Once they reached the pack, Penelope smiled at Ace before turning for the mansion, letting him watch as she walked away, hurrying back. He sighed out and turned for his house that wasn’t too far from the mansion as well.
Penelope let out a shaky sigh as she stepped into the mansion and closed the doors behind her. Shaken from the thought that Ace saw right through her even though she was completely fine and laughing with him. It was as though she had said something without thinking, and he heard. She sighed once more and walked towards the kitchen, only to find Hope in the corridor, staring at a portrait of an old alpha.
“Hey.” Penelope smiled as she neared Hope who instantly glanced at her, only to gasp at how soaked her sister was.
“What happened?” Hope asked in worry as she rushed to her, taking the tray and jag from her hands then placed it on a stool beside them. “Did he throw you in a well or something?”
“No, he was actually easy to calm.” Penelope chuckled as Hope grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her towards her bedroom. “I talked to him, he’s fine about you and Harley at least, for now maybe. We laughed a little and he threw me into the water.”
“In anger!?” she gasped as she glanced over her shoulder to Penelope who shook her head in denial and chuckled out as they began to climb some stairs.
“No, he did it for fun.” She smiled admirably as Hope opened the door to Penelope’s room and stepped in, directing her to the bathroom. “We got into a little competition on who’s the best water fighter.” She laughed out as Hope let go of her hand and walked to the bathtub, opening the faucets. “He laughed so much, it was strange to see him laugh though. Maybe because I’ve never actually hanged around him.”
Hope smiled to herself as she felt the water before closing the faucets and turning to her, motioning her with her head to enter the bath. Penelope instantly pulled her dress off and tossed it into the washing basket before stepping into the steamy bathtub. A sigh escaped her lips as she soaked in the tub, shutting her eyes as she leaned back into the edge. Hope got onto her knees and gathered up her hair, setting it draped over the edge and dripping on a mat. She reached for a comb just beside her and began to comb into Penelope’s hair, noticing the tangled hair strands.
“Sounds like you had fun.” Hope smiled as she glanced down at Penelope who smiled back with her eyes shut. “Doesn’t he remind you of someone though?” she asked she began to detangle with her fingers, knowing the comb won’t go through smoothly on some knots.
“Who?” Penelope asked, still keeping her eyes shut. “Harley?”
“Victor.” Hope corrected and Penelope dropped her smile in an instant and opened her eyes. “The moment I met Ace I felt like I knew him from somewhere. After a while I noticed he was kind of like Victor. They were both rogues and both stubborn as hell.” Hope chuckled out as Penelope leaned from the edge and stared down at her thighs in the water. “They are kind of like the same person, but a bit different… well, a lot different but similar in a way. Both so persistent-.”
“Can we stop talking about him?” Penelope asked as she glanced towards Hope who sighed out and stood up, dropping the comb into the bathtub.
“I’m just sayin-.”
“I don’t want to replace him, so stop trying to make me to Hope. We talked about this before but you keep bringing it up every time.” Penelope said as her eyes slowly soaked from her tears, not the water still sliding down her face from her hair.
“I don’t want to replace him.” Hope shook her head in denial and reached down to her sister’s cheek. “I’m just saying… you need to let it go.” She said softly, getting Penelope to look away and into the water, taking in a sharp breath as she pressed her lips together.
“You know, you can go, I’m old enough to take a bath.” Penelope said quietly as she reached her fingers down to her toes.
“Penelope I’m just tryng-.”
“Then just stop.” She deadpanned as she glanced up to Hope who frowned deeply. “Please, for the last time just stop. Just think of Harley.”
“You always do this.” Hope said as her tears slowly creped down her cheeks. “Why can’t you let me help you for once?”
“Please, Hope.” Penelope repeats and Hope angrily walks out of the bathroom, leaving Penelope to finally let her tears slide down her own cheeks as she hugged her knees to her chest. Inviting the memories she wanted to ban from her mind. Memories that became a curse to her.
A curse without an end.
Hope shut the door behind her and took in a sharp breath as she shut her eyes for a moment, trying to calm herself down. It had been a long time since they fought about it. It was only because Hope was caught up with the alpha work, her divorce and the entire love story starting with Harley. She had no time to ask Penelope about it, since Penelope always shut her off, she figured she needed sometime. But she was proven wrong yet again. Penelope didn’t want to face the harsh reality.
“You okay?” Hope flashed her eyes open at Harley’s voice as he was just getting out of the room, pulling a shirt on.
“Yeah.” Hope nodded and sighed out as she leaned from the door. “I fought with Penelope again about Victor and she shut me out again.”
“Like always?” he chuckled out and reached for her cheeks, cupping her face before planting a small kiss on her forehead. “She won’t be talking about him soon. So, what do we do about Ace?”
“Penelope took care of it. She says he’s fine now.” Hope shrugged her shoulders as he stared at her in amusement.
“How did she do it?” Harley asked, still in shook as they began to walk towards the stairs.
“She didn’t say much except that they ended up playing in water. Like children.” Hope chuckled as they made their way down.
“Very much like Penelope, but Ace?” Harley laughed out in disbelief.
“Apparently he started it too.” Hope raised her brows as Harley widened his eyes.
“Seriously?”
“Yap.”
“Let’s go check.” Harley grinned out as he stared at Hope who furrowed her brows at him. “Let’s go see if he’s fine.”
“No.” she shook her head in denial as he sighed out.
“We still need to apologize properly.” He shrugged as he grinned down at her, getting her to frown deeply.
“Fine.” Hope groaned out in boredom. “But don’t provoke him anyhow, Harley. I will kill you.”
“I won’t.” he laughed out as they walked into the dinning room.