Nightfall (The Huntsman Clan Book 1)

by Rose Alexander

  "Fine, fine. I'm hungry; let's go eat," she replies, pulling on my arm.

  "Wait, I don't have any money with me," I pull back, panicking for not thinking sooner.

  "You don't need money; they'll just start a tab for Jack to settle at the end of the month," Vance explains patiently, giving me a small grin.

  "Oh good. I was worried," I sigh, straightening my back again and following them through the door.

  When my eyes adjust to the dimmer light, I see this looks like a vintage diner you see in the movies, complete with red booths and little jukeboxes on the tables. It's nearly deserted except for a group of hot guys towards the back. Help me now, this is going to be interesting. I hope I don't drool.

  We walk up to the circular booth the guys are sitting at, and Vance grabs my hand and draws me to stand next to him.

  "Hey guys, this is Lia. Lia, Kenton is the blonde, Reid is the redhead, Dom is the broody one with black hair, and Spence is the one with green hair," he introduces us with a huge grin.

  "Nice to meet you all," I reply looking them over closely. Kenton is built, his muscles well defined under his golden tan skin. His sapphire blue eyes sparking above his luscious lips. Reid is much paler with bright emerald green eyes, and has freckles dotting his straight nose. His lips are thinner, and he has a cute dimple when he smiles. Dom has onyx eyes to match his hair, his skin a lovely mocha color, with a broad nose and full kissable lips. Finally, Spence has bright green hair with sky blue eyes. He has a decent tan and a roman nose.

  I receive a series of hellos from the guys as we sit down. They see Krissy finally and Dom groans.

  "Why did you bring the chatterbox?" he growls at Vance.

  "Did you want Lia to feel uncomfortable to be the only girl with us?" Vance gives him a pointed look.

  "I guess not," he grumbles, his face drawn in a scowl.

  What was his deal? He had no right to be so rude to anyone just because they're a little different.

  "You should apologize! How rude can you get! Come on Krissy, we can sit somewhere else," I exclaim, grabbing Krissy by the arm and pulling her towards the front of the store.

  "No one has ever stuck up for me like that. You really do like me," the short girl throws her arms around me in a bear hug.

  "Of course. I don't agree with people being rude like that," I reply squeezing her back. "Can you let go now though? I can't breathe."

  "Sorry. I'm overly excitable, I know, and it gets on peoples nerves," she explains, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

  "It doesn't matter. You should be free to be yourself without buttheads judging you," I give her a serious look to let her know I mean it.

  “If you had to live with her around all the time, you would do the same,” Montoya says.

  “You’re too nice,” Kylah sighs.

  Vance walks over and I give him a dirty look. He didn't stick up for Krissy, so he's equally guilty in my book. "I'm sorry Dom wasn't nice to you Krissy, I'll still give you guys a ride home when you're done if you want. This didn't go the way I had hoped."

  He walks off; his shoulders drooped and I feel a bit bad for him. At least he apologized.

  "I'm so excited you're here to do things with. When we get to school, we'll have each other to hang out with and avoid the mean girls. There are some really mean girls in town..." Krissy drones on and I tune her out. I'm too busy watching Kenton stalking up to the table like I'm prey.

  "You're not listening to a word I'm saying are you," she accuses me, her arms crossed across her chest.

  "Sorry, "I mumble as Kenton reaches the table.

  “He’s a lion; I like him too,” Kylah purrs.

  "Lia, please don't judge us all by Dom's personality. He was really rude to Krissy, but you didn't give the rest of us a chance," he grins, holding out his hands to persuade us to come back to the table with him.

  "If he was sorry, he would come apologize to Krissy himself," I reply, dropping my chin slightly and turning my lips down into a frown.

  "If he apologizes, you'll join us?" he asks, hope reverberating in his tone.

  "Only if Krissy wants to," I answer, not wanting to make her sit somewhere she feels uncomfortable.

  "Let's go," she squeals excitedly, jumping up from her seat and pulling me with her.

  We follow Kenton back to the guys and he gives Dom a pointed look. "You have something you want to say?"

  “He’s a cheetah, it’s hard for them to trust,” Kylah whispers. “I still like him.”

  "Sorry I was rude. I'll bite my tongue next time," he growls through clenched teeth. The muscle on the side of his jaw twitching in annoyance.

  "No problem," Krissy says in her sing-song voice and smiles at him.

  I sit down and slide over so Krissy can sit next to me. I keep an eye on Dom, but he has his head buried in a menu.

  “What’s good to eat here?” I ask, my stomach gnawing on itself.

  “Everything,” Spence grins over his menu at me.

  “He’s another tiger, and a beautiful one,” Kylah keeps me informed.

  “Well then, maybe I’ll need to order everything,” I tease, trying to decide what to eat.

  “Frieda, bring out one of everything and we’ll all share,” Kenton yells to the kitchen then turns and smiles at me.

  I can’t decide if my jaw should drop or I should swoon. I’m in trouble with these handsome guys around. They all seem to be good friends, so I don’t need to be dating any of them. That’s a recipe for trouble. I would like to have friends in this new life instead.

  The food arrives and there's everything from hamburgers to mac and cheese. We all eat a bit of everything and before long the food is gone.

  "I'm shocked we ate all that food," I say, leaning back and closing my eyes now that my stomach is full.

  "Get used to it. We're all sixteen so it's going to take a lot to feed us as a group," Reid chuckles, his green eyes twinkling.

  “He’s a panther like us,” Kylah purrs.

  "What are we doing next?" I ask, unsure if this was all Vance had planned or not.

  "Swimming?" Spence asks grinning.

  "Swimming!" Reid exclaims, smiling ear to ear.

  "Swimming it is. Lia, would you like to join us?" Kenton asks, pulling his lips up in a smile that flashes his perfect white teeth.

  "I'll need to run home first and get my bathing suit," I reply, my stomach full of butterflies. I can't decide if I'm nervous or excited.

  “Why do you want to swim?” Kylah asks, unable to understand why the draw to the water.

  "I'm out. I don't understand how your cats can stand the water," Krissy visibly shudders.

  "I'll run Krissy home, if you can take Lia to Jack’s?" Vance offers, looking at Kenton.

  "Sure thing, if Lia is ok riding with me," Kenton replies, looking at me for an answer.

  "Let's go," I say, before I can chicken out.

  "We'll meet you there," Dom mutters, not even looking up.

  Chapter 8

  I follow Kenton outside, wondering what Dom's problem is. Maybe I shouldn't go since he doesn't want me around. Kenton walks up to a bright red ford mustang and my jaw drops.

  “I’m Percy,” Kentons lion introduces himself.

  "Perks of being royalty is my dad lets me drive whatever I want," he grins, his eyes crinkling at the edges.

  "That's a nice perk," I agree. "Maybe you should just drop me off. I don't think Dom wants me there, and I don't want to upset anyone."

  "Don't worry about Dom; he's just having a bad day, and he's mad that we stuck up for Krissy. She does talk a lot," Kenton explains, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “She does, but that’s no reason to be mean,” I point out.

  “You’re right. We should all try to do better,” he sighs, not taking his eyes off of the road.

  We pull up to the house, and I jump out to run inside; Kenton follows.

  "You can wait here, I'll be fast," I say, feeling awkward about coming home with a d
ifferent guy than I left with.

  "I want to say hi to Jack," he pulls the corner of his mouth up into a lopsided grin.

  I shrug and go through the front door and head to my room. I go straight to my drawer and put on the two piece bathing suit the sales lady picked out for me. It's black string bikini top with boy shorts. I look in the vanity and decide I like the way I look then pull a t-shirt and loose shorts on over and I'm ready to go.

  I pull my hair up in a messy bun as I walk out of my room. Kenton and Jack are chatting on the couch in the living room when I enter.

  "Be careful and take food with you," Jack says giving me a strange look I can't decipher.

  "Of course we will, Jack," Kenton flashes a smile.

  I wave goodbye as we walk out the door. When we get into the car, I sit back and relax. I'm determined to have a good time regardless of why I'm here.

  "Have you ever been swimming before?" Kenton asks, glancing sideways away from the road.

  "Of course. Not all cats hate water," I reply, tilting my head down, with my brow raised, challenging him to argue.

  "This is going to be a blast then," he laughs as he hits the accelerator, speeding up as we hit the open road.

  I close my eyes and enjoy the ride. We're well outside of town when he stops the car. I open my eyes and look around. We're parked next to two other vehicles, one of them being Vance's truck. In front of the cars, there are large stones placed to where the cars can't drive through. A dirt path leads into the trees just beyond the large stones.

  I grab my bag with my towel in it and follow Kenton down the dirt path. The trail leads under a canopy of beautiful trees and underbrush. Kylah purrs under the surface, wanting out to roam around. I mentally give her a firm no, which causes her to huff and lay down, almost pouting. I ignore her, instead focusing on following Kenton. It's a nice view to focus on, I think, then start giggling.

  “If it wouldn’t make Jace mad, I could make you run,” she huffs before ignoring me.

  “Good thing you don’t want to make him mad then,” I think back at her.

  "What's so funny back there?" he asks, looking over his shoulder, with one eyebrow raised.

  "Nothing, just arguing with my kitty," I spit out between giggles.

  "Does she argue back?" he draws his eyebrows together in confusion.

  "Doesn’t yours?" I fake pout, sticking my bottom lip out for dramatic affect.

  "Don't pout, Trouble," he chuckles, then looks forward and continues walking.

  "Trouble?" I ask, confused as to what he means.

  "Your new name is Trouble, because I have a feeling that is what you're going to be," he laughs, not bothering to look over his shoulder this time.

  "Oh," I reply, unsure of how to react. I decide to file it away for later.

  The path curves and dumps us out at the edge of a large pond fed by a waterfall. It gorgeous and the perfect temperature out to wade in the water.

  The other guys are already in the water splashing around. I drop my bag and start stripping off my clothes to join them.

  "See, trouble," Kenton mumbles under his breath.

  I pretend like I don't hear him and run into the water determined to splash Vance. I get close enough to draw my knees up and feel a pair of strong arms grab me around the waist.

  "No fair! I almost had him!" I yell in mock anger, complete with the uh at the end.

  "If you almost had him you would have seen me sneaking up behind you," Spence laughs, waggling his eyebrows at me.

  “My person thinks he’s always funny, my name is Tress,” Spence’s tiger introduces himself.

  “Mine is always brooding,” Kylah huffs, sniffing the air.

  "You could have let me," I pout, sticking my lips out again.

  "Don't tease us with those lips, Killer," Spence sighs and puts me down. "It's not fair."

  "Ah leave the kitten alone, Spence. She thinks she can run with the big cats so let her," Dom sneers.

  “We don’t want you here. Find someone else to date,” Dom’s cheetah sneers.

  “Back off,” Kylah growls.

  “I’m not looking for anyone to date, moron,” I think back at him.

  "What the fuck is your problem! I don't even know you to have done something to you!" I scream at him. I don't like the attitude he's had since I first laid eyes on him.

  "You're the problem. Waltz in here like you belong but you're going to destroy this group," he huffs, as he makes his way out of the water.

  "How am I going to destroy this group? I just fucking met you all. It's not like I would date any of you anyways. I'm not into making friends then losing them because of stupid shit," I growl at him, Kylah prowling for a fight.

  "Really?" he asks dumbfounded, stopping in his tracks, looking at me with an expression of pure confusion.

  "Well, yeah. I just moved here, I don't know anyone, and Vance is the first person I met. He was nice enough to introduce me to all of you. Why would I ruin that by trying to choose one of you to date? That's stupid," I explain, dropping my eyebrows in confusion.

  "One of the reasons I’m so nasty to Krissy is she's always trying to get one of us to date her," Dom whispers then leaves the water and sits on a towel.

  “We protect our group. No one is going to take it away. My name is Victor,” Dom’s cheetah introduces himself.

  I file that information back to think on later and go back to goofing around. After Dom and I finish our argument the tension leaves so the rest of the afternoon flies by in a blur. My stomach audibly growls.

  "You guys! We forgot to feed Trouble," Kenton hollers, making his way out of the pond.

  "Who cares about her; we forgot to feed ourselves!" Reid shouts back, giving me a wink as he follows Kenton.

  He thinks he’s funny. I’m his panther Wood,” Reid’s panther says.

  I snort out loud and Reid gives me a weird look.

  “I just met Wood. Reid and Wood sounded funny,” I explain, shrugging my shoulders.

  He gives me a strange look then walks off.

  I shake my head giggling and follow them to the shore. I spread out my towel and sit on one of the giant rocks that make up the shoreline and relax back on my elbows. The guys are all digging into bags and a cooler sitting a couple of rocks over, so I figure it’s easier to wait and grab whatever they leave behind.

  "Here, Kitten," Dom says, tossing me a bag of chips, beef jerky, and trail mix. "If you wait for them to finish, there will be nothing left."

  He sits on the rock next to me and silently hands me a bottle of water which I accept. We sit and eat without exchanging words or even glances.

  "Look, I'm sorry. You're right. I didn't give you a fair chance, but they’re my family and I don't want anyone messing with that," Dom turns and explains. "Can we start over?"

  "Sounds fair. Hi, my name is Amelia, but my friends call me Lia," I reply, offering my hand for him to shake.

  "Nice to meet you Lia. My name is Dominic, but my friends call me Dom," he grins, taking my hand and giving it a quick shake.

  His entire face lights up when he grins. I thought he was handsome when he was scowling, but words can't describe what I'm thinking and my jaw drops.

  "Everything ok?" he asks, his brows bunched in worry.

  "She probably had a heart attack from seeing you smile," Kenton teases, around a mouthful of sandwich.

  "That was totally it," I giggle, then take a drink of water to hide the rest of my expressions.

  When we've all finished eating, we pick up the area and go back to the cars. The sun is sitting low on the horizon and I remember what I needed to do today.

  "Crap I forgot to go buy cookware. Jack has nothing in his apartment to cook with," I say out loud, kicking myself.

  "We can grab cookware and meet you at Jack's," Dom offers.

  "I thought that the store would be closed by the time we got back?" I reply, not sure where they'll get cookware.

  "Ah, there's the benefit to your parent
s owning said store. I'll add it to Jack's tab," he grins, lighting up his entire face, his eyes shining.

  "Killer's riding back with me. Dom you ride with Kenton," Spence orders, then turns to me. "Hop in."

  I open the door to the black Camero and sit down hesitantly.

  "Do you all drive fancy cars?" I ask, feeling a little out of my element.

  "Only those of us with noble blood," he replies, almost spitting the words out in anger.

  "I take it that's a bad thing?" I ask gently, not wanting to upset my new friend.

  He stays quiet his face showing that he's trying to put words to his thoughts as we drive back towards town.

  "It's not a bad thing. It affords advantages those of the common class don't have, but I don't think they should be separated like that. Just because I was born to different parents, I have more advantages than Vance or Dom. They won't be told who to marry when they get older, but I will if my doesn’t find his mate. I'm bad at voicing this," he admits, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard.

  "I can understand what you mean. Why do you have to go somewhere and do certain things just because of who you were born to," I sigh, lost in my own thoughts.

  "Exactly!" he exclaims a grin on his face. "Killer, you and I are going to get along just fine."

  We ride the rest of the way to Jack's house in silence. I hope he doesn't get upset that I'm bringing home a houseful. I don't really care if he does or not I realize. At least, I'm making an attempt to fit in.

  "Should we invite Krissy over?" I ask, thinking about my new friend.

  "Please don't. I don't want to have to listen to Dom complain about her flirting all evening," Spence begs, wincing at the thought.

  "Ok, I feel guilty that we basically ditched her," I admit looking at my feet feeling bad.

  "Don't feel too bad. Once she sees you won’t set her up with any of us, she'll disappear soon enough," he growls. "Crap, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

  "Too late. Do you really think that's why she wants to be my friend?" I ask, unsure on if I should trust it or not.