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I WOKE WAY TOO EARLY. That was the downside of going to bed early. I knew what I was going to do today. It was the beginning of my last days. Today, I was going to spend it with Nia and Kya. I just hoped they weren’t busy with their boyfriends. Nia could try and deny it, but I knew Daniel was her boyfriend. I was hoping she would be willing to open up about him today. I wanted to know she was going to be okay. I wanted to know she would be happy.
“Kya, would you like to hang out today?” I asked her when I walked into the kitchen.
“Hang out?” she asked.
“Yeah. I was thinking we could go get Nia and do some shopping.”
“Shopping?” she repeated. She looked confused, like she wasn’t sure I was being serious.
“Yes, shopping. We can take Nia’s car. I haven’t been shopping in forever. We can get lunch and just make it a girls’ day.”
Hawk cleared his throat. “And which of us will be going with you?”
“None,” I said. “We’ll be in the city. Decker isn’t doing anything in the city. He won’t even know I’m there.”
“It’s too risky.”
“Hawk, I need this,” I said with a firmness that surprised even me.
He looked at me and nodded once. “Fine. We’ll hold the fort here.”
“Thank you.”
Nia was more than thrilled to get out of town for the day. We decided to grab coffee first at some fancy little outdoor café. We ordered our drinks with flaky croissants and watched people for a bit. I was always fascinated with the hustle and bustle of the city.
“Where do you think she’s going?” Kya asked.
“Who?”
“That woman with diaper bag in one hand and a briefcase in the other. Isn’t that a contradiction?”
We watched the woman speed-walk in heels. “I bet you she dropped her kid at daycare and forgot to leave the diaper bag,” I said.
“How does that happen?” Nia asked.
“Look at her,” I said. “She’s rushing. She looks like she’s late for something. Her jacket isn’t buttoned, and her hair looks damp. She was probably running late and not thinking.”
“Damn, you’re good at this,” Kya said with a laugh.
“I’ve spent a lot of time watching people.”
“So what’s this impromptu shopping trip all about?” Nia asked.
“We’re always saying we need to do this. It isn’t like any of us has a full schedule. We have no excuse not to.”
“True, but what about last night?”
“What about it?”
Nia sipped her drink. “Decker knocked on your front door. That’s a big deal.”
I shrugged. “It’s settled.”
“I heard he had the place surrounded and the guys were carrying machine guns.”
I laughed. “That’s a slight exaggeration.”
“It just seems like this is the exact wrong time to do this.”
I waved a hand. “It’s exactly the right time. No more talk about Decker. I’m tired of talking about him. Tell me about your men.”
They exchanged a look. “You’re acting weird,” Nia said.
“I’m interested in your lives. I know you are dating Daniel. He’s your boyfriend.”
She couldn’t hide her smile. “I think he is my boyfriend.”
“I know he is. When am I going to meet him? I’m wondering if he actually exists.”
“He does exist. He goes out of town a lot.”
“That must be hard,” I said.
“He’s going to move here soon, but right now, he’s still tying up loose ends.”
“Do you think he’s the one?”
Her pretty smile was my answer. “I’m happy for you.”
“He’s funny and handsome, and he is so thoughtful. We had dinner last night. He left early this morning to go to Montana.”
“I’m glad he’s treating you right.”
“Oh, he is. My mom loves him. My dad is pretty cool with him too, but he’ll never admit it.”
“Are you going to move in with him?” Kya asked.
Nia shrugged. “We haven’t gotten that far, but I think it could be coming.”
“Did you guys check out that little cottage just outside of town?” Kya asked her.
I looked at her, surprised she knew of it. “How did you know about that cottage?”
She blushed. “Caden’s grandparents lived in it.”
“And?” Nia asked.
“And we were thinking about asking you for it,” she said, looking at me.
“You want to live with Caden?”
She nodded. “I think I love him.”
“You think?”
“I’m certain. I think about him and my heart flutters. I think about him all the time. When we are together, I laugh. I laugh a lot. I smile all the time. Just thinking about him makes me smile.”
Nia and I exchanged a look. “That’s love,” I said with a laugh.
“Do you think it’s too fast?” she asked.
“No. When you know, you know. You’ve already said you are a believer in the mate thing. You’ve found your mate.”
“He consumes my thoughts from the minute I wake up to the minute I fall asleep. He’s even in my dreams.”
I was certain a lightbulb went off above my head. “That’s it,” I whispered.
“What’s it?”
“It isn’t that your powers are weak or failing, it’s because you are consumed by Caden. You are in love.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your power over Decker faded because your focus was on Caden.”
She put a hand over her mouth. “Oh no. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
“I failed. I got wrapped up with Caden and quite honestly, I barely gave a thought to Decker at all. When you asked me about it, I didn’t really think about it.”
“What am I missing?” Nia asked.
“Decker was able to slip back into his own head, I guess you could say. He wasn’t compelled to stay away from us because Kya’s compulsion faded. It’s just like it was with the guys. When she was away for a couple of days, they were back to their old selves. She hasn’t seen Decker in a week, and her thoughts have been on Caden. It’s no wonder he managed to go back to his old ways.”
“I’m so sorry,” she groaned.
“Don’t be. We knew it wasn’t a permanent solution.”
“I wish there was a way to make my powers stronger.”
“They’ll get stronger,” I told her. “You’re still young. You’re just really learning to use them.”
“I failed.”
“No, you didn’t. Now, why don’t we go around the corner to the naughty shop?”
“The what?” Kya asked, choking on her coffee.
Nia grinned. “Yes! I’ve always wanted to go there with a man in mind, but there was never a man in my life I could ever imagine myself wearing any of those getups for.”
“The naughty shop?” Kya said. “I’m afraid to ask.”
“It’s a lingerie store.”
Nia laughed. “The kind of store you have to be eighteen to enter. Lingerie, toys, and movies are the specialties.”
“Oh my... My mom would kill me.”
“You’re a big girl,” I told her. “Besides, Mom isn’t here, and she isn’t going to be in the bedroom with you and Caden. You don’t have to tell her what you do.”
“You girls are a bad influence.”
I got to my feet. “Yes, we are. Let’s go be bad.”
We left the café and walked down the street. We stopped at a couple other shops before we made it to the adult store. Poor Kya looked like she was going to pass out.
“What in the hell is that?” she gasped in horror.
“Dildo,” Nia answered matter-of-factly. “You take one that big and you will never want your man again.”
“I could never!”
“Come on, I don’t think you need anything from this aisle. Your man is going to keep you very happy.”
“And we know Azalea doesn’t need anything from this aisle,” Nia laughed.
We made our way to the racks of lingerie and costumes. We giggled and joked before getting serious about what we were going to buy. I used the credit card I never used. I figured I owed myself a shopping spree. There would never be a better time.
“Let’s go to the shoe store,” Nia said. “It has been too long.”
We shopped for hours, taking breaks to grab drinks and chat while doing some people watching. “I wish Mom could be here for this,” Kya said. “She would love this.”
“Do you think she will come back?” I asked.
“I do.”
“You’re positive?” I pressed.
“Mom gets itchy when she is in one place for too long. It’s like she is afraid to put down roots. I really thought it was going to be different this time, but I guess not. She wants to be here with you and me, but I think the idea of facing the people she wronged all those years ago is scaring her away.”
I sipped the milkshake I’d bought. “She came back and said she wanted to make a home with the pack. She faced them all down. She was brave and got through the hardest part. I don’t understand why she turned tail and ran. I don’t understand why she didn’t say goodbye to me.”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry. I asked her to stay and talk to you.”
It did make me sad, but I was not going to let it ruin my day. “I hope she is finding the peace and happiness she is looking for. I’m just bummed she couldn’t find it with us.”
“She’ll be back,” Kya insisted.
I nodded. “For your sake, I hope she is.”
“My sake?”
I wiped my mouth. “We should probably get going,” I said. I was done talking about our mother. She chose to leave, and I wasn’t about to go begging her to stay. “We don’t want the guys to storm the city looking for us.”
“I’m surprised they let you out of the house at all,” Nia said. “They were pretty worked up last night.”
“I think the fact we are in the city made them a little more comfortable with the situation. Plus, I insisted. I will not let Decker make me a prisoner in my own home. He’s done enough damage. It’s time to stop giving him so much power.”
“Men like him take it. They don’t need it given to them.”
“True, but we aren’t going to let it go so easily,” I murmured.
We carried our goods back to the car and settled in. I stared out the window while Nia drove. My mind was filled with thoughts of the first time I’d come into the city with my mother. I’d been very young, but I remembered it like it was yesterday. I remembered her holding on to me so tight I thought my hand would break off. I remembered the overwhelming sights and smells. She had tried to warn me it would be a lot, but I could have never imagined just how badly my senses would be assaulted.
“You okay?” Nia asked.
I looked over and smiled. “I’m great. It was a good day. I’m glad we got to do it. I just wish we would have done this more often.”
“We can commit to doing this as often as you want. The city isn’t going anywhere.”
“But life always gets in the way,” I said.
She gave me a funny look before turning her attention back to the road. When we pulled up to my house, there was a huge delivery truck in the driveway. “What the hell is that?” Nia asked.
Kya laughed. “I’m guessing this is my mother’s version of a shopping spree.”
I watched as our old mattresses were hauled out of the house and tossed into the back of the truck. “Seems silly to waste money on a bed she’ll never sleep in.”
“She will be back,” Kya insisted. “Besides, she wanted to do something for you.”
“I would have been fine,” I said and climbed out of the car.
I checked out the new bed that was big enough for me alone to get lost in it. Her gift was probably an effort to ease the pain of her abandoning me yet again. I would have preferred the mother over the bed.
