GRACE
Mia continues to stare at me, blinking like an owl.
I suspect if I had my wolf, I would smell her fear.
But given the opportunity to own up to her duplicity…she says nothing.
"Well, if there is nothing else, I still have to work,” I say, ignoring the bitter look on Mia's face. I stroll past her to the other side of the road and continue sweeping.
I’m relieved when she finally leaves.
I’d just as soon forget about the incident with Greg at the reunion.
It’s a painful memory.
A shadow moves into my line of vision and I look up, expecting to see Mia. But it’s Gus.
He’s holding his hat and his hands and wringing the rim of it. "Grace, Claire said that you don't want to be in love now, but... but... I'm sincere. I'm willing to wait for you. When you want to be in a relationship, you can look for me."
After saying this, he seems to feel that something is amiss. He quickly corrects himself, "It's not that you can look for me, but that I can line up and wait for you..."
I stare at him in a daze. "You can find someone more suitable for you, Gus. I don't earn much, and my job has no future. I am not good wife material."
"But I like you." After saying this, Gus's face turns redder. "Claire says you don't have a boyfriend now. I will wait."
"But I..."
"Sister, won't you introduce us?"
The voice sounds from behind me and when I turn, I’m shocked to see Jason walking toward me. The black down jacket, black trousers, and sneakers are all from discount stores, but on him, they look good. However, his expression is a bit more, well, wolfish. Predatory comes to mind. He doesn’t outwardly reflect any anger, but something tells me Jay isn’t nearly as calm as he appears to be.
“Sister?”
Right. An introduction. ”Of course,” I reply automatically. “This is my colleague, Gus. Gus, meet Jay. Jay, why are you here?" I ask.
"I finished work early today, so I came to see you," Jason says, capturing my left hand. He rubs his palm over mine.“Your hand is cold."
"It's okay." Working in the chilly winter, I’m always cold. I’m used to it. What I’m not used to, however, is Jay coming to see me, or him going out of his way to touch me.
We sleep side by side.
Him on a pile of blankets on the floor and me on the bed. For two people in such a small space, we do a miraculous job of avoiding bodily contact.
But right now, Jay is all up in my space and he’s still holding my hands…intimately.
Gus is watching this whole exchange and frowning.
“Grace, is this... your brother?"
"Yes." I nod.
Jason glances at Gus and lazily puts his hands around my waist.
And I forget to breathe.
I laugh. "You think too much of me. It’s me that's not good enough. Gus has a house, a car, and a steady job. In our workplace, many girls like him."
I shake my head. “You’re mistaken. I have no power here. I’m not sure what you did or why you’re being let go, but it has nothing to do with me. I have no connections with your director either."
"That's impossible!" Mia yells. "You're the only one I've ever offended. Could it be that Sean saw you like that and couldn't bear it, and so he avenged you? Is that why I was condemned?"
Thinking it over, there was only this possibility.
But it made no sense.
Sean helped put me in prison. Even when I begged him to help me.
For our love.
For our packs.
For our baby.
“No, Mia. Sean Stevens is not punishing you out of some need to protect me. I’m nothing to him.” Only now did I finally understand the reason for Mia coming here and begging for forgiveness. “Mia, you’re chasing shadows. Sean ... he has no regard for me. He has not forgiven me, and I can assure you, he’d not exert his influence to lift a finger for me!”
“You need to fix this,” Mia argues.
I laugh. Really?
I’m the victim. I was humiliated, setup and nearly drowned. And this entitled bitch thought I owed her something?
“Is something wrong here?” Jay draws even with me.
