Chapter Twenty

Other than the one nightmare, I slept better last night than I had since this all started. And my morning was pretty damn good too, especially considering I woke up around eight and not my preferred noon. I felt my pillow come out from under my head and groaned. It vibrated in laughter and I cracked open an eye. My pillow turned out to be Logan's chest. I betcha they didn't sell those in Linens and Things.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," He murmured and settled back down into bed. "I just figured I should leave before Kat finds us."

I grabbed his hand and closed my eyes again. "I sure as hell don't care what she thinks. Besides, she'll be doing the same thing tonight with Alex," I muttered grouchily.

Logan laughed again and kissed my still closed eyelids. Boy did that get me up. I propped myself up on my elbow and tilted my head in a what was that for? look. He sat up and pressed his lips against mine and suddenly I was terrified of the fact I had morning breath. Logan grinned against my lips and ran his hand through my surprisingly untangled mane of black hair.

To hell with the morning breath, I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him closer, still kissing. Logan rolled so he was hovering over me and opened my lips with his tongue. I very willingly let him and soon we were wrestling for dominance with our tongues. I swear that if he wasn't already shirtless I would have torn it off him. Like I said, best. Morning. Ever.

I'm really not sure how far we would have gone if Elena hadn't banged on the door and shouted, "Breakfast's ready, you two."

We both froze until I looked up at Logan and laughed; he joined in and hoped off of the bed. He gave me a brief kiss and left for his room to get some clothes. I threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie from my old martial arts gym, brushed my hair and teeth, and peed.

I practically skipped down the stairs but pulled up short when a new scent hit my face. Then I heard laughter so I continued on my way to the sunroom, though cautiously. Inside was Jeremy, Elena, Clay, Kat, and the newcomer. The boy was probably eighteen with buzzed medium brown hair, hazel eyes, about 6' 4'' and sported a lean figure. He wore a pair of jeans and a black 'feed the children' shirt.

As I stood in the doorway and watched the scene, Logan came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "That's Alex."

"He's here awful early," I commented, and we walked into the room. Logan went up to Alex and gave him a man-hug. Then Alex turned to me, I gave a small wave, "I'm Kaine."

He smiled, "Alex."

I nodded and Elena gestured for us all to sit around the table and eat the massive amounts of food set on it. Needless to say, nothing went to waste. After we finished eating, Alex told us about his time in Africa. He was there with his doctor uncle at refugee camps, which sounded incredibly kind of him. He taught the kids how to read and write. As he went on, I could tell he was a lot like Kat; smart, protective, and quiet yet totally fierce if need be. And from his body language he was completely into her.

While I would have loved to stay and just hang around Stonehaven for the day, I needed to talk to my parents. Before I left though, I helped Elena do the dishes.

"I'm going to head home after this, try to talk to my parents," I scrubbed at a particularly hard stain.

Elena nodded and dried off a platter, "If things don't work out, just remember you're still Pack, you can stay here if you need to."

I looked up with a grateful smile, "Thank you, for every thing. You didn't have to help me but you did. So thanks."

She shrugged, "Logan would have went regardless, probably with Kat, so it was either send us all or watch my kids get killed." She grinned, "Besides, you've grown on me."

I laughed and washed the last plate, then rinsed them all, handing them to Elena to dry. I was mopping up the counters when she tapped me on my arm. I looked up and she handed me a little envelope. "Those are from Roman and my Pack, a birthday present." My birthday, which was what? A week ago? I had completely forgotten.

Confused, I opened it and pulled out two plane tickets to Russia. "Oh wow," I breathed. "Thank you, so much."

Elena smiled, and walked back to the sunroom, her almost white blond ponytail swinging.

XXXXXXXXXX

I took a big breath, released it, and took another. Then I reached for the key above the doorframe and unlocked the door, putting the key back. The door opened soundlessly and I stepped inside to the dimly lit living room.

"Mom? Dad?" I called. A second later my dad's familiar face peeked around the corner. When he saw me a huge smile lit his face.

"Kaine!" he strode across the floor and hugged me hard. I squeezed back, already feeling guilty. He let go and over his shoulder I saw my mom come up from the basement. She smiled too until she looked behind me, then she frowned. She had already noticed William's absence.

"Kaine, you're home." She gave me a sad excuse for a hug, "Where's your brother?"

I kept my face neutral and walked over to the couch where I perched on the edge of a cushion. My parents found seats across from me. "He," my voice cracked and I restarted, "he's dead."

They froze. My dad with the smile he greeted me with still on his face, and my mom's slight frown. "I don't understand," my dad faltered, still with that stupid smile, like he was waiting for William to burst through the doors and say "Gotcha!"

"William, he's dead," I repeated brashly. I knew if I put any emotion into it whatsoever I'd crack.

My mom shook her head forcefully and my dad replaced his smile with a puzzled look, eyebrows drawn, eyes confused, lips pursed, forehead wrinkled.

And before I could tell myself to shut up, that it wouldn't help, the whole story poured out; everything from his kidnapping to learning William's body had been taken back to Russia. By the end, both my parents were in shock, and silent tears were tracing themselves down my face.

When I couldn't stand to look at their prone forms any longer I got to my feet and walked to my room. It felt like it belonged to a different girl from a different world when I flung myself onto the bed and bawled. Like a world I no longer fit in. For the first time in weeks I was well and truly alone. And I took advantage of the missing audience to finally crack and show all my weaknesses. I cried for what felt like hours and then fell asleep to the soundtrack of my screaming mother.
_

I woke up with a splitting headache to the ringing of the house phone. I dragged myself out of bed through the hallway to the living room. Besides the ringing, everything was creepily silent. I lifted the phone off the cradle and checked the caller ID, the number that came up was Logan's cell. As much as I knew I should answer, I just couldn't bring myself to talk to anyone yet. I grabbed the bottle of Aspirin and padded back to my room to sit on my bed.

It was nine now, and I probably wouldn't get back to sleep. I threw on some running shorts and a sweatshirt and quietly snuck out of the house. I must have jogged around our neighborhood for an hour. On my third loop I figured any more would look too suspicious so I headed back home. I jumped in the shower and by the time I got out my mom and dad were up. They were in the kitchen making some sort of breakfast.

Neither talked as they cooked (the fact that my dad was letting my mom even touch the food showed how distressed he was) and I didn't start. We ate breakfast in silence, and then I washed dishes.

We all did our own thing for the rest of the day, and it seemed like some 1920's film. There wasn't any sound whatsoever. No talking, no footsteps, no TV, no radio, no basic every day sounds. It was just so weird.

My mom barely came out of her room. And the only time she did was to get something to eat—which she took back into her room—or use the bathroom. No matter where I was in the house I could here her cry at night. And it broke my heart. Finally, I got so fed up with it that I started sleeping outside on a lounge chair in the shed far enough from the house that I could only here her sobs if I strained.

My dad was just out of it. It was like he was in a permanent state of shock. He looked like a zombie as he walked aimlessly around the house, occasionally sitting on the sofa or recliner only to get back up and pace.
_

That was how the whole week went considering we were on a three week winter break. I'd get up, jog for god knows how long, come back, take a shower, eat breakfast, read or do physical exercise, eat dinner, try to catch up on my school work, practice something werewolf related, and then go set up camp outside.

Even though there was no where to go once I had, I practiced Changing a lot. Turns out Jeremy was right when he said it gets easier and less painful with time. The more I practiced the less it hurt and the faster I got. That's not to say it still didn't hurt like hell, because it did. It just felt more like getting hit head on by a minivan than the usual jumping off a fifty story building.

I also learned, as did a very disgruntled neighbor, that when you fall asleep in wolf form you wake up naked in human form. And in this particular instant, pretty damn cold. I was also trying, and failing miserably, to try Changing only certain parts of me. Most of the time I focused on my human hand, willing it to Change into a clawed paw. The farthest I got was sprouting some sparse fur, and that was probably only accomplished because of my ramped-up genes.

I did call Logan at one point, I think it was Thursday. Not much was said. He'd asked if I wanted to hang out with him, but I declined, feeling bad, but also feeling like I had to stay here to try to snap my parents out of it.

And I did try once. The next morning, Friday, I got up extra early and brought my parents breakfast in bed. I brought it in and they ate silently. When they were done I took the tray and looked at my mom, she avoided my eyes. She looked horrible, so skinny (and she was slightly overweight before) and pale, she had dark bags under her eyes and she looked frail.

"We," I forced a smile, "are going to go to the mall." She always liked shopping before, even if I didn't.

My mother still avoided my eyes, "No Kaine, we aren't," she said it so deliberately and steadily.

"Come on mom, you love shopping," she needed to snap out of whatever stupor she was in, it worried me.

She finally looked at me and her hazel eyes looked so cold, "I am not your mother Kaine, you were adopted. And I don't feel like shopping."

I felt like she'd slapped me. I turned to my father and tried to keep my carefully constructed smile in place, "How 'bout you dad? Are you still working on that muzzleloader?" before I left, he was working on making his very first gun.

His eyes shifted from me to my mom and back again, "I finished it, I was planning on working on the bow today."

My smile turned into a real one, "Can I help?"

He shrugged and got up to use the bathroom. I stood up too with the tray and walked out, trying to forget about what my mother had said. She couldn't have meant it, I thought as I washed off the plates and cups. She was just under so much stress right now, her son had just died. Sure we'd never gotten along real well, but she was never outright mean to me.

After washing the dishes I went out to the garage and found my dad inside with a long strip of wood. He was never good at making bows, but it had been his hobby since I was born, I mean, since they adopted me.

"Need some help with that?" I asked as I watched him struggle to bend it.

"If I can't get it, I doubt you can, it just needs to be soaked more—" he stopped as I grabbed the wood from his hands.

"How far do you want it?" I started to bend it slowly, waiting for the signal to stop.

My dad just stared at me and watched as my arm muscles barely flexed. "Uhh," he spluttered, "you can stop."

I nodded and held it still as he warily fit the string to the length of the wood. "Okay," he said when he finished and I let go, the wood springing back into place.

He worked in silence for a while, me watching. I already knew how to make one, but it was still fascinating to watch. Eventually, my dad set everything down and turned around to face me. "Kaine, I spoke to you're grandma back in Ohio, you're going to live with her until everyone calms down."

I stared back, shocked, well that was… unexpected. "Dad…"

He looked at his hands, "You don't realize how hard this is for your mother. She just lost her son because of something her daughter did. She sees you every day and it just keeps reminding her. I think you should leave for a while. That's what you wanted, to stay in Ohio with your friends and family, well now you can." He sounded almost sorry.

I felt my rage boil to the surface and pushed it back down, afraid of accidently Changing. "She wasn't the one that had to watch him die!" I shouted at my recently unemotional father. He flinched and went back to work, pretending like it never happened.

"So you think this is my fault?" I asked him bluntly a few minutes later. My mind kept flashing back to the nightmare I'd had almost a week ago.

He hesitated, "No, not your fault. But that's what your mother thinks."

I nodded sadly and jumped off my perch on the workbench, "I've got somewhere to stay. I don't need to go to grandma's."

Dad looked up in curiosity, pretty much the first emotion I'd seen on him since coming home, "Where?"

"With my Pack."

XXXXXXXXXX

I knew as Logan helped me load my last box into my truck that I wasn't ever going to live with my adopted parents ever again. Yeah it bothered me, but I knew it wouldn't help to cry about it. I walked back up to the front door and Logan got into the passenger seat to wait. My dad was in the doorway.

"So, uhh, that's the last box. I guess we'll head out now." I stood awkwardly with my hands stuffed into my jean pockets.

My dad paused a brief moment and then opened his arms to hug me. It was the first time either of my parents had touched me since they'd learned of William. I hugged him back with ferocity and didn't want to let go. "I love you," he whispered into my ear and let go. I didn't want to, but I followed suit.

"Tell mom I said bye, and that I'm so sorry for everything." I turned to leave and looked over my shoulder before I hit the bottom of the steps. "And don't forget I'm alive, okay? Keep in touch."

He smiled and gave a small two finger wave before disappearing into the dark house.

I got in the truck and took a big breath before putting the key into the ignition. I rested my head onto the steering wheel, letting the warm air from the heater wash over me. Logan rubbed circles on my back. I sighed and sat up, putting the car into drive.

"Oh, I can't wait to sleep in an actual bed!" I exclaimed about five minutes into the trip, trying to lighten the mood.

Logan raised an eyebrow and I smiled secretively, "Long story." For the next half an hour, we talked about my Changes and how I was progressing.

Logan seemed surprised at my progress with just Changing one part of me. "That took my mom years to perfect," he informed me.

I laughed depreciatively, "I'm no where close to perfect. I can just get some patchy fur to sprout."

"Still," Logan sighed, not really sounding jealous, just annoyed at himself for not being able to do it.

I pulled down the long drive that led to Stonehaven. "Is Alex still here?"

Logan nodded, "Glued to Kat's side, too."

I chuckled, "I so knew it!"

He gave me a 'well duh' look, "I'd be worried if you hadn't. They were practically drooling over each other since he got here."

I put the truck into park, "Do you think they're mates?"

He shrugged, "Figure out soon enough."

We got out of the truck and headed up to the front door, not bothering to knock, we let ourselves in. I followed Logan past the den where Jeremy, Elena, Clay, and Nick were talking. Elena waved us in when she saw us passing the doorway.

"We were planning on repainting soon, so tomorrow you can come to the paint store to pick out you're room colors. That way we can paint before you put all your stuff in." Elena had a newspaper in her lap and a pen next to her; she was circling stories. Something about a dog mauling?

Nick snorted, "I don't even see why you're giving her a room. She might as well share a room with Logan 'cause that's where she'll be sleeping."

I was suddenly very aware of my hand in Logan's. Everyone but Jeremy laughed at my blush, and even he wore a soft smile.

"We can at least try to keep them in different beds," Elena said desparingly.

"You know it won't last, darling. Don't you remember when we met?" and then Clay dived in to kiss her.

Logan cleared his throat when they didn't stop, "We're going now," he announced and we practically ran from the laughter that chased us. We followed voices to the kitchen where Kat and Alex were seated on bar stools with plates of food in front of them.

Logan swooped in to grab two apples from the bowl between them, one he threw back to me. He crunched into his and leaned back against the counter, staring hard at Alex's disappointed look. Kat sighed loudly, "Come on Logan, I don't interrupt you and Kaine when you're making out."

I laughed when Logan's eyebrows shot into his hairline, "So you were making out?" He stared harder at Alex.

The poor kid's eyes widened and I could see why they did. Clay had appeared right behind Alex at the mention of making out. "Of course we weren't," he spluttered and I swallowed my giggles, "Kat was just making a point."

Clay growled, clearly not satisfied with the answer.

Alex tried again and stood up, looking at Clay but his eyes were lowered to the father's collarbone, a sign of submission. Maybe this guy would make it out alive after all, "We weren't even touching, Mr. Danvers. I swear. I think Katherine was just referring to Logan and Kaine and how they kiss, not us."

Clay didn't move.

Kat stood up next and didn't show an ounce of the submissiveness Alex had, "Come on dad. Seriously? We were just eating. I can take care of myself."

Clay stared at his daughter now, and she stared back. They were having a silent battle when Nick called out from the den, "Clay! You can't expect to keep your daughter 'untainted' for her whole life, lay off."

I smothered some more laughter when Clayton muttered, "like hell I can't." He glared at Alex one last time and sauntered back to the den.

At Alex's relieved expression Logan, Kat, and I started to laugh, a lot. I didn't want to cause any further trouble so I grabbed Logan's arm and towed him back to the truck so we could get some boxes into the spare—my room.

"I feel so bad for Kat," I commented as I grabbed a box labeled clothes. "It's gonna be hell for her to get a date with your dad around."

Logan chuckled evilly, "Well yeah, I honestly think my dad's been looking forward to the date screening since she was little." He stacked two more boxes onto the first in my arms and gathered three boxes himself.

We made our way to the spare bedroom and the whole while I was waiting for Kat or Alex to stick their foot out into Logan's way since he couldn't see over the boxes as payback. Surprisingly, we made it to my new room unscathed. We set down the boxes in the corner and I plopped down onto my new bed.

"I can't believe how much has changed," I commented as I stared up at the ceiling from my back. I found out I was adopted; I turned into a werewolf; I met Logan, the rest of the Pack, and the Russian Pack; I was kidnapped; I died, then came back to life; my brother also died; I learned I could destroy all the werewolves; and I moved in with my kinda-sorta boyfriend and his family.

Logan sighed and laid down next to me. "Tell me about it," he muttered and laced his fingers with mine. "When do your karate classes start?"

"Like two weeks ago."

His head rolled over to face me, "You're not going?"

I shook my head, "I don't think so. It wouldn't be very fun. I could easily beat them all."

"Oh. Well you'll have plenty of people to spare with here."

I laughed, "I'll totally kick your ass this time, it won't even be close to a tie."

He snorted, "We'll see."

I jumped off the bed and dropped into a crouch, grinning. "You wanna go?"

He chuckled, "Not in the house. Mom gets mad."

"Wimp," I teased.

Logan launched himself off the bed and tackled me to the ground. Thinking he had changed his mind about the fighting, I lifted my knee into his gut. He rolled off me and groaned, "Geez Kaine, I was only going to kiss you."

I couldn't help but laugh at his pained expression, "Well that's what you get for not stating your intentions first."

"So now I have to tell you before I kiss you?" his eyebrow was raised.

I nodded, "Damn straight." I adjusted my faux brown leather jacket and the blue tank top underneath.

"Come on, there's still a couple more boxes." Logan stood up and reached down with his hand. He yanked me up, and I went flying halfway across the room—you know, werewolf strength does that to the unsuspecting. He laughed at my expression, "Payback's a bitch." Then he ran out of the room and down the stairs.

I just shook my head and started to unpack some of my clothes into the dresser. My new cell phone started to ring. I checked the caller ID, Valerie. I pushed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Kaine, it's been forever since we've talked!" I had forgotten just how peppy she was.

"Yeah, it has." What was I supposed to talk about? The last two months of my life have revolved around my new life, stuff none of my human friends could know.

"Let me guess," her voice took on a mischievous tone, "it's because of a boy."

I hesitated, "Partly," I was going to keep as close to the truth as possible.

"Are you going to make me beg? What's his name, what's he like, is he cute? Come on, Kaine, I want details!" If I were to describe Valerie in a sentence I'd say she was the total opposite of me.

"Okay, okay," I laughed, "his name is Logan," the man in question came in with more boxes and at the mention of his name his eyes narrowed, like he knew I was up to no good. I totally ignored him, "And he's definitely cute, I'd go as far as saying hot." I focused on his face and grinned, his eyebrows shot up and he puffed out his chest playfully.

"Omg! You have a boyfriend! I thought this day would never come."

"So how are things with Nolan?" I hastily changed the subject.

She sighed, "We're going to different colleges in the fall, so we broke it off."

"Aww, I'm so sorry." They'd been together since 7th grade.

"Yeah," her voice got brighter, "But its okay, it was mutual."

"Oh," I trailed off, not knowing what to say next. I wasn't sure what safe ground was anymore. Logan sat down in the wicker chair in the corner and watched me.

"I'm visiting my grandparents in Syracuse tomorrow, you live near there right?" she asked.

I knew where this was going and I wasn't sure if I liked it. "Yeah," I said warily.

"Well can I stop by? The guys were going to come with me."

I hesitated a little, "How about I meet you out somewhere?" I doubted any humans were allowed in Stonehaven, and I couldn't tell them I didn't live with my parents without telling them the rest of the story.

"Sure, where?" I heard a vacuum cleaner on the other line and I figured Valerie was in one of her OCD moods.

"Hang on a second." I covered the phone with my hand and asked Logan, "Where are we getting the paint?"

He shrugged, "Somewhere in the Eastbranch Mall."

I nodded and uncovered my cell, "How 'bout the food court in the Eastbranch Mall?"

Valerie gave a little chirp, "Okay, be there at two?"

I covered up a sigh, "I'll be there."

"And Kaine?" she spoke up quickly just as I was about to hang up, "Bring the boyfriend!"

"Goodbye Valerie," I spoke slowly and hung up to her laughter. I huffed and sat down on the bed.

Logan cocked an eyebrow, "Problem?"

"No, I should be happy that I get to see my old friends."

"But you're not," he finished bluntly.

I tilted my head, something I tended to do when I was sorting through my emotions, "It's just that I feel like I'm pretending. It was only a three minute conversation and I couldn't even tell her anything that's happened to me since I moved here." I settled down on my back with my feet hanging over the edge of the bed, "I can only imagine what it'll be like when I have to talk to them for a couple hours."

Logan was silent for a moment, "Then don't go." He said it as if it would solve all my problems.

I sighed in exasperation and chucked a pillow at his head. It hit with a satisfying oomph. "No, I'm going. And you are coming with me."

"Why?" was all he asked.

"Because," I smiled at the ceiling, "Valerie would kill me if I didn't bring you."

"So," he started amused, "you'll tongue lash werewolves that have no intention of keeping you safe, but you're afraid of a human?"

"Of course," I nodded.

He groaned and flicked the pillow back at me, it bounced off my knee, "I need an instruction manual with you."

"Nah, it wouldn't help any."

"And why's that?"

"I make up my rules as I go along," it was what William always used to say about me.

"Why does that not surprise me?" I could almost hear him throw his hands up.

I grinned, "Because you know me too well."