Lady and the Wolf [Book One, Lady and the Wolf Series] -Published-

Chapter Twenty-One: Confessions

Van didn't seem as thrilled to see her as he snatched it out of her hand and growled, "It's good to see you too, Jillian. I'm fine, thank you for asking."

Aira would have giggled at his sarcastic response if not for her brain still panicking about this... werewolf identity crisis with her family.

"Oh, yes, Van, it's great to see you, but pardon my French when I say, you are so far up shit creek right now that you better know how to fucking swim!" she spat, her chocolate eyes burning with annoyance at his nonchalant expression. "Look at that New York bestseller." She turned to take her fury out on Drake next and snapped, "And you! I warned you about shifting, but no, you decided to go rogue and get all our asses on a front page spread!"

Aira felt Van's hand snake away from her head to look at the newspaper he had snatched from Jillian. Aira knew why Jillian was so hostile when she peeked over and saw the cover. She determined that giant beast she had seen was no dream. The proof was staring at her like a hungry lion.

Unexplainable Oddity Hit's Washington.

The article was full of pictures ranging from the giant wolf that had almost chomped Van's head off, the wolves that had attacked her at the school, the destroyed school building, and lastly... her face as Van carried her from their tomb of rubble.

"You're very lucky my father made a deal with the editors to not show your face, Van. Other than that, they wouldn't budge from printing this... this... horror story!" Jillian was more than ready to slap him in the face as Drake tried but failed to calm the ticking bombshell down. Aira could tell this just by Jillian's shaking fists.

Van ignored Jillian as he stared at the article for some time and then, finally, turned the article to show it to Aira. His equanimity surprised everyone as he asked her, "Do you like that picture?" He pointed to the picture of her, disheveled, scared, and covered in dirt and a little blood.

Well, she couldn't deny it wasn't a front pager for Seventeen Magazine. The girl, barely surviving their earlier discussion, shook her head stupidly. "Um... not really?"

Jillian was about ready to shoot herself in the head. "Van, please... please, just for today, take this seriously. You can't threaten your way out of this one!" she begged.

"Well, people have already seen it, Jill. It's too late to get them to retract anything," Drake mused, trying to defuse the whole situation.

"You..." Jillian's blazing eyes had set their sights on Aira who had happily gone unnoticed up until this point. "What the fuck did you do to piss off Ronan? In fact, the last time I saw you, you were dumber than a doorknob and couldn't even speak without a damn stutter," Jillian hissed, her intentions clear that she simply wanted to point the finger of blame at everyone and anyone. "I knew you would cause us trouble and look what has happened!"

Her father was already in protection mode as he pulled Jillian back. "Hey, that's enough. She's just a kid," he snapped. Aira was aware her father was much nicer with his words than the way his face darkened let on.

Aiden jumped up, ready to defend his sister. "Hey, chill out, lady. She didn't do anything."

The woman's face was anything but stunning as she spat, "You followed Van around like a lost puppy for years. He treated you well enough and now, look where it got him!"

She looked more than happy to go on with her rant; that is until Van stood from his seat. His face was a haunting swell of rage, but Aira had a feeling Jillian had been in the warpath of far worse when it came to Van. She ripped her arm from Drake's hold and stood tall in front of the fuming man.