Chapter Nineteen
I adjusted my scarf before venturing into the kitchen where the chatter was coming from. I walked into the kitchen where Kiara, Ronnie, Melena and Bree were seated around the island sipping from mugs, chatting and laughing. The laughter died down when I walked in.
"Hey, guys." I said brightly. There was a small silence.
"Hey." Kiara finally replied. Everyone else just smiled awkwardly except for Bree who was sporting her usual frown at the sight of me. "How are you doing?" Kiara asked.
"I'm ok." I said taking a small yoghurt from the fridge. "What were you guys talking about just now?"
"Max is coming back in a few days." Melena beamed. Max is Riley's Beta, his right-hand-man, his second in command and he's also Melena's mate.
"That's great, I'm excited to meet him." I reached for a spoon that was on the table when Bree stretched and grabbed it.
"Paws off, witch bitch. It's mine." she sneered. Everyone paused.
"Ok, I'm pretty sure there are more spoons in the drawer so you can calm down." I rolled my eyes at her and her aggressive nature. I turned around and opened the utensils drawer.
"That scarf doesn't hide anything, you know?" I heard Bree's voice pierce the silence. I paused and swallowed. "You're trouble. The only reason you're even here is to bring trouble." she all but barked.
I turned around to see her already on her feet, watching me.
"What the hell is your problem, Bree?" I said sourly.
"You. You are my problem. You're such a bitch! You're so fake! I can't believe Riley would choose you over me!" she glared at me, her eyes turning dark. She was not about to shift on me.
I got pissed.
"I am not the bitch in this conversation!" I inched toward her. "I'm not fake, you whore!" I took a step to her, my blood boiling. "I'm his mate." there was a trickle of blood coming from Bree's nose. She wiped it away. "You thought he'd choose you over me? That's pathetic." I was almost a foot away from her. "Stop trying to get into the middle of me and Riley because I swear if you so much as look at him the wrong way I will-"
Ronnie grabbed my arm, jerking me backwards. "Control yourself." she warned. I didn't know what she was talking about until I looked at Bree again. She had trails of blood from both her nostrils and both her eyes.
"Oh god, Bree, I'm so sorry." I panicked. I did that? Me and my magic did that.
Bree jumped back and held her arm out while wiping the blood away with her other hand. "Stay away from me, you freak." she ran out of the kitchen and I stood there feeling so guilty. I turned to Ronnie.
"I didn't mean to." I pleaded.
"I know, it's okay. Your magic was just going with your emotions." she explained. I looked at Kiara with a pained expression on my face.
"I'll go check on her." Melena said before rushing out.
"I can't believe I did that." I breathed.
"It's okay, Jo, the suppressing ring should be here soon, we'll get it under control." Ronnie assured me.
"Not that I'm not grateful or anything but why are you still here?" I asked Ronnie suddenly.
"Riley didn't tell you?" she smiled gingerly. I shook my head. "Riley asked me to stay for a while longer to help you get your magic under control...I'm like a cheat sheet to how your anatomy works."
"Thanks, Ronnie." I said giving her a small smile. Riley was being really smart. Ronnie could help me figure out how everything works. How I work.
I sat down and fiddled with my unopened yoghurt.
"I like your scarf." Kiara pointed out sitting next to me.
"Thanks." I mumbled looking down at the purple mass wrapped around my bruised neck.
"Jo, don't worry about Bree, she'll be fine. I personally think she deserved that but that's not of my business." she chuckled. The corners of my lips twitched.
"You're the best." I chuckled.
...
"Alicia!" I squeaked pulling my best friend in for a huge bear hug.
"Jo!" she squeaked back. We stood at the front door for a while hugging each other and giggling like little kids. When we finally pulled apart I closed the door and turned to Ali.
"It's so good to see you!" I exclaimed.
"Oh lord knows it's better to see you! Oh wow it feels like I haven't seen you in forever!" Alicia added. We went to the living room and sat on the couch facing each other.
"How have you been, Ali?" I asked.
"I've been good, you know the usual me, but how about you, how are you adjusting to this new place?" she asked.
"I'm pretty well adjusted, you know? I really don't have much to complain about at all, hey. It's really cool here."
"And the mate? Riley?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Riley's amazing, Ali. He's sweet, funny, smart and I really feel like I can trust him. He's gone out of his way to make me feel at home. He's everything I could want in a guy, you know?" I gushed.
"Have you guys like...done the dirty deed?" Alicia asked excitedly. I turned red.
"No, Ali, oh my soul." I covered my face.
"What? You guys still haven't done it?"
"Dude, I met him a couple of days ago." I pointed out.
"Yeah, but he's your mate. Most werewolves jump on their mates within an hour of meeting." she grinned slyly. "It's like the moment you see them, your wolf just loses control and there you guys are, you and your mate sharing-"
"I don't have that bond, remember?" I interrupted her. She looked up at me. "Without my wolf I don't have that instantaneous bond with him. I do know I like him though, definitely. I mean, I've spent a few days with him and I already can't imagine my life without him but I know that what he feels for me is stronger than what I feel for him and that's because my wolf isn't there to connect with his. That's why we're taking it a little slow, he knows that I'm still trying to convince myself that he's the one. I know he's the one but I can't help but wonder."
"I'm sorry, Jo." Alicia said putting her hand on my knee.
"It's okay." I sighed. "I trust him, I know he won't hurt me, I'm just scared I hurt him." I confessed.
That was my biggest fear. I knew I was Riley's mate but without my wolf to certify the bond that we're supposed to have I could actually just leave him. That wouldn't do anything to me but it would hurt Riley in more ways than one. I wouldn't dream of leaving him, ever, I just worry that the absence of my wolf makes me weak and that can never be good.
"You won't hurt him, Jo. I know you. You're too smart to do something like that."
"Thanks, Ali." I smiled.
"Anyways, what happened last night between you and Luke?" she asked. I felt my lips frown and my eyes lose their twinkle.
"Last night, Riley and I wanted to go out and celebrate me getting my sight back-"
"I'm sorry, your sight? Where did it go?" she asked confused. I may have forgotten to mention that I was a witch.
I started telling Alicia everything about how I was a hybrid and that whole mess. I told her about losing my sight and the baggage that came with that. I told her about Ronnie and how she'd helped me and then I told her about the little incident the night before with Luke.
"Uhm...wow...and I thought my life was intense." she said after I told her.
"I feel like my life is just drama after drama. It's getting too much. All this drama is so intense and it's throwing my life out of balance. I'm not having enough good moments to just keep everything even and balanced." I huffed.
"There's no such thing as too much drama." Alicia grinned.
"There's always too much drama when Luke Parolta is involved." I said bitterly.
"I still can't believe he tried to kill you. I mean I know you aren't his favourite person but to strangle you is totally overreacting." Alicia said as-a-matter-of-factly.
Luke was the alpha of my old pack after his dad was killed by humans who had teamed up with some rogues. Luke and I dated until I turned sixteen and I stopped shifting after my first time. He wasn't there when it happened but all he heard was that I shifted, killed my aunt and that I couldn't shift again. Luke completely lost it because I had killed one of his own. Because I couldn't shift he classified me as human and he hated humans with such a passion that he wanted me to leave the pack. My parents got him to let me stay with Alicia and Matt because their house was farther from Luke's than my parent's house. He said that if I stayed out of his way then we wouldn't have trouble. I avoided him so much but obviously last night was a bit of a slip.
"You okay?" Alicia asked. I looked up at her.
"Yeah I'm fine." I ran a hand through my hair. "So the fight with Luke and Matt, what happened?"
"Oh god. After your encounter with Luke last night, he came to our place all bloody and gross," she shuddered. "He demanded your new address and I told him to go jump off a bridge, then he tried to pick a fight with me and that pissed Matt off," she turned red at the mention of her mate's name "Matt told him to back off and Luke kept yelling at me so then boys started going at it." she shrugged like it was no big deal.
"Is Matt okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's fine. They made up like an hour later. But I'm still not too fond of Luke." she mumbled. I laughed. "He's like medicine. He leaves a freaking bad taste in my mouth." she added sourly. I laughed and Alicia joined me in my giggle-fit.
"Hey, Jo, the ring just got here. Maybe we should- oh, sorry to interrupt." Ronnie walked in with a small box in her hand. Alicia looked at the woman and so did I.
"It's okay, Ronnie. Can I see it?" I asked. Ronnie tossed me the box and I caught it with ease. I looked up at Alicia who gave me an encouraging look before I opened the box.
It was a silver ring with black spirals and swirls engraved on it. There was a small red ruby in the centre. I took the ring out of the box and inspected it some more. There were some engravings on the inside that I recognized as Latin. Too bad I had no idea what it said.
"It's pretty." I said to Ronnie.
"Put it on." she coaxed. I looked down at the ring and instinctively put it on my ring finger. As soon as the ring had wrapped my finger something in me changed.
Everything that was in my range of vision had just become much clearer. I saw every fibre on the carpet. I saw every crystal in window. I saw every faint speckle of gold in Alicia's green eyes. It was like I was seeing everything in high definition.
I heard the humming of the fridge. I heard faint laughter of children that was obviously coming from the pool. I heard a mess of conversations all at once. I even heard Ronnie's slow breathing.
My head was a complete mess. I was starting to get really hot and my skin was feeling very sensitive. I took a deep breathe trying to calm down.
I smelt a whole mess of things. Floor polish, flowers, chlorine, Riley, Ronnie, Alicia and a whole bunch of other things that just got mashed up into one big confusing scent.
"Jo, are you okay?" Alicia's voice was faint. I took the ring off and everything went back to normal. The conversations disappeared. The smell and enhanced sight disappeared. So did my sudden raise of body temperature and sensitivity.
"What just happened?" I asked looking around, trying to catch some fibres on the carpet.
"Did the ring heighten your senses?" Alicia asked. I looked over at Ronnie and she nodded with a smile.
A/N OMG This is such a long chapter, more than double the usual length. I hope you guys liked it and that it cleared up some things that were a bit confusing in the previous chapters. Please keep reading, I love you guys.
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xoxo
K