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He’s gone before I can ask what the fuck that means. I thought it was obviously a good thing, but the way he said it makes me wonder if I’m missing something.
“Hey, Sol. Have you been standing out here waiting for me this whole time?” Serena asks the second she opens her door and finds me waiting.
“Ugh,” I say, unsure how to answer. I don’t want to lie to her, but I’m also not trying to suffocate her. Best to go with the truth, I guess. “Yeah, I just wanted to check in on you,” I tell her, making her purse her lips.
“I’m fine,” she says, drawing out the word dramatically and rolling her eyes.
I knew she wouldn’t love the idea of me checking in with her, but oh well, I’ll deal with the attitude. I’m just happy she’s okay and has the energy to be sarcastic after the way our day went.
“I know that, but you can’t blame a guy for checking,” I tell her, holding my hands up in surrender. “Tell me you wouldn’t be checking on any of us if we’d been the one chased through the woods earlier,” I challenge.
She opens her mouth to argue before snapping it shut again with a huff, and I know I got her. Rena can say what she wants about us worrying, but we’re not the only ones. It only feels like that to her because there is one of her and a lot more of us to worry about. Plus, she’s usually the one who needs worrying. She’s clumsy, and even though she’s strong, she’s still prey, which puts a target on her back, one we work hard to protect.
“Next time, just come in instead of standing out in the hall like a creep, huh?” she says, walking past me, and I let her change the subject. I could gloat that I won, and usually I would, but for now, I’ll let her have it.
“Is everyone else ready?” she asks, bouncing down the stairs.
“As ready as they’re gonna be,” I murmur, and although I know she heard me, she ignores me. I hear the guys before we even make it into the kitchen. Their hushed, whispered voices don’t mask the obvious tone of their argument. If I picked up on it, I know Rena did, too. Her hearing is the best in the house. Her bouncing steps quickly turn into a light jog.
Oh, she’s gonna get them.
“Enough.” Her voice bounces around the room as the guys turn to face her from their spots around the table. “This isn’t up for debate. We’re going, that’s it,” she tells them, and while nobody voices their argument, I can see it in their eyes, and I’m sure she can too.
Everyone except Pike, that is. His eyes are sad when he looks at her, and I know he’s still beating himself up for earlier. How could he not be with the way Storm and Lyle have been breathing down his neck about it? As if he wasn’t already upset enough with himself.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with,” Lyle grunts, pushing back from the table.
Pike’s parents’ house isn’t far, maybe fifteen minutes, yet somehow the ride there feels like forever and not long enough at the same time. Everyone’s quiet, but that’s not really strange. None of us love going to his parents. It’s something we do for him and only for him. But I can’t help feeling like tonight’s silence is a little more weighted than usual.
Pulling up, I know that tonight will be more miserable than usual before we even make it in the house. Harlow’s car sits in the driveway, and I’m not the only one who notices. I reach out, grabbing Rena’s hand, and squeeze, but she doesn’t respond. I pull her to a stop, her eyes fixed on Harlow’s car. Harlow’s parents’ car is here, too, but we all know Harlow is a special sore spot for her. She doesn’t care about Pike’s and Harlow’s parents’ opinions about her. She doesn’t care about anyone’s opinion. It’s one of the many things I love about her, but Harlow isn’t just someone with an opinion. She’s someone with an agenda, one that almost cost Rena her life when we were kids.
“Hey, Serena.”
It takes her a second, but eventually, she turns to look at me, and I almost wish she hadn’t. The pain and worry that shine in her eyes is so intense that it steals my breath. Without thinking, I pull her into my arms. She comes willingly, but her arms stay down at her sides as I wrap her up in mine.
“She won’t hurt you again. Nobody will,” I whisper just for her with my lips pressed to the top of her head, and I feel her nod. We stand like that for a moment longer, and I can feel the guys’ eyes on us, but nobody moves. There isn’t much we can do other than show her, something we all intend to do for the rest of our lives.
“Sorry,” she says, taking a step back out of my hold. “I’m being dramatic. Let’s go get this over with.”
I let my arms drop to my sides, watching as she plasters on a fake smile. But she’s not fooling us. Hell, she’s probably not even fooling herself. She’s not being dramatic, not even a little bit, and the urge to argue with her sits heavy on my tongue. One glance at the others, and I can see they feel the same. But she doesn’t give us a chance, turning and heading toward the house, forcing us to follow.
No way we’re letting her go in there alone. It was bad enough when it was just Pike’s family, but this, fuck no. I had a bad feeling about tonight already, and I’ll be damned if I so much as let her out of my sight until we’re back safe at the house.
Damn, my stupid beast.
I feel his growl building in the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. He can be mad all he wants. Right now, I don’t give a shit.
As if needing a pack wasn’t bad enough, he had to go and lose his shit earlier. I’d never felt so out of control when shifted; I never needed to force myself back. Usually, we’re pretty in sync, able to seamlessly exist, even when we disagree on things.
Today was the first time I’d feared what my beast might do. I lied to the guys—to all of them—and said I didn’t know what happened.
But I did.
We’d been getting ready to hunt. Rena, Storm, and Blair had gone to the lower starting point, while Lyle, Sol, and I were more to the east. We’d done this type of thing a million times, and everything was normal.
Until it wasn’t.
Something in the air was different today.
