Walk on the Striped Side

by Jessie Lane

  She was human. He was not. He could take the chance of telling her the truth about himself, pray that she wouldn’t flip that proverbial hot headed wig of hers, and see what happened. But doing that would only solve one problem before leading to another. If he told her the truth, and she didn’t accuse him of lying, or try to kill him for being what he was, then they’d have to disappear or both risk a death sentence. Sure, with enough time, ten or fifteen years or so, of Elena staying quiet and keeping his secret, the Other community would come around and pardon the customary death sentence that was standard for letting humans know what you were. But he didn’t want to sentence them to a life of isolation on the off chance that they could shoot for that unlikely goal. He knew deep down in his gut that his contrary mate would never forgive him for cutting her off from her family for that long. Hell he couldn’t imagine being away from his family for that long. So, in short, he knew it was back to square one for them.

  She was human. He was not.

  He had to let her go while he still could. Because Gage knew, he’d almost done something tonight that would ensure he’d never let her go. While they’d been making love, his fangs had lengthened and he’d almost buried them in her shoulder. Marking her as his mate forever. Or at least for the short human time span he’d have with her. And that, simply put, was unacceptable.

  Thank God her eyes had been closed and she hadn’t seen his teeth shift. Elena had been so lost in her orgasm, lost in that amazing feeling that flowed between the two of them, that she’d completely missed his fuck up. He’d really been so damn closed to ruining everything for both of them. It was hard not to give into all of it too. His feelings for her. His instincts to make her his. Especially when she’d looked so beautiful, so fucking radiant, lost in that moment of pleasure he’d given her.

  As he listened to her SUV tires peel out, he reminded himself again that this was what needed to be done. Breaking her heart now, and forcing her away from him, was for the best. For both of them. Then he heard the crunch sound fill the air. Felt the small trickles of warm blood start to seep down his hand from the phone he’d broken into who knows how many jagged pieces cutting his skin. He tried to tell himself then that his heart was broken into jagged pieces like his now demolished phone. He tried really hard to make himself believe he absolutely had done the right thing. He kept trying all that night, the next day, and the following week after that.

  But he failed to make himself believe it.

  And when he went to find his mate to apologize for what he’d done… she was gone.

  Which, he reminded himself, was for the best.

  CHAPTER-FOUR

  August 2013 – Swansboro, North Carolina

  Elena

  “You viperous heifer! Touch my Jimmy Choo’s again and the next time you go to bed, you’ll wake up missing something vital!” A manicured, polished red nail pointed her in the face before the screeching continued. “Why would you be anywhere near high heeled shoes anyways? It’s not like you wear them. You’re too manly for that. Wait. Did you sabotage my shoes? Don’t tell me you somehow ruined my $700 shoes?”

  Snorting in disdain, Elena avoided all eye contact with her eldest sister Chloe. Driving her sister into a raving lunatic was by far her favorite pastime. Easiest way to do that was to fool around with her Barbie doll like wardrobe.

  “Of course I didn’t wear your shoes. Didn’t sabotage them either. Like I’d ever wear that kind of crap. But Moira came over here yesterday to tell me about that undercover sting she has going on down at the police department. She wondered what kind of shoes hookers wore. So I pulled out a pair of your shoes to give her a visual reference on what she’d need to buy.”

  “HOOKER SHOES! Why you little bit-“

  Chloe launched herself over the back of the couch at where Elena calmly sat. The shriek here sister let loose kind of reminded Elena of the sound of a train made right before it hit the car parked on its tracks. The good news was that Chloe was a lot less destructive than a train. She might try to hurt Elena, but she would whine for hours afterwards if she broke one of her precious nails in the process. The bad news was, Chloe was so curvy that Elena was pretty sure that big ass that would constitute as her train’s caboose was going to break something when she landed.

  Waiting the couple of seconds her sister was flying airborne towards her, before being almost on top of her, Elena ducked to the side so that her sister sailed right past her to unceremoniously crashing into the coffee table. Which Chloe’s wide caboose did indeed break.

  “Be careful Chloe. I would hate it if you accidentally hurt yourself from over exertion.”

  Chloe pushed herself off the floor so that she could glare at Elena over the coffee table that now lay in pieces on its side. “Keep your grubby little hands off of my stuff. Don’t they teach manners in the Army?”

  Elena snorted a laugh. “Sure they do. They teach us manners somewhere in between showing us how to maintain our weapons and how to kill someone with nothing but combat knives and our winning personalities. When is Delta going to get here? We’re supposed to be at the lawyers’ office in a little over two hours. It takes at least an hour and a half to travel from Swansboro to Wilmington.”

  Gracefully rising from the carpet, Chloe started to straighten her clothes. “Delta should be home any minute now. She probably just got lost in the library again. Really, how can one person read so many books? No wonder she’s still a virgin. Being a virgin at the age of twenty-two should be something that’s practically non-existent living outside a military base. With all the marines strolling around Camp Lejeune you would think she would have taken care of that pesky little detail by now. Our little sister gives new definition to the word ‘geek-tastic.’”

  Rolling her eyes, Elena fought the urge to slap her sister. “Well we can’t all be a whore like you, now can we?”

  “I’m not a whore. Whore’s spread their legs for money. I don’t spread my legs, I just talk men out of it.” Brushing her ridiculously long golden brown hair out of her face Chloe smiled. “But it wouldn’t hurt the two of you to be more like me. All it would take is a major wardrobe makeover, some make-up, and your sincere efforts to act more like a woman instead of a man.”

  Grabbing a throw pillow off of the couch, Elena beamed it at her sister’s head, sending her shuffling sideways in her ridiculous four inch heels. “Watch it you overgrown prom queen. I’d hate to have to go to jail because I gave in to temptation to choke you to death.”

  The door to the house flew open, banging harshly into the wall behind it. Elena’s jaw dropped just before Chloe’s shrill voice sounded. “What have you done to yourself Delta! You look like an emo serial killer! And take off that Freddy Krueger inspired t-shirt this instant! It’s just awful.”

  Delta flopped down on the couch before shoving her dark auburn hair out of her face. Elena stared at her sister, cataloging every change in the drastic makeover. Gone were the thick plastic framed glasses. Delta must have contacts in for the first time in her life. Which was a scary thought to Elena because her little sister was about as graceful and coordinated as a wrecking ball. She couldn’t help but wonder how many times Delta had accidentally poked herself in the eye while trying to get the contact in.

  Moving her gaze down, she took in the new clothes. That was a big change. Delta’s nerd loving wardrobe for work usually consisted of below the knee skirts matched with frumpy polyester blouses typically topped off with her expected librarian type hair bun. That was just her public persona. At home Delta never made it out of her sweatpants and Star Wars t-shirts. As much as Elena hated to agree with Chloe about anything, if you looked the word ‘nerd’ up in the dictionary, you’d find a picture of Delta as a definition. IQ, personality, loner type tendencies and all.

  The geeky Delta image was nowhere to be found. Now sitting next to her was a completely different entity. Delta’s dark auburn hair was cut into shaggy layers that fell around her face to cover the tops of her shou
lders. She’d also dyed a large chunk of hair black in the front. Her lithe little body was dressed in snug black skinny jeans tucked into what appeared to be a pair of black motorcycle boots. Instead of her baggy blouse meant for someone’s grandmother she was wearing a tight red and black striped tee that accentuated her small body. The whole outfit seemed to give the illusion that she was built to be petite rock star ballerina. Too bad she tripped over own tiny feet practically every hour of the day.

  Elena wasn’t one to judge people. Her attitude usually followed the ‘to each their own’ motto. However since this was her baby sister, half of her wanted to dive into interrogating her over the drastic makeover. The other half of her decided that it was such a big improvement that she was going to leave Delta alone so that she could proceed with her favorite activity instead. Torturing Chloe.

  “Red and green Chloe, not red and black.”

  Chloe cocked her head to the side the way a dog does when confused. “What are you talking about? Christmas colors? Has your brain finally become mush from lack of use?”

  Elena fisted her left hand on her hip while she waved her right one in Delta’s direction. “You said her shirt was Freddy Kruger inspired. I’m pointing out that once again, you’re wrong. Freddy’s sweater was red and green. Delta’s shirt is red and black. So it’s obviously not Freddy inspired.”

  Elena watched her little sister try to keep her shoulders from shaking due to laughter while her older sister literally bristled like a pissed off cat. “Why you little-“

  Holding up her hand to stop Chloe’s tirade, Elena continued. “Now, now Chloe. Don’t get yourself all worked up again. I’d hate for you to engage the two brain cells you have left in your head and wear them out beyond repair. I don’t think they’ve accomplished brain transplants yet. So the damage would surely be irreparable. Now, let’s move past Delta’s makeover so that we can head to the lawyer’s office. Mom would be rolling over in her grave laughing at us if we managed to be late for this because we were all getting along so well. Besides, I need to get her will reading over with so that I can contact a recruiter. I need to get away from you before some of your air headedness starts to affect my oxygen supply.”

  Delta’s eyebrows snapped down as a frown marred her face. “You promised to stay home with us for a while. Why are you going back so soon? You haven’t even given the civilian world a chance.”

  Something was there in her little sister’s eyes that broke her heart. Hurt. Abandonment. Maybe a little disappointment too. Wanting to erase as much of that as possible while avoiding her true feelings on the matter, Elena reverted to what she did best. Which was picking on Chloe.

  “I’ve decided the civilian world can’t handle all the awesomeness known as me. Besides, if I stay anywhere near Chloe for too much longer without Mom here to break us up, she’ll start to drive me crazy and I’ll be forced to retaliate. Imagine if she sent me over the edge and I shredded all of her precious hooker wardrobe.” Chloe growled in warning. “That would probably flip her crazy switch for good; then she would try to murder me in my sleep. One of us would end up in jail. Think of how bloated she would look in prison orange. Then you would be out two sisters. This way is much easier.”

  Elena grabbed the keys to her SUV before walking out the door with a huge grin on her face. There was nothing better than to come home just so she could mess with her elder sister’s diminished brain capacity. Except for maybe playing war games with her unit. That always turned out to be pretty fun too. Or polishing her favorite hand guns. Yeah, that always made her happy. And when she re-enlisted, they’d station her somewhere far away from here. Elena would make sure of it. Not that she needed that much distance between herself and her sisters, but he still haunted her when she lay in bed lonely at night. She needed to get the hell out of North Carolina.

  The drive to the lawyer’s office in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina was a quiet one. All of the back and forth banter between sisters vanished under the oppressive reminder that their vibrant, loving, kick ass Mom was no longer around for advice on their lives. Or for hugs. Even the occasional slap to the head would be greatly missed. Agatha Demos’ hunger for life was like nothing Elena had ever seen duplicated in this world. The woman was the prime example of taking the world by the balls. Living life the way she thought it should be lived. To hell with everyone else. Aggie always reminded them that all you really needed in life was your family. Especially your sisters.

  Elena took some time to observe her baby sister Delta out of her peripheral. Wondering over the drastic changes her sister had gone under for a second time that day. Bugging her with questions wasn’t the answer though. Out of the three sisters, Delta had been the least like their mother. Quiet, shy, unassuming mouse like little Delta. Although the surface changed, Elena figured deep down Delta was still that wall flower. The one that they had to bribe with some high end technology if you wanted her to go out in public and mingle with other people. Only time would tell if she offered explanations or inner changes to match the outer ones.

  Glancing to the rear view mirror she observed her older sister Chloe. The first of the three Demos sisters, she was a prissy version of their mother. She had a firm grasp on their mother’s concept of taking the world by storm. Not letting anyone hold her down. Even if she used her feminine wiles to do it. And Chloe had been that way ever since the ex-boyfriend Butowski had hit her. Chloe had refused to ever be so used or abused by a man again. Insisting that Mom’s ideals had merit. Not wanting to ever marry. Any children Chloe ever had would be raised in an entirely women filled household with tough feminist ideals.

  Delta would be the opposite. Elena knew that her little sister longed for that once in a lifetime love. The kind of stuff fairy tales were made of. Elena had no grand notions of that. She had no use for keeping a man around permanently. The last time she had entertained that idea had landed her in a world of hurt. She wasn’t exactly eager to repeat it. Living life without a man in it wasn’t that bad. If she got lonely enough, she could buy all the companionship she needed in an adult toy store.

  For the most part, she found the idea of having a man around annoying now, unless they were doing something she considered beneficial. You know. Take out the trash. Cook dinner. Give her the much needed marathon of wild monkey sex. Besides that, why keep them around? So she could watch them lay around in their underwear, scratching their unmentionables before farting? Living in front of the television to play the latest war game instead of living life on the edge? No thanks. Elena was coming back around to the way her mother had been. Men were only good for what they had in their pants. The only difference between her and her mother? She had no plans for having kids. Ever. As far as she was concerned, birth control was her best friend.

  The Army was as good as it would ever get when it came to a commitment for her. She not only adored the men and women she had worked with, but it filled something in her nature that she had a hard time finding in everyday life. The only drawback to the Army was that she had to settle for being a MP, or military police, since what she considered were all the cool jobs (Infantryman, Calvary Scouts, Rangers and Delta Force) were closed to women. And that sucked because often enough, she longed to be in the thick of things. Smack dab in the middle of it all. Most women thought she was strange. She just thought it was fun. Maybe all her wires were crossed. Because the thought of going on one of Chloe’s shopping trips was pretty much equivalent to torture in her book. Give her an M-16 and some grenades before pointing her in the direction of the enemy? Heaven.

  Putting her thoughts on hold, Elena parked the car in the parking lot bordering the lawyer’s waterfront building. Standing quietly on the sidewalk outside the building, the three sisters reached for each other’s hands before walking any further. They might pick at each other mercilessly, or squabble until the neighbors threatened to call the cops on them for disturbance, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have each other’s’ backs. Without a doubt, Elena knew C
hloe and Delta would be there for her no matter what. The same held true for her if she ever felt like her sisters needed her. Strengthened by the fortitude of their bond, they continued on. Minutes later, they followed a receptionist who looked like she highlighted as a call girl into Mr. Adam Wroth’s office.

  Mr. Wroth stood to greet them, holding out his hand to shake each of theirs. Average height, average weight on a fit body for a close to fifty year old man, Mr. Wroth would have seemed like your average elder if it weren’t for the intelligent gleam in his bright blue eyes. Combine that with the perfectly cut brown hair, sharp angled face topped with his natural confidence and you had a man any woman would sit up to notice. She was betting high dollars on the idea that Aggie Demos had flirted shamelessly with him.

  Elena watched the secretary lean into her boss’ personal space and bat her long eyelashes at him as she asked in a badly imitated Marilyn Monroe breathy voice. “Is there anything else I can do for you Mr. Wroth?”

  Chloe leaned over and mock whispered, “She’s doin’ him.” The lawyer gave Chloe a look of abject horror as his secretary smirked at him.

  Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, Elena muttered dejectedly. “Again? Must we do this again?”

  Looking back to Chloe, she shrugged, “What? Just sayin’ it like I see it sister.”