Page 61 of Outcast
She didn't bother to look at me as she dealt a few swift punches to the bag and tossed out, "If you insist on staring at me like a weirdo, can you at least put on my leggings and jacket?"
Now she was offering me her clothes?
My nose wrinkled in response as I weighed my options. Put on her clothes and ask to spar, or try to force Lux to change back and go find Milo and Seth.
Not happening.
I stomped my foot in response, admittedly a bit childish, but I really wasn't in the mood for Lux's tough love. Digging into a tub of ice cream while curled up on a couch sounded much better to me at the moment.
"Goddess! Stop standing there naked and not saying a word, it's fucking weird!" Sofia exclaimed and bent to pick up her clothes, throwing them at my face.
"Sorry. I was having a... conversation with my wolf," I hedged, as I dropped the jacket to the ground and began to work my legs through her hot pink leggings. She was a few inches shorter than me, so they ended up being capris on me, but they fit well enough.
Sticking my hands through the arm holes, I zipped up the front of the black jacket as she asked, “What do you mean having a conversation with your wolf?”
Tilting my head slightly, my brows furrowed, “Uhm, we were talking. I don’t know how else to explain that. Don’t you talk to yours?”
With a dumbstruck expression, she answered, “No. It’s just feelings and emotions and short one word answers mainly, but even that doesn’t happen often.”
Lux, is that true for all shifters?
Yes. You know how your soul powers allow you to see into others?
Yes…
That same power allows our souls to completely open to each other now that you have accepted me. It strips away the mental barrier that the others have.
Wow. So I just look like the crazy girl talking to her wolf in her head.
Her voice held a teasing tone in response.Yup. Absolutely crazy.
Takes one to know one.
Sofia’s fists landed harshly against the bag again as I focused on her once more, and I decided maybe she needed to work out some frustrations as well. "Do you want to spar?" I offered, not expecting her to take me up on it.
Dropping her arms down to the side, her gaze swiveled towards me with her eyes narrowed to slits. "Why would I do that? You already beat me despite lacking training, and now I'm being treated as if I'm worthless to my father."
Worthless? Just because she lost a match?
Placing my hand on my hip, I cocked an eyebrow while voicing my thoughts. "You're kidding, right? That does not make you worthless."
Why was I standing here trying to build her back up?
"Because you're better than us."Seth's words echoed in my head.
Sofia grumbled while rubbing her knuckles, "Yeah, tell him that. All I'm good for is advancing our status in the packs and with the elders. I couldn't lock down Jameson, despite my father forcing me to try from the time I could walk it felt like."
My mouth dropped to the floor at her admission. "Your dad forced you to try to mate with Jameson?"
Who the fuck tries to force that upon their daughter? I may not have understood how parental relationships worked, but I couldn’t imagine thatthatwas normal and acceptable behavior.
Her eyebrows raised, and her lips thinned, "Dad of the year award."
"At least you have one," flew from my mouth before I could stop it. I did well most of the time to not think about my birth parents because it just led me down a path of pain and abandonment issues. But, sometimes the trauma reared its ugly head at inopportune times.
Sofia plopped onto the ground, lying back in the dirt on her sweaty back without a care in the world and waving a hand at me. "Honestly, I don't know if I'd rather not have one instead of one who only doles out affection when it's to further his own political gain. I'm supposed to be his daughter, not a pawn."
Fuck, I actually felt bad for the girl.
