The Pack and The Ruffian

Sister

Taylor turned from the kettle when a knock sounded at the door of her and Mya’s cabin. “I’ll get it.” She shouted up the stairs where she knew Mya was washing up after their day on the road. She’d let Mya go up alone, to give her space to sort out her feelings. Taylor knew that she’d have to stop giving Mya space soon, or they’d drift apart. One of these days, Mya would have to sit and talk to her, let her back in. She pulled the door open and froze. For a second, a split second she would have sworn Jane had come home. Then she blinked and swallowed.

“I’m sorry. I know it must be a shock to see me.” Tris held up her hands. “I should have said something about…”

“No, uh, I’m sorry, come on in.” Taylor stepped back. “I’m Taylor. Mya will be down in a minute.” Taylor shook her head as the woman walked past her and stood waiting. Clearly unsure of her welcome. “Have a seat, I’m making coffee. Would you like some?”

“Thanks, but no. I had my fill down at the coffee house.”

“Ah, Diane’s coffee is the best in the compound.” Taylor smiled. Then when they heard movement on the stairs her smile faded, and she stepped in front of Tris. “Babe, Jane’s sister is here.” There was a worried note in her voice that made Tris frown. “Could you come over here for a second?”

“I have things to discuss with Sam.” She didn’t spare the woman on the couch a look as she rushed to the door.

“Mya, please.” The soft, hurt tone in Taylor’s voice gave Mya pause, and she stood with her hand on the doorknob.

“I love you. But I can’t.” The door slammed behind Mya and Taylor was left alone with Tris.

Taylor took a deep breath before turning back to the woman on her couch. “I’m sorry. She’s still dealing with… well, all of it.”

“So are you,” Tris said. “I should have waited. To come, to do this.” Tris stood. “Hell, I shouldn’t even be here.”

“Wait, just sit, give me a second.” Taylor walked to the open kitchen, not waiting to see if the woman waited or not. At that precise moment she couldn’t care. She took two cans of Coke out of the fridge and turned back to the lounge. “Coke?”

“Yes, thank you.” Tris had a feeling if she said no, the woman before her might snap. Had the other woman, Mya, forgotten that Taylor had lost Jane too?

“Don’t judge her on what you saw today,” Taylor said, reading Tris’s mind. “It’s been harder on her than anyone else.”

Tris tilted her head and looked directly into Taylor’s eyes. “Has it?” She shook her head. “Look, I don’t want to cause trouble. When you phoned, it was such a shock. I guess I’d always hoped that I’d be able to make up for the time Jane and I lost.”

“You two are twins?” Taylor asked.

“No.” Tris tried a smile. “She was a year older than me. But we look so much alike, that we always caused trouble that way. Or we did until she left.”

“Jane never mentioned you. If I hadn’t found the letters, and the photo, we wouldn’t have known she had a family.” Taylor sat and shook her head. “Why is that?”

“Long story,” Tris said dismissively. “I don’t want to take things, any of her things. They belong to you and Mya. I just wanted to see where she ended up. I just want to know that she was happy.” Tris felt the tremble in her hand and set the coke down on the table.

“Oh, she was, we were all happy, and she was so loved!” Taylor said with a half-laugh. “I know we’re probably not what you expected.”

“Honestly, no,” Tris said. “But the pictures, the uh, feeling of love and happiness in your home, tell me it was exactly what she needed.”

“Tell me why she didn’t tell us about you?” Taylor asked again.

Tris stood and walked to the wall where picture after picture showed her sister with one or both women in her life, laughing, smiling. Pulling funny faces. “When we were kids, we were inseparable. We’d go with our dad. He was a builder. And we’d help him, first with small things, but as we got older, we’d help build. We were so close to him, he taught us to love and support each other, to always be there for each other.” Tris turned back to Taylor who sat, patiently, waiting for her to tell the story, her way. “It was one of our Alpha’s buildings that started the rift between us. Jane had refused to help. I didn’t know why then.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I went with, as usual, figured dad could use the help, even if Jane was being a hardass.” She smiled a little. “She knew how to be a hard ass. Anyway, dad was busy putting up the roof and I was fitting windows in another building. I heard the crash, the screams, and ran out. I thought we were under attack.” She walked back to the couch and sat, took a deep swig of her coke, and set it back down. “A kid, barely thirteen, had decided to take his dad’s truck for a spin, he was showing off to his buddies when he lost control and slammed into the building my dad was working on. The whole thing collapsed. Dad landed wrong, the medic said he died instantly. The piece of wood went straight through his heart.”

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry. It must have been so hard to see that!” Taylor stood and walked to Tris. She sat next to her and took the woman’s hand in hers.

“Yeah. Jane, she’d been running close by, heard the crash too and came running to us. It devastated her. She blamed herself since she usually did the roof since we started building with dad. If she’d been there that day, she’d have been dead.” Tris wiped a hand over her face. “Our mother, devastated, told Jane she blamed her, and that it was her fault and that she never wanted Jane anywhere near us again.”

“But it was an accident. It wasn’t her fault.” Taylor said, shocked that a mother would treat her child that way.

“I tried to tell our mom that. But she forbade me to speak to Jane, to go anywhere near her.” Tris laughed bitterly. “When Jane came to me, said she was leaving to join a pack, this pack, and asked me to join her, I laughed at her. Told her that mother needed me and that if she wanted to be a coward and run, she should.” Tris dropped her head in her hands. “I was so damned angry at her, I’d lost my dad, my mother was in no state to be a mother and Jane was leaving me too. So, I lashed out at the only person who never let me down.” Tris lifted her head. Looked at Taylor. “I let her down. I betrayed her.”

“You did what you thought was right at the time,” Taylor said. She wasn’t sure what else to say to the woman, so obviously in pain.

“I took the easy way out. Instead of dealing with my dad’s death, I blamed Jane and let time and space put distance between us.”

“You wrote to her, quite a bit. You tried to reach out.” Taylor said.

“Load of good that did, she never wrote back.”

“She did.” Taylor stood. “Wait here.”

Tris stared after the beautiful woman who had too much compassion for a stranger. Too much compassion for her lover too. She could see that Taylor carried a lot of pain inside. Why would she not lean on Mya, someone who knew what she was going through? When Taylor returned, she held a shoebox close to her body. Tris could see the reluctance as she held it out to Tris. “What’s this?”

“Every letter you wrote has a letter that she wrote in answer. I did read a few, I will admit. But not all of them.” Taylor watched as Tris opened the box and carefully took out the first two letters, one hers, one Jane’s.

“Why did she not send these?” Tris asked. She looked up at Taylor as if the woman could answer her.

“I don’t…”

“She was afraid.” The door, now open, framed Mya’s body. “I knew about you.” Mya’s gaze flicked to Taylor, who let out a gasp of surprise. Then she looked back at Tris. “She was scared that you’d not receive the letters. Or that when you did, you’d stop writing.” Mya walked in but left the door open behind her. “She was going to invite you to this year’s pack festival. She wanted us to meet you. And she wanted you to meet us.” Mya took Taylor’s hand. “I’m sorry I never said anything. Jane asked me not to. She wanted to make sure that Tris would forgive her, before bringing her home to us.” She turned to Tris. “Jane…” Her voice cracked. But she swallowed and continued. “Jane wanted you to be a part of our family. She missed you so much. I’m sorry, so sorry that you never had the chance to get to know the person your sister became here. She was something else.” Mya smiled. “And I’m sorry that I’ve left you to deal with your grief and mine.” Mya pulled Taylor into her arms. “I’ve been a complete asshole.”

Tris stood. She felt like an intruder, and she wanted to get to reading. “I should go.”

“Where are you staying?” Taylor asked, her eyes wet with tears. She wiped them away.

“I don’t know yet. I was hoping to find a place for tonight. Know of a good place?”

“Yes,” Mya said and looked at Taylor, who nodded. “You can stay here.”

“No, oh no, I can’t intrude like that.” Tris took a step back and held up her free hand. “Just point me in the direction of a nice hotel or bed and breakfast and I’ll be set.”

“Nonsense,” Taylor said. “I’ll go fix up the room.” She kissed Mya’s cheek and smiled at Tris.

“No use arguing.” Mya smiled. “When she makes up her mind, it’s set. You’re welcome for as long as you want.”

“I, thank you. If you’re sure?”

“Yes,” Taylor said and walked to the stairs. “Go with her to fetch her car. I’m sure the guards at the gate have it locked up.”

“It’s for everyone’s safety.” Mya rolled her eyes.

“Yes, because it makes sense to keep the car but let the people walk free inside the compound.” Taylor shook her head. “One day you’ll see why that makes no sense.”

“Come on, before she tells me exactly how much our security sucks.” Mya waved at Taylor, who smiled at her. Then she led Tris outside. When Mya was sure they were out of earshot, she stopped Tris with a hand on her arm. “If you hurt her, in any way, I’ll kill you.”

“Understood,” Tris said.