Page 154 of UNAwere

Me

A bit put out. I thought I’d see you.

Grumble Bum

I know, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ll be there soon, I promise.

Me

It’s okay. You’re the alpha’s brother and all important now. I get it.

Grumble Bum

Nothing is more important to me than you, Sybbie. I love you.

Tears blur my vision, but I quickly type out an “I love you, too” and put away my phone.

And then Bernie flicks on the radio and turns it up, and I start laughing, manically, tears streaming down my face. Because it’s a talk show.

Two days later, I’m sitting on the beach, watching the waves.

The cabin sits several metres behind me, music wafting out of the open doorway as Bernie plays her classical jazz.

The sun sets before me, warming the horizon, and I watch the colour of the ocean change from a deep blue to a greyish black, as night slowly takes hold.

The wind nips at my cheeks, and I fold my arms into my coat, leaning forward. Last night, a storm rolled through, and it shook the walls of the cabin enough for me to believe they were going to fly off.

If you could call it a cabin.

The building is massive, two storeys and built backing a forest. It’s wooden, with a wraparound porch that’s bare of chairs now, what with the wind being too strong. Bernie took them inside yesterday, wearing her apron and scowling at how the rain dotted her clean windows.

Thunder rumbles in the distance, and I shiver. I get up, slapping sand from the back of my jeans, and head back to the house.

A light flashes on the dirt track through the trees, up behind the house, and I stop, staring. And then a car comes into view, headlights on, and it pulls up beside Bernie’s SUV. The doors open and Keith gets out, kids piling out behind him, yelling and laughing. And then someone else gets out, and I feel my breath slip from my lungs.

When Maeve sees me, she grins so wide her face breaks open. We run for each other and collide in a mass of giggles and tears. I kiss the side of her head, clinging to her bony shoulders, my chest heaving.

‘What are you doing here?’ I exclaim.

‘Jude said you would want to see me!’

‘Jude? You spoke to Jude?’

‘Yeah.’ She laughs, pulling away to grin at my face. ‘I now know his name isn’t “Grumble Bum”.’

I let out another sob, pulling her against me again.

‘Jeepers, Maeve, it’s so good to see you.’

‘You too, big sis,’ she says. She draws away again, a worried crease between her brows. ‘Jude said you were injured. Are you okay?’

‘Yeah.’ I roll my injured shoulder. Thanks to Were biology, it’s healed fairly quickly, but it still aches. ‘I’m fine.’

I glance at the car behind her, unable to not feel a sense of disappointment at not seeing Jude get out behind her.

‘He’s still back with Nolan,’ Maeve tells me, seeing my face. ‘But he said he’d be here soon.’ She pulls me into another hug. ‘God, Sybbie! I can’t believe you have a mate!’

I let out a soft snort. ‘I know.’