Page 105 of UNAwere

‘Depends.’ She sits opposite me and crosses her legs, giving me a once-over. ‘You’re smaller than I expected.’

‘Your mum used the word “cute”.’

She snorts again. ‘Of course she did.’

I rub my palms on top of my track pants. When I got up this morning, I wasn’t expecting to be whisked up to Warner’s office right away, wearing only track pants and a flimsy long-sleeved T-shirt. I didn’t even put on a bra.

‘So, I’ve been assigned to the lovely task of teaching you how to be a Were.’ She cocks her head to the side. ‘But I guess I need to know what you know first, so I can fill in the gaps.’

‘Oh.’ I think for a second. ‘Um. Well… I didn’t think heat cycles existed until I went through one the other week.’

Something in her face changes. ‘You had a heat?’

‘Mhm.’

‘Right…’

The hairs on my arms rise. ‘Is it… wrong to?’

She shakes her head. ‘Of course not. They’re just quite rare, considering they only get brought on when you—’ She stops, biting down on her bottom lip. ‘I probably…’

I stare at her. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ She smiles and shakes her head, but I’m unconvinced.

‘Am I dying?’

Hannah laughs. ‘No. It might feel like you are, since you’re going through a change you’ve never experienced before, one no one has ever warned you about. But you’re definitely fit and healthy.’

Letting out a small breath of relief, I nod. ‘It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me…’

‘What doesn’t?’

‘I don’t know? All of this. Being a Were back home kind of just meant that I was able to Turn. Nolan, my alpha, stopped training me when I was about eighteen because he realised pretty quickly I didn’t want to fight in his pack. And I think he didn’t push because he felt guilty about being behind the death of my parents.’ I lick my lips, avoiding Hannah’s gaze as I try to think how to articulate what’s been in my head for years. ‘My job was essentially being a consultant between the Were and human communities in our territory. I think there was a lot of resentment around my primal side, just with what happened with my parents, and I wanted to be more human than anything… But then Jude helped me. I was struggling to Turn, and he helped me see that side of myself and not be ashamed.’

‘That doesn’t sound like my brother,’ Hannah murmurs, slightly amused. ‘What did you do to make him like you so much?’

‘Oh.’ I scoff out a laugh, glancing up at her face. She’s smirking, one brow raised. ‘He doesn’t like me. At all. In fact, as soon as we arrived here, and he was able to get away from me, I haven’t seen him.’ I wave a hand. ‘Can’t say I blame him. I know I’m a lot.’

‘You’re not a lot, Sybbie.’ Hannah’s watching me again, once again proving to me that she and Jude are related because she’s staring at me the same way he does, like she sees me. ‘And if anyone tells you that you are, they can fucking choke.’

I smile. Yep. Definitely her brother’s sister. ‘Thanks.’

‘Besides… There are things happening in the background here that you’re unaware of. Which is for the best right now.’ She crosses a leg over her thigh and sits back in her chair, considering me. ‘Do you understand what’s going to happen during the bonding ceremony?’

I nod. ‘Kinda. Warner was just explaining some of it.’

‘Are you… okay with it?’

I nod again, even though my stomach twists at the thought. ‘I came here for my pack. For my sister. I’ll do anything.’

Hannah sucks her teeth. ‘Warner’s views can be a little… confronting.’

‘He sounds like a misogynist,’ I say, and then quickly bite my tongue. ‘Sorry. I mean… I don’t want to speak badly about your alpha, but—’

She presses her lips, and I see a dimple sink into her right cheek. ‘You, Sybbie Palmer, are a woman after my own heart.’ She sighs. ‘Let’s get back to the lesson, hm?’

I nod. ‘Sure.’