Blood Is Thicker Than Water // Lahote - [EDITED]

Part 12 - [EDITED]

As promised Mia spent the rest of the week with the pack. 

She would leave the house right after her Mom left for work and came back before she did. The nights she had the night shift were easier on her since she didn't have to sneak around as much.

The first few days were only about control. Most of the pack went patrolling when Mia was learning control. She'd only be with them when they ate together. Sometimes Jake stayed behind to be with Mia but it was usually Sam and Leah who were with her.

Mia realized Sam paired her with Leah most of the time given they were the only girls. Frankly, Leah's insights were much better on some parts about learning control. To teach her control the first thing they did was to make Mia shift back and forth for a while. At the end of the second day, her shifting time was mere seconds compared to minutes from days before. 

The next step was to make her stay calm under tense situations so that she wouldn't shift out of overwhelming emotions. Jake was mostly there for that part. He was great at getting under her skin to piss her off. Granted, he was the only one in the pack who knew her most to piss her off but still. Sam thought she was making progress which was a good thing.

"I'm thinking you can join us for the patrol tonight," Sam said one evening while they were having dinner at Billy's. 

Mia looked up at him. "I have school tomorrow morning,"

Sam put the glass of water he was drinking back on the table. "I think one more week here would be better for you,"

After the training with Jake, he, Sam, and Mia came back to Billy's for dinner. She didn't know why the rest of the pack wasn't involved but she didn't mind. It was easier to be relaxed around people she knew more.

"My Mom won't let me. If I pretend to be sick for one more week she's gonna want to take me to the hospital,"

Billy sighed and leaned back on his chair. "I might be able to help with that,"

They all turned to him. "She knows you came down here for the weekend, right?"

Mia nodded. She was home after a night shift and Mia couldn't sneak out so she had to say she was going to visit Jake.

"We could tell her Jake caught the virus from you and you back from him. And I'll tell her I'll take care of the two of you here so you don't spread it all over school,"

"That could work," Sam said.

Jake turned to her. "Yeah, you could stay at one of my sisters' rooms for the week,"

Mia looked down at her plate. It was true that even she didn't feel in control enough to go back to school, around people. But she also knew her mother and she knew Liz would get suspicious.

Billy patted Mia's back. "I know how to handle Lizzy. Don't worry,"

She looked up with a sigh. "Okay, then,"

"We still also need to work on your... ability," Sam said. Yeah, that was the thing. The pack was able to hear each other's thoughts but Mia had the ability to turn it off. When she did, they couldn't hear her and she couldn't hear them. No one, not even Billy or the other elders knew why. Jake and Leah were jealous of that, given how little privacy they had.

And that was it. After finishing dinner Billy called Liz who asked to talk to Mia and she pretended to be sick. It seemed like she bought it, for the time. He was still on the phone with her while Mia, Jake, and Sam left.

They ran inside the woods for a while. "Now, tonight might just be eventless. But we could also run into the redhead. Trust your instincts but also don't do anything reckless. Try to keep in touch,"