“Didn’t she have a name?”

“I’m sure she did, but it was lost to history.” Talley rubbed her forehead. “You know, this is why Mom quit reading to us when we were four.”

“I thought it was because Jase colored in all the books.”

Some more forehead rubbing and a deep sigh. “Are you going to let me finish before I leave for work?”

I nodded as I zipped and then locked my lips.

“So, the beautiful, forgotten named woman walked through the forest every night, and every night she was kept company by a wolf sent by God to protect her from the evils of the night.” I bit my tongue to keep from commenting. “Over time, the wolf began to love the woman and longed to be with her.” There was a chance my tongue was bleeding. “And the woman had grown to love her nightly companion.” Yep. I could definitely taste blood. “And so the wolf, who had the ear of God, asked to become human. God granted the wolf’s wish with the provision that one night of the month, on the full moon, he had to return to his true form.”

Oooookay. “And Seers?”

“Because she saw God, she became the first Seer.”

I thought about it. I looked at it from every direction, and.. “That is so entirely not helpful.”

Talley pushed herself off the bed. “It’s not supposed to be helpful. It’s just a story.” My eyebrows shot up at the dismissal. I mean, she was the girl I had to give the Santa Claus talk to in the third grade. “Want to tell me why you’re gnawing off the inside of your lip over a Shifter bedtime story?”

I released my flesh from the entrapment of teeth. “It’s nothing,” I tried to assure her, but she noticed my not-so-subtle attempt to move out of reach of her all-seeing hands. “Seriously, Tal. It’s no big. I’m just being my normal neurotic self.”

She still wasn’t convinced. “You know where to find me if you need me.”

“You’re the chick sleeping on the other half of my bed, right?”

Her nose wrinkled as she smiled. “Half is being a bit optimistic, don’t you think, Miss Bed Hog?”

I tossed a pillow at her head. “Watch who you’re calling names, Sally Snorer.”

Her laughter was cut off by my bedroom door being thrown open. “Talley Anne Matthews, we’re going to be late for work.” Jase noticed me in sitting there in nothing but an oversized t-shirt and threw a hand over his eyes. “Get a move on,” he called over his shoulder, getting away from the sight of sister legs as quickly as possible. Just before he started down the stairs we both heard him mutter, “Why do I always have to be the responsible one?”

Chapter 12

I spent my entire day thinking about beginnings. Not because I really thought Alex’s spirit had reached out from beyond the grave to guide me - one neurosis of him still being alive was plenty for me, thank you very much - but because it was the only lead I had to go on. Dr. Dunbar, the shrink who checked in with me weekly via Skype since the accident, said my dreams were a way to give my subconscious and suppressed memories voice. Since she seemed like a fairly logical and intelligent person, I decided to trust her on that one.

The problem was, I still didn’t know which beginning might hold the key. I was still leaning towards the origin of Shifters - if I knew what caused the first man to Change, then maybe my Change could be explained as well - but if all I had to go on was Talley’s screwed-up love story, then there was little hope on that front. But there were so many other beginnings to consider. The beginning of the Hagan-Cole truce. The beginning of my inclusion to the Shifter world. I found my thoughts most often returning to the first time I saw Alex at The Strip before school started last summer. I remembered how I barely got a chance to notice him before Liam distracted me with his utter Liam-ness. There could have been a clue in there somewhere, but trying to understand Liam was like trying to find a reason for the existence of Jersey Shore.

I was still mentally going over that first meeting, trying to recreate the whole awkward and confusing day in my head, when Jase and Talley came barging through the front door three hours early.

“I thought they weren’t getting home until after lunch,” Angel said, looking up from the bookshelf I allowed her to reorganize in lieu of rearranging the whole living room. She had taken over all kitchen duties when no one else was around to do actual cooking. She took her job to keep the two of us fed very seriously, planning out each meal and offering up as much variety and home-cooking as was possible with her microwave and toaster oven limitations. “I only have enough mozzarella cheese to make two tortilla pizzas. I’ll have to mix it with cheddar, and that won’t taste right at all.”

“It’s okay, Munchkin, I’m not hungry.” Jase threw himself on the couch and attempted to drill a hole in the wall with his eyes. Talley seemed to be attempting the same trick with Jase’s head.

“What happened? Why are you home?”

“We got fired,” Talley said. Her voice shook with anger.

“We quit,” Jase corrected.

The thought of Talley, who was the very definition of responsible, getting fired was more than a little perplexing. “Why on earth did you get fired?”

“We didn’t get fired,” Jase grit out. “I told you, we quit. I’m not going to work for some sleazy jerk.”

“Adam isn’t sleazy. And, unlike you, he’s not completely unhinged.”

Angel was listening in with rapt interest. I could see her committing every word to memory for a dramatic interpretation the moment my parents walked through the door. “Angel, go start getting your ingredients together and constructing your pizzas. I’ll be in to supervise the toaster oven part in a minute.”

“It’s too early to start lunch. We just finished our mid-morning snack forty-five minutes ago!”

I know I said I didn’t want people taking orders from me just because I was Pack Leader, but I would have paid good money to make Angel feel obligated to obey me. “Then go upstairs and clean your room.”

“My room is clean.”

“Then go clean mine!”

“What does ‘sleazy’ mean?” Angel asked Jase, standing just far enough away that I couldn’t grab her up and wring her neck.

“It means he couldn’t keep his hands to himself and made inappropriate comments to his employees.”