by Mandy Adler
“She’s a witch, raised in foster care. She doesn’t know a lot of magic yet… but she seems to me to have plenty of power. I believe her when she says she will never hurt Lily.”
I nodded. “Good. It’ll be good for Lily to have her here. We’ll see how things go, then maybe conduct her into the pack, it’s been a long time since we had a pack witch. She may be of some help if things get messy with the Fires. I just need to figure out what they want with Lily, she’s not even a full mage, we don’t even know if she has any powers yet.”
“We’ll figure it out. Z, you know we will protect her. She’s pack, it’s not even a question.”
“I know, thank you James.” I sighed, ready for this day to be over with already. “Let’s go have a talk with Jimmy.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Jimmy shouted. Yeah, so no. I guess he had no clue as to his heritage. “My parents were human, I remember. I think I would know if they were just up and using magic all the time.”
“But your grandmother was not. With Water Mages, generally the females get the genes. They’re more of a healer type. There are some males with active powers, but not many. Now the Fires on the other hand are mostly male, and I need to know what they want with Lily, she hasn’t showed any signs of active powers. She’s Omega, which is rare in its self, and also a type of healer; a wolf healer. Being Omega means she cares for her wolves and can calm them if need be. I don’t know if it’s because of her water heritage, but these Mages want her. I need to know why.”
“I’ll make some calls, but I don’t have much family left, some distant cousins or something.” Jimmy scratched his head thoughtfully, before giving me a rueful look. “How is she?”
“You can ask her yourself. She misses you, and now that you know you’re not all human either maybe you can put that damn ‘I hate supernatural’ crap behind you and talk to her.” I may have growled that last part, but he had been hurting her, and I hated that. “Call me if you find anything out.”
With that James and I filed out the door and headed home. I had an angry mate to face, no use putting it off any longer.
Lily
“I just can’t believe he kept all this from me!” Ugh. I’m sure poor Abby was getting tired of hearing me rant, I know I was. I just hated that he still saw me as so weak, that I couldn’t handle information like this.
“Do you remember how you were when you first arrived?” Abby gave me a sad smile. “Cus I do. You were scared of your own shadow, a broken shell. I get why he didn’t tell you then. And I imagine it’s kind of hard to just come out and say, ‘by the way your mom was murdered by mages that throw around fire and your dad has magical blood in his veins to, oh and their after you.’ I mean that’s kind of a mouthful to tell someone that is just beginning to truly heal.”
Well, when she put it like that… “Fine. I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. What am I supposed to do with this information? Does that mean I can do magic to?” I don’t want anything more that makes me different from the pack I’m just starting to think of as family.
“I don’t know Lil. We will figure it out, I promise.” Abby grabbed my hand in hers. “I’m new to this to, we will figure it out together. And you know Zach would never let anything happen to you. If he did, I’ll put a curse on him or something, make his hair neon pink.”
I laugh. “Can you do that?” The image of my Alpha of a mate with bright pink hair made me laugh again.
“I have no idea, but it would be a sight to see.” She grinned. “Maybe I can even conjure a tutu on him or something.”
At this we were both laughing so hard we had tears streaming down our faces. “Thanks Abs I needed that.”
“Any time Lilybug.”
“Let’s go for a swim.” That always clears my mind, and I needed it cleared before I saw Zach again.
She laughed. “Well, at least now we know why you love the water so much.”
I rolled my eyes as we got up and started gathering our swim stuff. Her room was near mine and Zach’s so we gathered hers then went to mine so I could get ready. I had moved into Zach room right after graduation, we were always together anyways. It just seemed to make since.
Sue was already in the water when we got there. She didn’t pick on me as much anymore, but that by no means meant she liked me. And I could never forget all the horrible things she had done to me.
“Just ignore her.” Abby whispered as she set our towels on a nearby chair.
Sue looked up at us. “Relax, I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not going to do anything, Zach will kick me out of the pack if I did.” She got out of the water and wrapped a towel around her waist. “That doesn’t mean I want to hang with either of you. Rumor has it, that Ms. Abby here is a witch.” She rolled her eyes. “Apparently we are letting every stray we come across in the pack now.” She shouldered past me, but not nearly as hard as she would of a few months ago. “Just remember if this pack goes down, it’s on your head.” With that she walked out, slamming the door behind her.
“Well, isn’t she just full of the warm and fuzzies?” I laugh at Abby’s comment. “Come on, let’s swim Lil, that is what we’re here for.”
“You’re right.” She was, Sue was always going to be Sue, there would be no changing her. “Race you to the other side?”
She laughed loudly. “No way am I betting against you in the water! I’ve seen you swim, I would look like a gorilla to your mermaid.”
Chapter Three
Lily
“Whatever happened to Caleb?” Abby asked me as we were sitting alongside the pool.
“I don’t know. He just took off I guess. I hate that he left because of me, but he hated me from first sight.” I fiddled with the bow on my bottoms. “He disappeared shortly after Zach brought me in as his mate.”
“Not your fault, that kid was messed up. You can’t be friends with everyone, there’s always going to be some people who hate without reason. Hate can destroy the person you are from the inside out. My guess is he never really hated you, he detested himself. Isn’t that the root of people filled with that kind of meanness? You are surrounded by people that love you and would do anything to protect you, he doesn’t. He pushed everyone away that tried to get close to him. All we can do is fill our souls with love, and love those who love us. And hope that one day that it’ll make us more powerful than the souls that are filled with hatred. It’s the way of the world, I learned that a long time ago. My guess? It’s not any different with packs.”
“You’re right. I know you are, I just hate the idea of people leaving the pack because of me. Zach doesn’t deserve that.”
“No one left because of you.” I turned to see Zach standing in the doorway. I may not be happy with him, but my heart still sped at seeing him. “Caleb left because he’s angry, he has since his parents died, you were the easy target to take it out on. Don’t blame yourself for him leaving, I was the one that should have noticed how bad he had gotten sooner.” He watched me with trouble filled eyes. “Hey.”
“Hi.” I didn’t know what to say. I understood why he kept secrets, but that doesn’t mean I like it. I don’t see how a relationship can work if both parties aren’t completely honest with each other.
“And that is my cue.” Abby jumped up and started for the door. “You two work it out. I’ll just go find something to get into.”
We stood there, just staring at each other for a while, neither of us not knowing quite what to say to the other.
Finally, I made the first move. I hated this distance between us. “I understand why you didn’t tell me.”
“I just wanted to protect you.” He walked over and sat beside me, kicked off his shoes and dipping his feet in the water.
“I know. But you can’t protect me that way. You can’t keep me in the dark about things I need to know.” I grabbed his hand and held between both of mine. “I can handle more than I could when I first came here. Trust me to know what I can handle and what I can’t. Treat m
e like you would not just your mate, but your equal.”
“Deal. I’m sorry, Il mio bel fiore. I should have seen how strong you’ve become.” He gently cupped my cheek. “No more secrets. I promise, everything I know you’ll know. But his thing with the mages is going to get ugly. I still don’t know why they want you. Not to mention… we have to figure of if you have any active powers.”
“Is that even possible? With me being a wolf and all?” How much more supernatural can I get?
“That’s what we need to find out.” He hesitated before continuing on. “We also have to work on your fear of fire.” When I let out an involuntary shutter he placed his arm around my shoulders and hugged me close. “These are fire mages we are going to be dealing with, I can’t have you shutting down. The best way to keep you safe is for you to face your fear.”
“I’ll try.” I murmured, wondering how I was going to face it. As strong as I have gotten fire was still a major weakness.
“I’ll have Abby work with you on the magic, see if you have any. Maybe you can help each other. If this comes to a fight like I think it will, we are going to need everyone we can get.”
“What did dad say? Did he know about any of this?” It was hard to believe that my magic hating dad would know anything but you never know. Weirder things have happened.
“He didn’t know anything but he’s going to look into it. Apparently, you have some distant cousins or something.”
“Did he ask about me?” Foolish I know, I was asking for more heartbreak. I couldn’t help but hope that my dad would one day come around.
“He loves you Lil.” He let out a sigh. “You would think finding out he wasn’t completely human would make more open to you being a wolf.”
I felt an unwanted tear fall, I had promised I would shed no more for a man who couldn’t accept me for who I was. But I guess that was too much to ask for. I kept hoping, hoping and praying one day he would come and forgive everything I wasn’t responsible for. I couldn’t help who I was, all I could do is be the person I wanted to be. I wanted to be someone who forgave, loved, and hoped, I thought I was becoming that person. I just wanted him to see it.
“He’ll come around, believe this Lil. And when he does he going to love the person you are. He’d be an idiot not to.” He moved to stand and held a hand to assist me. “Maybe all this mess will rush him along. I know he’s worried about you, he’s just a coward. He’ll regret the time he missed with you. Believe me.”
“I just wish…”
“I know baby.” He wrapped the towel around me and held me close, lightly kissing my lips. “I hate to see you hurting. He’ll come around, just give him a little more time.”
Zach
I hated to see her hurting over something that could so easily be fixed. All Jimmy had to do was love her. I knew he did, but he needed to let her know he did. As I watch her sleep peacefully I almost wished I could keep her like this. This peaceful girl. In sleep, she loses the look of worry, fear, and hopelessness. She just looks peaceful. I wanted to feel that all the time, not just when she closes her eyes. She just loves so fiercely, when she doesn’t feel it back it hurts. She deserves the world, this beautiful girl who wants nothing but everyone around her happy. I know he’ll come around, I just hope when he does it’s not too late.
“Stop watching me sleep, it’s creepy.” Her voice is thick from sleep, making me smile.
“It’s not creepy, it’s romantic.” I reply, watching her stretch. We may share a room, but kissing is as far as we’ve went. She wanted to wait for marriage, and to be honest I did to. I wanted that for her, I never wanted her to give up anything to make someone else happy. But that didn’t stop my blood from warming as she stretched, showing a thin line of her stomach.
“Nope, it’s just creepy.” I laugh at her retort. I had caught her watching me sleep a time or two.
“Up and at ‘em.” I told her as I reached to throw on my shirt. “James, Abby, you, and I are training today. We have to find out if you have any magic in you, and see how much Abby knows about her own magic.”
“Okay, okay. Let me jump on the shower first. I didn’t take one last night and I still smell like chlorine.” She jumped up and ran into the connecting bathroom.
My cell rang as she walked out. “Hello?”
“Alpha, we have a problem.” Thomas sounded rattled, he never sounded rattled.
“Hold on.” I told him as I moved outside the room, giving Lily a ‘one second’ signal. “Okay.”
“Jimmy’s place caught fire last night.”
My breath caught in my throat, if something happened to her dad it would kill her. “Is Jimmy…”
“I don’t know. We are going through the house now. I don’t see any sign of him.”
“Keep looking, I have to tell Lily.” God, I hope he wasn’t home. This was not a conversation I was looking forward to. I wish I could tell her he was okay, but I won’t until we know for sure. I pulled the phone back out and dialed James. “Training is canceled today. Jimmy’s house caught fire and we have no idea whether he was in it or not. I have to talk to Lily. I need you and Abby to go help Thomas, maybe there is something Abby can do to find out if he’s alive or not.”
“God.” His voice was tight with worry. “Okay, take care of your girl, I’ll call when I know something… or not. Maybe he wasn’t home, we’ll hope for the best until we know for sure.”
“Thanks James. I’ll be in touch.” Now I just had to tell my mate her dad was missing…
Lily
I think my brain checked out, I could hear Zach talking. All that kept running through my mind was that my father’s home was on fire, it was happening all over again. It was like I was cursed to lose those I loved to the flames of death.
Finally, I felt warm hands cupping my cheeks. “Come back to me Il mio bel fiore.”
“I’m here.” I croak in a voice that sounds nothing like mine. My eyes finally come into focus to see the glowing amber eyes of my mate.
“We don’t know anything yet. And that’s a good thing, there is no body, which means he may be fine. We just have to find him.” I nodded slowly. Yeah, okay. I need to remember that, he may very well be okay. “That’s it love, just breath. We will do everything we can to find him.”
“What if he’s…?” I started, but choked up thinking of the alternative. My dad had to be okay, he just had to be.
“Don’t think like that. We do will everything we can to find him. Let’s take it one step at a time. Thomas and James are still searching the house.”
“I want to see it.” I reply numbly. I had to see if this was all real, it felt like a dream. A very bad dream.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea Lil.” He was careful with his words, I knew he was afraid I would breakdown again.
I won’t, I was stronger now, but I had to see the house of my early childhood. “It wasn’t a question Zach.”
“Alright Il mio bel fiore. I don’t think this is a promising idea, but if this is what you think you need… okay.”
I knew I should say something. Thank you or something… I just couldn’t. I was numb, utterly feeling-less. Like my mind had prepared itself for the idea of what I could find when we got there. I just had to hold it together, I had to see for myself what these monsters did to a man that never wanted anything to do with the supernatural. A man that had never really hurt anyone, he was a doctor for goodness sakes! I knew one thing… I was finding out of I had magic in me, and if I did I was going to bring down the Mages that have worked so hard to bring my life crashing down around me. I wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt. I couldn’t keep losing people I love; one girl could only handle so much.
Chapter Four
Zach
As soon he she caught sight of what was left of the house she dropped. Just fell on her knees, looking at the building her mom and dad had her in. There were no tears, no shakes, nothing to indicate she would fall apart. But I knew my Lily, she had shut everyt
hing off. A survival instinct to protect her still fragile mind. Abby was watching her with worried eyes. James and Thomas were still in what was left of the charred building, searching for any sign of Jimmy.
Suddenly she stood and walked towards the house. “Lily?” I called but got no response. I followed her closely, not willing to let her out of my sight just yet.
She stopped just inside the doorway, just breathing deep. “He’s alive.” Her voice was so soft I almost missed it. “His essence is not here, but it’s not gone.”
“Lil?” I stepped in front of her and after a minute she focused those green eyes on me. “How do you know that?”
“I don’t know… I just do.” She walked a little further in and spun in a slow circle. “It’s a deep feeling, in here.” She placed her hand over her chest, tears finally forming in her beautiful eyes. “He’s alive Zach, I know it. I just don’t know where he is.”
I gathered her in my arms and held her tight. I don’t know how she did that, but I trust her. If she says her dad is alive then we are going to do everything we can to bring him safely home to her. “Okay Il mio bel fiore. This must be part of your mage heritage, at least we know you have some kind of magic. We will find him, I promise.” I know I shouldn’t make promises like that; but one way or another I was bringing him home. Lily doesn’t deserve to lose anyone else.
When I look around I see James standing near Abby, an arm thrown around her shoulders as she quietly cried for her friend. Thomas is standing slightly behind me with something in his hands that he holds out to my mate.
“I found this in your dad’s room. There’s no sign of a struggle, I don’t think he was even here when the fire started.”