Episode 62: Lie like a Dog

Genre: Horror
Characters: Kaya, Caleb, Connor, Byron, Lucy, Harley, Jacobi, Karri, Nadine, Braeden, Joey
Word Count: 5,884
Rating: R
Type: Series
Summary: Connor finds Karri, the girl he met at the party and tries his hand at convincing her to show him around the property but soon realizes his goal to impress her is much harder than believed! Meanwhile Lucy confronts her brother Harley about the weapon they've created to destroy the lycan and Jacobi overhears information he never knew before. Also a surprise visitor has the Savages up in arms and gives Connor something to really think about!
Warnings: Language, suggestive material, violence, strong sexual content, adult content, adult situations, nudity.

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-- Shadowvale -- 8:47a.m.

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“Karri,” Connor smiled like a child who’d just discovered his own dick for amusement as he caught up to her beside the swimming hole.

“Just because you know my name now doesn’t mean you have the right to use it whenever you want.”

“Well I thought it sounded better than yelling ‘hey girl from the party’. Besides you know my name and I never told you either.”

“And yet you don’t hear me using it do you?” she responded with biting sass as she reached for the towel on the rock beside him. “What do you want?”

“Uh, well, I was exploring the grounds as I’ve found myself doing more and more lately and got bored.”

“And you thought I’d care because…”

“Ah you seemed like someone who knows her way around this place. I was wondering what people did for fun around here and hoping that you’d maybe want to accompany me, you know; show me the ropes.”

She thought about responding with a quip about having enough rope to hang himself and it twisted her face into a smirk. “Sorry you got the wrong girl.”

“Really? You didn’t seem to think so at the party the other night. In fact as I recall you couldn’t get enough of me; question after question about what I did, what my interests are, how big my dick is,” Connor grinned at her shocked expression as he threw in that last part. “You were fascinated.”

“‘Were’ being the operative word in that sentence. It’s a new day, I’ve since moved on,” Karri touted, flipping a lock of her chocolate brown hair over her shoulder in a pretentious fashion.

Connor wheezed in his throat and dropped his head back with a deep laugh. “Haha ok, sure. Don’t think I didn’t see you eyeing me up on that stage. I’ve seen that look with dozens of women before; you want me. It’s best to just admit it now and save yourself the trouble.”

“Oh! So is this the part where I swoon and fall all over myself because Connor Morvant ‘the hottest keyboardist like ever’ according to Mandy is giving me the time of day? Am I supposed to be all gooey and weak at the knees now and begging to spend seven minutes of heaven with you? Oh golly gee willikers!”

“Seven minutes? I’m pretty sure time spent with me is considerably much longer than that.”

“Right, I hear you have a bit of a reputation.”

“You heard that huh? Been checking up on me?” Karri looked away as Connor leaned in a little and something close to a blush filled her cheeks very briefly.

“No, I hear things.”

“Oh yeah? Anyone I know?” he smirked and watched Karri’s eyes roll as she sighed. “Ok, bad joke. Can we start over please? I’m not trying to hop into the sack with you, I’m only asking for a few minutes of your time.” Karri laughed, recalling his earlier rebuff of seven minutes and Connor narrowed his eyes as he caught on. “Not like that.”

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into do you?”

“I have a pretty good idea,” he smiled flirtatiously and leaned forward. “Besides, I don’t mind a challenge. Not saying that you are a…challenge…and I’m not implying you’re easy either but uh…” Connor nervously rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and his eyes fell to his feet the longer she looked at him. What the hell is going on? The brief thought crossed his mind as he found himself stumbling over words talking to a girl, something that hadn’t been an issue for him in a very long time. “So how about it?”

“Sorry, I’m busy.”

“Ok, then we can get together Saturday.”

“That’s the night I wash my hair.”

“You…wash your hair. And let me guess, Sunday you’ll be drying it.”

“Gee, you catch on quick.” Without so much as a goodbye, she swept past Connor, leaving him staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and slight confusion as she disappeared up the path.

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-- Willow Reed -- 2:25a.m.

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“It’s kind of late,” Harley’s voice caught her off guard even as she tried exiting the house as quietly as possible. “Where are you going?”

Lucy turned to address her brother and watched him pour the rest of his beer bottle down his throat. Groggily he fell against the wall, tossing the empty container into the wastebasket at his side as he stumbled into the living room towards his sister. “How many of those have you had?”

“One too many, or not enough considering it has yet the desired effect,” he burped loudly and fell to the couch near her, his eyes closing momentarily before refocusing with a stern glare in her direction. “Where are you going Lucy? More solo hunting?”

“I’m going out.”

“Out? And where are your feet planning to take you while you are ‘out’?”

“Why are you suddenly so concerned Harley? As I recall I wasn’t an important enough member of this family to be told things so why should I let you in on what it is that I do?”

“You’re my baby sister Lucy of course I care about you and what goes on with you. I never told you about our brother because I made a promise.”

“Oh right, you swore to keep your word to a dead man! For all the good it’s done us! How could you not tell me after all this time? Don’t you think it was something I needed to know? And what about Jake? He still has no idea who or what rather that he really is! It’s not right!” 

“See! This is exactly why father swore me to secrecy Lucille!” Harley growled and got to his feet. “This is exactly why he never told you or Jacobi that he is the bastard son of a wolf! He raised us. He treated us as equals. He loved us and he trained us to fight when those dogs came howling at our doorstep. And just because you finally learned the truth of the matter you see him differently. You see yourself differently. You’re starting to make judgment calls that will do nothing but interfere with our end game!”

“And what is that exactly? To rid the world of the evil wolves but what about the good ones?”

“THERE ARE NO GOOD ONES LUCY!”

“No? And Jacobi?” she asked softly as her brother stood so closely to her she could smell the beer on his breath and read the angered look behind his eyes.

“Jacobi is one of us.”

“Jacobi is part wolf Harley, making him also one of them! So then this machine you’ve created from the blood and bones of the wolves we’ve captured will destroy everything and everyone with a drop of wolf’s blood in them within a fifty mile radius. What then will become of our family when our dearest brother is left on the burning heap of bodies along with the rest of them? You’re so smart Harley and have always been the one calling the shots but tell me what happens to Jacobi when the other wolves in this city are all dead at your feet!” Lucy stormed past her brother towards the front door, slamming it behind her as she left.

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-- Shadowvale -- 10:14a.m.

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“Hey Playboy! I was wondering where you’d gotten off to.”

“Well congratulations, you’ve found me,” he responded without bothering to look at her as he spoke. Instead he remained enthralled with the pen and paper on his lap as his hand scrawled furiously over the pad.

“Who’s the girl I saw you chatting up at the party? Rumor has it that a certain redhead may or may not have been seen sneaking away to find her today at the southern lake.” Connor looked up to find Kaya walking towards him and grinning like a kid trying to keep a secret and couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“Uh, her name’s Karri.”

“Karri? She’s pretty.”

“Yeah she is.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Details! I want the skinny on this chick that is creating this blush on your face.” Connor’s bottom lip slipped between his teeth and his eyes remained on the notepad in front of him. “Oh come on Red! I’ve seen you with your dick shoved halfway down some bottle blonde’s throat, listened to you screaming to high heaven at odd intervals of the night and now you’re acting shy? Seriously? This is me you’re talking to.”

“It’s not that I’m being shy about anything Ky, trust me I’d love to tell you more about her but the only thing I could really pry out of her was her name and that was only after I heard Sophie call her to help with the buffet. She barely wanted to confirm that much.”

“Oh,” Kaya pouted and leaned back against the log Connor was perched on as she watched him quickly scribbling words on the pad in his hand. “Whatcha writing?”

“It’s a song.”

“Can I…?”

“Nope! You can’t until I’m done. I’m not even sure I will want to share it then; it’s kinda cheesy.”

“Ok,” she sighed and played with a pile of sand beneath her hand.

Connor peered down at her through narrow eyelids curiously. “Ok? Is that all? You’ve never given up that easily before.”

“Yeah and I’ve never seen you like this before either. I suppose there are times I can allow you SOME shred of privacy.” She grinned at him and he playfully nudged her with his leg as he continued writing.

“I don’t know I got this idea but I know we’re not a love ballad kind of band.”

“Aww it’s a love ballad?” Kaya withheld a giggle and Connor turned with an annoyed scowl on his face as he regarded her.

“Isn’t there some Luna like business you should be seeing to right now? I mean there’s about a million other places you could be this moment that aren’t centered around bothering me.”

“Yeah but bothering you is my favorite place in the world Cocobear!” Kaya laughed as he closed his notebook and dropped it to the ground with a pout. “I was with Caleb earlier but he and his brother wanted a moment to speak. I haven’t determined yet if it was personal as in their family or business and concerned the entire pack. Although Caleb’s been good about keeping me involved with official business. I don’t know. Maybe his baby brother contracted the clap from one of his mistresses or something.” Connor again looked towards his best friend but this time with wide eyes and curiosity. “I’m kidding Coco. Charlie is one of the most loyal men I’ve met here.”

He sighed and turned away as he thought about the others he’d met while staying in Shadowvale. “I kinda dig her,” Connor admitted and tossed a loose pebble towards the water.

“Oh yeah? I’d have never guessed that what with finding you writing a ‘love ballad’ alone in the woods. How did you two meet?”

“Charlie made some remark about the girls flocking towards the stage to watch the band set up and I noticed she was standing near the bar watching from a distance, like she couldn’t care one way or the other. So I went over to say hi.”

“Ah so her indifference was attractive to you.”

“I don’t know. She’s different. I mean all of the girls here are quirky in some way or another but Karri seems more mellowed out than the rest. She has this incredible laugh,” he smiled as he thought back to the party. “And when she looks at me with those ocean blue eyes…it seriously reduces me to that puny geek you met all those years ago. I feel like I’m back in high school and everyone is laughing at the redheaded nerd blushing at the prom queen.”

“Wait, I was prom queen.”

“So I hear,” he smiled and ignored the confused expression on Kaya’s face. “I got tongue tied today Kaya. Like seriously when has that ever happened to me?”

“It sounds like you’re already in over your head.”

“Yeah.”

“Which means you’ve already lost.”

“Oh gee, thanks for the vote of fucking confidence. That’s exactly what I needed right now.”

Kaya laughed at her sullen best friend and wrapped an arm over his shoulder. “I tell ya what; I’ll do what I can to learn some stuff about her too. See who she is and where she’s been you know, feel her out for you. That way you’ll have some ammo when you see her again.”

“Good because…she’s not gonna make this easy for me.”

She smiled and pulled herself to her feet as she looked down at the pensive keyboardist. “Nothing worth having ever comes easy. Hey, maybe you should add that to your song.” Kaya chewed her bottom lip as Connor smacked her rear before starting back towards the manor.

She stopped suddenly as she saw her mate and two of her subordinates turning the corner of the large stone building accompanied by another familiar face. “Nadine!” Kaya remarked in shock and took a step forward. Caleb held her arm stopping her from getting too close and she turned to look at him.

“Wait a second you know her?”

“Of course I do! It’s Connor’s mother; can’t you see the resemblance?” she asked pointing towards the woman with the opulent green eyes and fire red hair. “Stand down, she’s no threat to us,” she ordered of Braedan and Joey who bowed their deference and backed away. “Nadine!” Kaya wrapped her arms around the woman’s neck giving her a warm hug. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see Connor.” Her thick French accent made Kaya flash back to a time of innocence which was quickly shattered hearing the next words out of the woman’s mouth. “He’s in a lot of danger being here and I cannot let him stay.”

“What do you mean?” Nadine glanced towards Caleb and Kaya followed her gaze. “It’s ok, this is Caleb my mate.”

“I understand and I mean no disrespect Kaya, but do you zhink zhere is someplace we can talk in private?”

“I’ll go and inform the others there’s no need for concern,” Caleb nodded, excusing himself. He motioned towards the others and they followed behind him leaving Kaya and Nadine beside the garden. Kaya led her best friend’s mother out of the nearest gate and up the path leading to a more private area to chat.

“Zhere is so much to tell you, I have no idea where to start,” Nadine responded as she took a seat on the wooden bench beside the fountain. Kaya joined her, shaking her head indulgently and gesturing for the woman to continue. “Connor is not safe here Kaya. He has no idea what he is in store for being around zhese kinds of people.”

“You mean the Savages?”

“I mean zhe wild wolves.” She bowed her head in sorrow and Kaya watched as her best friend’s mother was consumed by emotion. Tears quickly fell from her eyes as she closed them and thought back to the day the two had met. “Do you remember zhe day you told me about your fazher? It was like a blessing in disguise; you finding my son, becoming his friend and taking him back to Willow Reed wizh you.”

“I’m sorry Nadine, I don’t understand.”

“You were zhe best zhing to ever happen to my family Kaya. Désolé, I should start from zhe beginning. Connor is not a normal wolf. Much like zhe men and women here, he is a wild wolf, as am I and his fazher.” Kaya’s eyes opened in surprise and Nadine took her hand, squeezing it firmly. “Connor does not know. I was never able to tell him because I feared what zhat would mean when he became of age and was ready to join a pack.” (Sorry)

“His fits of anger.”

“You remember?”

“Very well. It took everything in me sometimes to control him during his change and protect him during the full moon. He was a monster.”

“And it is why I said you were zhe best zhing to happen to him. If it was not for you, Connor would surely have become his fazher and zhere is no telling what would have happened to him zhen. His fazher had hoped him to become someone he never could. To take his talents and use zhem to steal power and force his will onto ozhers. We fought constantly because of zhis until zhe day Connor ran him away. After zhat, we kept to ourselves, moved from place to place keeping our heads down. It had been years since I had encountered anozher of our kind or one who was not a threat to me or my son. I was wary at first of course when he brought you home. But when I learned who Armand was I saw it as zhe opportunity it truly was.” 

“I needed to get my son out of zhat situation Kaya, I did not want him growing up around my husband’s people. I begged Armand to keep my secret and to help my son become a good man and a good wolf. I am sorry to have used you zhe way I did but you must understand.”

Her conversation with Alex flashed in her mind and she sighed heavily realizing now what he meant about Connor ignoring who he was. And her father knew this entire time. Of course he did. He had dozens of journals compiled about wild wolves; he saw firsthand from not only Caleb but Connor’s presence what they were about. “Why keep this from Connor?”

“Because I feared zhat he would choose to join his fazher and fight in zhe resistance. Zhat is no life for a young man and not one I wanted for my child. And now Kaya I fear zhat Connor will resent me for keeping zhis from him for so long zhat is why I am telling you. I am hoping zhat somehow you can help him see I did it for his own good.”

“Nadine, no matter what happens between you and Connor, there’s no way he’d ever resent you. He still kisses your picture at night and sings a lullaby to it before going to bed. He hated that you two were apart but he’s always understood you could never leave home.”

“Zhat is great to hear.”

“Nadine, why do you think he’s in danger being here?”

“Because wild wolves have always been resistant to pack life. And zhey hate even more zhen zhat a kindred who tries to be somezhing he is not.”

“Well he has been getting a few angry stares but we’ve dealt with it. I’m the Luna here and he’s my Beta. Everyone is learning to respect him and they know the penalty otherwise.”

“My son is a Beta?” Nadine asked, her chest puffing out in pride. “Well zhen, my little Frogger has become a big man has he? Maybe too big for his Mama!”

“You can never be too old for Mom,” Kaya responded somberly, her eyes falling away from Nadine’s.

“And you know you have always been like zhe daughter I have never had, huh? Alzhough I have also maintained zhe hope zhat you and my Connor would mate one day. I am glad you have found someone. Now to get zhat son of my wizh someone! I am getting to be an old maid waiting for zhe grandkids!”

“There’s nothing to worry about Nadine, I suspect your son is closer to that than he’s ever been before,” Kaya smiled to herself and stood from the bench. Nadine stood and stretched as she looked around the garden where they stood.

With a single whiff of air, she seemed to relax a bit more and genuinely smiled for the first time since finding herself in enemy territory. “You have done very well for yourself Kaya. Je ne peux pas être plus fier !” (I cannot be more proud!)

“Merci Nadine. Il a été un chemin difficile, mais j'y arrive .” Kaya responded and hooked her arm with Nadine’s. “Come on, I’m sure Connor’s gonna flip when he sees you and you two have a lot to talk about.” (Thank you Nadine. It's been a hard road but I'm getting there.)

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-- Willow Reed -- 4:34a.m.

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“Boo!” Byron yelled behind the unsuspecting Lucy causing her to shriek. She laughed as his fingers skirted down her sides, tickling her until he closed them completely around her waist.

“Byron! That wasn’t funny!”

“I know it. What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in such a rough part of town? Don’t you know there are scary creatures of the night lurking and on the hunt for something soft, tender and delicious like you?” She laughed loudly as he licked over her collarbone and continued squirming the more he tickled her.

“Byron!”

“You know I love it when you scream my name.” Tenderly he closed his lips over her neck and sucked until a small red spot formed just beneath his mouth. Lucy moaned as his hands again found their way around her waist and leaned against him, exposing more of her neck to his explorations. “Mmm now doesn’t this place bring back some fond memories,” Byron groaned in her ear as he pressed himself up against her, feeling her body warm to his touch as he stroked her sensually along her curves.

“You remembered!” she giggled as his fingers curled beneath her shorts, teasingly inching along the top of her mound.

“The first time I got to touch your sweet body, damn right I remember. I remember every, single, sound you made,” he responded, kissing her between each word he spoke. “I remember how you pretended you didn’t want it. I remember how you moaned when the heat of my fingers brought you to your first orgasm. And I remember how utterly satisfied you looked when I brought you to the second, third and fourth.”

Lucy turned in Byron’s arms so their lips met and kissed him ardently. “I missed you,” she sighed against his lips, guiding his hands into the front of her pants. “I missed you so much.” Byron’s tongue fought against hers as his fingers stroked down her mound and between her moist, puffy lips.

Byron interlocked his fingers and with a fierce growl forcefully turned her around and yanked her against his chest. Lucy giggled before her lips were sucked between his powerful jaws and his tongue chased hers back into her mouth. Gently reaching up she caressed his face and slowly slid her knee up his thigh, resting it just at the edge of his crotch. “Fucking tease,” he groaned as she lowered her foot to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy sighed and pulled away from his arms. “But I…this isn’t why I called you Byron. I need to tell you something.” She rubbed her hands over her arms as the wind caused sudden goosebumps to form and with Byron’s natural lycan heat a few feet away, she found herself completely at the mercy of the cool night air.

The sound of a tin can falling over caught her attention and she gasped and jumped back. “Haha relax Baby, it’s probably just a rat or something. Besides you have no reason to be afraid when you have your big, bad wolf around.”

“That’s just it, Byron. I don’t know how much longer you’re gonna be around if you don’t get out of here soon. I told you my brother’s up to something and whatever it is it will mean the end of your kind.”

“Why are you so worried about this Lucy? I’m a survivor, I told you that. You have no idea the shit I’ve seen and gone through over the years. Whatever this thing is, we’ll beat it, together.”

“Yeah I’m not so sure,” she whispered in reply. A dark shadow moved just at the entrance to the alleyway and Lucy stood motionless as she waited for the person or animal to reveal itself.

“Lucy?” Byron called her name and watched as she continued staring towards the encroaching darkness. “Lucy!”

“What?” she finally spoke, looking at him with a dazed expression.

“What is going on with you? What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I wanted to ask you something, about wolves.”

“Alright.”

“Is there any way to go back to what you were after you’ve transitioned?”

“What do you mean to go back? Like to just be human again? No, that’s impossible. Once you’ve transitioned that’s it, you’re a wolf for eternity. There are instances where a child born of wolf parents never transitions but they still have the lycan traits, eternal life, speed, strength etc. They become handlers within their wolf packs.”

“And what happens if you find a way to keep yourself from turning?”

“Uh well then I guess they would remain human, become a handler like the others. Why are you asking me this?”

“It’s about my brother.”

“Your what?”

“I want to know if he can survive what’s coming.”

“Wait a minute are you telling me your brother is a lycan? The same one you’re worried is trying to destroy us all?”

“No, my other brother.”

“So you’re saying that you have one brother like me and another like you and one is trying to kill the other? Talk about tense family dynamics. How’s that work at Thanksgiving?”

“Byron! Be serious!”

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“Jacobi doesn’t know what he is and Harley says that this device won’t harm him. But from what he’s told me about it, it works off some sort of signal like a dog whistle. The frequency is set to produce over 30,000 hertz of sound with some incantation that only wolves will be able to hear. And when that happens it’s sort of like this Pied Piper effect, all of your kind will come running or rather be brain washed to obey. Once they reach their destination, Harley will unleash the elixir on them, destroying their wolves and killing their human side.”

“Whoa, ok, ok, ok, ok uh how is this even fucking possible?”

“Trial and error. W-w-we would k-k-kidnap wolves, drain them of blood and test their DNA against different herbs and spells and stuff we collected over the years. It took a while every wolf reacted to something different and so we could never figure out the right combination of ingredients. But as luck would have it we were able to trap the Alpha of the Diamond wolf pack um…Darius something. Finally my brother was able to perfect this elixir from Alpha’s blood coupled with a very powerful enchantment from a witch and well you have the ideal lycan death machine.”

“I can’t imagine one of mine just sitting back and letting this happen. Regardless if he’s your blood, he’s a wolf. That’s not something you don’t feel deep inside. You can’t resist the natural order of a lycan; it’s impossible! How could your brother not know what he is after all this time and do something to stop this?”

“Because he drinks this tea that suppresses his animal side. It’s something our father created for him from specially blended herbs, some you can’t even find anymore. He thinks it’s to give him strength because he always gets a surge of energy from drinking it, he’s never questioned it. The boost he feels is his wolf trying to resist the potion. But after the full moon is over he goes back to normal.” Byron took a step back as he listened to Lucy explain taming an urge to be free, one that he knew all too well. It was cruel and his wolf was not happy hearing about one of his kind trapped, hurt and longing to be liberated from its cage. “Byron this was not my doing. I just recently learned about Jacobi myself. It’s why I started coming to that bar. It’s why we met. It’s why I’m telling you this because I don’t want to see you or my brother hurt! Please you’ve gotta believe me.”

“I do Lucy,” he responded quickly and pulled her into his arms. “And like I said we’ll get through this. You trust me right?” Byron asked with a tone of desperation. He was losing it, he was losing her and there seemed to be just one way out of this mess. “I’ll find a way Lucy. I promise.” Even as he spoke the words he didn’t believe them but he had to hear it out loud in hopes that it would spark some sort of idea.

Jacobi was overcome with emotion; guilt, sorrow, disgust and anger. But most of all he felt betrayed. After hearing his sister’s confessions and knowing the two people he trusted most in this world were lying to his face daily. He watched a moment longer as the wolf clung to his baby sister before slipping silently out of the alley. 

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-- Shadowvale -- 2:56p.m.

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“Is it safe to approach?” Kaya asked finding Connor sitting alone near the rose garden. He motioned with his hand but didn’t bother to turn around to face her. She silently took a seat beside him, staring off into the lake in front of them, watching the water roll over the rocks on the shore.

“Well I guess now I understand why my father was always so angry. And why I had those fits of blind rage myself.”

“Honestly Con, I think not knowing helped you become better than your title. Sure you had to try a little harder during the full moon but you did it. Not only that, when we met Rafe, you helped him keep his emotions controlled because you’d gone through it yourself.”

“But what does that say about me? That I never knew who I really was? No wonder these people hate me. All this time they thought I was trying to ignore the real animal inside of me. That I was pretending to be normal when I am their kin! And then the fact that Lobo knew? He knew and never said anything. Fuck! I see what it felt like now Kaya; being lied to all your life.”

She wrapped her arm over his shoulder and he leaned into her body a little. “We’re definitely two peas in one fucked up pod.”

“You’re a pea. I’m more the worm trying to sleep in an empty pod that was never mine to begin with.”

“Yeah but you know what happens to worms who make cocoons?”

Connor laughed and Kaya felt his body shudder the deeper it went. “And here I thought I was the cheesy one.”

“Naw. I think we’re equally as cornball. I get it from you though. It’s remnants of your inner geek.”

“The hell you did! Everyone knows I’ve always been the sane one.” He pulled her into his arms running his hand from her shoulder to her elbow. A watery laugh broke through her lips and she looked at him in disbelief.

“Please! INsane is more like it!” She smiled and settled back beside him. “Why did you come down here anyway? Didn’t you hear me calling you?”

“I did but I didn’t want to stay at the manor. I had no idea how I was going to react and I didn’t want to cry and look like a pussy in front of everyone.”

“Yeah well, you are what you eat, Connor.” She pulled out of his arms and playfully punched his bicep.

“And I can’t tell you how much I miss some down home cooking! So I guess that makes you a dick then huh?”

Kaya laughed and squirmed as he tickled her sides. “In speaking of which, did you know your Mom thought that you and I were going to mate at some point?”

“Sure I did. She may have mentioned it one or two hundred times and that was just in the phone call from last week. Why do you think she was so excited when I took you to prom?”

“Ew dressed in that horrible purple tux with the ruffled shirt and cummerbund?”

“And she took about a million pictures and kept saying…”

“‘Aww you two look made for each other’,” they replied together, once again falling out in laughter. “That tux really did look God awful though.”

“What? It was a classic! I found it in my dad’s closet.”

“And you should have left it there!” she sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. “You know your Mom and my Dad really did think they were doing what was right for us. I mean after learning that my mate was the person who murdered my Mom I was kind of able to see why Dad wanted to keep me from that. Especially since this is where we landed; living with people who don’t truly accept us and trying to pretend as though the constant staring isn’t driving us up the wall. And with Nadine, she didn’t want to see you end up like your father. Cast out from any decent society because of your anger and bitter over the life you chose.”

“Yeah I know. And I’m not angry with her. It’s more like I’m processing that I’m actually now a better wolf than you,” he smirked and tossed her a sideways glance.

“Oh is that right? Ok well then tell me Mr. Better Wolf, why the hell are you so grumpy? Surely being more powerful than your Luna you should be off dancing in the fucking streets or something.”

“You only say that because you think it’ll up my chances of being hit by a bus, I’m not falling for that.”

“Wow…figured that out did ya? Well damn…maybe you are better than me.”

“Told ya.”

She giggled and gave his cheek a quick peck. “Alright, enough with this sappy shit. Your Mom’s in town for the first time in like ever and I think you and her need to get out and tie one on.”

“With my Mom? That would be a little…weird.”

“Well only if you take her to the strip club you took me to on your 21^st birthday and make her eat sushi off a dancer’s um…pie.”

“Well now that sounds like a good time!” he smiled over at her as he brushed the dirt from his pants.

“But seriously, are you ok?” She asked as she slid closer, pulling Connor into her arms. He gently caressed her cheek as he gazed into her eyes.

“I’m better than ok Ky, I have you; and knowing that, I can always get through anything.”

“Aww, come here my sweet, redheaded lump of cheese.” He laughed as she squeezed him tighter in a hug and sloppily kissed his cheek.

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