Chapter 5

Alexis’s POV

The rest of dinner is silent thanks to Alexandra’s speech about not being my brother or their son. It’s perfectly safe to say that my parents won’t be spending the night in this house because of the crackling tension in the atmosphere. 

I don’t know what’s more horrifying to them…the thought that Alexandra doesn’t see himself as their son for the mean time or the fact that I disobeyed them in a way I’ve never done before.

Whatever it is, I think it’s going to take time for them to realize that we’re now adults, and we’re free to have our own say.

The second our parents leave the table, I blurt out what has been on my mind since his little speech. “Five years older, and you’re still horrible at giving speeches.”

Gena’s loud laughter rings through the dining room and I raise my cup of juice to my lips to hide my smile. Alexandra shakes his head and rubs his eyes like he’s in pain, when he looks up at me, he has a sad, longing smile on his face.

“You know what? I’m going to squeeze that apology out of you.”

I fold my arms over my chest and say with confidence I didn’t know I had. “Not while I’m alive.” Alexandra tears his eyes away from my gaze and adjusts in his seat mumbling words I don’t hear.

Gena takes more serving of meat and soup and watches both of us with a look I can't quite describe on her face. After a moment of silence, she says, “I think living here is going to be very interesting, right Alex?”

Alexandra grimaced, and I raised an eyebrow in question…what did she mean by that comment?

“I think it’s going to be quite different, Gena,” is all he says before he stands from his seat and out of the dining room, leaving Gena and I. I stare at his retreating figure, wondering what was on his mind. I’ve known him long enough to study his habits, and it’s clear that his head is in the clouds.

But what could it be? Doesn’t being back home answer any question he might have?

Just like I earlier assumed, Mom and Dad won’t stay home that night, they give us a really unbelievable crappy reason and leave the three of us at home. But I do notice that neither of them meet my eyes though, and it can only mean two things-one is that they’re guilty of what they said, and the other is that they may be angry.

Whatever the option was, I wasn’t bothered…they'd come around in due time. They always do.

****

The next day isn’t any better and so is the one after that day. I pick on everything Alexander does, and we bicker like children. Even Gena can’t stand our petty arguments anymore, so she just plugs in her headphones and ignores us.

Oh, and our parents haven’t come home since that disastrous dinner.

Also, I don’t know whether he does it to annoy me, but he’s actively making sure that we’re super distant from each other and that our bodies don’t make contact in any way.

But I’ll get him today, I mumble to myself as I cut ham I’m going to use to make sandwiches for Gena and I. My plan goes into motion the moment Alexandra steps into the kitchen.

He passes to the other side and gets a glass cup from the cabinet there, not even looking at me when my eyes are trained on him. I watched as he hurriedly gulped the water he fetched from the tap. I move into his blind spot and proceed to jump at him.

But my brother is taller and has always had sharp reflexes, so he moves out of the way easily, and I brace myself for the impact of crashing into the counter since he’s out of the way.

But something happens…

I don’t crash into the counter, but Alexandra’s arm is wrapped around my lower arm, and I’m pulled flush against his body.

My eyes widen as tingles and small bolts of current dance inside me from where our skin is in contact. A breathy moan escapes my lips and my thoughts spin, unable to focus.

Alexandra’s eyes flash between his blue ones and his wolf’s gold ones repeatedly, but I’m too gone to think about why all my brain can register is the feeling…how good it feels for our skin to touch.

My brother’s eyes go back to their normal blue and, like he had been burnt from touching me, he releases me and puts enough distance between us.

“I’m sorry” was all he said before he dashed out of the kitchen. I stood there like an idiot, wondering why he was sorry and why he let my hand go so soon. It would have been nice if maybe he held it for longer.

I shake off the weird feeling and get my heart to beat normally. I got impatient and went to the sink to splash water on my face since it felt like it was on fire. I do a breathing technique and stabilize myself. When I feel alright, I go back to making lunch for Gena and I pushing whatever just happened out of my head.

It’s only when I’m in bed that night that I replay the scene in my head and the entire time I’m thinking…..what the hell was that?

That feeling….what is it? And why do I want more of it?

I toss and turn in my bed all night wondering what those few minutes were. Unable to sleep, I sat up in my bed and turned on the night light beside my bed. The blue glow illuminates the room and the thought that Alexandra might know what’s going on settles in my mind.

A glance at my alarm clock tells me it's five minutes past two. It’s too late to wake him up now. But in the morning it would be just perfect.

Tomorrow morning it is…