6
Ness
“The two ofyou look worse for wear,” Dad said as he led us upstairs.
The others had left. Bloody bandages and half-eaten sandwiches were the only evidence that people had been here. I stared at the first-aid kit and realized that I hadn’t taken care of my own wounds. Blood had dried on my arm. The tacky mess cracked when I flexed my wrist.
“Are you eating properly?” Dad asked.
When I looked up, I found him addressing both Ryder and me. I swallowed, because I knew Dad wouldn’t like the answer. When did I have time to eat anything more than a quick meal purchased at a drive thru?
Dad narrowed his eyes at us and nodded. I expected him to chastise me for being lazy, but he turned and opened the fridge door.
“I used all the lunch meat making sandwiches for Haylee and Kelsey,” Mom said as she entered the room.
Mom lifted the trash bin and wiped her hand across the table to get rid of the waste left behind. She bent to get a spray bottle of bleach out from under the kitchen sink. When I moved to take it from her, she grabbed my wrist and stopped me.
“Sit down,” Dad ordered.
“We don’t have time,” I said.
“Ness is right. We should get back to work.” Ryder stepped up beside me, his shoulder against mine.
“I. Said. Sit.”
Dad didn’t have the power of command or even an Alpha’s voice, but I had no other choice than to listen when he spoke. I quickly dropped into a seat while Mom wiped down the table with bleach.
The chemical burned my nose until she opened the windows. A sense of nostalgia flooded me. I was a teenager all over again, and I didn’t know how to feel about that. Especially when Ryder sat across from me, and his toe nudged mine under the table.
Teenage Ness hadn’t been able to bring boys home. She’d never gotten the chance to get close to anyone. I’d thought, when I was younger, that Connor and I would get closer. I’d thought he would become my mate and that we would live happily ever after. Then Alvin had turned his sights on me, and everyone had pulled away.
Alvin’s hatred had made me feel alone among my own pack. His reach had stretched further into my life. Not only did I have to hide the fact that I was a shifter from my human friends, but I’d had to hide the bruises that healed too quickly. Everything Alvin had inflicted on me had made me retreat from the people I needed.
Now, here I was, in my parent’s kitchen with a man who’d nearly kissed me in the basement. It shouldn’t have brought a smile to my lips, but it did, nonetheless.
“Dad,” I said. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
He paused what he was doing to look back with eyes wide. Confusion flattened his brows before they lifted in realization.
“Ah, you’re talking about the wound. Of course, I’m okay. That isn’t going to kill an old dog like myself.” Dad turned with the frying pan in his hand.
Mom set four plates on the table, so Dad could stack pancakes on them. When he went back to pour the next batch into the pan, Mom returned with a bottle of local maple syrup. Ryder cracked the bottle open and sniffed it.
“That tastes nothing like the fake stuff they sell at most stores,” I told him, a bubble of excitement rising through me. “It’s so much better.”
He slathered his pancakes with the sticky syrup before shoving a hearty bite into his mouth. My heart did backflips as I watched his eyes roll back in his head. I suddenly wanted to see if I could make him do that for me.
I swallowed hard, shoving those thoughts back. Was this what it was like to be a horny teenager? I had no idea. Maybe it was the idea that I’d brought home a boyfriend to meet my parents. Maybe it was the moment we’d shared in the basement.
All I knew was that my heart couldn’t handle this.
I poured syrup over my own pancakes and cut into them. Dad came back and dumped a pile of breakfast sausages onto my plate. It wasn’t breakfast time, but this was Dad’s specialty. I could tell that he was doing his best to take care of us.
Once again, the ice in my chest threatened to melt. I clenched my fist around the fork in my hand as I stared down at my plate. Ryder nudged my foot with the toe of his boot, but I didn’t look up at him.
I needed to stay distant and detached, but those around me were showing the kindness that I’d always craved. My fork clattered onto the plate. I shoved my chair back and stood, abruptly. The room wavered. My stomach begged me to eat more, but I couldn’t stay.
I gave Dad a tight-lipped apologetic smile before lurching out of the room. Pressing my hand to my chest, I tried to chill the ice inside me once more. The ritual arcana slithered under my skin. I hissed, alarmed. The ice stiffened, but I wasn’t sure it was fast enough.