Joshua nodded, sagging against the table. “It smells delicious, Dad. Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me too much. It was practically ready when your mother and I stopped by,” Mark answered. He gave Joshua a firm look, one that said they’d be talking about all of this later. Joshua had always had a temper, and he wished he could be more level-headed like his father.
Kira handed a plate to Joshua. “Your mom helped me clean the house, too.”
“Thank you. Both of you,” he added. “I know it can’t be easy for you, either. The tension. Waiting for the next attack. And I’ve heard from Rafael that you and Gwen have been practicing your magic every day, so you must be exhausted, too.”
“It’s the worry more than anything,” Kira said as she took her seat again.
Their eyes met. Though there was still a storm in her blue depths, something softened as well. She patted his hand. Tension eased in his chest. Joshua’s wolf huffed and flopped over. It was the first time in two weeks that it had done anything close to relaxing. The argument wasn’t over, but maybe they were at a point where they could reach out to each other.
“My biological father was a member of Alpha Bael’s pack,” Joshua said, poking at his food. His body needed the calories after patrolling all day, but his stomach squeezeduncomfortably. “That’s why whenever we send the special ops into his territory, I have to be with them.”
“So close?” Kira speared a green bean on her fork.
“Yeah. I, uh, I also got some… some documents. My birth certificate. Some letters. Stuff that he’d been holding onto after me… after I came here,” Joshua mumbled. The whole thing was just so fucking personal! “I haven’t gone through anything yet. I asked before the second sighting.”
Susan cleared her throat. “Maybe that could be something you two could do together.”
Joshua tensed. “I don’t think so. I don’t know what it’s going to say.”
An awkward silence fell as they all ate. After a few minutes, Susan started to ask Kira about Chelsey’s schooling; it was proving a little difficult to keep up with everything being solely online. Chelsey missed the social atmosphere at the university, but things were going well. She couldn’t do spells the way Gwen and Kira could, but she was a whiz at potions. She’d started developing new ones, in fact, that they believed could be used for anti-demon purposes.
“Ideally, we’d find a way to test it against the demons, but that’s going to be difficult,” Kira finished.
By this time, plates were empty, and Joshua’s body felt heavy with food and exhaustion. He was glad that things had moved past the awkwardness of his anger, but a lingering tension kept him from being relaxed, despite the food and his own tiredness. He quietly started to clean up, thinking that if he went to bed like this, he likely wasn’t going to get much sleep. He’d need to talk to Kira again, but she had been avoiding his gaze all evening.
After the cleanup, they chatted for a little while longer before his parents took their leave. Kira was all smiles, saying goodbye, but as soon as the door was shut, her face fell. She turned on her heel and marched toward the stairs, moving so quickly it was obvious she was running away.
Joshua gritted his teeth and followed after her. “Kira, wait.”
“I need to go to bed,” she said over her shoulder, quickening her steps.
“We need to talk about what happened.”
Kira shook her head, her hair bouncing as she headed up the stairs. “I don’t think I can.”
Joshua fought back against the frustration that instantly rose. So she wouldn’t even listen to his side? “I’m not angry that you found out the truth.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
Why was she acting like this, if it wasn’t because she was upset at his reaction? “Are you angry that you found out that way?”
At the top of the stairs, Kira stopped. She clenched her fists and let out a small, growling noise. “No. Maybe at first, but it’s not like you’re the most open man in the world. I might not like it, but we don’t actually tell each other that sort of thing. So I’m not upset that you didn’t tell me.”
Joshua grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him, but she tilted her face down, refusing to look at him. “Then why are you mad?”
“You yelled at your parents. They are great, and you act like they’re out to ruin your life. Yet whenever you talkabout them, they’re amazing. Yet you treated them like shit just because they told me something that I do have a right to know.”
“And that’s it?” he demanded.
Kira let out a soft snort, spun on her heel, and marched toward her bedroom without answering. That roar of frustration came rushing back.
“You always do this!” he shouted, instantly regretting raising his voice but unable to stop himself. “You always walk away from me. If you’re angry, then be angry! Yell at me! Face me and tell me what you really think of me. I’m so tired of this.”
“Don’t shout at me.”
“Then face me! Face me and be honest. Tell me that you hate me if you hate me. Tell me that you still want to fuck me, and it only makes you hate me more.” Joshua’s chest heaved, the words bitter. “There is still something between us, Kira, and you know it.”
