3. We're Different

“What do you mean we’re different? It's everyone else who is different.” 

Layla swallowed and set her cutlery down. The dining table had been full even before they had guests for the memorial, but now only the three of them sat around it. There had been a lot of confusion when she’d brought Britney down for dinner and a lot of sniffing. Brit smelled very human—nothing extra or ‘other’ about her. 

Her heart sank when she looked at all the empty seats.

She looked over at Jax, but he continued eating as if he was determined not to help her explain just because she wasn’t doing it how he wanted her to.

“Well... you said you’re hearing voices in your head—is it just one voice or many?”

Brit speared a potato without looking up at her.

“I don’t know. One, I guess,” Brit mumbled.

Where was her mother when she needed her? She had disappeared before the place had become too crowded with the excuse that she had lived alone for too long; she wasn’t used to crowds. She hadn’t even had a chance to tell Rebecca that Brit was starting to experience some changes. Her mother would have been the perfect person to explain. 

“Well, see... you’re starting to go through some changes that may seem a little overwhelming at first,” she said carefully. “I’m not sure how long it will take, but you’re in the safest place, and I will help you every step of the way.”

“You’re not making sense. The safest place for what?” Brit asked, throwing her cutlery onto her plate. 

“You know how you thought something was wrong with the guys? With Jax?”

“I still think something is wrong with Jackson,” Brit mumbled again. 

Jackson gave Brit a pointed look but said nothing as he chewed a mouthful of his steak.

“You two are going to have to get along. We’re a family now. You’ll have to get used to him being around for the rest of my life.”

Brit chuckled and pushed her plate away.

“I don’t know what fairytale you’re living in, but that never happens. He’ll leave,” Brit said. Her sister was making a point not to even look in Jax’s direction. “They always leave. He hasn’t even married you, and you’re talking about forever.”

Jax started coughing and then reached for his glass of water. When he settled himself, he met her gaze briefly before he turned back to his food. 

“It’s different for us,” she said weakly. It was hard to defend that when Jax didn’t look interested in the conversation. 

“Because you have a child together? People leave their children all the time,” Brit stated. 

“Not because of that. It's because we’re... mates. We’re fated.”

Britney stopped fidgeting and looked at her. And then she looked at Jax, possibly for the first time.

“Is that what they teach here?” Brit asked. “Destiny, and being one with the earth and all that?”

And then her sister’s eyes widened.

“You’re in a cult! Oh my god, Layla, you’ve mixed us up with a cult. Who else would live in this scary forest surrounded by wolves like they don’t know how many people disappear here every year.”

Jax coughed and covered his mouth, but she could feel his amusement colouring the air. 

Of course, he found that funny. She’d assumed the same thing when she had first arrived, but it had taken her days to reach that conclusion. Brit hadn’t even been there a day yet.

“It’s not a cult. We’re... we’re a family. A pack.”

Brit pulled back in her chair, looking at her like she’d grown two heads. 

“I’ve had enough to eat now,” Britney said. “May I be excused?”

“Brit...”

“I think I just need to rest, Layla. I’m too wound up,” Britney said. 

She was. She could sense her sister was ready to unravel at any moment. Was Jackson right after all? Was she taking the wrong approach to this?

“Yes, of course,” she answered. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”

And by then, the place would be crawling with trainees. Brit would have the shock of her life before she’d explained anything. Her eyes widened as she watched her sister walk out of the dining room. 

“That went well,” Jax drawled.

“You could have helped me.”

“It was fun to watch,” Jax laughed. 

“This is serious, Jax. I remember how I felt when I first got here. This place is scary, and everyone is intimidating,” she sighed, throwing her napkin onto the table. “I remember thinking I was going crazy and all my emotions were too much for me. I don’t want Brit to feel like that.”

The smile left Jackson’s lips. Though he’d had his reasons, Jackson had been the biggest reason she had felt like that.

“Give it time, Layla. Wolves are suspicious by nature. It’s why we’re dining alone and why Britney will think you’re lying until she’s open to the truth. And she is not ready for the whole truth yet.”

She sighed. No one could prepare for the whole truth. What would Britney say when she learned that her big sister had killed people? 

“We’ll tell the guys on patrol to stay on the lookout in case she goes out of the house, but you will have to keep her inside, Layla.”

She sighed. Maybe for one day. Maybe until she told Brit the rules. 

“Let’s go to bed. We’ll figure it all out in the morning,” Jax said with a small smile as he pushed his chair back and stood.

She’d lost her appetite, anyway. She’d expected the big revelation to end differently, yet she hadn’t been able to even utter the word ‘werewolf’ without feeling like Brit would freak out. 

Jax helped her out of her chair and then snaked his arm around her waist as he led her out of the room. 

“I’d never have been able to tell her everything anyway,” she said. 

Maybe she didn’t need to. All the drama was over now, and no one was out to hurt her. There hadn’t even been a Hunter sighting in town for over a year. 

They were about to start walking up the stairs when the front door opened and Gavin walked in. Though Jax kept his face neutral, she didn’t miss the tension in his arm.

“Alpha. Luna,” Gavin said, his head bowed.

“Hi, Gavin,” she answered with a smile.

She knew she had to take that pressure off Jax. 

“All done for the night?”

“Yes. I was just coming to give my report before I go home for the night,” the Gamma said. “There have been some questions about your sister, but I wasn’t sure how to address them.”

“If anyone asks, tell them we will introduce her properly when she’s ready,” she answered, her smile losing its shine.

What sort of questions? The same they’d had about her? She knew the pack had accepted her even though she was different, but now she was asking them to accept someone else. And there wasn’t even a guarantee that Brit would shift. 

“Yes, Luna. Goodnight,” Gavin said.

Jackson only started walking again when Gavin walked back out of the house. His tension eased, but he didn’t say a word.

Was she supposed to talk about what he was feeling? He knew she could sense all of it, but would it be an invasion of his privacy if she spoke about something he hadn't opened up about yet? If she told him he had to stop beating himself up over Micah?

Most of the time, Jackson was fine. They laughed and screwed like there was no tomorrow. But other times, he fell into this deep well of guilt, grief and depression that she couldn't pull him out of. 

“Do you want to watch a movie? It’s still too early to sleep.”

“Who said we’re going to be sleeping?” Jax asked with a grin, looking down at her. 

His mood lightened a little, probably because he knew what he was doing to her with all his heavy emotions. But she decided not to call him out for trying to hide them. He would talk when he was ready. They had their whole lives ahead of them, after all. 

She was his mate. It wasn’t like he could leave her, anyway. She just had to be patient.