Forget Me Not (Book 3 of Acceptance Series)

Chapter 8

"And, he decided to shoot a grape at his mom, and it ended up in her shirt. His mother looked at him and looked down be-"

"I hope you are telling them the truth, Bryson," I said, interrupting my cousin. "You had done it first and failed. And, you failed to get in her mouth even though it was wide open."

My cousin stopped talking and turned to look at us. His lip was curled up in disgust, but his eyes held good humor in them. "Shut up, Price," he said, and I rolled my eyes. He noticed Serenity beside Melody and smiled at her. "Hello," he all but purred, and Melody, Rosie, and I gagged. "I am Bryson, and you are?" He grabbed her hand and kissed it, and she looked at him in disgust.

"That's Serenity," Melody said, and he instantly let go of her hand before he looked at me with wide eyes. She looked at Serenity and offered her a small smile. "Relax. He is harmless."

"Am not," Bryson said, looking at my sister. "I am dangerous. You should know, Babe." He winked.

"Uh, ew," Melody gagged, and I snickered. She shot me a look before turning to look at our cousin. "Where is Hailey? Why did she leave off of your leash?"

"My girlfriend is probably in the kitchen o-"

"Is right here," someone said, and we looked that way. A blonde haired female walked towards us and moved to her mate's side. She smacked her mate's chest, causing him to groan out in mock pain. She rolled her eyes. "Are you scaring the new girl, Big Baby?"

"Now, why would I do that?" Bryson asked.

"Because you are just like your father, even though you found your m- girlfriend earlier than he did," Hailey said in mock anger.

"Uh..." Serenity said. She looked at me, her blue eyes wide. Her whole body was tense, and I could tell that she did not know what was going.

"You'll get used to it," I said, moving closer to her side. I nudged her teasingly, loving the sparks between us. "My family is weird. What can I say?"

Hailey smiled at Serenity, her brown eyes sparkling. "I'm Hailey," she said, holding out her hand. "My boyfriend is just a huge flirt. He is harmless."

"Serenity," Serenity replied, feeling slightly dazed. She shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"And, it's nice to meet you, too," Hailey replied. She smiled and let go of my mate's hand. "So, today is your first day? I have never seen you here before."

Serenity shook her head. "I was born here, I think," she said. She glanced at me for confirmation, causing me to nod my head. "But, I moved when I was five and..." She shrugged her shoulder, grimacing.

Hailey looked at me, a question in her eyes. She nodded her head when I shook my head, understanding what I meant.

"Are you staying?" one of my other pack members asked. He smiled at Serenity, and I felt jealous. "I could show you around."

"Ummm..." Serenity was hesitating. Her whole body was tense, and I could tell that she was waiting for someone to say something.

I tried to say that I was going to show her around, but I couldn't. It felt as if my voice was gone. Panicked, I looked at my sister, praying that she would look at me.

Melody glanced at me and looked at the male. "Sorry, Hans," she said, her voice dripping with venom. "TJ already said that he would show her around town and the school." She rolled her eyes. "He had already promised her that he would."

'I can't speak,' I said through the family link between the two of us. 'I don't know why.'

Melody looked at me before looking at Serenity, who still looked rather nervous. She had subtly nodded her head, indicating that she believed me, and I relaxed. "If that is ok with you, Serenity," she said.

Serenity looked at me, her brows furrowed. "Are you sure?" she asked, hesitantly.

I nodded, still panicking. I wished I could confirm orally, but I still wasn't able to. It was as if something was squeezing my throat, making it so that the 'yes' wouldn't come out.

Serenity pressed her lips into a thin line and looked at Melody. "Is this... normal?" she asked.

"Sometimes," Melody said, shrugging her shoulder. 'Contact Mom.'

'Mom, I need you to come here.'

'On my way,' Mom said, and I knew that she was.

"Ya, he knows American and British sign language. We have some deaf and mute people in our p- community, and he talks to them like that," a female from our pack said. Concern filled her eyes as she looked at me because this wasn't normal, especially when I was asked a direct question.

"He sometimes goes a day without talking, so one of our younger brothers like to pick on him."

"Was I called?" the sound of my little brother said, coming over to us. He smirked at Melody, who groaned out loud.

"And, speak of the Devil, and he shall appear," Melody said in mock disgust. "Leave, Twerp." She shoved his head, and he laughed.

"No," he said. He smiled at Serenity and winked. "Hello, my Dear," he said bowing.

"Oh, my God, did you just bow?" Rosie asked, clutching at her twin's arm. She busted out laughing and leaned against her twin.

"Shut up," my brother said, scowling at her. "No one asked you."

"But, you just bowed," Ceria said. "Are you trying to act older than you are, Juice?" She moved a hand through my brother's brown curls.

My brother scowled and started to fix his hair. "It's Julius," he said. "That is my name. I am not a salad nor juice."

"I'm Serenity," my mate said, sounding a little amused. "Why did you bow?"

"It's for his little "act,"" Mom said, coming over to us. She glanced at Hans when he left, and it felt like I could breathe easily again.

"He does that and says, 'my name is Julius, but you can call me 'Big Papi,'" I said, mimicking my brother's voice.

"Shut up," Julius scowled, trying to attack me. He swung his fists, trying to hit me, but he couldn't because I had pushed him back by placing my hand on his head.

'Are you ok?' Mom asked. 'What happened?' "Julius, stop trying to attack your brother. Once he lets go of your head and moves to the side, you will be running into someone."

'I don't know,' I said. 'I couldn't talk for some time. It's not the normal no talking. It felt like it was being forced.' "She is right, you know," I warned.

Julius huffed but stopped. "You guys are mean," he pouted. "Messing up my groove like that."

"You have no groove," Bryson said, and I nodded in agreement. "Your brother's groove sucks."

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny," I said sarcastically. I looked to the woods to see Addama sitting near the edge of the border in wolf form, looking at me. I watched as she left and looked at the group. "I'll be right back," I said. "I have to do something."

"Wait," Serenity said, clutching my arm. She looked nervous about something, and I couldn't help but wonder what it was. "Are you sure you are fine with taking me around the community?"

I smiled and nodded my head. "I can do that tomorrow," I confirmed. "Say around ten?"

Serenity's face fell, but she nodded. "Ya, sure," she said and took her hand off of my arm. "I'll see you then."

"I can meet you earlier, if you want," I said, an amused smile on my face. "I am usually up by six, even on the weekends."

Serenity shook her head. "No, no, ten is fine."

"Mmmhmmm." I started to walk away and turned towards her. "If you want to meet up earlier, just let my mom know. We can meet at the forked road by the old tree."

Serenity hesitated but nodded her head. "I'll let her know," she promised.

I offered her a small smile and turned towards the woods, and ran. I had no idea what Addama wanted, but I prayed that she would tell me why I had frozen up.

It wasn't normal at all.