Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 19

Over the next few days Sierra and Devon began to settle into the new rhythm of their lives. Sierra found that she enjoyed sparring with Geoffrey. He would joke around from time to time and help her along as much as possible. More importantly, he was also really good at helping to diffuse her annoyance with Kal. Her secret training sessions with Adele continued at a pace and she was getting on better with Karina, but she was still nervous of associating with the group in the rec room. Initially she looked for excuses to avoid going in, but when she found herself sitting alone in her room with nothing else to do, she realised that she would have to face the challenge sooner or later. So one night she made sure to don long sleeves and full length trousers, then dug out the gloves the Agency had supplied for her and headed towards the rec room with a pounding heart.

There was a bit of a hush when she entered the room, but conversation kept flowing for a change. Kalko's eyes trailed her with interest straight away, and that immediately made her irritable. The collective charge in a more confined space than the dining hall hit her like a heat wave, threatening to overwhelm her. She swallowed hard and bit back her apprehension. She had to face them all at some point, and she couldn't think of a reason why that shouldn't be now.

She considered her options. Karina was playing pool with Kal again. As much as she was starting to like Karina, she hated Kal with equal venom, so the pool table was out of the question. Alyssa was talking to Devon and, considering that the nix still hadn't forgiven her for her verbal slip, she decided to let the blonde woman explore his charms without interruption.

Devon saw Sierra enter the room and he breathed a mental sigh of relief. She was bound to seek out his company - or at least do something that would give him a chance to break away from Alyssa. The little woman was gorgeous, but she also smelt strongly like fish and his feline parts were finding that a little too appetising. He couldn't imagine actually trying to make out with her, because his mouth would be far too eager to take a little more than a nibble... He wondered if a little lick would prove that she tasted fishy too. Besides, Alyssa wasn't the one he was interested in, but at least he could talk to her.

The tomcat's heart dropped to the bottom of his chest when he saw his old friend's eyes skip over him as she decided to give him a miss. He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't think he could last another ten minutes without heading down to the kitchen to seek out some seafood. Heck, he'd settle for kitty kibble by that point! He shifted in his seat and hoped that she'd at least provide some action so he could find another way out of his predicament.

Sierra glanced at the others. Anthony and Senka were playing a round of darts on a board that she hadn't even realised was in the room, while Ken and Luc were lounging on the couch in front of the PlayStation idly. She still found the first two somewhat intimidating, so she headed over towards the couch where she'd be faced with only one challenge for the time being. Sierra was pretty sure she could handle that – even if the electric charge in the room was making her want to crawl right out of her skin.

"What are you guys playing?" she inquired casually.

They certainly weren't hyper enough to be playing something with action or speed. She glanced at the screen and instantly recognised the game.

"Sims," Luc replied.

"We take turns building characters then mess around with them," Ken explained.

"Would you care to join us?" Luc asked with a smile that was a little too friendly.

"Well I'm all gloved up and ready to practise making a family," Sierra replied with an eager grin.

Shit! Not again!

She cringed at her little slip of the tongue. Luc blinked at her in surprise and Ken tried to hold back a snigger. Devon was less considerate: he howled with laugher from across the room.