Chapter 2 - Tannen

The autumn air brushed against my skin as I walked to Rand's house. It was a perfect day. On top of that, things had been mostly quiet as far as looming dangers ever since Astrid came to live with Rand. Maybe this was the time the Silver Wolves finally actually got to retire.

I glanced out at the trees, already itching to get out and run. My wolf was begging to come out, pushing at me the way he always did when he got impatient.

Not long now , I told him as I walked up the walkway to Rand's house. Just seeing if Rand's home, then we can get going. Honestly, my wolf wasn't the only one who was eager. It had been a while since I'd been able to shift and hunt. It would be nice to get out.

I knocked on the door and waited, looking out at the orange and yellow and red leaves, my wolf itching to stretch his legs and run. It had been too long since Rand and I had spent time together, just the two of us.

The door opened, and as it did, I caught the smell of honey and lemon. I recognized it, and my wolf perked up at the scent as Thea poked her head out.

"Oh. It's you," she said.

The frostiness in her voice took me by surprise. Thea had always seemed like a sweet girl. I wouldn't have expected that sort of reaction.

She pushed the door open a little bit and tilted her head. "What's up?"

I meant to answer, but I got distracted for a moment as I looked her up and down. I'd never really been into curvy women —I'd always preferred slender and athletic. But something about Thea made her shape more alluring. She'd turned out to be an exception to the rule.

She noticed me staring and frowned, her shoulders tensing.

"I was looking for Rand," I said, glossing over what could otherwise have been a rather awkward conversation. "I was going to see if he wanted to go on a hunt."

"He and Astrid are out on a date," she said.

"Any idea when they'll be back?" I asked.

Her full lips quirked upward. "Depends on how well the date goes," she said. "You know how those two are."

I snorted. "You're not wrong," I said. Rand and Astrid were notoriously always butting heads. It was their bizarre way of showing affection.

"Any chance I could wait around for him?" I asked. "I wanted to talk to him about something."

She hesitated, something like frustration flickering across her face.

I raised my eyebrows. "Come on. It's not like I'm a random stranger."

She let out a long exhale through her nose, then nodded and stepped out of the way.

"Thanks," I said.

I followed her into the living room, where an awkward silence filled the space between us.

"How are you settling into Brixton?" I asked, trying to break the bizarre tension.

She shrugged. "Fine, I guess. It's been a few months at this point."

"Sure, but considering everything you went through, I figure it's worth asking. Anyone who got kidnapped as a bargaining chip would have every right to take some time to process it."

Her features softened a little. "It took a bit of time," she admitted. "Mostly, I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to get away from them on my own. All the training and stuff I went through, and it didn't matter." She spoke a little bitterly. "Not exactly a confidence booster."

"They caught you off-guard," I pointed out. "And besides, it was, what, three-on-one? The odds weren't exactly in your favor. And that's not including the fact that…" I trailed off, hesitating.

"That I'm an absent?" she asked. "Being one doesn't render me incapable of defending myself, you know."

"It has to make it harder, though," I pointed out.

Her eyes flashed with anger, then something flickered behind it, the rage dulling. "Yeah, sure," she muttered. "But it shouldn't."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. It felt like dangerous waters, and anything I said would make things worse. So I changed topics. "You're not getting any issues over that, are you?"

"Over being an absent?" she asked a little tersely. "Hasn't really been an issue, except for a couple of guys. Most of the people in Brixton aren't bigots and understand it isn't that big of a deal."

Something about the way she said it set off alarm bells. My brow furrowed as I studied her a bit more closely. Her full lips were set in perfectly straight line, her eyes distrusting and guarded as she looked at me.

"You're not insinuating I have something against absents, are you?" I asked, frowning.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

I laughed. "You've got to be kidding, right? Of course I don't."

"Uh-huh." Those two syllables dripped with disbelief and distaste.

I bristled. If there was one thing I didn't like, it was being labeled something I wasn't. What she was implying made me look like a piece of shit. "Look, if you've got something to say, why don't you go ahead and say it?"

"Forget it," she snapped. She shook her head, and I could smell the anger wafting off her. "I'm going upstairs. You can wait for Rand here if you like."

She moved to push past me. I grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me," she snapped.

"Why do you think I have something against absents?" I asked.

She jerked her arm out of my grasp. "You really don't know?"

I hesitated, looking her up and down. Everything about her radiated dislike, from the set of her shoulders to her narrowed eyes.

"Honestly? No. So please tell me." I said, the earnestness in my voice sincere. The last thing I wanted was for Thea to dislike me. If I'd done something to piss her off, I'd rather know so I could clear the air.

"The party," she spat. "When you said absents were closer to humans than shifters, and that you felt sorry for me."

I winced as the memory surfaced. The conversation between Mark and me. I hadn't meant anything by it, but if she'd heard it…

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't think you would hear it."

"And saying it behind my back makes it better?"

"No, but it's not like I was spreading rumors or anything like that," I defended. "I was just stating an opinion."

"Yeah. A really shitty and ignorant opinion."

I stared at her in disbelief. "Well, was what I said wrong ?"

Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut as she glared at me. "You've got some nerve saying shit like that. I'm still a shifter. Even if I can't turn into a wolf. I'm not lesser."

I held up my hands. "Sorry. If I'd known you'd be that sensitive about it—"

" Sensitive? " She gaped, and I could see the fire burning in her eyes. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "You know nothing about me."

I stared, mouth open, still trying to get a grip on everything that had just happened. It felt as though everything had been flipped on its head in an instant, and I wasn't sure how to process it.

Thea had always seemed fairly friendly and mild-mannered. Sweet, even. It turned out that there was another side to her that I hadn't noticed before.

"You know, when I first met you, I thought you were really nice," she said. "You seemed thoughtful, and generally seemed to take an interest in me. I thought you would treat me normally, and I appreciated that." She took a deep breath, as if only beginning to wind up. "And then I started hearing all these rumors about you. Mostly from women."

"What rumors?" I demanded, but I already knew what the rumors would be. What else were they but how I tended to sleep around? Not that there was anything wrong with that.

"Basically? That you bounce from woman to woman and leave them the instant you get bored," she said, folding her arms. "For a bit, I was willing to think it might have just been from some jilted ex of yours, or someone else with a grudge. But after seeing you around here all the time, after hearing some of the things you've told Rand, I one-hundred percent believe them all."

"You're being a bit old-fashioned, don't you think?" I retorted. "That kind of stuff happens all the time nowadays."

"And that makes it all right?" she demanded. She shook her head, the anger still wafting off her. "I was willing to look past it, to at least be cordial for Rand and Astrid's sake. But you saying shit like this about me just makes more certain that you're not worth it."

My mouth worked, but no sound came out. I tried desperately to think of something that would calm the situation. I didn't like her being this angry at me. For whatever reason, I desperately needed her to like me. I couldn't understand why, but I couldn't walk away with her thinking of me like this.

This wasn't me. Was it?

"Thea—"

"I'm getting out of here," she spat. "Leave me the hell alone."

And she stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind her and leaving me standing alone in the middle of her kitchen.