Tasting 123

123–I Lost My Stepsister

Nash:

I carried one tire in my hand and slung the other over my shoulder, making my way back to the car.

On the way, I came across a street vendor selling corn dogs, so I picked up some for Nora. She

loved trying new foods; that much I knew about her.

“She is cute!” my wolf spoke up, and I nodded my head in agreement.

“I can’t believe she is that woman’s daughter. There is no resemblance,” he continued, and I agreed

once more. Nora was nothing like her mother. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. But it was

also true that she could be a bit too naive at times.

We brothers had talked about her many times, especially when she invited that friend of hers to stay

with us. I didn’t want to seem too controlling, but I didn’t want her friend in the mansion. If only she

could understand, I wouldn’t have to worry that she might think I was trying to tell her that this

mansion isn’t hers and that her friends aren’t welcome.

Because of that, I didn’t say anything.

When I got back, I found Daphne where I had left her, with a compact mirror in her hand, applying

makeup.

My eyes immediately scanned the area for Nora, but she was nowhere in sight. I got closer to the

car and hunched over to look inside, thinking maybe she got tired and sat inside.

“Hey, you’re back,” Daphne cheered, sliding the mirror and makeun

1231 Lost My Stepsister

back into her purse. “And you brought food,” she smiled, reaching to snatch it out of my hands. I

pulled my hand back and frowned at her.

“Where is Nora?” I asked, using a harsh tone.

“Of course, you must focus on that girl first. She’s not a child, you know that, right?” Instead of

answering my simple question, Daphne started doing what she does best—annoying me.

“Where is she?” I demanded again, my tone turning colder, giving her a final warning to answer me

before I got the answer out of her myself.

She threw her hands down tiredly and sighed. “She was trying to text or call someone desperately,

but because there was no reception, she said she would take a walk ahead and try to get some

signal,” she finished, watching me with a bored expression.

“Huh? Where did she head to?” I inquired curiously.

“I don’t know, Nash. She was so secretive about that phone contact of hers. Besides, I guess she

was having some trouble with someone. No. wonder she badly wanted to contact them,” her words

reminded me of Nora’s agitation in the car earlier. She was busy on her phone, staring at it as if she

wanted to yell at the screen.

“Okay! Point in the direction she went. I will go find her. Until then, you stay in the car,” I said. Not

going to lie, it did upset me that Nora acted like a child. Couldn’t she wait a little longer?

Who and what could be so important that she must get in contact with that person?

“This direction,” Daphne pointed down the road ahead.

“Okay, stay here. I will go find her,” I said, stepping away from her and rushing down the road. She

must not have gone too far.

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I began to look for her, but there seemed to be no sign of her.

“Nora!” I called out. “Nora! Come back. I will get the car fixed, and we’ll be on our way.” I added,

hoping that letting her know I would fix the car soon might bring her back.

“Ugh!” I sighed after I couldn’t find her. In fact, I had come so far that I couldn’t even see the car

behind me. Now that worry started to take over, I rushed back to fix the car and find Nora.

“What happened? You didn’t find her?” Daphne asked in shock, looking behind me. I just shook my

head before grabbing the tire and quickly trying to change it.

“I can’t believe this girl is so irresponsible,” Daphne complained, stomping her foot and pacing

around, causing my anxiety for Nora’s well–being to rise.

It just felt odd to me that Nora left like that.

“Don’t say all that to her when we find her,” I warned, because I knew Nora would take those words

to heart..

“Why not? Why are you giving her so much freedom to do whatever she wants? Look what

happened. If she knew boundaries, she would have never left like that and got us in trouble. We

could have started our journey back had she not pulled that stunt,” Daphne kept going on and on,

angering me more.

“Daphne! I told you, you will not say a word to her. She is not your sister, so stay out of our

matters,” I hissed, putting the spare tire in the trunk and jumping into the driver’s seat, hoping to find

Nora on the road ahead.

“Fine. There are some cafes ahead, so maybe she didn’t realize how far

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she was going in search of a signal,” she whispered, trying to be helpful now that she didn’t want to

admit she was also at fault for not telling Nora to stay and wait for us.

“I will try to contact her friends to see if they know what was going on with her and who could be so

important that she left like that,” I said, irritated at the fact that I lost her. I was supposed to stick

beside her and keep her safe. The idea of her being somewhere all alone wasn’t sitting well with

me.

I was slowly losing my calm, and the anxiety was getting worse. We had come really far and there

was still no sign of her. Once my phone caught a signal, I started looking for Natalya’s number.

I didn’t like that girl one bit, but she was Nora’s only close friend, figured if anyone knew what was

going on, it had to be her.

So I

“I wanted to know about Nora. Do you know if she is dealing with any sort of trouble these days?” I

asked as soon as she picked up the call.

“Oh! You mean with Brody?” she asked, and a frown creased my forehead instantly.