“Or the bond was pulling on her and she finally gave in,” Jeremy says, his eyes shunning with hope.
“But she’s mad, right? So be prepared for that,” I remind everyone. This isn’t about to be the sweet reunion we all want it to be. It’s probably going to go horribly but hopefully we can get her the information she needs to make this better.
A hard knock at our door startles all of us, even though we are expecting her. We all freeze and turn toward the door, almost in slow motion.
I’m the first to break free and I realize I have a chance to set the mood of this visit for the better.
I open the door and before she can get a word out I wrap her up in a big hug, lifting her feet off the ground and spinning her around, “Aly! You’re here, we’ve missed you so much!”
I set her down and she looks so thrown by my display. Mission achieved, because it clearly melted some of her anger.
Nine
Aly
Kiran is grinning at me like I just came by to hang out and nothing could possibly be wrong. His smile is so big it almost tempts me to smile back, almost.
I turn away from him since it’s harder to stay mad when he looks at me like that, plus, it’s not him I’m upset with.
I scan the room until my gaze stops on the object of my anger, Jeremy. He’s just standing there, staring at me. He has no emotion on his face and he doesn’t acknowledge me or how angry I am.
I march right up to him and jab a finger in his chest.
“You!” I shout.
“Me?” He responds, evenly and a little mocking.
“What the hell is this?!” I ask, lifting my shirt up to show the pentagram on my ribs. I swear I see him smile for a second but then he’s back to stone faced.
“Are you happy about this?” I ask in response to the millisecond of a smile I saw.
He smiles a little bigger, “ya I am, it looks excellent there.”
“Why the hell is it there?” I ask.
“Well that’s what we’ve been trying to get a hold of you to talk about. Are you finally ready to talk or are you going to keep pouting?” He responds.
I think I can feel steam shooting out of my ears, I’m so mad. How can he mock me right now? Hasn’t he hurt me enough?
It’s like he feels that momentary pang of hurt because his eyes show sympathy before switching back to empty.
I turn away from him, because he clearly isn’t going to tell me and land on Nic.
“What is going on Nic?” I ask.
He steps forward and grabs my hand to start pulling me to the living room couch. I let him, because I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stop him if I tried.
“We have a lot to tell you, then you and Jeremy need to talk, really talk,” he says pointedly to Jeremy, who actually appears a little sheepish at the chastising.
“Fine, start with the info and we can go from there,” I agree.
Nic stares at Jeremy but when he doesn’t say anything he brings his attention back to me.
“That,” he points to the spot where the new tattoo is, even though it’s back under my shirt, “is your mating mark from Jeremy.”
“I’m marked?!” I say outraged. It feels like I’ve been branded like cattle.
“Calm down, it’s not like that, he has one too and it’s a manifestation of your bond and the connection you share. It’s a show of trust because that mark means a lot to Jeremy,” Nic says with a pointed look and I calm down some at that explanation. And I’m a little intrigued. What is my mark like? Why is that symbol important to him?
