The Silverclaw Chronicles: Where will Fear take You?

Panic...

Chapter Four

Amelia

...I look in the passenger side mirror just as we are pulling away and I see Jess's brother?!?! At least I am pretty sure that it is Aiden. I have seen pictures of him around the Pack house and on social media, of course. I have also seen him from a distance at a few Pack events over the last few years, but never gotten very close. The look in his eyes right now both confuses and concerns me. I don't want any problems with anyone in our Pack, but especially not the future Alpha.

In the few moments it takes me to run through about a million different scenarios of what he could want, my heart starts racing. I am not sure what is going on, but I can hear the pounding of my heart so loudly in my ears that it hurts my head. I close my eyes and take a few relaxing breaths to calm myself as Jess drives us to the younger kids' school to drop them off. I can feel everything relaxing and I focus on what my mother, Emma, would say to me. It runs through my mind over and over...."You are a blessing! You are our blessing! Amelia, don't ever doubt what I am telling you! You deserve to be happy!" As her voice plays over in my mind, I settle down and feel the calm wash over me. All this just in time too, because we have dropped the kids off and pulled into the parking lot at the high school. With one last relaxing breath, I open my eyes and am ready to start my first day of Junior year.

Jessie

...I look beside me at the passenger seat and see panic in Amelia's eyes. I am not sure what happened, but she is frozen for some reason with a slight look of pain on her face. She closes her eyes and I can tell she is trying to calm herself even though I still have no idea what triggered this. Mom had told me that she would probably have good days and bad days. She said that I should just keep an eye on Aims and be there for whatever she needs. I decide that right now she just needs my silence and understanding, so I drive to the kids' school and drop them off. Then I get back on our way to the high school. I can see that she is relaxing more with each passing moment. As we pull into the parking lot, I am greeted by Aims' brilliant blue eyes and a small smile on her face. We all three get out of the car, gathering our things, and head into the building...together.

Aiden

...I see the reflection of Amelia's intense blue eyes staring at me from the passenger side mirror. I stand there frozen in place and am slightly unsure of what is going on around me. I feel like I am in a haze, but I am not sure why. My heart rate increases rapidly and I can actually feel it pounding so hard against my chest that it sounds like a drum is playing in my head. I can't help but keep my eyes trained on her until they are out of my sight. A part of me feels like I need to take off in my car and follow them. Luckily, I know that I cannot do that. I close my eyes and feel a slight calm wash over me. It is at this moment that I realize the pounding heart that I am hearing is not mine. My heart is at its normal steady rate, but the heartbeat that is raking through my body and mind is so rapid. I have never experienced anything like this. However, I know that I have to get it under control because I can sense that Dad, Keagon, and Kyle have joined me on the porch of the Pack house.

As I slowly open my eyes, I look into my father's curious and concerned face. The pounding in my head is not subsiding, but I pull myself together enough to at least try to convince everyone that nothing is wrong. The one thing that continues to run through my mind is that there is definitely something about Amelia Silverclaw that we have to get to the bottom of as soon as possible.

"Son, are you alright?" Dad asks, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I take a small breath so that I can answer him without any shakiness in my voice. "Yeah. I am fine, Dad. I just really wanted to try to at least introduce myself to her before they left to start this whole process." I say, trying to sound convincing.

"Are you sure, Son?" He asks again and I just nod in return, so he goes on. "Aiden, I know that you have your concerns and I understand them. I need to make sure that you understand that this decision was not made lightly. I am still the Alpha of this Pack and I need you to respect the choice that I have made."

I don't feel that this is the time to argue with him because he is putting his foot down, but also because the pounding in my head is not just going away. "I understand. We better get going or we will be late for training." I say trying to get out of discussing this any further at this moment.

"Alright. Are you sure you boys can handle this today? I know you had an early start this morning." Beta Keagon adds, still looking at me with some concern.

Kyle puts his hand on my shoulder and replies, "We got this, Dad. We will see you guys after training."

They both nod at us and we all start walking away in different directions. As soon as we are out of their hearing range, Kyle stops and looks at me, waiting for an explanation. I am still trying to deal with calming the pounding heart in my head, so I just shake my head at him and keep walking.

"Are you going to tell me what the hell happened back there?" He asks, not happy with me trying to shake him off.

I look at him and don't know what to say. "I honestly don't know. I only wanted to introduce myself, but when I saw her reflection in the mirror of the car...it was almost like I was having a panic attack. I still have a pounding in my head that won't go away." I finally reply trying to figure out what happened for myself as well as explain it to my best friend.

"Are you alright to help with training then?" He asks with some concern on his face now.

"Yeah, man. I am good. It is starting to lessen little by little. I just don't understand what triggered it. The one thing I do know is that there is obviously something odd about Amelia Silverclaw and we have to figure out what it is quickly." He nods in agreement. I can't help but be bothered by the fact that if she can affect me like that with a stare, then she is for sure hiding something.

We make it to the training grounds and the pounding continues to ease in my head, but it is still present and causing a dull ache. I am able to lead the training session without any issues and even get in some demonstrative sparring with Kyle on the newer techniques we have been working on in the Capitol. I am reminded how strong our Pack Warriors are and am impressed by how well they pick up the new techniques.

By the time training is done, we have all worked up a good sweat and healthy appetite. We dismiss everyone to go get cleaned up before meeting back at the Pack house for lunch. As we are walking back on the trail, I can still feel the fast heartbeat against my chest and echoing in my ears. There is an ache in my core that wasn't there before. I try to ignore all of this and just focus on getting through this day.

Amelia

Heading into the high school with Jess and Laura is a very different experience than I have had before. We instantly have at least ten people around us. After we quickly get things from our lockers, we go to our first class with those same ten people and some friends that have joined them while Laura has to go off to hers. I go to sit in the back where I can just try to disappear for awhile and let this pounding heart of mine settle some more. This, unfortunately, is not in the cards for me today as Jess calls me to the chair beside her in the second row. I move to sit by her with a small sigh. Mandy is on my other side with a few other girls and then I see that Blake and Victor, of course, are at the table behind us.

Mr. Bleason comes into the classroom early and starts right in by passing out our syllabus for the year so that he can go over it. I actually appreciate his eagerness to get the class going because it saves me from having to take part in a bunch of small talk. I am doing the best I can to deal with the pounding that I am still feeling in my head. The last thing I need is to be the weird girl that has a full-on panic attack on the first day of school. Luckily, after discussing the English syllabus, we are given an assignment to complete before the class period ends. As I leave the classroom, I lay my assignment on the teacher's desk and feel someone's hand on my arm.

"So smart and beautiful, huh?" Victor says to me with a big smile on his face.

I just shrug my shoulders and give him a small smile back in response, but I don't get the impression that is enough for him as his hand is still on my arm. I feel his thumb lightly move up and down on my arm. It's not that his touch is repulsive or anything to me, but I am not use to having someone touch me in this way. Plus, I don't need any other complications in my life right now.

"Yes, she is very smart," says Jess, with a smile coming up beside me.

"Come on, Victor. We need to get to our next class." Blake says, slightly aggravated. Anyone can tell that he is not thrilled with being Victor's guide for the day.

Whenever there are new students to the school and Pack, the upper level kids always get stuck showing us around for a few days until every part of the Pack and school are cemented into our minds. Jess was my guide two years ago and now we are both helping with the new students. I really just want to get to our next class myself because I have no desire to take part in any drama, especially with the way that I am feeling right now. I have to get through this day so that I can get back to my room and rest while avoiding whatever it is that Aiden wanted with me this morning. Just thinking about this makes my heart speed up again, causing the pounding to intensify. I excuse myself to go to the restroom. I close my eyes, take a few calming breaths, and splash a little cold water on my cheeks before I rejoin Jess in our Math class.

Other than a few more tense moments, a slight pounding in my head, and a dull ache in my chest, the first half of our day goes rather smoothly. I have way more company throughout my day than I am use to, but I deal with it as best I can. I am starting to think that my panic or whatever I am experiencing is not just because of Aiden, but also because of not being able to blend into the shadows like I hoped. I just don't want to be the cause of anyone else getting hurt. I get lost in my train of thought until Jess elbows me lightly in the side so that I will tell the poor lunch lady what I want to eat.

Jessie

It is obvious to me that something is still really bothering Aims. I wish I could help her more than I am, but I have to remember to just give her time. Once she has picked her lunch, we go to my usual table to sit down with everyone. Laura joins us in the cafeteria and we get to hear all about her first day as a freshman.

"Thank you guys so much for helping me to find this outfit." She tells Aims and me in hushed tones. "Colton said that he really likes it."

"Our pleasure." Aims answers her with a smile and a wink.

Laura leans over closer to us and continues, "I was wondering if we could go to the boutique after school and pick a perfect dress for me to wear tonight."

My smile grows exponentially. "That is a great idea. We can all pick something fabulous out." I reply with excitement. "I will ask Mom and see if she can pick up Nick and Anna."

"Yayyyy!" Laura says with a slight squeal as she gives me a little squeeze.

Colton sits down by Laura as Blake, Jasmine, and Victor join us all too. "Hey Laura. Is it alright if I sit here?" He asks her in the sweetest voice.

The guys all shake their heads at Colton's sweetness, but all of us girls love it. It is very obvious that he and Laura both like each other. I hope that things end up the way they hope they will when they turn seventeen. We finish lunch rather quickly and get through the rest of the day without too much trouble. Poor Blake is having a hard time dealing with Victor and all of his constant flirting with Aims. Although she seems almost oblivious to it.

I turn to Aims as soon as a text came through on my phone. "Mom says that we can go to the boutique. She thinks it is a great idea and will pick up the "littles" for us."

Aims doesn't look as excited as I am, but she tries to hide it with a tight smile. "That is really nice of her, but I don't need a dress. I'm not even sure that I am going to partake in the party tonight. My head is hurting some."

I c**k my head to the side and give her an inquisitive look before I reply. "You have to come so that I am not bored out of my mind. Plus, everyone needs a cute cocktail dress in their wardrobe. Trust me."

Aiden

After lunch, Kyle and I work with Dad and Keagon to start a list of everyone that needs to be interviewed about the attack. It is not a huge list, but Dad did at least agree that Amelia could be on it. We actually start questioning a few of the Warriors that were the first to respond that night. They are not able to give us a ton of information, but it is at least a start.

The day goes by quickly and before I know it, the school day is over and everyone is getting back home. I know that Dad is not going to let me question Amelia yet, but I can at least introduce myself officially and see if I can help her to get more comfortable around Kyle and I. We are sitting on the main floor of the Pack house and I keep checking my watch without even realizing it.

"Son, everything okay?" Dad asks.

I look up at him and reply, "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Well, that is about the tenth time you have checked your watch in the last 20 minutes." He answers with a smile.

"Oh, I bet he is just anxious for Addy to get home from school so that he can see her." Uncle Keagon adds with a big smile. He would love for us to be together.

"Dad!?!" Kyle responds, sounding slightly disgusted.

"What? There's nothing wrong with them choosing to be together." Keagon replies, but then our mothers walk up to join the conversation.

"You take that back, Keagon!" Carly harshly says to him.

"Dear...."

"Don't dear me! Our daughter is still young and needs to try to find her fated mate before taking one!" She says before he can finish his statement.

I see the small smirk on Dad's face as Keagon is getting scolded by his wife. "Come now, Dear! I was not saying they need to rush into anything, but just that the boy is excited to see her obviously." Keagon tries to explain while lightly rubbing his wife's arm.

Mom turns to me with concern on her face. "Is that true, Aiden?" She asks.

I roll my eyes and let out a small frustrated growl. "I was actually just checking the time to see why Jessie wasn't home yet." I answer her.

"Oh...the girls went to the boutique after school to get dresses for tonight." She replies with a smile on her face. "I am glad to see that you are excited about seeing your siblings. Nick and Anna are home and I am sure they would love to see you."

"By girls, you mean Jessie, Laura, and Amelia?" I ask, now more concerned.

"Yes. I think that Jasmine and some of the other new girls will be joining them too. They were all very excited to look their best for tonight." Mom adds, working hard to remind me that we have several new young ladies in our Pack and then she hesitantly adds. "I know that Addison and some of her friends went to the salon right after school." She looks at me for a reaction, but sees nothing.

"I understand, Mom. I was just hoping to get to introduce myself and Kyle to Amelia so that we can get this whole process started and do her interview." I state a little too plainly.

"This again! Aiden, introduce yourself, but do us all a favor and forget about the interviews for awhile. I know how important this investigation is because Emma was a good friend of mine, but this whole Pack needs some time to heal...especially Amelia!" She replies to me and makes me come up short on how to respond. She is right! She is always right! I have been away at training for too long and I need to reconnect with my Pack and remember that this isn't just an investigation for them...two people that were a part of us died and left their daughter alone.

I take a deep breath before I can finally say something back to her. "You are right, Mom. I will do better." I stand to go see my younger siblings and give Mom a small kiss on the cheek. She smiles up at me and nods her head.

After spending some time with Nick and Anna, Kyle and I both decide to unpack our things in our rooms. His room is on the fourth floor and mine is on the fifth. I am not sure why, but I feel more at home once my things are back in my room. As I walk out of my room, I take a deep breath and can once again smell several new scents. I walk to the door next to mine and try to really take in the scents that I am picking up on. This must be the room that they have given to Amelia. A part of me wants to open the door and let myself in, but I know that would be wrong so I don't. As I am standing there thinking about it, Kyle walks up the stairs and clears his throat.

"Thinking about breaking in?" He teasingly questions me.

I shake my head and laugh. "No. Although it is tempting. I was just noticing all of the new scents around here and thinking," I reply.

"Well, at least they put her right beside you so that you can help keep an eye on her." He says and I nod my head.

"Not like they had much choice since there were only 2 empty rooms on this floor." I point out with a laugh.

"Come on. We are going to have to start getting ready soon and I, for one, would like a snack from the kitchen before all of the festivities start. I think we should go offer to sample things." Kyle says as he starts back down the stairs, beckoning for me to follow him.

I follow and he continues. "You know that Mom told me that they have planned events for every weekend that we are home and some things during the week, right?"

"No, I didn't know that. But it makes sense...I guess. Mom wants me to find my mate even more than I want to." I laugh as I say this because even though I know she wants this for me badly, no one wants it as much as I do.

"Maybe we will both get lucky!" Kyle says. "I wouldn't have anything against it. Hell, if I can find her tonight, then I will be a very happy man when you see me tomorrow!" He adds, raising his eyebrows and smirking at me.

"Right?!?!?" I reply and can't help but laugh loudly at my best friend.

Amelia

When we get to the boutique, there is no time for discussion. Jess starts right in on grabbing dresses and separating them into three piles with the sales ladies' help. I stand there in awe of how quickly she has at least ten dresses each for us to try. We walk into our separate dressing rooms and start trying them on. I quickly learn that I am not allowed to just try it on though and make a decision myself. I have to come out of the dressing room and get everyone's opinions before moving on to the next dress. The trouble with this is that it seems like they all take longer to get theirs on than I do, so I end up sitting in the waiting area for all of them to join me.

While I sit here waiting for everyone to join me for the fourth or fifth time, I actually catch myself giggling internally. The thing is that there is still a slight pounding in my head, a dull ache in my chest, and I am still not a social butterfly; but I find myself having fun with this crazy group of girls. I have never had this before because I have never allowed myself to have it and I don't want to hurt anyone now, but I have to admit that it feels good...having girlfriends. Jess, Laura, Mandy, Jasmine, Vanessa, Taylor, and Tessa finally all join me in the mirrors so that we can all admire or despise each other's dresses.

"Oh my God, Aims!" Jess says loudly as she stares at me.

I turn around quickly worried that something is wrong and she is beaming. "What is it?" I ask.

"You look unbelievable in that dress!!" She exclaims as I huff and roll my eyes at her. I might believe her if she hadn't said something similar about almost every dress I had tried on.

I turn to look at Laura who is staring at herself in the big mirrors. "Penny for your thoughts?"

"No matter what I put on, I don't look as beautiful as all of you." She replies with a sad tone to her voice.

I look at her in disbelief, then I stand right behind her looking at her reflection in the mirrors. "Laura, are you serious?" She just nods her head slowly with a pained expression. "Laura, look at you! Really look! You are gorgeous and I don't know what you are worried about!" I see her take a quick glance at her chest and then at mine. Ah...now I understand. I put my hand on her shoulder and go on. "Laura, you have nothing to worry about. I promise. You look amazing and as far as breasts go...well, you are younger than us and you have more than I did at your age, so you will be just fine there too. The important thing is that I guarantee that Colton isn't going to see anyone else in the room when you walk out!"

She turns quickly and hugs me tight. "Thank you so much, Aims." Laura says, picking up the nickname that Jess has given me.

"It's my pleasure." I reply still hugging her. She smiles so brightly at me as we all start to walk back into our dressing rooms to change and I realize that this is what it feels like to have a little sister. I have always wanted siblings, but never had any.

Jess grabs my arm lightly. "Thank you for helping her out. She doesn't always believe me or thinks I am just teasing her."

"No problem. I am glad that I could help." I find myself smiling as I talk to Jess.

"Aims, you know even though you look amazing in all of your dresses, you still have to try on the rest of them, right?" She gives me a teasing smirk and I elbow her as we go back in for dress number 6 or 7 or 29...who knows.

After trying on what felt like the whole store, Jess gathers up her picks, mine, and Laura's to go to the cash register. The other girls are all doing the same. I look over at the pile of dresses that Jess is getting and try to stop her, but am not successful. Many of them aren't even cocktail dresses. There are some cocktail dresses, full-length gowns, and even some sundresses. I was curious why some of those were in our try-on piles.

"Jess, what are you doing?" I ask her, still trying to get her to decrease the number that she is obviously getting for me.

"Aims, calm down. I spoke to Mom and she has tons of events planned for the next month that we will all need these dresses for. We may even have to come back for more. Plus, we have Homecoming in October. There are plenty of occasions to wear these and more." She says to me like it should just be common knowledge that I am going to be attending all of these things.

I sigh and try to decide what I should do. "Alright, but only if you tell me what the total on mine are so that I can pay your parents back." I say, trying to sound resolute.

Jess shakes her head at me and then replies simply. "You can talk to Mom about that. She told me that I was supposed to get you everything that you needed, which reminds me that we need all of those shoes that I sat aside too." She adds as she tells the sales lady to add those.

My jaw has to hit the floor, but I try to maintain my composure. I let her finish her transaction and then the other girls all follow suit and we all load up into vehicles to head back to the Pack house, apparently to start getting ready together. I will have to speak with Luna privately and make sure that I can start working or doing something to pay them back for all of this.

Jessie

I know that Aims is worried about money and attending events in general. I don't want to trigger another attack like she had this morning, but I don't know how to convince her that there is nothing to worry about. I may have gone a little overboard, but there are going to be a ton of people at each of these events. Then we will also be invited to similar events in neighboring packs because their future Alphas and Betas are home too. I have to prepare Aims for all of this plus the fact that both of our birthdays are right around the corner. She obviously hasn't thought about this, but we are a very hot commodity right now. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I actually laugh out loud and everyone looks at me while I am driving.

"Sorry. Just had a random funny thought enter my head." I explain while giggling some more.

We make it back to the Pack house quickly and we all load up our arms, but still can't get everything. I will just have to ask Aiden to get the rest for me and bring it to my room. We have to look a little crazy as we all run into the house and move to go straight up the stairs. I can hardly even see where I am going over the pile of stuff that I am carrying and the rest of the girls are the same way.

"Everyone up to the fifth floor to my room." I direct them and the cluster of girls head right up without argument. I can just barely see everyone sitting in the great room. "Aiden, can you and Kyle go grab the rest out of my car and bring it up to my room please?" I shout out and see him laugh, but nod yes with a big smile.