The Mate He Couldn’t Control (complete)

Chapter 4

The sun still hadn’t risen and my family was surprisingly still asleep. We’re usually 4-5 am risers, but I guess they’re sleeping in due to the rain. Right now, the rain was on a break, so I decided to go jogging outside for a little while before it fell again. I felt so at peace on these jogs. I loved the smell of the damp forest around me. I felt like I could truly breathe. I swear rain makes everything smell good and look so beautiful. I quickened up my pace because I felt like I wasn’t going fast enough for the goal that I had set.

I began to go over everything in my head. I have no idea how to respond to being a witch. I don’t know what to do, how to do it, or how to talk about it. Do I just go about my life and act normal? I guess I’m doing that just fine, but it doesn’t feel right. And what my grandmother said. . . She wants me to practice, but practice what? Do I just walk around saying abracadabra, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, and opensesame? I don’t know spells. I don’t know how to do magic. I occasionally influence the weather, see the future, and pop into places. None of those things were done on purpose and I can’t begin piecing together how they happened. That problem aside, how would I be able to go against my parents? I have never rebelled. I have always done exactly as they tell me to do. It feels so wrong of me to not only ignore their wishes but keep it a secret. But then again, I could hurt someone if I don't find a way to practice. If Jaylon hadn’t randomly decided to be nice to me this summer, imagine how much worse this situation would be. All of these things aside, what am I going to do with Jaylon? What is Jaylon? He’s oddly protective, doesn’t want me around anyone, and he’s randomly being nice. On top of that, I’m slowly slipping into my old habit with him. There’s just something off about it. Something that I should be paying more attention to. For example, why can’t I go to his house, meet his parents, or even know where he lives? I mean he could just say he doesn’t want me to, but he isn’t saying that. Why does it have to be my birthday? Honestly, I could go the crazy stalker route and just follow him to his house. But then again, my birthday isn’t that far away. Maybe I could wait. What school will I be going to? Will it be online or something because I have been coming here every summer my whole life and I have not seen any schools? Then again, I hadn’t seen the town or any houses till yesterday. Obviously, I don’t see very many things.

I began to slow down to catch my breath. This is odd for me. I’m never like this. I’m never tired of a simple jog. I’ve run terrains much more complex than a flat, open forest. I guess it had something to do with my energy. I woke up feeling twice as drained as I did yesterday, which is only now concerning me. Eventually, I just came to terms that I’d have to stop for a second, so I did. I tried to breathe, but as I looked at my surroundings, I began to feel lightheaded and it felt as though I was spinning. I bent over for a few seconds in hopes of it helping, which it slowly started to. I could feel someone nearby and my eyes shot open, looking ahead of me. I didn’t see anyone, but I knew they were there. I waited a second and then a familiar face came into view. A boy I recognized from the diner. He wasn’t Jacob, but he was one of the members of the group Jaylon was so concerned about. Maybe I should have had a guard up. Maybe I should have respected Jaylon’s wishes. But right now, I can hardly see straight, let alone think straight. “Are you alright?” He questioned as he made his way towards me.

“Y-yes, I’m just trying to catch my breath,” I breathed out.

“You look like you need more than air. . .” he trailed off cautiously. “You are Mr. King’s daughter, right? Do you want me to call someone?”

“No-no-no-no-no!” I protested. “Do not call anyone!”

“You don’t look well. . .”

At that, I forced myself to sit up as I ignored the piercing migraine that was attacking me. “You. . . You are friends with Jacob, correct? Or you were sitting together? Are you friends?”

“Yes?” His tone said that he was studying me.

“He seems trustworthy and you seem kind. So, instead of telling on me, would you mind walking me home? My parents are over-reactive about these things.”

“I wouldn’t mind at all,” he smiled at me as I tried to mimic one. Normally, I’m an open person, but I don’t just ask a random stranger to take me home. But right now, I do not feel well and I refuse to play a sick and helpless person two days after arriving. This is just pathetic. He kindly walked up to me with a bright smile and moved out his arm for me to grab.

“Thank you,” I smiled at him awkwardly as we walked down one of the paths.

“I’m just happy I found you when I did. You don’t look too well. You should probably see your aunt.”

“Is it not common for people to be tired or out of breath here?” I questioned jokingly. At least I was trying to lighten the mood. I don’t know this dude and it’s awkward.

“Not really.”

“Well then. . .” What am I supposed to say to that?

“I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. This must be so weird for you. My name is Nick. I’ve been told that your name is Alison?”

“Yes.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard the name millions of times. There was never a face or personality to put with it though,” Nick explained as I watched the trees we passed in awe. I love trees. I know that’s weird, but they’re so peaceful to me. Just sitting there minding their own business.

“Oh, you’ve heard my name have you?”

“Your family talks about you often. Also, you’ve been the talk of the town since yesterday.”

“How? I didn’t talk to anyone. Why?” This makes no sense. Judging by his reaction, he shouldn’t have said that.

“Oh, you know how it is. New girl, small town.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m new,” I attempted to argue.

“To us, you are. To this forest, maybe not. Maybe we could do something sometime? I could show you around, help you meet some new people,” Nick offered as I fought back the urge to cry over my forming cramps. What the hell is wrong with my body? It’s like it’s punishing me for something.

“Yeah, that would be nice,” I mumbled, before giving him my number. He seems nice and he’s helping me, so not doing that just seemed rude to me. Also, I don’t think I’m one to be picky at the moment. The only people I know are Jaylon and my cousins. I’m not close with my cousins and I can’t imagine that Jaylon would want me clinging to him all of the time.

“You’re a lot different than I expected,” he admitted.

“I wouldn’t consider this a good representation of my normal self, but what were you expecting?” I never got an answer to that, but I did get a nice conversation as we made our way to my house. I could sense that my parents were awake so I began to panic. They cannot see me like this. I thanked him, and rushed inside, taking the side staircase up to my room so they wouldn’t see me. I had hoped that a nice warm shower would help, but it only made it worse. One minute I was freezing, the next I was hot, and every time I switched, I would have to adjust the water before I got nauseous. I had every intention of going back to bed, so I got dressed and climbed into bed and that’s where I stayed for the remainder of the day. My parents had tried multiple times to force me out of bed because King’s don’t ‘do this’. We don’t spend our day in bed. But, today I am. If I get out of this bed, I don’t see myself making it back. Besides, what else would I do anyways?

My nieces and nephews were by far one of my biggest priorities in life and the thought that I would now only be seeing them on holidays killed me. So, I wanted to spend as much time with my nephews as I could while they were here. They stayed in my room with me and I let them watch whatever they wanted on my tv. I even let them bring all of their toys into my room, which I’m usually against.

That night though, the rain had stopped and fog surrounded the house. I wasn’t feeling better, but I do feel able to get up for a little while. My nephews have been asking about the hot tub all day, so I gave in and said yes. I haven’t been hungry all day, so I skipped dinner and instead prepared the hot tub while they ate. I felt my necklace heating up and someone's eyes burning holes into my back. I turned and tried to see past the fog and into the woods. Nothing. I was brought out of my thoughts when my nephews came outside and jumped in like it was the pool. I gave them the look and they calmed down. I tried to get in, but with random cold chills and heat waves, I just couldn’t do it. So, I put my legs, down in the hot water and laid my back down against the cold stone patio. This is perfect, other than the fumes of the hot tub makes me feel sick.

“Ali! Ali!” Gabriel whisper-shouted while tapping my knee. “Look, they’re in the woods! Do you see them too?”

I turned my head to my left to see two pairs of glowing eyes. One pair was blue and the other was gold. They were walking closer and closer to the edge of the forest toward our yard. My head kept screaming at me to get out of there, but my body told me I was perfectly safe. My body was also too lazy to get up. Some survival instincts. I trusted my instincts and instructed my nephews to stay calm, but head inside.

They sat where they were at the edge of the forest and I decided to listen to my body more often. I looked back up at the dark sky above. I thought about how big the world was and much could be out there that we have no idea about. My grandmother called the moon palace the resting place of the supernatural, not witches. There is more out there that I have yet to see. In a way, I’m excited. But in another, I’m absolutely terrified. Slowly, my thoughts began to quiet and I was just left sitting there, looking up at the beautiful sky. I didn’t even give the wolves watching me another thought. I’d be dead by now if they wanted me to be. I found it hard to keep my eyes open as my view slowly faded into nothingness. But that didn’t last long.

For some reason, I’m currently in the forest, in the dark. Jaylon is standing in front of me with his hand out. I took it and he smiled down at me. “Are you ready?”

“For what?”

“To come home. Everyone is so excited to meet you.”

“Who?”

“Come with me.” I followed him through the trees until we stopped at a huge, I don’t want to say house because it looked more like a hotel, let’s just say building. I walked inside and saw my family and a bunch of mysterious faces. Some, I recognized from the town though. I turned to look at Jaylon confused, but he was gone. Beside me was the wolf I saw in front of my car and behind my house.

“W-what? Jaylon?” I asked confused.

The wolf looked into my eyes and I heard Jaylon’s voice in my head. “Are you going to wake up for me?”

“Huh?”

Then he started saying things that didn’t make sense. Suddenly, the wolf shifted into Jaylon and he started shaking my shoulders. “Wake up Alison!” I opened my eyes and realized that the outside world was morphing with my dream. It was just a dream.

Everything blurred into focus. This is way too much light. My cousins and aunt were standing behind Jaylon who was taking his hands off my shoulders. He smiled down at me as I looked at him confused. “You weren’t waking up, but you said my name so I thought I’d try,” he explained. “Thinking about me?”

“Weird ass dream,” I mumbled. “Where are we?”

“Well, now we know you're responsive,” my aunt cut in and picked my arm up then let it go to see if I could control it. “Hospital. You haven’t been responding for hours.”

My mom came into view beside her. “Do you feel okay? We aren’t sure what happened.”

I sat up in the bed and my back, shoulders, and neck popped. “I feel fine,” I replied.

“Well, you certainly scared everyone. Your nephews came in screaming about wolves and we went outside and you're just laying there like nothing at all, asleep,” my mother explained.

“I figured if they were going to kill me, they wouldn’t have just sat there,” I mumbled, too busy staring up at Jaylon. He’s so handsome. I could look into his blue eyes all day. I wanted to grab his hand but fought myself as I slowly started coming to my senses, slightly.

“I don’t think anything could ever want to hurt you,” Jaylon mumbled in his little daze.

“Well that aside, you need to explain to your aunt everything that’s been going on. We know that you’ve been lacking energy,” my mother continued. I went on to explain what I felt today while she looked at me completely baffled.

Jaylon stood up and his hand passed over mine. “Oww! You shocked me!”

My cousins looked shocked, but the rest of the room didn’t. Jaylon smirked. Bridget looked uncomfortable from behind him, which slightly made my heart hurt until I remembered what Jaylon said. “Maybe you're the one shocking me,” he insisted. I gave him another confused look as my aunt sat where he used to be.

She put a stethoscope on my chest as I complained about how cold it was. “So, what have you been up to?” she asked as she looked at my nails? But then she started moving my arms, looking at my veins, pricking my finger, and opening my mouth to look at my teeth. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing, to be honest with you, but no doctor I have been to has ever done this.

“Well, I met someone this morning.”

“You met who?” Jaylon chimed in from behind her.

“Nick,” I answered, smiling to myself. He stepped back making a weird face like he was mentally debating with himself. “I went for a jog and ended up not feeling well, so he walked me home.”

“So that’s who was texting you,” my mom cut in with a smirk.

“Ugh! I can’t stand him!” Bridget complained.

“What was he doing that close to your house?” Jaylon questioned.

“Well you liked him a whole lot last week,” Dalton smirked.

“That was different. He’s such an i***t!”

“Well, I can’t argue with you there.”

My aunt rolled her eyes at them as I watched confused. I’m praying that my cousin hasn’t slept with him too. She’s too pretty for guys to see her that way. Anyways, I listened to Bridget complain about Nick for ten minutes and watched Jaylon and Dalton sit in annoyance. My aunt was doing one last examination and checking my eyes. She forced me to open my eyes wide as she tortured me with a flashlight. Suddenly, she jumped back and Jaylon’s head came into view beside her. They looked at each other and then I heard a voice in my head say “her body is fighting itself, it’s trying to turn early.”

“My body is doing what?!” I freaked out as I felt my necklace heat up. She gave me another confused look and then focused her attention on my necklace. At that, she sat up and walked back toward my cousins, gently pushing them towards the door. Jaylon however remained in his spot. I looked at him and locked eyes. I felt warm rays shine through me as I calmed down. I’m not sure what was going on but it made me feel better, so I cannot complain. Just his presence made me feel so much better.

Martha gave my mother a look. “Honey, we’re going to go get the car ready for you while your aunt comes up with a diagnosis. Try not to stress yourself, you're starting to hear voices,” my mother explained, making me raise an eyebrow at her. I know she did not. I’m hearing voices? No. They can lie and keep secrets all they want, but they aren’t going to make me sound crazy in the process. I can see the future. I can show up somewhere in a second. I’m pretty sure I just heard someone’s thoughts.

My aunt walked up to me again and put something in my IV. “What is that?”

“This will help you sleep, honey. Your body is very tired and with your brain being so active at night, you aren’t resting as you should be,” she explained.

My aunt grabbed Jaylon, but I didn’t want him to leave. I felt better with him here. So, I grabbed his hand to protest. “Please don’t leave me!” I begged weakly.

His eyes lit up with that. “I’ll stay here as long as you want,” he smiled down at me before nodding everyone else off. They did so immediately. I could tell they didn’t feel comfortable around me and I knew it was because of the necklace. They were scared I would hurt them and that broke my heart.

“Will you please stay the night? I know I said no before, but I think you were right! You could keep an eye on me if you still want to. . .”

“I would love to.”