Rejecting Him

Someone outside pounded at the door, but in my frazzled state, I didn’t register their scent. The words flew out of my mouth before I could bite them back.

“Leave me alone!”

“Jesus, Callie, it’s just me!” Came a voice from the other side of the door. In that voice was the telling crack of adolescence. I lifted my nose and sniffed lightly. Patchouli.

“Nick?” I called.

“Yeah. What’s up, Cuz?”

I got up and unlocked my door in response. My cheeks heated with self-consciousness as I peeked down the hall. I hurried Nick inside my bedroom before shutting the door and locking it again.

Nick drew his brows together. Were he not family, I’d have called him handsome. He had clear, expressive eyes and long, nimble fingers that were calloused from playing guitar. His usual afro was braided into neat, even cornrows. The tips of the braids each held a bead, alternating between red, white, and black. He was a fan of our city’s basketball team, the Portland Trail Blazers (or “Blazers,” for short). Nick wasn’t on his school’s team though, preferring to run track instead. Thanks to his lycanthropy he had brought his school victory after victory once he’d joined. He wanted to try his luck at that Ninja Warrior show, but Dad wasn’t too thrilled by the idea of a werewolf having that much attention, especially one of ours.

“Okay, for real, what’s going on?” Nick’s voice was low with worry, and I realized just how badly I was shaking. I cast a glance around my room—pink walls, white carpet, round pink rug covering a decades-old grape juice stain. A desk was set up next to the window, and my old antique glass lamp sat on top. It was like the room was frozen in time from three years ago. I’d been eager to get out and have my own place. Now I just wanted to go back to that time, back to when I didn’t have to worry about imprinting.

I sighed, finally meeting Nick’s eyes. “A werewolf finally imprinted on me.”

Nick broke out into a grin, then laughed, deep and booming like Dad.

“That’s all?” he said, clapping me on the shoulder. “That’s why you’re freaking out?” I swatted his hand away.

“This isn’t just some random wolf, Nick. He’s been…following me. I’ve been looking over my shoulder for weeks now, feeling like some kind of-of-crazy person ‘cause I’ve been scared! I got a freaking baseball bat because he showed up at my work! And now this psycho imprints on me?”

Nick’s eyes widened to the size of the very plate I wanted to crack over Warren’s head.

“He’s a rogue, Nick, and I caught him in my territory last full moon.”

“Oh…” Nick’s voice was a whisper, but it was as clear as if he’d spoken at a normal volume. Trembling, I lowered myself back onto my bed. “And he’s downstairs now?”

“Yes. Last I saw, he was chatting up Alanna and Jen.”

“I need to find Uncle Ken.” The resolve in his voice was surprising, but comforting at the same time. I lay a hand on Nick’s arm.

“Don’t. Don’t get Dad involved.”

“Why?” he cried.

“Charles already knows—he reported it to Dad. At least, that’s what he should’ve done. He said just as much to me on the phone. Besides that, there’s not much else I can really do.”

A blanket of silence descended on us. Nick and I held each other’s gazes. I got the feeling that he was trying to figure something out; maybe he was trying to figure me out. Honestly, I wouldn’t have even been surprised. Perhaps Dad would listen more if Nick were to come to him. That’s just the way things were in our pack. I was ashamed to admit this fact to myself once it occurred to me.

“Is that what you really want me to do?” Nick murmured. Once again, I looked away.

“Dad’s still Alpha—”

“For now—”

“I know he’ll take care of it, that’s his job,” I said, wishing that Nick would just drop it already.

Nick let out a sigh. Before I realized what I was going on, Nick sat down beside me and pulled me into a hug.

“Nick, I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” I whispered, crying lightly onto my cousin’s shoulder. This wasn’t like being asked out to a school dance by the wrong guy, where I could just let him down easy and move on with my life. For our kind, imprinting came pretty damn close to engagement and even marriage. As Alpha’s daughter, rejecting Warren could hurt my family’s reputation in the pack. Already a few council members had called me too haughty. “What can I do? I just—”

“Just breathe,” Nick said. “This isn’t set in stone, Callie.”

“Oh…of course…” In that moment, I remembered I had an option. “Hey, I can formally reject him at tonight’s meeting. After all, doing it in front of the pack, and Dad makes it official…”

I straightened, sharing a grin with Nick.

***

Warren was there at my door as soon as I opened it. I couldn’t hold back the sudden rush of anger that flooded me, coming through in the flush in my cheeks. If Warren noticed, though, it hardly showed. His eyes flickered behind me and landed on Nick.

“Who’s that?” Warren asked in a voice that was just barely level.

“This is Nick,” I said in an all-too-conversational tone. The smile on my face was no longer sincere. Instead, it was fixed and plastic. “He’s my cousin. I’m sorry, I thought you knew.” After all, he seemed to know everything else about me.

By the look in Warren’s eyes, Nick would have caught fire on the spot if that’s what Warren would have wanted. I angled my body so that it subtly shielded Nick from Warren.

“Uh-huh,” was all Warren said in response. The two men eyed each other warily, then Warren turned to me. “Ken told me to come find you. It’s time for dinner.”

“Okay.” I paused, hand on the door knob. Warren never made a move to leave. “I’ll be right down.”

Warren inclined his head. He eyed me down the length of his nose. “Fair enough.”