“What’s wrong?” Alaia asks. I can see the worry on her face, and that is something I don’t want ever to happen. I don’t want my woman to ever be afraid of anything.
“Don’t worry, kitten. It’s just trespassers we saw coming over our wall. The others will go stop them, but we need to go in and get ready for dinner.” I try to appease her, but my body is tense with the thought of them being Keres. I notice that Alaia doesn’t ask any more questions or procrastinate. She hurries towards her stuff and is ready to move.
Cassius, Bion, and I place the women before us as we make our way back to the compound. I want to pick up Alaia and rush towards safety, but I don’t want to panic the women. We are nearly at the compound when Cassius’s phone starts to ring.
“Yeah,” he mutters.
“Get in here now,” Celmund says, which with our acute hearing, we all hear, and in a second, we have the women in our arms and are sprinting towards the compound garage door where we see Draco and Wulf standing. I can see by Draco’s intense look that shit is going down.
“Go inside. Hurry up,” Draco says to the women as we make it to the garage. I see Alaia’s look of concern, which has my anger rising. I lower my head and kiss her gently before she turns and hurries inside.
“What the fuck is going on?” Cassius asks as we hear the compound shutting down.
“Prepare yourselves. We’re going to have other Elemental company.” At Wulf’s reply, I tense. The motherfuckers are going to try to attack us to get to our women. We are trying to help those assholes, and this is what they do.
“Who?” Bion asks as he opens the compartment where we keep our weapons. I join him in taking my weapons of choice. I always carry a gun at the back of my jeans, but now I place a holster around my legs with two long blades and two more guns.
“Johannesburg Chapter. There are at least six of them,” Draco states as he walks outside,
“Does Diesel know this?” Cassius asks as he joins Draco outside. We are all tense, as we don’t like a fight near our women, but not only that—we fight Keres. We don’t fight each other. Elemental fighting Elemental is not something we ever thought would happen.
“Apparently not. He sent them on a run. I guess they decided this was more important,” Wulf grunts.
“Where are the others?” I ask as I go stand next to the others in the room.
“Bjarni, Ceric, and Brandr have gone to the east. Burkhart and Gunner have gone around the back, but you know they will pick them up the same as we would. We will wait here for them. If they want to challenge us, we will accept,” Draco states.
“It was that fucking Rex. I thought he had accepted that we would in time update everyone. I should have let Burkhart on him,” I state, thinking of the confrontation the other day.
“They’re close,” Draco says, which has us all spreading out. A few minutes later, we see them coming through the trees, their energy levels ready for a fight.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Draco asks when they’re close enough to hear him.
“We want the opportunity to find our mates. You have no right to keep it to yourself and decide who gets to find them and who doesn’t,” Sloan, one of the brothers, says. I see that Rex is among them but standing more to the back. I’m sure he was the instigator, but now stands back instead of showing his face as the culprit.
“I didn’t have to tell you about it, did I?” Draco asks with a raised brow. “We don’t have the facilities at the moment to give everyone a chance. Therefore, we have to give it to the ones who need it the most, and as you know, those are the Elementals who are nearing their change, which from what I can see from here, is none of you.”
“You can’t know that. We have a right like everyone else,” Marcus says this time. “I want to make sure that if my mate is out there, I find her and don’t miss her because someone else had the opportunity that I didn’t have.”
“If the rumours are true, and it is your women who can find our mates and can stop us from turning, then I don’t understand what the problem is. I’m sure they’re not that delicate that an extra six men will break them.” The way the asshole insinuates that has me ready to punch him, but I don’t need to worry, because soon, he is gasping for air, his face turning purple.
I look over at Draco because only he is capable of extracting all the air from an area, but he has never done it in the open before. I see that he hasn’t moved, professing to his ability and how much his power has grown. When the asshole falls to his knees, finally gasping in big gulps of air, I see the frightened look on the others’ faces when they realize how precarious their position is.
“We don’t want any trouble. We just want the opportunity to find our mates,” Sloan says.
“If you didn’t want trouble, you wouldn’t have come over the wall, and yes, through the main gate,” Cassius says.
“You do know that you went against something that our club president said, don’t you?” Bion asks. “For that, there will be consequences.”
“Who gives you the right to be judge and jury on something that relates to our lives?” Rex asks angrily.
“Everyone’s life is important, every single Elemental. We will not bend on this. We will not look at your case while there are other Elementals out there in precarious positions,” Draco states.
“We cannot flick a switch and know where your mates are. It takes investigating and research. We cannot find everyone even if we wanted to,” I state, trying to appease the tension between everyone.
“Fuck off, Caelius. Why would we believe you? What are you all getting out of this? I’m sure there must be something if you are only willing to choose those in desperate need. Do you require them to pay you once they come here? Because if that’s what it takes, we can also pay.” At Marcus’s comment, I know they have gone too far. I can feel everyone’s energy levels rise.
Fighting Elementals will not be the same as fighting Keres because their energy is still pure and stronger. I see one of them raise his arm and know that even if we didn’t want this, we are going to have to show them that this is not acceptable.
A ball of flame is suddenly flying towards us; the motherfucker thinks he can use these simple tricks on us. I lift my arms and send a gust of wind that disperses the flame and finally blows it out, but already there are more flying towards us. Draco lifts his hands, and a wall of flame appears between us and the others. The balls of flame disperse within the heat of the wall.
I hear a rush of water and know that one of them must be a water bender trying to kill the flames of Draco’s wall of fire. I look over at Bion and see him smile as he lifts his hands and rotates them anti-clockwise. I see the rush of water that was moving towards us suddenly turn and move towards the others. It’s not easy to mess with a brother’s bending, so for Bion to be able to stop the momentum of the rush of water and bend it to his will shows the strength of his power.
Wulf goes down on his haunches and places his hands on the ground. By the force of the energy, I can tell that Ceric and Bjarni are bending too. I can feel the earth starting to move and bend, and then wide cracks open towards where the Elementals are. I see them rush in different directions, exactly what we were expecting. Now we can hunt them down individually instead of them being together, pulling from each other’s powers.
I automatically turn to my left and take off after one of them rushing that way, knowing that my brothers will follow the others. My senses are alert; as I run, I lift my arms and start to bend the air in the direction this particular Elemental is going. The wind will carry back his scent and let me know where the asshole is heading. I know he has stopped when I feel heat come towards me; my anger intensifies as I realize the son of a bitch is bending fire in the middle of a forest where everything will go up in flames. Contrary to Draco, I cannot extract air. The only thing I can do is try to guide the flames so they don’t burn our home.
I see a flash of fire moving towards me. I send a flash of air to guide
the fire until it’s hitting the ground a few metres before me. I pinpoint the asshole’s location. Lifting my gun, I aim and then shoot. A minute later, I hear a grunt. Before he has a chance to move, I rush towards him. I jump at the last minute onto his back as he tries to get away.
“Son of a bitch,” I grunt before I pull back my fist and punch him. He manages to lift his leg and knee me in the side. I grunt as I roll out of his way and onto my feet. He also stands. “Is this really what you want?” I grunt as I lift my leg and kick his knee, making him go down again.
“Yes, you can’t tell us who does and who doesn’t have the right to find their mate,” he grunts. I pull back my arm and punch him again.
“We would let everyone find their mates if we could, but it doesn’t work that way. Stop being an ass.” He charges at me, his head butting me in the stomach, which has the air leaving my lungs. As I stagger back, I pull out one of my blades.
“Don’t make me do this, Brother,” I grunt, but the son of a bitch just smiles at me and lifts his gun. Before I can think, I throw my blade, hitting him right where his heart is. Instantly, he starts to disintegrate into a white-hot flame before it turns to ashes and blows away. I lower my head in anger. Why would he do this? Why would any of them do this? I just killed an Elemental unnecessarily because they were selfish and weren’t thinking of anyone except themselves.
ALAIA 15
I don’t know what the threat might be, but I’m worried it could be Joshua. Is Joshua doing something he shouldn’t? Did he bring more guys with him this time? After being with the Elementals for a while, I know there is no chance of a group of marines being able to win a fight with them. I asked Sara to see how Joshua is doing and am now waiting for her to update me on where he is.
Some of the women have gone into the computer room to see what is happening. The others are here with us in the kitchen, keeping themselves busy so as not to think of what might be happening outside. The thought of Caelius being hurt has my heart racing in anguish. I need to know he’s fine. I stand from the table and walk towards the stone wall of the kitchen; placing my hand there, I close my eyes and let my senses take me through the earth to where I can feel him. My stomach knots when I feel the anguish he is feeling. Did something happen? Is one of the guys hurt?
I’m pleased to know he is fine, but why would he be feeling so anguished? I see Saskia looking at me with a questioning look, and I shrug. “Just wanted to see if Caelius is fine. He is,” I say, not elaborating, as I don’t want to worry anyone.
“This is terrible. I have always hated it when the men have a fight,” Brielle says as she raises her hand in frustration. “Maybe once we stop the men from turning, we will be able to end this Keres epidemic that has the men constantly in danger.”
I hope she’s right, because from what I have seen, the Keres are evil, and if they have the opportunity, they will kill any of us. After James’s change and the conversations we have had with him since then to try to understand the Keres better, we have come to realize that the fury takes over their whole mind and body, completely overpowering their good side.
James and his mate have been joined. At first, we were worried that because he had already changed before that, the bonding wouldn’t work like it does with the Elementals, that maybe somehow they wouldn’t have the same magnetism, but to our delight, it seems like they are as compatible as any Elemental.
James has been moved to one of the Elementals’ chapter compounds that is out of the way so that he can be monitored in case something changes or goes wrong. There have been many requests from the different chapters for help with some of their men. Celmund has been booking them in, insisting on only booking one a day even though we have confirmed that we can help at least two a day, but the men are adamant that they don’t want us to tire ourselves.
I know that if they could, they would only let us do one a week, but they know that there are too many for them to deny them the opportunity of getting better. I heard Celmund telling Wulf that he is finding it difficult to prioritize, as there are quite a few who are precarious. The thought that there are so many men who have gone through their very long lives looking for that one person who fulfils them completely and fully to the extent that their dark side never comes out is sad.
“It will take a long time before the Keres come to an end, because as many Elementals as there are, there are more Keres,” Saskia says as she opens a packet of crisps and starts to nibble on them. “I just hope that fool man of mine doesn’t do something stupid and get himself killed.”
Out of all the men, we all know Burkhart is a hothead and explodes at the least provocation. Therefore, Saskia’s fears are well-founded.
“Yes, he does have a hothead, but you know that man of yours isn’t easy to kill,” Brielle says as she walks towards Saskia and hugs her from behind.
“Do you think there is anything we can do to help them?” Nova asks as she stuffs another marshmallow into her mouth.
“No, I don’t think so, as we don’t even know who they’re fighting,” Brielle says with a frown.
“If Ceric gets hurt, I swear he will be sorry,” Nova mutters under her breath, which has me smiling as I imagine all the things she will come up with to torture the poor man.
“If he knows what’s good for him, he will start running the other way now,” Scarlett says playfully, which has Nova sticking her tongue out at her.
“I will just have to run after him.” At that, we all burst out laughing when we imagine Nova with her swollen belly running after Ceric as she argues with him. “What? You think I wouldn’t?” she quips with a raised brow, and then also laughs. Just then, Talia walks in, a tense look on her face.
“What’s happening?” Brielle asks as soon as she sees her.
“It’s Elementals from the Johannesburg Chapter; they wanted to corner Draco into letting them find their mates. Needless to say, they just started fighting. I couldn’t stand the suspense. I had to leave.” Just then, we feel the earth moving beneath us, which has me gasping.
“What the hell is happening out there?” Nova mutters as she places her hand over her stomach.
“Draco must be furious. He’s trying to help the Elementals, and then you have them come here to throw it back in his face,” Saskia says as she shakes her head sadly.
“You have no idea; he was suffocating one of the guys without even batting an eye. From Celmund’s excited reaction—” She looks at our surprised looks. “Yes, excited, as apparently he has never seen anyone extract oxygen as easily as Draco was doing, especially outside in the open.”
“That man has some powers on him,” Brielle says. “Did you feel his energy when we were trying to calm him?”
“I think his pinkie has more compressed energy than an atomic bomb,” Talia states. “The ease with which he bends the elements is crazy.”
“What do you mean bends the elements?” We all snap around at Sara’s question. We were so distracted that we didn’t even see her walk in. By her shocked look, I can tell that she heard more than we wanted her to hear. I should have already said something to her, as she will now feel like I am betraying her by not trusting her with this secret, but it’s not my secret to tell. “Is anyone going to tell me what you are talking about?”
“You know how we all have gifts,” I say, and wait for her nod. “Well, Draco also has a gift. He can bend the elements.” At my confession, I see her eyes widen, and then she looks around at the other women before looking back at me.
“All the elements?” she asks.
“I’m not sure, but fire, air, and earth he can bend,” I state.
“Are you kidding me?” she asks, and has us all shaking our heads in reply.
“How long have you known about him?” I knew this question was coming. I know Sara is going to be hurt by my omission.
“From the beginning,” I confirm, and instantly her face shuts down. “It wasn’t my place to say anything.” I try to justify my actions, but I kno
w she won’t see it as such.
“You can tell me about all the women having gifts, but you can’t tell me that Draco does?” I see her frown, and then she asks what I was hoping she wouldn’t. “Do the other men have gifts too?” At her question, I see the others look at me. I don’t know what to do. How am I going to explain that all the men bend the elements.
“Yes,” I state, which has her gasping in surprise. Her hand raises to her chest, and she looks at the others. “What do they do?”
“They all bend the elements,” I state before anyone else can say anything.
“All of them do the same thing?” she asks suspiciously.
“Not the same as Draco. They usually only bend one element.”
At my admission, she looks at me with hurt in her eyes. “You didn’t trust me to tell me,” she states before she shakes her head and turns to leave.
“Sara,” I call. She stops but doesn’t turn back to me. “I couldn’t tell you. It wasn’t my place to say anything.” She doesn’t say anything as she walks out. I want to run after her and try to make up for it, but the truth is that I didn’t tell her and she has every right to be upset. Up till now, we have always told each other everything and not had secrets with each other. I know this will feel like a betrayal, and she has every right to feel like that, as I don’t have an excuse for what I did except that I was trying to protect something that no one knows about, and if they did, there would be a riot.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” Brielle says as she looks at me. I give her a small smile, but my heart is hurting for having hurt Sara. I don’t like being upset with anyone, especially not Sara, as we have always been very close. I now feel like I have betrayed her, because in a way, I have by not letting her know.
“Excuse me,” I call out as I follow Sara. I need to make her understand. I walk out of the kitchen and start to turn towards where Sara has her room, when I see her sitting under the tree in the courtyard. I know that she knows I am approaching her, but she is purposefully ignoring me. When I am standing before her, I can see that she has tears running down her cheeks, and that tears at me like a knife knowing that I am responsible for her tears.
CAELIUS: Elementals MC (book 9) (Elemental's MC) Page 11