Page 36 of Fated to the Alpha

Kimberly steadied herself, wiped her brows, and opened the door.

Instead of wearing her daycare center uniform, Kaelyn was dressed in a pair of sweats and a beige, short-sleeved shirt. Her hair was up in a messy bun, but her lashes were still coated in mascara, suggesting she had fully wound down from a day of work.

Kaelyn took in Kimberly’s outfit and then her new hair as her stare trailed upwards. “Oh … wow.”

That was the general reaction she received from just about everyone since Saturday afternoon.

“Yeah.” Her tone was one bad impulse away from nasty, so Kimberly took a breath before replying with her generic excuse. “Just felt like a change. It’ll grow back, but I like it.” She punctuated with a forced smile.

Kaelyn blinked, clearly still thrown by her hair. “Your hair looks like Shirley MacLaine’s in The Apartment.”

“What?”

Kaelyn shook her head. “Never mind. I’m making some cookies for the kids at the daycare and I’m a little low on sugar. Can I borrow some from you?”

“Sure. How much?”

“Three cups if you’ve got it.”

“I think I do. Wait here.” Kimberly wanted to shut the door in the shifter’s face but kept up the politeness game and left it open.

Kaelyn would get a full view of the inside of her apartment. Given their history, she should have considered herself privileged, but Kimberly hoped it’d inspire guilt. This was where it all happened, where Kaelyn let it happen.

Kimberly pulled out a container and measured out three cups of sugar. When she turned, Kaelyn was inside her apartment, by her counter, and gazing around. Did she not hear the order to wait outside? This was her territory, and she might have been a defective shifter, but the unspoken rules of etiquette should have applied.

When Kaelyn met her hard stare, there was no hiding the anger at being ignored and disrespected.

Her guest took on a hangdog look. “Okay, confession time. Don’t kill me.” Kaelyn shut the front door as if Kimberly were ready to bolt. “Gage called me. He’s been getting a ton of calls from around town, him and Dominic, about you. Everyone’s worried. Gage didn’t give me a lot of details, but now I’m worried too. When a girl cuts off all her hair or dyes it, it usually means she’s going through something. Believe me, I know. I’ve been there.”

“And Gage sent you? Of all people?”

The words came out biting, condemning, unfiltered.

Kaelyn winced. “He did. And … I know. I think it was more about proximity than anything. He also asked if I knew anything since we’re neighbors, and I had to tell him that I didn’t. He expects me to report back and not let on that he sent me, but that feels really underhanded. It’s not fair to you.”

Kimberly’s hold on the plastic Tupperware loosened a little, so much that the sides of the open top stopped bowing inward. At least Kaelyn was honest.

“You want me to tell you what to tell him?”

Kaelyn gave her a halfway sad smile. “I’d hope we could talk if you want to, and whatever is going on, we could work it out. I’d hate to be so close and still unable to help … again.”

So, she was bringing it up? Was that a confession? Kimberly could do that. Clear the air. Get it all out.

“Unable or unwilling?” Again, it all sounded so harsh coming from her, but Kimberly didn’t care.

“Unable.” Kaelyn sucked in a breath after a second of thought. “Is this all about that night?”

“If it was, do you honestly think you could do anything about it?”

“Maybe … I can try. Maybe talking about it would help.”

“I already talked about it.” Kimberly nearly slammed down the container of sugar, spilling white granules across the black granite countertop. “Gage knows what happened. Cole knows. Almost all of Tolstone, human or shifter, knows what happened. Pretty much all the women know because no one can stop them from gossiping. It’s old news. It’s been resolved. Nathan’s dead, too, so what the fuck is there to talk about?”

Kaelyn swallowed hard. “You didn’t tell them about my part in it. If you did, I doubt Dominic would have let me stay.”

“You ratted out Wyatt to Dominic. That’s why he let you stay instead of kicking you out with the rest of your old pack. Whatever I had to say wasn’t going to change his decision to show you mercy.”

“I doubt it. I only gave him information about Wyatt’s plan to try and take over Tolstone. You were in danger. Nathan almost … and I didn’t help. I know that you know I was across the hall. I’m not oblivious to all that repressed hate. Gage would have beaten me into the ground if he knew the truth, and Dominic would have definitely kicked me out, regardless of the information I gave him. Hell, any other shifter in town would have probably murdered me by now, which is how I know you didn’t tell anyone … Why?”