Fated

Chapter 12: Awkward Beginnings

Addie's POV:

The car was uncomfortably silent. Even Hector felt it. He normally would just lay his head in my lap and sleep and he did try that, but after a while even he picked his head up and looked around the car before looking up at me. I shrugged at him but he just kept staring. I felt like asking him what he expected me to do about the awkward silence but the only way this car ride could be more awkward was if I started talking to him instead of the people in the car.

"Hey," Kaden finally spoke. Thank God. He turned in his seat and looked back at me. "I wanted to ask you about the night we escaped."

"Kaden," Xander growled at the same time Tess smacked Kaden's arm.

"What?" He asked innocently, rubbing his arm.

"It was a traumatic experience," Xander snapped. "Don't make her relive it."

"It's okay," I said, sending Xander a glare before addressing Kaden. "What's up?"

"Where'd you learn to get out of zipties and pick locks with bobby pins? I could be wrong but I don't think that's exactly common knowledge," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh," I said, shifting in my seat. Well, shit, I guess we were getting started right away with my weird past. "My mom was a CIA agent and it made her a little paranoid. You know, seeing the dark side of humanity and all that," I shrugged, playing with a loose string on my sweater. "So she started training for the worst from the time I was really little. One of those adapt to every scenario kind of things. I have a photographic memory thanks to her." Thanks was a strong word but I didn't feel like getting into the many ways my mom freaked me out as a kid.

"How'd she train you?" Kaden asked curiously.

"Uhh..." I was very aware of the fact Xander was staring at me without even looking over to see him. That only made me more nervous. Might as well rip it off like a band-aid. "Like, she locked me in a trunk once when I was six and didn't let me out until I figured it out on my own. She used to do this thing where she'd drop information throughout the week that seemed insignificant but it was really just information I'd need for whatever scenario she planned to prepare me for next."

"That sounds horrible," Kaden said, frowning.

"She could be a little intense but it clearly paid off in some ways," I said, laughing nervously while repeatedly wrapping and unwrapping that loose string around my finger.

"Is she still like that? Should we be worried about her breaking down the pack house door?" Kaden teased.

Thank God he kept it light.

"Unless ghosts are real too, then no," I said, scratching behind Hector's ears as he laid his head in my lap again. "She died a few years ago on the job."

"Oh," Kaden frowned. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I said, giving him a reassuring smile. "You didn't know." That and I wasn't even sure how I felt about her. She did help me and make me strong in a lot of ways but she also made me completely incapable of relaxing.

"What about your dad?" Xander asked.

I glanced over at him and was still somehow struck by how beautiful he was. It wasn't just the green eyes. His midnight black hair looked soft, I wondered what it would feel like to run my hands through that hair. Jesus, Addie, get a grip, I reminded myself.

"In prison somewhere," I shrugged. "I don't really have any blood family. Just close friends."

"Me either," Xander said, nodding in understanding.