Chapter 14
Harrison and I made our way back up to the house and heard a commotion. Something wasn’t right. We ran into the house and smelled smoke. Is the house on fire? We walked into the kitchen to see Chase’s hands on fire as well as one of the cabinets. Harrison quickly suppressed the fire. I ran to Chase to see what damage was done to his hands and saw nothing. They were completely normal, not blistering and peeling like I thought they would be. I looked up at him. “What happened and why aren’t you burned?”
“I have no idea. I was just reaching for the cabinet to get a glass and my hands exploded in flames. I freaked out at first and tried to use air to put it out, but all that did was make it worse. Then I realized I wasn’t in pain and tried to relax to make it go out, but it wasn’t working and the cabinets were on fire. That was when you guys walked in,” Chase explained.
Mason and Carter ran into the room and saw the damage. “What in the world happened?” Mason asked.
“We’re not sure, but it looks like Chase has the fire gift,” Harrison said.
I looked in horror at Chase and asked, “What type of Elemental is Alexis?” He just looked me and didn’t answer.
“Fire,” Harrison finally answered.
My stomach dropped and I couldn’t breathe. No, no, no. Not Chase! He has completely ignored her the entire time she has been here. How can they be bonded? Has he been lying to me this whole time? Did the kiss in the library not mean anything? Was he really protecting her that day? I ran from the room and out the back door. I needed air. I couldn’t breathe.
“I’ll go after her,” Chase said, but Harrison must have stopped him.
“Let her go, you are the last person that she wants to see right now.”
“I’ll go,” I heard Carter say as his footsteps also became noticeable to my panther hearing.
I ran and ran and ran until I found myself back at the rock Harrison and I had just been sitting on. I sat on it and tried to catch my breath. My chest felt so heavy, like a huge weight was on it and I could only take in small breaths. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I felt like I was about to pass out. Carter ran up to me, pulled me tightly into his chest, and began rubbing my back. “Breathe, Bre. I’ve got you.” He didn’t say anything else. He just held me and let me cry.
Eventually, I was able to breathe and the tears slowed down. Carter released me and wiped the remaining tears from my face. “I’m sorry, Carter, I just didn’t expect that. It caught me by surprise.”
“It’s okay, I understand. You and Chase were getting really close and it hurts to think of him with someone else. That’s one of the hardest things about bonding. Before you know who your bonded is, you can get close with someone else and then get left behind. It happened to me, too.”
“What? When?” I asked.
“Before college, I was really close friends with another Animal Elemental, Julie. We were best friends and I cared deeply for her. I thought she would eventually become my bonded, and she did, too. But she started hanging out with a guy named Ty. He had just moved into the area, and after their first kiss, they knew. She is now bonded with him and they have a little one on the way. That was one of the reasons I left and moved out here with the rest of the guys. I couldn’t stand to see them together. Julie was really sweet about it, but she couldn’t help how she felt about him. They were meant to be and I just needed to deal with it.”
“Oh, Carter, I am so sorry,” I said.
“I’m fine with it now and I can see them together and it doesn’t really bother me anymore. It just took time,” he said.
“I don’t know, I can’t stand her. I can’t imagine her with anyone I care about. This feels like my worst nightmare. I need to get out of here. Are you ready to go see that movie? I need a distraction.”
“Absolutely! Let’s go back to the house and you can take a shower. We can go get lunch and see the movie. I checked and there is one playing at 2:30.”
“That sounds perfect. Thank you, Carter. You always know how to make me feel better. I don’t know what I would do without you.” I leaned forward and hugged him tight. I laid my head on his shoulder and took a deep breath.
We walked back to the house and I intentionally avoided the kitchen and went straight to Carter’s room. I got in the shower and just stood there, and then I started to cry again. I sat on the shower floor and curled up into a ball. With my head between my knees, I grieved what felt like the loss of a part of my heart. Chase was my grumpy guy, my Oscar the Grouchy Elemental. How could he be in love with that viper? How could fate put those two together? She wouldn’t know or probably care that he loves his car almost as much as his family. She wouldn’t understand how he still grieves the loss of his sister from so long ago. She wouldn’t get that he is sometimes ruthless and mean, but it was because he cared so much. He probably felt more than anyone else in the house; he just hid it from everyone, but I could see it. I knew his heart, and it shouldn’t be with her. She didn’t deserve him.
After crying out everything I had, I finished my shower and got dressed. I didn’t care what I looked like and just put my wet hair up in a ponytail. I walked into the bedroom and saw Carter waiting for me. “Feel any better?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Somewhat. Ready to go?”
“Yes.”
We left the room and went down to the garage. Carter walked me over to a black Audi SUV and opened the door for me. I got in and waited for him. As we were pulling out of the garage, I saw Chase standing at the front door looking at me. He looked forlorn and that made me feel a little better. I turned from him and looked straight out the windshield. No more tears, Bre. It is what it is and there is nothing you can do about it.
Carter chose a great little hole-in-the-wall family restaurant; I agreed with him that those were the best. I was still upset and didn’t eat much, but tried to get excited about the movie. After lunch, we drove to the movie. It was fantastic! I was able to forget about Chase and Amazon Bitch for a little while and actually enjoy it. Wonder Woman is a badass with a heart of gold, and I hoped I could be half the woman she was. As we started toward the house, Carter asked, “Are you ready to go back? We can take a detour if you want.”
“I have to face it sometime, so I might as well get it over with. Thank you, though. And thank you for today. You take care of me all the time. I hate that I always seem to be dumping my problems on you.”
“I want you to. I like being here for you,” he said.
“I think the reason I always turn to you is that, like I have said before, you get me. You understand me better than I do sometimes. You and I have a connection that started that first day with the animals. No one can truly understand the thrill and exhilaration of connecting with an animal unless they experience it for themselves. You and me, we are the same, and I love that.”
Carter didn’t say anything for a few minutes and I was afraid I may have said something wrong. We pulled into the garage and he turned the car off. He looked to me, took my hands in his, and said, “Bre, I feel exactly the same way. When I was with Julie, I liked being around her and we were the best of friends, but we didn’t connect like you and I do. I feel like we have a deep connection that goes beyond friendship. That first day when you hugged me after learning how to speak to the animals, I thought my heart was going to explode. I have never felt that way about someone. The other four types of Elementals look down on Animal Elementals, but you didn’t, you embraced it and understood the beauty and wonder of being able to connect with animals. I love that about you.”
“Carter, they just don’t know what they are missing. Being an Animal Elemental is extraordinary. I am so glad I get to share it with you.” I looked into his eyes and saw a longing. I thought he wanted to kiss me. It made me nervous. I kissed Chase and he ended up bonded to someone else, then I kissed Harrison. I know in their world having more than one bonded is not uncommon, but I’m not bonded with any of them, I’m just kissing them. And so far, none of them knew that I’d kissed any of the others.
Carter leaned in closer, staring at my lips, and heat filled my body. I licked my lips in anticipation and he groaned. “Bre, you are killing me here.” He rubbed circles on my hand and it sent tingles up my arm. Just as he was about to touch our lips together, there was a knock on my window. We jumped back from each other and my heart was racing. What the hell?
I looked to my window and saw Chase standing there. What did he want? I tried not to be mad at him; it’s not like he can control who he bonds with, but anger is better than hurt. I opened the door and stepped out. “What do you want, Chase?”
“We need to talk – alone.”
“Chase, I need some time to work through this. You’re bonding to someone I can’t stand and it is really hard on me. Please give me the space I need to come to terms with it. I’m not ready to talk to you about your new lover yet.”
Chase ran his hands through his hair, “Bre, I just need to talk, please,” he pleaded.
“Not now! It’s only been a few hours, so back off. I know it is not in your nature to let things linger, but I need space!” I yelled and then stomped off to the house.
I walked in and saw Amazon Bitch, with her cut lip and swollen, now yellowish-brown cheek sitting in the family room flirting with Mason. “Seems like the pot calling the kettle black to me! One not enough for you?” I stomped off to the basement to hit something before I hit someone.
I wrapped my hands before remembering that I killed the punching bag already. “Ugh, this sucks!” Harrison walked in and without saying a word, grabbed the punching mitts. He stood in front of me and held them up. I connected with my panther power and started wailing on them. Harrison took a step back a few times when I hit the mitt extra hard, but he didn’t say anything and continued to hold his hands up. I guess Chase or Carter told him about my new gift. I wanted to be the one to show everyone. I was proud of my connection to Mea and wanted to share it with the guys, but Amazon Bitch was in the way, again. I wasn’t sure how much more of her I could take. I was ready for her to just leave with Chase and be over with it. I continued to hit the mitts, taking my frustration out on them when I really wanted to take it out on her. After I finally exhausted myself, I crumbled to the floor.
Harrison took the mitts off and put them away. He came over to me and sat beside me on the floor. “It’ll be okay, Bre. Chase didn’t choose her, it just happened. What’s even crazier is he doesn’t even like her. I have never heard of a bond where one doesn’t like the other. There is usually a strong attraction and deep connection when you meet your bonded. He said he didn’t even kiss her, and he wouldn’t lie about that. He is as torn up about it as you are. He made us promise not to say anything to Alexis and just see what happens. He is adamant that he is not bonded to her, but the proof is there in our scorched cabinets. I guess we need to get someone here to fix that and the ceiling in here. Between the two of you, the house might not be standing soon.” I chuckled at the truth in his statement.
“Thanks for coming down and helping me out. I really needed the release.”
“Anything for you. By the way, cool paws!” He winked at me.
“Well, I guess I can’t stay down here forever. What are you fixing for dinner? I am starving since I didn’t eat much at lunch.”
“I’ll fix anything you want. What are you in the mood for?” Harrison said.
“Ohhh, will you fix your fettucine alfredo with blackened chicken? I need cheese!”
“Of course. Come here.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me into his lap. I sat sideways and laid my head on his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, we will work through this.”
After Harrison left to start dinner, I sat on the workout bench and tried to relax. I knew I was going to have to see her soon and I needed to be in the best frame of mind possible. I sat there for a while until I felt up to walking upstairs, but paused when I heard talking. I guess I forgot to disconnect from my panther powers. As I was about to reign in my panther gift, I heard my name. It was Bryce talking to Chase. I stayed behind the basement door and listened, “Chase, what can we do? You obviously have the fire gift now and Alexis is a Fire Elemental. What else could it mean?” Bryce argued.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks, I am not bonded to that woman. I feel nothing for her. There has to be another explanation,” Chase all but yelled.
“You know how bonding works. Once you become intimate in any way, you start the bond and begin to use their gift as well as your own,” Bryce stated.
“But I haven’t been intimate with her. I have barely spoken to her. You know I have always thought she was conniving and selfish.”
“I don’t know what else to think. Have you been kissing or sleeping with Fire Elementals that we don’t know about?” Bryce said jokingly.
“That’s it!” Chase exclaimed. “That has to be it!”
I didn’t want to hear any more about all the others he had been with, so I suppressed my panther senses and walked out the door and up to Carter’s room. My heart hurt. I guess I knew now that the kiss in the library was nothing to him. I thought we had a special connection, but I guess I was just fooling myself. I laid on the bed, threw my arm over my eyes and sighed. There was so much going on right now, Chase was bonding with Amazon Bitch, I kissed Harrison, and I almost kissed Carter. Maybe I should’ve stuck with the platonic idea, then it wouldn’t hurt so much. Chase would be the first to leave me, but who would be next? I didn’t even want to think about it. Maybe I needed to back away from them and go back to being alone. I was powerful enough now to take care of myself, and I didn’t think my heart could take another one of them bonding with someone.