Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 7

Halfway up the stairs, her pocket vibrated again.

Shit. I forgot about Jason!

She pulled her cellular phone out and read the text.

'R U OK??!! Starting to FREAK!'

She glanced at the time. It was coming up close to 8:30 pm in Luxembourg. Some quick mental arithmetic put him at just after 1:30 am in the US. He clearly wasn't going to be doing any sleeping until she got in touch. The warm, fuzzy feeling she got inside from that thought slightly outweighed her guilt - but only by a little bit. She set her fingers in motion:

'Fone u in 5.'

Then she bolted up the stairs and locked herself in her room. Seconds later, she'd dialled him. He answered on the first ring.

"Sierra?"

"Yeah, Jase, It's me," she responded.

She heard him exhale in relief.

"Does this mean I can shut down this flight booking website?"

"What? On your dad's PC? I'm pretty sure that connection would bomb out on you if you actually tried to buy a ticket."

"It has. Three times already - how'd you know?" he asked, a grin in his voice.

"That system is so old, my 90 year old grandmother can run faster than it does."

"You have a 90 year old grandmother?"

"Yeah, she went underground at 75, and yet she's still faster than that system..."

Jason chuckled.

"Man, it's good to hear your voice," he remarked with another exhale of relief.

"I've missed you too. How's the family? How's your father?"

"They're... coping. I ran with the pack as the Alpha for the first time today. My dad insisted. It was... Sierra it was amazing! I've never experienced anything like it before. I don't know how to describe it - I don't think there are words..."

Sierra smiled. With his father suffering a spinal injury and unable to transform without medical assistance, Jason was the only one qualified to step up and lead the pack - and it sounded like he'd needed them as much as they'd needed him.

"I'm happy for you Jason. It sounds fantastic," she replied with genuine feeling.

"What about you? What's the deal with that Agency place?"

"It looks good: no cages, no laboratories, no mad scientists..." Sierra joked.

"That's not funny," Jason shot back, half serious.

Sierra grinned.

"Seriously Jason, I think this place is legitimate. They've offered us jobs and we can walk away any time. The accommodation is pretty awesome. It's very historical - kinda makes you feel like you've stepped into a time warp or something. The food was also remarkable. I think this is going to be the best thing for me for now."

"Sounds great - but why do you sound so off if everything is so perfect? You've been playing it safe, right?"

"Um, yeah. Sorta..."

"What do you mean 'sorta'?" Jason asked, suddenly concerned.

"Well I think that I pretty much screwed up the whole 'don't give away too much' thing when I touched Adam - in front of a room full of people..."