Moon Child (The Year of the Wolf #2) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,66
welcome. We had to save Daniel, didn’t we? And that’s what happened, didn’t it? He’s still here, in the schoolroom, learning whatever it is young shifters learn—”
“How to multiply?” She smirked at me. “They can shift. They’re not born learning their multiplication tables and what adjectives and nouns are.”
I wafted a hand. “You know what I mean.”
Her smirk faded as she warily asked, “How did you think turning into a wolf would protect him?”
“When I acted, I doubted you’d be weakened. I was borrowing, not stealing. I felt certain the two of us could protect him against anything, and we did, didn’t we?”
“Yes. Except, not with strength.”
I scoffed, “You don’t know that.”
“I do. You could barely walk,” she teased. “Not sure you’d have been ready to defend Daniel’s honor with fang and claw. Anyway, you deflected his attention because he recognized you for what you are, not because you were a silver wolf.”
“What am I to him?” I asked uneasily, not liking the gleam in her eye.
“His mate.”
“His mate?” My nose crinkled. “Hardly.”
“You were. I saw his aura reaching out to you.” She tipped her head to the side. “I saw your aura for the first time yesterday, by the way.”
“You’ve never seen it before?” Now that came as a shock. “In all those years?”
“You know I buried the gift for as long as I could.”
“Some things won’t be buried.”
“No, they won’t,” she agreed. “But never looking someone in the eye goes a long way to helping that.”
“Shifty Sabina,” I taunted, giving her the nickname she’d had wherever we traveled.
“Thanks for the reminder,” she grumbled.
“That’s what sisters are for.”
“Yes, and for being pains in the asses.”
“I take both roles seriously,” was my pious retort.
“I’m sure you do.” She sucked in a breath before she asked, “Lara?” I hummed in the affirmative. “Do you remember the Lindowiczs?”
“Yes. Of course. How could I forget?” I shuddered. “They used to come visit every Thanksgiving and we had to eat with them.”
“You know I was promised to one of them, don’t you?”
“Naturally.” Even though everything about her statement was totally unnatural, the prospect of an arranged marriage to the Lindowiczs had been as normal as night following day in our house.
“Do you know why Father was indebted to them?”
“Because he’d blown everything we had on the Kentucky Derby? I think he used to try to tell us it was some kind of turf war,” I pshawed. “But that was just for street cred, I think. You know he consisted of more pride than hot air, and that’s saying something.
“I’m just glad our trust funds were tied to our being married, otherwise he’d have spent them before we hit ten.” Crap, maybe even eight. Mother’s family had been wealthy, and they’d tied her to father because, as King of the Roma, the leader of our so-called clan, he’d appeared wealthy too.
Thankfully, they’d tied their money up in inheritances for her children or we’d never have seen a cent.
She pulled a face. “I spent mine on medical bills.”
I tipped my head to the side. “You were sick?”
“Yeah. For a long time.” Her smile was tight, the memories of her suffering not having faded yet. “I’m well now, though.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I told her sincerely.
Her smile peeped out. “Me too. It wasn’t fun.”
“I’ll bet.”
“You’ll never guess how I stayed afloat…”
“How?”
“Fortune-telling at a carnival.”
My brows lifted but I had to giggle. “Please tell me you had to wear one of those stupid costumes.”
“Oh, I did. My wardrobe consisted of nothing more than scarves for a while.”
Snickering, I told her, “Well, it’s more traditional than what I’ve been doing… writing SEO articles online.”
Her nose crinkled. “Staid.”
“Well, you know I like things to be boring.” I shrugged. “It barely kept me afloat, but not having to go out made it more than worth it.” Looking around the uncomfortable as hell formal living room, I murmured, “I guess money hasn’t been an issue for you for a long time.”
“No. Not for a while.” Sabina’s brows lowered. “Funny how things change, perceptions with it. I never thought about father using that whole turf war lie as a shield. I thought the money issues and that were tied together.”
“Nah. You forget, I used to be at home more than you. I listened in on most of his conversations.”
She snorted. “I swear, no matter how hard I worked to keep you out of trouble, you always found a way to get back into it.”