The little devil

I opened the window, sliding one foot over, then another.

My feet landed lightly on the carpet, and I smiled at the sheer perfection of the action.

The lights flicked on.

I gulped.

Talia stood by the switch, arms crossed, her face set in that “I caught you and you’re in trouble” look.

Despite the fact that my stepsister was two years younger than I am, she had refused to accord me the respect of an elder sibling. Her favorite pastime on a good day seemed to be finding ways to get me into trouble with Mum and Dad.

I sighed, resigned.

“What are you doing here, Talia?”

She scowled, as though that wasn’t the reaction she was aiming for.

“I'll have you know I just caught you sneaking into your room at two o’clock in the morning,” she huffed. “You are in trouble when I tell Mum and Dad.”

I eyed Talia as she shifted from one foot to the other, staring at me with obvious disdain.

Despite the fact that I had lived with Talia and her parents for fifteen years—two months longer than she had known them—and had even eased into calling them Mum and Dad, Talia refused to acknowledge that adoption or not, I was her sister now and her parents ours.

“What are you doing in my room at two o'clock in the morning?” I asked, mirroring her stance.

She hesitated—just for a second.

“I heard something,” she said stiffly. “And I knew it would be you. You didn’t come back today, and although Mum and Dad have been too busy to notice, I did. I knew you would sneak in at some ungodly hour because you are dramatic like that.” She paused, then added, cheeks pink, “Were you with that Cole guy?”

I rolled my eyes. It had been obvious to me, although Cole had no idea, that Talia had a serious crush on him. Despite the fact that he didn’t pay her any mind, he still found a way to appear in almost every conversation I had with Talia.

“Wow. I’m honored—living rent-free in your head. However, where I’ve been is none of your business.”

She rolled her eyes right back. “You think you’re funny.”

“I know I am.”

Her gaze dropped to my sleeve.

“You’re dirty.”

I glanced down. Mud had stained my clothes terribly.

“Tripped,” I said lightly. “Very tragic.”

Her eyes narrowed. She didn’t believe me.

“You’re always doing something,” she muttered. “Mum and Dad already have enough to deal with.”

There it was—not anger. Resentment.

I straightened slightly.

“Rafe being sick doesn’t mean I stop existing.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Silence stretched between us.

“I know who you were with,” she said finally, with smugness.

I eyed her suspiciously, at first thinking we were going to be talking about Cole any second—but that wasn’t quite right. She wouldn’t be smug about that knowledge.

She once threw a tantrum because there were rumors that we were dating, and she thought they were true.

Even though werewolves had mates fated to them by Luna, the unpredictability of when they'll meet their mates had werewolves getting into relationships before then.

Some even chose to mate and mark their chosen and forget about finding their mate.

“Damon.”

I froze.

“How did you know that?”

She smiled at my reaction. “Earlier he asked me where you were, and I was the one who told him you were working late at the research lab today,” she said proudly.

The little devil.

I refused to be riled up by her. I would not get angry.

Talia was very aware of the way Damon and his friends treated me, and like me, she had refused to tell her parents anything about it—for the sole reason that she didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“Why?”

She seemed momentarily startled by the question. “Why what?”

“Why would you do that? You know very well that he wasn’t asking to have a conversation or get coffee together. I’m your sister, and yet you sell me out to Carylon like that.”

She scowled again, presumably disgusted by the term “sister.” “Because what you did to Damon and his friends was terrible. He is the next Alpha, for God’s sake. You shouldn’t go around pulling stupid pranks on him like that.”

I nodded. It hurt, but I expected nothing else from the girl who refused to acknowledge me as her sister.

We were silent again.

I walked over to my wardrobe to get a change of clothes, choosing to ignore Talia entirely.

When it was obvious I wouldn’t be saying anything else, Talia lifted her chin.

“I’m still telling them you snuck out.”

“Go ahead.”

She blinked. She hadn’t expected that.

“I’ll tell them I couldn’t sleep. Needed air. You followed me because you’re nosy.”

Her jaw tightened.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet, here I am.”

She stormed out of my room, angry, arms swinging by her side.

The door almost slammed, but I caught it with my foot before it could make any noise.

I let out a breath.

I don’t know what hurts more.

Damon ramming the tree—or Talia smiling when she told me she helped him find me.