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“And?” I let out a growl, flipping us over so I was on top. I let go of his arms so I could throw my hands in the air, just to be sarcastic. “Is that a surprise?”
I pushed his face down with my hands, waiting for him to tap out. He didn’t even move a muscle. He looked at me seriously, then slowly ran his hands up and down my body from my ankles to my hips. “Chill out,” he said.
I was frozen, loving the heat of his hands on my legs. The only thing between us was the thin fabric of my leggings. It took me a sec to get my head straight and remember what was actually going on.
I was livid. He was messing with me again. He was doing all this while he had a girlfriend who loved him very much. I don’t think Pamela deserved the same heartbreak that I went through.
I gave him a menacing look and showed him my teeth. Kieran’s blue eyes opened really wide before he turned around easily. I put my hands on his chest to push him off, but I froze. My growls cut short when I felt his face near my neck.
I couldn’t think of anything else. I couldn’t remember why I was angry. To be honest, I think I forgot that I was angry when he put his hands on my hips. Because my shirt rode up a little, his thumbs stroked circular patterns on the bare skin of my tummy.
I took a deep, shaky breath when I felt his hot breath on my neck. My hands ended up on his chest, but then somehow found their way to his shoulders. I grabbed it when he ran his nose along my neck and inhaled deeply. “Chill out, mate,” Kieran whispered, kissing his mark.
I shuddered, drinking in this moment that I had missed so much.
He pulled away and looked at me with his dark eyes. His dark eyes melted into his blue ones as he stared at me with longing. I could feel my heart beating faster as I got closer to him. He stopped and just looked at me.
I couldn’t take it any longer. I looked up, brushed my lips with his for a second, and then went back to my work. When Kieran let out a low moan, I thought I might have a heart attack. The tingles and the heat intensified and I could hear my wolf purring. I lowered my head again and tangled my hands in his black hair.
He looked at me, coming closer and closer until we were an inch apart.
“Kieran? Lila? Is anyone there?” A familiar female voice called out. I could hear pounding on the door of the house.
“What was that?” I whispered, brushing my lips with his once again.
“I don’t care,” he said.
“Is anyone home?” The voice said again. Then my lycanthrope hearing picked up its muttering. “I swear Kieran told me he’d take me on a date today.”
The moment hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water. Kieran didn’t seem to notice, though, and was still looking at me. I looked a bit upset, and started to cry. I’m such an idiot! I fell for him again!
“What’s wrong?” Kieran asked, looking a bit confused. He tried to wipe my tears, but I shoved him away. I got up and started moving away from him. He stayed on the ground, trying to process what was going on. “What happened?”
“Hey, Pamela’s at the front door. Don’t forget you’ve got a date today,” I said, turning around to face him. He flinched when he saw my flushed face and tears falling freely. At the time, I didn’t think it was important. He looked pretty irritated. I stopped him just as he was about to say something. “Let’s forget about what happened, alright? It was a mistake.”
I legged it into the house and up the stairs, ignoring Kieran’s calls.
“So, everything went smoothly with you and Kieran?” Logan asked again, for the thousandth time. He looked at me over his sunglasses, like he was surprised. “So, why did the two of you just vanish after your wrestling match?”
“Nothing,” I lied smoothly, feeling bad for hiding things from Logan. Hey, as they say, ignorance is bliss. “He had a date with Pamela and I called my mum.”
I wasn’t completely lying. Kieran did go on a date with Pamela and I did call my mum to talk about everything that happened. My mum just sighed and said that we couldn’t keep fighting this.
That hard truth scared me.
“Right,” Logan said, sounding a bit shocked, leaning back in the passenger seat. “When you’re ready to be honest with me, I’ll be here.”
I swallowed, looking at the road ahead. Luckily, we decided to chat about this while I was driving. It was a bit of a distraction and he didn’t have to see the guilt on my face.
“So, what’s this boss guy like?” I asked, changing the subject.
I didn’t feel like talking about Kieran today and I didn’t want to deal with him. I was lucky that we didn’t bump into each other in the kitchen, as usual, because I knew he wanted to talk about what happened yesterday. Kieran was the type to look for closure and to clear everything up.
I was the one who ran away. Logan was right after all.
“He’s probably some bald-headed guy who wears Yankees caps and still lives with his mum,” Logan said, sounding pretty disgusted. “What horrible people. They go after people who didn’t even do anything wrong. Haven’t they heard of animal abuse?”
“You do realise you called us animals, right?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“You know what I mean,” Logan muttered. “I’m eager to get to the bottom of this whole case, figure out what to do, and bring down the people who hurt Aunt Serena.”
“Revenge isn’t the answer.”
“Don’t you feel angry towards the people who hurt your mother?”
“Yeah, I’m angry,” I said, not that that was particularly surprising. “But I never see the point in revenge. It just shows who’s the most immature of the two. I want to end this fight, not give them any other reason to get back at us.”
After a few seconds, Logan said, “I guess you’re right.”
When we arrived at the usual spot, I looked at the little red-and-white building. Its sign was pretty much worn out, with peeling red paint. The glass windows and doors showed the inside of the store, with empty guns lined up.
“Who on earth names their store ‘The Huge Spot’?” Logan just laughed. “Show offs.”
“You’re just biased because these people are trying to kill us,” I laughed, slightly cringing at the thought. “Come on, drama queen. It’s show time.”
When we went into the little shop, a skinny guy with a faded blue cap looked up from his book on the counter. “Kids, I knew you’d be there,” Hank said, his voice raspy.
“Of course,” Logan said, putting on a fake smile just like the one on my face.
“How are you kids today?” Hank asked like he knew us for ages. “How are you getting on with Oakmere?”
“Oakmere is interesting,” I said, looking at a picture of Hank near a dead elk.
“Absolutely!” Hank saw me looking at his photo closely. He smiled at me, clearly proud of what he’d achieved. “That was two weeks ago. I took the shot with my rifle. It was massive! It was the biggest deer Oakmere men have ever hunted. I was pretty chuffed with myself for taking down that monster.”
“Like I said, there’s got to be something in the water here. These animals are huge,” Logan joked, before getting back to business. “So, is your boss here?”
“Yeah, he’s just in the back. I’ll get him for you,” Hank said before disappearing into the back hallway. “Simon, the kids I was telling you about are here,” we heard him say.
When Simon came out of the hallway, I noticed the long scar across his cheek straight away. I’m pretty sure it was from one of his hunting trips. He had a big, friendly smile. You’d think he was one of those car salespeople who’ll try to convince you to buy the most expensive car in the lot. He had short, brown and white hair, cut tidily. When he smiled, the corners of his brown eyes crinkled. He had the hunters built.
“Hi, I’m Simon,” he said, putting out his hand.
“Logan,” my cousin said, smiling, shaking his hand.
“Talia,” I said, shaking his hand.
“So, Hank tells me you’re looking for a gun because you’ve spotted some huge dogs around your house,” Simon says, making it sound like a question.
“Yes, that’s right,” Logan confirmed.