Chapter 54 A Place. A Home
1310 Words
Chapter 54
A Place, A Home
*** ***
Jada
May hummed as she bustled about the kitchen, planning and preparing food and snacks for Thursday night. To May, that was one of the defining moments of Louise’s life. And I could understand why, after everything Louise had been through. And that was before discovering she had been swapped with me at birth. Cancer! I still can’t believe it.
“Can you hand me that book, please, Jada?” She asked, gesturing to the cookbook on the bench.
“Sure thing,” I handed it to her, and she smiled back.
It was nice. The family environment was above what I had at the Celestial Moon packhouse.
“So,” May peered over at me. “What do you think you’ll do once the clan permits you to stay and become a pack member?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to go unless they give me, Agatha, and Duane a share house. But that will change once Duane finds his mate and Agatha finds a home or moves to the packhouse with Kingston. Anna will likely move in with her parents when they arrive. I don’t think I can live with them.”
May placed the pastry down on the chopping board and came around until she was in front of me. Flour dusted her cheeks and the front of her blue apron. “I was thinking… Louise and Tyrone will be off to live their own lives. I’ll still help her with treatments if her wolf can’t help… This house might feel a bit empty. If you want, you can have a room here.”
“Really?” excitement brimmed in my chest. “I would love that.”
“Great...” With another smile, she returned to her cooking.
“Hey, Mum,” Louise sang as she swept into the room. “Do you need any help?”
It was Louise, me, May, and Anna in the house. Lorraine and Joanne had left an hour ago. Agatha had left for her date with Kingston. Tyrone and his family were dropping in any moment now.
“No, it’s okay, sweetheart.” May continued to knead the pastry she had whipped together. “But if you two can straighten up the lounge room and check everything is in order, that would be amazing.”
“Sure,” we both agreed.
It chilled me when we spoke simultaneously—it sounded the same. And we did the same things. We weren’t related, but it sometimes felt like Louise was my twin sister.
I followed Louise to the lounge room. Chairs had been pushed aside, the rugged bunched up, and cushions were strewn across the room. The room had been made bigger for the clothing rack that held all the dresses Louise had that chance to pick from. Now that it was gone, it looked dishevelled.
“I’ll fix the couch if you can straighten the rug.” She gestured her head at the crooked floor rug.
“I can do that…”
“Want any help?” Anna asked as she came into the room. She yawned, stretching her arms above her head. “I’m so tired…”
Anna had mostly healed since the attack at the bunker. But the healing was taking its toll, and now she was sleeping any moment she got.
“We’re getting the room ready for tonight,” Louise replied as she laid the cushions across the back of the couch. “But I think we’re done now…”
I straightened out the rug and turned to Anna. “We need to find something to do tonight when Louise’s mate and his family visit. I don’t want to get in their way.”
“I don’t mind.” Louise dropped onto the couch and relaxed back against it. “It’s just a catch-up with his family. “You’ll love the Rathbone’s. Madeline tells these stories about her Spanish family and their culture, which will put you on the edge of your seat.”
I sat beside her. “Are you nervous?”
“Not about tonight,” she admitted with a strained smile. “I’ve known Tye’s family my entire life.”
Now that I was beside her again, I saw her cheekbones and forehead were the same as mine. The shape of her eyes matched mine, and the faint freckles down her neck matched mine. She had darker eyes and a smaller nose, but everything else was the same. A strange thought echoed in my head. Were we born like this, or was it the curse? Did Agatha’s mother enchant us to look the same?
“I just can’t…” Anna stood before us, shaking her head. “The similarities between you two are so uncanny…” We turned to her, and she covered her mouth and laughed. “It gets me every time.”
“I had a strange thought,” I admitted as I patted the spot beside me. She dropped into it. “Do you think this is our natural look?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Anna asked.
Louise sat forward. She exhaled and stared down at the ground. “It’s weird that you said that… I was wondering the same thing. We both look like Mum- May… But I don’t know what they look like at the Celestial Moon pack…”
“They are much the same…” I admitted. She faced me. “Edwin could pass for May’s brother. But he has these eerie dark brown eyes – murderers’ eyes that make your skin crawl.”
“What about your Mum…?” She asked, then shook her head. “I mean the Luna. Sorry, I’m still getting my head around this.”
“You mean—your biological mother…” Anna added. She leant her chin against my shoulder. “Krystal Hugh…”
“Anna!” I gasped at her. “That’s not–”
“It’s fine,” Louise massaged the bridge of her nose like she was warding off a headache. “It’s true… I guess they are my vicious biological family.” She faced us. “What does Krystal look like?”
“White-blonde,” Anna teased, screwing up her face in a comedic frown. “Blonde as blonde can be, with fair skin and features. She can walk into a dark room and make it light.”
“That’s not wrong,” I admitted, remembering the gloomy days inside the Celestial Moon packhouse.
“My hair was white-blonde…” Louise ran her fingers through her hair. “But that was before the chemotherapy started. I lost hair, had it completely shaved off and wore wigs for about eighteen months. Now it looks like this. Luckily, werewolves grow hair quicker than humans, or I would probably still be wearing a wig.”
The pain in her eyes brought tears to mine. Louise had been through so much. If Agatha knew the curse her mum had put on Louise, would that fix everything? It could stop the danger that Agatha worried about, but would it return what the doctors had removed during her surgery? “If Agatha were here, I would ask her about it. Maybe she would give us more information.”
“It’s a pity she doesn’t know what curse her mum put in you.” Anna agreed.
Louise peered around the room and then faced us. “Where is the witch? I just realised it gets really quiet when she’s not around.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” I giggled. “But she’s on a date with Kingston…”
“I still can’t believe Agatha is Kingston’s mate.” Louise threw her head back and laughed. “I wonder how Kingston is handling it?”
- Writer
