Hi all! I know I keep saying it, and will continue to, but thank you so much to those of you who have stuck with this so far. And to all those who are voting. I wish I could dedicate chapters to all of you, but I don't have enough!
I'm dedicating this to @PattieAvilla because she has been voting non-stop and I just have to thank her for it. Hope you enjoy this. Part three coming up...
Two hours later, Jaz was exhausted beyond belief.
The planks of wood were so heavy and she had so many splinters and blisters on her fingers and palms by the time she'd finished. How they all managed to work without gloves, she couldn't fathom.
The group leader, an abnormally tall, -even by Were standards- stocky black man with very neat, artistic weaves, a wide smile and sultry but sharp onyx eyes, bossed her around, ensuring her it wasn't difficult, pushing her to keep going when she stopped for a second to breathe.
She wholeheartedly disagreed. It was very difficult.
And there were hundreds of planks.
The plan was that the barbecue area was going to be decked and the seats were also going to be constructed out of the planks of wood. They would carry on from the outbuilding walls and then meet together, turning the U-shape into an enormous rectangle. Enough to seat fifty to sixty people.
The middle of the rectangle would house the hand-built, stone barbecue with a chimney, and then the outhouse would be used for storage for things such as a fridge and freezer, extra chairs, whatever was needed. That's what Skye told her as they worked.
Jaz didn't know the technicalities or the complications that came with powering household appliances in the middle of a forest, but she imagined it wasn't as easy as plugging them in. They were deep in the middle of the forest; a ten minute walk away from the main building. They'd need a hell of a lot of wiring, that she was sure of.
She'd given up working out how they would go about it. She'd given up caring altogether after carrying one side of twenty planks of solid -extremely heavy- wood from the back of a blue, open back Mercedes truck. The truck made three rounds between seven in the morning, to one o'clock in the afternoon.
Jaz collapsed on the floor when the group leader, Carr, called everyone to stop and have a break. Someone brought picnic baskets and iceboxes with bottled water, sandwiches, fruit and salad. They started a fire away from the wood and construction and began cooking burgers over what looked like a hand-made grilling tray.
Jaz watched, breathless, wondering why the hell she was killing herself for these guys when they could clearly cook up a barbecue without the need of the one they were building now. And she wasn't even hungry. She just needed to sleep.
Kenna and Kelda joined Skye and Jaz with platefuls of food. They handed one to Skye and kindly brought one for Jaz too. She was touched but declined.
The sisters gazed at each other unsure of whether to insist or not, but the owner of a flash of blonde hair swiped the plate from Kenna's held out hand and everyone jumped, swivelling around to glare at Alf.
He smiled before biting ravenously into the stolen sausage.
“That wasn't for you, Alf,” Kelda grumbled.
“I know, but I couldn't resist,” he said through a mouthful of meat. “And Skinny didn't want any.”
It took Jaz a moment to understand he was talking about her. She frowned at him. How can he think I'm skinny? I'm clearly not.
He added apologetically, “I don't mean anything bad by it, sorry.”
“It's okay,” she muttered.
“She doesn't think she's skinny,” Skye added, as if that wasn't an embarrassing personal statement that she'd just made.
Jaz gaped at her. “Thanks, for that,” she grimaced, avoiding Alf's curious eyes.
Skye's knack for detecting emotions was getting on Jaz's nerves. Skye wasn't her friend, but openly voicing things like that still felt like a betrayal that all friends -all people of sound mind- knew not to do.
Alf continued to regard Jaz. He scanned her small frame up and down. “When we say skinny, we mean, not muscular. Soft, delicate. A newbie to physical training. There are other names for it but I'd say this is by far the nicest one.”
Jaz bit her lip. Alf winked at her and she stared at him uneasily as he flashed her a teasing smile.
“What are you children whispering about?”
Everyone spun round. Jaz saw a man standing very close as she peered up from her sitting position, through the gap between Kenna and Alf.
“Oh hey, mate,” Alf greeted then stuffed a spoonful of salad in his mouth.
The man gave him a distasteful look. He didn't like messy eaters, Jaz saw that much.
He was a hard-looking man. His manners, his face, his jaw, his whole body consisted of sharp, straight lines. His nose was rectangular and flat like he'd been punched there a few times. His mouth was thin lipped and severe. His eyes were small, beady and bright ocean-blue. They were watching her now, unblinking.
Jaz swallowed.
“Jasmine, right?” he asked in his gruff, slightly nasal voice.
She hesitated, then bobbed her head once.
He held out his square, strong hand. “I'm Garik. “
My uncle? Jaz's eyes widened. He wasn't what she had expected. She got to her feet and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you. And it's Jaz, by the way,” her voice croaked.
He bowed his head a fraction, his eyes closed. “Jaz. My mistake.” He scanned her up and down in a way Jaz couldn't understand. They released hands, though she could see his eyes still studying her face.
Skye saved her from the awkward moment. “Garik, you doing the afternoon shift?”
“Yep.” He smiled revealing small, crooked teeth. The smile looked odd on his face. “Brought the afternoon shifters with me.” He seemed to find that funny and chuckled.
Skye laughed politely.
Jaz just stared blankly. Oh, shapeshifters. Ha. Funny...
It was anything but. The idea just filled her with dread. Was that what they claimed she was? Some kind of shapeshifter? She couldn't get her head round it.
She was awoken out of her daze by the sound of someone creeping up by her side. She nearly jumped out of her skin when something brushed against her arm. It was Ronnie. He grinned as if pleased with himself.
“Sneaky,” she whispered, smiling.
“It was really nice to meet you.”
Jaz snapped her head up to look at Garik. He studied her face intently.
“You too,” came her weak reply.
With that, he gave her one last look that puzzled her even more before heading off to the van where the afternoon people were crowding round. She recognized two of the women there in the group of ten. The redhead with the screechy laugh and the raven-haired young woman with the Oriental eyes. When Jaz looked their way, Oriental Eyes was already watching her. She gave Jaz a hard look and then turned away to say something to her friend.
Jaz's brow furrowed with confusion. It looked as though the girl had given her a dirty look. What's her problem? She leaned into Skye's right ear and muttered, “Who's the redhead and the girl with the black hair next to her?”
Skye swallowed her mouthful of burger and discreetly peered in the same direction. She looked down at her plate. “The redhead is Sunhild, she works in Surveillance three days a week. The other is a Pack Scout. She's a nasty piece of work. Her name's Fraya.”
Jaz's eyes widened as she stared at the spot on the ground she'd been focusing on. Then she flicked her gaze up, peeking between her lashes as she skewered the woman who had made her sister's life a living hell.
*