The Legacy of Kilkenny (47 page)

I storm in the house telling my mom she can deal with Allie, and I am done with her.
 
I have no intentions of spending time with her for this visit.
 
She can kiss my ass.
 
Talk about diva, you would think she was a big movie star.
 
Please.

Our nice family dinner is eerily silent.
 
Allie came in and bitched at our mom for making such starchy foods and there were too many calories in pie, she won’t eat it.
 
She complained that there isn’t any herbal tea for her to drink to keep her vocal chords moist.
 
She tells our dad his pants make him look like he had no ass, and he should consider a diet regime since he eats all of the starchy foods.
 
She points her finger at Bryon wanting to know why his ass is sleeping in her bed and why in the hell is he still at the house when school is out for summer.
 

I hear my mother slamming dishes in the dishwasher, and my dad pouring himself a couple of shots.
 
 
Bryon keeps making buggy eyes at me trying to figure out when Satan took over my sister.
 
I try taking her outside and having a talk with her, needless to say it doesn’t go very well.
 
She rants and raves at me that I think I am something special because I have a fancy car and a couple of muscles.
 
My ability to restrain myself from beating her is impressive.
 
Knowing that vampire venom is making her a raging bitch, I decide that I’d refrain from beating the living daylights out of her.

“Allie, why are you being so irrational?
 
I mean seriously, you’re acting like you’ve lost your mind.
 
Where is all of this hostility coming from?”
 

“Did you just call me hostile?
 
Really?
 
You’re a piece of work Abe, and not a good piece either.”
 
She stomps her foot in a bratty tantrum.

“Stop being so aggressive you evil bitch!
 
I can’t believe you actually stomped your foot, how immature is that.”
 
I pull my keys out of my pocket and leaned in the house telling Bryon I am going out for a drive, if he wants to go with me to come on out.

“Do not ever, I mean EVER call me immature again.”
 
She grabs me and pushes me up against the front door.
 
Her strength is beyond strong, it is supernaturally strong.
 
Oh no.

After I pry her hands off of me, Bryon and I leave for the night.

“Dude, I don’t know what is going on, but your sister is acting slightly off.
 
Is she touched?”
 
Bryon finally asked as we were cruising down the highway.

“You can call her that I guess.
 
I don’t know, I’m thinking her hanging out with the Hollywood types has made a big impact on her.”
 
Who am I kidding, she is acting like a whack job.

“
Mmmm
, okay.
 
We’ll go with that.
 
Are you going to tell Pru?”
 
Bryon starts poking at different stations.

I brush his hand away and flip the channel back to the previous one. “Hey, I like that song.
 
About telling Pru….good question.
 
I’m not going to lie, she isn’t acting much better herself.
 
Maybe the planets aren’t lined up right.”
  
We laugh for a few minutes doing our being impersonation of them.
 
It feels nice to just laugh.
 

PRU

I felt like a walking zombie the first days after my dad’s death.
 
Oakley was by my side, offering help and the monumental shoulder to cry on.
  
I told him I understood about him not being able to tell me about Parker, it wasn’t like he knew until they left on the trip anyway.
 
I never thought in a million years they would come back so soon and I never thought my father would die at the hands of another wolf.
 
It hadn’t been proven who had done it but we were sure it had something to do with the people that had been mauled.
 
Parker was planning on leaving July 8
^th
, he was determined to find the murderer and bring him to justice.
 
Oakley stammered around when I’d ask him if he was planning on going, he denied it but I could tell he wanted to go.
 
I know everyone meant well, but I was tired of all the questions.
 
If I knew the damn answers I sure the hell wouldn’t be sitting here in the death house waiting for the world to stop revolving.
 

White French doors led to the back patio, a place I would sit in silence thinking for hours since my dad died.
 
I’d been thinking about Chrissy and how it seemed like she would be a person I could be friends with.
 
Obviously she grew up in a family that kept secrets from outsiders and she clearly cares for Abel.
 
My mom told me how important her family was to my dad and how incredibly talented both her parents were.
 
We’ve decided we’ll try to help her develop some of her abilities and maybe one day she will be able to heal with her touch. Shaynie has been so damned nice to me that I might hit her just to shut her up.
 
She caused me so much increased anxiety that I added two more runs to my daily routine.
 
Maybe I have a violence problem.
 
No, my problem is my broken heart and too many unanswered questions. I promised my mom I’d try to play nice but I’ve never been known to play well with others.
 

I wiped the sweat from my glass that had
dripped
onto the patio table.
 
The thickness of the humidity and how the smell of the honeysuckle lingered in the air reminded me so much of that first night that my father died and falling asleep in my parents’ bed.
 
It had to have been close to dawn, I’d finally meditated into a relaxed state….. breathing in and out, I open my eyes and I’m outside.

No longer in my parents’ bed, instead I was at the creek in our backyard, skipping stones watching the moon reflection on the water.
 
I hear his voice, sweetly and seductive, a hand is now on my shoulder.
 
I turn around to face him instantly irascible.

“Hello Love,”
 
he said softly.

“What the hell are you doing here?
 
Are you crazy?
 
Of course you’re crazy! You order a hit on my father and then you come and try to manipulate me.
 
Go away!”
 
I yelled as loud as I could.

“Love, you’re being dramatic.”
 
He picked up a rock and tossed it in the pond making it skip causing the water to ripple making the moon reflection shimmer.

“Dramatic?
 
I’m being dramatic?
 
Up yours vampire.
 
My father is dead, as in never coming back, and you have the balls to stand there saying I’m being dramatic.
 
Fuck you!”
 
I turned around and beat on his hard as rock chest with every ounce of energy I had.

“There, there Love, I’m so sorry about your father.”
 
He wrapped his arms around me restraining my arms in his hug.
 

“You better let go of me or so help me I’ll shift and rip your throat out.”
 
I struggled against him, but couldn’t break free.

“Prudence, you need to stop.
 
I’m trying to offer my condolences and you’re acting like a spoiled little girl,” he said condescendingly.
 
“ I’ve told you before how to get rid of me, give me the goods and I’ll be gone.”
 
He continued to hold me and started rocking from foot to foot swaying back and forth and he started humming “You are my sunshine.”

I tried and tried to wake up; no matter what I did I stayed asleep.
 
“Arien, why did you do it?”
 
I whispered, dropping my head in defeat.

“Ah, finally you lowered your voice.
 
My humming my special song for you helped calm my little love.
 
Why did I do what?”
 
His voice was ridiculously sweet.

“
Dammit
to hell Arien, why did you have my father killed?
 
Who are the wolves that did it?”
 
I pleaded over and over until my tears freely flowed.

He shrugs and still holds me up against him.
 
“Oh that.
 
That had nothing to do with me, not really my style love.
 
I do my own dirty work.”
 

“Would you stop the rocking, I’m getting sea sick.
 
If you didn’t have him killed, who did?”
 
I stomped on his foot hoping he would let go of me, but he continued his patronizing dance.
 
“Come on Arien, who did it.”
 
I whined.

“Your father had his own enemies love, I’m sorry you’re being very narrow minded about this.
 
I don’t know why you think I’d do such a harmful thing to you.”
 
He giggled to himself, “Oh that’s right, because I’m a vampire.
 
The big scary evil beast.
 
I wish you’d just get over it already.
 
I am not interested in your
family
, I want your
special wolf
.
 
I will give you a piece of advice… you should be careful when you’re out being a vigilante regarding your father.
 
Rumor on the streets is you’re on the short list of hits since you’ll be Alpha.”

I started to ask him who he heard it from and of course he was gone.
 
I sat up, looked around the room, noticing my mom still hadn’t gone to bed but Oakley was asleep on the chair.
 
It was just as well, I knew he was tired and worked up after such a dramatic turn of events.
 
I vow to myself not to tell him about what Arien said.
 

I go over to the big double chair he is in and curl up on his lap, his arms went around me and for the moment I felt safe.

“You okay?”
 
He whispered as he pulled the afghan up over both of us.

I reach up and briefly kiss his lips.
 
“Yeah, I’m okay.
 
Let’s get some sleep.”
 
I whispered back.

My mother was demonstrating the strength of ten wolves.
 
Her emotions were kept in check as she kept the Pack in order.
 
The agreed consensus was Parker would take three wolves with him, a tracker from a New York Pack that had won gold medals in the
Were
Games in the last four competitions.
 
We held them every two years in various locations; it was more of a giant camping and cooking event.
 
Parker was apprehensive about taking our most advanced men out of fear for my mom’s safety.
 
My gut told me that I should leave Oakley with my mom and I go with Parker.
 
It was something I hadn’t talked with anyone about, just because I didn’t want a bunch of flack not to mention the issues with Abel.
 
To add salt to the wound, Allie was acting like a spoiled diva.

ABEL

July 2
    
3:00
a.m

.

In my panicked mind all I can think is
he’s dead.
How can General Phelan be dead?
 
I can’t help but think it is because of me.
 
If people weren’t looking for me then he’d be alive.
 
Maybe if I stare out of this stupid window long enough the answer will magically appear.
    
With General Phelan dead it leaves the Pack without a true Alpha, but I’m not ready.
 
How can I be Alpha when I can’t even shift yet?
 
How can I be Alpha when I close my eyes and I hear Pru crying as her father took his last breath?
 
I’m not strong like them, I’m just a kid.
 

 
I turn around at the sound of my friend Bryon snoring (I let out a sigh of relief) as he is sprawled out on my futon.
 
The latest victim of the wrath of my sister, she kicked him out of her room when she came to town for the holiday weekend.
 
Allie hates the idea of Bryon living with us and finds it offensive that he was sleeping in her room.
 
She pulled one of her tantrums, screaming insults as his stuff went flying into the hallway.