Breaking the chains that bind

Nothing more forthcoming

Elise froze, feeling weirdly vulnerable that this stranger felt like he was in her bedroom with her alone. His voice slid into her mind with no warning.

'How are you doing that?' She responded, trying not to emit any emotions, not sure what he would or would not feel from her.

'You've never mind linked before?' the surprise made both his drawl and arrogance slip.

'With my brothers. With family' her words came out faster than she intended, heart beating just that little bit more for some reason.

'Well I'm family, well family of sorts. I saw you, we can link, it's not complicated' the arrogance was back in bucketloads and Elise had to bite her words back. She didn't want to scare away the only outsider who may be able to tell her what was going on. She couldn't figure out why she wanted to lash out at him before she even knew him. Her wolf was bristling just with his voice, back at the gate she wanted to attack him as soon as he spoke.

'How are we related?' She asked, deliberately keeping her voice neutral.

'Distantly.' He sounded evasive, less self assured again.

'How distantly?' Elise pushed back, desperate for any clue he could provide.

'Far enough' he replied. Far enough for what? Elise decided that was not something she wanted to explore, she may be desperate for company, but something told her this was company to avoid.

'Tell me why I'm trapped?' She demanded.

'You don't seem that trapped to me,' he responded, teasing her and seeming to enjoy her frustration.

'I'm not interested in talking to you if you aren't going to tell me anything I want to know.' Elise snapped at him, unable to hold her irritation anymore. Somehow she pushed him out of her mind. She could feel him trying to reach out, but she didn't feel patience enough to navigate the conversation tonight. Something about him put her teeth on edge, like hearing nails down a chalkboard. The more he tried to reach her the more she resisted, feeling more and more certain that he would still want to talk another time and she would have an opportunity again when she wasn't tired and likely to make a mistake. He was persistent, but eventually gave up and she was asleep in no time.

As soon as she was up, she bounced out of bed, eager to question Nate now she felt refreshed. She got dressed quickly, trying not to notice that she chose a low cut dark green t shirt that brought out her eyes and drew eyes to her cleavage. Paired with black leggings she cut a striking figure.

She shot down to the gate and looked expectantly around for Nate. She pushed through the hedging by the gate, and looking up she saw a small spotters nest in the tree, hidden from the path. Cursing her outfit she climbed up and realised it was a perfect spy spot, you could see both sides of the gate, the path to the house and the road approaching the gate without anyone seeing you. It was so well hidden you would walk by it a thousand times and never see it. But no sign of Nate.

'Nate?' She tried to broadcast her mindlink, not sure how to reach him. Her brothers she didn't think twice as to how to mind link, it was second nature, but trying to do something when you are thinking about it is hard at the best of the times, and nigh in impossible when the stakes are so high.

She stomped back in the house. 'What's up with you?' Max could feel her irritation like a beam emitting. Just like their mother, whatever Elise felt she projected all around her.

'Nothing' She retorted without thinking, then realised Max may know something. 'Hey, do you know where Nate is?'

'Nate?' Max frowned, 'You ran into him once, why do you care?' His eyes widened, 'do you like him?!'

'What?' Her eyes widened, and she blushed. 'No, you said he's family right? Beside he's a jerk. No I just wanted to talk to him, someone new that's all.'

'Oh' said Max, still suspicious, his sister didn't blush.

'Max where is he?' Elise was starting to have suspicions of her own now.

'Alex sent him on an errand, that's all I know' Max shrugged, still perturbed by Elise's interest.

Elise's frown hit the room like a clap of thunder. She could just bet Alex had figured out that Elise would want to talk to him and had sent him away on purpose. It was like he could read her thoughts, figure out every plan and work out how to avoid them. He was always just one step ahead. It wasn't even like she could track his scent as they didn't seem to emit one. Suddenly she regretted rejecting him the night before, how could she be so silly. She had no idea when or if she would see him again, but it was okay to block him because he irritated her?! Just what was she thinking? More importantly why wasn't she thinking? She would never normally make such a poor decision, whatever possessed her. Normally she had some form of plan, but with her only lead gone she was a bit helpless. Now what?

'Gym, anyone?' Ryan's tussled locks appeared around the doorway before he did, his untamed eyebrows giving him a permanent look of surprise and he sported his typical bed head style. Elise had no idea why any girl would throw herself at him, let alone the dozens of different women he brought back night after night.

'I'm going to do some reading' Elise said, determined if not to get answers from Nate, then at least to see what clues she could piece together in the library. Maybe she could identify some other potential families that may be connected to her heritage, or make sense of the information Alex had given her.

'Cool, have fun' Ryan dismissed her easily. The two had never had much in common, all of Elise's intensity was the opposite of his laid back, relaxed personality, and his puppy dog eye appeal was wasted on her as she saw him as a layabout, only doing the bare minimum of what Alex expected from him and constantly looking for fun rather than purpose.

Elise wandered towards the library and the brothers relaxed in the kitchen. As they talked Elise couldn't help but hear, her hearing was ten times their sensitivity.

'Well if you aren't joining me I guess I will have to find my own company.'

'Ha, another hook up. Who you seeing today then? Maddy again?' Max asked.

'Na, fancy a blonde bombshell for today's flavour of the month,' Ryan quipped back easily, and she could hear him texting. The casual way he viewed his dates bothered Elise, but part of her felt if these women were stupid enough to keep chasing him then it was their own fault. Then she heard Max gasp.

'Sarah again? You told Alex you would break it off with her, she kept asking too many questions and trying to befriend Elise.' She heard Ryan push Max, probably irritated he had been looking at his texts.

'It's none of your business. She's hot and fun, I keep her away from the house so what's the harm. Elise smiled, reading would have been good, but plans change, guess she was going to the gym after all...

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