"Between The Books" Scenes: Sister Knows Best

Welcome back for the second "Between The Books" scene! I hope you're enjoying these little peeks into the world of Resurrection.

Today's segment introduces you to a character briefly mentioned in "Tempting The Enemy", Mina. For those new to the series, the main characters from Resurrection were raised in an orphanage. The leaders–Pale, Tate, Ty, Aaron and Mina–were raised as siblings by Mina's mother. Mina has long been the very heart of the pack, taking in the orphans much as her mother did before her. But sometimes, the strongest hearts bear the greatest pain…

Enjoy the sneak peek!

Dee

Sister Knows Best

So what if he stomped his way up the hillside to his own cabin instead of heading back into the open center square. Just because that was where the kids ran and they were usually happy to see him. Or because he should probably go and see his sister, Mina. Like Aaron, whereever the kids were, she was. Mina didn't have Jade's empathic skills, but she still picked up too much for his own good. Only Mina had no qualms sticking her nose into things.

Which explained why she was sitting on his front steps, long skirt fluttering around her ankles, waiting as if she had nothing better to do on a long summer day.

As usual, the first sight of Mina stung. She looked like their mother. Her mother, biologically, though Moira Eileen Finnaegan would box his ears for considering himself anything less than her full-blooded son. With her black hair, thick and drawn back into a tight braid, pretty blue eyes, her fine skin dappled with freckles across her cheeks and an ever-present smile, Mina should have had her pick of any male in the pack. She grinned at him, rising with her arms up for a hug despite the scowl that felt carved into his face.

"You didn't really expect you'd get in here without seeing me, didn't you?"

Not really, much as he'd hoped to calm down first. He kissed her cheek anyway and let her pull him toward the cabin.

She waited for him to open the door, her arms held behind her body while she rocked back on her heels, dark brows lifting in an impish grin. Which meant Mina was up to something.

Tate barely held back a groan and shoved open the door. "What? And spit it out quick, I have to run in a half hour."

If she was bothered by his exasperation, she gave no sign. "I heard you proved the great experiment, is all."

"What experiment?"

"Jade." She blinked at him as if that was supposed to explain something. Then shrugged when it clearly didn't. "She's been having some shifting problems. It's still new to her so her control is off. Her emotions can trigger it, just like any other kid. Pale still wants her trained though, so he figured if she had the whole pack out there, keeping her emotions happy, then the aggression of the training wouldn't set her off." She moved into the cabin ahead of him, her long lean lines somehow graceful and gentle despite the efficiency of her movements.

Sometimes, looking at Mina, he could see her as she'd been when they were kids. Though still unmated, she was completely different. She'd matured, the girlish curves to her face having settled into the stronger planes and angles of a woman. A woman who should be a mother. Should have been one long, long ago. Damn Aaron… But even that thought wasn't complete. Damn me, too.

"It was working pretty well until the Dark Pit of Despair showed up."

His thoughts snapped shut at that. He threw his bag on the couch he'd spent three miles looking forward to stretching out on. He ground his teeth, watching Mina head straight for the window blinds on the left corner of cabin's main room. It was a fairly open plan, with windows all around. Windows she usually made it a point to open up for him an hour or so before his arrivals, to help air the place out. Just fucked up everyone's schedule today, hadn't he?

"I am not the Dark Pit of Despair."

"Right. And Pale's not stocked on firewood for the next three winters." Her laughter tinkled in his ears, pulling him back by the simple trait of being an annoying older sister. "Everyone knows how you feel about her, Tate."

"I don't feel anything about her." The sooner everyone up here got that through their heads, the better.

Mina only snorted, having lifted the first window and well on her way to unlocking the next. "She's an empath. If you think she can't feel your mistrust, you're more deluded than I thought."

Deluded about what, he didn't want to know. Mina's thoughts—like most women's, he'd found—defied explanation. Also like most women, it just wasn't worth fighting with her to change them. "You're a pain in my ass, Meen. Seriously."

"If you had a mate, I wouldn't have to be, now would I?"

Against his will, a chuckle escaped. With anyone else, the mention of his supposedly heartbroken and long-suffering unfound mate pissed him off to no end. For some inexplicable reason, the entire encampment was obsessed with seeing him "settled". The only one who possibly had it worse than him was Mina, the oldest of the females without a male's imprint or a mate. Not a day passed when she wasn't asked to choose a male and get it over with.

"We could always mate each other, you know. That would shut everyone up."

She laughed, just like usual. The sound was a little more hollow this time, though. "One of these days, I'm going to take you up on that offer, just to watch you try to squirm out of it."

He grimaced. Even for Mina, he doubted he could go through with it.

Her laughter this time lacked any shadows at all. "Oh my God, Tate, that was priceless." She actually stopped lifting windows to hold her stomach with one hand. "Is that what you do every time a woman brings up mating?"

He couldn't help a self-depreciating grin when her peals of laughter ramped up again. "God, no wonder they all hate you."

So much for smiling.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! The women don't hate you, they just hate how much they like you…" She rushed over, her hands already fluttering to smooth his ruffled fur, still giggling.

He stopped her with a head shake, backing up a step from her maternal ministrations. The last thing he needed was a pat on the head. "I'm fine."

She stopped at his rejection, but the mirth melted away too, leaving behind the concern he still remembered too well on their mother's face. Almost instantly, her carefree mask slipped away too, revealing the soul-deep heartache everyone knew was there behind her smile, even if they couldn't tell why. But he knew.

In the light of her hurt at his rejection, her eyes shining with tears she'd never let fall openly, his petty irritation disappeared. He opened his arms for her, the constant wound in his heart clenching when she ran into them. How can you comfort someone for a hurt that you caused? A hurt you can't undo? He'd tried, for years he'd tried, desperate to make it up to all of them, but for Mina most of all. Because of him, their mother was gone. Their home. For seven of them, their lives. But Mina had lost even more, her chance with her mate.

He held her tight, grimly noting that she'd lost weight again. She felt like little more than bones now, hiding it behind a loose dress so no one would notice the wasting away. He squeezed his eyes shut, hating himself just a little bit more. "Just say the word, honey, and I'll pluck him, one fucking feather at a time."

A watery laugh against his neck was accompanied by the wet slide of her head shaking back and forth. "It's not his fault."

"Like hell it's not." He smoothed his hand over her head, over and over again, just holding her. Mina didn't let her walls down for many. Right now, he doubted she could get them back up if she tried.

She swallowed, a loud sound in the silence. "I could have picked someone else."

And if it didn't sound as if just the thought of choosing a different mate hurt worse than swallowing glass, she probably would have. Mina's bond to Aaron wasn't real anywhere but in her heart, but Tate knew better than anyone else, the heart was what mattered. When you chose a mate, you chose. Even if you never completed the bonding—linking your souls with blood and body—if your heart was set, you never stopped reaching for the one who could make you whole. Not even if that person was dead.

Not even if they deserved to be.

"Pale know about this?" The wasting was a fate even the strongest of shifters feared. Rejection from your mate cut to the soul, physically draining you like a wound that never healed, bleeding you until there was nothing left. Not the body, not the soul. Just…nothing.

She nodded. "Jade helps."

Well, that explained a lot. As Alpha, Pale was the most important part of this pack they'd built from the rubble of their past, but Mina…she was the soul. The mother that had held them all together, even when it was just the five of them trying to take care of eighteen orphans in a dark cave back in South Dakota. If Jade was keeping Mina going, there wasn't a member of the pack alive that wouldn't lay down their lives for her. Including him.

Mina sighed, squeezing him tight for a second before letting go. She hid her face as she turned away, already heading for more windows he didn't care about. He let her. She didn't need him denting her pride any more than it already was. "Leave Aaron alone. You'll just make matters worse."

"How much worse can they get?" How long could Jade fight the wasting for her?

Mina's spine straightened, though she kept her back to him. Her silence said it all.

"Aaron doesn't know." And if he didn't, odds were good the rest of the camp didn't know either.

"No, and he's not going to find out." Her firm tone brooked no argument.

Which he cared about as much as he cared when any of his other siblings tried the same thing. "Bullshit. You think it's going to escape his notice when you dwindle down so far you can't get up anymore?"

She did turn, finally, her bright eyes snapping despite the moisture on her cheeks that she'd tried to wipe away. "You think I want a mate out of pity? That I want to tie him to me that way? What kind of life is that, Tate?"

"It's a life."

She shook her head. "As if you would know."

Tate glared at her, pretending that little blade of truth didn't sting.

Mina swiped at her cheeks, frustration evident. "Just…mind your own business. You're going to have enough on your hands soon anyway."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. Really. I don't…all I know is that Pale and Jade have been tense about something and it's not because Duncan is keeping them up at night." She hugged herself tight, looking away almost guiltily. "Something bad is coming, Tate. I'm no Sibile, but even I can tell. Something worse than anything we've ever seen."

He sighed. "Don't let that Evil Amish crap in your head."

"I'm not kidding." She met his stare evenly this time. "Whatever it is Pale asked you up here to do, it's dangerous. You have to be careful. Promise me you'll be careful."

"Hey." Arguing with Mina never did much good. He could be careful all he wanted, if Death was coming, Death was coming. They were born into a near-complete shifter genocide. He wasn't about to shy away from a fight now. Deep down, Mina knew that. He walked over to her, cupping her face in one hand so she'd be sure to look at him. "I'm always careful."

"No you're not." Knowledge shone in her eyes. She knew his guilt. Had always known it. "You don't owe us your life."

"No," he agreed, releasing his hold. He owed them more than a single life, but that was all he had to give. She reached for him, but he didn't give in this time. He kept walking, right out of the cabin and into the fading light on the mountain.

Time to find out why he'd been summoned.