Kaitlyn POV
I woke up early the next morning with a pounding headache. The first thing I notice is that I am in a very large bed, in a spectacularly decorated room. There's a large dresser with a beautiful vanity mirror, and right next to it are huge windows with white lace curtains. The sun shone brightly and illuminated every corner of the room. I wondered where I was for a minute. Hell I didn't even remember falling asleep, but it didn't take me long to remember what happened last night: Dean, Roman and Seth destroying the bar, AJ being kidnapped, learning that my entire life was a lie. Oh my God. I start crying immediately. It starts off a soft whimper, but then they turn into powerful sobs combined with dry heaves. My chest is tight, my face is wet and I probably look like crap, but I just don't care. I just can't stop crying.
"Kaitlyn!" AJ storms into the room and rushes to the side of the bed. She sits on the bed and I put my head on her lap as I continue to cry hysterically. "It's okay, Kaitlyn. Don't cry please."
"How can I not?! Everything, everything I knew is wrong."
"You don't know that," she points out as she wipes my tears.
"I don't know what to do! Who am I supposed to trust?"
"I don't know. I really don't. I wish I knew what to tell you."
"I don't want to believe that the sirens have been lying to me all this time, but something is telling me that these guys are telling me the truth."
"Isn't there any way that you can find out who's lying?" I thought about her question really hard.
"Wolves can steal memories. Maybe they can help me recall the times I transformed in the Realm of Sirens."
"What if they can't?"
"Then I need to revisit the sirens."
AJ nodded her head. "Okay if that's what you want to do." I sit up and hug AJ.
"I'm so sorry AJ. I never meant to involve you in any of this."
"It's not your fault, Katie. How could you know that a wolf pack would come looking for you, and how could you know that they would use me to get to you?"
"Speaking of which, how was last night before I got here? Did they treat you well?"
"Um… well it had its moments. Punk was really mean and rough at first, but eventually he fed me and then we had a really nice conversation."
"Nice conversation? He eventually fed you? AJ, when I saw you two he was shaking the life out of you!"
"Yeah, but before that we had a really good conversation. I think we made a connection." I looked at her incredulously. She couldn't be serious could she? A really good conversation makes up for kidnapping her and getting physical with her? "Please don't look at me like that Katie, I'm not crazy. We really did have a connection. He just… I don't know I was still a prisoner. I guess he, you know, didn't want me getting too comfortable, all things considered."
"AJ you sound like the living embodiment of Stockholm syndrome."
"I know, but as far as kidnappers go, he could have been worse."
"I suppose he could have, but still. The first chance you get you need to go back to town and stay far away from these wolves."
"What about you? Are you going to stay?"
"I think I need to until I figure out this curse. Once it's broken I'll go back home."
"Well until you go home, I can't leave you alone with these guys."
"AJ,"
"I don't know if I can do anything to help, but what kind of friend would I be if I left you to face this by yourself?"
"You're the best, AJ." I immediately go to hug her. This woman is absolutely amazing and probably the only one I can trust right now. I'll have to protect her, but I'd rather have her with me, for selfish reasons and for safety purposes, then be without her.
Dean POV
"So Punk tells us you put Kaitlyn to bed last night." Seth's question catches me completely off guard and I choke on my breakfast. I cough violently and start pounding on my chest to alleviate the cough. Punk, who is sitting right across from me starts laughing loudly, while Roman, who is cooking over the stove is trying to hide his smile.
"What do you mean put her to bed? I mean I guess you can say I tucked her in, but nothing happened."
"Sounds, to me, like you have feelings for the pup, Dean."
"Shut up Seth! I just thought that she could use a good night's sleep. I mean we dropped a pretty big bomb on her last night."
"Is that why you put her in our mother's room," Roman asked. Dammit. I was really hoping that they wouldn't find out.
"Who told you that?"
"No one needed to tell me. I always go by our mom's room before going to bed." Roman never took our mother's passing well. None of us did really. I remember as pups we used to spend our nights in our mother's bed. Our dad allowed it until we all got too big to share the bed when were twelve. Even so, we always went by Mom's room before going to sleep. Seth and I stopped doing it in our early 20s, but I guess Roman never stopped.
"What? Are you mad that I put her in Mom's room?"
"That's not the point." Roman finished cooking and served himself a plate of food. He sat to him and took a bite before continuing. "We haven't used that room since Dad made us get our own rooms. Now this pup comes along and because she had a rough night you let her sleep in Mom's room?"
"What are you trying to say Roman?!" He's starting to piss me off. I know what he's insinuating, but I want him to come out and say it so I can deny it already.
"He's saying that you care about the hybrid," Punk says. I look at him with a blank face, but I'm mad. I'm furious.
"Never. She's a siren."
"What does that have to do with anything," Seth asks me while taking a drink of his coffee. "You're not blaming her for the curse are you?"
"She's the enemy, Seth."
"That's not how you made it seem last night, Dean." Punk is getting on my nerves. I have to get the pup to trust me. How else will she be useful and help to break the curse? "You know, it's okay to feel that way about her. It's not as though she was the one that cursed us. Besides she's a victim in this too."
"How do you figure," I asked him.
"You said it yourself last night. She goes through the transformations just like we do, or at least did. Plus, aren't you the one who said that the sirens probably laughed at her pain when she started transforming?"
"I don't know if they actually did that, though. The pup was an emotional mess and I said what I needed to say to make her question her beliefs."
"That's messed up, Dean. We didn't put her through enough by kidnapping her friend and destroying her place of work?"
"Oh shut up, Seth! If I didn't make her question the sirens' motives, she would still trust them. If she trusts the sirens, at all, it could be a very big problem for us in the long run."
"So then," Roman started. "You put her in our mother's bedroom to gain her trust? You show her that you care about her and she starts to trust you?"
"Yeah."
"But you don't care about her?"
"No." Roman sighed deeply and looked over at Punk and Seth who had finished eating their breakfast. All three of them had this look on their face, as though they were disappointed in me, or maybe they just didn't believe me.
"So you're using her?" Roman stood up and towered over me. "Mom would be so proud."
"Don't pretend like using her wasn't your idea in the first place, Roman!" I stood up and got in Roman's face. I wasn't about to let him judge my actions when it was his idea to use the pup to begin with.
"At least I wouldn't have involved Mom in all this!"
"Hey," Seth stepped in between us and makes a wall out of himself. Seth was always playing peace keeper between Roman and me. There's always been somewhat of a sibling rivalry between us. It's not like we hate each other, but what do you expect with brothers? "Let's not do this okay? Roman it was your idea to use the pup to get to the sirens, but Dean if you're only motive in putting her to bed in Mom's room was to gain her trust only so you can exploit her later then you're in the wrong. And you KNOW it."
"All of us are in the wrong here." Punk finally decides to speak up and all of our attention goes to him. "We are exploiting the pup for our own selfish purposes, so let's not pretend that any one of us is better than the other. However, both Dean and I have witnessed firsthand how fragile this pup is. So the exploitation stops now. We are going to make Kaitlyn part of this pack."
"WHAT?!" My brothers and I are beyond surprised and furious. I don't know what Roman's and Seth's reasons are, but I don't approve of letting an abomination into our pack, or any pack for that matter.
"Punk, you've got to be kidding me" Seth yells. "If word gets to other packs that we let a half siren join we would be hunted down."
"Weren't you the one that wanted to train her and mentor her, anyway," I pointed out.
"That's different then letting her join. Not to mention if word gets to the Realm of Sirens. We don't know what kind of conditions they gave the pup before they let her join human society. We'd make ourselves a target for them too."
"She is a wolf in our jurisdiction. Under the Pact of Wolves, we are obligated to make her a part of the pack."
"Punk, I hear what you're saying but I'm sure we can make an exception in this case," Roman pleaded.
"No. There will be no exceptions. Kaitlyn will become part of our pack."
"What about the sirens," I asked. "What about the curse? If we can't use her to get to the sirens, how are we supposed to break the curse?"
"If she decides that she wants to help break the curse that is her choice, but until she makes that choice… any and all attempts to gain her trust better be genuine. She's already questioning her trust in the sirens. We don't need her to question her trust in us." I will admit that Punk had a point. If the pup ever thought that we were only using her to get to the sirens, there's no way that she would want to help us. She would never believe a word that we said to her and all hopes of breaking the curse would be thrown out the window. But now what I am supposed to do? I never had an interest in watching over the pup until I learned that she could possibly break the curse. Now that I can't use her, what's the point in being nice to her? Roman and Seth wouldn't have a problem befriending the pup. Roman stopped me from killing her in the first place, and Seth was nice to her from the beginning. But me? I've wanted to kill her since I found out she was a siren, and she's going to be one of us: my fellow pack member. This is bullshit. I leave the kitchen without cleaning up after myself.
"Where are you going, Dean," I hear Roman call after me.
"Out," I answer. "I need some air."
"When should we expect you back," Seth asked.
"Later." I walk out the house. I don't want to be around anyone right now, and there's only one place in the world I can be to clear my head.
Alright, another chapter down! This is kind of a filler chapter, but it is important nonetheless.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Please keep doing so! Your reviews are awesome to read!
-J.