Second Chance

Chapter 27

“My father hid us as a wolf pack. However, the moment the truth got out we were quickly picked off. They took everyone. Including children.”

“You faked your own death, didn’t you?” I was putting it all together now.

“We did. We don’t really age and we have to do our best to protect our children. But we were never far from them. I’ve watched from a distance and I know each and every grandchild.”

“Wait! Brayden didn’t find his mate and he transitioned. But Eve and I marked her. Why hasn’t she transitioned?” Dustin asked.

“Eve and Kennedy will both transition. Brayden, however, is about to turn sixteen, which is when a phoenix and angels get their powers.”

“Will I turn in to a bird?” Brayden asked as he poured himself a bowl of cereal.

“Phoenix don’t actually turn into birds, we just appear to look like birds to all other supernaturals and humans. But to another phoenix you look just as you do now. Well, when you have your wings.” Izzy explained.

I couldn’t believe how calm Brayden was about what just happened. It all seemed perfectly normal to him.

“Brayden, how are you handling all of this?”

“Fine. Mom, it all makes sense now. This is why I am so fast and good at sports. I always felt like something was missing and now I don’t.”

“Kennedy, Honey, How about you?” I didn’t care about anything else right now, I just needed to make sure they were both OK.

“I don’t know. What do you mean I will transition too?”

“Brayden transitioned because he was underage and your mother broke the spell. Now all of your descendants will transition as nature intended but you are over sixteen, so you are still impacted by the spell until your mate marks you.” Mikel explained and nodded to Gavin.

“Wait! What mate?” Kennedy was confused and getting flustered.

“Gavin, maybe you should take Kennedy on a walk and help her clear her head,” Dustin encouraged.

“Yeah, Ok. Kennedy, baby, Come on.” He took her hand and they left the house.

“We would like to help protect you and your children. When others find out about you, they will come.” Mikel told me.

“They will be safe in my realm. You can not enter my realm without myself or my Queen allowing access.”

“Which is why we did not interfere when we saw you and Everly were mates,” Izzy confirmed.

“You interfered before?” I asked, shocked.

“No, but we always knew we might need to at some point. I wanted to interfere with your father and his wife but the reason we chose to have the charm placed on our family was to give them a chance at a normal life. But she is the worst type of human,” Izzy explained with disgust.

“That is the issue with not having your mate and being an angel. Having the wrong partner can cause you to over compensate when you select a chosen mate. As much as it pains me to watch your father and his behavior towards your step-mother, it isn’t completely his fault. The harder he tries to pull away or stand up against her, the stronger his pull is towards her. Not everybody is strong enough to fight against it. Typically, angels do not take a chosen mate,” Mikel added.

It didn’t make it right, but at least now I could begin to understand why he behaved the way he did with her.

“Your father has to believe that you no longer need him for him to be the way he is with his chosen mate.” Izzy added.

“He used to say that all the time before David died.”

“He truly believes that it’s the only way a chosen mate could affect him against his child.”

“Just because I was doing well doesn’t mean I didn’t still need my father’s love. But you know what, I don’t care.” I did care but it hurt too much to talk about and we had some many other things to talk about.

“When will you be moving to Dustin’s realm?” Mikel asked, taking the hint.

“I can’t just move. I have a life here. How do I explain this to my brother? The kids have school and I have a job.” I could feel myself starting to panic.

Then I felt Dustin’s warm hands cup my face and kiss me gently.

“Baby, it’s ok. We are in this together. I will protect you with my life. We don’t have to go right this second.” He assured me when he pulled away.

“The sooner the better,” Mikel said, breaking our moment.

“Why?” I needed to know.

“We can’t know for sure, but we know witches usually help in finding any phoenix. It’s possible they will know when one transitions. I pray the angel half of you can hide you enough but we just don’t know.” Izzy told us.

**Kennedy**

What the actual f**k was going on? My brother had freaking wings on his back and was on fire and they were telling me I had to get a mark and I would have wings. This can’t be real. I will wake up at any minute and go back to my boring life. Yep, that’s it. This is just a dream.

“You OK?” Gavin’s deep voice penetrated my thoughts.

“Uh, my brother was on fire and has wings, so no I am not OK. What the hell is a mate?”

“Come here.” He said, pulling me to him and holding me. The tension I felt washed away. I wish I knew how he did that to me so easily.

“All of this is scary.” I mumbled into his chest.

“I know but you have me.”

I smiled up at him and wiped away the tears that had spilled from my eyes.

“Come on, let’s go sit by the pond. I have something important to tell you.” Taking my hand, he led me to the bench by the pond.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before he pulled me to him and kissed me again. It was long and passionate, like he was saying goodbye.

“What was that for?”

“I just needed to kiss you.”

“OK.”

“Kennedy, a mate is your soulmate.”

“Yeah, I figured that much out.”

“You are mine.”

“What?”

“I’m a Kappi like Dustin and you are my flame or soulmate.”

“I’m sorry I can’t do this.” Without thinking, I took off towards the house.