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Cah it will upset the people who’ve raised her?"

"Even though," said Trick "Her wolf is very dorandparents have had a daet any coht proudly

She was not at all what he’d expected his mate would be like, which just seemed typical of fate, really It wasn’t only that she was very different from his usual type, it was also that she was huht have spent the first few years of her life in a pack, but she had no memories of that time She’d lived as a human Probably didn’t know much about the ways of shifters In fact, it was unlikely that she knew much about true mates either He hadn’t been prepared for a ly, he knew her He’d once had her so close to hied to him--or at least he hadn’t consciously known it Noondered if he had in fact sensed she was his on some level and if that hy he’d lived with a drive to find his mate all these years--it had been more of a need to recover what he’d lost And he hated that he couldn’t do exactly that Hated that she wouldn’t be receptive to hi plan to quickly claim his mate as his oouldn’t work

That didn’t mean he’d back off It just meant he’d have to revise his plan He would slowly but surely insert hiine not having hih to know that he wouldn’t be tactful about it No, he’d be intrusive Full of unwanted advice He’d question her under cover of polite conversation Insist on doing things for her Turn up unexpectedly at her home Yep, he’d be a pain in her ass And that perverselyabout the stairway to heaven on the radio, Frankie flexed her hand and winced It was starting to go nu She didn’t want to stop working on her sculpture, though She wasn’t ready yet

Grabbing her water bottle fro She heard someone knock on the front door, thanks to her enhanced shifter hearing, but she ignored it She figured it was Brad, who’d tried calling her several ti he just wanted to talk about the Lydia matter before Frankie made any rash decisions

In other words, he hoped to talk her out ofwith Lydia

That would be a pointless conversation, considering she’d already done so He wouldn’t be mad--he respected that she had her own mind and would make her own decisions--but he’d be disappointed in her His lectures were long and boring, and she had no time or patience for one

Besides, she hadn’t yet decided whether to go see Iris, and she didn’t want anyone else’s opinions to influence her decision Making said decision was proving hard while she was feeling eed in different directions

Iris’s deathbed request was fair The old woman had lost her son and, if what Lydia clairandchild Iris didn’t deserve to be punished for another person’s actions, even if that person was her son

But stepping on pack territory could open a can of worms Iris would no doubt be pissed at the people who had kept her grandchild from her, and Frankie didn’t want to listen to sorandparents--people who’d be upset that she’d paid Iris a visit

Would Frankie then be forced to choose between the two sides of her family? Would the pack expect answers froo? Did she have extended family within the Bjorn Pack that would want contact with her too?

Frankie could also ad hurt that no one from either the Bjorn Pack or the Phoenix Pack had tried hard to see her Brad had ood point when he’d said that shifters were protective of their young If what Lydia said was true, they had tried when she was a kid But Frankie hadn’t been a child for a very long time, and she didn’t feel that Lydia’s "I orried you’d hate us and it was more comfortable not to know" claim was really a valid excuse

In fact, it seemed more likely to Frankie that Iris and Lydia saw her as a reminder of what Christopher had done and--on a level that could be subconscious--didn’t want that reminder around Maybe Iris and Lydia, just like Marcia and Geoffrey, had wanted to push the truth aside so that they could more easily move on

Frankie couldn’t even blame them for that, but it still hurt And that hurt part of her resented the pack for walking back into her life when they’d avoided her for so long What right did they have to request anything of her when they’d let her go and then stayed away? She owed the to know about her father, her family, the people ould have been her pack , she was curious? Would her e her for that and see it as a betrayal of her uilt crept up on her all the sauilt could just add to the pile she was already carrying Her mother had been murdered She’d seen it happen Yet she didn’t reh to know she’d witnessed her father kill her mother and then himself But to have no recollection of it? How could a person forget so like that? Okay, yeah, she understood it was rare for people to recall early memories Still, she’d witnessed a htmares she’d had as a child were actually replays of the event--an event that herfor her own sake She didn’t rehtmares either Only snippets of--

The music suddenly lowered, and Frankie spun And there was Trick, who’d seeh the open side door of the studio She shoved up her protective goggles, annoyed that--odd as it was--she was glad to see him Her wolf sat up, instantly alert and pleased that he’d coesture of innocence "I knocked You didn’t hear me" His eyes cut to the sculpture "Wow"

"I heard the knocking I just ignored it, since I’m busy and all" She hoped that was a clear hint for hi to her His attention was on the sculpture Standing on a workbench, it was taller than he He circled it, studied it, and absorbed it, looking genuinely awed

Frankie blushed, self-conscious all of a sudden She wasn’t used to people other than Abigail and those within her field taking such a close look at her work It made her feel exposed

"I’ve seen soallery on your website, but it’s a whole other thing to see one in person" Trick backed up a little "I wouldn’t have thought I could ever find anything scary about a horse How can so look beautiful, powerful, yet scary as fuck at the same time?"

She put the cap back on the bottle and returned it to the shelf "It’s a hellhorse"

"It’s fucking a to please or flatter her The sculpture was genuinely super impressive, and he found himself in awe of her