Pack Secrets || WLW

Riddles

 "Hi, Sawyer."

Her voice is honey and smoke. It stirs feelings in my chest I didn't know existed.

I half-expected her to call me 'sweetie' like she used to. Now, it would piss me off and somehow she knows that. Somehow, she knows my character, even though she hasn't been a part of my life since I was a kid.

My arms cross over my chest on their own.

My dad's looking at the ground, his hands resting on his hips.

June's looking between the three of us with wide eyes.

"How long have you two been talking?" I ask.

My mother's smile is smug. "A little bit longer than you've been in contact with your father." She leans against the doorframe casually. "So... A few months?"

My eyes shoot to my dad's face.

He's bracing himself like he knows I'm about to tell him off.

"You talk to her about me?"

"Sawyer," my dad protests.

I wave him off. "Forget it. We can do this later."

My dad makes a noise I've heard too many times, part of a word trying to get me to stop but I'm already headed down the staircase from his front porch.

June steps in front of me when my shoes hit the brick path that leads to the driveway. "I understand your hurt, but we don't have the time."

I stare at her impossibly blue eyes, my arms still crossed over my chest. Defiance is something I'm good at. I want to do it now. To step to the side and keep walking despite her warning. She's right though.

"An old friend of June's is in town looking for Ricky," I announce as I face my parents again.

"Hm." My mother taps a finger to her lips. "I haven't seen him around today." She looks at her watch. "He'd usually stop by around now."

"Sawyer also wants to know about her family history," June says.

My dad's jaw is tense now. "You could've told her all about it, Walker. You know the story well enough."

June's voice is soft, her eyes focused on the ground when she answers. "It's not my place, sir."

"Well, sure it is." My dad takes a few steps so he's standing at the edge of the porch. "It was your pops who made the final decision."

My eyebrows pull together but my dad isn't explaining anymore so I look at June. "What's he talking about?"

June's hands ball into fists. "Mr. Harrison. I'd like to keep this cordial if that's alright with you." She motions to me. "For Sawyer's sake."

My dad's expression softens. He's scratching his beard and shaking his head, a sign he's about to admit he was in the wrong, but my mom joins him at the front of the porch.

Her knuckles go white as she wraps her fingers around the railing. "Your father was accused of murdering another shifter," she states. "Wrongly accused. Miss Walker's parents were both part of the trial." She nods her head to June. A tense moment of silence passes between them before she looks at me again. "When your father was convicted, they stripped him of his shifting abilities and any roles he had within the community."

"That's when..." My voice is so soft I'm surprised my mother hears the unfinished sentence.

She nods hard. "Yes. That's when our family fell apart."

June won't look at me, won't look at anybody. Her eyes are fixed on the ground. I've never seen her look so ashamed. I want to take her face in my hands, tell her it's okay, that I know she had nothing to do with this, because I also know what it's like to carry your parents' reputation on your shoulders.