Chapter 23 Cruel game
“Serena,” Holly called from across the yard. Serena looked up and saw Holly waving to her. She becko ned her over. Serena looked at Adriana. “Oh, go on, she won‘t do anything here,” Adriana assured. “Be sides, she did apologize.” “Yes, a very forced apology,” Serena said with a sigh. She set her drink down . “Come on, Serena,” Holly called again. “I better go,” she said. She gave Adriana a small wave. The doctor nod ded as she departed. Serena went to Holly. She was standing behind the grills near the back porch of L ogan‘s house.
“What can I do for you?” Serena asked, keeping her voice friendly. “We got off on the wrong foot,” Holly said. “But, you‘re part of the pack now. As future Luna, it is my job to welcome you, just like it is Logan‘ s.” “That‘s nice of you,” Serena said with a nod. Holly‘s comfort with referring to herself as Logan’s mate and future Luna were odd to Serena. Logan hadn‘t mentioned anything to her, and if anything, he seemed standoff– ish to the idea of commitment. It wasn‘t Serena‘ place to judge it, though. “Come on, let me show you around the house,” she said. She l ooped her arm through Serena‘s smiling brightly. Serena smiled warmly, allowing herself to be led up th e steps and into the house. “Thanks,” she said. Holly brought her into the kitchen, where the back door led. “This house has been in Logan‘s family for generations,” she explained, heading from the kitchen i nto the living room. Serena didn‘t want to tell Holly that she had seen the living room already. If Holly ac tually wanted to mend bridges with her, then she would go along with it.
She didn‘t want to rekindle any friction by disrupting the tour and telling Holly that she‘d been in the Alpha‘s house. She had no way of knowing if Logan had told her, or how she would feel about it. “This room has a lot of history in it,” Serena commented, looking around at all the pictures. She hadn‘t had a chance to really look at them the last time she was there. Between having the kids, meeting Logan‘s mother, and discovering how much Oliver lo oked like Logan at age five, she had been a little preoccupied. “There is,” Holly agreed, going to the mantle and holding her arm out to some of the more recent pictures. There were a few of Logan and Holly together enjoying some kind of date activity. Serena smiled, looking them over. If Holly was just trying t o bait her, she wasn‘t going to fall for it! “And this, this was Logan‘s dad” Holly said, showing a picture of Flo with a male. “I heard he passed aw ay.” Serena said somberly. Holly nodded, her lips curving down in a frown.
“I lost my father too,” she admitted. Serena hadn‘t expected them to have a bonding or sharing moment , but she offered the other female a sympathetic look. “Logan was really the only one who could know what I was going through when I came here. We were both the children of Alphas who died before their time. ” “I am sorry.” Serena said. “It is a terrible tragedy.”
“Yes, it is,” Holly said, turning away from the picture. Serena saw actual emotion in the other female‘s e yes. She didn‘t want to overstep her bounds by offering a comforting touch, though “It must have been comforting to find someone else who understood” she said, feeling awkward. Why did Holly want to show her past traumas? “It was. That is what brought us together. That is why we are so good together, because we understand each other,” Holly said. “I believe that is true,” Serena said. Holly rounded on her, a glare etching into her features. “Why are you always so passive?” she snapped. “Can‘t you get mad, show some emotion?” “Holly, I‘m not trying to compete wit h you for Logan,” Serena said slowly. “There is nothing to get mad over, at least not
for me.” Holly sneered at her. “You‘re a fool!” she spit. “Besides, you‘ve made it clear that no male in this pack would think twice about me because I‘m a single mother, why do you think Logan i s any different?” Serena asked. Holly rolled her eyes. “He‘s noble,” she said. “He likes to rescue the da msel in distress.” Serena laughed; she couldn‘t help it. Quickly, she covered her mouth to stifle it. “I‘m n ot a damsel in distress,” she said. “I don‘t need a male or a mate, and I am doing fine on my own with my kids. I have been for a lon g time.” Holly rolled her eyes again. “Well, aren‘t you just the perfect saint?” she asked, throwing her ar ms up in the air. “Guys really go in for that whole independent, sweet, soft, and approachable female bit .” Serena sighed, shaking her head. “Did you want to finish taking me on a tour of the house?” she ask ed. Holly sighed. “No,” she said. “Clearly, there is nothing I can say to get a rise out of you.” Serena was surprised by Holly‘s admission to her plan. “Maybe you can fe el comfortable in the fact then, that I am not trying to snare Logan or come between the two of you,” sh e said. Holly shrugged. “Well at least I know he will always come back to me,” she said. It wasn‘t exactly the cruel game. response Serena was hoping for. She shrugged. “I’m going to go back to the party,” she said. She head ed back through the kitchen; Holly close behind her. Out the back door, Serena headed for the porch st eps. She went to step down, but something heavy pinned the back of her skirt to the porch. Serena‘s skirt caught, causing her to trip forward. The pressure released, and she pitched forward, falling down the porch steps. Unable to catch herself, Serena hit the edges of the steps heavily, groaning as she rolled down, slamming into t he ground on her shoulder
For a moment everything was numb. Her vision was blurred, sounds were muffled, and her body was tingling. Then, the pain set in. S he groaned, rolling off her injured shoulder. Sound flooded back first. She heard Holly laughing, chorus
ed by several other girls laughing around her. Serena sat up, the impact from her fall fading. Her cheek s burned red suddenly when she saw that her skirt had been pulled down to her knees. Her hands sho ok as she righted her skirt, but already most of the party goers had gathered around her. Matt was leering alo ng with Holly‘s friends. Some of the other members were laughing too, and Holly stood triumphant on the porch. “Don‘t move!” Adriana said, rushing to Serena‘s side. “You could have a concussion.” “I‘m fine,” Serena tried to argue. Her cheeks still burned with heat. She just wanted to get out of there. “Serena, let me make sure you are okay.” Adriana insisted. “That was a nasty fall.” S erena sat still, looking at the ground so she didn‘t have to see the staring, laughing faces.
Adriana checked her eyes to make sure she wasn‘t concussed, and then tested her arm to make sure it wasn‘t broken. “You‘re okay,” she said standing up and holding her hand out to Serena. She took it, letting the doctor help her up, but she held the waist of her skirt in an attempt to keep it from falling d own again. She could tell her face was still read, and she imagined her hair was a total mess too! It had been silly to think that Holly was actually trying to be nice. Serena wanted to kick herself for opening herself up to this kind of humiliation. “I should go,” she said to Adriana. “Please thank Logan for inviting me.” Adriana bit her lower lip. “Do you want me to go with you?” she asked. Serena shook her h ead. “I‘ve got this,” she assured. Serena left the yard, not looking back even though she could feel Holl y and her friends‘ laughing eyes and smiles following her. Serena held her injured arm against her ches t as she walked. She started to wonder whether or not she should have come back to the pack. Night
Sky needed her, and she loved having a relationship with her family again, but was it worth all this? She‘d made enemies of a female for no reason other than being a single female! She had forgotten how catty females could be w
Sure, that existed in the human world, but it wasn‘t something Serena had ever worried about because s to date. Not that she was here, but
among werewolves, any single female was a potential threat.
Serena sighed, just wanting to get home to see her kids again. When she arrived, Dana was giving them their dinner. It was still light out, and would be for a
“Are you okay, hon?” Dana asked. “You look…scuffed.” Serena looked down at her clothes to see some grass stains. Her cheek stung, indicating she had a scrape there. The rest of her body was already sore. “I‘m okay,” she said. “I‘m just going to go get cleaned up.”