Juno's Return

The rattling of the door handle was what woke me up. In a groggy haze, I blinked my eyes open to realize I was laying on the couch with my head in Hikaru’s lap. They looked down at me with a tiny smile and a quiet, “Good morning.”

I jumped up, embarrassed to find myself in such a position. And with Juno about to come home. I could hear her laughing on the other side of the door as she fumbled with the lock. Was there someone out there with her?

I looked around the room in a panic, trying to piece together how I was going to explain this to my best friend. Obviously, I couldn’t tell her the truth. But she would never believe that I just spent the night with someone she’d never met out of the blue like this. Noticing my frantic state, Hikaru quietly offered, “Do you want me to sneak out the window?”

“What?” That thought was outrageous to me. “We’re on the third floor, that’s ridiculous. It’s fine, I just need to figure out what to tell her.” I took a few deep breaths before I heard the door swing wide open.

“Gabs, put the book down and come meet my new friend!” I heard her call from the entryway. I heard her kick her heels off and toss her purse to the floor. She stumbled into the living room and stopped dead in her tracks upon spotting Hikaru comfortably sitting on our couch. “Oh my gosh, Gabby, I’m so proud of you!”

Clearly still drunk from a long night of partying, Juno stumbled backward and nearly fell. A sturdy arm extended from the entryway to catch her fall. A low, familiar voice offered toward my friend, “Careful, sweetheart. Don’t want you to get hurt.”

To my shock it wasn't Kyle, but Sebastian who stepped into view with an arm around my friend and shot us a sinister grin. “Pleasure to meet you, Gabby. Juno has been telling me all about you. In between mimosas, of course.”

Frozen in place, I was overcome with a wave of panic. How could this have happened? How was he in my home? What did he do to Juno? Sensing my fear, Hikaru stood and said, “Gabby, why don’t we clear these dishes into the kitchen and let these two get settled.”

Juno laughed and flopped forward, only being held upright by Sebastian’s strong grip. “Oh, honey, we’ve been so settled. Looks like you two got pretty settled yourselves, can’t wait to hear all about it.”

My mouth dropped open in unadulterated shock. Hikaru gathered the dishes and ushered me toward the kitchen, calling over his shoulder toward the others, “We’ll just clean these up and be right back.”

“Gabby, are those your shorts? I didn’t know you had it in you,” Juno said with another string of drunken laughter.

Once we were tucked away in the kitchen, I collapsed into a pile on the floor. I was already terrified from the encounter last night, but now my friend shows up with that horrible man. Hikaru put the dishes on the counter and crouched down next to me, placing a warm arm around my trembling shoulders. “Okay, I know this looks bad, but you have to keep it together. If he was going to hurt her, he already would have.”

My eyes filled with tears, and I stared up at him trying desperately not to break down crying. “What am I going to do?” I ask quietly.

Their look turned deadly serious. “You’re going to do whatever you have to do to keep your friend safe. That means telling her nothing about what you saw last night. Tell her we met at the party and hit it off. It isn’t at all unbelievable that someone would want to spend time with you.”

They stood up and offered me a hand. I placed my hand in theirs and am gently pulled to my feet. They pulled me in for a loose hug and quietly said, “It’s going to be okay, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.”

I pressed my forehead into their chest and took a deep breath. “If that’s the case, why do all these bad things keep happening?” I kept my head buried, trying not to cry. "Why is he doing this? We did everything he asked."

They gave my shoulders a tight squeeze while letting out a long sigh. “We have to get back out there. We’ll make introductions, and I’ll get Sebastian to leave with me and try to figure out why he's doing this. Just remember, you can’t tell her anything about the pack if you want to keep her safe. Promise?”

I weakly nodded my head. “Promise.”

When we made our way back into the living room, the pair were sitting on the loveseat. Juno had her gorgeous limbs draped across his menacing body. “Wait, so you guys know each other?” she says to Sebastian.

He ran a huge hand through her dark curls, staring at us in our approach. “Oh yes, we’re old family friends. In fact, it was Hikaru who told me about that house party last night.” Sebastian kissed Juno tenderly on the top of her head while flashing us a sly wink.

“What happened to Kyle?” I blurted out. Juno never gave up on a conquest once she set her sights on someone.

Juno lets out a loud groan. “He was sooooo boring. He wanted to stay at the party for, like, forever. And it was getting really late. Or early? And like, I kept trying to get him to go. Then he said he needed to go to the bathroom, but like never came back.” She sat up straight and turned her head toward Sebastian. “Which is so rude!”

The blonde man nodded in agreement. “Very rude, I can’t imagine the caliber of gentleman that would make you wait for anything.”

Having sensed my rising tension, Hikaru said, “Why don’t we clear out and let these girls get some rest? I’m sure they have plenty of catching up to do, and I wouldn’t want to be in the way of that.”

Juno raised her arms in the air and shouted, “Yes! I want details!” before flopping back over into the arm of the loveseat.

Sebastian calmly untangled himself from her and pushed himself upright. His eyes were fixed on me with terrifying intent. “That sounds like an excellent plan. I could do with a wash after such a… vigorous evening.”