~ RIG ~
I pulled my now sobbing sister into my chest and held her while she shook, trying desperately to stifle her cries so no one would hear her. But even as I stroked her hair and held her tightly, my mind spun and fear screamed through me.
Was it possible she was right? Had she really uncovered the truth I hadn’t been able to find about our brother’s death?
No. There was no way. No way our father would have killed Stephen. He had been our father’s pride and joy! Dad had never stopped bragging about him. I had always been so jealous…
But then, as I turned the events of those weeks before Stephen’s death over in my head, the things that had always made me uneasy started to click together…
~ RIG ~Kissing Natalie turned my stomach. Everything in my body revolted, shoved at me to throw her aside and back away, but I forced myself to sustain the kiss as long as I could, keeping my face relaxed. At least they’d misinterpret my shaking hands.Around us, cheers and whoops rose for the second time that night, but as I pulled away, Natalie’s eyes wide and following me, I only stared at her.She could feel it in me, I was certain.We’d been close before. We knew each other. She’d know that kiss held nothing but disgust for her.For a moment I saw the sadness shadow her eyes, but then she blinked, and it was as if a switch had been flipped. Her eyes grew heated. She ducked her chin and looked up
~ CARA ~Half an hour after barricading myself in my room, I had wiped my eyes and gotten myself together. I didn’t have much time. My father was passed out, but I could hear my mother crying and fussing downstairs. If he didn’t wake soon, she’d cave and start trying to revive him. That meant I had to get out of there.So I took a deep breath and pushed to my feet, pulling my bag up onto the bed and opening it. This might be the last time I stepped foot in this room. I had to make certain I didn’t leave anything important.The truth was, there wasn’t much for me to take. A few books. My old journals. And the quilt my late grandmother had made for me.I didn’t want any of the things that smelled like this place, or reminded me of my yea
~ CARA ~“Cara, thank god. I’m—”His voice on the other end of the phone made something inside me rush and swirl—but right behind that initial euphoria, was a pang so acute, I had to bite my lip. I couldn’t listen to his sudden, hurried assurances—all the lies he wanted me to believe. I interrupted him and kept my voice as toneless as possible.“I don’t want to hear it, Rig.”“But—”“I don’t need an explanation. There isn’t one. I’m not calling to make up with you. I’m… I’m disgusted by you and that… I can’t believe you turned me into a bet!”
~ CARA ~I had sat on the damp ground in the shadows of the trees on the corner of my neighbor’s house figuring Rig would arrive in his Jeep and I'd see him coming and wave him down as he approached the house.So, when an SUV I didn't recognize rocketed into around the corner and accelerated, I just assumed one of the neighbors was coming home drunk and gripped Purrkins cage harder.But then the car whipped into our driveway and stopped so fast the tires gave a little squeal and the entire vehicle bobbed and jiggled with its momentum. Before I could finish getting to my feet and grabbing my bag, Rig had thrown the car door open and was sprinting for the front door, banging on it and calling my name.“Shit! No! Rig!” I hissed. But he wa
~ CARA ~“The Animal Shelter is on exit forty-three. It’s right off the highway. It’ll take five minutes,” I said, hoping he didn’t hear the hitch in my breath.“Cara, I’m not taking your cat to the Animal Shelter,” he said, shaking his head.“We don’t all have the options you’ve got, Rig,” I muttered, livid that he was making me talk about it in light of everything that had happened. “I can’t take him to the dorm, and I don’t know anyone else who has—”“I’ll take him,” Rig said quickly.I heard Natalie give a little cough in the backseat. Rig’s shoulders tensed, but his jaw was set.
~ CARA ~At the curb just outside my dorm, I stood at the back of the SUV, the exhaust from the running car swirling around my knees, staring at Purrkins in the broken down pet carrier. He stared back at me, his body curled low and small, meowing his protest.Rig stood right behind my shoulder because he'd been about to get my bag for me, and I moved so he couldn't reach it.“I don't know what to do,” I blurted.“I told you, Cara, I’ll take him. Just tell me what he needs and I’ll make it happen.”I turned on him then, because it was so unfair that he kept pretending this was just… nothing. “He needs a bed, and food, and water, a litter-box, toys, flea-treatments an
~ RIG ~ I started the drive home like the car was on fire. Natalie wasn’t scared, she knew my wolf reflexes wouldn’t misjudge the road, but she cleared her throat about six blocks down the road. “You remember you have a little passenger in the back who’s probably already traumatized?” she asked quietly. For a split second I thought she meant herself and I was going to snap at her—but then the cat gave a tiny little meow. Fuck. I took my foot off the accelerator and let the car ease up to a more responsible speed. But I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. If I said anything to Natalie it wasn’t going to be pretty. I knew she wasn’t the reason the wolves hated humans. She wasn’t
~ RIG ~I swung by the 24-Hour big box store and cleaned out their pet section with everything Cara had listed, plus a few extras that Natalie suggested.By the time we reached the packhouse it was almost three in the morning, so I was surprised to see lights on in the living room, and even more surprised when I walked in the door and all my brothers were there, and awake.“What’s going on?” I asked them. Had something else happened? We’d been out of range for most of the night and I hadn’t linked when I’d gotten close enough. Had that been a mistake?Charlie and Jack were on the couch playing a video game, but they’d paused it the moment I walked in.Mack, dressed in nothing but paja