The Wanderers Beginning: The Wanderers, Reborn, & Unforgiven

by Jessica Miller

  “Josie it’s just so hard, especially when I’m the one who keeps making the mistakes.”

  “So you made a mistake.”

  “Mistakes, plural.”

  “Okay, so you made a few mistakes. It’s human nature.” I opened my mouth to remind her I wasn’t exactly human when she stopped me. “Vampire or not you’re still human. You’re still you. You need to cop up to your mistakes, apologize, accept, and move on. And if these buttheads can’t accept you for who you are despite your mistakes than screw them.”

  “You know what, you’re right. I need to stop feeling pity on myself.”

  “That’s right, you’re Ella Alexandra McCallister.” She stood up and stomped her foot.

  “I am!” I said, joining her. “I am Ella Alexandra McCallister, damn it!”

  “Yeah!” Josie cheered me on and I cheered right back. We were interrupted in our little battle cry by a knock on the door. I held my head high ready for anything when I answered it. I swung the door open ready to take on the world only to pause because I had no idea who the man was standing before me.

  “May I help you?” I asked.

  “Ella, I presume?” he said, with a deep Irish accent. “We haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Zane O’Reilly, your new trainer.”

  I looked back at the clock and almost smacked myself in the head. “I am so sorry I completely lost track of time I –”

  “No worries. Gabe had already warned me about your tendencies to,” he paused, looking for the right word that would sound more polite. “Procrastinate,” was the word he chose.

  If he didn’t have the most charming smile I might have been offended. He also looked very young to be a guardian and a trainer. “How old are you?” I asked abruptly.

  He blushed slightly, giving me a half smile showing off his dimples. “I’m twenty-three,” he said.

  “Did you just graduate?”

  “No, I’m a transfer.”

  “Um, I think there might be some kind of mistake. I don’t think…” I began, wondering what Gabe was thinking when assigned Zane to me. He was barely older than me and still a student. How was this going to work and how was he supposed to train me? He couldn’t possibly know any more than I already did.

  “You’re wondering how someone as young as me and still a student could train you.”

  “Yeah,” I drew out the word. “No offense.”

  “None taken. I can assure you I am more than qualified,” he winked.

  “Look, I don’t know what you heard but I am not that girl,” I said, remembering the current rumors that were floating around about me. One of the many rumors I heard and choice to ignore was the one with Aidan having a torrid affair with a student. Aidan had told me the first time they started he had automatically put a stop to them, but Mackenzie being Mackenzie, had taken it one step further after I left and told everyone I was that student. I was surprised at first Aidan hadn’t said anything to me, but I think with everything else going on he didn’t want to add more stress to the pile, but a warning would have been nice.

  I learned very few had believed it was me, saying that Aidan wouldn’t sink that low. That hurt, but better they not believe it. Others who were desperate for gossip pushed the rumor. That rumor had spun as most do. That was one of the reasons I left, because I was so heartbroken. Others said I had become obsessive and was asked to leave and so on. Basically the jist of the rumors were I was the school slut who likes to sleep with her teachers. If he believed these rumors I was going to put a stop to that.

  “No. No,” he put his hands up, backing away. “I just meant I’ve been training since I was seven. Gabe trained me.”

  “Oh,” I said relieved. “Since you were seven? Your parents must be hardcore than.”

  “Not really. Gabe’s my uncle.”

  I nodded, understanding. That would explain a lot. I could see the similarities. Same dark eyes, same hair – well Zane’s was a little longer – same height and built. He even stood the way Gabe did. I just hoped he wasn’t as strict as Gabe and hopefully not so serious either.

  We stood there silently for a moment not sure what to say. “Um, what time did you want to start?”

  “Right, well,” he said, running his fingers through his dark brown hair the way Roman did when he was nervous. “Gabe said that you guys trained twice a day in the morning and again in the evening.”

  “Yeah,” I said, cringing and hoping he liked his sleep like I did.

  “Well I can assure you even though I may be new my training skills are as efficient as Gabe’s. After all he did teach me everything he knows,” he said confidently. “I know he got you guys up pretty early in the morning, but I’m not much of a morning person. So if it’s okay with you I rather just work longer in the evening.”

  “That sounds perfect.” I did a silent yippee in my head.

  “I’ll let you get back to your guest then,” he said.

  “Oh that’s just,” I looked behind me and Josie was no longer in my room. I turned back to Zane confused.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yes, fine, sorry. So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow,” he smiled and took off.

  I closed the door behind me and looked around the room. “Josie?” I called, looking under the bed.

  “Up here silly,” she said.

  Still not use to her disappearing and reappearing act, I jumped, and smacked my head on the bed. “Could you give me a warning when you’re going to do that?” I said, rubbing my throbbing head.

  “Sorry,” she shrugged. “You want me to, like, whistle next time?” she suggested.

  I rolled my eyes. “Where did you go?”

  “I wasn’t sure who was at the door so I had to hide to be safe. Not allowed to risk letting anymore people know about me,” she said, flopping back on my bed. “So who was that? He was cute.” She wiggled her brows.

  “First off, don’t even go there.” She shrugged innocently. “That was my new trainer.”

  “What happened to Gabe?”

  “My big mouth is what happened. Apparently the old Ella isn’t so lost after all,” I sighed, falling back next to her.

  “Nobody’s perfect and if you ask me you traded up,” she winked.

  “He’s Gabe’s nephew and I have enough boy troubles as it is. I do not need to add another one to the mix.”

  “I’ll say. Who would have thought you’d turn out to be such a slut?”

  I elbowed her. “Thanks,” I said sarcastically.

  “Let’s see, there was your hot headmaster, Roman, Josef, Tristan,” she said, ticking the names off with her fingers. “And now this guy.”

  “Like I told you before, with Aidan I was under a spell. There was nothing going on between Josef and I and I have no interest in Zane.”

  “You got to admit he’s pretty hot,” she said, giving me the eye.

  “I’ll admit he’s not bad to look at,” I confessed.

  “Yeah well your dish is already full so you have to leave some for the rest of us,” she joked.

  “Actually my plate is currently empty and I think I’d like to keep it that way,” I said, rubbing my grumbling belly. All this talk about empty plates reminded me I skipped lunch and slept through dinner.

  “Well you know it won’t stay that way for long.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you’re hot and you should know by now guys can’t resist you.”

  “Yeah, sometimes that’s the problem.”

  There was another knock on the door. “Who is it?” I called not in the mood for visitors.

  “It’s Riley,” she answered.

  “That’s my cue to leave,” Josie said.

  “Do you have to?”

  “Yeah, unfortunately,” she said, getting up. “Look Ella, you are a very strong and independent woman. You can do anything you put your mind to and never let anyone tell you you can’t. As far as this whole guy t
hing goes, you’ll figure it out. Just give it time. But remember, no more crying. These stupid boys are not worth your tears.”

  “Thanks Josie. I’m gonna miss you.” I gave her a hug, not wanting to let go.

  “I’ll miss you too. I’ll try to pop in when I can.” And with that she was gone.

  I sighed and walked over to open the door for Riley. “Hey,” I said, letting her come in.

  “Do you know how hard it was for me to get in here? It’s like Fort Knox. I had to make up some excuse about how we’re supposed to do a project together,” she said, dropping her book bag on the floor.

  “Riley Mercer, lying and sneaking around, what would your mother say?” I teased, wagging my finger at her.

  “I’d tell her it was peer pressure,” she smiled and I laughed. “Nice place you got here,” she said, looking around. “How’d you end up here?”

  “I got punished.”

  “Nice punishment.”

  “Can’t complain…much.” I walked over and plopped down on my bed. “So what’s up?”

  “You weren’t at lunch or dinner so I got a little worried. I’ve never known you to skip a meal let alone two.”

  “Didn’t Justin tell you he saw me?”

  “He did, but that doesn’t mean I still can’t worry.” She bent down and unzipped her book bag and pulled out some snacks. “This was all I could find. I figured you’d be hungry.”

  “Starved and thank you,” I said, swiping a bag of chips.

  “Any reason you skipped lunch and dinner?”

  “Dinner I accidently slept through and lunch, well…” I trailed off not sure how much I wanted to divulge.

  “Roman,” she guessed.

  “Among other things,” I sighed, falling back on the bed.

  “You want to talk about it?” she asked shyly.

  “What’s the point? It’s not going to change anything.” I lost all of my pep the moment Josie disappeared from my room.

  “It might make you feel better,” she said hesitantly.

  “Reminding myself over and over again how much of a screw up I am?”

  “Ella, you’re not a screw up. You just sometimes…think irrationally.” I scowled at her. “I mean,” she stammered. “You act first and –”

  “I thought you were supposed to make me feel better not worse,” I said, swiping the cookies she brought. It was a good thing she thought ahead and brought comfort food.

  “I know and I’m sorry. I’m just not good at this. I haven’t had much practice. I only ever had my sisters. I never really had a lot of girlfriends growing up.”

  “I know Riley and it’s okay, really. Honestly, you’re right. I’ve been doing a lot of dumb things and saying a lot of dumb things.”

  “You just need to learn from your mistakes.”

  “If only I could learn from them. Lately I seem to keep making the same mistakes.”

  “Ella, no one’s perfect and I’m sure not everything is your fault.”

  She said it so innocently I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks.”

  “You know what I mean. We all know Roman can be an ass.”

  “And you’re swearing now too? Why Miss Mercer?” I started to fan myself dramatically.

  “Shut up,” she said, throwing a pillow at me. “So when are you going to tell me what happened in Ireland?” she asked coyly.

  “Long story short, I found him, we bonded, he broke up with me,” I spit out in one breath.

  “Oh…when you say bonded, what exactly do you mean?”

  “Well…” I said, looking away.

  “Oh Ella, you didn’t.”

  “It just kind of happened. I didn’t plan it and technically Tristan was my boyfriend not that that makes it right.”

  “I’m not judging,” she smiled bashfully.

  “Judge away, I deserve it.”

  “Ella, stop being so hard on yourself. I’m sure anyone would have done the same thing if they were in your situation. I mean, how many people find out their boyfriend died but really didn’t. How many times does that happen?”

  “Twice if you count Kyle.”

  “Huh, maybe there really is something wrong with you?”

  “Hey,” I said, throwing the pillow back at her.

  “So it’s really over between you and Tristan?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go all the way to Ireland for it to end that way.”

  “I’m not. I mean I’m glad to know he’s alive, but I should have known it wouldn’t have worked out. Tristan and I…I guess we’re just not meant for each other.” Saying those words out loud felt so wrong, but I convinced myself it was the truth even if it didn’t feel like it.

  Riley looked down at her feet clearly understanding that was not a subject I liked talking about so she moved on. “So how much trouble did you get in?”

  “A lot. I have to stay here the whole summer and make up my classes and they’re making me do manual labor around the school.”

  “At least you won’t be alone.”

  “That’s true. Cameron and Dean will be there, but then again neither of them are talking to me at the moment so I might as well be here alone.” Riley looked away, indicating she knew something I didn’t. “What are you not telling me?”

  “When I said you wouldn’t be alone, I wasn’t talking about Cameron and Dean.”

  “Oh yeah, Mackenzie will be here too,” I said groaning. Riley started to pick at her nails. “Okay seriously Riley, what is it?”

  “Roman will be here too.”

  “What!” I stood up.

  “Justin told me he got into big trouble for setting the tree on fire and part of his punishment is he has to spend the summer doing the landscaping around the school.”

  “Great, I’m sure somehow that will be my fault, ‘cause you know I was the reason he set the tree on fire in the first place. Every time I think they can’t punish me anymore fate has a way of proving me wrong. Now I have to spend the whole summer with people who hate me.”

  “Ella, they don’t hate you.”

  “You didn’t hear what Roman said to me before lunch,” I frowned, sitting back down.

  “He’s just upset. He was so beside himself when you left. He thought it was his fault because he didn’t protect you. He thought you left because of him.”

  “What? Why would he think that?”

  “Maybe you should talk to him.”

  “I am the last person he wants to talk to.”

  “Just give him some time to cool off. And remember you have the whole summer to figure things out.”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Riley and I spent the rest of the night catching up. I told her all about my adventures in Ireland and what I originally meant about Tristan and I being bonded. Then I told her about how I was a total bitch to Gabe and because of it I have a new trainer and why Roman really flipped out on me. We talked up until one in the morning. Riley ended up falling asleep in my bed and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. I let her sleep while I cuddled up in my chair and read a book. I was too afraid to fall asleep after the last nightmare I had.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  I woke up early the next morning. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss breakfast today and I knew if I got up early enough I could get there before anyone else did. No big surprise Riley was already up and had been for an hour. “Good morning sunshine,” she said, smiling brightly at me.

  “Morning,” I said, rubbing my eyes.

  “Had any bad dreams last night?”

  “Nope, slept like a baby.”

  “Good,” she said, closing her book. “You hungry?”

  “You really have to ask?”

  Thankfully there were only a few students in the cafeteria so Riley and I had a seat at our normal table. Cameron pulled out a chair and slumped down laying her head on her arms. I looked at Riley not sure. “Okay seriously, next time you decide to take an adventure how about you leave me out
of it,” Cameron mumbled into her arms.

  I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Cameron lifted her head to look at me. “I’m not mad at you, well, not anymore. I will admit I do tend to put my two cents in when I shouldn’t.”

  “I’m sorry,” I spit out.

  “No worries. It’s all good,” she said, laying her head back down.

  “And if I remember correctly I did try to leave you out of that little adventure. You insisted on coming with,” I said, hoping I didn’t open my mouth too soon.”

  She looked up and narrowed her eyes at me. “Touché,” she replied and stole a piece of bacon, smiling.

  “So how is training?” I asked, knowing by the way she looked she was getting her ass kicked.

  “Hell and why weren’t you there?” she demanded, waving a piece of toast at me that she stole from Riley.

  “After yesterday Gabe suggested maybe I should have another trainer.”

  “Ouch,” she said. “Is he as bad as Gabe?”

  “He prefers to sleep in so already that’s a plus.”

  “I hate you. Wanna switch?” Cameron smiled sweetly.

  “Ha-ha, I wish,” I said and actually meant it. “Where’s Dean?”

  “Probably still passed out in the field,” Cameron laughed.

  “Are you serious?” She nodded. “Good, maybe this will do him some good.”

  “I doubt that,” Cameron said. “He already plans on making up for lost time by getting smashed this weekend.”

  I rolled my eyes, of course he would. Dean didn’t learn. “Is Dean still mad at me?” I asked, although I was sure I already knew the answer.

  “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Cameron said, getting up and stealing some more food off my plate before she got her own. “Here he comes now.”

  I looked up and sure enough Dean was walking straight for me and did not look happy. He stopped at the foot of the table, pressed his palms down on the edge, and stared straight at me. “I know you’re prone to your little hissy fits and you can’t help the fact that you’re a raging bitch,” I opened my mouth to yell at him, but he held up a finger. “But bailing out on training this morning and leaving us to be punished alone, a punishment no less that is basically your fault.” Dean really knew what to say to get under my skin. Just when I thought he was done he started up again. “Don’t say it’s not your fault because none of us would have left it weren’t for you. You really got a lot of nerve. I guess it took you no time at all to get that whole princess act down, didn’t it.”