I had been sensing that something was upsetting Melissa. I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong, but she wasn’t herself. I walked over to her and sat on the chair beside hers. I joined our mental link, not wanting anyone else to hear out conversation.
My mind travelled down our link, until I found and touch hers. I felt her acknowledgement and recognition, letting our minds link together.
`Are you going to tell me what’s wrong? ` I ask Melissa though the link, `I can tell you’re nervous as we all are about this meeting, but I sense there’s something else that’s got you rattled, `
I sensed the trepidation she was feeling. Whatever was wrong, she was fighting against it. We sat there for a good five minutes before she replied.
`It is just …. My past could be walking through that door and I don’t know if I’m strong enough to face it, ` she confessed. I knew, she would tell me, all I had to do was just sit quietly beside her. Until she was ready to tell me what was worrying her.
It shocked me, to hear her admit something like that. She was one of the strongest people I knew. I didn’t know much about what had happened all those years ago, but it had affected her to the point that it had changed her. She had arrived home broken and hadn’t spoken to anyone for weeks. Until she had realised what was happening with her body. That had changed her once again. Pulling her out of the dark hole she had been in. Finding the cubs had been another turning point. Whatever had happened had made her into the strong woman she was today. Now I did not see that woman. I saw the one who had arrived home, broken. Whatever was going around inside her head, she needed to snap out of it. We needed her in the game. The only thing I thought could be causing her to be in this state, were the Shifters that were coming to the meeting. She had lived with a group when she had been younger.
`Your past? … As in…` I asked her down our link.
`Yes, `
`You are one of the strongest women I know. If your past is going to walk through that door, I’ve no doubt in my mind that you can and will handle it, ` I reassure her.
`I hope you’re right. I really do, ` Melissa replies down the same link.
I feel her hand take mine. Giving it a Squeeze. As our skin contacts. A scene appears and unfolds in my mind. Melissa. Danger, tears, fighting, arguments. An unknown man and woman their faces in shadow. The scene goes on and on. Then the scene changes to another. It’s further in the future. I see Melissa, and the same unknown Man, they are laughing, kissing. I hear children giggling and a faint voice calling out, the scene fades away. Breaking our mental link, I turn my head towards hers and whisper aloud into her ear
‘’I promise you, I am’’
She turns her head around to face me, questions in her eyes. I give her hand a squeeze. With a smile I tell her, ‘’I promise you. Eventually everything will be alright,’’
She just sits there staring at me, until ‘’did you just have a vision?’’ she whispers knowingly. Eyes narrowed, watching my face for my reaction. I just smile, kiss her cheek, stand and walk over to the rest of our family. I can fill her penetrating stare in my back. I can’t tell her what I’ve seen. I don’t want anything that could influence her future.
I walk over to the others. Melissa close behind. We are waiting for Lucien, Damien and Lucien’s other men to arrive. Lucien had told us that the meeting would be starting at eight, it was now seven thirty. The other leaders would be arriving soon. We had left all our weapons before entering and had gone through the scanner. Showing that we weren’t hiding anything.
◆◆◆
The double wooden doors swing open. Lucien and Damien entered first, followed by Jaden and a handful of Lucien’s other men entered close behind. These were different than the ones Lucien had with him from earlier. I recognised them from the attack. They all acknowledged me. I could feel the shocked surprise in written in my family’s eyes. I didn’t have time to explain. It would take forever.
The minute he entered the room I could feel the anticipation radiating from Lucien. I reached out, linking our minds. I saw the flicker of reaction in his eyes. I also felt the wall go up, cutting off our link. It felt like a slap across my face. I wouldn’t show any sort of reaction. I wouldn’t show that he had hurt me. In fact, he could just piss off. Two could play at that game.
‘’Ladies please sit, there’s enough room for everybody,’’ Damien invited us, ‘’the others will be arriving shortly,’’
We all looked at each other, in puzzlement. There wasn’t any table in the room, only a few chairs. Suddenly we felt the air in the room shift and change. It felt as if someone had placed their hands around the walls on the outside of the room and started to shake it, violently. As soon as it started, it was over. The room had expanded, tripling in size. The chairs had vanished. A table and chairs shimmered, in front of our very eyes, before turning solid and appearing in the middle of the large room. The table was huge, wooden and it looked old. It could easily fit at least forty to fifty people around it. The chairs were large and matched the wood of the table. A huge brick fireplace had appeared on the other side of the room. On another wooden table a varied platter of foods appeared with plates and utensils, along with various drinks. It looked like a feast for a banquet not a bloody meeting. We stood there looking at each other. Trying to keep the shock from appearing on our faces. We knew what this meant. The only way that this was possible, magic. Lucien knew someone who was so powerful that they had this sort of power. Changing a room, expanding it. Took a lot of capability and strength. I didn’t know if to be excited or scared. It also lends to a lot of unanswered questions. Questions that I want answered.
Lucien, Damien and Jaden Sat at the top of the table, the rest of Lucien’s men stood behind them. We made our way over. I could see from the corner of my eye, Abigail was staring bluntly at Damien. Earlier I had tried to talk to her about him, but she had just shaken her head and walked away. Obviously, something was going on with her, but what I had not a clue. What had taken place between them had shown a sexual tension. I hope I have read it wrong. Damien had taken an evident dislike to Mia and that wouldn’t help. It would cause so many problems. Lucien met my gaze and indicated to me to sit on the chair beside him. I took the chair furthest away. Petty, maybe. But he’s the one who cut our link. His eyes catch mine, my breath seems to stop, as his black eyes met mine. He is pissed off. He hasn’t the right. I raise my chin in defence. I see the familiar change of colour in his eyes. He accepts the challenge. He’s not the kind of man who asks, he commands. He so striking, I wonder how one can be so beautiful, but so deadly at the same time.
The creaking of the large wooden doors grabs our attention.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
You could cut the tension with a knife. There was something building in the air. Like the sense you get before a storm arrives. That is what the atmosphere in this room is like. The meeting wasn’t going well. No one could agree to what should be done and didn’t want to admit that any of their own people had gone missing. It was just bloody ridicules and each thought that the other was going to do the dirty on them. We needed to work together otherwise we were in trouble.