Chapter Four: Strange Mornings and Blurred Lines
Katherine blinked up at the ceiling, bleary-eyed and disoriented.
Something was different.
Her body still ached faintly from the crash, but it was already mostly healed. That wasn't it. It was something deeper—some strange hum under her skin. A pull she didn't recognize, like her blood was vibrating in tune with a song she couldn't quite hear.
She stretched beneath the heavy blankets and glanced toward the window. Morning light diffused through the clouds, soft and cold and oddly peaceful. Too peaceful. It unsettled her.
With a groan, she swung her legs off the bed, messy dark hair falling over one shoulder. Her boots were beside the door, miraculously dry. She slipped them on, threw on her jacket, and headed downstairs.
Carmen was in the kitchen, humming softly as she prepared coffee for Katherine. Tanya and Eleazar were at the long dining table, a book and chessboard between them. Irina leaned against the counter, idly scrolling through something on a tablet.
All eyes turned to Katherine as she entered.
"Good morning," Carmen greeted with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I hit a snowbank," Katherine replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "Which I did. So… consistent."
Tanya grinned. "You look better. Color's back in your face."
Katherine smirked and made her way to the coffee machine Carmen had promised. "Where are the blonde twins? Thought they'd be here, basking in the glory of their icy seduction."
Carmen chuckled. "Rosalie and Kate live just down the road in their own house. They come and go as they please."
Katherine raised a brow. "Why do they live separately?"
Tanya didn't even glance up from the chessboard. "Because they're mated. And they were too loud in their bedroom to stay in this house."
Katherine nearly choked on her first sip of coffee.
Irina snorted from behind her tablet, and Carmen let out a low, affectionate sigh.
"They value their privacy," Carmen added delicately.
"Yeah, I bet they do," Katherine muttered, cheeks burning. She quickly looked away, pretending to study the framed photographs along the wall. "Noted."
⸻
Later that afternoon, after a quiet walk through the snow-covered property and a change of clothes Carmen had somehow found in Katherine's exact size, she spotted Rosalie and Kate lounging on the porch of the guest house. Sunlight glinted off their skin, and it annoyed Katherine how they both managed to look like something out of a perfume commercial.
Kate looked up first. "You survived the Denali hospitality."
"Barely," Katherine called, trudging up the steps. "Coffee almost killed me."
"Let us make it up to you," Rosalie said, her voice low and honey-smooth. She held out a thermos. "Fresh. Blood, not caffeine."
Katherine arched a brow but took it anyway. "Trying to bribe me?"
"Trying to keep you standing," Rosalie replied with a slight smirk.
They sat together on the porch swing, legs brushing occasionally, the silence between them just a little too charged. Katherine could feel it again—that hum. Stronger now. She sipped her drink, trying to ignore how aware she was of every glance Kate gave her, every slow blink from Rosalie.
"So," Kate began casually, "what's a girl like you doing out here alone? Looking to get frostbite or just trying to crash your car into destiny?"
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Definitely the second one."
Kate laughed and leaned in, her voice a murmur. "You're interesting, Katherine. More than you let on."
Rosalie tilted her head, golden eyes catching hers. "A little reckless. A little dangerous."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Katherine said lightly, even as her heart ticked a little faster.
"It's not," Kate replied, brushing a hand over Katherine's arm briefly. "We like danger."
Katherine shifted in her seat, smirking. "If this is your version of small talk, I can't imagine what flirting looks like."
Kate smiled slyly. "Who said we weren't flirting?"
Katherine turned away, suddenly fascinated by the horizon. "I'm sure I wouldn't notice."
Rosalie chuckled under her breath. "Sure."
The teasing lingered, subtle and constant, like the first sparks of a fire slowly building. Katherine kept pretending she didn't feel it—but every nerve in her body was already on high alert.
She didn't know what they were doing.
She didn't know what she was doing.
But for the first time in a long while, she wasn't bored.