by M. D. Butler
Chapter 19
Jahla
Dinner with the O’Neills’ was… lively.
Meeting Cash’s little sisters was the best part besides the delicious feast prepared by his mom. Delilah is twelve, and Julia is eight. Delilah has her mother’s deep red hair, which falls in soft waves below her shoulders. Julia has her dad’s curly blonde hair, but they both share their mom’s light brown eyes. Only Cash and Kevin have green eyes, but Cash’s have that elemental glow.
I can tell the love giving the guys hell based on their antics at the table. They were constantly pulling pranks at the table and blaming them on one of the boys. It was very entertaining.
Last night was fun, but now it’s time to get to work.
Or at least I thought it was.
I come downstairs after getting dressed in my room after breakfast to find the moms, as I’ve begun to lovingly call them in my head, all gathered at the front door arguing with Krix and Den.
“What’s going on?” I interrupt, afraid that it’s about me.
“We’re taking you school clothes shopping.” Kayla is standing with her arms folded, and a determined look on her face.
“We have to start training today. She has to at least have the basics down. Fire and water are the hardest to control, and earth and wind take the most concentration to manipulate.”
“We’re taking her shopping, Denahi, and that’s the end of it! Now, come on, dear. We have a long day ahead of us.” Tia is already walking towards me to take my arm.
“I don’t have my bank card yet. It’s supposed to be mailed here.”
“We can stop by the bank branch in the town we’re going to and get you a temporary one made.”
“Angel, tell them we need to train.” Krix is adorable when he pouts. I didn’t even know that he knew how.
“Don’t you dare, Krix Devereaux! We need this time with her. You can train when we get back,” and with that, I’m swept out the door towards a blue Chevy Tahoe.
“You’re taking my truck?!” he yells from the front door of the house.
“We need the trunk space for the bags!” Kathy yells back as we all pile in. And just like that, I’m off to my first shopping trip.
***
I never want to go shopping again!
Two shopping centers, one mall and eleven stores later; and we’re pulling back up to the house. I enjoyed spending time with the moms, but my feet hurt! I’ve tried on so many clothes that I’m sure I’m going to have a rash from all of the different fabrics. My skin isn’t use to such wearing things. The guys are all lounging around on the porch when we turn the engine off, but jump to help with the bags when we start to get out.
Shifters’ body temperature runs hotter than humans, so we can stand the cold better. I would know, right? It wouldn’t surprise me if they’ve been out ere waiting for me this whole time.
“Have a good time, sweetheart?”
“Hey, Breezy, yeah, it was fun. I’m a little tired though.”
“Did you eat?”
I’m going to get fat as hell if Den doesn’t calm down on the food.
“Yes, Mom. We had Burger King, and Chic-fil-A. I’m good,” I say with a laugh. I try to grab a couple of the bags, but they just wave me away.
I turn to the moms to thank them for the trip, and say my goodbyes. Kayla is the first one to step up.
“We had a great time today, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow night for dinner at my house, and you can tell me all about your first day of school.”
I give her a hug, then do the same with the others.
“I had a great time, too. Thank you all for taking me shopping.”
“Anytime, dear. Whenever you need a break from the brutes, you just give a call. We’ll be happy to steal you away,” says Kathy as they all start walking towards their homes. They told me earlier about their every other day dinner schedule.
Tomorrow is the Wares’ turn, followed by the Barns, then the Devereauxs before the cycle repeats. They’re all determinedto integrate me into their families, and I couldn’t be happier with the instant acceptance.
I walk into the house after watching them disappear from sight down the road. I was feeling tired, but being back with the guys has me suddenly energized. I didn’t even realize how bad I felt with the moms rushing me around, but now I want to know why I felt such a way.
“Hey, guys? Is it crazy that I felt really tired and a little sick when I was shopping? I feel fine now,” I rush to say when Den shoots me a look while walking back downstairs from where he was putting my bags in my room.
“Did you feel anxious, too? You closed off the bond a little bit while you were gone so we weren’t sure.”
“Yeah, but I think it was because I was out with your moms by myself for the first time. I closed it down because I didn’t want you guys to worry.”
“Whew, good! I thought I was getting too clingy for a second there!”
“What are you talking about Cash? You could never be too clingy with me.”
“Glad to hear that, sweetheart, but what he means is that we all felt like that. It’s the bond. You’ll feel like that whenever you’re a good distance from us. Your wolf feels anxious, and it makes you feel tired and sick when you’re too far away. It’ll get easier over time, but it’ll never really go away. Mates aren’t meant to be separated.”
“Okay, that explains it. I feel better now, but I wouldn’t mind some down time with you guys. Can we do a little sit-down training?”
“Sure, angel. We can do it by the pool outside.”
“There’s a pool? How the hell did I not notice that?”
They can’t be dropping bombs like that, and expect me to just go by it like it wasn’t said.
“It’s out back. I didn’t show you during the tour because we ran out of time, and I didn’t want to deal with an angry Denahi if you didn’t eat fast enough. He can be a little scary sometimes.” He says the last part in a stage whisper that has Denny scowling at him.
We walk through the house and out the back door, and my jaw drops. They have a freaking oasis in their back yard. It’s frozen, but still beautiful.
The covered pool is half modern, half natural I guess you can say. The modern side is all sharp corners, but the nature side is my favorite. There’s a rock face with a waterfall, and little nooks for you to perch or jump into the pool from.
“Wow!”
“You say that a lot. Come sit with me, babe,” Cash says as he takes my hand, leading me over to a lounge chair beside the pool. He sits down first before pulling me into his lap. I snuggle in deeper as his arms go around me.
“Let’s start with water.” Krix take the chair next to us, turning our way. “I want you to try to hold a water ball with one hand, and make another water ball change into a rope with the other.”
“Damn, way to start things off easy, Krix.”
“Shut up, Cash. I just want to see what she can handle so far.”
I pull up the bundle of colors in my mind’s eye, not even needing to close my eyes to see it anymore, and pull apart the blue one. I ball my fists up, and slowly relax them as a ball of water forms in each hand. Keeping my concentration split between the two, I focus on my left as I try to imagine it becoming a rope. It’s harder than it sounds, and I have to figure out the movement of my hands before I finally create a wobbly looking line of water.
“Not bad for your first try. You did a great job keeping your focus split. A little more practice, and you’ll be whipping ass. Literally,” Krix gives me a wink before he vacates his seat, allowing Mav to take his place.
“Okay, so air. You can create some pleasant little breezes on a hot day, but you can also be pretty badass. You can throw things around, and even make yourself fly. It’s all about how you move the air. I want you to try to lift that chair over there, and hold it in the air for two minutes.”
I look over to where he’s pointing, and pull in the silver thread in my head to get started. I realiz
e that the air is harder to control when I’m not using my hands, so I bring them into play. This shit is really hard because, well, it’s fucking air! How the hell do you contain something that’s everywhere around you? Still, I figure it out when I get the chair to slide a little. I learn that I have to force the air under it, and add pressure to kind of solidify it. Then, I have to do the same around the chair to hold it steady.at least, I try to. Just like with the water rope, it wobbles. I’m still able to hold it in the air for the two minutes he asked before I set it back down as gentle as I can.
When I say gentle, I mean I slam it down. Oops!
“Good job, sweetheart. You’re doing an amazing job.” He gets up and kisses me on the cheek. Now, Denahi is sitting in the chair beside Cash and me.
“A fire wall. You’ll need it to protect your weak side in battle.”
“Wait, like an actual wall of fire?”
“Yes. You don’t have to worry about burning anything here. Almost everything is fire retardant, and whatever isn’t can easily be put out. It’ll be good practice for you about how to switch between your powers. Are you ready?”
Den is being really serious right now, so I try to shake away my self doubt by giving him a firm nod.
“All you have to do is picture a wall, and imagine it covered in flames. You have to shoot the flames where you want them to go to create the actual wall, but you hold it in place the same way you help the water ball in your hand earlier. You have to split your focus.”
I listen to what he’s saying as I latch onto the gold string in my mind. Fire and water are the only elements that I have to envision flowing through my body in order for me to be able to conjure them. I force the heat to flow through the palm of my left hand, and aim it away from us at a clear spot on the concrete deck. I move it in a straight line, then up and back the opposite way until I’ve made a square in the air that’s about four feet high. It takes me a couple of tries until I get the fire to stay where I want it before I fill in the square to form the solid wall. I hold it for a couple of minutes before I pull the fire back into my hands, and release my hold on the golden thread of magic.
Den doesn’t say anything, just leans over to give me a soft kiss on the lips. He has a satisfied smirk on his face as he reclines in his lounge seat, so I’ll take it as a job well done.
“Alright, babe. I’ll let you choose what we do. It’s getting dark, and I we have to get a good night’s sleep for school tomorrow.”
“You just want to go to bed with me,” I say as I turn to look at cash at my back.
“Yeah, but we all agreed to stay in our own rooms until the new bed gets here at the end of the week.” What do you want to try?”
I think about for a second before I settle on something. “Can I try the vine thing? It looks like it could come in handy.”
“Sure, but it’s a little hard to get the hang of at first. Making plants grow takes a lot of conscious thought. It’s actually not fines that I pull up from the ground, it’s roots. I can make thick fines when I’m in the woods, but roots are easier in open space. So, just close your eyes. You have to use the earth magic as kind of like a compass, or a guiding hand. Imagine it spreading out of the land, and showing what’s both above and below the ground. If you think about what you’re looking for, it’ll have a glow to it. Once you see what you want, you can use it. You’re looking for roots, so you need to find a root and make it grow. Use your hand as a guide to draw it out of the ground as you grow it.”
It’s a little hard to focus on what Cash is saying with his deep voice speaking lowly right at my ear, but I try my best. Closing my eyes, I take hold of the green string, and imagine myself throwing it out on the grass beside the pool area. I tell myself that I want a single root, and I can actually see them glowing! I pick one at random, and try to coax it into being a little thicker while stretching it up out of the ground. I open my eyes, but keep my concentration on the root as I lift my head to guide it. The root that pops up us barely visible so I try to grow it a little more. Once I have at a decent size, I make it do a little wave at the guys.
“Look at you, babe! You’re getting this shit on the first try!”
He gives me a swift kiss on the back of my neck, and my skin tingles in that spot. My dancing root falter a bit at the distraction, but I force myself to focus back on my task.
“What do I do with it now?”
“Now, you just put it back. Imagine it shrinking while you put it back where you got it from.”
That part was easier, and soon my root is back safely underground.
“Okay, I’m tired now.”
“Food first, then bed.”
“Yes, Mom!”
The guys all laugh as we get up to head into the kitchen.
Chapter 20
Cashel
I don’t know how I feel about Jahla starting at the academy with us.
On the plus side, she’s in the same grade as us. On the other? The students.
Most aren’t so bad. Our packmates are excited to meet her after hearing the prophecy all of these years. There are a few from the other pack that might give us a few problems, though. What else is new? Every day seems to bring a new problem.
Can’t say that life isn’t exciting now.
Den parks the truck in the lot, and we all climb out. The dude has some serious control issues, and insists on being the one to drive when we’re all together. He doesn’t think our driving skills are good enough for us to be behind the wheel with Jahla in the car.
Asshole, but whatever.
Even though this is an academy, it’s only one in name. There aren’t any uniforms, and the teachers aren’t called professors. It’s basically a public school, but you have to be a wolf shifter to gain admittance.
“Come on, babe. I’ll take you to the office so you can get your schedule. We need time to change whatever classes we’re not in together.”
“You’re going to smother her if you’re in all of her classes, Cash”
“Fuck off, Mav. She said I could never be too clingy,” I say with a laugh. I’m not going to try to get in all of her classes, but I need to make sure she’s with at least one of us. Krix wants’ her in our gym class so we can use it as an extra training session, so I volunteered to be the one to get everything sorted.
We walk in and out of the office in under a minute. The administration has always known who we were, and our parents told them that Jahla is our mate. Den and Krix think this will jeopardize her safety because the wrong people could find out, but at least she’ll be with one of us at all times.
“Pack Mentality? Mate Bonds? Shifting? This really is a wolf school, huh?”
“Yeah, but senior year is mainly about reviewing everything we’ve learned over the years to make sure it stuck. We have six blocks here, so the classes aren’t as long. Oh, and we don’t have any athletics. Wouldn’t be fair to the other schools with average humans.
That part has always bummed me out, but I never had to time to play sports, anyway. Sucks to have responsibilities sometimes.
We meet back up with the crew out front on the steps to see them surrounded by students. Most are pack members, but I see a couple from other areas. A large majority are keeping a respectful distance, but there are four who are standing way too close, and I can feel the jealousy begin to simmer through the bond from Jahla.
Who the fuck are they, and why are they so close to them?
Uh, babe? Calm down a little before you burn down the school. You’re starting to steam. Literally!
I’ve seen Denahi get so mad that he spontaneously combusted, but I didn’t think Jahla could get this angry. Fuck, this mate thing is crazy! If I can feel her anger, I know the guys can, too. Unless they’ve closed it off from their side. That’s only going to make it worse!
I switch the link with just me and the guys to give them a heads up.
Guys, back away from the females. Jahla is pissed! Open your bond so she’ll know you’re not
interested in them!
It’s open, and we feel her anger. We just didn’t want to make any sudden moves so we wouldn’t look guilty.
Oh, that makes sense. Points to Mavrin for thinking about it.
I turn back to Jahla when she takes a step towards the group. I immediately wrap my arms around her from to hold her back, all the while trying to make it seem like a loving embraced to anyone who glances our way. Don’t need to draw too much attention from someone who might snitch to the admins. She just started for Mother’s sake!
The guys slowly stand up from the steps in unison, and back away from the group. The girls aren’t having it, though, and they move with them.
“Where are you going, Krix?”
“Yeah, Mavrin. You weren’t gone that long this time, but I still missed seeing you around.”
“Where did you guys say Cashel was?”
“You have to stop being so surly, Denahi. You’re going to get wrinkles on your handsome face.”
Fuck, it’s them. We call them the Femme Fatale. The only four girls who won’t accept that we’re not interested. Ever since they saw our power and dominance during shifting freshman year, they’ve set their sights on us.
Two of them are from a pack that’s known for political matings, and Candace’s family emulates them. She has already rejected her mate because he didn’t have any power or alliance to bring to the table. Her father is the head of our security in our pack, and feels the same way. She won’t accept anything less.
Knowing that we have a prophesied fated mate doesn’t mean shit to them. They think that if we haven’t found her yet, then she’s probably dead. Being alphas, and having elemental magic makes us all the more appealing.
Seeing that it’s them harassing my brothers, I let Jahla go. I can be a little messy sometimes.
“Feel free to fuck them up, babe. They been following us around since grade nine, and don’t care that we were waiting for you.”
“Don’t egg this on, Cash! Let’s just go stand at our lockers, or something, sweetheart. They don’t matter.”
“Really, Mavrin? We don’t matter? We’ve waited for you all this time, and suddenly we don’t matter? Who the hell is she, anyway? She looks like a freak.”