Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(48)
Sophie smiled triumphantly at the news while Markus positively scowled.
Katherine's attention, however, had diverted from the excursion into town Sophie had planned to the Council meeting Bastian mentioned. She was curious – too curious to keep her mouth shut. "What's the council meeting about?"
Bastian seemed surprised by the question – though perhaps that had more to do with the fact that she had asked nicely than the inquiry itself. If the silence from the others was anything to go by, they seemed rather shocked by her civil tongue as well.
She supposed that was fair. She hadn't exactly been very respectful up to this point. But after her talk with Bastian last night, she knew she couldn't remain angry and combative forever. She needed to learn from these people after all, learn to get along with them too – even Markus.
Bastian recovered from his surprise rather quickly and tersely answered her question. "The meeting's about you."
Katherine's eyes widened, but before she could respond to his blunt answer, the man stood up, scrapping his chair across the floor as he did so, and stomped out of the room. Sophie sent her an apologetic look before taking off after him.
Great. What faux pas had she committed this time?
Her mood didn't improve when she caught sight of Markus's mocking smile. She wondered if the responding scowl on her face matched his from earlier.
The rest of breakfast passed in silence – at least from Katherine's end. Markus and Zane discussed something about hunting elk by a nearby stream, with minimal input by Caleb.
When everyone was finished eating, Katherine and Caleb gathered the dirty dishes – Bastian's plate still half-full of eggs stared at her accusingly – and set up an efficient system for cleaning them. She washed, and he dried and put away the clean glassware as she'd yet to learn where everything went.
They were just finishing up when Sophie entered the kitchen and hastily pulled her away from the sink. A fluffy, purple coat that was probably only two sizes too big – which meant it definitely belonged to Sophie, even if the thought of Bastian or Markus wearing it brought an amused grin to her face – and a pair of oversized boots were shoved into her arms.
"I know it's only October, but there's definitely a chill in the air. Our kind isn't super affected by the cold, but you aren't a full-fledged wolf quite yet so you should probably put that stuff on."
She couldn't hide her skeptical glance at the purple monstrosity, but obediently tugged the thing on anyway.
Sophie sniggered. "Don't worry, you can pick out a new coat and other winter gear in town." She pulled a shiny plastic card from a tote bag she had slung across her shoulder. "And don't hold back on getting what you want. Everything is going on one of Bastian's many handy dandy credit cards."
Before Katherine could properly process that, Sophie had a firm arm wrapped around her elbow and was forcing her out the front door. As soon as they reached the outside, however, Katherine jerked to a stop, forcing the blonde to tarry as well.
It was so green.
The color absolutely dominated the landscape.
Towering spruce and pine trees were everywhere, emerging from the thin fog that did little to hide the grass and greenery on the ground. Even Bastian's house, which was made of beautiful burgundy bricks, was being overtaken by the green. Thick vines crawled up the walls and wound up the columns of the wrap-around porch.
It was so different from the yellow cornfields of Iowa.
Katherine's stupor was broken by Sophie as she draped a friendly arm around the dazed girl's shoulders and guided her off the creaky porch. She led her to a dirt path just barely peeking out of the huge forest surrounding the house. The path wasn't very big – just wide enough for one vehicle to make it through safely.
"It's a bit overwhelming, I know."
Katherine nodded, unable to stop herself from repeating her initial impression. "It's just so green."
Sophie laughed before removing her arm from around the smaller girl's shoulders. "Yeah, just be happy it hasn't snowed yet. In the winter, everything turns white. I much prefer the green of spring and summer."
Katherine nodded genially, clutching the burrowed coat closer to herself when a strong breeze whistled through the trees and ruffled her still damp hair.
They'd been walking a good fifteen minutes before Katherine noticed how anxious Sophie seemed to be. The older girl kept giving her furtive glances, like she was aching to say something, but wasn't sure if she should.
This, of course, did nothing but make Katherine uneasy. Sophie seemed nice enough, but she was reluctant to trust her. She was Bastian's sister after all.
"Katherine, look, about my brother." And there it was.
"What about your brother?"
"I know you don't have much reason to believe me, but he's not as bad of a guy as you probably think he is. Hell, he's not as bad of a guy as he thinks he is. He's just under a lot of stress right now."
Katherine just barely resisted the urge to snort.. He was under a lot of stress? If she wasn't so young, she was convinced she would have died of a stress-induced heart attack days ago.
Sophie must have sensed her skepticism and kept on talking. "I know that seems like a silly excuse, but it’s true. He was very worried about you when you were sick. He wouldn't even let you out of his sight long enough for me to change you into something a little more comfortable than his grimy sweats."