had this small batch of trees behind our house that we’d go hide and play in when we were kids. Then as we got older, she said it was the only place to hide from the monster. See, she wasn’t my father’s child. My mother had an affair with a different man, a man that I think my mom actually loved, and they continued that affair for years before my father found out and figured out my sister wasn’t his. There was a period where he despised her, like it was her fault. But I tried to get my sister to understand that he didn’t really like me either. He even had me DNA checked to make sure I was his.”
I sigh and snuggle even closer, soaking up the comfort from Shepherd’s embrace. “Then my father started including my sister in work stuff because he found a use for her and she latched on. She thought that if she did everything my father asked for, life would be better or something. We grew distant at that point because she was obsessed with it. And I knew it was ruining her. I told her as much. I told her she was a monster. But I was pissed. I was so pissed that she would leave me behind with the monster and become a monster herself. That’s when… she stopped doing it or told him no or something. I don’t know. But it wasn’t long after that I found her in her bedroom… she’d shot herself, and I knew it was my fault. My father kept telling me that if I hadn’t intervened, she’d still be alive—”
His arms around me tighten. “You’re blaming yourself for your sister’s death? Killian, you can’t blame yourself for what happened to her! You couldn’t control what happened to her. It’s not your fault.”
“I know. It just felt like it at the time,” I say as he squeezes me to him so tightly that I feel like he’ll protect me from monsters in real life and in my mind. “I don’t feel that way anymore. But thank you.”
He’s silent as he holds on to me and for a while we lie there as the animals and bugs chitter around us.
“I’m sorry I made this dark,” I say. “We were just joking around and then I turned shit dark.” I sit up and look down at him, but before I can, he grabs me and draws me back down.
“You didn’t. I’m happy you feel like you can open up to me. I’m so sorry that happened. But we’re going to rewrite all of that horrible shit that happened in the past and make our lives better, okay?”
I nod. “Deal. And the first step is a leisurely wa—”
“Run home. The last person back has to do dishes,” he says as he pushes me off and starts running. Before he even gets a foot away, I hook his ankle and nearly drag him back to the ground with me as I jump up and take off running.
“Why are you so fucking fast when you try? What were you doing all of the other times?” he says.
“I’m not doing dishes!” I yell back at him.
About halfway there, we both have to stop before we die from running, and after no discussion allowed, I deem myself the winner. Shepherd grudgingly gives it to me as we walk the second half back to our cabin.
“What do you want for supper? I’ll at least make supper,” I say as I head toward the back door.
“I’m up for anything. Where the hell is Bear?” he asks a moment before stopping. I turn to look at what he’s staring at before seeing that his eyes are fixated on our car.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
That’s the moment Bear comes out of the trees with his hackles raised, sniffing the air as Shepherd waves to me.
“Get down!” he yells a moment before I hear a gunshot. I dive behind the hot tub, unsure of where the shot came from.
I pull my gun out but it feels so fucking heavy in my hands. I don’t even know what to do with it. Do I chance shooting someone? Do I just hide?