Keeper - Forever #4 (Sample of Published Book)

Chapter 5 - Part 2

Bay

Damn it! I cursed. I ran a frustrated hand through my hair as I looked down at the puzzle I was trying to do.

I sat cross-legged, studying the puzzle pieces. I had been looking for the same piece for the last thirty minutes and I still hadn't found it. Usually puzzles relaxed me by keeping me focused on the sole purpose of solving it, but this time it wasn't working.

It had been two days since my last encounter with Flynn.

My brother had lectured me for a good hour after I had returned. I knew he was just behaving like someone who loved me but sometimes I wished he would allow me the space to live my life.

I made mistakes, and most of the time I learned from them. But Flynn was a mistake I was set on making over and over again. I couldn't seem to help myself.

There was a knock on my door. I wasn't expecting anyone. Slowly I got to my feet, making sure I didn't step on any of the pieces strewn across my carpet.

I opened the door. Dean stood holding what looked like a six-pack of beer.

"Hi," I greeted, eyeing what he had in his hands.

"I thought you could do with a distraction," he offered.

I studied him for a few seconds before I stepped back and let him in.

"You'd better be good at puzzles." I sat back down on the floor.

"Puzzles?" he questioned while closing the door.

"Yeah, you heard right. Puzzles."

He looked surprised.

"What?" I asked.

"When I think of possible hobbies you might have, this one didn't even make the list." He set the beer beside me and sat down.

He opened one and handed it to me.

"I love fixing puzzles," I said. "It's easier than dealing with real life. I can fix a puzzle, I can't fix my life."

He nodded. With a childhood similar to mine, he understood the struggle. He opened a beer and took a swig before looking at the pieces with a thoughtful look.

"How are you supposed to find it when they all look the same?" His eyebrows furrowed as he studied a couple of pieces nearby him.

"The trick is to find the shape that'll fit." I pointed to the missing piece in the puzzle. "It has four sides."

"I think I may need more beer."

I laughed. It wasn't often I had a reason to laugh but Dean's comment with the comically confused look was too funny.

I took another sip of beer and grimaced at the taste.

"So what have you been up to?" I asked. I needed a distraction from the reality of my life.

"Not much other than training," he said absentmindedly, still sifting through some of the pieces of the puzzles.

It was the life of a pack. There were always dangers lurking around every corner, and with rogues in the area as well as a certain Keeper, there was a pretty good chance trouble would soon be finding us.

I kept quiet and he looked up at me.

"What are you thinking?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to think about what's happening out there."

He studied me. "You're worried about the Keeper?"

I noted how he didn't refer to Flynn as my mate. To him, the fact that he was a Keeper was more important.