by LM Wilson
“Ok, so how come Chase wasn’t as effected as the rest of us?”
“My guess would be that my sister wasn’t really trying with him. She probably didn’t want him to be a mindless drone who follows the crowd.”
“Who exactly are you?” I ask eyeing him carefully. He’s around my age, maybe a year or two older considering I’ve never seen him in any of my classes. Brown eyes, with brown hair, he actually looks like your average person which is really strange for a shifter. We usually all have untold beauty much like the girl Joey.
Now she’s a real looker, long dark hair that has the hint of brown through the ebony strands and her eyes. Man are they hypnotising, a shade of blue that reminds me of the clearest night sky. So dark with little flecks of silver throughout them. Out of all the shifters I’ve seen, I have never seen eyes like hers.
That same niggling feeling tickles the back of my mind, but instead of pushing it away, I let it take over completely.
Angel has her caged in with his arms on either side of her, they look like a happy couple enjoying the privacy afforded by the empty pool. He whispers something that makes her giggle and white-hot rage pours through me. Before I can think, I’m across the room and pulling her out of the water.
She lets out a startled scream before realising it’s just me. Then her face flushes red and she turns in my arms to glare at me. “What the fuck is your problem Raine?” Joey shoves me in the chest and I’m so shocked at my own behaviour that I stumble back a step. Angel climbs out of the pool and reaches for Joey. I hold my breath in an attempt to hold in the jealousy, but it comes pouring out in words that I regret the instant they leave my mouth.
“She’s my Split-shift mate.”
“What was that Raine?” Angel asks pulling me from the memory.
“She’s my mate, my Split-shift mate.” Everything comes flooding back. I feel my head start to pound as I remember everything from her and I fighting the first time we met to her lying in my arms.
“How could I ever forget her?” I’m not sure who I’m asking or even if I want an answer, but I speak out loud as I try to come to terms with the way I’ve been treating her the last couple of weeks. “She’ll never forgive me.” I hang my head in my hands, fighting back tears as I try to think of a way to fix all this. Not once in all my life, did I ever do anything as bad as what I did to Joey Kale.
The memory hits me so hard that I fall on my ass.
“That’s her. The one who told everyone that she was willing to fuck anyone to gain even a tiny bit more power.” Miranda whispered into my ear. I knew it was wrong. I knew what she was saying wasn’t true but I reacted as though I believed her. I felt like I had to do something to stop Joey from acting like a power whore.
I’m the reason everyone treated her like trash. I’m the one who told everyone to do it. After Miranda told me, I grabbed the first person I could find and threatened them into spreading he lies. I even orchestrated the entire Elemental Studies class to use her as target practice last week.
Everything Joey has been through, I made it happen using my reputation as “The bad boy of Abaddon Academy.”
I tear through the cabin, searching every room, not even bothering to knock on the few doors before bursting through them. I owe her everything. I know I don’t deserve her forgiveness but I need to tell her how sorry I am.
I reach the last door in the hallway and grab the handle, but her voice coming from the other side makes me pause.
“I don’t know if I could ever forgive them.”
My heart drops to my feet. She deserves better than anything I could ever give her.
I back away from the door, tears blurring my vision. My back hits the wall and I sink to the hardwood floor.
I ruined everything. Some Guardian I am.
♡
Chapter: Angel
I watch Raine tear out of the living room as though he’s a man on a mission. I don’t bother following, I have too much on my mind right now. The moment Malachi said Joey’s name, I remembered everything from switching bodies to treating Joey like trash. I laughed every time I saw someone hurt her, emotionally or physically. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that I had done all that.
I don’t care what it takes, I will find a way to fix everything. The question now though is what the hell do we do to stop our memories from being messed with again?
Bandit and Raine come into the room and my first thought upon seeing Raine’s bloodshot eyes is that he’s finally remembered and took off because he was embarrassed to cry in front of us. I’d be crying too if I’d done the things he did to Joey. Not that I’m making excuses, the way I treated her wasn’t any better.
“Where’s Joey?” I ask, trying to deflect my own thoughts.
“I hope you all feel good about yourselves, I just watched young Joey cry herself to sleep over how much you lot have hurt her.” Bandit’s words have us all hanging our heads. “However, despite her anger towards you all, she wasn’t idle these last couple of weeks. The princess selflessly searched for a way to help you all because she didn’t want to believe the worst in you all. She found you a loophole. A way to prevent anyone else ever messing with your minds.”
“Why didn’t she tell us?” I ask, leaning back against the wall.
“Because she doesn’t think it’s a viable solution. Her words, not mine. I personally don’t think you lot deserve this. If even half of what she told me is true then the lot of you should be grovelling before that girl and begging for her forgiveness.”
“What’s the solution?” Raine finally snaps.
“It would require you all accepting your Guardian positions officially. By submitting to Joey and accepting your positions as her official guardians, which requires a special ceremony and the exchange of vows, you would then be protected against any mental attacks in the future.”
“What does the ceremony involve?” Chase asks sitting forward eagerly.
“Vows which state that you are to give your lives for her and only answer to her. That you will take no individual wives or mates. You would have to swear under the light of a full moon at midnight in your human forms then transform and mark her.” Bandit eases his huge body onto the end of the bench seat and turns to face all of us. “Joey doesn’t want me to tell you, she thinks it’s too much to ask from all of you and that she doesn’t believe you would want to be tied to her forever. I believe it’s your choice to make, not hers.”
“How do we know she really is the Lost Princess?” I ask, trying to figure out why Raine hasn’t tried arguing about that yet.
“You have to have faith that all will be revealed when it is time.” Bandit gets to his feet and sighs, “Besides, if she’s not the real princess the ceremony will fail and nothing will happen because you can’t magically enforce a bond with anyone other than a royal.”
He’s out the door by the time I manage to say, “Alphas do it all the time.”
“No, Alphas force obedience. What you’d be swearing to, is nothing like an alpha bond. You’d be giving a piece of yourselves to the princess and a piece of her would forever be a part of you.” With those ominous words, he leaves us all sitting here staring at the empty fireplace.
“Well that counts me out. There’s no way I could do it, not after what I did to her.” Raine gets up and walks out the door, not even bothering to see what the rest of us have to say.
“I can’t give up chicks. Besides I’m the last of my family’s blood, if I don’t have kids my family line dies with me.” I too get up and start heading towards the door.
“The vows don’t actually say you have to be celibate they state that we aren’t allowed to take anyone else into our lives.” Chase glances at the doorway down the hall where Joey is sleeping and looks meaningfully at Malachi and me. I know what he’s saying but even I can’t agree to this. Joey’s beautiful but there’s no way I’m going to spend the rest of my life sharing my mate.
There has to be another way.
Chapter: Chase
“You should go after them. Try to convince them this is the only choice.”
I shake my head, not bothering to say anything. I agree with everything they said. I don’t know if I could commit to someone after only knowing them a few weeks. The problem is, we’ve all known that eventually we’d have to give up our lifestyles. We all knew that one day the Princess would be found and we’d become her guardians.
I get that the thought of giving it all up before we’re even out of school is a tough choice, but do we really have a choice?
Did we ever?
I’ve spent the last six months partying and sleeping around. I know what I’d be giving up, but for Joey, I would give it all up. She deserves more than someone like me can give her, but I was chosen to be her guardian for a reason. I have to believe that.
“The next full moon is in two weeks. We’ve got time to bring them around. Let’s give them tonight to have their tantrums. Tomorrow we’ll start working on ways to convince them.”
“You know if it’s just the idea of never being with anyone else, there might be a loophole we could exploit. I’m sure there has to be something in the library’s forbidden section.”
I smile at Malachi’s idea. “I know where River keeps the key to the door.” I say as we pull the door to the cabin closed.
♡
Chapter: Angel
It’s been two days since I walked away from that cabin. Two days since I’ve seen Joey Kale. So why the hell can’t I get her out of my head?
I grab another bottle of beer off the table and down it in one go. Getting drunk isn’t the best way to handle all this, but it sure as hell beats moping around like Raine’s been doing. I’m not the only one here drinking, it is a party after all. One drunk girl has been all over me most of the night and I finally give in to her constant prodding to go somewhere quieter.
I can’t remember her name, hell I’m not even sure she even told me her name, but she doesn’t complain as I grab her hand, practically dragging her out the door and down the hall to my room. I fumble the key as I try to unlock my door. I’m so wasted that I even trip over my own feet once I finally get it open. The girl doesn’t seem to care, she’s too busy running her hands up my chest under my shirt and making the most annoying noises.
I kick the door closed as she grabs the back of my neck, trying to pull me down for a kiss. The second I close my eyes Joey’s face appears as though to taunt me. I shake my head and force my eyes open again. The girl pouts her think lips as I spin her around so I can’t see her face anymore. Her mousey brown hair is far too short for my liking, but I move it off her shoulder and kiss all along her neck. I know its sloppy and can’t possibly be as pleasurable as this girl’s making it sound, but I don’t stop either.
I want to keep going. I want to prove to myself that Joey Kale isn’t my future.
The problem is, I can’t stop thinking about her.
I can’t stop feeling guilty for touching someone who isn’t her. The girl spins back around to face me, grabbing onto my shirt and trying to pull it off. I stare into her green eyes and wonder for a moment what the hell I’m doing. She pouts again and I feel bad for her. So, I reach back and grab the shirt by the back of the neck and draw it over my head in one smooth motion.
Her hands continue to roam all over my chest as though she’s never touched a guy before. She starts moaning like I’m touching her back and I almost push her away. My arms haven’t moved from my sides. I just can’t bring myself to touch her again. I open my mouth to tell her I’m not interested anymore when she brings her hand up to my guardian mark and asks, “What’s this? I’ve never seen a tattoo like that before.” She stretches out her hand as though she’s about to touch it and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach.
“I can’t do this.” I mumble.
“What was that Angel-cakes?” She bends her knees as though she’s going to drop down and suck my cock.
A shudder runs through me at the annoying pet name. “I said, I can’t do this.” Her face crumples as though I’ve threatened her. “It’s not you-.”
“Right, it’s not me, it’s you. Like I haven’t heard that line before.” She storms over to the door, yanking it open with so much force that it hits the wall behind it. “You’re a jerk.” She snarls as she leaves.
I growl under my breath, “Tell me about it.”
Closing my eyes again, I see Joey’s face. Her beautiful sapphire eyes haunt my every moment. Waking or asleep. I need to see her. I need to touch her.
No! I need….
I slam my door shut. I rip the neatly folded clothes off the top of my chest of drawers. I tear the posters of the half-naked chicks off my walls. I shove the bookshelf over, toppling all the books to the floor. I push everything off my nightstand. Clock included. I rip the bedding from my bed. The curtains off the windows. I spin on the spot, looking for something else to destroy.
♡
Chapter: Raine
I hear the commotion before I even get to Angel’s door. With fear lodged in my throat, I don’t bother knocking or calling out, I kick the door open. The sharp crack of the lock breaking and half the doorframe echoes around me but I don’t care. All I care about is helping my friend. My brother.
I stumble to a stop, my mouth hanging open as I get a good look at Angel. His entire room is torn to pieces. Angel himself is sitting in the middle of the floor, his back to the door. I step into his room and his shoulders start to shake.
At first, I assume he’s crying, but then he lets out the loudest laugh.
“Can you fucking believe it. I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s so far in my head that I couldn’t even fuck a random girl.”
“You know what you need?” I ask, wondering if this is the moment Angel finally admits his feelings for Joey.
“Another drink?!”
To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I really hoped he’d come around too. “No, a distraction.” I say holding my hand out to help him up. “Help me find a way to get River and Doc away from the school for a few days. I’m hoping the longer they’re away from Miranda and Claire, the less influence they will have over my brother and our friend.”
“Why don’t we just get rid of Miranda and Claire?” Angel grabs my hand and I hoist him up from the floor. His white patch of hair shines beneath the fluorescent lighting, reminding me of when Joey sat in my bed, running her fingers through it.
“We will, but first we need to get my brother, the principal, thinking straight again.”
“What’s your plan?” He asks finally sounding like himself again.
“I don’t know yet, But I do know that we’ll be breaking a few of the school rules….” I trail off knowing that’s enough to get him motivated.
“I’m in, just give me a few minutes to call maintenance and get my door fixed and the cleaners in to fix this mess.”
“Take your time. We’ll go first thing in the morning.” I wave my hand over my shoulder. I pause as a thought occurs to me. “Better yet, get them to pack everything while they’re at it. We’re moving into the old caretaker’s place like our original plan.” He gives me a single nod. “I’m going to go find Chase and Malachi and clear out Joey’s room. We may not be going through with Bandit’s plan, but he was right about us all needing to be together to get through this.”
♡
It actually doesn’t take me long to gather up all of Joey’s things. I didn’t manage to find Chase and Malachi though. They weren’t at Bandit’s cabin and neither of them were in their rooms.
I put the last item of Joey’s clothes into her bag and then double check the room to see if I missed anything.
“Need a hand?” Angel asks as he peeks inside her room. I hand him the only other box. It’s not very heavy and he lifts a brow in question as he takes it. “Where’s the rest?”
“She only has school stuff and one dress.” I neglect to mention that half
of the clothes in her cupboard were actually mine. “I nod to the dress I’m shoving into the bag. It looks like the kind of thing you’d wear to a funeral.”
“Seriously? What about her bathroom, didn’t she have bags of makeup or something?” He asks going into the tiny room.
“Nope, all I found was the school branded soap and shampoo, she doesn’t even have a razor or a towel.” I point to the school’s gym towel hanging on the rail.
“We really don’t know anything about her, do we?”
I can’t help thinking that he’s right. We really don’t know that much about her. “We’ll fix that once we get River and Doc sorted out.” I glance around again and spot something shining in the morning light near her window. As I bend down to pick it up, I frown. It’s a gold necklace with a tiny sapphire that matches her eyes.
“Hey, I’ve seen that before. It was sent to her in the mail, she said it belonged to her mother.” Angel reaches out as though he’s going to take it. I snatch it away from him, pocketing it before he has the chance to try again. As a dragon Angel has a tendency to horde shiny or pretty things. It’s in his nature to do so, but this is one object he can’t have. If it really did belong to Joey’s mother, then it’s really important to Joey.
I want to be the one to return it to her.
As we’re making our way out to the caretaker’s old cabin, we run into Joey and Bandit. Joey doesn’t even look at me as she snatches her bag off my shoulder. Angel turns into a stammering fool, trying once again to apologise to her but she just turns her back on us and walks down the path towards the cabin. Angel, Bandit and I follow after her in silence. She doesn’t even wait for us, just goes up the steps and into the cabin, all without a single word.
“Anyone else get the feeling we’re in the doghouse?” Angel asks as we too go inside.