Absolution (10 page)

He got out of the car to the most intoxicating smell.
What is that?
His cock got hard. It wasn’t possible. He had control over his body. The scent got stronger the closer he got to the door. He hesitated before opening it.

“Good evening sir. Can I—” The clerk’s eyes widened.

Kurt stopped dead in his tracks.

Mate
.

Huh.
So that was what it felt like. Kurt shrugged it off. It didn’t matter in the greater scheme of things. Oh, but she smelt good.

“Hi. I’m Penny.”

Kurt nodded. What was he going to do? He had to…expose shifters. Didn’t he?

“I’m Kurt.”

“Nice to meet you, Kurt. What brings you to my neck of the woods?” She smiled.

It made his heart ache, she was so gorgeous. Long blonde hair and twinkling brown eyes. She had dimples. Who knew he was a sucker for dimples? She’d asked him a question, but he was a bit lost.

His wolf whimpered. Kurt reined him in.
No. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. I have a mission
.

“I—” Kurt began.

A voice whispered in his head.
Let the past go and all can be forgiven. Continue on your path and you will be destroyed.

Kurt cocked his head. Who was—oh, fuck. The Ancients? He thought they were a myth, but he wouldn’t have told himself to stop seeking revenge.

“You okay?” She was still smiling.

“I’m good, Penny. Actually, better than I’ve ever been.”

Chapter Eleven

Kitty wondered what was taking Ev so long. How much stuff could one man have in one of those dorm-style rooms? She looked around her place. It really had become home to her and the girls. She missed her parents, but not the lifestyle they’d lived. It wasn’t one she’d ever coveted. Here in the woods, it was peaceful.

“Hey, stop fretting. Did your man run off? You should totally go for a girl. They don’t run.” Poppy threw herself down on the couch and bit into an apple.

She shook her head. “Where’s Bunny?”

“In her room.”

“Could you get her please?”

“Bunny!” Poppy yelled without getting up, bits of apple spraying out of her mouth.

“I could have done that and you need to clean that up. Talking with food in your mouth is disgusting, yelling with it is even worse.”

“Then you should have.” Poppy grinned, took another bite and opened her mouth wide.

Never a dull moment with the twins around
.

Bunny came into the room and plopped down beside her sister, taking the apple from her and eating some.

“We need to talk.”

“Oh no, what did Bunny do now?” Poppy pinched her sister’s side.

“Me? Why does it have to be me?” Bunny glared and rubbed at the spot her sister had hurt.

“I’m not the one Kitty yelled for.”

“No, because you were already here.” Bunny pouted.

“Still—what did you do, sis?” Poppy winked.

“Both of you stop.” Kitty paced in front of them, rubbing her forehead. “Neither of you did anything. There are a couple of things we need to discuss. First—Mom and Dad.” Kitty stopped and looked at them.

She hated to bring it up. It was a sore topic for all of them, but the girls should be aware of the truth.

“I don’t wanna.” Bunny curled up into Poppy.

The twins held onto each other like a lifeline. Kitty didn’t want to talk about it either, but they needed to know.

“None of us do, Bunny. But you need to know—what I thought happened, well—it didn’t.”

“What do you mean?” Poppy frowned.

“Mom didn’t kill Dad or herself. Well—technically, yes, but it was Uncle Kurt. He…there was some magic involved and he forced it on them. He killed our parents.” Kitty bit her lip and waited for a response.

“Where’s Kurt now?” Bunny had tears in her eyes. Despite the earlier bickering, Poppy stroked her sister’s hair.

“They have him sequestered on the property somewhere. I didn’t ask where.”

“Good. That’s good. He can’t…hurt us, can he?” Poppy looked nervous.

She hated this—the fact that someone had the power to make them this uncomfortable. She wouldn’t stand for it. They were home and Kurt wasn’t going to ruin that for them.

“No. Russ will make sure that we are safe. I trust him. This is our home and we won’t be run out of it. Got it? We’re here to stay. Which brings me to the other thing I need to talk to you guys about…Everett.”

Poppy snorted. At least she didn’t look so scared anymore. Bunny giggled. There. That was what she wanted, the easy-going girls she loved. They didn’t cower anymore after their brief stay with the Tyler pack.

“He’s moving in today. I know I should have talked to you both, but he is my mate and I…well, I want him with me.”

“Oh…gag. Really? You won’t be all lovey-dovey, right? For all that is holy, please—no kissing in the living room. Or the kitchen. We have to eat there.” Poppy made a retching sound.

Bunny grabbed her sister and tackled her to the floor, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Don’t listen to her, Kitty.” Bunny ‘oomphed’. Poppy elbowed her, but she continued. “She’s just jealous because she doesn’t have a girl right now. It’s—hey, no biting!” Bunny licked the side of Poppy’s face and giggled some more. “It’s really great and if you want…well—” Bunny bit her lip. “We could move to the big house.”

Poppy’s eyes widened and she stopped struggling. Both girls were serious now. They sat up with their backs to the couch.

“No. Not happening. We’re a family and we’ll figure it out.” Kitty went to them and sat on the floor, wriggling in between them, hugging them close.

“What if Everett doesn’t like us?”

“How could that be possible?”

“Poppy is kind of a brat.”

Kitty hurried up and moved out of striking range. She knew where it was going and no way was she getting in the middle of it. Thankfully, a knock at the door gave her an out. “You two—don’t break anything.” Kitty pointed a finger at them and gave them a mock scowl before heading to the door.

“Hey.”

She smiled. It was Ev. He was back. “Hey.”

“Sorry it took so long. There was…an issue.”

Kitty searched his face. His eyes looked tense and his mouth drooped—almost
…
sad.

Kitty held out a hand and brought him into the house. “What’s wrong?”

She steered him towards the kitchen and heard a thud from the direction of the living room.

“Should I be worried?” Everett looked behind him, but Kitty kept moving.

“They won’t hurt each other.” An ‘ouch’ from one of the girls had her amending her answer. “Much, they won’t hurt each other much. So, tell me, what happened.” Kitty pushed Ev into a chair and made herself busy with some coffee. She needed some caffeine and it was her drug of choice. She could drink it all day long.

“Don is here. I guess he’s the new alpha of the Tyler pack. He…he had to kill Roger. Pete came in while we were talking. Get this…Don is gay.”

Kitty dropped the coffee and turned. “No way. Not after…how…”

“Guess he’s been closeted up. Once Pete came out he thought he had no choice and he took his anger out on his brother. I met Don’s mate, Lincoln. Seems nice. I’m not sure if Pete will ever forgive him. It’s a mess. Grey came and took Pete back to their place. So…yeah, that’s why I’m late. What’s up with the war zone in your living room?”

The girls were still at it. Kitty’d have to put a stop to it soon or something would get broken and with their luck it would be a bone and not the couch.

“I told them about Mom and Dad. Then I told them you were moving in.”

“I don’t have to.” Everett looked so serious.

Kitty walked over to him and straddled his lap. “Yes.” She kissed his chin. “You do.” Kitty brushed her lips against his.

She was lost in the kiss. A gagging noise brought her out of it.

“I said not in the kitchen. Geez, now I’ll never be able to eat here again.” Poppy crossed her arms and glared at them.

Everett chuckled. At least the mood was lightened. Before she could address Poppy her phone rang. She watched the girls sit at the table and start talking to Everett. They could totally make this work.

“Hello.”

“Hello. Is this Kitty Kelley?”

“Yes it is, may I ask who is calling?”

“This is Patricia Sparks’ secretary. You left a message for the First Lady yesterday and I was returning your call. She has a few minutes to speak to you.”

“Thank you. Yes, please.”

“Hold for the First Lady.”

That was fast.
Kitty hadn’t expected a call so soon. She figured the senator would have got back to her first.

“Kitty? This is Patricia. Bobbie said you needed to speak to me.”

“Patricia. It’s wonderful to hear from you. Yes. I have…an issue that I think your husband needs to hear about. It’s important or I wouldn’t be bothering you.”

“I wanted to say I’m sorry about your parents. It was an awful day. I wanted to express my condolences personally, but you’d disappeared. Does this matter have anything to do with your leaving Washington?”

“Yes, it does.” Kitty took a deep breath. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I’m not. This is something serious. Have you heard of shifters?”

“You mean, like in movies and television shows? I really don’t have time to watch those. But, yes, I’ve heard of them.”

“They’re real.”

“Kitty, I know the loss of your parents in such a horrific way could scar anyone, but—”

Kitty interrupted her, “This isn’t about my parents. I assure you. I’m not making stuff up or trying to get attention. If I was, I would have stayed in D.C. and caused a stir. We both know I could have. We are about to be exposed. My alpha needs to talk to the President so we don’t cause a nationwide panic. There are a few senators my father was friends with who know the truth.”

“This…Kitty, how can—?”

“It’s off-the-wall strange. I know that. Just—if you could get us an appointment with your husband, my alpha could explain it better. I’m not sure when the exposure will happen, but if it does before we release a statement, things could be really, really bad.”

“He isn’t going to believe…”

“He’ll have to once we show him. It would be me, the alpha and his wife, plus one more. Just a nice sit-down meeting.”

There was a pause. Kitty waited for the First Lady to hang up on her.

“Your dad was a good man. For him, I’ll get you a meeting, but Kitty, if this is—”

“It isn’t. I promise. Thank you.”

“Get here today and I’ll get you in to see him.”

“Thank you.”

The First Lady hung up. Kitty put her phone down. She’d been so focused on the call she hadn’t heard her sisters and Ev behind her. They were close. Kitty walked towards Ev and he opened his arms for her.

“That sounded promising.” Ev stroked her back.

“It was. We need to let Russ know and make our way to Washington.” Kitty rubbed her cheek against Ev’s chest.

“Before you leave, Poppy and I wanted to say—we’re happy for you two and are good to go for Everett moving in.”

“I don’t know about this good to go stuff, but yeah. It’s cool.” Poppy winked and sauntered out of the room.

Kitty closed her eyes and smiled. Her sister might give her a hard time, but that was all a show. She hoped her sisters found their mates and could be happy—well—in a few years. College first.

“We should—” Kitty started, but Ev stopped her.

He pressed his lips to hers and slid his tongue against her lips. Kitty let him in and jumped, wrapping her legs around his stomach. Everett was so strong.

“Guys—don’t you have somewhere to be?” A yell from the other room broke them apart.

She couldn’t tell if it was Poppy or Bunny, but they were right. Kitty released Ev and hugged him tight.

“They’re right. Let’s go talk to Russ and then maybe we can get the girls to give us a bit of time alone later.”

“I like that idea.” Ev held out his hand.

Kitty took it and let him lead her to the front door.

Bunny stopped them. “Hey, a friend of ours asked if we could stay over. You know—cards and talk. All that fun. It’s here on the compound so—”

“Okay. That would be great. Do you need anything?”

“No. We’ll probably be gone by the time you get back.”

“All right. Call if you need something and…no sex!”

“Kitty!” Bunny looked outraged.

“Don’t ‘Kitty’ me. I was your age not long ago.”

“Whatever. Just…go.”

“I’ll probably be in D.C. later. You guys will be okay, right? I’ll let the others know.”

“Stop worrying. We can stay with the Loys as long as we need to. And their parents will be there. Nothing will happen.” Poppy rolled her eyes.

Kitty gave them both a hug before Ev tugged her away.

“I don’t want to come between you guys.” Ev sounded worried.

“You won’t. You’ll just add to the family fun.” Kitty grinned.

“Fun, huh? Yeah, never a dull moment. We’ll have to let Pete and Grey look after them for a bit when we get back. I’d love to see Pete’s face when Bunny goes all gooey-eyed with him.”

“Yep, you’ll fit right in.” Kitty laughed.

There was a commotion at the house when they arrived.

“What’s going on?” Everett stopped one of the pack members.

“Kurt escaped.”

“What!” This couldn’t be happening. “The girls—”

“You go talk to Russ, I’ll go get the girls.” Everett rushed out the door.

She had to calm herself. Ev would take care of her sisters and she’d go talk to Russ about meeting the commander-in-chief. Kurt wasn’t their only worry. Kitty stood up straight and headed for Russ. She was ready for normal. Whatever that was.

Chapter Twelve

“The President. I can’t believe we’re going to meet him.” Everett looked around the plane.

“The Ancients were right, Kitty, you and Everett are the key.” Russ glanced over at them. His mate Vivian was beside him.

“Not me, but Kitty for sure.”

Kitty just shrugged. She’d been preoccupied. Not that he blamed her. They had the girls safe. They couldn’t have them staying with another shifter family. Grey was a protector so they’d stashed the girls with Peter and Grey. He’d only been half kidding when he said the girls should stay with them, but he was happy they had that option. Now they could focus on the shifter problem. Hopefully the others would find Kurt before he caused any damage. There had been no trace of him on the pack grounds. He could’ve been anywhere by now, which he knew had Kitty on edge.