Page 8 of Scars of the Sun
Eventually, my brother came home, greeting me with a grunt and Sylvie with a kiss before he started his own routine that helped him reset after a day of work. When he came back outside with his two wide-awake pups, I watched him play and tire them out all over again in the yard.
We ate dinner out there, sandwiches with homemade bread and fruit and chips. Number Five was one of my favorites, and I focused in on the scents of my brother’s land. The people, the earth, the heat. Let it fill me until there was no room for anything else.
“Did Vera’s go well? Is everything all right?” Sylvie asked while the kids ran about the yard, trying their best to catch fireflies. Dahlia tried to direct her brother who just swatted aimlessly at the glowing insects.
Orion leaned back in the patio chair and ran a hand up the back of his neatly trimmed hair. “As well as it could’ve. We declined their initial request, but that’s not to say they’ll be leaving anytime soon. The elders selected Jasper to be our eyes and ears while their representatives are in the area.
I saw a muscle tick at the corner of his jaw as he informed us, but I had little to no context about what could cause such a stir of irritation in him. Sylvie nodded along, though, so it must’ve been something she was well aware of. “What are they wanting to do?”
Orion’s arms rested on the tabletop, fingers tapping away at the metal in a steady and fast rhythm. “To do business here. Anoffice location and a bar as far as everyone will be aware. But I reached out to other packs, and they’re known for… darker dealings. Human and otherwise. I don’t want to bring that here.”
Sylvie rested a hand on his back and offered a reassuring smile. I watched as tension left my brother’s shoulders, his tapping somehow taking on a calmer, happier note than the palpable distress from before.
“Sounds like you made a good decision, O. Don’t want them running like… vampire-grade guns or something. If that’s even a thing. Wait—” my eyes widened, “isthat a thing?”
Orion pursed his lips and thought for a moment. “They’re mostly shifters. But supernatural-grade weapons and drugs seem to be how they make the majority of their money. If our contacts are to be believed. They’ve twisted the arms of many packs up and down the east coast. Roping them in one way or another.”
A knot of sympathy twisted in my stomach. How my brother had been able to juggle all of his responsibilities was a mystery to me, let alone dealing with a fucking—shifter mob. I didn’t think the Pack Leader life was easy, but this was starting to sound dangerous.
“Well, you’ve got a witch that gossips with spiders and a sister that’s at least reliable in a brawl. It’ll be fine.” Not like a few years of boxing and marital arts were much of a match for fighting shifters with guns, but that and a little levity were all I could offer.
In a rare moment of humor, O snorted and rolled his eyes. The smile that ghosted his lips spoke volumes. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Hey!” Sylvie shot him a narrow-eyed look, “I’ll start snatching out hearts, and then maybe you’ll give me my flowers.”
I had no idea what the fuck they were even talking about, but Sylvie and I were able to get my brother distracted enough from pack stuff, even drawing out a few chuckles. And when the kids came over with fireflies cradled carefully in their palms, we cooed over their efforts.
Yes, Number Five was one of the best.
CHAPTER FOUR
RÍO
“You put any up by your place?” Tyler picked through the stack of flyers for our show and stapled one to the bulletin board by the skate spot entrance. There were a bunch of old, tattered flyers from shows and events passed, and I ripped them down while he stapled up a few more for good measure.
“Yup,” I balled up the trash and tossed them into the big, overflowing can on our way inside. I dropped my board to the ground and hopped on, kicking lazily against the concrete to keep moving forward.
Until I caught a whiff of wintry sweet and sour, that was. Then, I almost stumbled and wiped out over fucking nothing. Ty glanced up at me with his own board tucked into his side. He raised a brow, silently asking me what the fuck was wrong with me all of a sudden, but I didn’t give a response.
My chest was tight as I tried to restrain myself from looking over at the Wolf girl and keep my Jaguar from doing something reckless just because she was here again.
Usually, she arrived at night, but a few days ago, she’d started to come earlier in the day. Maybe she’d been doing that for longer, but work mostly had me tied up at this hour. What did itsay about me that I made sure to be here, at this time, on my day off? And drag my nocturnal friend with me for reinforcements.
He groused about the heat and pulled his hat lower on his brow. Good thing the legends got that part wrong, because I’d feel bad if my stupidity and his being a decent friend made him burst into flames. “Fucking hot as shit,” he grumbled while we found a bench that was in the shade. Luckily for me, Tyler was high up enough as the owner of his family’s funeral home that he pretty much went into work whenever he felt like it and took care of things from home if he wanted to. Left him free to skate when I had the itch but also needed the backup.
To give me the confidence to finally talk to her or keep me from doing it, I still wasn’t sure.
“You got me here, so let’s hand these out, too.” There was a decent crowd, despite it being in the middle of the day, but I guessed that was thanks to it being summertime. Teens, college kids, and townies were shooting the shit and dropping into the bowl. Grinding on the rails and working on their latest tricks.
Now that I’d joined the band, it was back to performing after their last guitarist moved away. I’d never really played in one before, just messed around on my Iceman alone, but I had to admit. It was nice, and Brody and Jess were cool, too.
Tyler and I split up with a stack of flyers each. I dapped up a few skaters I recognized, talked up our show that was next week and featuring three other bands. And what of it that my arc around the park brought me closer and closer to the girl with the prettiest pair of legs I’d ever fucking seen? Her tight jean shorts ended right below the curve of her ass while her hoodie covered everything else but her neck, face, and hands.
Those honey eyes hadn’t looked up at me at all, but was I hallucinating the stiffening of her shoulders as soon as I’d caught sight of her and the pup on the far side of the park where the ground was flat?
The pup with red pigtail braids and a green helmet to match her skates and pads was clinging onto the Wolf girl’s hand as she walked them in slow circles. The little girl couldn’t have been older than five or six, but she was catching on pretty well. The first time I’d seen them, she was still getting used to standing on shifting wheels, but now, she was able to shuffle along while her aunt guided her across the smooth surface.
I absently handed out more flyers while listening to what the Wolf girl was saying, clear as the deepening sky above. “You got it, Dolly. Yup, remember what you need to do if you wanna slow down? Yeah, yeah, good job!”