Part 53

Part 53
Adara stood on the outside of the restaurant and wondered what Juniper had meant. Why use the back door? She walked up the block and peered around the corner. She saw a man standing in the parking area with his back to her, clearly shouting at Juniper. Juniper got into the car and he drove off in a hurry. She felt like she knew him, and thought maybe he could be Adrian Peters, but she wasn’t sure.

She felt a stab of betrayal as she saw Juniper with the man that had killed almost her entire pack, if it was in fact him. She looked at her watch and hurried to her car. She didn’t want Kiran to arrive home before she did.

On the drive home Adara chastised herself. What was Juniper’s plan? Why was she helping Adrian? Was she planning on doing something to her? All these thoughts played through Adara’s mind. More importantly, she wasn’t sure how she was going to tell Kiran about this.

She parked her car in the driveway and quickly went inside. It was five-to-two. Kiran and Christian would be home at any moment. Kiran would leave again at 3 with Christian to go for training with Malachi and they would be back at around 5 p.m.

She usually made dinner so that it would be ready by 5:30, giving them time to shower and get dressed. Today though, she felt sad as she started the preparations for dinner. Karani always cooked for them and there was no comparing their culinary skills.

I parked the car as Christian told me about his day and his new friend Max. Max was a new boy in his class and they both loved dinosaurs. I smiled at him in the rearview mirror. He undid the safety straps of his booster seat and I opened the door for him. He jumped out and ran into the house.

“Hi, we’re back!” he shouted, as he opened the front door. He took off his jacket and left it on the floor next to his backpack.

“Hey! Where does your jacket go?” Adara asked him, as I kissed her hello.

She had an odd look on her face, she seemed flustered and worried. For a second, I wondered if it had something to do with her herbalism course, a fact she and Malachi were very excited about, but me, not so much.

“Sorry,” Christian said, as he rolled his eyes and picked it up. He hung it over the hook and opened the fridge. He took the milk out and I gave him his special glass. It was a plastic dinosaur cup.

I sat down at the kitchen counter and carefully watched Adara as she chopped onions. She was definitely nervous. I looked at Christian and he smiled at me. I looked back at Adara and she concentrated very hard not to notice me. Then I saw it.

“Where did you get that?”

“Get what?” Her voice was nervous, I could tell. She was playing the innocent game. I smiled briefly as I realized she was planning on lying to me, I could see it in her aura.

“The Rune necklace. It looks old.” Adara briefly touched the round disk but didn’t look at me.

“Oh, this…” she began to say.

“Don’t lie to me.” She smiled in defeat and put the knife down.

“Don’t get mad…Juniper gave it to me.” The last part had been said so softly that I almost didn’t hear her. I wasn’t mad. I was furious!

“Talk.” I was surprised at how much I sounded like Malachi because I was using my Alpha aura to intimidate her.

“She phoned me yesterday and asked me to meet her for lunch. She said she wanted to give me something that belonged to my mother. She gave me this necklace.” Adara didn’t even look guilty or remorseful and I sat with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Why would you go to meet her?” I asked angrily. Christian had gone up to his room to change his clothes.

“Why are you so mad?”

“Really? You don’t get why I’m mad?” My anger was intensifying and I was so mad that I could break something.

“No, she gave me a necklace and that was that,” Adara said, defiantly.

“After everything she put you through! She’s banished from Seward! Why didn’t you tell me she called you? You didn’t tell me because you knew I would say no!”

“I don’t have to ask your permission for anything!” I was on the verge of saying something when Christian came down the stairs and I sat down again.

“Are you fighting?” he asked me.

“No, we're not fighting. Let’s get going or Malachi will make us run if we’re late,” I said to him, trying to smile through my anger.

I didn’t kiss Adara goodbye like I normally would and walked out of the room. Christian came hopping to the car like a kangaroo and I genuinely smiled. We drove up to the hotel. The den had been rebuilt but neither Malachi nor I were ready to be there yet.

For now, we practiced in the hotel’s gym which we reserved for private use every day for two hours. The staff at the hotel doted on Christian as he greeted each one personally by their names. He trained for half an hour with me and then went to play with Edward, the hotel’s doorman.

“Something on your mind?” Malachi asked me, as I failed to block his punch for the fourth time. I grabbed my towel and wiped my face.

“Adara met with Juniper today.” I told him.

Malachi kept his expression neutral. “She didn’t tell you beforehand?”

“No.”

I blocked Malachi’s next punch. “Are you mad at her?”

“Yes, of course I’m mad!” Malachi’s next move swept me off my feet and I lay on my back staring at the ceiling.

“Anger weakens you,” he said, like so many times before. I got up and changed my stance. “When you’ve lost your temper, you’ve lost the day.”

“I know. Never bring anger to your fight, only perseverance and determination.” I mimicked him, and he threw me over his shoulder. I didn’t get up immediately and Malachi sat down next to me.