Cognitive Dissonance

Chapter 11-The Meeting

"Bryce, can I ask you something?" Lily says hesitantly.

"You just did," I teased.

"Do you not want a mate because of what happened with Benny?" Lily blurts out.

My whole demeanor changes. I was beyond pissed off. Lily knew better than to bring him up!

"I thought I told you never to bring him up again," I say coldly.

"I think we should talk about it! Avoiding the topic doesn't change what happened!" Lily says.

I clench my fists in anger and get up from the table. "This conversation is over!"

Carter blocks me from leaving the kitchen. "Get out of my way, Carter!"

Carter tries to sound confident but blatantly fails. "N-No?"

"Carter," I growled.

"Lily's right. What happened with Benny is not your fault!"

"I know," I calmly reply, "It's Issac's fault."

"You were just a kid!" Lily exclaims.

"Get the FUCK out of my way, Carter, or I will hurt you!" I threaten.

"No, you won't," Carter replies smugly. "Issac won't let you."

The annoying thing was that he was right. So, instead of arguing and convincing Carter to move, I open the glass sliding door that leads outside and shift, running away from our house.

Whenever I need some time alone to think, I go to this small pond that's near the edge of our pack lands. It's a koi pond and has smooth rocks surrounding it.

"I'm sorry, Bryce! You know I still haven't forgiven myself for what happened."

"I know. I just don't know why Lily brought it up."

"Do you think I won't protect our mate?" Issac asks sadly.

"No, I know you won't." I spat angrily

Issac whimpers in response and goes silent. A few moments later, I hear a twig snap. I look up from the water and see Jack in wolf form. Jack's wolf, Knight, was beautiful.

"Are you okay?" Jack's mind links me.

"I'm fine," I grumble. "Did my sister send you?"

"Yeah, she and Carter thought having someone impartial to talk to would help. Do you want to talk about what just happened?" Jack offers.

"What are you? My fucking therapist?!"

"Okay," Jack drawls. "I'll take that as a No."

Jack trods over and sits next to me silently. After a couple of moments, I break the silence. "Benny was my younger brother."

Jack only nods slightly to show what he hears before tilting his head slightly in curiosity.

"It was before my family moved here. Benny had just been born, and Lily and I were eleven. There was an attack on our old pack by rogues. I ran away from the fight because Issac and I were so scared. When I returned, Lily was barely hanging onto her life, and Benny was missing. If I had just been there---"

"You can't beat yourself up over what could have happened. You were young," Jack comforts.

"So was Lily," I point out.

Jack sighs deeply. "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility is being superior to your former self."

"Who said that?"

"Ernest Hemmingway," Jack answers. "But, the point of the quote was to tell you that all we can do is strive to be better every day. Comparing yourself to everyone else will only fill you with disappointment. There will always be someone stronger, smarter, or braver out there. All you can do is focus on who you are and work to improve."

"It's unfair how wise you are," I pout.

Jack rolls his eyes. "C'mon, let's head back to the house. The pizza is probably cold by now."

We head back to my house and shift in the backyard. We interrupt Carter and Lily's debate on whether a hot dog is a sandwich when we enter through the glass sliding door.

"A hot dog is not a sandwich!" Lily argues.

"Yes, it is!! There is meat between two pieces of bread!" Carter counters.

"So then, is a taco a sandwich?" Lily raises an eyebrow skeptically.

"Of course not! There is only one tortilla!"

"Uggh! I give up. You're hopeless." Lily huffed in annoyance.

Jack and I's chuckling, causing them to look over. When Lily sees me, guilt floods her face.

"I'm sorry, Bryce. I didn't mean to upset you." Lily apologized.

"It's okay," I wave off her apology. "Why don't we finish dinner and then talk about what we found."

After dinner, the four of us gather in my room to discuss what we found.

"We weren't able to find anything about the oburo bracelet, but I think we found something that might explain what the Vampires are up to," I tell Lily and Carter.

When Jack and I show Lily and Carter the scroll, Carter gasps.

"That's why everyone that's killed are mates! The Vampires are trying to find the beings of great power!" Carter exclaims.

"But, what do they need the blood for?" Jack asks.

Carter's grin falters. "That's, that's a good question,"

"Did you guys find anything about how to break the binding spell?" I ask hopefully.

"Kind of," Carter frowns. "The way to break the curse is to accept or reject your mate."

"What?! But how can I do that when I don't even know who my mate is?" I shout in frustration.

"There might be a way to identify your mate. We'll have to ask the elders, though. They are the expert regarding werewolf stuff," Lily consoled.

"Well, If it helps, I'm pretty sure they're nearby. If we consider all unmated wolves just in the pack, we can narrow it down to 950 different pack members that are over the age of 18." I inform them. Our pack was humongous, with over 5000 members.

"Why do you say that?" Carter asks curiously.

"I felt the mate bond on my birthday, which means that they have to be in Lakewood," I admit sheepishly.

Jack writes down a couple more things before closing his notebook. "I think I wrote down everything we talked about. I'll talk to my dad when he returns and see if he found anything."

It was almost irritating how put together, and proper he was.

"Let's watch a movie," Lilly states.

"How about the Kingsmen?" Carter offers.

"Ooh, I love that movie!" Jack grins.

My sister turns to me. "Bryce?"

I shrug, "Anything is cool with me."

Lily smiles and turns on the TV in my room, and puts on the movie.