AEGIS ↠ EMBRY CALL [R.U]

46| NO MORE SECRETS

     They moved back downstairs. Callas's question was still unanswered but Emily told her that they were done keeping secrets from her before she went off to make Callas a warm drink. She sat back down on the sofa, pulling Zeus towards her—although he didn't really mind and seemed to settle down on her lap. Sam sat back in his chair while Reed excused himself and walked out of the house, sitting down on the porch steps, Callas watched him silently, holding onto Zeus as she turned back to look at Sam. She wasn't sure how to feel about Reed in that moment, but she knew that it hurt to see him walk out of the house without even glancing at her. Jacob and Seth sat on either side of her, with some distance still between them, not knowing if she wanted to be close to any of them after seeing what Reed could do for the first time. Once again, no one spoke, all Callas could hear was the rain, Zeus panting, her own breathing, and Emily in the kitchen as she stirred something around in a cup. All Callas knew was that Will was a vampire—they were real, and they were just as terrifying as novels and movies made them out to be—and that none of the boys were human. They were something else entirely. Her eyes moved back to Sam, after they drifted to the fireplace in front of her, his jaw fluttered and he picked at the fabric of the chair. Callas moved awkwardly on the sofa as she waited for something to happen.

"It's called phasing," Sam started, cutting the silence. "That's what you saw."

All she did was a nod in response. What else could she really say? "What... What are you?" Callas asked nervously, playing with Zeus's fur.

"Shape-shifters."

"Like werewolves?"

Jacob cleared his throat. "Werewolves are actually different to shape-shifters." Callas turned her head to look at him. "But... we'll get to that later."

Callas nodded her head. "What exactly are... 'shape-shifters'?"

"Uh, okay..." Sam nodded his head, sitting up straighter. "We... are... descendants from the ancient spirit warriors of the Quileute tribe, just like Reed mentioned before..." Sam motioned his hand in a strange circular way, not entirely sure how he should phrase his sentence, but before he could continue, Callas spoke in an uncertain voice.

"So, you're... spirits?"

"In... a way. Back then, according to the legend that is, the warriors and chiefs had the ability to leave their bodies and wander as spirits." Callas was already beginning to feel overwhelmed as Sam continued, "They could communicate with animals, they could hear each other's thoughts."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Can you do that?"

"Talk to animals?" Sam tilted his head.

"Hear each other's thoughts," she corrected herself.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Callas breathed out. "So, you guys were doing that in the canteen," she stated it more as a fact than a question, but no one else said a word.

Quil hummed in response after no one else said anything. "That's why we all seemed shocked that you suggested that we could, or asked if we could, we all assumed that you knew or at least caught on," he told her. "But I guess it was just a lucky guess."

Callas nodded. "I guess so."

Sam continued to explain, "It wasn't until a change during Taha Aki's leadership of the tribe, that members were hugely impacted and permanently changed their powers to shape-shift into wolves—much like what Reed did."

"Billy spoke about him at the bonfire," Callas mumbled. "So, Reed... phased?" Sam nodded. "Why? How? I don't understand."