Expensive Cat Food (MxMxM)

Part 39

Part 39 (Owen Pov)

Watching Damian silently suffer caused his heart to swell with misery. He knew he couldn't soothe the shifter like Kane could. So instead, Owen just observed from the side. Hating that he couldn't help Damian with dealing with the problem. Souring his already negative mood, knowing he wasn't adequate enough for his lover, making his mouth taste putrid. Kane had promised that Damian needed to mend the bridge between his sisters; however, seeing the young man stroll without life made everything not worth the trouble.

Owen squeezed his eyes shut, repeating what Kane had told him yesterday. Damian needs this, needs to heal, and that healing could also mean digressing on their progress. But watching Damian toss and turn all night had caused a cavern to open in his chest. Wishing his presents was comforting enough to calm the shifter. However, Damian's mind seemed to be winning, causing the dark dipping rings underneath his eyes.

The day crawled slowly, patients rolling in without a break. Meaning he hadn't had the time to talk with Damian. To reassure, the shifter was processing everything reasonably. At lunch, Owen had to meet with Elania to discuss everything, and he wanted to bring Damian along. He had already asked Kane to accompany him, who agreed without hesitation. Now he waited for the perfect timing to sneak away; talking with Damian was top priority in his mind. Causing him to falter at work, making a fool of himself.

However, he couldn't stop watching the clock slowly tic away. Sneaking closer to the time he was supposed to meet his sister for lunch. Unfortunately, the conversation wasn't going to go well because he knew Elania too well for her to be calm about the whole situation. She was protective when it came to people in the family. Though she treats Damian with some slight coldness, she can't truly help it.

She has had to deal with plenty of horrendous shifters, from work to dealing with Harvey's family. Elania remembers every acidic thing said back handly towards their relationship. She sees every shifter as a potential enemy towards her marriage. Her defensive shell tightened, clamping down immediately when she runs into an unknown shifter. So her friendship with Damian was sluggish, building on both ends. Trust wasn't easily handed from both, so watching the two dance around each other was painful. Owen didn't know if they would ever get along. Now a day, Elania cares but conceals it behind a frigid interior, making sure no one discovers she has softened for someone like Damian.

Nevertheless, the situation with Damian's sisters has pulled out the protective sister buried deep within her. Owen knew that with Damian being in a fragile mindset, it wouldn't be acceptable for Elania to cause more instability. Her opinion was already known by Owen, so would it even be suitable for her to be voicing it so loudly and proudly when it doesn't affect her directly?

Owen could get the thoughts from running his mind in circles. Every possible outcome he could think of ends horribly. Elania and Damian get into one another's face, causing a screaming fight, only ending until the two are separated by being dragged apart. Owen wanted to avoid all possibilities of that scenario playing out. Having his sister and lover fighting over something that shouldn't even be a problem wasn't something that should be added onto their already loaded shoulders.

Owen still needed to find out how they would help the sisters. Nova was a ball of energy, and a small part of her reminded Owen of Damian. Bethany was something else; he could quite put his finger on her. It was like something wasn't right with her. She claims to want to mend everything with Damian, but when Owen looks into her eye, he sees nothing but emptiness. Like the woman was blank inside, without a soul. However, that wasn't genuinely true because she was helping her sister.

The loud blaring of his phone alarm snaps Owen from his impending thoughts of choosing. Quickly he pulled his phone from his back pocket; seeing the name on the caller I.D., Elania flashed bright, lighting the imminent doom of lunch. Slowly he rose the phone to his ear after answering. "Before you say anything, meet me at the cafe a few blocks from your work." Elania voice left little to no room for argument.

Owen dragged his free hand over his face, sighing loudly, hoping Elania heard his audible frustration. "What? Do you have a better thing to do than to talk with your younger sister now? This is your problem you asked my help on; get here when you can; I'm waiting for your arrival.""I'm letting you know that this isn't a conversation only we can have. Kane and Damian are going to be coming as well. If you feel comfortable, bring Harvey along."

"No can do, big brother. Bring your lovers, but Harvey is staying out of this. They don't need to know about your little shifter family spat."

Owen felt his rage spike already, "We aren't going to do this if you're acting like this. Damian is having family issues, and he doesn't need your rotten behavior to ruin more of his day. So check yourself before we do this."

The other side of the line was silent; she was probably thinking over the consequences. The bad must have outweighed the good because she soon talked again. "Fine, I'll try to soothe a bit. This whole thing just reminds me of what happened with Harvey. I know how these families work, and so far, you are on the losing side of this. Better get ready for them to throw some nasty stuff your guy's way."

"We'll be fine, don't worry too much about us. Give us a few minutes getting there." Elania hummed, acknowledging everything said before hanging up without a further word. Owen sighed, rubbing harder at his face; this will be more chaotic than he imagined.