Pure Elemental (Evelyn Storm Series Book 3)

by Tamara White

  “Did you feel that too?” Zach asks, awe in his voice.

  “Yeah, it was the bond. We just formed the bond. Is that ok?” I ask worried that it happened so soon. I know Zach said he wasn’t ready yet, and now that I’m coming down from the effect the kiss had on me, I can’t help but start to freak out.

  I took away his choice.

  “Hey, shh don’t cry. Shit! Evie, look at me, please? There’s nothing wrong, I swear.”

  He’s acting calm but he must be hiding his fear. Why would he be happy bonding with me when he wanted us to wait?

  “Evie, I can feel your fear and anxiety. If you would stop freaking out and focus on my feelings you would be able to tell that I’m not scared. Yes, it was unexpected, but I don’t regret it happening. The moment you came into my life, I knew I wanted to be with you. Even when they told me you were evil, I wanted you. If that doesn’t scream commitment, I don’t know what does.

  Please don’t let this change things. We still don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, and we can just continue getting to know each other. Please don’t feel as if this means you have to commit to something you’re not ready for.”

  I can’t believe he’s saying this. Everything I’ve wanted is to be bonded to everyone and solidify my bonds, but I didn’t think it would happen like this, especially when Christian and I have done more than this and it hasn’t formed.

  My bond with Zach has felt barely there, and it feels unreal that it happened this quickly. How will the others feel? Have I screwed up by not talking to them first?

  “Hey what’s the holdup?” Dane calls, approaching the classroom. It’s only then that I realize while we’ve been so absorbed in each other the world has continued without us and there are people in the hall watching us as if we’re an exciting new movie.

  I hide my face in Zach’s chest, wishing this wasn’t happening, and when Dane takes me from him my stomach drops at who I see in the back ground.

  Catherine is watching us with a grin plastered on her face, and I know this will be all over school by lunch. I try to think about what she would have seen, but all I remember is the heat from our kiss. Saying a little prayer that things don’t get worse, I make my way into class. Algebra is going to be a challenge today.

  “It’s nothing. We’ll talk about it in class.”

  I pull away from Dane, taking my usual seat, watching as Dane and Zach follow after me talking together in hushed tones.

  “Guys, stop it. Sit down and I’ll tell you what happened,” I tell Dane, hoping he’ll stop grilling Zach for more information. It is obvious Zach wants to say something, but maybe out of respect for me he’s avoiding it.

  “Ok, tell me what’s going on? It’s starting to freak me out,” Dane glances between me and Zach, watching for any hint of what’s happening.

  Sighing, I pull out my textbook from my bag that Zach placed at my feet before facing Dane head on. “Zach and I kissed in the hallway. I don’t know how, but it formed the bond between us. Zach didn’t say anything because he could tell I was worried about how you and the others would take it. Now can we please focus on class? The sooner we have these exams done, the sooner we can go back to New York and look for our house,” I say just as the teacher enters the room.

  Hopefully, he’ll drop it long enough for me to get this test over and done with, but I doubt it.

  Chapter 14

  Mike

  Why? Why does this keep happening to me? Megan is sitting in class next to me blabbering on about who knows what, and as much as I try to ignore her, some of it seeps through.

  I should be doing my test so we can graduate early, but, instead, I’m here half doing a test and trying as hard as I can to block out her chatter about cheerleaders and the new kid.

  At first, I assumed she was talking about Zach, but apparently, around the time we left, another student started attending the school. The whole school thought he was part of our group but realized when we didn’t come back for so long, that he wasn’t, and we must have moved on.

  “So, why did you leave and come back?” Megan asks between breaths.

  It amazes me, that a girl can chatter on this incessantly and still find it in her to keep going. How does she not see how annoying that is?

  “Ah, I’m only back for the next three days. We came back to do our finals early so we can complete our college applications,” I tell her trying to stick as close to the truth as I can.

  I’ve found it’s easier to lie to someone with partial truths than use complete made up bullshit. It makes it so hard to keep a lie going, whereas if you tell the truth with a small spin, it’s easier to maintain.

  “Oh, so you’re leaving after three days then?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you think you’ll come back?”

  Jeez. What’s with the twenty questions? Maybe I should just pretend not to hear her and focus on this test.

  It works for about five minutes before she starts touching my shoulder, shaking me, causing me to cross straight through the word I wrote. I sigh, draw a line through the words I’ve messed up and re-write my last sentence. Hopefully, the teacher won’t take too many points off for such a small mistake.

  “Mike, did you hear me? I asked if you’re going to come back? It would be nice to see you again,” Megan says running her hand down my arm in, what I’m sure she thinks is, a flirty gesture but just irritates me.

  “Look, Megan, I don’t know what you’re expecting from me, but I’m not interested. I’m just here to do my exams and go home. That’s it,” I say facing her, being as sincere as I can without letting any anger leak through.

  I didn’t ask for her to sit next to me and pester me, but I still got stuck with her.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, but do you mind me asking, is Evelyn going with you?”

  “That’s none of your business,” I snarl finally fed up.

  This is all she wanted to begin with. She wanted more information on Evie for her and her crazy ass friends, so she could use it against her. Well, not on my watch.

  Dane

  It takes all my self-control to stop from asking a bazillion questions, but for Evie’s sake, I hold off. I can tell she’s disturbed, but I don’t get why. Surely, bonding with Zach can’t be that bad?

  Algebra and Biology go by extremely fast considering Catherine and Nina keep exchanging glances between Evie, Zach and me.

  I’ve never been more relieved to get out of class as I am when the lunch bell rings,

  ‘Hey Zach, when we get to the cafeteria, do you mind if you grab some lunch while I talk to Evie? Something’s bothering her more than she’s letting on, and I just want to make sure it’s all ok.’

  Zach looks over at me giving me a quick nod and picks up Evie’s bag. I take that as a yes and walk us towards the cafeteria.

  As we reach the door, I pull up short and bring Evie to a stop with me.

  “Zach, you go ahead. The others will be in there soon, I just want to have a quick chat with Evie,” I tell him before pulling Evie into a hall off to the side of the cafeteria.

  Once the hall is cleared out, I turn on her.

  “Right, Zach’s gone, now tell me what’s going on,” I say looking into her pale eyes, letting her see my concern.

  She may think she’s hiding all her emotions, but since we’ve had our moment of opening up, things have been coming through the bonds a lot better. Like right now, for instance, I can feel her frustration that I’ve pulled her aside, I can feel her anxiety at being pregnant in school, I feel her irritation at being treated as a child, and I feel her anger that I’m keeping her away from food.

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  “Evie, don’t lie to me. I can feel everything now that we’ve opened ourselves to the bond. I’m sure the others can too. I’m giving you the chance to talk to me first, though, rather than dealing with all of us at once. Please talk to me,” I plead.

  “Fine! Things went so quick with Zac
h, and I don’t want any of you hating me for having a bond with him when there was nothing I could do. It happened so fast, that I barely had a chance to stop it from happening, and now what happens if he hates me?”

  My heart breaks when I hear the first sniffle, and I pull her to me letting her cry it all out.

  “Hey, he could never hate you. He cares about you. Maybe even loves you. Why would you think that?”

  “Because he still loves you. I feel it all the time. Who could love someone who’s pregnant with someone else’s child? Especially when I’m pregnant with your baby.

  You’re so amazing. If I hadn’t met the others and you wanted me, I would chase you to the ends of the earth. I know why Zach loves you, because I love the same things. How can I match up to the love he has for you?”

  She’s sobbing by the time she finishes and my mind is blank. I have no words to make this better. Usually I could say anything to make things better, but I feel anything I say right now will make things worse.

  “I know you think that, but you need to see just how beautiful you are to us. Zach loves that you’re carrying our children. He wants to be a part of raising them, but he doubts your feelings for him. Maybe we need to do up a more permanent schedule for you so everyone can spend equal time with you. Maybe once you spend some alone time with him, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  “I guess, it just feels hopeless, right now,” she says trying to gain some composure.

  “Trust me, it will be ok. Now, let’s go feed my son before he starts kicking up a nightmare,” I say smirking down at her.

  She laughs, which is just what I wanted.

  “How’s he doing? Not being too much trouble, is he?” I ask, rubbing her bump through her dress.

  She smiles brightly at me, when we hear a gasp from behind us, and I spin around protecting Evie from whoever is behind us.

  Oh shit! Nina is standing there her mouth open in shock. She’s looking at me and trying to glance behind at Evie.

  ‘Come on, Evie, let’s go,’ I project pulling her behind me the entire time, trying to keep her out of Nina’s field of view. The last thing we need is this getting around the school. I should have known better. Damn it!

  Evie

  After being dragged to my tree in a daze, I focus on what just happened. Nina just saw Dane rubbing my babies. I shouldn’t be too worried, but I can’t help the feeling of dread deep in my stomach. This is not going to be good.

  “Hey, no doing that. We’ll deal with it if it comes to it. No stressing,” Dane says, chiding me.

  When we meet with everyone, he tells them what had happened apart from what we discussed, but still, I don’t know how much that really matters. I think it’s something Zach and I need to talk about by ourselves, not with their interference. Not that I don’t appreciate Dane’s help, it’s just not possible for any of the bonds to work if I rely on the others to solve my problems.

  “Sorry, I just can’t help feeling like something bad is going to happen,” I sigh, snacking on the cucumber the boys handed me.

  Turns out they prepared for my cravings taking over, so they each have little snack packs on them that have a few foods I’ve been craving, which is sweet.

  “Sorry to side with Evie on this one, but I have a bad feeling too, and you know if one of us has a bad feeling, then it means trouble. Both of us having a bad feeling means it’s really big trouble. We should keep an eye out for anything going on and let Zeke and Christian know just in case,” Mike watches the others as they take in his serious expression.

  He’s right though, when one of us has a bad feeling it could mean something bad is happening or that we’re just worried for nothing, but if both of us have that same feeling, it’s too much of a coincidence to not be part of our foresight trying to tell us something.

  “Hey, Mike, you’ve never shown me how to get a vision before. Maybe we should try later? See what’s going on?”

  Mike and Dane exchange glances which just irritates me. I don’t need their permission to try my powers.

  “You guys realize, you just pretty much ensured that Evie will test the limits now, with or without you. She wants to try figure out her powers, and she was nice enough to ask first. If she really wanted to, she could ask Raphael, Zeke or Spencer to help her. She was only asking you as a courtesy, and you treated her as if she was a child playing with powers too strong for her,” Zach tells them angrily.

  I’m glad he stood up for me, rather than have me say something. Any time I say something to contradict them, the argument can get out of hand. It’s nice to have someone on my side for once.

  “It’s not that we were going to say no. It’s just in her condition, no offence, sweetie, we don’t want you too stressed out,” Mike explains, watching me for signs I’ll explode.

  Any other time, I may have gotten angry and said things that I would regret but he’s right. Doesn’t mean I’m still not going to try. “I understand you looking out for me but Zach’s right. If you don’t show me then I’ll ask one of the others. It’s better if you show me, though, because you know me better and know what I can and can’t handle. Only you can tell me when I’m over doing it. My grandfather may know what my threshold is, but you would be able to monitor me better than he could.”

  Zeke

  The day without Evie is dragging on and on. Christian and I have managed to help Spencer and Raphael get pretty much most of their stuff moved over to the mansion in New York. Raphael and I spent the last two hours at Evie’s adopted parent’s house cleaning out what little stuff Evie had left behind.

  I got so depressed looking through Evie’s stuff. She had pretty much bare necessities and no real belongings of her own. The clothes she had won’t fit her right now, but she still might like to have them for after the babies are born.

  It’s shocking that we got most of the stuff done in just one day. I’m not sure what we’ll do for the rest of the day now.

  Thinking about her clothes has given me a great idea.

  “Hey Chris, I’ve been thinking. Evie doesn’t have many clothes that fit right now. What if we hit the mall and grab a few things that will get her by until she can do shopping herself?”

  Christian has been helping us move stuff around the mansion, and it’s been a nightmare. Most of it has ended up in the basement, although I doubt Evie is going to want to go down there after what I was told happened.

  It seems impossible that a girl, so young and full of life, has been through so much. It makes me admire the strength she has, if she can continue living a life and sharing her love after experiencing something so traumatic.

  And what she went through with me and her father didn’t help things.

  “Dude, that’s a great idea! She needs some clothes that will fit her and hide her belly a little better. She’s also going to need some nursing bras, and some bigger underwear, oh and she’ll need some loose-fitting clothes for after the birth. God, why didn’t I think of this?”

  Whoa! I’ve unleashed a monster.

  “Um, I was only thinking of getting a couple of things, not a whole store,” I inform him, a little apprehensive of his eagerness.

  What man enjoys shopping this much? And how the hell does he know what kind of underwear she needs?

  “Yeah, I know, but we should get some basics just in case,” he says to me.

  “Ok, let’s go then.”

  Christian

  I’m not one of those guys that’s into fashion, rather I believe in being comfortable in your own clothes. This was one of the best ideas any one has had in days.

  Evie has been walking around in our shirts and boxers for the last few days, but she needs her own stuff.

  I know she had a few dresses, but she can’t wear the same thing each day, especially at school where everyone is watching her every move.

  A plus side of being an obstetrician is that I know rough sizes for women and what they tend to enjoy wearing during pregnancy.

 
“Here hold these,” I tell Zeke passing him a few nursing bras in what I hope is the right size. I haven’t exactly seen her boobs without a shirt on but I should be close enough.

  “Dude, this isn’t right. I’m walking around the store carrying bras and underwear for women. The sales chick is coming our way,” Zeke whispers harshly trying to cover up the bras with a shirt that was at the bottom of the pile.

  “Excuse me, are you boys alright? You look a little lost,” she says, watching us.

  She’s an elderly lady with greying hair, but her smile is a little too knowing for Zeke because he starts to blush, looking anywhere but at her.

  “Hi yes, our girlfriend is pregnant, and she’s run out of clothes that fit her, so we’re just topping up on some maternity clothes for her before she gets home,” I shine a bright smile her way.

  “Oh, let me take these off your hands. I’ll leave them at the front counter for you until you’re ready,” she says, snatching the clothes from Zeke’s arms and hurrying away, but not before she throws a condemning look back our way.

  You’d think the world would be more open to multiple partner relationships, but the world is still as jaded as usual.

  “Did you see the way she looked at us? As if we’re a couple of nutters,” Zeke exclaims, the confusion on his face clear.

  “Yeah, she just probably didn’t like me saying ‘Our girlfriend’ to her. Some old people don’t like change.”

  “I’m three times her age, and I don’t think like that.”

  “Yeah what’s up with that? Will you stay the same age forever? Right now you look like you’re in your twenties, will that ever change?”

  I’m not sure exactly how old he is, but he was with his human girlfriend over a hundred years ago from what I’ve heard.

  “I won’t age now that I’ve met my bonded. The same goes for you, Dane, and Evie. Usually we would age faster, but it’s part of the way to ensure our species grows, that when we meet our bonded, our age slows down. And if we were to outlive them, we would most likely die from the heartbreak of the bond being severed.”