“You sort your room out?” he asked, still looking at the boxes.
“Yep. She is staying right here,” Rayan said, tapping the trundle next to his bed.
“You do realize your sister is a woman, not a kid, Rayan? Most teens don’t want to share with their baby brother,” Ryker told him.
“Yeah, but she is my sister, and I have a bathroom to get changed in, nothing weird. You saying that makes it weird,” Rayan said. Ryker gave him a look I couldn’t decipher but nodded, leaving the room.
“What is up with you?” I asked Rayan. I wasn’t used to him talking to our parents like that.
“Nothing. I am just sick of the way everyone picks at you when they know nothing. Sick of them thinking I am some good child while you are the bad one.”
“You are a good child,” I told him with a laugh.
“Yes. In a sense, but I am sick of everyone thinking you would somehow corrupt me. I am capable of making my own choices. And I am not staying away from you just because they are worried. You’re my sister. You could kill someone, and I would help you bury the body because you would do the same for me,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. I smirked. He had a point, but I didn’t want him getting in trouble because of me.
Chapter twenty-six
Lucy
The Next Day
Why did I think this was a good idea? I knew I needed to finish school, but this was torture as I walked the halls to my next class. On the plus side, not one person said anything, but I figured that was more to do with Jacob being with me most of the morning while he helped with my enrollment. I needed an adult to sign my papers, and I wasn’t asking my mother or stepfather. I probably could have asked Tyson or Ace, but they would have suggested I go to the one on their territory.
Walking into English, the teacher nodded to the chair up the back of the room, the only seat left. I was happy to be at the back, no one could see me. Pulling out my English book from my last school, I found a blank page. I would need to find a way to get new books as mine were almost full. On the plus side, I wasn’t behind in classes because I always used to be in the advanced classes at my boarding school and being in the mainstream classes, I found most of the work I had today I had already done.
During the lunch break, the first thing I did was race across to the park so I could meet Rayan. Sitting on the swings, I waited, hoping they would let him out when someone sat beside me on the other swing. I looked over and saw Jacob.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yep. Why are you still here?”
“Well, if the prince is leaving to meet you at lunch every day, I kind of need to be here.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t think of that. It is fine. I can tell Rayan not to come out so you can go back to mom,” I told him, reaching down to grab my bag.
“It’s fine, Luce. It’s sometimes good to get away from your mother, and she can survive with Pat for an hour a day,” he said, grabbing my hand and stopping me. I nodded, sitting back on the swing, but now I felt terrible, knowing I was once again interrupting everyone else’s routine.
Rayan walked out before running across the road. He waved before sitting on the other side of me. Jacob got up, walking to his car before returning with a paper bag. He handed me a sandwich. I took it, looking at him questionably, while Rayan pulled his lunch from his bag.
“Notice you didn’t eat this morning or make yourself lunch,” Jacob said, giving me a wink.
“Yeah, I could hear mom in the kitchen,” I told him. I wasn’t avoiding her exactly, but I was trying to stay out of her sight.Out of sight, out of mind, right?
“She will calm down once she gets back on her meds. Hopefully. If Ryker can get her back on them,” Jacob said, making my brows furrow. Rayan shot him a look.
“What do you mean?” I asked, I never knew my mother was on medication.
“For her wolf,” Rayan answered.
“Huh? I don’t understand,” I told him.
“Dad didn’t want you to know. Amanda is unstable. Always has been, but apparently, after I was born, mom was put on medication. She has been off her meds for two years now. Dad has been trying to convince her to go back on them, but Amanda guilts him out of it. Don’t tell dad you know. Jacob wasn’t meant to tell you,” Rayan said. Come to think of it, she had changed over the last couple of years, turned distant, and then we started clashing majorly.
“Why is it a secret?” I asked.Why would they hide this from me? Was I not trusted with this information?
“Doesn’t matter, Lucy, just forget he said anything,” Rayan said, glaring at Jacob, who shrugged.
“What do you mean that Amanda is unstable?”