The little devil

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

My feet land lightly on the carpet, and I smile at the sheer perfection of the action.

The lights flick on.

I gulp.

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

Despite the fact that my foster sister is two years younger than I am, she refuses to accord me the respect of an elder sibling. Her favorite pastime on a good day seems to be finding creative ways to get me into trouble with Mum and Dad.

I sigh, resigned.

I am already fed up with this day.

“What are you doing here, Talia?”

She scowls, as though that isn’t the reaction she is aiming for.

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

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

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

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

She hesitates—just for a second.

“I heard something,” she says 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 pauses, then adds, cheeks pink, “Were you with that Cole guy?”

I roll my eyes. It is obvious to me, although Cole has no idea, that Talia has a serious crush on him. Despite the fact that he doesn’t pay her any mind, he still finds a way to appear in almost every conversation I have with Talia.

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

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

“I know I am.”

Her gaze drops to my sleeve.

“You’re dirty.”

I glance down. Mud stains my clothes terribly.

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

Her eyes narrow. She doesn’t believe me.

“You’re always doing something, first it's your dumb experiment. Who knows what else you'll think of next?" she mutters. “Mum and Dad already have enough to deal with.”

There it is—not anger. Resentment.

I straighten slightly.

I don't say my experiments aren't dumb even though I want to.

I don't say my experiments are focused on a way to cure Rafe's illness, even though I want to.

Instead—

“Rafe being sick doesn’t mean I should stop existing.” I try my best not to sound defensive. It's what she wants.

“I didn’t say that," she replies.

“You didn’t have to.”

Silence stretches between us.

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

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

She'd once thrown a tantrum because there were rumors that Cole and I were dating, and she had thought they were true.

Even though werewolves have mates fated to them by Moon, the unpredictability of when they would meet their mates has them getting into relationships before then.

Some even choose to mate and mark their chosen partner and forget about finding their fated mate.

“Damon.”

I freeze.

“How do you know that?”

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

The little devil.

I refuse to be riled up by her. I will not get angry.

I am calm cool and collected, I tell myself.

Talia is very aware of the way Damon and his friends treat me, and like me, she refuses to tell our parents anything about it. However, her sole reason for not telling is because she doesn’t see anything wrong with it.

“Why?”

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

I nod. It hurts, but I expected nothing else from the girl who refuses to acknowledge me as her sister.

We are silent again.

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

When it is obvious I won’t be saying anything else, Talia lifts her chin.

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

“Go ahead,” I say simply, not turning to look at her.

She blinks. She didn't expect that.

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

Her jaw tightens.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet, here I am.”

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

The door almost slams, but I catch it with my foot before it can make any noise.

I let out a breath.

I don’t even know what hurts more.

The bruises I got from Damon ramming that tree—or Talia smiling when she told me she helped him find me.