Kierra

My sibling picks up my thoughts of something going on that we don't know about and looks back to our mother with dry eyes.

"I took some vacation time from work. Shaun has invitations to a new resort they recently opened south of here and we're heading down there for a week."

I look over to her friend, just catching my eyes before they flare yellow, I look down quickly. Faline picks up for me.

"How long did you say you've been dating for?"

Glancing up to her, she scowls at us. She's going to go no matter what we say. From the emotion coming from her, she really wants to do this, needing a break from work and the stress of family.

Can understand her wish to go, just want her to be safe. I whisper into my sister's head, asking if after she feeds if she can wipe what she'd done from his memory. She shakes her head. Damn.

"Can I see them?"

My asking startles her and him. Right there I know she's lying to us. My jaw clenches hard as I glare at her, letting her know I know she's not telling us the truth. She returns glare for glare.

"Fine. Text me to let me know you're safe at least?"

Taking a deep breath, she nods. She's never hidden anything so blatantly like this from us before. Can understand her need to get away, but she doesn't have to lie to us about it.

Mom and her friend, Shaun, stay for a couple more minutes and chat about nothing. Retrieving my phone, I take a picture of them, making sure he's in focus. Black hair, beard, and brown eyes as is typical for his shade, I make sure to save details to my brain about him.

Sure my sibling is doing the same. I don't get any reading from him other than him being uncomfortable here and enjoying our mother's company. Can't get away with bullying him anymore in fear of my eyes changing.

I want my mother to be happy, I do, I just want her to be safe as well. She doesn't have a very good track record for males in her life, nor do I for that matter. Which is why I'm that much more protective over her.

He heads out first to warm up the car, as if they've been here for hours and it's subzero temperatures. Faline and I both corner her at the door before she can leave, the guys hanging back or going below to give us as much privacy as possible.

"Girls, don't do this, let me have this time. You have no idea how much pressure I've been under."

I wince but stand firm.

"We're all for you having your time, we just want you to be sure of what you're doing. Do you trust this man?"

She nods, her eyes full of yearning with a healthy dose of lust. Eww. Could have gone without seeing that. After badgering and making her promise to text me each night to let us know she's fine, we give hugs, kisses, then she steps out.

All that worrying I did of how I was going to explain things, and she was ignoring as much as possible so she could go on her vacation without anything delaying her. Don't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. Think I end up somewhere in the middle. Least it's done and over with...for now.

Faline looks at me with her lips pursed, so I just lift arms and hands in a shrug.

"Only comfort I have here is he's not dressed as if he came from Downtown. Pants were at his hips, clothes didn't smell like weed, and the only metal in his mouth was a filling."

No, I didn't do a cavity search, he laughed with his mouth wide open.

She sighs and nods, Maii still in her arms. Mom didn't even flinch from him. She wouldn't have though, we all grew up around a variety of animals. Granted none were a coyote, but eh. Raccoons are more vicious than they are, and those we've had.

"Alright, where's your lion?"

"My lion?"

Nodding, I rub the bridge of my nose to hide a grin.

"S'what I said. Your lion. Too tall to misplace, so where'd you stash him?"

She snorts while putting the young Shifter down.

"Told him once I needed to put a bell on him. Think I may still do that. Bright pink with glitter."

His just reaching the top of the stairs has us turning and grinning at him. Know he heard us, makes it all the more amusing since he comes up with hands raised in front of him to show him unarmed.

Riiight.

"You both have a real mean streak, you know that?"

Benji snorts, having gone below but then came back up before the lion and took his place at the counter again.

"Don't get the older one started. I've only heard stories about the little one, but I know the older has a mean streak a mile wide. She'll smile at you while tearing you apart. That was before becoming a wolf, mind you."

My arms cross as I cock my hip and lift a brow. He makes a motion at me as if saying 'see?', so I roll my eyes at him. All the males file back in from below, holding up a finger before the lion can start speaking, I go out back and grab the paintings.

Hasn't been long for the second one, but I want to get them in before I forget to. Calling to Faline, she comes and takes one for me, having gone through this with me before, she knows what to do. No complaints with the weight of them now since I'm pretty sure she could throw my jeep, she just isn't aware of it yet.

The only thing holding back either of us on our amount of force and power is our own minds, the human constraints still wanting to deny that we can do things, so our brains have our bodies restricted. Both going to have to work on that. Somehow.

Heading back into the house, males scatter as we come in and place one canvas on the island counter and the other on the table. They're only there for a moment while two chairs get pulled out and pushed against the wall next to the door, facing out. The cushions on each chair have slits I sliced into them for the wood frames to catch on when set on them so they don't just slide right off.

Apart wide enough for each canvas to sit comfortably, but not in the way. The one of Asher still looks a little moist, but the other that I penned as 'Claim' is dry. Stepping back to look over them before I turn to ask Orion what's so important, I end up stopping as I see everyone staring, so I look back over to see if something's wrong. Faline pipes up for me, cluing me in.

"Take it none of you have seen much of her work?"

Heads all around shake except for Asher and surprisingly, Benjamin. He's still gawking though. Little sister is eyeballing the one with her in it. Again, not surprising. She tends to hate it when I use her as a model for things. Didn't use to, but then stalkers happened.

"I know the painting at the bordello is your work, but with the way that one is done, it doesn't show your depth of skill. These, however, give a better clue."

My eyebrow raises at him again.

"You an art critic now?"

I chuckle before he takes offense, but he just smiles. Xavier's also smiling as he looks over them, the black wolf featured in the one brushes along the inside of my head. Benji eyes the one with me facing off with Nicolaus over my sister.

His jaw clenches, but other than that, there's no emotion on his face. Having asked before, he said he didn't know the Vamp who had her, but his expression has me wondering. Feeling my gaze on him, he blinks, life flowing back into his face while I watch. That's just a lot of creepy.

Looking away, Faline is tilting the one with her forward to see the title on the top edge of the wood, mouthing it to herself. Her face hardens in annoyance before passing. Capturing the thought that no one owns her, I send her the thought that indeed no one does, that's the reason for her expression within the picture.

She looks again, this time the corner of her lip raising. The gawking at them is getting awkward, so I make my way to the couch and curl up on the opposite side of the wolf who's still watching me. Multiple pairs are following me and it's starting to irk me, so I grip my knees.

"Well, Orion? Didn't think you'd be back here till later tonight, what's up? You never answered earlier."

He nods as he starts pacing from the front door to the beginning of the hallway. Bastion goes back to the dark wolf, maned wolf again lowering himself to the floor, this time in front of the door.

Long legs are brought up at the knees where he lays his arms. Maii and Faline take a seat in front of the couch while Ben stays on the counter. Going to have a permanent Ben-butt impression.

Orion does a double-take at the man's neck at the door then looks to the small woman, she looks annoyed and shakes her head.

"Don't look at me, that's not my mark."

His face swings to Ben, who also shakes his head. Now the lion looks slightly confused, so I sigh.

"It's mine. There was a misunderstanding earlier and that was a partial result. Not sure why it hasn't healed yet, not like I have a mouthful of...nevermind. It should have healed by now, right?"

The worry in my voice is what catches the lion's attention, looking over my face as if judging my sincerity. About to say something when she pops in again.

"Remember at the brothel how I channeled her anger? Something like that happened again, it just wasn't anger or rage. It..."

Her features draw together as she looks for the right word or explanation. Xavier comes in, adding his thoughts.

"They were sharing their lusts. That was what was said I believe. From what I saw and felt, they were both sharing the same feelings."

I finish it, since no one else seems to be able to. Asher's warmth is in my head attempting to be comforting, but he pulls back at my request.

"She and I had been roughhousing, something we've done many times before. It started to get rougher than what we used to do, but that isn't surprising considering our new strengths."

Actually shocked we didn't break anything, but that wouldn't have been the first time either.

"We were fine for the most part, even if things were to get real rough, we both know we wouldn't hurt the other. The others here didn't know that though."

My head motions to Xavier and Benji, who incline their heads, then to Asher. The male Vamp no longer has a mark thanks to her saliva sealing it closed. I don't have that ability, so the false wolf gets screwed.

"Xavier pulled me back and Ben grabbed her just as we were about to go head to head. There was no anger, not even when I was grabbed. The opposite in fact."

I have to look down since this is where it gets embarrassing. Little sister turns and reaches out to touch my leg.

"I'm not sure what she was feeling, but I would imagine it was about the same that I felt. We were having fun and that created an 'energy'. With us being pulled apart, that 'energy' didn't have an outlet. There was only two given by my body; fight or fuck."

I wince at my own terminology, but that's what it was. There were no tender feelings of love or even a friendly romp, it was a full-out need to screw.

"I turned to the fighting but it started to bleed into something else. That, I think, is when I picked up on my sister's blood craving. My excitement and battle lust had mixed with her bloodlust."

Gaze finding hers, she nods in agreement. We look back up to the pondering man who is once again pacing, a look of concentration on his face. Watching him as he makes the circuit, my attention is grabbed by the Vampire across the room who's staring at me contemplatively. His blue-green eyes slide over to my sister but then come right back to mine before he asks his question.

"At the store, I had started to mention she was different and you immediately quieted me, saying that you know and that's why she's in danger. How, exactly, is she different?"

That, I'm not exactly sure, and I'm pretty positive my expression shows that.

"An ability of mine."

Looking down, Faline is watching Orion, who had stopped when Ben made his inquiry. The lion nods and explains further.

"Ability is one word for it, but it goes deeper than that I think, which leads me to why I'm here so early. There's a pair of prophecies..."