Fire in the Heir

13.

The weekend and following week flew by quickly and awkwardly if I was being honest with myself.

From the moment I walked out of Alpha Riese’s office, everyone seemed slightly off or different in very subtle ways.

Monika, her parents, the guards, and other pack members were all different. But the more I thought about it I realized that it probably wasn’t them, it must be me.

Maybe I am the one who is different and just trying to see things that are not really there. I felt different about almost everything after talking with the alpha.

Alpha Riese and my father were best friends and I’ve had the privilege of seeing the different sides of him since I was little due to their relationship.

Being in his office like that with him the other day seemed special and much more than a friendship between him and his friend’s daughter.

But each time that those thoughts would find their way into my mind, I would shut them down. Alpha Rogan didn’t seem to me like anyone other than who and what I was.

The little orphaned girl that his friends had taken in when she was a baby because her parents had been killed in the same accident that had taken his luna and his own child.

Kana hated it when I spoke like this to myself, even if I was just thinking the thoughts in my own head and I felt her mixture of frustration and sympathy.

It’s not like I didn’t know that this is what everyone said or thought whenever they saw me. I’ve heard them say it before.

“Enough Taylor, he does not see you that way, no one does” she scolded, but I knew that was a lie. She’s heard them to.

Kana has been with me for my entire life and if there was something that I knew or heard, she knew or heard it to.

But I was not in the mood to fight with her, it’s not like it made a difference who actually won when we argued. It’s not like she could just get up and leave.

Laughing now, she tried to get me to feel better to. “Why don’t we make plans to do something this weekend,” she asked.

Even though I knew what she was doing, I didn’t have it in me to fight back. My feelings have just been all over the place and I couldn’t figure anything out.

School sucked this week. We lost our last volleyball match of the season, and I’ve been so distracted trying to figure out what was wrong with everyone, I didn’t study for my test and ended up failing.

As if that wasn’t enough, my parents had me under constant surveillance. I had no idea if they forgot I was eighteen, but it it annoying how truly dumb they think I am.

With this tournament thing coming up, everyone has been super busy, especially my parents, so they seem to have gone about finding me all kinds of baby sitters.

Monika was one thing. I was used to her being with me all the time. In fact, I probably wouldn’t know what I would do without her, but I had a feeling that things with us were starting to change a bit.

However, I wasn’t ready to focus on that. Monika had tons of things going on in her life besides me. I didn’t want to act like I was more insignificant than I was.

So it wasn’t Monika per se, it was the others who were driving me insane. Well, maybe that’s a little too harsh. Let’s go with crazy.

Klyde has been making frequent stops by the school to check in with the coaches on the types of events we will be having.

Some of my dad's other guards would randomly come and check on me by disguising it as bringing me treats in the afternoons or evenings.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, there was a different sitter that was leaving me other types of feelings.

Jace had somehow started showing up around the house now to bring me dinner on the nights mom was at the pack house with dad.

The first night he had come right after Monika had left and I had just finished taking a shower. I wasn’t prepared when I answered the door in my red and black snowman pajamas and my hair up in a towel.

When I had opened the door, I had expected one of the older wolves to be standing there with a white bag of treats, so when I pulled the door open and found Jace standing there with helmet in one hand and a massive tote in the other.

“Well, good evening princess, I don’t know if I should feel impressed or insulted by your lovely attire?” For a moment I just stood there dumbfounded.

I had no idea why Jace had showed up then, but a part of me felt a little flutter at seeing him at my door.

That was why I had stopped and practically froze in place. Even Kana hadn’t known what to say to me as my mind tried to figure out why my body was reacting that way.

Never, not once had I ever felt anything like that and for a moment I had frozen in place as I tried to figure out why I was feeling like that.

To my surprise though, the feeling only increased each night that I found him standing on my porch with food sent from the pack house.

Never had I thought that I would have liked seeing Jace popping up around my house, but the more he came, the more confused I was becoming.

It wasn’t every night that my little sitters had to watch me. Mom was home as much as she could be, but these games seemed to be more than what they had been proposed to be, or that’s what I had come to think.

When mom was home, things felt like they usually do, but of course, dad was gone way more than usual.

On Thursday night, I had asked mom if we could go and visit him at the pack house, but to my surprise, he ended up showing up for dinner with Klyde and Jace.

I had been so happy to see him, that I practically mowed him down when he had come through the door. Lifting me in his arms like he used to when I was a small girl felt good until I saw the two men standing in the door frame.

Dinner that night had been great, but it hadn’t lasted long enough because dad had to leave right after we finished eating and he was gonna be gone again for who knows how long.

Monika wasn’t waiting for me in the locker room, or outside of it so I was walking out of the building and texting her at the same time to try to see where she was.

As soon as I reached the doors that led to the quad, I was just about to send my text when I heard, “hey princess, took you long enough.”

Jace was standing at the bottom of the stairs leaning up against his bike. For a moment, I had no idea what he was doing here and wasn’t sure if I was supposed to go with him.

Almost like it was divinely timed, my phone went off with a reply from Monika.

Sorry Tay, I had to do something with mom, but I think your dad was gonna send someone to walk you home. See ya later for dinner though. Yum!

I read her message over again, and then once more, because that damn flutter was back in my stomach and I was not ready to deal with it yet.

Before I could read the message for the fifth time, Jace called out, “your chariot awaits my lady, unless you actually wish to walk home.”

When I looked up again, I noticed how many of the other students were now watching us. So I quickly walked over to him and whispered, “Did my dad send you?”

For a second, I waited for his response before I agreed to get on his bike, but his response didn’t make me immediately move closer towards him.

“Yes, Alpha Riese,” but he cut himself so abruptly that I thought I might have misheard him. “What,” I asked softly, and I saw the smile spread across his face that made the damn flutter go out of control.

“Yes, your dad is with Alpha Riese and sent me because Monika had to help her mother at the pack house. Can I help you with that?”

Jace walked over, but I put the bag on my back, “won’t it be easier if I carry it while you drive since I sit behind you?”

The smile that spread across his face was nothing short of approving. “You’re so right princess,” he said as he bowed and extended his hand towards his bike.

Standing right beside him, I waited for him to get on first and start the bike, then climbed on behind him.

Leaning forward, I clasped my arms around his waist much quicker than I had last time and I felt the flush of heat from his body warm me from my chest to my thighs.

Praying that he couldn’t feel my heart racing was all that was going through my mind, so I wasn’t prepared for it when he turned his head to the side and winked, “I think you’re really getting the hang of this now, princess, that's good.”