Unbound: The Call of Power

Chapter 06

“Ungghhhh!”

Ellie glanced over at the source of groaning, amused. Maya hadn’t moved from the sofa since the time they both had come back to her place. They had made it a habit to take turns having dinner at each other's places and tonight was her turn.

Currently, Maya was lying flat on the sofa with her face buried under a sofa cushion she was holding. Ellie couldn’t help but laugh out a little. It was like watching an interactive sound exhibit at an art convention, except that this exhibit kept releasing a series of muffled groans and sighs at frequent intervals.

“Try not to smother yourself to death, will you?” Ellie walked over and prodded at the cushion, “It will then be a literal case of death by embarrassment”.

She was met with another groan.

Shaking her head, she walked back to the kitchen area. Sam should be coming over any time now with dinner. She had no clue why Maya was so horrified by the soul mate bond.

Ellie glanced at the clock pensively, as she started setting her small but cozy dining table. She absentmindedly set the plates down on her bamboo place mats and fiddled with the small vase in the centre of the table.

All SNs were considered fully matured adults at twenty-one. By then, they would have grown into their full powers and as it were, no one discovered any newer powers after that. Whatever active and passive powers that they had identified were it. Some were lucky enough to find their bonds as soon as they became adults. For most, however, the process took some time. While humans had the option to fall in love, SNs believed that finding their bonded was the first step to discovering true love.

It was, after all, a belief in the community that all souls were two halves of a whole and finding the other half meant that they were blessed; that the Universe had favoured them. Once they found each other, they were bonded till the end of time if they chose to accept the bond. It was all very romanticised, but that was just her opinion.

Ellie knew just how big a deal it was among the SNs, and especially so for Alpha werewolves whose standings in the pack will be determined by how powerful their Lunas are.

Maya surely knows that, Ellie thought, since she grew up in a werewolf family. Even so, Maya knowing that wouldn’t warrant such a strong reaction. Would it?

Try as she might, she could not recall anyone ever having had such a strong, negative reaction to discovering the soul mate bond.

Could it be because she is human? Ellie frowned. While it wasn’t unheard of, it was still rare that a SN had formed a bond with a human; an Alpha too at that. She wondered if Maya thought she was unworthy of this bond.

Ellie immediately gave herself a light smack for having such a thought.

No, that’s not possible. She is one of the most confident women I know.

She wished she could read her friend at times like this, so she could understand and help her better using her power of Empathy.

The buzz of the intercom cut into her thoughts. “Ellie, let me up”, Sam’s voice crackled through the intercom.

She pressed the button to unlock the main gate, glad that she had texted him. “Come on up”.

Who would have thought that she would actually manage to make 2 friends?

Ellie smiled, recalling how she had met Sam for the first time. She had been having lunch with Maya during her first week in the school, in between their lessons, when Sam had come over and settled himself down at their table.

Maya had barely glanced up at him, “Sam, Ellie. Ellie, this is Sam. He is my childhood friend, and a perpetual bane of my existence. Sam, Ellie’s the resident oracle of the school,” Maya had introduced them, going back to her lunch.

The comment had been so unexpected, Ellie had choked on her drink. No one had ever been introduced to her as a bane of existence before and no one had certainly referred to her as an oracle. She knew though, that hers was meant more as a compliment. Sam had seemed to agree as he had just laughed, a deep good – natured laugh; before handing her a packet of tissue to wipe her mouth with.

She remembered how he had held out his hand for a proper introduction. She had been hesitant about shaking it. After all, with the exception of Maya, everyone else who knew she could read them avoided her for it.

Sam had noticed her hesitation.

“I am pretty sure you don’t want to be in people’s heads as much as they don’t want you to,” Ellie’s eyes widened as he continued, “so I am not worried that you are going to tap into my mind uninvited”.

Ellie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Someone was acknowledging her abilities, without any fear or apprehension, with the understanding that she didn’t want to read people either, if she could help it.

“I don’t just read minds. I can read your aura too, and if I touch you or anything that belongs to you; I could also piece a little bit the story together”, she sensed his aura briefly but all she could sense coming off him was warmth and sincerity.

“I know that and quite honestly, so what? Do you know how much time we can save as friends because I don’t have to talk about my feelings? You’d just know them with your Empathy,” Sam smiled at her as he tapped his temple, “Besides I’m a werewolf. I know how to block my mind too, so we are good”.

Ellie laughed, pleasantly surprised. No one had ever been so straight forward about it before, and she liked that about him.

He reached out again, and Ellie stared at his hand for a beat before taking it; giving him a firm handshake.

They had both sealed their friendship with matching grins, while Maya had just looked up from her food long enough to roll her eyes at them before eating again. Despite her best efforts, Ellie could see the small smile that was tugging at Maya’s lips.

She had felt a strange, warm feeling spread out from her chest as she looked at the both of them and she remembered thinking this must be what having friends must feel like.

Ellie was still smiling at the memory, when Sam walked into the apartment. She had left the door open for him.

He handed Ellie the bag of dinner, as he closed the door behind him.

“So, what’s the big emergency you texted me about?”

Ellie motioned over to the sofa, as she set the food down on the dining table. Sam looked over at Maya, who still hadn’t moved from where she was.

He yanked the cushion off her face, only to have her glare at him before she grabbed it back and covered her face again.

“Ungghhhh!”

Sam picked up another cushion and threw it at Maya, before joining Ellie, “What’s happening with that one?”

“She’s been like this since we ended our class,” Ellie stopped what she doing and looked up at Sam, “we think she’s identified her bonded”.

Sam stared at her blankly, “What now?”

“She has been seeing this guy around school, and she has been feeling the connection. You know what I mean, the smells and the intense feelings”, Ellie moved to grab more plates to serve the sides.

Sam grabbed her by her shoulders and turned her around, a slow grin spreading across his face.

“You mean to tell me,” he paused, “that Ms Tough Cookie over there has found her soul mate?”

Ellie nodded, “Yeah, from the sounds of it; pretty much, yeah”.

Sam started laughing loudly, “Oh my god! I never thought that day will come”.

She had most of her shields up, but she decided to use a bit of empathetic powers to understand why Sam was laughing his head off. He seemed to be truly happy for Maya.

“So, who’s the unlucky guy?”

Sam was wiping tears from his eyes when something hit him smack in the head. Turning back, he saw Maya sitting up on the sofa; furiously staring at him. He had laughed lout enough that he managed to get her to abandon her plans to become one with the furniture.

Ellie looked between Maya and Sam, unsure of how to react. One was very happy about the news and the other was way too unhappy about it.

Having friends is a tough job, Ellie shook her head; sighing in defeat as she knew she would do anything for the two of them.

“Will you two please get ready to eat?” Ellie settled down, as Maya skulked over; shooting dirty glances at the still laughing Sam. He sat down beside Ellie, while Maya took the seat opposite them.

“Wait, so tell me. Who is it? I am really curious,” Sam started scooping food onto his plate after catching his breath.

Ellie looked at Maya, who was stabbing at the parmesan chicken that she had set on her plate. She knew that she wasn’t going to get her to tell Sam. Maya had warned her as much, when Ellie had texted him.

With a sigh, she turned back to Sam. “It’s Andrew”.

Sam stopped mid – bite and placed his fork down, frowning.

“Andrew? Which Andrew?”

Ellie noticed the sudden change in Sam’s demeanour. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Maya’s head snap up in surprise as well. She must have caught on it too.

“Andrew Rowans,” Ellie watched Sam’s expression, “the werewolf Alpha”.

Sam leaned back in his seat, “Whoa”. He looked like he had just discovered something, and he couldn’t believe it, “Whoa!”

Ellie sensed out for his emotions again, and she could pick up on something vaguely like familiarity and recognition. No way, Ellie mused, could Sam have already known about this?

Maya c****d her head, studying Sam as well. Her earlier annoyance seemed to have dissipated and she was looking at Sam with curiosity.

“Of course, it makes sense that it’s Andrew,” Sam nodded his head, as if he was agreeing with something, “Yeah, it makes so much sense”.

“What do you mean, it makes sense?” Ellie pushed her dinner away and focused her attention on the man sitting beside her.

Intriguing! She wanted to know what was running through Sam’s mind that warranted such a sudden change in reaction.

Damn that werewolf mind block, she cursed internally. Wait, I chose to have the shield up as well. She let out a silent sigh under her breath.

“Yeah, what do you mean,” Maya chimed in.

Sam stared at Maya for a beat, as if registering her reaction for the first time. Thankfully, he hadn’t been paying any attention to her or he might have picked up on Ellie using her Empathy on him. Werewolves were sensitive to things like that.

“Wait a minute. Maya, are you telling me you don’t recognise who Andrew is?”

Ellie looked between back and forth between both of Maya and Sam’s equally confused faces. Ellie could feel his disbelief coming off of him in waves.

Maya looked like she had no idea what Sam was about, and Sam looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

 “No, I don’t,” Maya shrugged, “Am I supposed to know him?”

“Are you serious right now?” Sam studied Maya’s face intently.

Ellie got up and walked over to get a glass of water. Sam’s emotions were starting to overwhelm her, and she was beginning to keenly feel what he was feeling.

She needed to distance herself so that she didn’t get affected by his feelings. That was the setback of being an Empath. She had to be careful not to absorb the emotions of the person she was reading and mistake it for being her own.

Ellie was just grateful that she couldn’t read Maya. It might have been too much confusion she would have had to deal with. She mentally chided herself for having sensed Sam in the first place.

Just then, she heard Sam’s voice behind her. She could tell that he was not teasing Maya, and that he was genuinely confused that she didn’t seem to know what he was talking.

“Maya, how on earth do you not recognise Andrew?”

She couldn’t see Maya’s reaction but knowing her, she probably must have shrugged. She took a large sip of water and closed her eyes, trying to clear her head.

At the same time, Sam stood up.

“How does someone not recognise her first love?”

For the second time since she’d met them, Ellie choked on her drink again.