Noah blushes beneath his beard, and Ben just laughs.
“I’ll go find Mama for you,” Sapphire offers before floating away with a grace of movement so much like our mother’s I want to hurl.
“Where are the dads?” I ask as Amber guides us toward the den. “And Raven? Jade?”
“Who knows where Jade is. Maybe school. Maybe ditching. Raven’s at her weekly therapy appointment.” She cycles a finger around her head to show exactly what she thinks of the sister who is closest in age to her. Ever since Raven got kidnapped, she hasn’t been right in the head. We all know that, but only Amber gives her a hard time over it. And I also can’t believe Jade isn’t here. She never called me back either. Seriously is something going on with that girl. We used to be so close. What happened?
“The dads are at some work thing,” Amber adds with a yawn, snapping me out of my temporary funk.
“All of them?” Even though I’d come to talk with our mother, having the dads here would have been nice. She’s always nicer when they’re around. And yet none of them tried to stand up for me back then. None of them lifted a finger to help save my baby.
“Yup.” Amber pops thepsound and makes swoony eyes at Noah again.
“Okay, great. Thanks for the visit.” I push my horndog sister into the kitchen, hoping it will make this whole encounter a bit less awkward.
When I return to the den, I find Ben seated on the sofa beside another of my sisters, Cyan. She looks the least like the rest of us with her thick, dark eyeliner and her midnight clothing. My mother insists it’s just a phase, but that phase has been going on for a few years now. Seems like it may be here to stay.
“Pick a card,” Cyan tells my alpha in a flat, disinterested voice. She does a fancy shuffle, then fans her deck out before him. Since when is she into magic?
Noah comes up next to me and puts an arm around my hips, pulling me into his side—a clear sign that the two of us belong together and that flirtatious overtures from ballsy thirteen-year-old sisters aren’t welcome.
“Got it memorized? Good. Now put it back.” Cyan says this all to Ben as if she’s bored by it already.
He, however, seems happy to play her game. I watch as he sticks his card back into the deck, and Cyan shows off with another intricate shuffle. She taps the cards on the table three times, then pulls out…
“Is this your card?” she asks with a smirk.
“My driver’s license.” Ben gasps, then pats down his jeans in search of his wallet. “But how did you…?”
Cyan holds that up too. “You know, you should really keep better track of your things,” she quips before rising to her feet and seeing herself out, laughing the whole way.
Amber returns with a family-sized bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, tipping it back into her mouth and sucking up crumbs directly from the bag.
“Want some?” she asks Noah, jabbing him in the waist with her elbow.
He takes a giant step to the side, tugging me along with him. “I’m good.”
“Yeah, you are.” Amber lets out a playful growl and smacks her lips. Who is this child, and what happened to my sweet baby sister?
Time for me to intervene. “Seriously. Can you please stop? You’re making him uncomfortable. And where’s Mom?”
“I’m here,” Sage Steele announces herself as she descends the staircase. “What is it, Violet? Why are you bothering—?”
I know the exact moment when she sets eyes on Ben and Noah, because her tone changes entirely. “Why, hello there. You must be from Pack Muldoon. I hope my daughter is taking her duties as your omega very seriously.” She shoots me a pointed look while extending a limp hand to Noah. She has no idea he’s a beta, and I’d like to keep it that way, knowing how casually cruel she can be.
“We love Violet,” Noah insists before stepping forward to place a kiss on the back of my mother’s hand.
“But that’s not why we’re here.” Ben crosses the room and greets my mother politely, even though he knows the truth about what she did to me—and thus what she did to all of us.
He’s piqued her interest at least. My mother loves being important, especially when handsome alphas are concerned. She raises one delicate eyebrow. “Oh?”
Ben nods. “We’re looking for the other two members of our pack, and we’re wondering if you’ve seen them.”
Cyan appears in the doorway like an apparition. “What did I say about keeping better track of your things?”
Mother turns on her and waves both hands frantically. “Shoo! Get out of here. The grown-ups are talking.”
Cyan shrugs and leaves, but I have a feeling she’s still close by. That girl collects gossip like others hoard cosmetics. And she never passes up an opportunity to add new intel to her private arsenal. That’s why it’s so important to stay on her good side. You never know what she might have on you, or when she might decide to use it.