A Touch Of Lightning (COMPLETED!)

Chapter 26 Alpha Memories

       

Chapter 26

Alpha memories

Callin heard the soft knock on his bedroom door. By the pattern to the footsteps, by the breathing pattern, and the slight, double-tap to the heartbeat he could hear, he knew it was Carmen. He glared at his alarm clock as he saw it was only 5:30 in the morning.

"Go away!" He called, rolling back over and shoving a pillow over his head.

"No. Get up. Let's go for a run." Carmen called back, her voice muffled by the thick, wooden door and the pillow. Not muffled enough to hide the sheer determination in her tone, though.

"It's Saturday! Why do you want to go for a run in the middle of the night?!" He mumbled.

"What?" She called back.

"I said it's Saturday! The one day I can sleep in! So no, I'm not going for a run at 5:00 AM!" He yelled.

"Shut UP! I'm trying to sleep, you dolts!" Kevin howled from his room down the hall.

Callin heard Carmen snicker. And he pictured her standing in the hall, her soft, golden hair hanging in luxurious rings, her eyes sparkling, a small smile on her full lips. He sighed and clambered out of bed and threw on a pair of sweatpants, walking towards the door to his room with his head still back in bed.

He pulled open the door and Carmen's eyes popped wide as they traveled up and down his bare chest. He felt his cheeks heat up at the way her eyes darkened, but he didn't move.

"Well?" He said softly, watching her expression closely.

She met his eyes, then, and sucked in her bottom lip, gently biting it as she stepped away from him. He could hear her racing heartbeat, he could scent her reaction to him, and he instantly felt like he was spiraling out of control as his imagination went into overdrive.

"Callin! Get ahold of yourself! I do NOT appreciate being woken by your thoughts for Carmen!" Ahleena's telepathic voice was a brilliant flash of lightning in his mind.

Callin reeled back, his claws unconsciously sliding out as he realized Ahleena had been tracking his thoughts, his emotions, his reactions, through the mind-link. As he realized he hadn't even known she was tracking him so closely, due to how completely entwined their mind-link was.

Carmen stepped even further away from him, eyeing his claws warily, her mouth set in a thin scowl.

"If you're that upset about going for a run, I'll just let you sleep! Sheesh!"

Callin shook his head at her, sagging against the doorjamb, his eyes drifting shut and his jaw clenched as he dove inside his own mind. As he threw his conscious thoughts into focused motion. Examining the mind-link with purest determination. He had to understand this link, he had to understand how it worked. So he could rip it out.

"You will not be able to separate yourself from this link. To attempt to do so will cause us both great pain, which will echo back and forth through the link, spiraling upwards higher and higher with each echo, to more than you can imagine. So it will be reduced down to which of us can stand more, which of us can stay conscious longer than the other." Ahleena said in his thoughts, obviously tracking his intent still.

"Callin? Are you ok? What's...what's going on?"

"I'm...I can't..." He mumbled, then clumsily reached out and shut the door, locking it as he did. He didn't want Carmen anywhere near him while he was locked in this battle with Ahleena. He had no idea what might happen, or what he might do.