Page 17 of Sweethearts and Savages
As if summoned by my thoughts, the door to my lab swung open and Daniel walked in. Attached to his back was one of my other siblings, Hannah. She launched herself from his back toward me, her body strong and agile from her Lycan nature.
“Staceeeyyyyyyy,” she squealed as if I hadn’t seen her less than a day ago for dinner. I barely caught her in my arms with anoof.
She snuggled into the hug, inhaling me deeply. Watching the development of my siblings had been an interesting academic study, but I loved each of them. “Hello, Hannah. Are you spending the day with Daniel?”
She nodded furiously. “Mamma is going to have the baby soon and Dadda said that I was too crazy for Mamma to handle while she’s as big as a whale.”
Daniel laughed. “Hopefully he didn’t say that while Mamma was in the room if he wanted to retain his life,” he said, winking at Hannah but raising an eyebrow at me.
“Not if Hannah wants any more siblings,” I added, sliding my littlest sister to the ground. “I’ll go over and check her condition when I finish work.”
Daniel waved me away. “Alistair is all over it.” He used his telekinesis to pick up Hannah and move her away from my experiment, holding her in the air while she giggled and thrashed around. Hannah was three, so she was at the age where she touched absolutely everything.
“I thought you might want to come for lunch and help me to keep her entertained for five minutes.”
I frowned. I was meant to head to the gardens to see Enit, but I didn’t think she’d mind me bringing Daniel and Hannah. She was always good with the children. Part of her Omega nature, I theorized.
I nodded, packing up my equipment quietly. “That would be fine, but I am meant to spend it in the sun with Enit in the gardens.”
Daniel’s eyes opened wide. “Enit? I didn’t think you were friends anymore.” He said it softly, but I still winced.
Shrugging, I slipped off my lab coat and hung it on the back of the lab door. “Miss Pea put her down here with me while they find her a suitable Omega Studies tutor.”
If anyone knew about my feelings for Enit, it was Daniel. Daniel knew me better than anyone in the whole world.
Using his ability, he floated Hannah back down into his arms. “And how do you feel about it?”
he asked, like quantifying my emotions was easy, but it wasn’t really. So I just shrugged.
“Fine. I’m not sure what I can teach her other than general medicinal treatments, but she seems to enjoy it.”
Daniel tilted his head at me. “That’s not what I meant, Stace, and you know it.”
The elevator doors opened and we stepped inside. Hannah promptly began to stare at herself in the mirrored walls like a parakeet, fully immersed at staring at her own face.
Daniel cleared his throat, and I knew what he said next was going to be serious. “Stacey, you’ve been in love with her most of your life. It would be difficult to be in a room with the person you loved who…”
He trailed off, but I could take an educated guess at his next words. “Rejected me?”
Daniel sighed. “Yes. But no. We both know there was more to the whole thing than that.”
I was silent as we stepped from the elevator, walking through the long glass and concrete halls of the Academy.
When we stepped out into the fresh air, I sucked in a deep lungful. Enit had been right about me needing to get out of my lab more. I turned to look at my brother, his face so like mine. His eyes were the same color as mine. We could almost have been twins, except there were several years between us.
“It isn’t hard at all. It’s the most natural thing in the world and it scares the hell out of me.”
Daniel gave me a soft look, stepping in to hug me, squishing Hannah between us. The tiny Lycan didn’t care though, she just wrapped her arms around my ribs and screamed, “GWOUP HUG!”
I laughed softly, taking a moment to hug them back. Then I stepped away, leading them to the back half of the Academy where the gardens and farms were. We created a lot of our own produce here. We were big on self-sufficiency, though we were a large school with hundreds of students, so a lot of stuff was still shipped up here.
“She’s fallen in love with a big lion Alpha. Neither one of them will admit to it yet, but all the evidence points to them being perfect for each other.”
Daniel wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. “I’m sorry.”
I shook my head. “Don’t be. He insinuated that he would be okay with Enit pursuing a relationship with me too, if that’s what she desires.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “Really?”
