Lone Wolf Rising (Paranormal Romantic Thriller) (The Winters Series) (5 page)

She looked ridiculous with her rosy red cheeks colored by anger; ridiculous
 and wonderful all in one breathe.  Rebecca opened her mouth to speak, still unsure what she was going to say.

“I felt you last night.”
  Savvy’s raspy voice was barely above a whisper.  She looked accusingly at her sister, tears in her eyes.  It was that moment that Rebecca finally noticed she had no makeup on, which was rare for either of them.  They generally put a light layer of makeup on even to eat breakfast.  Their mother always told them it was important to look their best because ‘
you never knew who you were going to
meet’
.  Her eyes were red and puffy and her lower lip trembled as silence filled the air between them.

Rebecca looked at her and it broke her heart.
  Did she feel everything?  Feelings of dread and fear and guilt filled her.   They pulled her down like a heavy weight and she felt like she was drowning in her own guilt and lies.  It came on in a rush, like the flood gates were being opened and water was rushing in at full force; surrounding her, trapping her.  Rebecca needed to know what she meant, what she felt.  She patted the bed next to her as an invite for her sister to sit down.

Savvy collapsed in the spot and grabbed Rebecca hands, gripping them hard like they were a life preservers and her only link to being saved.
  Her body was shaking and tears were welling up in her eyes.

“What did you feel?”
  Rebecca had difficulty pushing the words past the constriction in her throat.  She never would have made this decision had she known Savvy would suffer with her.  She did this to help her family, not hurt them. 

“Pain, gut-wrenching pain, worse than I’d ever felt before.
  I mean I’ve felt pain, emotional pain ten years ago.  And physical, hello sports fanatic!  But this was different.  It felt like I was being torn apart, slowly.”  Savannah’s words came out in a rush. 

Rebecca closed her eyes and swallowed hard against the lump that continued to form in her throat as Savvy went on.
 

“I was sleeping and suddenly I woke to the feeling of every bone in my body breaking.
  I thought I heard you scream so I looked for you in your bed, but you were gone.  It was horrible, Becca!  I prayed I was dreaming.”  Savvy took a deep, shaky breath before she could continue; her blue eyes looking up at Rebecca, searching her face for the truth, pleading with her to tell her everything was going to be alright. 

“I don’t know how long I felt the pain but when it stopped, I couldn’t sense you.
  It was like you were disconnected from me, from the world.  Oh, Rebecca, I can’t lose you, too!  We’ve already lost too much.  Please tell me it was just a horrible dream or my imagination or something.”  Savvy hugged her sister tightly; her body shaking from her sobs. 

Rebecca felt wetness on her neck and knew her sister was allowing the tears to fall.
  She wanted more than anything in the world to ease her pain, but feared things were only going to get worse. 

Rebecca’s heart broke again.
  She wanted to cry with her, but she made this choice and had to live with the consequences. 
'There’s a price we pay to live in this world.'
  Dianna had warned her when she finally agreed to put her forth as a candidate.  What she did could not be undone.  Rebecca pursed her lips together; she didn’t think this would impact the twin sense they had.  It was such a natural occurrence between them they often forgot it was anything special.  They had it growing up, but it doubled in strength after their parents were murdered.  She knew in her heart she would never forgive herself if Savvy had to endure this with her every month.  She shouldn’t have to suffer for choices Rebecca made. 

‘
What more cruelty can you send our way?
’ She looked up, silently asking any divine being who might be listening.  She stopped believing in religion when their parents were killed but she knew there was something out there, some higher power.

The wolf answered first. 
'Your pain has only just begun
.'  The smooth voice echoed in her mind.  It was a voice of sadness, but truth. 

It figured that her higher power answer would come from the one creature that caused the pain in the first place.  Religion was no different.  The excuses the religious authorities gave them were riddles in themselves.
  ‘
How can someone do this?
’ The question would be asked and the answer was always a variation on ‘
he works in mysterious ways
.’  Rebecca had always been the logical one.  Savannah was ruled by her emotions which forced Becca to be the logical one.  She found comfort in logic.  It was like slipping on an old pair of shoes.  Without it she was lost.  Grandmother was always quick to point out that Rebecca was ruled by the mind and Savvy the heart.  Too bad reality was not as black and white as that.  The world ran in the gray in most areas and allowed little room for anything else.

She rubbed Savvy’s back like their mother used to do when they had night terrors and allowed her to cry the tears she wished she was brave enough to cry.
  Rebecca did not know what else to say, but she knew she would look into the situation and see if there was someway to sever the ties between them so she would not have to endure this with her every month.  It would create distance between them, but would spare her the agony of the change and perhaps relieve a tiny amount of guilt for Rebecca.

“The pain you felt, you only felt it once?”  Rebecca asked her voice barely above a whisper.

Savvy looked at her with confusion in her eyes.  “One time was more than enough.”  She shivered.  “That was something I will never forget.”

Rebecca breathed a tiny sigh of relief.  If she didn’t feel the
transformation from wolf to human
, perhaps she wouldn’t feel it anymore or maybe, dread filled her again, Savvy felt nothing because the wolf was in control during the second transformation.  “It’s okay, sissy.  See?  I’m fine now.”

“But…” she sniffed.

“It must have been a nightmare.”  Rebecca forced a weak, shaky smile in response to Savvy’s creased forehead and furrowed brows.  She knew Rebecca was hiding something, it was written all over her face.  “But as you can see I’m fine now and everything is going to be alright.”  Now was not the time to tell her sister that she was a werewolf.  She vowed to protect her as best she could from now on.  “I love you, sister, and I promise you, I’ll let you know everything really soon.”  She wiped away her sister’s tears. 

“Can you at least tell me where you were last night?”
  Her voice was still a little shaky, but the tears had stopped falling.

Rebecca got up and headed towards the bathroom.
  “I was at Superstition Mountain doing something to help find our parents’ killer” were the words Rebecca said right before she turned the shower back on.  They were the first true words she had said since getting home.

Chapter Three

~”To the outside world we all grow old.
  But not to brothers and sisters.  We know each other as we always were.  We know each other’s hearts.  We share private family jokes.  We remember family feuds and secrets, family grief and joys.  We live outside the touch of time.”

~Clara Ortega

Savannah
 

Savannah stared after her sister, speechless from the admission. 
What in the world did Superstition Mountain have to do with our parents’ deaths
?  They died over ten years ago in a carjacking on the way to pick them up from a sleepover only a few blocks away from their Scottsdale home.  The police were never able to find out who did it because it was such a random crime.  It was classified as a mugging gone terribly wrong.  Their deaths were horrible tragedies, nothing else.  That had to be the truth, otherwise the shaky foundation she had built all these years was going to crumble and fall apart.

Savvy wanted to ask Rebecca more about her mysterious behavior, the pain, and the disconnection she felt last night, but Hunter needed a ride to football practice, and she had already told him she would do it.  Besides, she was going to be late for cheerleading practice.  Hunter cornered her in the kitchen when she came home, moments after she discovered Rebecca had come home and lied about where she was last night.
  She would finish the questioning later.  She was just thankful Becca was safe and alive for now.  But she wouldn't stay that way for long if she didn't tell her the truth. 

The lies Rebecca told did little to quell the feeling that something terrible was going on and things were not going to be right between them for a very long time; at least not until she told the whole truth.
  Rebecca’s aversion tactics weren’t going to work on Savvy and Becks knew it.  They never had in the past so why she thought they would now was beyond Savannah.  For better or worse, they were twins, closer than most, and she knew when Rebecca was avoiding her and only giving half truths.  This was one of those times.

What added more urgency to the issue was that she knew it had to be something major for Becca to hide it from her.
  Since their parents’ deaths she had been overly honest, almost to a fault.  There was a handful of times that she could remember when Rebecca lied and those were silly things; like knowing about the surprise party for their 16th birthday.  If history was a testament to Becca’s honesty, she only lied to protect the people she loved.  Even the surprise party was her attempt to not spoil the experience for her.  She told Savvy afterwards she was envious that she got to be surprised and that her stubbornness caused her to ruin it for herself.  Protection was always her motive, which only made Savvy wonder what trouble Becca had gotten herself into and how she was going to be able to save her from herself and her crazy notion of protecting her family. 

Sometimes Savvy wondered if Becca was born in the wrong era.  Perhaps she was a knight of the round table in Camelot in a previous life.  The idea made her chuckle.  Rebecca as a man was funny in itself, but seeing her fighting against evil forces was not necessarily something Becks would be good at.  Her sister avoided physical activity at all costs, except running.  She loved running.  Savvy was convinced Becca loved running because she was running away from something. 

Regardless, Rebecca knew shutting her out was not a very smart idea.  In fact, when she’d done it in the past it became hazardous.  Why she thought this situation would be any different was beyond her.  Her actions would simply drive her to become a detective and find out the truth without her help.  She hated being sneaky around Rebecca but sometimes her sister needed more help then she knew and it was those times that Savvy needed to step in and help.  The only fear Savvy had was that she would find out a truth that she wouldn’t want to know.  But her desire to protect her sister was stronger than her fear.

“Savvy, come on.  We’re going to be late.”
  Hunter knocked tentatively on the closed door.

“I’m coming.”
  She took a quick look in the mirror, brushed on a little foundation, slid on some pink lip gloss and brown mascara to hide the puffy eyes and evidence that she had been crying.  After a quick fluff of the hair and one last satisfied look in the mirror she left the room and allowed the space between her and her sister to grow, at least for the moment.

Hunter was a year younger than the girls and they really babied their little brother.
  Savannah often wondered how it was that he turned out so big and strong.  He tried to be their protector despite being younger.  Just like Rebecca, she would do anything for him, including taking him to get his driver’s license next week.  Soon he would know the freedom that came along with driving a car and maybe he would finally get the courage to ask the neighbor girl, Natalia, out on a date.  She was sure Natalia would accept.  Maybe what they needed was a little matchmaking.  She was good at making matches for other people.  So far, she had personally helped seven couples find happiness.  Why shouldn’t she do the same for her brother? 

“Do you have your permit?”  She asked, knowing the answer already.  He never went anywhere without it.

“Yep.”  He patted his bright red duffel bag with a prideful grin.  It was nice when he smiled, he seemed to light up the room every time.  Her brother was very attractive and far more charismatic than she or Rebecca would ever be.