Same Band... New School... New Species?!

Same Band...New School...New Species?! - 30

The rest of the day was… awkward. It was a serious testosterone fueled show down between Cross and my brothers, and it nearly escalated to a physical fight more than once and only my calm ‘shut the hell up’s’ kept everyone safe. By the time it was time to get to London, my nerves were frayed.

The car ride was just as tense... we took a van, but the space didn’t help in the slightest. I was sat in between Cross and Nix in the back, Frost was driving, Sparrow riding shotgun and Lyle was in the middle seats. There was a silence.

I really hated this, hated how awkward, tense and silent things were. Usually my brothers and I would be talking about every possible way to solve a problem, now we just sat. No one said a word the entire trip. By the time we actually got to London I was ready to scream. Frost parked in a garage near a tube station, then we all got on a train set for Trafalgar Square. There were so many people in there that I nearly imploded from lack of space. This is why I hate the underground. We couldn’t stay together in the mass of people, so we ended up spread throughout the train, except for Darren Cross and I. Somehow he’d managed to keep me with him and as more people piled in I ended up pressed up against his chest.

“Well this is fun,” he laughed.

“Not quite,” I muttered, turning my head to give myself the impression of being further away.

“Don’t lie darlin’,” he grinned, slipping an arm around me.

Against my will, my heart exploded into a race and I melted into those arms.

“See,” he smiled more gently this time.

I met his eyes, hating how he could mess me up so badly, yet I still felt an unshakable bond to him. So we stared into each other’s eyes, for some reason lost in the moment of hugging on a crowded tube car. Then his head shot down and before I could even hope to blink, his mouth was on mine. Warmth surged through me, sending tingles from my scalp to my toes. My arms slipped around his neck and his arms tightened. There was an indescribable edge of emotion when  he kissed me, something like belonging. In that moment, I didn’t care that he’d caused so much tension between my family or that his father killed my parents. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he never let me go.

Slowly, he pulled back, capturing my eyes with his, breathing heavily. My body was still thrumming with joy, so I turned my head and rested it on his chest, savoring his wild heartbeat. I was glad that I affected him as much as he affected me. His kiss had put me in a strange, warm, uncharacteristic stupor. Nothing mattered anymore, just him. His arms tightened and he sighed, though I couldn’t tell if it was a happy sigh or not.

“Hey,” I murmured. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why didn’t I feel the zap the first time we kissed?” I asked, remembering how he’d kissed me on the school floor.

“I don’t know,” he told me. “You’re not 100% wolf, maybe your body needed some time to realize it.”

“Oh,” I nodded as the tube jolted to a stop for the dozenth time.

“This is our stop,” Cross told me, dropping his arms.

I blinked at the rush of cold that hit me once his warmth was gone, not liking the pang of pain that echoed in my chest. My hand shot out, capturing his to keep the link between us. Then I realized what I was doing and promptly let go. I turned on my heel and started pushing my way off of the train with Cross at my heels, my heart still pounding and chest aching from the distance between us.

By the time we finally got out of the metro car, my brothers were already out and waiting. They regarded Cross coolly, then Nix turned and lead us all away. If nothing else, I prayed that Cross could accept Nix as… well as Nix, like the rest of us had. He must know by now, how we see Nix as our leader, I really hoped he came to terms with that because there was no way anything could progress if he didn’t.