Centuries of Sin : Book IV

Elizabeth wasn’t sure what to do when she finally got back to the isolated group of buildings that formed the territory of their potential new pack. There had still been snow on the ground when she left, and it was strange to see the place bathed in sunlight but she was too distracted to really appreciate it. She glanced at Klara, and then over to Karoline’s house. The door was closed, and there was no sign of what was going on inside so she decided it was too risky to disturb them in case something had gone wrong. She opened the door to the home she had been living in before she left and immediately noticed Klara looking around nervously. “I’m sorry it isn’t more glamorous. I guess you were probably expecting a mansion or something but we didn’t intend to stay here and this was never really our home.” Klara wasn’t even listening, but she dragged her finger through the dust on the side table beside the front door as she continued observing her surroundings. “It’s nice; nicer than the place I was in before, at least. I don’t want to seem ungrateful but I hated living in a house in the middle of the town and I wanted to find a pack to live with the entire time I was alone.” “What was stopping you?” Elizabeth wasn’t sure Klara would answer something so personal, so she went to start clearing up the kitchen to make it less awkward. “I was afraid, I suppose. I couldn’t approach another pack and ask for them take me in, so I was waiting until there was a group looking to found a new pack. That just isn’t happening much anymore - packs either stick together, or die out the way that mine did. There aren’t as many of us as there used to be and we’re a lot more scattered so it’s hard to make any sort of ally. I was considering moving when I heard that Sawyer had taken over from his father, because I knew he would actually consider taking me in and I heard about him accepting a girl who grew up fairly close to me.” Elizabeth turned around from the kitchen counter to look at Klara. “Mina?” Klara’s eyes widened for a moment before she realized that Elizabeth had been there and that she knew exactly what had happened. “What your pack did was very brave. You were ready to fight for them and you didn’t even know them.” Elizabeth laughed dryly and turned back to the counter, rooting through the cupboards above it to see what they had left. “That’s really not how that played out. We weren’t prepared to fight for them; Sawyer panicked because he thought they were going to attack us, and he was prepared to fight them. I was supposed to be hiding, but he doesn’t deal with stressful situations in a responsible way. I think he feels a need to protect me, but his way of reassuring me that he’s definitely a fearsome manly Alpha is to make sure he hadn’t left me in any doubt. There was nothing heroic about the way we acted that night; we spent most of it ignoring our responsibilities.” Klara felt like she had just been let in on a dark secret, and she wasn’t sure why Elizabeth had spoken so candidly. She fidgeted with the hem of her short skirt again, grateful that Elizabeth wasn’t looking her way because she was feeling embarrassed about the fact she had only just realized what Elizabeth meant when she said that Sawyer didn’t leave her in any doubt that he was an Alpha. She sat down at the kitchen table, attempting to settle down in a strange place and to calm down because she wasn’t sure whether she was terrified or excited to meet other wolves again. “I don’t think it matters that he wasn’t actually going to defend them- not to me, anyway. I just needed somewhere to live and it seemed like you were willing to accept the people who didn’t belong anywhere else.” “What stopped you? You’re right - Sawyer was proud of the fact he gave everyone a chance, and we would have accepted you without knowing you’re my cousin.” She shook her head, apparently uncomfortable about revealing that information. Elizabeth sat down opposite her, and made it obvious that she was waiting for the answer. Part of her was hoping Francesca had warned Klara not to go there, because that would make her feel less guilty about the fact her dislike of the woman was starting to look petty and unjustifiable. “I didn’t want to come anymore after he died…or left? I thought he was dead…I guess that was just another rumor that ended up completely warped by the time it reached me.” “That wasn’t a rumor; I thought he was dead, too. Francesca told everybody that she had killed him, and then kept me captive for months because that is what she considers reasonable behavior. The fact I was kept as a f*****g prisoner for no reason is just one of the many reasons I don’t like her.” “Is that why we’re sitting here rather than finding out why they were so insistent we couldn’t bring those humans here?” Elizabeth sighed; there was a lot more to that question than she cared to answer, but the fact she didn’t like Francesca genuinely didn’t have anything to do with it. “No…and you didn’t really answer my question. Why didn’t you want to move anymore after you thought that Sawyer had died?” Klara ran one of her hands through her hair before deciding that it was better to be honest. “I thought that pack would end up falling apart without him. I couldn’t go through that again, and I decided I would rather stay on my own until I found a more secure option. It was better to daydream about what I want than risk ending up in a worse situation than I was already in. Don’t you want to make sure your mate is OK?” Elizabeth smiled sardonically. “This feels like a game - we both seem determined to be the last one to ask an uncomfortable question. But, no; I am not sure what is going on, but I would know it if he was in any real distress and I don’t want to risk ruining an intimate family moment. Sawyer will come back when he’s had enough of fussing over the baby, and I wouldn’t count on that being tonight.” “You don’t want to settle down yourselves now you have somewhere safe to live?” Elizabeth leaned back in the kitchen chair slightly, subconsciously putting more distance between herself and Klara. “You win. I’m done with the awkward questions.” “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to upset you.” “You didn’t, I just don’t have an answer. The entire reason we disappeared for six months was because I was making everybody else miserable and Sawyer thought I might learn something about myself if we came to speak to you. We didn’t know what we were going to find at that address, and I got close to coming back without finding out a few times.” Klara noticed Elizabeth swallow a lump in her throat, and realized she was close to tears despite her insistence that a seemingly generic question had not upset her. “Well…I hope that you did learn something about yourself.” “I did. I can’t deny I am like you anymore; I’ve been confused about who I am since I found out the truth, but I don’t think it’s possible to be part wolf - either you are, or you aren’t. I had to suppress my wolf side with poison and even then there were things that didn’t go away. I also realized that Sawyer needs me to be like him, and that he didn’t feel like he could tell me that.” “Now you’re the one who isn’t answering questions properly.” Klara smiled, feeling proud of the fact she had been able to turn that back on Elizabeth and expecting a sarcastic answer. “I told you that I don’t have an answer; I don’t know whether I want to settle down. When we left here I was sure that I didn’t want to tie myself to one place, and I didn’t want to commit to anything because I was scared that I would end up regretting everything. I’m not certain about that anymore, and I would appreciate it if you kept that private.”