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Chapter Thirteen
Charlie
Charlie adjustedher power suit in the full-length mirror in Kade and Daniel’s bedroom.
Well, it was sort of her bedroom now, too. At least it was where she slept every night. She kept telling herself that her stay there was temporary, and she was going to rent an apartment in town for a while. Moving in with two shifters only days after they’d met was completely insane, after all.
Not that she’d started looking for a place yet.
And, to be honest, everything was going pretty well. They hadn’t complained when she’d had her roommate ship over all her clothes, and they also hadn’t complained when she’d gone grocery shopping and filled their fridge with human food, or when she’d put her foot down and absolutely insisted that they needed a phone line and the internet.
In further miracles, the Cascadia branch of the Fish and Wildlife task force was recruiting, and Charlie had a job interview in two hours.
The suit still looked good on her, she thought, and it was more than thick enough to cover the bandages on her back. By now, it was mostly an annoyance. Her wounds itched and drove her crazy, but the doctor at the hospital had said that Hunter did a perfectly good job sewing her up.
Miracles on miracles, after all.
The only thing left was Olivia, but Charlie was starting to get used to having a pet grizzly bear. Well, Kade’s sister wasn’t exactly a pet — it wasn’t like she played fetch — but she hadn’t shifted back yet. Kade and Charlie weren’t sure that she even could anymore, though Daniel went on long walks with her during bear time.
Truthfully, he probably understood her best, and he still had hope.
Just then, Daniel walked into the room, looked at Charlie, and whistled.
“You look like a hot lawyer,” he said. “I’d take the stand in your defense, if you know what I mean.”
Charlie laughed.
“Thanks,” she said.
The two of them walked into the dining room, where Kade drank his coffee and stared out the window, lost in thought.
“I should go,” Charlie said. She hoisted her new purse onto her shoulder, ignoring the itch underneath her bandages.
“Good luck,” said Daniel.
“Go get ‘em, Tiger,” Kade said.
Charlie laughed.
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Charlie’s heart skipped a beat, her stomach instantly tying itself in knots. No one had knocked on the door since Buck had come by, offering to trade her for Olivia.
No one moved.
The knock sounded again, soft and tentative. The three of them exchanged glances, and then Daniel strode to the door and opened it.
Behind it was a tall naked woman, with ragged light brown hair down to her waist. She stood awkwardly, leaning against the door frame, almost like she wasn’t used to her body.
Everyone stared. No one moved.
Then the woman swallowed, looked at each of them in turn, and licked her lips. She seemed as though she could barely remember how to speak and she was summoning a voice from decades back.
Finally, she spoke.
“Hi,” Olivia said.
The End
