The Ancients

34: Panic

I could have banged my head against the wall.

Maybe I'd be able to knock some sense into me, as it seemed I had lost all my functioning brain cells. If I ever had any to begin with. It felt like I had been making one mistake after the other with no hope in mending them.

As soon as I thought I had one thing in my life sorted out, something else came my way and I had to restart. Like I had broken a glass and glued it together, just to drop it again. And glue it together again. And again. And again.

I should stop exaggerating.

Gathering all my courage, I tried to follow my own advice. I shouldn't make such a big deal out of it. I was bound to find my promised sooner or later. Reece knew this, and so did I. It actually really wasn't such a big deal. 

Of course there was the part that the man was human and had shown me even stranger things in a place that was strictly forbidden... At least, I thought he was human, since he most definitely wasn't of the other two races. And the other issue was him being an outsider. 

As it went, in Everett Valley, if one was fortunate enough to find their promised within our borders, the union was celebrated. All others happened to be out of luck. 

Kendra's aunt was one of them, working as a teacher. 

And there had been at least three people who I'd heard had gone missing after the rumour circled that they'd been with someone they weren't promised to.

"That family that arrived a couple of weeks ag—," I started, but Reece cut in before I could continue.

"Those five guys?"

"Four, I think," I corrected.

"Kendra is promised to one of them," I continued, watching both Reece's and Jarred's faces twist into shock.

Reece mouth gaped open. "And this happened without us knowing?" His nostrils flared, anger rising within him.

This time, I rolled my eyes.

"You don't need to know absolutely everything about everyone, Reece," I muttered and ignored the faint growl that he made.

"Of course I do!"

He could be such a brute sometimes.

"Anyway, I've been seeing this man in the woods and knew that there was some connection. A few hours ago we locked eyes and I kinda' lost—"

"Lost what?" he interrupted again.

"My consciousness. Emotional stuff," I explained cryptically but quickly continued so he couldn't ask any further questions, "and then I woke up in his house, we met I guess and we accidentally touched and—"

"You what?"

Reece didn't even try to contain the anger—or was it shock?—anymore. I was scared he'd react like this. Overprotective as he was. But the main thing that bothered him wasn't that it happened—more that it happened and he didn't know about it the second it did.

"We touch—"

"I heard what you said!"

"Then what is your—"

"I can't believe it!" he shouted. Jarred, the poor guy, was looking from me, to his alpha. He probably had no clue what to do. I guess one could say I was successful in changing the subject...

"Reece, it's not—"

And again, the oaf interrupted me for the fifth time. "I just can't believe you let it get to the second stage!"

Now he was starting to piss me off.

"Let me speak!" I shouted.

Their shocked faces satisfied me—especially Reece's. Taking a short breath, I spoke quickly. "Wait until you find your promised and we'll see how easy it is not to let the first two stages get the better of you. It happens a lot quicker than you'd expect, even if it's not your intention!" I said, finally managing to actually finish my sentence.

He sat there, stunned and fuming while I slowly began to realise how little I had truly understood Kendra. 

"Do you think I wanted this?" I asked him, anger boiling in my veins.

I purposely left out the part that I nearly fainted in the woods because I'd attempted to break through the mantle. I wasn't even quite sure it had worked properly—I could still feel an invisible force pull me towards him. Oh and going to the ocean... 

That was definitely for another day.

I took a deep breath, trying to come to terms with what had occurred in the past few days. My promised had to be human, the strangest one that existed probably. I would never be able to change that. And rejecting him only because of his race was neither fair nor would it be acceptable.

Downright rejecting a promised in general, no matter the reason, was not right.

"I just wanted you to know. I don't know him and I don't know his family. Maybe whatever is going on is connected to them. I just thought you should know," I said, my voice finally controlled again as I had finally regained my composure.

I felt so much better when I managed to keep my emotional side at bay. Everything was easier when the mind and heart were intact, no emotions clouding any judgement.

Reece nodded, taking a deep breath.

I was glad we had calmed ourselves down, and he did it without my assistance too, which for him, was an improvement. Jarred relaxed as well, letting out a relieved huff of air.

Then, all three of us simultaneously started chuckling.

And that was when Emmet entered the house and stepped into the kitchen, furrowing his brows at us.

"What is wrong with all of you?" he asked incredulously, and we burst out laughing.

Once the laughter died down, I sighed deeply. We all glanced at each other, slowly letting today's events sink in.

Chapter Question: Do you think Catherine blurting that out was smart? What do you think of Reece's reaction to it? 

Reader Question: What are you passionate about? 

I'm passionate about way too much, lol, because I have so many interests it's hard to focus on just one. I obviously am passionate about books, reading and writing them. I also am fascinated by volcanoes and how they work, I'm super into medicine and biology along with history. And psychology too!