They don’t appreciate her like we do,my wolf growls.
“That’s because I’m not learning anything. They don’t talk about work. We’ve spent more time talking about movies and watching his parents play with robot vacuums. You knew it wasn’t likely they were going to just tell me things.” Leticia handles her brother’s demanding tone like a champion. “All I know this morning is that Royal said they can see all sorts of their territory with a push of a single button.”
“Interesting, they’re certainly focused on video surveillance. Why are they so watchful?” Berto muses, but again, the questionisn’t really directed at Leticia. “What else? Do they go anywhere? Do anything? Are there people coming to the house?”
“No one comes to the house, but Mrs. and Mr. Cavanagh are going out tonight. Some sort of meeting. Royal wasn’t invited. We’re staying back with Kerrianne and having food. Save me, Berto. They tried to make me eat boxed spaghetti.”
“That’s abhorrent.” Berto scoffs but refocuses. “Where were they going? Who are they meeting?”
Leticia looks at me, and I shake my head. She understands perfectly. “I don’t know. They didn’t say. It didn’t sound like a large gathering though. Just that they’d be back late and for us to cook dinner.”
Berto groans, “Fine. I’ll tell Father. But this sort of update isn’t going to be enough. We need something substantial.”
“I’m doing the best I can.” Leticia argues with him.
Berto is quick to end the call with a snappy “Do better.”
With as fast as Berto hung up the phone, I’m faster to wrap Leticia into a hug, the cold porch chilling her body. “You did so well. You didn’t even need me to tell you how to do that. It was so natural. Let’s get you warmed up.”
Leticia finds enoughsuitable ingredients between Mom’s pantry and refrigerator to cook up a feast. She looks over at me as she arranges them on the counter. “Do you think Kerrianne would want to help with the pasta?”
“Letting that girl help you with anything is a first-class ticket to being her favorite relative.” I tap my finger against my chin. “The question is, am I ready to share being the favorite with you?”
Leticia rolls her eyes and starts rummaging through drawers, looking at the contents. “I could never steal being her favorite from you. I can’t build robots.”
“I mean, the robot we worked on this week is pretty cool.” I wish I could read her mind and tell her where to find what she’s looking for, but there’s something graceful in the way she dances around, pulling drawers and closing them behind her.
“Hey, Kerrianne?” Leticia calls to the living room.
A book gets dropped on the floor, and the light thuds of her footfalls precede Kerrianne before she peeks her head around the corner to the kitchen. “Yeah?”
“Do you think you can help me make pasta?” Leticia cocks her head to the side.
My wolf tips his.Mate knows our language?
No, she’s mimicking movements. She’s probably doing it unconsciously.I brush it off.
She’d make a good wolf.
When he says that, I freeze. The conversation between Kerrianne and Leticia turns to a silent film.
Antonella, in wolf form, raging and fighting against Valor as he put her in the cage in the back of the van so he could take her to the countryside, plays in vivid memory in my mind. I break out in a cool sheen of sweat. There is no way I could do that to her. I’m not built like Valor. I couldn’t hurt the woman I love like that.
Leticia is human, and I like her that way.
I like not thinking about what it would mean to turn her.
We can’t have pups like this,my wolf growls at me, highlighting how Leticia is talking with Kerrianne.
But I don’t even know if Leticia wants kids. I never thought about having them before. Why should I start now?
“Earth to Royal.” Kerrianne waves her hand, trying to get my attention.
“Come in command, this is Royal.” I shake myself out of it, focusing on my niece. Focusing on what is real.
“Space cadet.” Leticia giggles, covering her mouth with her hand.
Trying not to be embarrassed by being caught in a random thought, I attempt to pull anything from my memory of what they said.
