Chapter Twenty-Three
That Saturday, the whole pack decided to come over to the house. A thin layer of snow had formed outside, which Cat stared at with disappointment.
She loved thick, powdery snow you could roll in for days. She loved making snow angels and shifting to a wolf so she could feel the ice between her toes. Killian promised there would be at least one thick snow, but considering the evidence before her, she highly doubted it.
Jessica, Mia, and Brian still took advantage of the white miracle and were in the process of building a snowman right outside the glass door. Cat watched from a bar stool as Mia’s tiny hands fumbled through her gloves to make the perfectly shaped circle for the head. Jessica’s face lit up against the backdrop of white, and she was happily surrounded by the love of her family. Cat couldn’t help but feel envious.
The clatter of metal had her turning her head sharply back to the happenings of the kitchen. Killian wore a very large streak of flour across the front of his shirt. A hysterically laughing Kelly had dropped her pan to the floor, a flour-covered hand smothering her mouth. They had been in the process of making biscuits.
“Oh my God, Killian, I am so-so sorry—” she said between laughs, hiccupping at the look on Killian’s face. A smile tilted the edges of his lips before he grabbed a handful of flour from the bag and pelted it at Kelly in a cloud of white.
Yet Cat didn’t laugh. It had been days since Aidan’s visit, and Cat had been cold and bitter. She knew the pack was worried about her unresponsive behavior, but she felt let down. As if all the years as a wolf had been a gigantic waste of time, but most of all she felt guilty. If she had just left that basement, maybe she could have done something. Anything besides quiver in fear beneath heavy concrete and hidden doors.
Guilt gnawed at her, a vicious beast of regret with serrated teeth.
A cloud of white filled her vision, followed by an all too familiar puff of flour slamming into the side of her face. Cursing between ragged breaths, she jumped off the bar stool and teetered on her awkward footing. The flour burned her eyes like thick globs of acid as she tried to remove it. When she could finally see through the tears, all she saw was an amused Killian and a nervously excited Kelly—like she didn’t know how Cat was going to react.
“Killian, what the hell are you—” Another strike of flour hit her face, and she coughed again. By the time she could make out their blurred forms, Killian was laughing loudly, his whole body shaking with the force of it. She looked over at the table where Finn and Jamie sat, careful grins on their faces, which quickly disappeared as they pretended to look anywhere else.
That was it. Killian wanted to play?
She marched over to the bag of flour and pulled out two large handfuls, pelting them in equal fervor toward Killian’s much taller frame. Then Kelly threw a handful. And Killian pelted one back. White filled the whole kitchen as the three of them used up a majority of the five-pound bag. The feeling of laughter had become unfamiliar the past couple of days, like a valve had been shut off. But something turned it back on. Whether it was the reliving of events with her mother or the intense joy on Killian’s face, she didn’t know. But the sound of bubbling delight that escaped from her body set forth the most intense relief she had felt in a long time.
The flour ran out, an empty bag its only remains along with the indoor snowstorm that had swept across the floor and counters of the kitchen. The three of them looked like abominable snowmen. Killian shook his hair, sending another flurry of flour everywhere to reveal his thick black locks. If it were possible, his smile got even brighter.
“Perfect!” he exclaimed, running over to the radio to turn up the country station that seemed to always be on while they were in the kitchen. A deep voice she recognized came over the speaker. I love this song. Her foot immediately tapped to the rowdy beat of the tune, and she hummed along, but Killian had different plans.
He swept her into his large arms and swung her around the flour-covered room. Whether by fate or divine intervention, Cat wasn’t sure, but the song was perfect. Killian must have felt it too, the way the tempo and lyrics swept them into their own world, because he started belting out the words.
Their feet glided across the floor in a flurry of movement, sending flour into twirling clouds in the air. The laughter continued. She was breathless from it, gasping for air in a room full of other people. But to her it was just them. He was bringing her back to life in a time when she could have easily shut down. Making her breathe again.
He flipped her out in a practiced twirl, bringing her back in and swinging her left and right with her back to his chest. She nuzzled into his chin as they rocked to the music, completely oblivious of Kelly moving to Finn and smearing flour on his cheek, or the way Jamie left with a slightly depressed expression on his face. The moment was theirs.
It was in that moment she realized she didn’t care who Killian was before Wolf Creek. He was here. He was now. He was hers. He sang and danced with her when she couldn’t manage more than a feeble smile. He held her while she rocked in agonized sobs. He was there…and she would take it for what it was.
She loved him.
It hit her, slammed into her chest at the speed of a freight train at the same moment Killian dipped her for the grand-finale kiss. His golden eyes were bright with unrestrained joy when he gazed down at her, and she felt him all over her body. She accepted him—he was hers.
They both gasped for air when the song ended, and Killian bowed dramatically to the applause of Kelly and Finn. Jamie walked back into the room, tucking his shirt back into his pants like he had just gotten finished doing business in the bathroom. He had been acting funny the past couple of weeks, visiting less often and not talking very much. His usual light of playfulness seemed to have disappeared.
Maybe it had something to do with Aurelia’s absence. She had been weirdly silent the past few days, not even bothering to come to the house to see Killian. Jamie and Lia were close, in a way. They trained together, and he was probably the only real friend Lia had.
Killian stared at Cat, mischief and delight swimming in his eyes. Kelly coughed from the dining table, a smirk on her face.
“Okay, you two lovebirds. Now that I don’t have flour, I’m going to need to run out and get some.” Kelly tried to sound serious, but the little line of laughter at the end defeated it.
“I’ll come with you, Kelly. I’d love to see a grocery store,” Cat said, grinning. The freedom was outstanding. That she could walk among the humans, and just be normal, was exhilarating.
“Well, we might as well make it a girl thing, then! I’ll call Jessica and see what she’s up to.” Kelly looked around, a frown falling upon her face. “But first I should clean this up and go home to shower. I’ll come and pick you and Jessica up, okay, Cat?” Kelly said, and started to make quick work of the flour.
Killian snatched the broom from her. “Go shower and come back. I’ll clean this up,” he commanded, taking over her job.
Kelly gave Cat a questioning look, and she shrugged. No need to poke the beast when he was in a good mood.
* * * *
An hour later, Kelly pulled up to the front of Killian’s house in her small black sedan. Cat grabbed the front seat, since Jessica was taking her time saying good-bye to Brian and the ever-clingy Mia. The little girl had her arms wrapped tightly around Jessica’s neck, tears streaming down her freckled cheeks.
The rear passenger door flew open, and another familiar redhead sat down. Cat hadn’t seen Aurelia since that time in the gym. She seemed to have hidden herself in her house, and the only person who ever saw her was Jamie. He filled Killian in, mostly claiming she was alive and well, but Cat could tell Killian was almost relieved by her absence. The friction there was a bit…testy. Yet there she sat, a large smile on her face that made her scar look even more menacing.
“I’m going to come with you guys, yeah?” she stated more than asked, already buckling her seat belt. She looked unusually haggard in pink sweatpants and a white pea coat.
“Sure,” Kelly drew the word out, mouthing to Cat, What is going on? Cat didn’t answer because she had nothing to say. Chances were the spiteful bitch had something planned.
“God, I’m sorry. She never wants either of us to leave her!” Jessica exclaimed as she rushed into the car. As she buckled herself in, she noticed the other body in the car. “Oh. Lia! What are you doing here?”
“Oh you know. Just thought I could hang out with the girls,” she said but couldn’t hide the bitterness lacing her tone.
It was going to be a very interesting trip.
They traveled to Big Bear to a huge chain store. To see how the humans operated, buzzing around, laughing, interacting, was amazing. Some of them never talked to one another, just walked by with a nod or a smile. Other times they were completely ignored. It was rude, but intriguing to watch how another species lived.
As they walked the aisles, Kelly complained about the excessive pricing of the groceries.
“You don’t understand. This has to be at least two dollars more than if you went down the mountain. It’s completely outrageous, the way they rip people off just because they live in the mountains…” She tsked but still added the flour to the cart.
Aurelia rolled her eyes and walked to another part of the store. Jessica shot Cat a look, raising her eyebrows in question. Cat could only shrug as she watched Aurelia’s back disappear behind a row of shelves. Maybe she needed tampons?
Kelly owned the grocery store like it was her hunting ground. She found every sale, every off-name product, and even had coupons stuffed in her pocket. Even though Killian had given her money to pay for it, she still refused to pay full price.
“They’re thieves. Absolute criminals,” she muttered under her breath as she handed the cashier the money.
After they stacked everything back in the sedan, they made their way down the small side streets again to get back to Killian’s. Aurelia stared out the window in silence, but good ol’ bubbly Jessica kept the conversation going.
“What do you think the guys are doing? Killian looked like he was up to something,” Jessica asked, leaning forward from between the seats.
“Oh…I bet there’s going to be hard liquor. I’m definitely in the mood for a tequila sunrise,” Kelly said a bit too exuberantly. Cat couldn’t imagine the modest woman letting loose with some hard drinks.
“Maybe candles?” Cat suggested.
Jessica snorted. “Yeah, right. Those guys wouldn’t know romance if it slapped them in the face.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” Kelly admonished. “Finn can be very romantic.”
“Oh really?” Cat asked, sharing a mischievous look with Jessica.
“Yes. In fact, just the other night he brought me home the most beautiful tulips. Those are very expensive this time of year.” Kelly nodded, defending her husband. It was rather cute, actually.
“But what el—” Cat was cut off by the sudden jerk of the car. It racked forward, and Cat had to place her hands on the dashboard to keep from slamming her forehead into it. Jessica’s head wasn’t so lucky and smashed into the center console before she was swept back by her seat belt.
“What the heck?” Kelly screamed and glanced at her rearview mirror.
Cat turned around to see a very beat-up cream-colored van riding on the back of the small car. It revved its engine angrily behind them.
“Crazy bastard. Pull over, Kelly, and get his info,” Jessica said, rubbing a spot on her forehead and wincing from the touch.
“Don’t!” Cat yelled. She may have never driven, but she’d seen plenty of movies. These were not pull over types of signals. “He’s trying to run us off the road. Go faster, Kelly.”
The older woman whimpered, her knuckles white against the leather steering wheel. Cat’s pulse beat rampantly as the van picked up its momentum. What the hell was going on?
It slammed into them again despite Kelly’s best attempts to lose them. The small roads were too thin and twisty for her to go fast enough to get away.
“Kelly, you need to go faster,” Cat yelled, and the woman stared back with wide eyes.
“I can’t, Cat. We’ll crash!”
“We’re going to crash if you don’t move it!” Cat screamed back, but it was too late.
The van rammed them one more time and got lucky. Their car spun across ice-slicked roads in fast circles that pressed Cat’s shoulder into the door of the car.
Her heart stopped.
Her breathing stopped.
Everything was still except for what was happening around them. She had thought slow motion didn’t happen in real life, but if there was ever an exception, it was a car crash. The metal crushed around her as the car smashed into an evergreen. Stars erupted behind her eyes as her forehead met the dashboard. Glass danced in the air from the disintegrated windshield.
And then she heard the screams, melting into the ones of her past as everything went black around her.