The very next day, I got a call from the old, kind woman from the town-hall. She did need help. It wouldn't be a glamorous job, or something that would bring in a lot of money, she warned. It was two or three nights a week, some weekends. Cleaning. Tending to the meetings. Making food in the little cold kitchen.

I asked her when I could start.

The Monday after the incident, Easton stepped into the kitchen with a soft, but clearly smile. He filled the doorway, brimming with nervous, yet excited energy. My attention flickered over him, to the drying hair that curled at his ears. The red flush of his cheeks. The rolled-up sleeve, exposing veiny forearms.

"You're excited about something." I had slept well last night, so there was a softer bite to my voice. Nothing had chased me. Drowned me. Strapped me down. I had slept and woken up to sunlight and a room where the walls told a story.

Like every morning, he made a coffee that I was sure would rot his teeth. The routine was familiar. Safe in some ways. It was interchangeable who woke first, but I was always the first into the kitchen. Lux would follow us sometimes a half-an hour later, but Muffin would arrive, begging for food and then promptly ignoring us.

It was nice.

I picked at the scraps of last night's dinner—a roast that I had devoured, much to the surprise of Lux, Blav, Merri, and Easton. The two turkeys had been massive—enough that two Lycan males couldn't finish it. But they had never met my hunger. Even now, I picked at the bare meat left on the carcass.

He slid into his favourite chair at the kitchen table. In the morning light, his eyes were liquid gold. "I was thinking, why don't we hire you a tutor?"

I thought about it. "A tutor?"

He nodded. "You want to finish school. I thought maybe, the school environment might be too busy, so we don't we hire a tutor for you. Someone to help you with your maths, and writing and anything else you want. Someone who could teach you all the things we teach young Lycans."

I thought about the freedom that could bring me, and smiled at him. "I would like that."

Across the table, his breathing hitched. "Then I'll get one for you."

I titled my head at the hitch in his breathing, turning my attention to the kitchen. Not a threat in sight. Was his coffee actually giving him a heart-attack? Did I give him CPR? Aspirin? I knew how to yank a heart out from behind the breastbone, but not how to keep it beating.

I looked back to him again, finding him smiling still. There was something warm about it. I shifted, listening to the steady and heavy thud of his heartbeat.

There was a knock on the door. I flinched at the sudden noise, planting myself back against the counter. Easton didn't react, his voice slow and calm. "That should be Blav."

Heat suffused my cheeks, and my attention shot away from him. "I'll get that."

His brows pinched, and I realized he was keeping himself relaxed. He thumbed his newspaper open casually. "He has some files for me."

"You better make him and Merri some breakfast." As I passed the table, I paused. I leaned over, peering down at the colourful spread of the paper. I was close enough to feel the heat of his body, close enough to see the curve of his lashes and the intricate details of his scars. "Anything interesting?"

"Nothing really," He glanced at me briefly, cheeks reddening. "Just normal – stuff."

"Stuff?" I eyed him. "Sounds like you made a good purchase."

"I like the paper," He defended.

"Yes. The problems of the world all written out to be devoured in the morning. How do you remain so cheery?"

He flashed a smile at me and then it felt as if I was having a heart-attack. "You think I'm cheery?"

"Annoyingly so. Like a truckload of sugar dumped into a good coffee."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not?" He said, the familiar curve of that smile only furthering my retreat into the hall.

There was another knock.

"I'll leave that for you to decide."

He grumbled at me, but there was no heat or venom in it.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" I goaded.

"You would have to work a lot harder than that." His tone was clearly teasing.

I flicked open the lock of the door and eased it open, actually excited at the thought of getting to see Blav. He was a ball of energy, but I liked the way he moved around a room. I liked to try and copy his smiles when I was on my own but I didn't like the sight of it.

It wasn't Blav, but a girl on the other side of the door. A girl with long, dark hair and eyes of striking green. She was smiling widely as the door opened but as she spotted me, that smile faltered.

"Who are you?" She asked sharply.

I knew her.

"Nyssa." Something tightened in my chest, painful and ragged. Nyssa scanned me quickly, shucking the strap of her handbag over her shoulder. She wore a loose summer dress that hung over her tanned knees. Not a single strand of her hair was out of place, and her sharp cheekbones shimmered.

Shiny.

I wondered where I could get some shiny dust?

"You know my name?" Somehow that pleased her. "Is Easton there?"

A young male ambled along the footsteps, hands tucked into his pockets. Panic swallowed me as I spotted him, that keening pain only growing worse. Kale. My two little twins.

Nyssa cleared her throat. "Are you going to let us in?"

Lordie. Grief gnawed at my stomach and I wanted to slam the door and hide in the dark, or in the music room. Away from them. Away from these twins that were my brother and sister and yet not the ones I had known. How could strangers make me feel this way?

Mouth dry, my gaze flickered to Kale again. He smiled politely at me, wearing patched jeans and a shirt rolled up. At either ear, two little curls jutted out.

Little Kale.

"Nyssa?" Easton's voice rang out behind me and I watched as her face brightened, red darkening her tanned cheeks. "And Kale! What a surprise!"

There was a note of concern in his voice. And panic. He stood behind me, a hairsbreadth from my back. "I didn't know you were coming."

Nyssa flashed a toothy smile. "I wanted to surprise you."

I glanced up at the Alpha beside me, noting the tense line of his mouth. Not happy. My attention slid back to Nyssa, then to Kale who stared at me intensely, a furrowed line between his brows.

The same furrowed line I noticed every morning at the mirror. I rarely smiled at myself. I didn't like all the teeth.

"Can't you see it?" Kale inched a shoulder in front of Nyssa, ignoring her burst of protest. Green eyes, a freckled face. Soft smile. He stood too close and I tried not to flinch, inching back into the Alpha who took a quick step back as I tried to retreat. Giving me space.

Kale's smile was edged with sadness and the hand that was reaching for me, fell. "I only ever called you one name. Do you remember it?"

I had felt so much older than them. Their protectors. "Of course." I croaked. "You had that little ratty space book that you always kept in your pile of important documents. You always made me read to you about supernovas."

Funny how my brother nicknamed me after something that destroyed. I had read him the same story about supernovas when he was a child. He was too old for stories he said, but I had enjoyed reading to him so he bore it. I knew he had loved it too. Supernova. Cataclysmic. Collapsing in on myself, destroying everything around spectacularly.

"Nova?" Nyssa's voice was small and she peered around Kale's broad shoulders, staring at me in shock. "As in our missing, presumed dead sister?"

"Nyssa!" Kale whipped out with a hiss.

I didn't mind. The insult, intended or not, grounded me. Gave me a semblance of normality when there were too many emotions ringing around inside of me. Like a bottle of rotting fizz that was firing away inside of me.

"Not dead." I told her levelly. "I made sure of that."

Her jaw set. "And you just let us, what? Think you're dead?"

I clucked my tongue, but a heavy hand settled softly on my shoulder. "This is not the kind of conversation we should have in the house's doorway. Why don't you both come inside?"

Though I may have lost my ability to read social clues, that didn't mean I couldn't read the pinch between my sister's brows as she eyed the hand on my shoulder.

We migrated into the house awkwardly. I was glad for the Alpha's presence as he settled into conversation easily, his voice warm and pleasant. Like Lux, he seemed to be able to throw himself amicably into situations even when the tension was high.

I had handled it before with aggression.

As we congregated in the hall, just a bundle of nervous energy, the live-in sunshine appeared at the top of the stairs. Lux was bare-foot, dressed in pyjamas that swamped her tiny frame.

"Oh guests," Lux descended the stairs with a welcoming smile. Shifting her damp hair over her shoulders, she took us all in. I knew she felt the atmosphere, but she was always so good at handling people. Maybe I should hire her to handle life in general for me?

"This is Kale and Nyssa Linden," Easton rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

Lux's smile faltered. "The Lindens?"

I had never told her about the twins. I guessed that my life story had been a mention in some magazine once before. "My brother and sister."

"Well, can you call us that when you just pretended we didn't exist?" Nyssa's voice was as soft as a coiled, hissing snake. "Is that something a family would do?"

"I don't expect you to understand my choices in life." The comment rattled me. "Actually I know you wouldn't, but you're alive because of it."

Kale lay a hand on Nyssa's shoulders. "I think we need to just calm down. Let's just sit in the sunlight and talk."

Nyssa shook him off, but conceded all the same.

As if they had been here a hundred times before, both Kale and Nyssa migrated to the garden. Lux, Easton and I lingered in the dark hallway.

"I didn't know they were coming," Easton murmured.

"Do they come often?" I was strangely disjointed, un-nerved by the sudden appearance of the twins. I could have gone to them months ago, but it had been safer not to.

"I usually visit them. Just to check in." Easton hovered, clearly worried. "And I've never turned them away when they visit."

Was this nervousness? A strange knot in the pit of my stomach. Dry tongue. Finger-nails digging into my palms. "I didn't want to draw them into my rottenness."

Lux lay a hand on my shoulder, so light that it could have been a bird. "They're here now. And you've never been one to back down. Remember that pesky rat in the apartment that gnawed through the wires?"

I blinked, turning my attention to her. "It took me three whole days to trap him."

I could have just hunted him down like I had with the rats in the Mad-Maze. They had always been an emergency food or something to do when I was bored.

"Easton?" Nyssa called from the garden, "Are you coming?"

Easton looked down at me, his eyes soft and golden. "I'll make the tea and coffee. Black for you – and bitter enough to be an old man who achieved nothing in his life. Lux, a tea with milk and sugar."

I clucked my tongue. "You're only saying that because I insult your coffee so much."

"Honeycomb is lovely in coffee."

"Disgusting."

"I think it's garden time. Milk and sugar is good enough for me. Thanks E." Lux hooked a hand around my elbow, tugging me gently towards the garden. "I'll sort things out here for a moment."

Easton, the towering hulk of rippling muscle and scarred flesh, blinked at the nickname. A bemused smile flickered across his face as he stared down at the tiny girl. "I'll be right out."

Nyssa and Kale stared openly as we stepped out into the garden. Nyssa's attention quickly shot to the door, waiting. "Where's Easton?"

"Coming," I sat into the chair, crossing my long legs. The sun warmed my freckled skin, heat seeping into my bones. Soothing my growing tension. "So..."

"So," Kale risked a shy smile. "So Nova."

"Not dead," I supplied. "Which is a good thing."

"And you're safe and happy?" Kale queried softly. "Lunar is safe."

The Alpha returned and Nyssa rose to help him with the drinks. He had thrown nibbling food into little bowls and eased himself into a chair beside me.

"I haven't been here long," I explained. "I just...it is safe. The safest place I've been in years."

"And the phones don't work, I suppose?" Nyssa asked sweetly.

I eyed her darkly, mulling over the quick rise of fiery anger. She was entitled to her pain. To her shock too. While Kale stewed in silent contemplation, Nyssa was a fiery furnace.

"You're asking that sarcastically," I pointed out. "If I didn't call you, there's a reason."

"So what's that reason?" She asked, leaning forward to nab some food.

"I have enemies." I told her frankly. The Alpha cast me a sharp look but stayed silent. Nyssa caught that, her lips pressing into a tight line. I pushed forward, determined that if I gave them a nugget of truth, then it might soothe the rising frustration. "And they're dangerous people. Staying away was a way to keep you safe and wasn't a decision that was easy."

Kale's eyes scoured my wrists, my hands and my face. "You have your reasons, Nova. I know that."

I didn't want them to know about the Ravi. I didn't want that cloud looming over them. No – not a cloud. A thunderous storm. Dark and violent clouds with thunder and hailstones and lightening that struck the ground.

"I don't understand." Nyssa smoothened her hands along her long legs. "But then again, I don't understand a lot of things. Kale's right. I'm sure you had your reasons."

Lux glanced over the group. "So, you're Nova's family? Tell me what are you all up to now?"

"Oh!" Kale brightened, latching on for a chance to move the conversation on. "We finished secondary- school last week, so we have the summer to relax and pray we got enough marks to get into college."

"And where did you go to school?"

"Alpacina," Nyssa replied smoothly

Easton glanced at me, his voice a low rumble. "It's a good school."

"Only the best get in." Nyssa told us just as quick. "And there are only a few human admissions in every first year intake."

Easton took a sip of coffee before addressing her. "You'll have loads of opportunities in life. The name Alpacina is enough to get most college admissions looked at or reviewed if rejected."

"Nicolas taught there." Lux said.

I focused on Easton. The farm. The fancy school. I remembered Mam struggling to pay the bills when I was a teenager. I remembered learning to fix what I could in the house. Studying hard so I could try and get some kind of scholarship.

"I suppose the school and farm were your doing?" I asked.

His cheeks darkened. "Yes."

He had dismantled a monarchy. Changed the Law. Broken down the Sectors and had given my Mam a good home and got the twins into a good, reputable school. The monarchy and the law was something I could look over, but what he had did for my family – when I couldn't help them. When I was failing them, causing them pain, he had taken up the slack.

Even when I was gone. Missing, presumed dead, he had taken care of them. Guilt? Or because he was a good person? Despite everything, he was good?

"You aren't the Lycan I thought you were."

"That's a good thing, I suppose?"

I snorted out a laugh. "My original perception was less than flattering."

The garden had gone silent during our exchange. Kale waited patiently for us to finish before he said quietly, "We should call Mam."

"That's a good idea." That was nervousness in my voice. Doc-Mai would have been rejoicing at that break. Kale stood and then I had to stand too, uncomfortable with his height looming over me. My brother's lips lifted in a half smile, eyes shining. He reached a hand for my arm.

An ask.

I slung my arms around him, tucking him to me tight.

Arms wrapped around me and he hugged me back. My voice was rough as I said, "I missed you. Both of you."

So much.

I held him tighter for a moment, careful not to break his bones like twigs. When I drew back, I kept a hand on him. This time, I looked to Nyssa. Her lips were wobbling, her eyes bright and wet. When she blinked, tears sluiced down her cheeks.

She smiled at me then and I felt the past eight years mute. Just for a moment.

I smiled back at her.

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