Revolting

Chapter Nineteen - Kryptonite Heath

I heard Hannah approaching the camp. Before I even smelled her, I recognized her light footfalls. She came into view hauling a basket that looked like it weighed more than she did. She set the basket down beside me, but her face was closed. Whenever she got that look, that flat, emotionless poker face, I knew something was wrong. It must have been that pack. Someone in that damned pack had upset her. I wanted to know everything, but I had to tread carefully or she would just shut me out.

"Hey," I greeted her.

"Hey," she said back, sitting down cross-legged in front of the basket.

"I see you've been back to the pack."

She rolled her eyes at me for stating the obvious. She'd been going to that pack nearly every day, despite the fact that she knew I didn't approve. When had my sweet little sister become so stubborn and independent? So far they hadn't done anything to physically harm her, but I was beginning to worry that they were doing something to her psychologically. Like maybe they were brainwashing her into joining their pack like religious fanatics brainwashed lonely people into joining cults. I felt a shiver of unspoken fear run up my spine. What if they stole her away from me? What if I lost my sister to a pack?

She uncovered the basket and started removing the contents carefully. I kept trying to make a conversation and get her to talk. "So what did you do there today?"

She shrugged her thin shoulders. "I watched the warriors train." She said, "And I helped Daisy in the garden."

Daisy, I knew from earlier conversations, was the golden haired omega who had been in the camp the day the Luna came to treat my wound. She seemed to hold some special fascination for Hannah, as she spoke of her often. "She's so happy," Hannah would marvel. "I've never seen an omega so happy and carefree." But I was alarmed that they were making my sister work. "Did they make you work for the food today?" I asked carefully.

"Of course not," she shot me an ugly look. "I helped because I wanted to." She lifted some clean clothes out of the basket. A small dress and leggings that looked to be about Hannah's size, and a men's t-shirt and sweat pants that must have been intended for me. I pursed my lips. I didn't want to accept their gifts. I wanted to throw their things back at them and tell them we didn't need their charity. But looking across at Hannah, barely covered in threadbare rags, I had to swallow my pride. Hannah needed new clothes, and I had no way to provide them for her. I would sometimes get odd-jobs in the human towns to buy some of the basic necessities, but it had been months since I'd found work. And it seemed like lately, we'd been chased off from every place even faster than usual. Sometimes we'd been able to linger for a month or so in a neutral spot, but these days rogue hunters moved in faster and faster, keeping us on the move. So I kept my mouth shut as she spread the dress reverently across her lap and admired the soft fabric and the bright colors. She balled up the sweat pants and threw them at me.

I caught the clothes out of the air. "So... you worked in the garden."

"Yes," her voice was a little snappish. "I picked green beans."

"Okay." I watched her lift out a bottle of shampoo and a bar of bath soap. She popped open the top and sniffed it. A little smile played around her lips, as she fingered her own limp, stringy hair. She passed the bottle to me so that I could also sniff it. It smelled like a strawberry lollypop. "What else?" I pressed.

"We just... talked." There was a defensive edge to her voice.

Uhoh, I thought to myself, they talked about what?novelbin

"Just talked." She shut me down before I could even open my mouth. Then I was thoroughly distracted by the treasures she was pulling out of the basket. A package of hotdogs, a little bottle of yellow mustard. Cheese, a bag of apples, another loaf of bread, a big bag of rice, and finally, the pièce de résistance, a Ziploc baggy full of chocolate chip cookies. Homemade chocolate chip cookies, like mom used to make.

Yes, they were definitely brainwashing us. Plying us with cookies that no mortal could resist. I held out my hand for a cookie, and she gave me a sly look as she considered my hand and considered the bag.

"Come on now, share with your brother." I wheedled.

"How can you hate a pack and eat their cookies at the same time?"

"It's my superpower." I grinned at her playfully.

She handed me a couple of the cookies. "More like your kryptonite," she sneered.

I forgot why I hated packs for a moment, as I stuffed a fresh cookie whole into my mouth and relished the amazing flavor, the sweet chocolate morsels, the slightly chewy, slightly crunchy exterior. Hannah knew I had my guard down, and she shot a question at me while my mouth was full.

"Don't you miss it," she asked me, with a slight urgency in her voice. "Don't you miss having other people around, a family?"

The cookie got dry in my mouth and I swallowed with difficulty. I washed it down with water from the canteen. "No." I said firmly. "I miss nothing. You are my family, and you are all I need."