Page 2 of Kendrick

He did know better. Once Caroline sank her teeth into something, she didn’t let go. Right now, she’d sunk her teeth into Jonas and his loneliness, which meant he had to do something to distract her.

He took a step away from the doorframe and gestured his brush at it. “What do you think?”

A hand landed on his shoulder. He squeaked and turned around, raising the brush as if he was going to use it to defend himself.

He always reacted like that when he was startled. He thought it came from when his village was attacked and how life had been hell for him over the past years. It had gotten so bad that he didn’t know if there was a way to fix it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try. He was exhausted, and it felt like a lot of work.

“There’s a small party tonight,” Caroline said, glaring as soon as Jonas started shaking his head. “Let me finish.”

There was a warning in her voice, so Jonas snapped his mouth shut. Caroline stared at him for a moment as if waiting for him to start talking again, but he didn’t, and she nodded, clearly satisfied.

“It’s not really a party,” she reassured him. “It’s just for family.”

Before, that would have meant Caroline, Jonas, and Alexis. Now it included Boyd, and through him, his friends and their mates. More people kept getting pulled into this, and Jonas felt uneasy.

He wasn’t used to spending time with so many people. He’d gotten better at it after he and the others had arrived at the village, but he still felt more comfortable on his own.

“That’s kind of the description of the party,” he pointed out.

Caroline slapped him upside the head. “You know what I mean. It’s not formal, and you don’t have to bring anything but yourself. There will be food and drinks, plenty of chairs to sit on, and time to make friends with other people.” She hesitated. “I know you’ve only had me and Alexis for a long time. You’re never going to lose us, but your life can expand to welcome other people. We’re part of a clan now, and that’s what being clan means, Jonas.”

Unfortunately for him, she was right. Being part of a clan meant actually being part of it, not hiding in his house. Even if he wasn’t planning to become best friends with any of the people he met tonight, at the very least, he should get to know them better.

“Fine, I’ll come,” he agreed, even though he was pretty sure he’d regret it.

* * * *

Kendrick was seriously considering not going to the family dinner at Clay and Rowan’s house.

For one, he wasn’t sure why they’d called it a family dinner. He was close to Clay, but not that close. They might have fought together as hunters, but Clay had never truly been part of their group, and while Kendrick had always been on his side, he had no idea when that had become something more to Clay.

He’d invited Kendrick, along with Chris, Boyd, and Rachel. Chris and Boyd would no doubt be bringing their mates, and that was fine with Kendrick. There would be others there, too, which was the problem, or rather, one person was the problem.

Devon.

Kendrick liked the kid. He was strong and had defended himself and the people he considered family, which was impressive at only eighteen. What Kendrick didn’t like about Devon was that the kid had a massive crush on him and had been hounding him since they’d met. He didn’t take no for an answer, which was annoying, though not surprising, considering how young he was.

No matter how many times Kendrick told him they couldn’t be together, Devon didn’t seem to get it. Initially he’d thought it was because the kid was only seventeen. But the day he’d turned eighteen, he’d knocked on Kendrick’s door.

Kendrick had tried telling him that he just didn’t see him like that and that he was more like a brother to him, but Devon seemed to have taken that as a challenge.

Kendrick didn’t blame him entirely. He was new to the village, and while there were a lot of things to do to get it back to its previous glory, it couldn’t be great for an eighteen-year-old boy. Devon wanted to have fun and make friends, and he couldn’t get that at the village. He’d latched onto Kendrick because Kendrick was present when Devon had been found, but that was it.

Or at least, Kendrick prayed that it was.

He looked down at his phone. He’d grabbed it from the coffee table so he could text Boyd, but he knew Boyd would see right through him. Would that be enough to stop him? Absolutely not.

He opened his text app and quickly wrote what he had in mind. It wasn’t complicated, and hopefully, Boyd would fall for it.Tell Clay I can’t come tonight. Not feeling well.

He sent off the text and waited for a moment, but Boyd didn’t answer. Kendrick set down the phone, satisfied, and snatched the remote control from the coffee table. He turned on the TV, pulled up his current series, and settled in for a great evening.

Everything was going to plan until someone knocked on his door half an hour later. He frowned, pressed pause, and grabbedhis phone. He checked the notifications as he walked to the front door, sidestepping a bunch of construction material. The village was still only halfway habitable, including the houses everyone was living in. They were slowly renovating, but with many houses and not a lot of people, it was taking time.

Kendrick didn’t care. As long as he had a roof over his head and was warm enough, he was fine with pretty much anything. When he was a hunter, he’d lived in abandoned warehouses. It hadn’t been fun. In the summer, they were boiling hot, and with so many people pressed together, it had been a nightmare. During the winter, they’d almost frozen to death, and mold had grown everywhere.

He looked around his front door. There were no signs of mold here.

He didn’t have any texts or missed calls, so he had no idea what to expect when he swung open the door. He should have known better.

---