Skinwalker

Even though it’s November, there are people at the pool aside from me. It’s still warm outside during the day, especially in the afternoons, though not as warm as the summer months. The water has cooled off considerably but that’s not something children care about. Young ones splash one another playing some game while their parents sit on the deck absorbing the sun like I intend to. There’s a group of twenty-somethings at the grill cooking hamburgers and hotdogs.

I take the most secluded beach chair I can find, throw my towel over it, put my ear buds in place and try to relax. The sun already feels good against my skin. Lying face down on the chair, I set an alarm for twenty minutes to turn and then close my eyes.

There’s a different song on when someone flicks droplets of cold water at my face.

Kendal sets a sports bottle on the deck next to me before readying her chair the same way I readied mine. When she sits, she reaches over and undoes the ear bud closest to her.

“I thought you could use some company.”

“I figured you were sleeping.” It’s after 2PM and I heard her kicking her company out this morning just after 8AM. Truthfully, I’ve been doing my darndest to avoid her since Noah’s visit yesterday; I don’t know how to explain myself or apologize for the misrepresentation.

“There are more pressing matters than sleep.”

Here we go.

Kendal examines the people around the pool area before speaking again. “Look, I normally keep my mouth shut about things…”

“One of your best qualities,” I interrupt knowing that a sentence that starts that way is likely to open up a conversation I don’t want to have.

She frowns at me. “I just want to know what the hell is going on.”

“Nothing is going on.”

“You’re a terrible liar.”

“How do you know I’m lying?”

“You haven’t been acting like yourself for several days now, Piper. I’m trying to respect your privacy, but this is getting out of hand. Subhumans are being cured, you’ve got this mysterious Manilla Envelope Project you won’t tell me about, Noah invites you to join the pack, and all the sudden you’re not denying you’re a hybrid anymore?”

“Kendal…”

“Look, most of the tails aren’t smart enough to know, or don’t care to know, about your aura. So, your secret is still as safe as it was last week. Tala and I were inspirable growing up, which means I know things about hybrids most don’t in the same way you know things about werewolves that you shouldn’t, okay? I’ve never been ignorant to the fact that you’re one of them and I really don’t care. What I want to know is what the hell is going on, okay?”

“I can’t talk about the Manilla Envelope Project,” I say, making sure no one at the pool took an overt interest in her speech.

“Then talk to me about what you can,” she insists.

“I tried to turn Noah’s invitation down, but he wouldn’t let me.”

“You did?”

I nod.

“Noah can make a lot of things happen if you decide to say yes to him.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, come on, Piper. Why do you think he wanted you to join in the first place?”

“I just thought it was because…”

She sputters a laugh because she knows me well enough to know my answer would be so wrong there’s no point in letting me finish. “It’s because he’s got a real thing for you.”

“What?” The volume of my voice draws in a few glances from across the pool. “Noah is interested in me?”

“Sometimes you’re so naïve.” She shakes her head with the sort of grin on her face that makes me feel like an idiot.

“How was I supposed to know?”

“Does knowing magically changes something?”

I still have no intention to join the pack and knowing he has a crush on me doesn’t change our relationship. “I guess not.”

We sit across from each other for a few moments without saying anything to one another. Noah told me that invitation was for my safety; I assumed he extended it because the news of a cure, not because of a crush. How long has he been holding onto this invitation? How long has he been waiting for the right moment to extend it? How long has he been attracted to me?

“If it doesn’t change anything, why are you thinking about it?”

“Because now I have new information. How come you never told me about this?”

“About what?”

“Oh, come on, Kendal.”

“How come you never figured it out?” she teases me.

“He’s my boss; you shouldn’t look at your boss like that.”

“And Levi’s some colleague who you shouldn’t be looking at either.”

I glare at her.

“I told you you’re naïve,” she warns before giving me my answer. “He’s been interested in you since you walked through the doors of the club, looking for a job.”

“Give me a break.” I don’t want to believe what she’s saying but part of me does.

“He gave you a job; he got you an apartment with a girl who became your best friend, and he asks you to pick up extra shifts every chance he gets, like tonight.”

“I’m not working tonight.”

“If you kept your phone with you, like a normal person, you’d know he’s already asked you to come in for a few hours this evening.”

“Who’s sick?”

Kendal shrugs her shoulders.

“Then how do you know?”

She rolls her eyes and stands. “Because he always asks me what you’re doing, prior to asking you to come in. Are you going to walk back with me?”

I collect my things from the area of the pool I’ve been tanning at and walk with Kendal to the apartment to get cleaned up for work. Even though we’re silent, my brain is racing with the new information I have.

“What’s going on?” I ask, pushing open the door into Noah’s office with barely a knock of warning.

A few hours ago, he texted and asked if I could come into work and pick up a part of a shift. What he didn’t tell me is why and based on the employee to client ratio at the moment, the only thing I would be doing is taking tips and stepping on tails.

“Close the door,” he says and then lowers the screen of his laptop.

I pause, feeling my heart race because now that I know he has an interest in me, somehow casual things like standing alone in his office, feel like a bigger deal. Do I tell him I know? Do I ignore it? According to Kendal, I’ve been blind to it for some time now. Perhaps it’s best to continue being blind?

The sounds of the bar are muted behind me when I close the door separating us from the rest of the club. “It doesn’t look like you need me out there.”

“Tate is coming in tonight and I want you to be his server.”

A pack alpha hasn’t passed through the front doors of this club during business hours since I’ve been here so why is one coming now?

“There isn’t someone else who can do this?” There’s plenty of tails out there who barely have a thing to do right now.

“He doesn’t want a tail from the pack serving him.”

“Aaliyah is out there.”

“She’s a tail.”

“But not from your pack.”

“Can you please just do this for me? He’ll make it worth your while by the end of the night, I can assure you of that.”

“Fine,” I agree with a sigh. “But only because I wasn’t going to be doing anything better tonight anyways.”

The two people I spend my time with are both here anyways and I’d rather have the distraction than sitting at home contemplating Noah, his attraction to me, and what I want to do about it, if anything. True, I could have used this evening looking at the Manilla Envelope Project, as Kendal so fondly named it, or pondering Genetics Incorporated, or whether or not I want to help the queen, or if the cure is good or bad. I could have sat at home and debated any number of other things, but the truth is, I don’t want to do any of that. I want to feel like the girl I was a week ago, before the weight of the world was placed on my shoulders.

“Thank you, Piper. I’ll owe you for this.”

“If you all can keep from asking me about joining the pack, I’ll consider us even.”

He considers for a moment and places his hands on his narrow hips. “Okay.”

“I just don’t need any more people asking me, that’s all.”

It’s a little white lie to keep from completely rejecting him and his offer for tonight. The last thing I want is to say no in front of the alpha and that reflect poorly on him. I intend to say no because I have to, it’s the right thing to do. If Noah ever finds out why, he will thank me.

“You should go get ready, he’ll be here soon.”