She turned her attention back to Willow, the leaving member of their Pack — wait, no. Party? The leaving member of their party. She’d been in this setting for 24 hours and it was already getting to her head. Setting aside that worry, she continued eating, trying to get through the depressing first breakfast at the Enchanted Packhouse. The other members, Felix, Ryder, River, and…darn. Leo! Leo remained quiet, observing what was taking place.
When it came time to say goodbye to Willow, she had her bags ready and waited by the front door. Flora crushed her into a hug, tears spilling down her face. She cuddled her head into Willow’s shoulder. Pulling away was hard. This was like moving out of her parent’s house for the first time. That feeling she often got when family members left finally sunk down into her body. Knowing she wasn’t going to see them for a while stung, everywhere. With Willow, the feeling was no different. It was no different.
“You’re my family now, don’t forget that. Don’t forget me. Promise.”
“I promise,” Willow whispered back, holding onto the hug tighter. The same gutted feeling mirrored in Luxe’s posture. Her hair pulled up in the same distressed, messy bun as Flora’s natural hair was.
“I’ll drive you wherever you need to go,” Dylan said abruptly, picking up his keys. Without looking back, he followed Willow out the door. No acknowledgement was made towards Flora. Or anyone else, really. Flora and Jackson both stared hard at Dylan’s car as he pulled out of the driveway.
“What was that about?” Jackson asked. He checked the lock on the front door again before turning to Flora. She could only shrug her shoulders. She wondered if she had done something. Did she say something that freaked him out? Maybe he realized she wasn’t worth the hassle of being a mixed-breed couple. Insecurity never fit Flora but when it came to Dylan, boy did she begin to question herself. Her lovely panther, though she loved her to death, it seemed once again, she made her different. Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with a panther Shifter? Maybe she wouldn’t be going through so much feeling of loss.
* * *
Three days had passedsince Willow left. Since Dylan became a cold-hearted asshole. Since she'd started living in the Enchanted Packhouse. Two nights ago, Dylan stopped talking to her. Two nights ago, she’d taken the hint and slept in the guest room with Luxe. Two nights of feeling her heart shatter completely for the first time. No man had broken her heart like this before. She damn sure wasn’t planning on getting to know this feeling any longer. She pulled on one of her blazers and wiped away the silent tears that stained the pillowcase. She was going to talk to the jerk down the hall.
At breakfast, they still sat next to each other. Though the space between them was mere inches, it felt like miles. Both parties refused to look at each other. Flora wasn’t sure what brought on the act, but enough was enough.
“Okay, we’ve gotten comfortable enough with the new additions, it's time to get started,” Jackson announced when everyone had finished eating. “We start training today, ladies. Meet us in the training room on the second floor in one hour. After that it's time for everyone's animals to meet each other.”
“Have you ever met a panther before?” Flora asked, highly suspicious of the events occurring that day.
“First time for everything right? It's safer if your panther and our animals know who friend and foe are and to be able to tell the difference with swiftness.” This made her finally look at Dylan, who surprisingly was already looking at her.
“It’ll be fine; I’ll handle your panther.”
“You’llhandlemy panther?” Flora asked, feeling as if her panther was being looked down upon and had to behandled.
“I’ll take care of her. Read her signs, know when enough is enough,” Dylan shrugged, leaning back in his chair, looking away from her again.
“Okay,” Flora said, looking back at Jackson. The Enchanted Pack would get to meet her panther.
* * *
“I fucking hate training,”Flora groaned.
“It's been three days since we moved into the Packhouse, babe. Eventually this was going to happen, and you knew it,” Luxe said.
It was easy for Luxe, she loved working out, dancing, the whole-body moving thing, was her specialty. Willow and Flora, not so much. Thinking about Willow, she missed her so damn much already. She left without an explanation and that totally rubbed Flora the wrong way. She tried not to be hurt but why couldn’t she have talked to her?
“Where the hell is Willow?” Flora mumbled stepping on the gym mats of the training room.
“I hope you’d miss me this much when I'm gone,” Luxe said following Flora.
“When?” Flora asked. Was Luxe planning on leaving too?
“Never, you can’t get rid of me, bitch.”
The whole Pack was there. Jackson had demanded they all be ready for anything. The tension was bunching up on her shoulders and running laps around her mind. She couldn’t understand why the whole Pack was involved, why Luxe and Willow were involved. Why Willow left and why Dylan was being so cold. While the added help and protection made her feel safer, it didn’t take away the guilt of putting all those people in danger. Going up against a panther was dangerous, even if you were on the same side as one.
* * *
“Five more.”
“Five more what?”
“Don’t play dumb, Flora. You’ve only done five and the deal was ten.”
“Dylan, don't tell me five more push-ups,” Flora gasped, falling on her stomach. Working out was never something she was interested in. The ache and burn in her muscles was not the motivating factor Dylan must have thought it was. He was especially on her ass and not in a good way. In fact, it was pissing her off more than anything.
