Chapter 12
After a particularly hard martial arts training session with Harrison the next day, I decided to take a walk near the woods. I wanted to see if Chip or Rocco were around. I hadn’t seen them in a few days and missed talking with them. I had even remembered to bring some treats for them. As I got closer to the edge of the woods, I relaxed and opened my senses to the creatures in the area. I didn’t feel Chip or Rocco, but I felt a very powerful animal. I started to panic a little, but willed myself to relax. I saw Mea slowly coming out of the underbrush, looking as beautiful and deadly as before. “Hi, Mea! It is great to see you,” I thought to her.
“Breanna, it is wonderful to see you, too. How have things been going?” she asked as she proceeded closer to me. I leaned down and felt her coarse, black coat. She was stunning and I was in complete awe of her.
“Good. The guys have been working with me on my gifts and teaching me to defend myself using powers and martial arts. Apparently, I am a magnet for people trying to either kill me or kidnap me,” I replied.
“You are very special and other Elementals will try to steal your power, use you for your power, or try to kill you, because you are seen as a threat. You will need every bit of strength you have, along with the support of your men, to get through what is coming. I will do everything I can to help you, starting with our bonding. We will need to bond to not only become connected, but also to allow you to use my strengths.” Mea said.
“What is coming?” I asked warily.
“I do not know specifically what threats there are, but I do know it will be the hardest thing you will ever do. You must have faith in your men and especially in yourself,” Mea stated. “Place your hand on my head and think of only me and our connection. Feel what I am feeling, immerse yourself in our connection.” I tried to block out everything else and concentrate on Mea and our connection. She felt so wise and powerful, quick and stealthy, strong and agile. I could feel her protectiveness of me and her joy at being selected to bond with me. I felt her strength of mind and body. Slowly, I started to feel different. I heard sounds all around me that hadn’t been there before. I could hear the guys talking inside the house, which was crazy since it was so far away. I looked to the house and could see inside where Carter and Mason were talking. I could see Mason’s mouth moving. I looked to the sky and saw a hawk flying overhead. I could make out his individual feathers. I felt a change in my hands and saw that they were now powerful claws. I lifted my hand from Mea and looked at my new paw; it had razor-sharp claws. “How do you feel?”
“I feel powerful and I can hear and see everything,” I said.
“We are now bonded. You will be able to use my strengths for yourself. You will be able to see and hear far more than before, and you will have immeasurable strength and agility. Panthers are very stealthy and now so are you. You will be able to sneak up on your enemies and now you have powerful claws that can help you defend yourself. We are also connected mentally; if you need me, all you have to do is access our connection and call for me. I will always come if I am able,” she said. I crouched down and hugged her around the neck. If someone would have told me a month ago that I would be hugging a lethal panther, I would have thought they were crazier than me!
“Thank you, Mea. I appreciate everything. I am very excited to see what I can do,” I said.
“You are very welcome, Bre. I will go now, but I will be back to check on you. Connect with me if you need me. Goodbye, Princess,” she said as she walked back into the woods.
Princess? What a sweet nickname! I ran back to the house to tell the guys about what had happened, but as I walked in, I could feel something was different. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good. I was about the enter the family room where I heard the guys talking and had extended my claws for them to see, but instead saw a woman hugging Bryce. Her back was to me and I couldn’t see her face, but I could see that she was at least six feet tall with long, black hair and legs that stretched for miles. Fury enveloped my entire body. Who is this woman touching my man? I started shaking with rage and could see a white light starting to form between my hands. It was the same white light I had created against lizard man, just in a ball form like Harrison’s balls of fire. Suddenly, Chase grabbed me around the waist and hauled me into the library. He shut the door and whispered to me.
“Calm down, Bre. It’s not what you think. Calm down, she’s just an old friend from primary school,” Chase said while still restraining me. I relaxed a little and the white ball disappeared, but I was still enraged. What is wrong with me? I am not even dating Bryce, but I can’t stop the feelings of possession I have over him. How dare she hug him! I started to get angry again and my hands started to glow white. Then, bam! Chase kissed me, hard.
He had my face in both of his hands and was kissing me. After the shock wore off, I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back. His lips felt so soft, but hard at the same time. My entire body felt limp and I struggled to stand on my own. He slowly pulled away and looked at me while still holding my face in his hands. He looked unsure, so I smiled at him and said, “Well, that’s one way to get my mind off of it!”
Chase smiled and released me, “I thought you might like a distraction.” Mmmm, he can distract me any time. Holy shit! Chase just kissed me. Did he only do it to distract me or did he really want to? It felt real, at least for me.
“Um, yeah, that works,” I mumbled. I still couldn’t think straight and if I didn’t sit down soon, I thought I might pass out. I walked over to a chair and sat down, waiting for an explanation. “Who is she?”
“Her name is Alexis Boginskaya. She is originally from Romania, but moved to the States when she was really young and attended school with us. Elemental children attend an all-Elemental school until college. We have known her since kindergarten,” he explained.
“Why is she here?” I asked. I tried not to sound angry, but I doubted I was pulling it off.
“She is in the area looking at the college. She is thinking of attending next semester and wanted to see what we thought about it.”
“How long will she be here?” I asked.
“Um, well, she said something about hanging out for a couple of weeks to check out the college and catch up with us. Sheaskedifshecouldstaywithus,” he said the last part so quickly that I almost missed it.
“She is staying here?”
“Yes, we really didn’t have a choice. If another Elemental asks for your help, it is disrespectful to deny them,” Chase said.
I was freaking out. She couldn’t find out about me, so I guessed I had to stay at the dorm again. After the first couple weeks of me staying over and displacing the guys from their rooms, they had ordered a bedroom suite for me and put it in one of the empty bedrooms. I had been staying in there for the last few days. I loved my room; they let me pick out everything. I chose a medium-colored wood king sleigh bed with a navy blue and white floral comforter, and we painted the walls a light blue. I had a matching dresser and a navy blue chaise that I loved to read in. There was also a desk with a white fabric chair for studying. I was looking for accessories earlier, but hadn’t quite decided what I wanted. It was starting to feel like my room. Now I would have to go back to the dorm and sleep in that crappy, tiny, hard bed alone. I would probably never sleep again. Ever since I fell asleep in Harrison’s room with him lying next to me, each of the guys had done the same every night. I could fall asleep so much easier when they were there. They never stayed the entire night, but knowing they were there when I drifted off made me feel safe and secure. It was also when I could talk to them privately and get to know them better. It was our special time. I started to feel anxious and began wringing my hands. Chase took my hands and started rubbing circles with his thumbs.
“Don’t worry, we will get this figured out. We told her Carter had a human girlfriend that lived with us and went to the same school. That way, you can still stay here, but you will have to stay in Carter’s room each night. She will have to stay in your room,” Chase said.
“What?! I don’t want her in my room!” I yelled.
“Wow, possessive much?” Chase said, laughing. “It’ll be fine. There is really nowhere else she can stay unless you want her bunking with one of us.”
“Oh, hell no!”
“That’s what I thought. So you didn’t like her hugging Bryce, huh?”
“No, I did not,” I replied.
“Seems a bit over the top to try to kill her before you even meet her, though. What was up with that?”
I pressed my forehead into my hands, “I don’t know, I just snapped. I saw her hugging him and my entire body became enraged. I actually might have killed her if you hadn’t dragged me away. I honestly don’t know where that anger came from, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. What is wrong with me, Chase? Bryce and I are just friends. I shouldn’t act like this.”
“We have been talking and we think we might know what’s going on, but we need to talk to you about it as a group. Once Alexis leaves, we will have a family meeting and figure all of this out. For now, don’t worry about it, but try not to kill our guest.”
“I can’t promise anything,” I said. “By the way, the reason I was coming to see you guys is because I saw Mea today. She and I bonded.” I looked at my hands and watched them change to claws. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Very cool! Your eyes have changed, too. They are glowing white again.”
Since I was enhanced with Mea’s strengths, I could hear the conversation in the family room. They were talking about old times and how Bryce and “Alex” had been boyfriend and girlfriend in third grade. My hackles started to rise again and I breathed in and out slowly to calm myself. I willed myself back to normal and could no longer hear what they are saying. “Chase, I’m not sure I can do this. I could hear them talking and started getting angry again. We need to figure this out quickly, because I might hurt her.”
“We don’t want her to know anything about you. She needs to believe you are human. Don’t show her any of your gifts and definitely don’t try to kill her with your ball of power or your claws. That would definitely give you away as not human. We will have to stop training you on your gifts while she is here, but we can continue with martial arts. Girls take that all the time for self-defense. Okay, we need to get in there so you can meet her, are you calm?”
“As much as I can be. Let’s get this over with. I will just try to stay away from her as much as possible.”
Chase and I walked into the family room and I saw Alexis sitting next to Bryce, patting his leg as she told him a story about her younger brother. Ugh, Amazon Bitch, yes I had already nicknamed her, better get her claws off of Bryce or she will see mine and I promise mine are sharper. Everyone looked up as we walked in and I sat next to Carter.
Carter introduced us, “Alexis, this is my girlfriend Breanna. Bre, this is Alexis, our childhood friend. Alexis is in town to check out the university.” I stood and reached out my hand to shake hers and she did the same. Too bad I couldn’t whip out my claws – now that would be the perfect handshake for this intruder. She was beautiful and exotic-looking, the exact opposite of plain ol’ me. She had big, expressive brown eyes and a huge rack. Ugh, I hated her already. I sat back down next to Carter and felt everyone looking at me.
Bryce broke the silence and asked if everyone wanted to order a pizza. After we decided what to get on the pies, Bryce asked if I would go with him into the kitchen and help him order. It seemed like a silly request, but I followed him into the kitchen. He pulled me to the corner furthest from the family room and whispered, “I’m sorry, Bre. I had no idea she was coming. We will get her out of here as soon as possible. Did Chase explain that you are Carter’s human girlfriend?”
“Yes, he did. Bryce, you are going to think I am crazy, but I’m not sure I can be around her. I know you saw me create that ball of power and almost try to kill her. Something is not right with me. I can’t stand her touching you. I asked Chase what was wrong with me and he said you guys have an idea, but wanted to discuss it as a family after she leaves. I’m not sure I can make it that long. Maybe I just need to focus on my training and stay away from her.”
“We do think we know what is going on, but Chase is right. It needs to be a family discussion. Hang in there and we will get her out of here as soon as possible.” He stepped closer to me and touched my hand. Tingles started to travel from my fingers up my arm. He intertwined our fingers and looked into my eyes. I was lost. We were staring at each other, leaning closer and closer, when a throat cleared.
“Sorry, I was looking for the bathroom,” Amazon Bitch said. Bryce immediately dropped my hand and walked over to lead her to the hall bath. That bitch was going to be a problem.
After dinner, I needed to get away from her. I swore she was trying to get a rise out of me, because she kept touching each of the guys, well, except Carter. I saw her playfully hit Mason on the arm when he said something funny and she grabbed Harrison’s hand when he was talking about how hard his sister’s labor was with his nephew. I guess if I wasn’t in the situation I was in, it would have been normal contact, but I’m not normal. After several minutes of the torture, I left to work out. We have a workout room in the basement of the house and it was stocked with everything you could think of. My favorite was the punching bag; it helped me relieve stress and at that moment, I was stressed. I wrapped my hands like Chase taught me and started slow. I pictured Amazon Bitch’s face and I started to hit harder and faster. Chase and I had been working on adding my air gift to my punches to give them more power, but it hurt my hand when I did. However, now I have claws and they were probably tougher than my hands. I tapped into my connection with Mea’s powers and my hands turned into paws. I started punching harder and harder with the panther strength and then I added my air gift. I thought about Amazon Bitch and how she kept touching my guys and I became even angrier. I hit the bag with all of my panther power and my air gift, and it flew through the air, landing in a heap against the far wall.
“Wow, how did you do that?” Carter asked. I must have really been concentrating if I didn’t even hear him come in.
I turned to him, still connected to my panther power, and lifted my claws into the air. “I bonded with Mea today and then added a bit of air to the punch. Well, maybe a lot.”
Carter walked over to me and hugged me. “Bre, that is great! Let me see your paws. Nice! You will be really powerful with these along with your other panther traits.” He looked me in the eyes and said, “Your eyes are glowing white. It’s beautiful.” He stared at me for a little longer and walked over to the bag. “The bag looks fine, but the ceiling will have to be repaired. You ripped the chain right out of the ceiling and took some of the ceiling with it. I have never seen someone do that. Chase is going to be jealous. It’s getting late, do you want to come up?”
“Yeah, I guess I should now that I don’t have a bag to punch,” I said, smiling. “Can I take a shower in your bathroom since I am staying with you?”
“Of course.”
We walked upstairs and into his room. He closed the door behind us and walked over to the closet. “Chase brought all of your things in here. I hope you don’t mind staying with me.”
“No, I don’t mind at all. I’m actually excited about it,” I said, still smiling. Carter smiled at me and showed me where my clothes were. I grabbed a tank top, sleep shorts, and underwear. “I’ll just take a quick shower.”
After the shower, I went back into Carter’s room and found him making a pallet on the floor next to the bed. “Why are you doing that?” I asked.
“It’s where I’m sleeping,” he replied.
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. We are sleeping in the bed together. You are my boyfriend after all,” I said cheekily.
Carter blushed and puts the blankets away. “Are you sure about this, Bre? You don’t have to. Alexis won’t know either way.”
“Of course I’m sure. You have already laid with me in my room, so what’s the difference?” We got into the bed and turned to face each other like we normally did when he was in my room. I looked at his gold eyes and thought about what a great person he was. He was the most thoughtful of the five and he had an uncanny knack for knowing exactly what I was feeling.
“Don’t worry about Alexis. The guys want her out of here as soon as possible.” Case in point, he knew I was worried about her and he was trying to make me feel better about it. I just wanted to hug him for always worrying about me and my feelings, so I did. I slid forward and laid my head on the bicep of the arm under his head and put my arm around him. He felt so good. Just like the others, he made me feel safe and cared about. He snuggled closer to me and wrapped his other arm around me. I sighed in contentment. What a perfect end to a crazy day. A girl could get used to this, I thought as I drifted off.