The Taming

Chapter 8

                "Love, come out come out wherever you are. How am I supposed to find my heart?"

                                                              -"Burn", by Madi Diaz

Chapter 8

Emilee was at the top of the stairs, panting breathlessly when I stepped out of my room. I looked at her strangely and walked toward her slowly to make sure she was okay. I reached out to place a hand on her shaky shoulder, but she just leaned away.

"Go down there-and calm-your-mate-down." She ordered through gritted teeth. I was about to question what she meant, but a loud crash erupted from below us. I ran passed her and down the stairs, making sure to watch my step as I did. In the kitchen, my parents were over by the sliding door on the other side of the kitchen leading to the back yard, on their hands and knees picking up pieces of glass. It was only then I noticed that the sliding door was shattered and the screen door behind in was torn open.

"What happened?" I asked my parents in shock. My mother looked up and gave me a scornful look.

"I don't think Jason likes Ryder", was all she said before turning back to the broken pieces of glass on the wooden floor. I carefully hopped over the shards of glass, remembering that I was barefoot, and made a daring jump through the jagged gap in the door. It was pitch black out by now, and there wasn't even a star in the sky that could've given me some illuminated path towards Jason and Ryder. I knelt down on the ground and tried to mentally block out all the other noises around me. From the light wind that blew through the air, and the scurrying of squirrels over wooded ground, I was able to enhance the loud thumps that hit the Earth, sending sharp waves into my senses. That had to be them.

I sprinted off towards the sylvan area that was a good ten feet away from my house, pushing my weak legs as fast as they could possibly carry me. As I continued running, the intensity of the thumping picked up. As much as I would enjoy watching Jason kick the shit out of Ryder, I didn't enjoy that he decided to take matter's into his own hands. The beef between Ryder and I was just that; beef between Ryder and I. And the last thing I needed was Ryder mocking my weakness. He probably thinks that I made my big tough mate stand up for me.

No. Not the case at all. When I found them the first thing I planned on doing was stopping them from ripping one another to shreds, and then I was going to yell at Jason for meddling in problems to which were not his own, and then I would triumphantly walk back to the house, and spend God only knows how much longer with my family before I'd be forced back to my mate's territory.

I would shift into my wolf and hopefully get there faster, but I was still only in the shirt Jason found for me at the Gathering, and I wasn't going to walk back naked, or shifted because if I let my wolf have control, she'd only obey Jason. I needed Jason to understand that just because I was his mate, didn't mean I couldn't be tractable in his presence.

I stopped dead in my tracks, not hearing the thumping anymore. Was someone hurt?

Panic washed over me like a sudden storm, and I felt my heart skip a beat in my chest. What if Jason was hurt because of me?

I wanted to punch myself for my sudden mood changes. I partially blamed my wolf.

'Can you stop blaming me! I'm not even doing anything. If I were to mess with your emotions, you'd be indefinite about your relationship with Jason forever. And quite frankly I'm getting sick of your mood swings. Can't you just accept the boy?'

 I was surprised by my wolf's sudden lecture. Here I was in shear panic that my mate was hurt and she was making me feel worse. But, she was right in a sick way. I was doing this to myself. I was twisting my mind and my heart into believing that Jason was the bad guy. I kept on reminding myself that he was the reason Gabriel and I weren't together. I wanted to blame the bond for this sudden blandishment to the stranger in the woods who marked me... I wanted to blame so many other things and people for the feelings that I felt. I was realizing that wasn't right in itself.