Chapter 22

Lauren

I was worried about Denny and still furious with Kylie. My mate had to come first, though, no matter how torn inside I felt.

A part of me wanted to lock Kylie up and ground her or something for being so stupid.

I knew she didn’t actually hate me. Well, I was pretty sure of that. It wasn’t the first time she’d lashed out like that. It wasn’t even the first time since we arrived in California. But it still made me feel awful when it happened.

If she was ever going to grow up, I knew I had to back off. It was just hard when I could see her making stupid decisions like this.

Then again, who was I to judge? Chances were I’d had more beers than her tonight. I wasn’t sure because she hadn’t answered my question when I’d asked her how many she’d had. But I also knew that I was spurred on in my own anger from the alcohol.

“I’m going to have to apologize to her when I see her again,” I confessed.

“I’m sorry. I told you we’d watch her, and I failed you.”

I snorted. “No, you didn’t. She’s a grown woman now. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. And like you warned me, if she wants to drink, she’ll find a way. Logically, I know that. I was just freaking out needlessly.”

“You were worried.”

“I was worried,” I agreed.

“I love how protective you are of her.”

“She can take care of herself. I know that. I picked up two extra shifts a week for a year to ensure she was properly trained in self-defense. But I still worry. I just can’t help it.”

Denny was calming down by the time we walked outside, and I was shocked to find the house largely empty. When they shut down a party, they shut down a party.

Where’d everyone go? I wondered.

As we stepped outside on the porch, I stopped in my tracks when I saw Kylie. There was that male again. I really did not like that guy. Even from here I could tell he wasn’t even a wolf, though I wasn’t sure exactly what sort of shifter he was.

He was kissing her and, much to my horror, she was kissing him back. But his hands were becoming more aggressive. The first time, Kylie managed to maneuver him away. The second time, she stopped long enough to shake her head, but I wasn’t even sure the asshole noticed. So on his third attempt, when he began to grope her breasts, something feral erupted from me.

“Get your filthy hands off of her,” I growled.

He continued as if he hadn’t even heard me.

I was pretty sure I wasn’t imagining my sister’s distress, though she continued to kiss him anyway even as her hands stalled his progression.

All I saw was him attacking her.

I stalked over to them and grabbed him by the shoulder as I roughly pulled him away from her.

Kylie gasped.

The man snarled at me.

“I said, get your filthy hands off of her!”

“Lady, mind your own damn business.”

Oh no, he did not.

“She told you no, you little ass.”

“You’re tripping. She didn’t say anything, so get the hell out of here.”

“She’s deaf, you moron.”

He looked a little surprised by that, then shrugged. “So she can’t hear. Doesn’t mean she can’t talk.”

“That’s exactly what it means. Are you seriously this much of an idiot?”

His chest puffed out, and he took a step closer to me.

Kylie grabbed onto his arm and tried to distract him away. I could smell the fear rolling off of her, but my wolf did not care. I was already seeing red as a menacing growl of warning felt as if it started in my toes and vibrated all the way through my body.

Maybe the guy wasn’t completely stupid, because he backed away slowly.

“That bitch is crazy!” he yelled as he stumbled and then turned to take off running.

Wrong thing to do, I thought as I readied to give chase.

My muscles coiled as I honed in on my prey, poised to attack.

Just as I moved to go after him, Kylie frantically grabbed my arm and distracted me.

I turned to look at her.

“ Go home, Lauren! ”

Her arms waved dramatically through the air, and then I watched in horror as she shifted right there. It was almost as if her wolf had burst from her. Shreds of her clothing slowly fluttered to the ground.

I knew I should have gone after her, but I just stood there, stunned.

I’d been the punching bag to her frustrations before, but not like this. Our earlier argument had barely even fazed me, but this time her words cut me to my core. And there had been something in her eyes that had terrified me and stopped me in my tracks.

My wolf still wanted to go after the guy but was also torn by a need to protect her. So I did nothing but stand there and watch.

Kylie had been demanding her independence for so long and I wanted to give that to her more than anything, but how could I when assholes like that existed in this world?

When I looked at my little sister, I didn’t see a weak, na?ve child, but my Alpha and others had warned me that she would be. That she could never fully survive in our world. I stubbornly wanted to dispel that notion. I knew she was strong and fiercely independent. But I also knew that I didn’t always treat her that way.

Had I overstepped tonight?

I’d seen her clearly tell him no, yet she had kept kissing him.

There had been plenty of alcohol at the party tonight. Who's to know if she had been drinking? Had he drugged her? I read the news. Stuff like that happened all the time, especially on college campuses.

Or was I actually the na?ve one?

I knew she didn’t really hate me, but it still stung that she’d lashed out like that.

Standing there staring out into the woods where I’d watched her disappear, I felt the fight flee my body. A chill ran up my spine and I hugged myself, running my hands up and down my arms.

Just as I turned to walk back into the house, I heard a noise that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

A strangled howl filled the silence of the night. It was a haunting sound that made my stomach turn.

“Kylie!” I screamed.

Without hesitation, I shifted and sounded an alarming howl in return, even knowing she couldn’t hear it. Then, I took off after her, chastising myself every step of the way.

How could I have just let her run off like that?

She rarely ever shifted, and I think that’s what had surprised me more than anything, but I knew better. Because she never allowed herself to shift meant she was even more vulnerable in her fur.

What had I done?

The fear and animosity towards myself suddenly subsided as a larger wolf ran up next to me.

Denny.

He followed me without prompting.

The other must have heard my distressed response to Kylie’s howl, too. Because I knew we weren’t alone.

I blinked at the air hitting my eyes as we ran side-by-side through the woods on the hunt for my sister. I wasn’t alone in this, and there was no way for me to properly describe how much that meant to me.

It didn’t take long before I realized there was a lot more than I thought running with us. The thunderous sounds of paws hitting the ground surrounded us. It should have distressed me even more, but somehow my wolf and I understood they were here to help.

I’d been raised in a Pack all my life, but I’d always been an outsider, never fully fitting in. It wasn’t until this moment that I truly understood what it meant to be a part of a Pack, to have a group of people to care enough to come to my aid and have my back in time of need. Never once had I felt that before now.

Sure, my Pack ensured our safety and allowed me to raise Kylie, but I was a child myself. I should never have had that responsibility put on my shoulders. There should have been others to help carry that weight, too. Running with Denny, and who knew how many others made me feel like I wasn’t all alone in this world.

Why had I been trying to run away from this?

I couldn’t explain it in a way that made any sense, even to me.

Denny was my mate, and I was pretty positive I was in love with him. I shouldn’t have to sacrifice that for Kylie. There had to be a way for us both to live and thrive here.

But right now, I just prayed we’d get the chance.

The high of their presence waned and all the fears came flooding back to me as I tracked my sister through the woods.

As we came to a clearing, my wolf suddenly slowed.

Her scent was still strong here, but I couldn’t determine which direction she’d gone. Then I heard it, the sound of a tree limb breaking, followed by a splash below.

I couldn’t describe the feeling as I peered over the edge of the embankment and saw her small wolf submerge beneath the dark water.

I didn’t think. I just acted.

One minute I was watching in horror, and the next, I had shifted back and was diving through the air into the black water below.

Denny’s wolf roared in my wake as I dove into the cool lake water.

It had been a long time since I’d been in deep water, but I supposed swimming was much like riding a bike. It only took me a moment to get my bearings and swim over to Kylie as I pushed away every fear within me.

I had to get to Kylie. It was the only thought in my mind.

As she bobbed back to the surface, I swam faster, reaching her just before she dipped beneath the water once more.

“I’ve got you,” I told her, even knowing the words were more for me than her.

I grabbed hold of her and had a sudden panic attack.

I couldn’t see the shoreline. I didn’t know which way to swim to safety. Flashbacks of the boating accident started to surface nearly crippling me with old fears.

The sound of my blood roaring in my ears was all I heard as I struggled to keep us both afloat.

You can do this, Lauren, I told myself over and over again. You can do this because there is no other option.

Maybe if I hadn’t met Denny then it would be easier to just let go and sink into the lake forever, but I knew I couldn’t do that to him. And thoughts like that had never overcome me. I wasn’t about to let them now.

Shaking my head to clear it, I took assessment of our situation.

This time, when I looked around, I could see the others in the distance. We were only about ten yards from the bank.

Another splash alerted me of another presence and quickly cleared my head further.

Help was on the way.

It didn’t take long before I identified Caleb and Braxton swimming out towards us.

They reached us quickly and helped carry Kylie’s weight as we all swam back to the shore.

As we got closer, I saw that Denny was on the verge of losing it again. He was standing there naked, ready to wolf out, as Monte physically held him back.

As soon as my feet could touch the squishy bottom, I stood and ran out of the water, confident that the guys were already tending to my sister. I went straight to Denny and threw my arms around him.

I needed him to calm down, and my touch did just that.

For one brief moment, I completely forgot about everything going on around us and just absorbed the comfort and security only my mate could provide.

And then it all came crashing back to me.

“Breathe, damn it,” Braxton said.

My whole body shut down in horror as I turned to see Kylie splayed out on the ground. At some point, she’d changed back into her human form and her body lay still on the ground.

“No!” I screamed as I left Denny to run to my sister’s side.

It was hard to see the woman before me in the midst of my fear. All I saw was the tiny little girl they’d fished out of the Hudson River all those years ago.

The pain and terror of that day returned and suddenly I was nine years old and watching my life unravel before me.

I screamed something incoherent and primal and then I started doing compressions on her chest as I began to administer CPR. The others stepped back and watched. No one tried to stop me, but somehow I knew they all thought it was a lost cause.

But they didn’t know what we’d been through. They didn’t understand what a fighter my sister was. They couldn’t possibly know she was a survivor, or the extent I would go to fight for her when she couldn’t.

Remy tried to stop me.

Oscar tried to take over for me.

Kevin tried to breathe for her.

Denny tried to comfort me.

But until I heard her gasp her first breath, I couldn’t stop myself from fighting for her, for me, for our little family of two.

And when she began to cough and sputter, I finally sat back and I cried.

I cried with relief.

I cried for the little girl I loved so much.

I cried for the young woman I knew I needed to let go of.

I cried for our parents that had missed out on so much of our lives.

I cried for the little girl I had once been.

I cried for the childhood I’d lost.

And I cried for the future I had almost been willing to walk away from.

I was broken in a way I’d never allowed myself to be.

The others tended to Kylie and made sure she was okay as I just sat there crying.

I didn’t know at what point Denny had begun to hold me, but as my tears began to fade, I felt his strength as he sat on the ground behind me, holding me, and comforting me through my grief. Though I wasn’t certain, I had a feeling he’d been right there with me through it all.

Instead of being stubborn and defiant, I didn’t even pretend that I could do this on my own anymore.

I turned into him and allowed my mate to take control and help carry my burden and help battle my demons with me.

He held me tight, only letting go to sign to Kylie.

“She’s going to be okay, and so are you.”

I finally looked at Kylie.

“ I’m sorry, ” she signed to me.

“ No, I’m sorry, ” I told her.

Somehow, in that moment of almost losing her again, I felt an odd peace at the thought of letting her go. It made no sense because it was in my nature to hold on even tighter in moments of uncertainty. But I knew it was time.

“Let’s get the girls back to the house,” Monte said.

“We’ll help Kylie,” Oscar insisted, as Jett, Troy, and Mark stepped up to surround her.

No words were needed as they gently lifted her up and together they carried her all the way back. The others followed, and Denny and I brought up the rear.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he swooped me into his arms and insisted on carrying me.

“I can walk,” I protested.

“I know. But you know that I can feel your emotions at times. And when you’re in distress, I can feel them even stronger than my own.”

“You can?”

He nodded. “You scared me tonight.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For a second there, I thought you were going to just slip away into the water.”

I gulped. Could he really have felt all of that?

“For a second I thought I might, too,” I confessed.

He nodded again and then scowled.

“Don’t ever do that to me again. No matter how hard life seems, I know we can get through it together.”

“How can you be so confident in that?”

“I just am. But there’s one thing I know for certain after this.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t want to live without you. Not even for a day. I’ve never been so scared in my entire life as when you dove into that lake. I understood why you did it, but . . .” I felt him tremble at the thought.

I hugged him a little tighter.

“I learned something tonight, too.”

“You did? What?”

“You and your friends have this sense of Pack that I’ve never experienced before. Tonight, I felt like I was a part of that and I liked it.”

“You’re my mate,” he replied, as if it really was as simple as that.

“I know.”

“You and I are Pack too. Because of that it includes my brothers and your sister. Maybe sometimes dysfunctional, but I wouldn’t change that for anything. This is our family, Lauren. And sure, someday we’ll leave here and set our roots in an actual Pack. Maybe that will be New Orleans or New York, or just maybe it’ll be something entirely different.”

“Together?” I asked.

“Together. And if that means leaving here now, that’s okay with me. I don’t need this place anymore. I just need you.”

“I discovered something else tonight,” I confessed.

“You did? What’s that?”

“I walked outside and found some asshole making out with Kylie. She had tried to tell him no; he kept at it until I saw red and stopped it. But she really didn’t need me to intervene. She had things under control, but I didn’t want to believe it. It’s hard to let go. But I have to. For once, I need to put myself first and do what makes me happy.”

His face fell. “Where the hell does that leave me?” he asked.

I could feel his panic clearly, and I smiled.

“I can feel your heightened emotions, too, remember?”

“Don’t change the subject, Lauren,” he said, stopping and setting me back on my feet. “Kylie may not need you as much as she once did, but you’re her sister. She still needs you in her life.”

“I know that.”

“And I sure as hell need you in mine.”

“Well, I hope so.”

“What?” he groaned in frustration. “Are you going back to New York or not?”

I shook my head. “No. I told you. I need to start living for me now.”

He growled. “I want that for you. I really do. I know you deserve that, but where the hell does that leave me?”