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“Probably because you’re his only child.”
I paused. “Seriously? He never moved on.”
“Never, Raven. That man talked about you as much as he could despite your mother’s efforts to keep him—”
I growled. “Keep my mother’s existence out of your mouth.”
“You’re right, my apologies. I’ll get right to it, then. The entire point of my phone call is to let you know that you have to come back to Portland so that we can discuss some things. I’d travel to you, but my schedule is booked clear through the end of the year, and the courts need these documents by the end of the month.”
“Can’t you scan and email them to me? I can print them off and—”
“We need an original signature on these documents, especially with the sensitive information contained within them. It’s best if you meet up with me.”
“I don’t know what it is my father could have in his will that—”
He sighed. “I know this is a lot, Raven.”
“Miss Kennedy is just fine, thank you.”
He paused for a while before he cleared his throat. “Right, Miss Kennedy. I know this is all very confusing, but—”
“It’s really not,” I said as I gained my strength once more. “My father’s dead, and his last attempt to manipulate me into living a life I choose not to live is to get me to come home so that I can see the wolf pack for myself and ascend to some bullshit throne he feels he’s kept warm for me. Am I on the right track?”
“Raven, you really should—”
“Miss Kennedy.”
His sigh was terse. “Miss Kennedy, I cannot discuss the details of what’s in your father’s will unless you’re sitting in front of me. The law binds me that way, not your father. So, may we start discussing times for you to travel to see me in my office? Or do you want to continue to berate a dead man who can’t defend himself any longer?”
I wanted to slash my nails across his fucking face, but instead I cracked my neck. “I have plans this evening, but this weekend is my weekend off from work. I’ll book a flight out early in the morning, we’ll meet around lunch time tomorrow after I can get checked into a hotel somewhere.”
“Wonderful, I’m penciling you in. I’ll shoot you my address via text message. See you around noon?”
“Make it one o’clock.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Kennedy, I can’t—”
I smiled. “See you at one tomorrow!”
I hung up the phone and dismissed the urge to throw it across the fucking room. All I wanted was a bit of peace and quiet; was that too much to fucking ask for? I closed my eyes and shook my head. I leaned my back against the wall and took a few minutes to process everything that had just happened. Then, I unlocked my phone and booked myself a plane ticket for five in the morning.
Before I headed out the door to go indulge in the final product of Donna’s mastery-level cooking skills.
* * *
To say that it felt weird to walk along the streets of Portland was an understatement. I refused to go to Bend unless I absolutely had to, but simply being that close to my hometown brought back memories. I drew in the fresh smell of forest air from the trees that surrounded the city. I walked along the pristine white sidewalks and listened as people chuckled and giggled within the darkened corners of the alleyways. There was an energy in Portland that didn’t exist anywhere else. An energy that no city could replicate, even if it wished to.
And as I stood in front of Elias’s office, I took a second to recalibrate my brain.
While shifters still kept themselves concealed in Portland, they didn’t try nearly as hard as most other cities. In Bend, shifters walked around out in the open all of the time, and some of that idealistic lifestyle dripped through the veins of Portland itself. Most humans that lived within the city limits were not only aware of shifters, but of the magic they possessed. And that usually made things easier on the packs and clans.
And as I closed my eyes, I reached for my wolf within me for the first time since my mother had died.
I feel you there.
I had no idea how the hell my magic worked within me. Mom had raised me as a human ever since she got divorced, and she never once mentioned anything about shifting or how to do it or even what the purpose of it was. So, I never asked questions. I respected her enough to know how painful that part of her life had been on her, so I never indulged that part of myself. I never casted spells, I never experimented with magic, and I sure as hell never shifted.
Even though I felt the tingle of all of that percolating through my veins every second of every goddamn day.
