“You know what?” I let out a deep breath and pull my hand from his and point my finger at him. “I told you the truth. I told you about Drake, but you didn’t believe one word I said! I get that I hurt you, I’ve apologised countless times. For God’s sake, Tyler. I didn’t mean to string you along, as you and Talon continuously tend to put it. I loved you, both of you. I went back to Point Bright ready to break up with Drake, but he wouldn’t have it. Who do you think hurt me?” I’m yelling so loud, I really pray no one is around.
“What?” I hear Talon’s out of breath voice behind me, as if I just punched him in the stomach. I turn and find him wide eyed. I really wasn’t going to have this conversation now, but since both boys are right here and they’ve pushed me to my limit, I allow the anger to flow, along with the words.
“He threatened me. Told me he’d hurt the friends I had back in Point Bright, that he’d hurt you two as well as Alex and Johnny. He was crazy, he’s fucking lost his mind! He made me tell him every day that I loved him, so much that I even started to believe the lie. I would isolate myself from everyone when I came back home because I was so afraid that he could somehow see what I was doing and who I was with. I was paranoid and seriously afraid.”
“Ohmigod, Angel. I…fuck…we didn’t believe you.” Talon’s face is full of sorrow and pity as he reaches for me, pulling me into his arms.
I automatically push against his chest. “No, I don’t need your pity. I told you this because I’m done with your childish behaviour, both of you. You’re trying to get back at me with harsh words and childish games and you’ve managed to get your revenge a hundred times over. Congratu-fucking-lations, you win! You can’t believe that after what you’ve both said and all the shit you’ve put me through, I’m just gonna roll over and accept an “I’m sorry”? Well sorry, that isn’t gonna work for me.” I look at the clock on the wall behind me.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got somewhere to be.” I leave them standing there open mouthed and wide eyed.
I head straight into the woods and straight for the camp. I’m a few minutes late and it’s already dark outside so I run as fast as I can.
****
I find Phoenix sitting on top of the wall near the tree I usually use to climb over.
“You’re late,” she says.
“I know, I’m sorry. I ran into the twins. That’s a story for another day though.” I look around the area. “So where are we gonna do this then?”
She jumps off the wall, landing gracefully on her feet. “Not here. I got the perfect place nearby. Follow me.”
Phoenix doesn’t speak the entire way to our training spot. She just walks along whilst humming an unfamiliar song. Luckily the place is only a few minutes away because I’m not sure how much longer I can take her silence. It’s unlike her to be quiet, she’s usually talking my ears off. My mind is taken up with thoughts of what just happened with the twins and how I lost my cool telling them everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but a lot more than I ever thought I would. The looks on their faces as I left them standing there was enough to tell me that they believed me this time.
She takes me deeper into the forest, vines and creepers take over most of the trees. There’s just enough walking space for the two of us, and I have to bend down to walk under a fallen tree trunk. Looking up, I find myself staring at a small clearing. Trees and a wooded area surround us, but we are concealed amongst the bushes. The moon is bright enough for us to see each other in the darkness, especially as there are no overhanging trees above us.
I watch Phoenix pull out a blanket from her back pack, throwing it on the floor, followed by a little lantern which she lights. She sits down Indian-style on the blanket and gestures for me to have a seat. I follow her lead, sitting just as she does.
“First things first… Don’t ever be late.” She cocks an eyebrow at me and I know she’s in game mode. No fucking around and no joking coming from her end.
“If you want to learn from me then you need to be ready at the time you say you will be ready. I want to help you, Angel, but it’s already hard sneaking behind Fabian’s back. The longer I wait, the less time I have to teach you, and by the looks of things you need to learn how to control your magic and fast. I only have so much time “at the library” before Fabian starts tripping, realising I’m not really at the library. He’s very nosy when it comes to me, I’m already jeopardising my friendship with him as it is by doing this behind his back. We need to stick to our times otherwise we’re going to get caught out.” I give the girl brownie points, she takes this magic shit seriously.
I lift my hands up in surrender. “I understand, Phoenix, seriously I do. I promise never to be late again; within reason. I want to do this and I need all the help you can give me.” I give her a small smile and sure enough a grin forms on her lips and she’s her usual chipper self.
“Okay, fair enough.” She nods, before reaching into her backpack. “Let’s start small.” She pulls out a knife and my eyes widen as the silver shines in the night.
“Whoa, what you gonna do with that?” I move backwards on the blanket.
“I’ve already seen the power you have when you’re like really angry. Now I need to see those healing powers.” Before I have a chance to stop her, she slices the knife down the palm of her hand.
“What the fuck, Phoenix!” I grab the knife out of her hand and throw it. It lands a few feet away with a thud. She curls her injured hand into a fist and blood runs down her hands.
“Darn! I really didn’t expect it to hurt that bad,” she hisses.
“Ohmigod, I can’t believe you just did that!” I move forward onto the blanket and place my hand over hers.
“You do realize that once I heal you, the pain I feel is gonna be way worse?” I raise an eyebrow, moving my hand away from her hand. She eyes my hand cautiously then gives me a confused look, clearly not understanding.
“Maybe I should let you feel that pain for a little longer, let you suffer a little bit so you learn never to do something so stupid again,” I say seriously.
“No! Please just heal me, Angel. It hurts really bad. I won’t do it again. I promise,” she begs quickly.
I place my hands back over hers, ignoring the hissing sound coming from her mouth as I gently open her hand to see the wound. It’s not too deep and it should heal perfectly.
“What are you waiting for?”
“Oh, sorry.” I place both hands just above her skin. As if the magic instinctively knows there’s healing to be done, I feel the charged static in the tips of my fingers. A few seconds later little light orbs appear, travelling over my hands and onto Phoenix’s. They disappear into her cut and we both watch open mouthed as the little orbs heal her skin. No matter how many times I do this, I will never get over how beautiful and amazing it is.
Once the skin is healed she fists her hand again and opens it, she sticks her other thumb in her mouth then uses it to wipe away the residual blood.
She looks up to me and if it’s even possible with her already pale skin, she’s as white as a ghost.
“You healed me,” she says.
“Uh yeah…”
“I thought there was gonna be some kind of spell, you know? Calling upon our ancestors or something like that. Maybe even the lighting of a candle? I can’t believe you just sat there quietly and lifted your hand? Are you thinking the spell? Is that it? That’s why I couldn’t hear it, isn’t it?” She rambles on, trying to convince herself.
“Phoenix, calm down.” I place my hands over hers. “I don’t use any spells. The magic does everything on its own, as if it can sense the need for healing. As long as I bring my hands close enough to the wound, it’ll heal it.”
“Then what about those scars on your wrist? Why didn’t your magic heal your own injuries?” She asks, taking hold of my wrist and running her fingers over the scarred skin.
“I tried healing myself, but the magic doesn’t work on me like it works on others. The pain t
hat came back was horrific. I think my magic is meant for others, not myself, Phee.” Before I can finish the sentence, I feel the pain in my hand from healing her wound. I use my other hand to wrap around it tight and take deep breaths.
“You took the pain from me?” Phoenix looks concerned as she rubs my arm. I nod vigorously unable to speak.
“Next time I’ll start with a pin prick. I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
It takes me a minute to contain myself before the pain goes away instantly. “There won’t be a next time. You are not hurting yourself only to have me heal you. I don’t like that, there has to be another way.”
She nods her head. “What were you feeling or thinking when you were healing me?”
I shrug, “I was just thinking about making your pain go away? I just wanted to make it better, that’s all that was going through my head.”
Phoenix continues to ask questions before trying to teach me a basic spell. It is the supposedly simple lighting of a candle, but nothing whatsoever happens. We go over other fire lighting spells and I start to believe that maybe my magic abilities are limited to healing and causing pain.
I lift my nose when a familiar scent wafts through the air, when Phoenix tries to speak I lift my hand up, hushing her.
I close my eyes and listen. I can hear the sound of quick footsteps, the sound of crunching leaves as they run, the steps are quick, light and not heavy enough to be a man. The sound of their deep panting confirms my suspicions.
I stand up quickly. “We need to get going, I think my father’s guards are patrolling the area.” Phoenix sits there frozen.
“Phee, now! We need to get going right now!” This gets her in panic mode as she starts shuffling to get everything into her bag. I take the bag from her shaky fingers and put the blanket inside.
I help her put the backpack on her shoulders and grab her hand dragging her behind me as I find my way back through the forest.
“They’re going to tear me apart when they find us together aren’t they?” Phoenix says, sounding petrified.
“I didn’t tear you apart, did I?” I say, as I continue to drag her behind me.
“Yeah well, you still tried to kill me.”
“Point taken.” When I see the stone wall, I push her ahead urgently.
“Get back over that wall. Quickly!” I say, looking around to see if anyone’s near.
“What about the cloaking spell? You need it. I have a bottle in my bag. I can just-” She starts grabbing for her bag, but I reach out and stop her.
“We don’t have time. I’ll be fine, just get back over that wall, I don’t know what those guards will do if they find us together.” I push her again and she starts running towards it.
I watch until she’s over the massive wall and out of sight before I start running towards the pack house. I make sure to keep an ear out for the guards that are on patrol, and when I finally meet the gravel road that leads to the pack house, I slow my pace trying to catch my breath. I walk slowly down the road toward the house calming the adrenaline that is running through me.
“Shit!”
My father’s car is parked near the main house. I’m late. I hurry to the back door hoping everyone is in the front by the dining room. I open the door to find my father standing by the kitchen table pouring glasses of wine.
“Angel!” He says with a big smile, dropping the wine bottle and heading towards me. “We were wondering where you were. Come here.”
I continue to stand by the door frozen in place unsure of what to say.
He pulls me in for a hug and I can’t help but wrap my arms around him, holding him tight and letting out a deep breath after I take in his familiar scent. I missed him so much.
I feel his body tense immediately, his chest moving as he takes in deep breaths smelling the air.
“Angel?” He says, his chest rumbling against my cheek. I know that he knows and I don’t have the slightest clue how I’m gonna get out of this one.
“Yeah?” I say slowly.
He pushes me away from him and looks down at my face with a frown.
“Where have you been?”
“I uh…” I can’t look into his eye. I’m fighting my wolf, the truth on the tip of my tongue. The human side of me hasn’t got a problem lying, but my wolf wants to please her Alpha.
“Angel! Thank goodness you arrived! Oh come here, honey! I missed you so much!” Alex comes through the kitchen with the twins and she heads for me, but Johnny stops her, pulling her back. Her smile disappears and she looks between the two of us confused.
“Alex, stop.” he looks down at me.
“Where have you been, Angel?” His tone is serious, and Alex looks at him then lifts her nose up and smells the air.
“Oh no,” she whispers.
My father lets out a low growl, I step back afraid. The twins walk up and stand in front of me as if they could protect me from their Alpha.
“Answer me, Angel. Where were you?” He rumbles again, this time Alex wraps her hands around one of his arms trying to calm her mate down.
I look to Alex and mind link with her. “Mom, help me please. Say something,” I beg. Her eyes turn watery and she looks up to my father. He looks down at her then back at me.
“Now you want to mind link with your mother? We’ve been trying to link with you since you joined this pack and not once were we able to get through? Is that what you have been hiding from us? Seeing witches behind our backs? What are you hiding Angel?” I look to Alex again.
“Stop trying to link with your mother and speak to me!” My father speaks sternly, the twins standing firm by my side.
I stare at Alex. “Please, Mom,” I mind link.
“You dare disobey me!” My father’s Alpha tone is enough to have my hands shaking. Faith pleads with me, telling me to tell the truth, begging me.
“I was in town,” I blurt out.
He lets out a cynical laugh and looks to the rest of the people in the kitchen.
“Now she lies to my face. Your car was here when we arrived and you have leaves and twigs in your hair.” He gestures to my hair. The twins turn around and look down at me. I feel through my hair, as Tyler pulls a few leaves out and Talon manages to get a huge twig untangled from my hair.
“I walked,” I say.
“Move.” He tells the boys, but they won’t budge.
The growl that leaves my father’s lips has me close to peeing myself. I’ve never seen him this angry before. Well, never this angry at me.
“Talon, Tyler. As your Alpha, I’m ordering you to move out of my way so I can speak face to face with my daughter. MOVE!” He snarls.
Talon forces Tyler to move out of my father’s way.
My dad looks down at me. “We are all going into the dining room to enjoy the meal that was prepared for us. You better think very wisely about whether you are going to continue to lie to me, or if you’re going to tell me the truth young lady. I had some very important news to share this evening and a very big decision to make, the answer you give me will determine the decision I make.” He backs away and calls my mother and the twins to the table. I stand there frozen, unsure of what to do.
It’s time I face all these obstacles that have been put onto my plate. No more running away. Well, not yet anyway.
Chapter 17
When I enter the dining room, everybody is seated at the table quietly watching the food on their plates get cold. I sit next to Jacob who is here as well. My father intertwines his hands together and rests his elbows on the table staring at me. I swallow the lump in my throat and look down at my hands.
“So?” He says, with a raised eyebrow.
“I was at the camp,” I almost whisper.
“What camp?” He asks.
I look at my mother, I can tell by the look on her face that she knows exactly what camp I’m referring to. I look at Jacob who’s watching me intently, before my eyes finally meet Talon’s as he nods his head ushering me to continue. I reluctantly
look at Tyler, his voice filters through the silence in my head, “Tell the truth…remember…no more lies.”
“I was at the witches camp.” I look my father dead in the eye waiting for the shock to register, but his facial expression doesn’t change. He nods his head and takes a sip of the wine he poured earlier.
My mother keeps looking back and forth between the two of us. I can feel her trying to get into my head, but I block her out. She’s playing with the place mat under her plate, tears forming then falling down her cheeks.
“I thought I made it clear, I don’t want you near Noelle?” He says. I hate that everyone is looking at me with disappointment, but I realise that after the secrets I’ve kept this was inevitable.
“You told Alex not to see Noelle, you never told me I couldn’t,” I explain.
He smacks his hand on the table hard, making Alex and I jump at the sound. He then uses the same hand to cover Alex’s, trying to calm her down.
“Don’t play smart with me, Angel. I have been very kind to you and have treated you better than any other pack member besides your mother because you are my daughter. You have also gotten away with a hell of a lot more than I’d allow anyone else. Every member of this pack earns their way around here. We don’t expect you to pay for anything, but at least show us the respect we deserve and listen to your Alpha.” His voice is threatening; his wolf in control of this conversation. My hands shake underneath the table and the food that sits on my plate is making me nauseous.
“You can’t give me the answers I need!” I yell.
“I understand that you are concerned about certain things, but we have bigger problems than this right now. There’s a pack of rogue wolves running from territory to territory, hitting all our allied packs. This is far bigger than what you have got going on right now. What we don’t need are other wolves from our pack seeing you entering and exiting that witch’s camp. There are already enough people questioning your sudden presence in this pack, you are just gonna raise more. Once this is all over and we have the rogues under control then you’re more than welcome to speak to Noelle; but here in this house, and on our land,” he orders, tapping the table harshly.
Angel Blackwood Page 20
