Chapter 4

• *Keera*
• I'd agreed to it.
• It was a shame really. I'd had such an iron clad resolve to not let myself be talked into helping those beasts but in the end sheer curiosity and sympathy had won against my initial determination. Trevor had set up a simple team of five. Two forensic scientists , Lexi and me, one retired firearms and weapons expert, one profiler and one bioengineer. I was a bit surprised he was willing to go to these extents just to help them out.
• There was something he wasn't saying.
• I walked into the conference room and took a calculative seat at the right side of the table. We were all having a meeting with the Alpha of the pack, and I wanted to be in a place where I would feel the most comfortable. I had spent barely ten minutes in his presence a few years ago but it had been more than enough for me to form a strong opinion about him.
• A strong hateful opinion.
• I looked up at the door when it burst open. Trevor walked in, his strides long and confident. He frowned at the emptiness of the room and then stared down at his wrist watch. His eyebrows lifted. Probably when he realized it was still thirty five minutes early. He narrowed his eyes on me then, as if to ask why I had also arrived here so early.
• "Hey," I said in greeting, managing a small smile. He walked over to where I sat and placed a kiss on my head. I jerked back and frowned at him, a bit irritated by his actions. I hated when he treated me like I was still a little child. I was willing to bet he wasn't going to greet anyone with an affectionate kiss. I met his eyes as he sat down at the head of the table, loosening the top button of his jacket.
• Sometimes I wondered if he had more than platonic feelings towards me. The few times I've thought about bringing it up, I always end up letting myself formulate one excuse or the other. I saw Trevor as nothing more than a brother figure. Lately I was starting to wonder if he saw me as something more. He held my gaze, looking like he was daring me to say something. I drifted my eyes away from his, once again taking the cowards way out.
• A part of me was almost afraid of what I might find out if I chose to pursue that line of conversation. I didn't think it was something I was ready for yet. The corners of his lips lifted as he obviously sensed that I wasn't confronting him today. Soon, I thought. I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt a few more times and then I was going to bring it up. Even though I might very well regret ever doing so.
• "You're here early," He pointed out , gesturing towards the wall clock that stood off to the side at a corner of the room. I looked at the time, realizing we were only just about twenty minutes to the actual time we had arranged for the meeting to start. I'd been sitting all alone in the conference room for almost thirty minutes. Calculating. Thinking. Preparing myself.
• I shrugged my shoulders, trying to appear casual. "Not exactly," I pointed out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I drummed my fingers silently on my lap, staring at him. "We're only about twenty minutes from the start of the meeting." I highlighted politely. I guess we were both supposed to be bothered that the others haven't shown up yet but neither of us were. For one, they still had time to burst in through those doors and rightfully say that they had come early for the meeting.
• Plus I wasn't sure I wanted them here yet.
• The truth was that I was simply trying to prepare myself mentally. I was about to come face to face with an old acquaintance's arrogant domineering werewolf twin. I released a deep soothing breath, angry that I still hadn't moved on from her betrayal after all these years. Once upon a time Ginny and I had been best friends. We'd been inseparable. Our friendship had been the kind that people envied and could only dream to have.
• My hands fisted by my sides.
• It had been the worst day of my life when I'd found out it had all been built on a big fucking lie. I hated that I could still remember the day so clearly. Every damn detail. We'd been graduating from college. Ginny hadn't wanted to introduce her brother to me but he'd introduced himself. He'd already formed an opinion about me even before he met me. From Ginny's apparent change of behavior it seemed.
• He made it very clear that he blamed me for her recent stubbornness and deceptiveness. I was a bad influence. I was the devil. I was like the leech who had simply refused to unlatch herself from his precious twin. He had a lot to say to me that day. He'd mentioned something about her losing her touch with her werewolf side with each passing day because of me.
• I'd asked Ginny what he'd been on about but she denied knowing. Things became tense between us afterwards but we were still at the graduation party so we couldn't properly talk about it. Instinctively, I'd decided to keep a tab on her. A few minutes later and I was convinced her supposed brother had only been trying to throw me off with the werewolf thing because he didn't like me. At least that was what it had seemed like.
• Until I caught her shifting.
• The door opened again and the rest of the team walked in. All at once. I smiled at Lexi as she came to sit beside me. She was the only one I was already familiar with in the team since we worked together. She wiggled her eyebrows at me, successfully conveying her excitement at the task once again. I gave her a slightly dry look, patiently waiting for her to come off her high horse. I guess in a way it was understandable. She'd only recently found out that werewolves actually existed.