© Amber Kalkes 2015
Song: "I Feel It All" By Feist
C h a p t e r T e n >
Rae closes her eyes and listens to the sounds of the lake. Crickets, the gentle lapping of the water against the shore and the wanderings of the wildlife. This is her haven, her place away from it all and as Colton asked, her favorite place in the territory. Hearing the dock creak under his approaching footsteps Rae turns her head a little to see him watching her.
“Are you going to stand there all night or…”
Colton’s mouth immediately twitches up, “Does me standing make you nervous?”
“Yes.” She admits with hesitation. “I don’t like not being able to see what you’re doing back there.”
He lowers himself down on the dock to sit next to her with a smirk on his face. Once he’s settled down beside her Rae uncrosses her legs and sticks her dirty feet into the water. She bunches her dress in her lap before finally turning to Colton, who is too busy looking out at the lake with a clenched jaw.
“Are you okay?” She asks with a frown.
“Perfectly.” He says quickly before putting an obviously forced smile on his face, “So you own this?”
Still a little bemused by his behavior she answers, “Technically it belongs to all of us kids, I just took over the responsibility when I turned eighteen.”
“When did you’re parents…”
“Three years ago. I was sixteen and had no idea what I was doing. My aunt and uncle helped out a lot that first year, teaching me how to run everything and get me my jobs. It was tough but once you get into the swing of things it gets a bit easier.”
“I’m sorry did you say ‘jobs’ as in plural?”
Rae nods with a sigh. “Yup. I work at a diner in town and I also do some of the pack daycare. If I hadn’t been participating in the run tonight I would have been armpit deep in kids right now.”
“And you take care of all your siblings?” he asks slowly.
She hums in agreement before adding, “It sounds like a lot but I think I’ve got it all balanced out. Besides its not like I don’t have help. Jace and Hudson are great with the girls and even Cleo sometimes helps with the daycare on occasion.”
“She helps with daycare?” Colton asks doubtfully.
Rae laughs a little at his incredulousness. “Yeah but I have to pay her for her time.”
“So it’s not really helping out of the goodness of her heart.”
“Look, Cleo is a teenage girl. I expect her to be difficult, hell you heard her say I was no better when I was her age. She’s not all bad. Cleo took our parent’s absence the hardest out of all of us because she was the closest to them. Her and our mom were thick as thieves and maybe that’s caused me to be a bit lax with her but…I guess I just understand where she’s coming from.”
Colton doesn’t say anything and Rae knows there isn’t really much to say in regards to this. She’s so lost in her own thoughts she jumps a little when she feels him wrap his arm around her shoulders before pulling her into his side. She smiles at how natural it feels to be there, inhaling his scent and feeling the shocks of their bond moving across her skin.
“So…” She trails, deciding to get the subject away from herself for once. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
YOU ARE READING
The Run (SAMPLE)
Manusia Serigala{SAMPLE} Rae has been given responsibility from a young age. After her mother's death and her father's abandonment she was left to raise her five siblings at the age of sixteen. Now just turning nineteen she's put her life on hold to keep her famil...
