Page 4 of UNAwere

The days go by too fast.

I feel like I haven’t done enough with Maeve and my friends by the time I realise I’m leaving for Primrose the next day. So, I gather my sister close and don’t let her leave my sight, forcing her to watch movies with me in the lounge room while we eat chocolate ice cream and paint each other’s toenails.

And I hold onto it. The sound of her laughter, the smile she wears as I wriggle my toes at her to gross her out, the shine in her eyes when she looks at me.

I’m making coffee in the kitchen the morning of the day I’m due to leave when Maeve comes down the stairs. She gives me a small smile, but I can see the tears in her eyes.

‘Hey,’ I say, trying to sound light-hearted. ‘Want coffee?’

She shakes her head, going to the pantry to get cereal. I watch her make a bowl, cupping my mug of coffee between my palms.

‘So, do you wanna—?’

The back door opens.

‘Girls,’ Nolan says as he comes in, headed straight for the coffee machine. He pours himself a cup and meets my gaze.

I give Maeve’s back a pointed stare, the sound of her crunching on her cereal filling the silence.

Nolan glances at her and then back at me, raising his brows just as pointedly. He’d left us alone last night so we could spend sisterly time together, and it’s like he’s telling me that should be enough.

‘Have you packed?’ he asks me. Of course – Mr Alpha is refusing to bend to my will.

‘Pretty much. If I forget anything, I can always grab it when I visit.’

Maeve says nothing, keeping her back turned as she eats, bent over the counter.

‘Maevey, Prue and Izzy are waiting outside, for when you’re ready to train,’ Nolan tells her.

‘Yeah, I know. They texted me.’ She finishes her cereal and puts her bowl in the sink.

I frown. ‘Oh, I thought we could maybe—?’

Maeve casts me a look. ‘Maybe later, Sybbie.’

When the back door is closed behind her, I groan.

‘You’re doing the right thing, even if she hates you for it,’ Nolan tells me before I can vent my frustrations.

I bite my lip, staring into my mug. I’ve spent my entire life protecting my little sister. Being eleven years older than her, I’ve felt it was my duty to become her mother when our own passed. She was only seven at the time, and their deaths hit her so much harder than they had me.

‘She doesn’t like how I’m not serious,’ I say.

Nolan smiles sadly. ‘She’s a lot like your mother. You’re a lot like your father. And it was a wonder they both got along. To be honest, it’s kind of like watching their relationship all over again.’

Being Dad’s best friend, Nolan had taken us girls in immediately. I think it was half loyalty to his friend, and half guilt for playing a big part in their deaths. After all, the alpha makes the law, and the alpha tells his people when to fight for him. Only, it’d been a fight they hadn’t won.

‘She’ll forgive me,’ I say out loud. ‘Maybe not any time soon, but she will one day.’ I wave a hand. ‘It makes more sense for me to do this. And judging from Warner’s message, he doesn’t care which one of us comes, as long as we’re someone related to you, as Luminaire’s alpha.’

‘You sound like you’re trying to justify your decision,’ Nolan murmurs, watching me over the rim of his mug.

‘I have to.’ I bite the inside of my cheek and glance out the kitchen windows. Maeve is in the yard, training with two of Nolan’s best fighters. Her face is firm, determined, as she goes through drills with them. Red hair tied up, soft mouth scrunched. ‘She can find a partner here – human or Were – and have a normal life. What our parents wanted.’

Nolan doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t mention that they wanted the same for me, too. Because we both know that, and saying it out loud would feel like a betrayal.

‘Warner’s driver will be here at three p.m.,’ he says after a while.

I blink and turn back from the window, nodding. ‘I’ll be ready.’