Page 20 of Beginning Fate

I supposed she thought that somehow made perfect sense, but I really wasn't understanding.

“She worries. Thinks I need to spend more time with our kind.”

“You mean S-H-I-F-T-E-R-S?”

She nodded. “Yes. Not my kind. Deaf people. But she worries, and now I'm stuck here.”

“On the opposite side of the country,” I guessed.

She nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. “It's too far. But I can't ask her to stay. I have to prove I can do this.”

But I can,I thought.I'll get down on my hands and knees and beg her to stay.

And that had nothing to do with Kylie. Because the moment she mentioned Lauren leaving, a stabbing pain sliced through my heart.

“Tell me about her,” I signed, hoping it came across casual like I was trying to help her or something.

“She has no life of her own. She's always up in mine. She means well, but it's suffocating at times. I don't think she believes I can do this.”

“But you said she pushed you into coming here and not a deaf school. She must think you can do it.”

“Maybe. I want her to leave, but I'm also terrified she will.”

“Don't worry. It'll all work out.”

Because there is no way in hell I'm letting Lauren leave here without me.

I led her back to the house in silence. When I got there the party vibe had already died down and it was just the brothers in town and my little group of freshmen hanging out with a stack of pizzas someone ordered.

“Damon bought pizza. We didn't wait for you to get back, but there's plenty left,” Kevin said.

“Thanks man,” I said, nodding to Damon.

I helped myself to several slices and made sure Kylie got some too before she went back to Autumn and her friends. I liked that they seemed to take her in so quickly. They didn't know sign language but seemed to be finding their own way to communicate with her.

“We should all see if we can add ASL to our schedule this year or see if they can open a bonus class one evening a week to help us actually learn this,” Oscar said after a candid round of charades trying to explain they wanted to watch a movie this evening before retiring for the night.

That kid may be unsure about becoming a D.O.G. but everything about him showed he was comfortable here. Whether he believed it yet or not, this was exactly where he belonged.

“They seem like a good batch of kids this year,” Damon said.

“Yeah. No complaints here. This crew looks like they're just going to move in without rushing at this rate,” I teased, though I really didn't mind.

He laughed. “Hope they like to clean. I think you pansies have gone soft. This place is always spotless and doesn't havethat fraternity stench in the air anymore. Hell, it doesn't even feel like home anymore.”

“You're just jealous. You pigs were disgusting. We aspire for a higher level of living now.”

He shook his head. “It's not the same around here as it used to be.”

“That doesn't make it bad,” Karis chimed in.

“I didn't say it did, just different. It's crazy. We haven't been gone that long. It feels like only yesterday we were ruling this school. Now, it's just all different. It even smells different.”

“That's because we've moved on,” his mate insisted.

He turned and kissed her as she nestled into his side on the couch. They were disgustingly cute.

“How is life as the new Alpha and Pack Mother?”

---