“What about Lora and Nik? He was very reluctant to talk about that at the council meeting.”
“No one's told her. Nik made them swear not to.”
The young man snapped his head up. “Interesting,” he purred thoughtfully. “When did you find this out?”
“Yesterday. I know someone who likes to gossip,” the contact said with a mischievous grin.
“Hmm. See what else our gossiper knows.”
The taller man bowed his head ever so slightly in compliance. “Another thing... Jaz doesn't know who he really is,” he added.
The young man frowned. “Meaning?”
“She doesn't know he's the Pack Leader. And she doesn't know his real name.”
The young man raised his brows. “You mean he's keeping it from her...?”
The taller man nodded.
The young man grinned menacingly. “Oh, that is interesting. Nik has a crush on the new girl. Two sisters. You dirty dog.”
“What are your orders?”
The young man turned to him. “Watch her. I want you to keep a close eye on her. Tell me when or if she Changes, tell me who she's close to, anything you can find out. Especially if it involves Nik.”
“I'll meet you here the same time next week, unless it's urgent.”
The sound of someone passing by the library entrance made the two of them scatter away, like cockroaches from the light.
~Chapter 21 - Build~
Sunday May 29th, 6:39 a.m.
Cabin No.2
Jaz stumbled into the kitchen in red shorts and a Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt. Her dark auburn hair was a bird's nest, her face puffy, her eyes red and droopy. She hated being woken up early. Especially when she'd had a bad night's sleep.
It made her very grumpy.
“Jaz, this is-”
“What time is it?” she grumbled, cutting off Edda as she squinted at the kitchen clock through heavy eyelids. Her eyes widened as if she'd been splashed with cold water. “What the hell?! I don't think I've ever been up this early in all my life!”
She snapped her head around at the sound of a giggle. Three girls in the living room gazed back at her, each one of them unable to hide the fact they found her reaction strange and yet, hilarious. It was written all over their faces.
Skye was sitting on the armchair her pale legs propped on the corner of the coffee table.
A girl with a bright, wide smile was sitting on the three seater back-to-front on her knees, with her elbows resting on top of the cream, leather backrest. Her long, wavy hair was the same colour as Edda's sandy brown and was tied to one side in a loose ponytail.
The other girl was standing by the fireplace. She peeked up at Jaz below her solid bangs. Her honey-blonde mane was thick and poker straight; her olive-green eyes were framed neatly with black eyeliner and her pursed lips were painted with a luminous, peach lipstick.
From the short glance Jaz sent their way, she could see the two girls were sisters because apart from the hair and make up -or lack of- they looked almost exactly the same.
She cleared her throat, embarrassed. Turning to Edda, she muttered, “Why did you wake me up so early?”
Edda smiled. She leant against the worktop. “I told you I was gonna work you hard. You'll have to get used to getting up this early and sleeping when I tell you to sleep.”
Jaz rolled her eyes.
Skye stood up and walked over to the breakfast bar, her wavy hair bouncing in the confines of it's hair grip. She leant against the bar and beamed at Jaz.
Jaz smiled back.
Edda sighed. “As I was saying before you got your pants in a twist... This,” she pointed to the bright-smiling girl on the sofa, “is Kenna, and Kelda,” she pointed to the golden blonde by the fireplace. “My daughters.”
Jaz glanced at Edda with surprise. She couldn't imagine Edda having two grown up daughters. They must have been about Jaz's age, maybe a few years younger.
“Kenna is my eldest. She's twenty-one. Kelda will be nineteen next month. They've been looking forward to meeting you.”
Jaz bit down on her lip as she glanced at them. She'd lashed out at their mother without even realizing they were related. Her cheeks grew hot.
But they didn't seem to be offended.
Kenna grinned at her widely and had a very friendly face. Kelda's features were softer and she seemed quieter; the type to listen to your problems rather than tell you hers. But Jaz was just guessing. She was usually a good judge of character. Apart from her Aunt Erica. That was a one-off cock-up of the century.
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Kenna said, walking up to her. She then held out her hand. Jaz shook it lightly.
Kelda bobbed her head in acknowledgement from her place by the fire. Jaz did the same in response.
“We've got a job for you to do,” Skye announced, revealing a small gap in her front teeth as she grinned.
Jaz became uneasy by her words. “What is it?”
“You'll have to wait and see. Have your breakfast. I'll come back for you in an hour.”
Jaz ate a large breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast with jam and full fat butter and cereal. And then a large fruit smoothie. It took all her willpower to keep it all down. Edda could be very persistent.