Chapter 4...Defending or Intruding?

A few hours later, it was a quiet car ride into the town. I spent the silence trying to bury my mortification and admire the tall green sporadic trees that littered the sides of the smooth asphalt road. With my window rolled down, I inhaled the cool fresh air that caressed my skin and set my anxiety at ease.

"This is strange," Cleo commented.

Interested to know what she meant, I twisted in my seat to look at where she sat behind me in the backseat.

"What's strange?" Shane asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

"This awkward car silence," she said widening her eyes as if it was the most obvious thing ever. "I mean I don't even know why you are so quiet," she added motioning towards Shane. I did not miss the way his eyes quickly darted to me and I know that Cleo saw me recoil into the car seat as her eyes followed his quick glance.

She groaned dramatically, rolling her eyes. She reached into her bag and slipped her airpods into her ear. A Sabrina Carpenter song blared through the speakers, filling the silence that returned to the vehicle.

The car ride from where the Coles lived to the town was roughly a hour drive with no houses in sight until the car exited through tall iron gates that shimmered when it opened and closed. From there on, the roads were full of cars and houses lined the roadside and tall buildings could be seen in distance. They sparkled in the sunlight giving the city an ethereal glow.

I was curious to take a closer look at the tall buildings or even to get a sneak peek at the prestigious Elverton institution but the car stopped at a large building with numerous glass windows and an automatic door, instead. The parking lot was full of cars and many people entered and left the building by the second. It was a shopping mall.

Cleo squealed hopping out of the vehicle, excitedly bouncing towards the door and leaving the rest of us behind. Chloe left the vehicle like a robot, her large distant eyes barely recording anything going on before it. I was worried, had I caused it or was I over thinking.

"Is she alright," I asked Shane as we walked side by side into the building.

He followed my worried eyes to Chloe and for a second he mimicked them but then recognition flashed across his face and he smiled.

"She's does that when she's trying to solve a problem. It'll stop when she finds a piece of clothing that she likes or solve the problem," he said with shrug as we passed through the automatic doors.

The mall was about 5 floors high with a variety of different shops tucked away in categorized sections. Cleo was already walking in the direction of the clothes store, pausing momentarily to wave me over. It was then I realized that Shane had left my side, disappearing into the crowd of people. I quickly went to stand beside Cleo, glancing around.

"Where's Chloe?" I tried desperately to keep the panic from my voice as my anxiety slowly rose. I had barely knew the girls for 24 hours yet here I was obsessing over their well being as if I was their mother. I was technically the adult but mentally I still thought of myself as the teenager.

"She's probably in the emo section," Cleo said with an eye roll, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the store.

"Are you looking for a new dress," I asked awkwardly, keeping my hands tucked away in my pocket when she finally released it to pick through some sweater dresses.

"What? No! There are for you, silly. Dad gave me some money to buy clothes since you don't have any." She told me with a humorous chuckle.

"Oh, thats nice of him."

"Yes, I take it, your mother and him were really good friends," she said glancing at me curiously while handing me several different dresses. "You don't think they dated do you."

I was a deer in headlights. "No," I said with uncertainty shaking my head. "I mean my mother loved talking about her past and she never mentioned him before and she has told me about her past love interests," I explained, holding dresses over my forearm and holding them close to my body.

"Maybe they were best friends then," Cleo suggested with a shrug, walking briskly to a clothing rack of denim. She only grabbed a cropped jacket and high waisted jeans.

"My mother didn't have friends–how do you know my size," I asked as she grabbed a few more jeans pants from another rack.

She responded by pointing at the cargo pants that I was wearing and then towards my shirt and shoes. They did fit perfectly.

"I have been taking care of you for 5 moths remember but admittedly not all on my own. Chloe and I had help from a private nurse, Vanessa. She was really nice but Dad let her go when she started snooping about you. Also…who doesn't have friends," she explained, waving her phone around. It had pinged and she took it out to see what it was.

"That does sound strange. Why would your father take such good care for me if he and my mother were so close but she didn't bother to mention him until those last moments," my voice faded into a whisper as I followed Cleo to the changing area.

Cleo sat on one of the couches, while I entered the changing room. I tried on all the clothing that she had given me and they all fit perfectly. It was strange how I barely knew them but they knew everything about me. I sighed, slipping my shoes back on to my feet and gathering the clothes in my hand. When I exited the room, Cleo had disappeared and Shane sat on the couch.

"Everything fit," he asked, his dark eyes watching my every movement closely.

I nodded with a small smile. He suddenly tapped the spot on the couch beside him. I felt my heart skip a best for some strange reason. I felt as if I was in trouble. I slowly walked closer to him and sat, still holding the clothes in my lap to act as some kind of a buffer.

"I wanted to apologize for last night," he said turning slightly towards me. Our knees touched and the strange warmth returned. I felt like I was frozen and someone was pouring hot chocolate down my throat, breaking the ice from off my body. I began nod but then quickly shook my head, my mind driven to confusion by his closeness.

"Its okay. You didn't do anything wrong." I struggled to even figure out what we were even talking about. I was just seeing his eyes staring at me and his soft pink lips stretched in a slight smile.

"It was very inappropriate," it was then that I noticed his subtle accent. The revelation was so fascinating my mind didn't even process the words.

"Uhm, I'm hungry." My mouth had become so dry and my mind had become blank. What was wrong with me? Why was I acting like this?

"Oh, yes. You barely ate anything for breakfast," he said massaging his forehead. "Ah, let's get these paid for."

I had ruined the moment. If there was even a moment. Shane paid for the clothing and we left the store and went to the courtyard where he bought me a cheeseburger. I tried to eat it ladylike but it paid to see the smile on his face when I took a huge bite, frowning when the cheese kept stretching. Shane left me in the courtyard when he got a phone call and went outside to answer it, to get away from the noisy background. He took the shopping bags to the car.

I walked around the mall for a minutes, observing the different people. Some walked with their friends others with their parents or kids. I was intrigued by the few who walked around with sharp ears or strange runes on their bodies–elves and mages. There were a variety of different mages that were categorized by their main ability. Some could wield fire, others had the ability to communicate with animals better than others and a select few could channel raw magic using runes. Those mages were my favorite. There magic was practically and they could walk among the humans without a thought of keeping their emotions in check or control. I wished that I was born with that gift.

I didn't know much about elves but rumors told that they were the first supernatural, thats what my mother told me. She always spoke of the politics of Eta but I didn't care much for any politics. I wish I cared enough to pay attention to her when she spoke. I hope that I didn't forget her voice.

I did notice that there weren't a lot of lycans or vampires walking about the mall. I did walk by a day walker but he was young and uninterested in the world. I had found myself walking by empty hall on the second floor when I saw a blonde being pulled into a room and a dark hair boy following with a grin.

My anxiety caused my hand to tremble. Who was that blonde girl was she in trouble? Her outfit did look desperately similar to Chloe's. Here, I was hesitant to use my telepathy. With my power unlocked I wouldn't have to struggle to get a glimpse of anyone's thoughts but I would be overwhelmed by the noise and unable to focus. Could I risk it? Would I risk it?

"What would it matter?" I muttered to myself. If it was Chloe or even Cleo, if a young woman was in trouble and I could do something about it I had to help.

I inhaled deeply and began walking down the hall. I paused before the door and stepped closer, hoping to hear something but I heard nothing. My heart was pounding as I considered what might be happening in my delay.

I groaned, with a swift motion I pulled the door towards me. My heightened emotions, causing it to slam against the wall loudly. The trio in the room flinched and Cleo stared at me with wide eyes.

I pushed forward gently with my power grazing the surface of their thoughts, pulling back a second later. I was careful not to absorb too much. The tall muscular looking one was the infamous Damon and the smaller scruffy one was Rodrick. Rodrick was going to watch while Damon got hands on with Cleo. Cleo was hoping this interaction would get her girlfriend status and boost her popularity.

I hummed, gripping the side of my head when a searing pain sent black spots along my vision. I had taken in a lot more than I had anticipated. So much that I knew that Damon was bully Chloe and Shane had been kicked from the pack because the alpha was afraid of him.

"I think we should go home now," I told her quietly, eyeing the boys as they watched me.

"Your not going anywhere," suddenly Damon pushed his hands before Cleo as she went to walk out of the small room. "You can leave if you know what's good for you," he spat in my direction.

I cleared my throat. "Excuse me."

"You heard him. Beat it, bitch! You don't want to mess with us and we're not done yet," Rodrick said earning a nod from Damon.

I squinted my eyes, tilting my head slightly.

"Its okay, Taiti. I'll be just a minute," Cleo tried to reason. I knew that she she could take care of herself but that did not mean that I was going give up now. I was offended and pissed off.

"Now, what would your dad think of me if I left you in a Janitors closet with a pervert and an asshole," I told her.

With a flick of my hand, a sickening crunch echoed through the air followed by a howl of pain. Damon fell to the ground cradling his hand, pain distorting his pretty face. I pulled Cleo out of the room, the tips of her shoes dragging against the tile floor as she hovered over it. I caught her waist and pushed her aside as a growl ripped through the air. Rodrick had partially shifted and was reaching a claw towards my face when I wrapped an invisible hand around his neck cutting off his hair supply. I watched him flutter and kick at the air, gasping for air whilst still trying to claw my face away. His torture endured for 10 seconds. I had noticed Damon raising to his feet, so I pushed Roderick into the closet and slammed the door shut.

Cleo and I stared at the door for a while listening to the scratches on the other side.

"You need nicer love interests," I told her as we quickly left the hallway and entered the crowd moving down the stairs.

"I swear he's not always like that its the new alpha, Killian. He's a paranoid menace." She defended.

I gulped, moistening my lips. "It doesn't matter, Cleo. If he's like that with you know, what's he going to be like in the future when he's angry. If he takes out his frustration on you now, he'll take out his anger on you later." I released a subtle sigh, blinking rapidly as I said the next few words. "He's only using you for your body. You don't want a one sided relationship. They're are toxic and usually ends with someone getting hurt," I told her, cautiously.

"You don't know him," she barked in denial as we came to a stop a few feet from the escalator we had descended.

"I'm a telepath and I know you know that," I said staring into her conflicted eyes.

"I found it," our stare off was cut short when Chloe suddenly appeared. She rushed towards us, carry a shopping bag with a huge smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.

"You found what," I asked her softly, blinking furiously.

"I found a way to get you into Elverton!"

Oh. My magic could use the work but at the moment I was wondering if I had overstepped with Cleo. The car ride back to the house was as horrible as the ride to. Chloe was excited for me to see the campus but Cleo was quiet.