More than Secrets

Two Sides

DANI'S P. O. V.

I'm sitting next to Jane in the bleachers of the gym, staring out at all the different sports teams gathered together on the court, and I'm just thinking about everything that happened today.

I had to sit behind Tyler in home room this morning, knowing all the while where his hands and lips had been just moments before.

I still have no explanation as to why... but when I saw him standing there at the top of the steps, waiting for me, I just had to have him.

This is a side of me I never knew existed until yesterday morning. It's like every time I see him now, my body just yearns for his touch.

I push the thoughts aside and try my best to just focus on making it through the pep rally now.

Brie stands with the other basketball players on one side of the court and I spot Tyler's gorgeous black locks sticking up in the crowd of football players on the other side. Lee is out in front of the bleachers with all of the other cheerleaders, dancing to a mash-up of pop songs.

El does a line of backhand springs in front of the bleachers, which makes the crowd (especially the boys) go crazy. They jump up from their seats in excitement, screaming for her. My little sister is just so amazing.

Principal Jeffery stands behind his podium in the middle of the make-shift stage that was put up for the pep rally today, and waits for the cheerleaders to finish off their routine.

The crowd erupts into even more cheers as the cheerleaders end off with a pyramid. El's right at the top.

I have the biggest big sister smile on my face as I see her smiling happily. She blows a quick kiss in mine and Jane's direction before hopping down from the pyramid.

Jane and I pretend to "catch" the kiss before swooning and falling against each other, laughing hysterically. We do this every time we're forced to watch her perform. Not that El needs the confidence boost or anything. I mean, they're even throwing roses at her now!

I wipe my eyes dry and take a seat as Principal Jeffery begins his annual pep rally speech about having good sportsmanship and supporting your teammates etcetera, etcetera... The crowd joins him as he finishes off with the "Go Gators!" anthem (The Green Alligators are our school's football team's name).

Tyler waves at me to get my attention. He points at his lips and gives me the most adorable sad, puppy-dog eyes I've ever seen.

I shake my head and giggle, but blow him a kiss anyway.

Yip, his dazzling smile as he jumps up and "catches" my kiss, is definitely worth the cheesiness of the moment.

TYLER'S P. O. V.

"So, what are your parents like?" I ask Dani. We're making our way to her house now because she's insisted that I meet them today.

"Oh, they're really nice," she replies and continues humming along to the song that's playing on the radio right now. She hasn't looked at me since we got in the car.

I sigh at her simple answer. They're really nice? What are we? Toddlers? That's not gonna help me at all.

Here I am, wanting to make a good first impression on her parents and I have nothing, NOT A THING, to work with.

"You're not gonna help me out on this one?"

She smiles and wriggles her eyebrows at me devilishly. "Oh, didn't you know? Payback's a b***h, babe."

I can't believe this, my own mate is throwing me, the Alpha, under the bus! She leans over and closes my jaw shut for me. It must have swung open in utter disbelief at this betrayal.

"Did you think I would just forgive you for threatening my potential boyfriends?" she asks me, an innocent smile plastered on her face. I gulp audibly. "Oh, and I'm just get started too... so buckle up because I don't intend to go easy on you."

I shake my head. There's something different about her... It's like she has this aura coming off her. She's sexy and powerful combined, but there's also a darkness there that I can't quite put my finger on it, but I have a feeling it may have something to do with who her biological parents are... or were.

...

I'm currently rinsing off the last of the dishes we used to make dinner, while Dani is in the formal dining room, setting the table.

Her mother, Colleen, had roped me into helping them cook dinner (shrimp pasta) and, while it was really fun, Dani had held true to her word and teased me incessantly about the fact that I didn't know how to turn on the gas stove, or how to cook pasta.

Even the twins had joined us at some point and El had given me her copy of "How to Cook Pasta: For Dummies" as a joke. This really made everyone c***k up. I didn't even mind that I was the butt of the joke. Seeing them all laughing together was something magical.

I'm an only child so this sort of thing is quite new to me, and so is cooking pasta... or cooking anything for that matter.

Colleen, joins me at the sink now and grabs the dish towel from me. She "shoos" me away. "We let the dishes drip-dry in this house, young man," she says, trying to act serious, but I can see she's laughing inside.

I smile and give her a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."

I realize I finally have Colleen all alone. Now's my chance to ask her if she knows anything about Dani's birth parents.

"What was her name, Dani's biological mother?" I whisper, looking directly into Colleen's eyes.

She looks taken aback and terrified at the same time. Her eyes glance nervously to the kitchen doorway, worried that Dani may walk in at any moment.

I already know that the coast is clear (wolf hearing), so I ask her again. This time, I'm begging her to tell me. I let her see the desperation in my eyes.

She has tears in her eyes as she looks at me and whispers: "Her name was Lorna Reynolds."

"Was?" I whisper, my chest tightening.

The tears spill from her eyes as she buries her face into the dish towel. "I haven't seen her in almost eighteen years now. The last time I saw her, she left me with the most precious gift of all... Dani."

This doesn't make any sense. Why would a werewolf abandon her pup to a human family. What would compel a mother to put their child through that? Unless... she was in danger.

"Was Lorna running away from something... or someone?" I ask Colleen.

She nods sadly. "She was too scared to go to the hospital that night. She said that they had "trackers" and they would find her there. She gave birth to Dani right on our living room floor and then vanished into the night."

I'm obsorbing all of this new information when I hear Dani coming near.

I move away from Colleen and pretend to be wiping the counter while Colleen busied herself by getting out some drinking glasses from the top cupboard.

When Dani walks in, she immediately goes to Colleen's side and starts helping her with the glasses, completely unaware of our exchange only moments ago.

Colleen gives me a look. I already know what it means: I'm absolutely not allowed to tell Dani anything about what we just spoke about now.

I nod once in agreement... but now I'm going to find out everything there is to know about Lorna Reynolds.