“Carey…we’re always on the same team,” Heath said, obviously pretending to be more hurt than he really was. Oh, he was hurt, that I could smell, and if I could, Landon could as well, but he played it up to bother his daughter.
“Nope! I’m with Jacky!” The cheeky eleven-year-old grinned with all her teeth, obviously mimicking a more wolfy smile.
“Hear that? She’s with me.” I puffed up in fake pride at being chosen. “We’re going to put these boys in their place,” I said to her, grinning in the same overly excited fashion.
“Yes…The eleven-year-old and the thirty-six-year-old are going to put the over-century-old werewolves in their place…You hear that, Landon?”
“I do,” the quiet wolf said, a small smile forming. “Little sister is competitive and so is cousin cat, it seems. I think we’re in for a fight.”
I jumped up to find a ball. Everyone except Carey needed a sixteen-pounder, and I wanted to laugh as I realized just how easy it would be to bowl. I wondered if the wolves were going to have as hard a time as I would with how light the heaviest balls felt.
“Does that feel good?” I asked Carey as she picked an eight-pound ball. “You can go down to six.”
“No. This is good.” She beamed at me. “I’m first, so you sit back and watch them. Make sure they don’t cheat and mess me up.”
“I don’t think they will, but I promise to try.”
When she walked away, I made an exaggerated effort to keep an eye on the werewolves. They tolerated it, and when Heath winked mischievously, I pointed at my eyes then his. It got a chuckle out of him, that masculine thing I hated since the first time I heard it—absolutely hated it.
The clatter of a ball hitting pins made us turn. I clapped my loudest as Carey jumped up and down, proud of her six and waiting for her ball to come back.
“Good job!” I called out.
“I’m going to get the rest, promise!” she said, grinning like a goof. It was infectious as I found myself giving her the same grin in return.
To anyone other than a werecat, the relationship would be strange. A woman in her thirties didn’t become best friends with an eleven- nearly twelve-year-old girl. For a werecat, it was the only thing that made sense. There was a deep-rooted psychology to it Hasan had explained to me after I told him about the new living arrangements. Children were safer, easier to attach to, and less likely to become a threat, something werecats thought of any adult as.
“It’s like introducing a kitten to an adult cat. I should have known you would have a problem letting go of her, especially since you didn’t spend the proper time with me and the family after I Changed you. I didn’t think you would let wolves into your territory, but I knew you would keep talking to her.”
Safe social interaction. That’s what Carey represented. I knew it and accepted it, just letting the friendship do as it wanted and lead me where it would go.
Carey knocked down three pins, and I cheered, taunting her family a little as we high-fived when she came back to the bench. Heath went next, landing a strike, and I joined Carey in booing the man. Landon was a complete failure, knocking down four pins, then guttering his second try.
“Can you not bowl?” I asked, genuinely confused. He was a supernatural. There was no reason for him to miss like that.
“I have a really hard time pulling back my strength and remaining accurate. It’s always been a struggle for me.” He smiled and shrugged, sitting back down next to his father. Landon was the one I barely knew, and I was always nervous to try to get to know him. Not because he was dangerous, but he was aloof, and compounded with my own need for independence and social anxiety…it just never happened.
I jumped up for my turn, grabbed my borrowed ball, and stepped up to the runway. I focused, taking a deep breath, settling into my stance. I had done this hundreds of times.
Just don’t throw it, Jacky. People are going to talk if you toss this ball down the lane like a freak.
I threw, putting minimum power into it, holding my breath. At the last moment, I put a spin on it, like it was second nature. It flew down the center of the lane and crashed into the pins.
Strike.
I let out all that air in my lungs before I started getting lightheaded. Carey was cheering behind me. I smiled as the fallen pins were cleared away, and another set was put down.
“Good job!” Carey screamed. “We’re totally going to win today!”
“You know how to bowl?” Heath asked as I turned to sit down as Carey started the next frame.
“Um…” To answer that, I knew I had to give him personal information. “I was part of a casual bowling league a long time ago.”
“Oh. Well, shit. You two might actually win,” he huffed, shaking his head. “Just what my daughter needs. A partner to help her win everything.”
I relaxed and took my seat again, glad he didn’t press or dig for more information. He had shown me the information he’d pulled on me. It was well-done but incomplete, and we both knew it. I had done well hiding some things about my life when I was Changed—not all of it, but some of it.
The first game, Carey and I did win. Heath begged for a team change, but we shut that down. Carey enjoyed winning too much to indulge her father, and I once again puffed up with pride that I was the chosen one.
Chapter Three
I was waiting for my turn quietly when my phone went off. Everyone around me stopped and turned my way. Two werewolves and a human girl was a crowd I didn’t really want for a phone call, so I held up a hand.
“Stop. Let me take this outside. I’ll be right back.”
“We’ll wait!” Carey grinned and laid back in the seat. “Dad, go buy us a pizza, please?”
“I can, but you will clean up the trash when we leave. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir!” It didn’t perturb her in the slightest. I smiled to myself as I pulled my buzzing phone out of my pocket and walked away. Checking my phone as I walked out the door, I groaned to see Jabari’s name on the screen, answering once I was outside.
“What do you need, Jabari?”
“You didn’t call me back last night.” His words were curt, a touch cold, but I didn’t let that hurt my feelings. He had once before, a long time ago, and I wouldn’t let him do it again. I wasn’t close to my siblings, and I used that as a shield from their attitude about me.
“No, I texted you like a normal person would when it’s very late at night or one is working. Like I was. I was working.” Did he forget that I owned a business I used to provide for myself? That I tried my best not to dip into the money Hasan gave me after I had everything up and running?
“Did you?” Now he was just confused. “Well, my apologies then. Anyway, there’s an update. Hasan has decided to send me out to Washington State to check out what happened and investigate. I just thought you should know.”
“Um…thanks?” I pulled the phone away and gave it a confused look. “Why did you need to call and tell me?” Jabari and I did not talk. We hadn’t spoken since before I left Hasan’s territory.
“Because…How do I put this?” He groaned softly on the other end. “We’ve all been talking about how we needed to try harder with you and let you know what the family is doing. That’s what I’m doing. Letting you know what is going on with us and how we’re stepping in, leading the rest of the werecats and being responsible. Since Father told Lani about you, about who you really are, that information has spread to every other werecat, and they expect you to be like us. Except you invited werewolves to live with you, which makes everyone wonder if we’re going to open up friendly relations. That’s not the point, though. You’re a member of the family, so you need to know what’s going on.”
“Stop rambling, Jabari. I get it. News received. Thank you. I’ll make sure not to die any time soon like those other werecats, and I’ll make sure to continue to leave a good impression on the rest of werecat society.”
“Good impression? Jacky, every werecat who’s contacted us thinks you’re an impulsive youngling who needs to be dragged home by Father and corrected. You let wolves move into your territory, an Alpha at that, without consulting anyone. You made a major political move without telling anyone until the news had already broken.” I could hear his impatience and condemnation.
“I didn’t know everyone felt that way…” I whispered. “Be safe in Washington.”
“I will. Keep your nose out of any more trouble.”
I hung up first, reeling at the sting Jabari had just given me. I was a shut-in. I kept my head down. I got roped into one damn werewolf turf war, had to protect one little girl, and I was an impulsive youngling? Me?
I growled at my phone before shoving it back into my pocket. Was that why Hasan was barely calling me now? Was he actually furious with me? He’d been shocked about Carey and her family, but I didn’t think he was angry, not when I told him.
I walked back in slowly and stared at Carey, Heath, and Landon without approaching them. I considered Jabari’s words for a minute before slowly walking toward the group, acting like nothing happened.
I’m not letting some old ass rivalry stop me from having some damn friends. They all need to get over themselves, and Jabari can shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.
“I heard pizza before stepping out. What did you order?” I leaned on the table, grinning as Carey pushed a drink in front of me.
“That’s lemonade because I know you like it. Dad got two large meat lovers and a small cheese. The small cheese is for me, so don’t even think about it. You have to share with them.” She pointed at her family, both doing well to look innocent. That was how people could tell Landon was Heath’s. They didn’t look alike, not in the slightest, but Landon picked up some very obvious expressions from his father. The fake innocence was one of them.
I wonder if Richard looked like his father when they hung out as a family like Landon. I can’t imagine being Carey and having to deal with three of these wolves.