Bloodbond

Chapter 14

The next morning, I head down to the kitchen, knowing that this is where I'd find Claire. When I got there, I saw Frances washing dishes at the sink and Claire and Markus sitting down at the counter, eating pancakes.

Well, well, would you look at that. I guess Markus stayed the night. That was definitely interesting. I would have to talk to Claire later and learn a little more about their relationship. I felt bad that she thought I was too distracted to talk about things that were important to her. We were friends and I didn't want her to think that she had to hold her tongue. She was important to me as well.

"Morning, Cassia," chirped Claire, as Markus flashed me a quick smile.

"Morning." I grabbed a couple of pancakes and walked around to take a seat across from Claire and Markus.

"Claire, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

"Sure. What is it?"

"I had that talk with Gabriel last night...," I hesitated and Claire tried to fill in the blanks.

"Did it go well?" she asked.

"I think so. He's not mad anymore and I tried to be honest about EVERYTHING," I put extra emphasis on the word, hoping that Claire would understand what I meant. Her face looked puzzled for a moment but, eventually, it sunk in.

"How did he take it?"

"Not very well at first, but he came around. He said he was willing to give me time to figure things out." Claire looked relieved. I guess I wasn't the only one who had been concerned about the way things were going with Gabriel and I. Then again, Claire always seemed invested when it came to the two of us, so it shouldn't have surprised me.

"I'm glad you two straightened things out," this came from Markus. I guess Claire had completely filled him in on the rest of the situation. I was glad she had someone she could talk to.

"Yeah, but that wasn't the most important part of our conversation."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"Gabriel told me about the blood bond." Claire's eyes widened in shock and Markus sat up straighter in his chair.

"Did he?" Claire finally managed.

"Yes. I admit that it was...a surprise, but it's understandable. I know your pack is worried and Gabriel just wants to make sure that he can offer them a stronger sense of security." This earned me a giant grin from both Claire and Markus.

"Oh, Cassia! I'm so happy that you decided to do it! I was worried. You've no idea how much this means to the entire pack!" Claire shrieked. Uh oh. I hadn't thought that Claire would assume I'd agreed to the bond based on my words, but I should have guessed. Starting out with a statement describing how much sense the bond made probably wasn't my smartest idea. I'll need to be more careful next time.

"Claire, that isn't what I meant. Yes, the bond and Gabriel's reasons for doing it make total sense but, that doesn't mean I've actually decided to do it. My emotions are torn right now and I can't even perform the ceremony because of that. I need a chance to think about it before I make a decision. I'm sorry you misunderstood me." I saw Claire's face fall but she didn't seem angry. More like a child who hadn't gotten the one thing she'd really wanted for Christmas. It hurt to know that I'd upset her.

"It's fine. You're right. You need to be committed when you perform the ceremony or both you and Gabriel would get hurt. I don't want that."

"There is something that you can do for me, though," I said hopefully.

Claire looked up with a frown. "What's that?"

"I don't really know many of the people in your pack...I thought it would help me to better understand the situation if I could meet them? Maybe it would help make my decision as well."