Chapter 14 - Percy

My heart is pounding the entire way into the pack center.

Outside, Rosecreek is gorgeous. It's a perfect, sunny near-autumnal day. Warm, but with the slightest hint of cold in the air, the promise of what's to come, soon. Children are bouncing around outside their houses, giggling and squealing together.

I can hear sports shows playing through open windows and smell drifting bacon and eggs from the fathers who make breakfast every Saturday morning on their flat-top grills.

My feet hit the sidewalk, and I think about making breakfast for my kids every Saturday morning. I think about this morning.

Veronica, standing there in my kitchen, had a smear of pancake batter over her nose, which was too much. It was too domestic. Besides the near-constant thrum of need that's been rolling through my body, the idea of seeing her like that but not getting to have her here, in Rosecreek, in my life, was too much.

I want it. I want her to make seasonal pancakes on Saturday mornings and us to stroll through the town square together. I want our kids asking for their mom's amazing pancakes, and settling for the bacon I make on the grill. I want traditions and sleepovers and swimming at the lake with everyone else.

I want it more than I've wanted anything, but I can't have it for a host of reasons that I already knew back in New York, when I decided to leave the first time.

But in the kitchen isn't the only way I want her. Every time I think back to last night, the feel of her silk nightgown in my fist, how she had gasped and hitched her leg on my hip, how soft and silky her hair felt in my hand, like it always had—it makes my body feel like it's bursting into flames.

It's hot and scratchy behind my eyes, restlessness under my skin. It's a miracle I was able to pull away from her, keep from dragging her into the room. Luckily, my mind was able to put up a barrier, blocking me from doing that.

"Good morning," someone says, when I pass through the main area of the pack center, and I raise my hand in a greeting, too surprised to speak. It's an older woman with a couple of kids dancing around her. Her smile is warm and genuine.

I thought the townspeople pretty much hated me, but maybe this one doesn't understand who I am. Doesn't know what I've done.

The pack center is as lively and amazing as ever. Down the hallway, I can hear a cooking class taking place, and across from that, in the children's library a story time is taking place, whoever's reading doing amazing voices to go along with the characters.

When I walk into the meeting room three minutes late, everyone looks up, then cracks into laughter.

"What?" I ask, heart, pounding, for some reason sure that me being invited today was a fluke. I watch Byron roll his eyes, leaning back in his chair and reaching into his pocket. He pulls a twenty out, then hands it across the table to Ado, who's actually smiling.

"I thought you'd be at least five minutes late," Byron says, groaning. "Come on, man, you just lost me twenty bucks."

A smile spreads across my face, and I take a seat at the table. Things are starting to feel normal again.

"And you didn't bring donuts," Olivia says, pointing a pen in my direction.

"Yeah, you literally live above the bakery," Aris says, eyes narrowing. "Donuts next time, and that's an order."

"You got it," I say, unable to keep the smile from my face.

"Could have just brought us whatever you had," Byron grumbles, crossing his arms. "Smells good."

I must still smell like the pancakes Veronica made. My heart jumps at the thought of her in my apartment, and the knowledge that I could go to her.

But it could literally kill her. Which would kill me, too.

"Alright," Aris says, clapping and breaking me away from that line of thought. "Now that we're all here, let's get down to business. Percy and Ado reported yesterday that the last mission was a bust—nothing to be found."

I nod, and Ado taps the table once we are in agreement.

"However," Aris says, "I have made contact with the leader of the vampires. I'm going to try to put together some sort of peaceful, diplomatic meeting with him. I think it would be good for us to avoid any more casualties."

" What ?" Byron asks, and we all turn to look at him, shocked that he's raised his voice to Aris, the alpha. But instead of biting back, Aris just crosses his arms, looking vaguely empathetic. Does he know something we don't. I catch Olivia giving Byron a strange look from across the table.

"We don't need any more human…issues," Aris says, glancing at me quickly, and my chest sinks. Of course, a lot of humans—including Veronica—are still pissed at me, and the rest of the shifters, by association, for what happened when I was under the influence of the serum.

"What's this about vampires?" someone asks from the door, and we turn to see Bigby and his wife, Rosa, grinning at us.

Bigby, as usual, is the biggest dude I've ever seen, and I always forget that when I haven't seen him for a while. His head is shaved close, and his body occupies most of the space in the doorway. Rosa's blond hair is even brighter than normal, both of their bodies washed with a sun-kissed look that must have come from plenty of days spent on the beach.

Apparently, when they went to California, Bigby's newly discovered daughter, Kaila, participated in a surfing competition. According to their updates, she took second place and vowed to get first the following year.

Just a few months ago, Rosa's father tracked her down in Rosecreek when she had to flee California to be safe from him. His pack fought with the Rosecreek pack, but Bigby overpowered him, letting Rosa's brother finish him off. They went back to California shortly after to help her brother settle in and take control of the pack. This is the first we've seen of them since they left, but I've been too absorbed in my own misery to think about them much.

It's painful, to see others, like Aris and Linnea, Bigby and Rosa, celebrating their love and growing their families when I know I'll never be able to be with my mate.

"Bigby!" Aris says, a wide smile spreading over his face. "What the fuck, man—I thought you weren't coming back for two weeks?"

"And miss the Halloween kick-off?" Rosa asks, popping a hip. "I've been told it's a fate worse than death."

"It is ," Bigby and Aris say at once, grinning at one another at the coincidence.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Rosa says, scanning the room. "I also heard from Maisie that there is a lot of interesting stuff going on and that I was missing out."

"And I want to know what the hell you're talking about," Bigby says, walking further into the room, his hands landing on the back of a chair as he looks at Aris, "negotiating with vampires?"

Aris rolls his eyes, running a hand over his face.

"I didn't say negotiate—I just think it might be a fair idea to start off as peacefully as possible. Avoid going in, guns-blazing."

"Back me up, man," Byron says, his face stony. "Why the fuck should we negotiate with those fuckers?"

"I hate to admit it," Bigby says, after a moment, "but the humans would probably benefit from us putting off any more town-wide battles. They can be very forgiving, but public opinion on us is still recovering from the battle with the California pack this summer. They don't like that much violence, and certainly not in the center of town."

Byron looks at Aris, and it feels like something passes between them. A moment later, Byron stands, grabbing his laptop, and hurries from the room. We all sit, quietly, and I make a mental note to figure out what the hell that was about.

Byron and I used to be friends, back before. We'd always share rooms on assignment, and I thought I knew plenty about him. But it feels like I'm missing something here, like I'm on the outside, yet again.

"We got confirmation from Maisie that the wolfsbane sample Percy recovered was, indeed, the same strain as the compound in the serum," Aris says on a sigh. "So that's even more evidence that the vampires are connected to this. I don't trust them, but I think this is the right course of action. Percy, Ado, I'm sending you out for more reconnaissance. Byron found some information about vampire activity in Elba, and I think that might be where our wolfsbane-growing vampires are. I want you guys to head out there and see what you can find without tipping them off that we're looking."

My skin pricks with the excitement of another assignment, and I try to keep from bouncing in my seat.

"Olivia, let Byron know that I want you guys to take a break from Varun's hard drives to see if you can get into the vampire compound in Elba."

"I tracked back through the IP address," Olivia says, nodding, "I think I can get into their stuff—it's not very specialized."

"Yeah," Aris says, nodding and raising his eyebrows. "With you and Byron on the job, it should take half the time. Aim to be done with that by the kick-off festival, if you can."

Olivia stiffens at the mention of Byron but nods, burying her face in her tablet again.

"Speaking of the kick-off festival," Linnea says, breezing into the room, her head of insane curls tied into a bun on the top of her head. "Don't forget that you are all expected to be in the town square that weekend!"

"Right," Aris says, nodding and putting a hand to his chin. "Because we'll need the extra security."

"Well, sure," Linnea says, laughing as she sticks paper bats on the walls. Aris looks at her like she's hanging the moon. "But also because it's going to be a lot of fun! And you're all required to come in costume!"

"You'll look better in costume, anyway," Aris jokes. "But seriously, having some extra security around is a good idea. After that vamp attack on one of our own—" I jump at him describing Veronica that way, and hate the way it makes my chest warm. "—we need to keep our eyes open to potential threats."

He's so distracted that he doesn't notice when Linnea sneaks up behind him, reaching around and sticking a paper bat to his forehead, which makes us laugh, and Aris rolls his eyes.