Free Time Mends by Tammy Blackwell Page B

holding
back. Jase and I had been sparring with one another since we were
kids, but this was different. This was a fight, a battle between
two Shifters at their most primitive. Every strike was intended to
cause harm. And when Jase’s pants began to stain red after his leg
crashed through a kitchen chair, I felt joy.
    In reality, the fight didn’t last long, but
in the heat of the moment I felt as if we had been going at it
forever, and might have if the back door hadn’t slammed open
admitting one of the few people who could stop my bloodlust
cold.
    “ Scout, stop!” Mom
screamed, flying through the mud room towards the melee. “You’re
hurting him! Stop!”
    And just like that, the
otherness that had taken over - the part of me that was nothing but
pain and rage, the wolf - was gone. My hands immediately unclenched, one
releasing a handful of my brother’s hair while the other freed the
arm pinned behind his back. For a moment all I could see was a
smear of blood on the blue and white tiles, although I was aware of
the shattered furniture and destruction around me.
    “ Aunt Rebecca, don’t!”
Charlie exclaimed from the safety of the formal dining room no one
ever used, causing Mom to freeze with one outstretched hand just
inches from my shoulder. If the sight of Jase’s blood decorating
our once pristine kitchen wasn’t enough to convince me of the
animal I had become, the look of fear and disgust on my mother’s
face was.
    “ I’m sorry,” I said, my
chin trembling so ferociously I could barely push the words out. “I
didn’t mean to do it. I’m sorry.”
    Instead of pulling me into a hug and telling
me it was going to be okay, she kept her distance, wariness evident
in every inch of her posture. “Will you let me check and see how
bad he’s hurt?” Instead of answering, I bolted out the door.

Chapter 9

    “ Jase is going to be
okay.”
    I leaned into the driver’s seat, sighing in
relief. Of course, I already knew he was okay - my ears stayed
trained on his vital signs and Mom’s auditory assessment even as I
fled the house - but it was a comfort to hear the words. Even more
comforting was the fact Mom came outside to find me, not that the
finding part was hard. My plan had been to get in my new car and
drive off. The problem was, I was completely pinned in by Talley’s
vehicle.
    “ Let me see your hand,”
Mom said, opening a plain white jar. “Charlie said you burned
it.”
    “ It’s not that bad.” As
long as you didn’t consider agonizingly painful “bad”. “It’s just a
couple of blisters.”
    Mom peeled back my fingers, the sting so
intense my hand itched to smack her for her efforts. “Harper Lee,”
she hissed. “What did you do? Grab a hot skillet without an oven
mitt again?”
    “ Slapped my hand down on
the hot stove, actually.”
    “ Why would you…?
Nevermind.” She gently spread a cool white cream over the burn, the
mixture of her touch and the ointment easing some of the pain. “Any
other injuries I need to know about?”
    “ Nope.”
    “ Then why did you limp out
of the house?”
    “ Ran into the business end
of a kitchen cabinet handle. No big.”
    “ And the reason you can’t
lift your right arm?”
    “ Just a bruised rib or
two. I’ve had worse.”
    There was a break in the rhythm of the
caresses across my palm. “You know, I honestly can’t remember a
time when you weren’t covered in scrapes and bruises. I would blame
it on you trying to keep up with the boys if they weren’t always
struggling to keep up with you.” You couldn’t miss the sadness in
her voice.
    “ Do you ever wish I was
different? That I was more like Angel?” My sister was the living
embodiment of “girl”. Mom delighted in her penchant for fashion and
socializing.
    Mom chuckled as she put the lid back on the
ointment. The smile on her face was genuine as she tried to figure
out the cup holder, causing a bit of my tension to loosen.
    “ A girly Scout. Now there
would be