Page 43 of It’s You

J ack took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, exhausted by the force of his memories. At the time, he’d had no idea it would take almost twenty years to come up with a viable plan and return to her.

And look where it got you, Jack. Great job.

He wasn’t more than ten minutes from home now, and after he greeted his family, he intended to grab Julien, who knew the woods better than anyone, and find their father.

He was sick of sitting so long, and after the long drive, he’d welcome the run.

A Roug run. It had been a long time. He almost sighed in anticipation.

He glanced at his phone and was surprised to see that he had a text message. So deep in his own thoughts, he hadn’t heard the phone ping.

Willow

Found the records you were talking about. When can we talk?

He slowed down the car on a straight, wide road so that he could text back.

Jack

Almost home. Need to deal with family business. Tonight.

He hit send, then impulsively wrote again:

Tell her I miss her.

And hit send again.

As he pulled into the parking area adjacent to his parents’ cabin, he checked his phone again and was disappointed to find a single reply:

Tonight.

Not a word about Darcy.

“Jacques!” Lela raced out of the cabin and threw her arms around her older half brother.

“Hey, Lela.” Jack clasped her smaller body in his arms, looking down at her braided hair.

When she finally leaned back and looked into his eyes, Jack was surprised by how mature and womanly she appeared.

Lela had always been good-looking, her skin and eyes a touch lighter than most Rougs, owing to her quarter-blooded human ancestry, but the last time Jack had seen her was three years ago, and she’d still been a teenager. She’d certainly filled out since.

“Are you checking me out?” she asked, looking up at him from under heavily lashed eyes.

He pushed her away. “Quit flirting. I’m your brother.”

“Half,” she said, eyes challenging, hands on her hips. Jack had a sudden flashback to Lynette standing the same way before Tallis.

The door opened, and Jack’s brother, Julien, appeared behind Lela.

Again, Jack was surprised by how much his siblings had changed in the three years he’d been away.

At twenty-six, Julien was almost as tall and broad as Jack, with a thick head of jet-black hair, void of the gray Jack sported at his temples.

But Jack could see the sorrow around his eyes.

Julien was a veuf . A widower. Bound at eighteen to his sweetheart, Natalia, she’d been killed on a hunt last summer, hit by a truck when they were crossing the road during a hunt south of Portes de l’Enfer.

Julien had dispatched the driver quickly, leaving the truck abandoned, and returned to the pack carrying the limp body of his mate.

Jack dropped his eyes to see Julien’s little daughter, Delphine, appear at his side. The four-year-old had black hair and big, brown eyes tinged with tiny moss-colored flakes, like her father. Since losing Natalia, Julien and Delphine had moved back in with his parents and Lela.

Lela turned around and grabbed the child, adroitly swinging her up on one hip with a bright smile.

“You know who this is, louveteau ?”

Delphine shook her head no, looking from her aunt to eye Jack warily.

“This is your Uncle Jacques. Papa’s brother.”

“Uncle Jacques from the Southern Bloodlands?” she whispered.

Julien stepped up, peeking around Lela’s shoulders to wink at his daughter.

“The same.”

He smiled at Jack and put out one large paw of a hand, which Jack shook with a big smile.

“Good to see you, petit frère .”

“ Petit means small,” declared Delphine with furrowed brows. “My papa ain’t small.”

Jack chuckled. “He’s small to me, louveteau. And so are you.”

“A course I am,” she replied with a very cross face. “I’m a little girl.”

Lela smiled at her half niece and put her down, telling her to go find her Grand’mère Tallis and tell her Jacques was home. The three siblings watched her scamper off toward the garden, and Jack turned back to Lela and Julien.

“Any news?”

Julien took a deep breath and shook his head.

“ Maman is crazy with worry.”

“In addition to being just crazy,” Lela added.

Jack gave her a warning look.

“Hoping you wouldn’t mind shifting and helping us search.” Julien inclined his head to Lela, then looked at Jack expectantly.

“Is Lela up for this?” he asked his brother.

Julien looked surprised at first, then grinned, and Jack saw the softness in his little brother’s eyes. “Have you met Lela?”

Jack flicked his eyes to Lela. Hers burned in indignation. She looked as fierce as a warrior, as fierce as his mother had looked in her prime.

“It’s going to be a hard run,” he said, deciding not to dwell on the quick tell of emotion he’d seen in Julien’s eyes, but wondering if there was something between him and Lela. Although half brother-half sister bindings weren’t necessarily encouraged, they weren’t prohibited by the pack either.

Lela smirked like a fox.

“Then try to keep up, boys.”

Jack, Julien, and Lela had no luck on their run, even though they covered a huge swath of forest fully shifted.

By the time they returned to the cabin, the sun was setting, and they were dirty, tired, and hungry.

Jack and Julien slipped back into the pants they’d left waiting at the side of the cabin.

When Jack rounded the corner of the house, Lela stood naked by the front door, clothes in her hand by her side.

“Good run,” she said to Jack, her voice deep and soft.

Jack stopped in his tracks, surprised, and couldn’t help but sweep his eyes quickly over her body.

Black hair brushed the tops of her shoulders.

He dropped his eyes and noticed her nipples standing at attention in the night air.

Her waist was small and tight over small hips, and the junction of her thighs was covered in a triangle of dark, curly hair.

He looked away, and his eyes unfocused, without a hint of interest or attraction as he thought of Darcy.

He missed her. He clenched his eyes shut to keep from going inside, to keep from finding her. He wanted to wait until later when he was alone. Then he’d try to connect with her, and hopefully she?—

“Jesus, Lela!” Julien hurried around Jack, holding out the shirt he’d been wearing earlier, and putting it over her shoulders. He clutched the sides together until she reached up and took them from him.

“You’re a prude, Julien.”

“Only because you’re acting like a slut.”

Jack’s head had whipped up as they argued, and now he was surprised to see Julien’s eyes burning as he looked away from an unaware Lela, who called him a “fucker” as she quickly let herself into the cabin.

Julien stared at the door, cursing softly under his breath. Jack touched Julien’s arm and spoke gently.

“She’s our sister.”

“ Half sister. Which doesn’t mean anything to the pack.”

“Doesn’t it mean anything to you?”

“Why should it?” Julien’s eyes narrowed, but changed from burning gold back to brown, and Jack could see the confusion there.

“I can’t help it,” he admitted in a whisper. “She doesn’t feel like a sister to me.”

Jack took a step back, staring at his younger brother, unsure of what to say. Regardless of pack rules, they’d grown up with Lela. She wasn’t a contender for binding. She was their sister, their family.

“She’s so good with Delphine. And she’s around all the time. I hear her sleeping in the other room. I hear her breathing. I hear it when she turns over in her sleep. I smell her scent. Everywhere I turn, there she is. I?—”

Jack put his hands on Julien’s shoulders. “I know it’s not forbidden, but it’s wrong. It’s?—”

“I know !” When Julien looked up, his eyes were angry. “I haven’t made a move on her, have I? I haven’t kissed her. Christ, you come back every couple of years and think you have all the answers for us peons.”

“I don’t have all the answers, Julien.” He thought about Darcy, about the otherworldly pull he felt to her, even before he kissed her.

So much of what Julien said about Lela felt familiar to Jack.

Still, it wasn’t right. Maybe it was Julien’s grief over losing his wife, and Lela had offered him comfort, confusing him.

“I was sorry about Natalia. I know how much you loved her. Maybe you’re just confused about?—”

“Fuck you, Jacques,” said Julien and pushed past his brother into the cabin. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Jack stood outside by himself for a moment, shaking his head.

Things were messier at home than he’d anticipated, but Julien was wrong.

Jack had no answers. Not for his own life, and not for those of his family.

He was the last person in any position to give advice.

He ran both hands through his hair and followed Julien into the cabin.

Their mother was sitting in a rocking chair by the fireplace, a sleeping Delphine on her lap. She didn’t look up as they entered.

“ Pas de chance. Je peux à peine le sentir maintenant.” No luck. I can barely feel him now. She finally looked up at Jack and gave him a wan smile from her bony, sunken face, then tilted her head to the side and continued in French. “You look good, son. Strong.”

Lela stood in the kitchen, holding a mug with one hand and the ends of Julien’s shirt over her breasts with the other, eyes down. How Lela and Tallis had managed to share the small cabin for all of these years was lost on Jack. He couldn’t imagine the strain on both of them.

“Lela, I said wash up. Delphine needs to be put to bed. Maintenant . Don’t make me wait.”

Lela nodded once, then quickly crossed the room, headed to the bathroom between the bedrooms on the left side of the house.

“She should have left the search to you two. To my boys.” She looked up at Julien, and her shrewd look wasn’t lost on Jack. “Were you distracted by her?”

“No, Maman ,” Julien answered, but he evaded her gaze.