Alpha Ember (ALPHA KANE BOOK 2)

18. All You Need is Seaweed

Ember

Fiona had never gotten along well with my mom, but I always assumed it was because of the opposite views they had towards life. Fiona gave everything she did 200%- from her previous job as a kick-ass lawyer, magical consultant to mother of the impulsive Ian- in a manner not unlike a bulldozer, and enjoyed every single second of it. (Except the worrying about Ian part.) As for my own mother, if she had ever been filled with any kind of joy it had wilted and died the day my dad left. She went through life as a reluctant spectator rather than participant, content with a job that she didn't enjoy and being fussed over by the more dominant members of our pack.

Fiona and my mom had nothing in common.

But the remark Fiona made before leading my mom away had been borderline sarcastic, edging on dislike, and then there was the satisfied gleam in Jett's mismatched eyes as he watched the white car pull away from the house. Something was fishy.

I stepped up beside him. "You didn't tell Fiona anything, did you?"

He didn't show any signs of guilt at being found out and I thought maybe I'd assumed wrong- until he said quietly, "This place is your home now, you should never feel the urge to run from it."

And before I could respond to that, he placed two large hands on my shoulders and gently steered me back towards the others.

We moved to one of the many- and perhaps endless- areas in the house, one that looked like a boardroom with its white walls, long black table at the center and the projector directed at the board which took up the majority of the wall it hung from. When Ian went and stood in front of it I almost thought he was going to project Light's face onto it. I wouldn't put it past him and the thought made me feel like laughing and shuddering all at once.

When we were all seated, Ian spread his hands out, started to speak- then he saw Helen sitting at the seat beside him and his head whipped back in shock. "What is the Evil Witch of the West doing here?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm a werewolf. You're the only one with magic here, idiot."

Ian considered this briefly. "You have a point, wait, let me start over again." He repeated his earlier reaction. "What's the Beast doing here?"

"I invited her," Jett said from the other end of the table. His boots were up on the table and the stick of a lollipop was peeking out from above his pierced bottom lip. He took the candy out of his mouth. "She's not likely to betray Kane, she's capable and it's better if you guys learn to overcome your dislike towards each other. Things will be a lot more peaceful that way."

"I don't dislike her," Ian said. "I hate her."

Helen pouted. "Aw, you've hurt my poor, fragile feelings."

Ian waved a piece of paper at her, gaze uncharacteristically hostile. "Your feelings will be the least of your problems if I hear you spreading any more rumors about Ember."

"Don't threaten her, Morel," Kane warned. "You may hate her but she's still one of my wolves."

Ian scowled. "I was speaking my mind, it's a free country."

"This is a dictatorship," Kane replied. "If you don't like it, get out of my house."

"What did you find on Light?" I asked, sick of the bickering and desperate to get to the point of this gathering. "Tell us."

Thankfully, my intervention directed Ian back on the right track. "Since Ember asked so nicely," Ian said- and then spun around, a black cape swirling onto his shoulders. He plucked a black top hat from the air, settling it onto his head. "I'll tell you how we're going to catch our killer."