Page 119 of Pack Scratch Fever
I twitch in my chair. Actionsdospeak louder than words. I could say “I’m sorry” a million times over for what happened, but that doesn’t change anything.
I can at least be of some help to the rescue.
“I’ll think about it,” I acquiesce. “It would be nice to be productive.”
“Also, I don’t want to be that person,” Maeve says tentatively, “but isn’t Poe well off? Can’t he justbuythe rescue if it’s that big of a deal?”
“I haven’t talked to him since the night at the bar,” I admit.
“Aren’t packs, you know…supposed tocommunicate? Isn’t that what you taught us when we were growing up? Because Mom and Dad weren’t communicating well, we had to learn to do it for ourselves?”
“Yes,” I admit.
I had told Piper about some of my past, but not all of it. My parents aren’t the best—they were a mated Alpha and Omega that obviously weren’t right for each other. Their fights weren’t loud, but the passive aggressiveness ran rampant in our house, and neither parent was a great example for my sisters.
“Yeah, it sounds like all of this could be solved bycommunication,” Maeve says in a sing-song voice. “Oh, you should let me meet her! I could talk to her.”
“Hell no, Maeve.”
The idea of my sister meeting Piper when she’s already pissed at us is a nonstarter. Piper doesn’t realize that Maeve is already her number one fan just because Piper liked me at one point.
“Too late. I was already planning on stopping by this week to check on you. I made a care package for you, too.”
I groan. “You didn’t have to do that. Save your money.”
But it’s useless arguing with my sister. I’m proud of her and the woman she’s become, but I don’t know where she got her stubborn streak from.
Nois her least favorite word.
“Nope. Everything I bought is nonrefundable anyway. Are you really going to tell me I can’t visit you?”
I sigh, defeated. “Of course not. You know I always want to see you. I’m just not comfortable with you meeting Piper, especially if I don’t know where I stand with her.”
“That’s fair,” she says. “But you definitely need to drop off some donations. She doesn’t even have to know they’re from you yet.”
“I want to,” I say. “I want to do anything I can to help her.”
“Aww, Avery. Youloveher,” Maeve murmurs. “If you really do, everything will be okay.”
My throat tightens, and I swallow the lump that’s formed in it. “How do you know that?”
“Because I know your heart, and if Piper is smart at all, she knows it, too. She won’t give up on you.”
“You weren’t there. You didn’t see how she looked.”
Piper’s heartbroken face won’t leave my mind. I see it when I try to sleep at night, when I’m grading assignments, and when I’m just trying toexist.
Knowing my packmates, it haunts them, too.
“I’ll make you a deal,” my sister says. “You go drop off some donations, and I won’t pester you about meeting Piper.”
I snort. “That’s a lie.”
“Okay, I won’t bother you about it for awhile.You can fix this; the first step is letting her see how much you care.”
I want to believe my sister, badly.
She speaks with certainty, as if there’s no other outcome but for everything to be okay.
