Werewolf's Humanity

Old Wounds, Part 3

He ought to be talking to her. Sammy knew he owed Reilly an apology. But he had no idea how to go about it. So he buried his nose in a book he had checked out from the library earlier that morning, hoping something would come to him later. The Prince and the Pauper, something that had been on his to-read list for a while. Frustratingly, through the drive out of the pack's ranch and through the neighboring town to get to the highway, he had made it only to page 3. Reading in the car was not something he was accustomed to.

"You want to listen to some music?" Reilly asked. "I just upgraded my sound system. It's Bluetooth enabled."

As was his habit, Sammy found himself overthinking what was probably just a casual offer. It was probably common knowledge in the pack that he liked music, but he also considered his tastes personal. Reilly already knew more about him than he cared for thanks to her sister and general pack gossip. But... maybe she already knew something much, much worse.

"Lemme ask you something," he said. "The case file had Benny's psych evaluation. Did you read it?"

Reilly opened her mouth, reconsidered, and then pursed her lips. "Yes," she said finally.

That answered Sammy's next question, but he asked it anyway. "Then you know everything he and I went through." He closed his book. He felt humiliated all over again.

"Yes. And... I'm sorry."

"Just put on whatever you want," he said quietly, after a few minutes.

Reilly grunted and switched on the radio, letting country music fill the interior of her Chevy Avalanche. Sammy looked up in surprise and she looked back, a defiant edge in her eyes. All right, then. Musical chicken. Sammy just shrugged and went back to his book, passing over the same sentence a third time. Dammit.

"There, much better than awkward silence, isn't it?" she teased.

"The silence was awkward?" The words just sprung out. "I didn't notice."

"Whoa. Is that sarcasm? I didn't think you did sarcasm, Samson Phoenix."

"And how would you know?" he asked, snapping his book shut. "What makes you think you know anything about me?"

"I don't," she said. "And I think that's a damn shame, cousin."

"You're the one who left," he growled. Whoa. Where was all this coming from? What happened to penitence?

Reilly flinched at that. "Not like you wanted me around, anyway."

Sammy scoffed, penitence forgotten. "Like that would have mattered? I was a nobody runt on the verge of omega-hood. My opinion of you had nothing to do with your decision to run away from the pack."

He saw her grip on the steering wheel tighten. "I didn't run away!" she snapped. "It was always my plan to join the Order, I just signed up early. Anyway, what's it to you?"

He knew he should shut up. He should have shut up a long time ago. He didn't understand what it was about Reilly, but she just aggravated him to no end. "I just don't understand it," he said. "You were born into the most amazing family. You got dozens of people who don't just love you, they idolize you. But you don't appreciate it, not really. The first chance you got, you walked away from what I've spent my whole life struggling to have."

He watched her. Really looked at her for the first time since they had been saddled together for this mission. Trying to gauge her reaction--her posture had slumped, her grip on the wheel had loosened. She switched off the radio, and if they thought the silence had been awkward before, it was nothing compared to the fog now in the car.