2 - So you’re part of the club now

“What the hell was that?” Tyler asked as we reached the second floor. “Why were you so rude back there?”

Rude?

“You can’t be serious,” I said, looking over at him. He, in fact, looked serious. “Hello! Have you forgotten the last nineteen years of our life? Did you hear the way that bitch talked about our mom?” Tyler flinched when I used the word ‘bitch.’ He had a very boomer attitude toward swearing.

“I didn’t forget anything, Emma, and who cares what that woman thinks? Dad is the one that matters, and I’m getting a good vibe from him.”

“Don’t call him that,” I said, frustrated. “He’s done nothing to deserve that name. He abandoned Mom when she was pregnant and never looked back.”

“We don’t know that,” Tyler argued. “You heard what, Grams-” he sighed when I glared at him. “What Charlotte said. She nor Dad knew that we existed. Something funky happened back then, and we shouldn’t judge anyone until we know what happened.”

“The details don’t matter. He still abandoned Mom. She loved him and he never came to see her, never called. Not once. That’s what matters,” I told him.

The servant cleared her throat, reminding me she was still there. My face warmed with embarrassment. “Right. Sorry,” I apologized.

She smiled and shook her head. “Family is complicated, Miss. Master Tyler, your room,” she said and opened the door to a room that was double what his room was back home.

“Master Tyler,” Tyler repeated. “I could get used to that and this,” he said, walking into the room.

The servant closed the door and walked down to the next door. “And here is yours, Miss Emma,” she said, opening it.

“You can just call me Emma,” I told her.

“Alright then, Emma. I will come to call for you when dinner is ready,” she said and closed the door once I walked inside. This room, like Tyler’s, was twice the size of my bedroom back home. Home. It had only been a few hours, but I wished I was back home. I picked up my phone, wondering if it was too early to call Mom, when it dinged with a text message from Jessie, my cousin.

-Hey cous, heard you’re in town. Meet me outside in five?-

That’s when I remembered Mom said that we were from a family of werewolves. So grandma, grandpa, and the rest were all werewolves too? Now, it made sense why they always came to our house and we never went to theirs. I texted back. -Of course! I could do with a friendly face.-

For the first time, I was excited. I left my room and knocked on Tyler’s. “Ty, come on. Jessie is here to see us.”

“Really? She’s here? Awesome,” he said through the door and opened it.

“Yeah, come on,” I said and hurried down the enormous staircase to the door. I nearly stumbled when I saw that Liam guy again and felt that strange wave of heat rush through me. Trying to cool down my sudden overactive libido, I reminded myself of Kevin. Suddenly, all the warmth was gone, replaced by the sense of bitter betrayal.

“Hey, where are you going?” Liam called out, his voice was deep and smooth like thunder of a dying thunderstorm.

I didn’t answer, but Tyler did. “Going to see our cousins.”

“Who? Does the alpha know?” he asked, walking towards us.

“None of your business and don’t care,” I said, opening the door and shoving Tyler through.

“Emma,” Tyler said, giving me a look of disapproval.

I closed the door behind us. “Lecture later. Let’s go.”

Jessie and Chris, her brother, were waiting in a car that looked like it had seen better days. “Hey,” I called out, rushing over to the car. I hugged Chris through the passenger window as the door opened. I glanced back to see a frowning Liam.

“Uh oh, the jailor,” I said jokingly and got in the car. “Come on Ty. Jessie, drive.”

“Is that-” she asked, leaning over to look at Liam as Tyler got in the car.

“Just drive!” I shouted, and she pressed on the gas, tires squealing as we raced down the road.

“Freedom,” I said with a laugh, but Jessie looked a little worried. “What?”

“Was that Liam West? The alpha’s charge?”

“Not sure what you mean by charge, but I think that’s what they said his name was.” Our cousins looked at each other nervously. “What? What is it?”

“Just hoping we don’t get in trouble with the alpha, is all,” Jessie said, glancing at me in the rearview mirror and smiled. “Well, in the worst-case scenario, I can blame it all on you. I didn’t know you weren’t allowed to go anywhere.”

“He never said we couldn’t leave,” Tyler replied, but even he looked a little nervous.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my seat. Why was everyone so afraid of the guy? So he was the leader. Big deal.

We stopped by a park. Tyler and Chris got out, tossing a football to each other. Jessie and I took a seat on the swings. “So you’re part of the club now,” she said, looking me over. “I’m still prettier, though.”

I gave her a half hearted grin. “Not sure how long I’ll be staying. It feels strange here.”

“Give it time. You’ll get used to it,” she said, bumping me with her swing.

“Yeah, maybe, it’s just… everything has changed literally overnight, and now I am living in a house full of strangers. I swear Jessie, you’ve seen my house. I’m so out of place there.”

“You’re living the dream of most of the women in the pack,” Jessie told me with a snort.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re staying under the same roof as the two most eligible bachelors. Alex, cute but arrogant playboy who was most likely going to be alpha until your brother showed up and Liam the sexy, brooding lone wolf bad boy your dad has taken under his wing,” Jessie explained, then smirked at me. “So many of us would sell our right arm to be in your shoes right now.”

“I would swap places with them instantly,” I told her honestly. “I don’t need any more complications. It’s all I can do to get a handle on all this wolf stuff.”