Chapter 15: Are you okay, darling?

Irina stood in front of her full-length bedroom mirror, gaping at the burn mark on the left side of her chest. She traced a finger over it. In the last few days, she had foolishly tried to get rid of it by applying a bunch of products but nothing worked.

Her meeting with Ingrid only left her even more confused than ever before. Xander sent wraith killers after her? Who were they? Ingrid? The teenager? Her family? How was she supposed to recognize them or protect herself? It was hard enough being stuck in Nyla's body and trying to navigate life as a werewolf. This new information just made her life go from bad to worse.

She refused to cry but she really wanted to. For the first time in a while, she had no trump card up her sleeve, no game plan. She felt like she was blindly playing a game without rules. It was rigged so she could fail. How was she supposed to win?

How could she live without trusting anyone at all? She needed help, Irina admitted. The challenges before her were tumultuous. She needed help surmounting them and she couldn't do that without trusting someone not to screw her over. She just had to find people with weaknesses or goals that egregiously surpassed their motives to betray her.

Her mind reeled back to Isla and Zain. The former had been desperate to help Zain which got Irina's wheels turning. She couldn't decide why Nyla's sister was far more preoccupied with helping out Nyla's ex-boyfriend who betrayed Nyla. Didn't sisterly bonds run deeper than that?

Irina only ever had a brother and even then, she knew that sibling code required that people who hurt her brother automatically became her enemies. Why was Isla less concerned about her sister's betrayal?

"I need her." Irina said to herself. "I can't do this alone. If I promise to help Zain, whatever that means, maybe she can help me jog Nyla's memories. The sooner that happens, the more independent I'll become. I could also use some of her magic too. Maybe she can help me block my wraith scent or even trigger my silent wolf so we can figure this shit together. After that, I can focus and figure out who these wraith killers are and how to avoid them."

She wished it was that easy. Isla had proven she couldn't be trusted based on their last encounter. She had literally hurt Irina more than she promised. Irina didn't have a choice though. She couldn't think of anyone else who could help her with Nyla's memories faster than Isla.

Her thoughts veered back to the flower shop, to the slice of Nyla's memory that had warped her mind for a minute before she encountered Ingrid. That had been triggered by the flower used to poison Nyla.

Irina dropped to her bed and held her head in her hands. What did it mean? Was there a way to force Nyla's memories? Could she do this without Isla? She shut her eyes and tried hard to will Nyla's memories to the fore of her brain but nothing happened.

"Shit." She gave a bad-tempered kick against her dresser and ended up nursing a sore foot. Her eyes caught her reflection in the mirror with her pupil glowing amber. She savored it for a second. "You can figure it out, Irina Duncan, the same way you figured out what triggers the change in your eye color."

That realization made her chest hum with hope. Then the fear kicked in. Nothing would speed up the restoration of Nyla's memories like visiting Nyla's pack house. Everything happened there. There's no way she wouldn't have visions of the past when surrounded by the things and people Nyla loved.

The problem was that Irina was almost certain Nyla's murderers still lurked there. Could they have gotten whiff of her return? Wouldn't visiting the pack house be a suicide move?

***

"Why did you do that, Irina? Why did you hit Dominic?" Shawn yelled at his sister covered in mud and greasy engine oil.

"I should have knocked out all of his teeth. He doesn't deserve a mouth if all he's going to do with them is sexually objectify women."

Shawn raked a hand through his hair. "HE WAS ADMIRING HIS GIRLFRIEND. IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!"

"He was looking at my butt and not Janice's when he described the disgusting things he wanted to do to it. That pervert doesn't fool me one bit. I'll give him a black eye the next time I see him." Irina returned to continue repairing her beat down truck while her brother let out a short, frustrated breath.

"Irina, you can't go about hitting men. It's not safe around here. The last thing you want is to get on the radar of these local gangs. Dominic runs with one of them. I don't have anything left to sell to buy the silence of your victims." He stared around at their garage where they did repair jobs. It was almost empty.

Irina followed his eyes and discovered his bike was missing. "Where's your damn bike, Shawn?"

"Probably in Dom's backyard."

"You gave that to him? How could you? That was dad's bike. You love that bike."

"I love you more, idiot." He cupped her face with a thin smile. She pulled his hands off, pissed at him. "All's forgiven. Dom won't be coming after you."

"I can take care of myself, Shawn. I keep telling you I'm not that little girl anymore. Stop worrying so much." She stomped her boots as she returned to her truck. Because she had her back turned to him, he didn't see her misty eyes. "You shouldn't have traded that bike. THAT WAS YOURS TO KEEP AND YOU LOVE IT."

He chuckled dryly and lied. "It's just a bike, Rina, don't worry about it." But she didn't listen. She was already making a mental note to steal back the bike from Dom. She should have listened.

She woke up drenched in sweat. Her heart was heavy. Her eyes were teary. She felt worse than she did when she had scary wolf dreams. After a few minutes of bawling her eyes out, she dried them and stared at her ceiling till morning.

"Good morning, dad." She greeted her father at breakfast the next morning. He kissed her forehead before resuming his morning paper. It was rare to find him taking a break at home.

"Do you have the day off?" She casually asked him over the rim of her steaming cup of coffee.

"I deserve one. I miss my family. There's no end to cleaning up this city but for today, I just want to be a husband and a father, not a cop." From the kitchen, her mom smiled widely. "What's going on? Your mom said you're taking a break from school. Matt said you're hiding from your boyfriend. Which is it?"

"Neither. I guess I rushed back into things too soon. Everything was overwhelming; the classes, recognizing people. I am not ready to get back into all of that yet so I am thinking of taking it slow; a few days of school and more rest days."

"That sounds good. Luckily, I am a decorated cop in this city who happens to know some key officials at your school. I'll make some calls and get a good learning plan for you."

"Thanks, dad."

It was getting easier to use the words dad and mom, easier still to accept their effusive praises and profuse expressions of love and care, especially when she recalled losing her brother because she refused to let someone care for her. She was adjusting well to her new identity at least on the home front. She didn't even need her mom's special tea to dull her super sense of hearing. She thrived now.

Her nose twitched with an overpowering scent. It was the same purple flower from the shop.

"Are you okay, darling?" Her father asked when she looked uncomfortable. Matt entered just then, bearing the potted flower. While Irina stared at it in horror, her eye color changed in a flash. Luckily, Matt was busy fixing the plant by the corner of the wall.

"Why's that here?" She asked her brother, keeping her head down. Her father preempted him with a response.

"Oh, the one at my office completely died. I asked for fresh ones. I'll be dropping it off at my office later in the day."

Irina's vision started to blur. She felt hot all of a sudden. Was this common with all werewolves around the repellant plant? She abandoned her coffee and lurched to her feet, deliberately pushing her hair in her face to cover her glowing amber eyes.

"Where are you going? Breakfast is ready." Her mom called but she was already heading for her room.

"I'll eat later. I have to make a call." She had to get as far away from the plant as possible.

"NYLA!" Her father's voice cut through her fogging brain. She halted terribly close to the plant, and close to the door that led away from to her bedroom. A wave of nausea hit her, threatening to empty the contents of her stomach soon.

"Come back here." He said in a firm voice. "I want to eat a proper breakfast with my family today, while I can."

Irina's stomach churned aggressively. Her eyes stung and watered. Her skin prickled with heat and flaring fur. What the hell was she supposed to do now?