Unbound: The Call of Power

Chapter 07

Maya blinked, unable to fathom what she had just heard. Sam had said something that had Andrew and first love in the same sentence and Maya knew she could not have heard him right.

She remembered her first love, of course she did. Andy, the 20-year-old Alpha she had met when she was 18. Sam must have got it wrong. Andrew did not look anything like what she remembered Andy to be.

A loud cough was resonating in the background, and Maya belatedly realised that Ellie had choked on her drink. Sam was already by her side, patting her back while she just looked on, still processing Sam’s statement.

Ellie was the first to speak up, after she had calmed down.

“Alright guys. I need you all to back up just a little bit okay?” Ellie held up a finger and pursed her lips, “We have had way too much information to be taken in today”.

Sam looked at Ellie, concern written all over his face while Maya stood there, unsure of how she should react. Ellie’s face red from coughing, and she was still clearing her throat.

“I am going to make some tea to calm all of us down. Maya, please gather yourself a little bit okay? And you,” she turned to Sam, “You start telling us what the hell is going on”.

Maya and Sam exchanged glances, as they both took their seats. Ellie could be pretty scary when she wants to be, and Maya figured she must have picked up on Sam’s emotions. Werewolves tended to feel everything a little too much, something she found very annoying, and Maya was not surprised that she had felt the intensity of his emotion.

Ellie set down 3 cups of steaming hot tea in front of them. “Let it sit for a minute, before you guys drink. It’s Lavender-Orange Tea and it’s good for calming emotions”.

She stared pointedly at Sam. He raised an eyebrow as he reached for the tea. Maya suppressed her smirk. Sam had never been one to do teas. Not one werewolf she knew ever indulged in a good cup of tea, let alone calming ones. It was very much a witch thing to do, but she knew Sam was not going to reject Ellie; given the ‘Don’t argue with me’ look on her face.

Maya took her cup and let the heat spread through her hands. The smell was aromatic and surprisingly, it was indeed having a calming effect on her. She looked at Ellie from the corner of her eyes. I wonder if she added anything else to the tea.

She took a sip of it, and it was heavenly. Whoever discovered that lavender and orange would be a good blend for tea? She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth and the silence for a bit. She needed it and at that moment, she was even more grateful for Ellie.

“That’s much better, isn’t it?” Maya opened her eyes to find Ellie looking at her gently. She gave her a small smile and nodded her head. She looked over at Sam, who was sniffing at the tea and taking reluctant sips. She couldn’t help but laugh at his expression.

She turned serious when Ellie set her cup down. “Sam, you have got to fill us in man. Or at least, Maya. Why on earth were you not surprised when we told you her bonded was Andrew?”

Sam took another sip of his tea. “For this, I am going to have to go back to our teenage years. Just hear me out okay”. He looked over at Maya again before explaining himself.

“Our pack, the Matthews Clan, has always been well – known among the other packs for the training programme we have in place for our werewolves. We’ve always had pretty strong werewolves and we are all well -trained, right down to our Omegas”. Sam paused, seemingly composing his thoughts.

“This programme was actually established by the then Alpha, Maya’s dad and his Beta, my dad. Over the years, we had a lot of the other packs send their members to us for training,” Sam glanced up at Ellie, then at Maya.

She recalled the training. There had been strangers in the pack house every other time, while growing up and though most had never posed any threats; her mother had once jokingly complained about how all their family’s assets would be wiped out from just feeding werewolves. The training lasted about 3 to 6 months, and the trainees would stay with them during that time.

Sam continued. “Maya was 18 and Damien and I were 20 at that time. We had the new batch of trainees come in, and we started training with them. Among them was Andy, their Alpha to be. Uncle Matthews decided we should all train together since Damien, Andy and I were all going to hit full adult maturity about the same time.”

Maya remembered the intensive training the boys had undergone. Dad had pushed Damien and Sam so hard, both of them barely had any time to hang out. Dad had pushed their own pack to train even outside of the training hours. He had wanted Damien and Sam to be in their best form and that meant Maya couldn’t see her family and friends as much as she wanted to.

It was how she and Andy ended up became friends. He would often see her around, just lost in a book or wondering aimlessly and he started making conversations with her during his free time.

“Our pack was trained a lot harder, and we barely had any time for ourselves. It was then that Andy and Maya started hanging out together”.

“Ooooooohhhhhh!” Ellie had let out such a high-pitched squeal, both Maya and Sam got startled. She was looking at Sam with such wide eyes, Maya laughed and the slight tension in the room was effectively broken.

Ellie rubbed her palms together, “Sounds like it’s going to be an awesome love story”.

Sam chuckled, “Yeah, you might want to hold off judgement on that”. Maya glared at him.

“Okay, so,” Sam looked at Ellie warily, “Maya and Andy would spend any free time they had together. And I mean, they would be inseparable. Be it be doing something at home, or going out, or reading or anything. You name the activity; they will be doing it together”.

Ellie was listening so intently, she looked like she had been frozen in place. “Go on, this is interesting!” Maya knew Ellie was waiting for something juicy and exciting, just based on her tone. She shook her head. Ellie loved hearing stories about her.

“Yeah, you would think they would have done as many things as they could right,” Sam said dryly. Ellie nodded.

“Nope! They spent hours just talking. Talking! And watching movies! And reading! Here’s the worst part - they would sneak out in the middle of the night just to go talk,” Sam rolled his eyes.

Ellie burst out laughing, “Wait, seriously? Just talking?”

“Yeah, and then they will get caught for sneaking out by the patrolling wolves,” Sam paused dramatically, “for talking late into the night!”

Sam threw up his hands in exasperation. Although Damien would firmly disapprove, Sam had always teased Maya for having wasted all those nights “not doing what other 18-year olds did”.

Ellie leaned back, sighing in disappointment.

“Hey! We had a good connection okay, and I wasn’t going to let it be ruined by bodily pleasures,” Maya was indignant. “I was being a responsible teenager”.

This time, it was Ellie who rolled her eyes at her.

She was never going to admit to them that Andy had never made a move on her and by the time she realised she had fallen for him, it had been too late.

“So anyway, it got to the point where even the patrolling wolves stopped minding them because these two did nothing else,” Sam took a sip of his tea. “Even her dad was sure nothing was going to happen”.

Ellie laughed again. “Wow, that’s how sweet they were huh?”

“Maya doesn’t know this, but Damien and I cornered Andy during one of his trainings, and we asked him what his intentions were. Why was he always hanging around her?”

She covered her face in embarrassment. She had no idea that her brother and Sam had done that. “I cannot believe that you guys did that!”

It’s been 12 years, but it was still humiliating!

“Hey, he actually admitted that he liked you and he wanted to ask your dad’s permission to officially ask you out on a date once the whole programme was over.”

Maya looked at Sam in shock. She hadn’t known that either. All she knew was that he had been abruptly pulled from the programme 3 months in and his dad brought him back home while the rest of his pack had stayed on to complete the training.

Her father had told her that it had been a personal family matter, and he had to leave. “He never told me that he liked me though, not once”.

Sam shrugged, “I guess he didn’t get around to it, because of how he left?”

Ellie looked back and forth between them, “He left? Why? Why did he leave?”

“Well, it was really unexpected,” Maya frowned, “He just came up to me one morning and said he had to leave, even though he wished he didn’t have to. Then he told me that the times he had with me were the best times of his life and he left”.

She had been too stunned to say anything that day. Maya had woken up that morning and was looking forward to the movie night they had planned. They were going to do classic Sci-Fi movies, with popcorn and chips and pizza; all night long. As she came down the stairs, she had seen Andy waiting for her by the dining table with his luggage.

Before she could ask him anything, he had told her he was leaving. He had then given her hug and a kiss on the forehead and while she stood there, trying to process everything that had happened; he was gone. She didn’t know how long she had stayed frozen in place, but she remembered her mother had walked in after a while and given her a hug.

That had been the trigger and she had broken down in her mother’s arms, in the middle of the family kitchen. She felt like her heart had been ripped out, and she couldn’t stop crying. That was when it had hit her - the day she realised she loved him was the day he left. For months after that, She had spent countless nights, crying herself to sleep. She had become withdrawn and avoided everyone, and she had a perpetual heartache that just never went away.

Judging from the look on Sam’s face, she could tell he was reliving the same memory.

 “To be honest,” Maya turned to Ellie, “I was a hot mess. I was crying, I was moody and barely ate. Damien and dad just seemed to want me to get better while mum and Sam and the rest of the pack just did everything they could to cheer me up”.

Damien and dad hadn’t even let her contact Andy. They told her it was best if she didn’t and they never told her why.

Ellie walked over and grabbed Maya into a hug.

“I am so sorry he broke your heart like that,” she buried her face in Maya’s hair. She smiled and patted Ellie’s arms.

“I am fine okay? It’s been 12 years. That’s enough time to mend a broken heart,” she grinned. “See, I am fine”.

Ellie sat down next to Maya anyway, her hand on her arm.

 “But Sam, what does all of this have to do with Andrew?” Maya caught Sam’s expression, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Well, so the thing is; the clan that Andy came with…” he trailed off.

“Yeah?” Maya could feel her impatience acting up.

Sam closed his eyes, as if he was about to say something really difficult.

“The pack Andy came with was the Rowans Clan,” Sam took a deep breath, “and Andrew used to go by Andy when he was younger”.

Ellie sucked in her breath, while Maya just stared at Sam.

“It doesn’t make sense, Sam,” she was sure he had gotten it wrong. “They both look so different”.

Andy had worn thick glasses; his hair had been slicked back and he had suffered the pain puberty had inflicted and it had been evident by the acne scars on his face. He also had been tall and skinny, and his eyes had been dark. Andrew seemed to be about a similar height, but he had a well-toned and muscular body, clear skin and wavy black hair that seemed to have a life of its own. Also, while Maya couldn’t really make out the colour of Andrew’s eyes, she thought they seemed to be lighter shade of brown.

It couldn’t be. It really couldn’t.

“Yeah, he had a final spurt right before he turned 21; and he ended up looking like the way he does now,” Sam shrugged. Maya knew that had happened with Damien and Sam, and they had ended up looking even better than they did. Still, she couldn’t be sure.

“Also, I had met Andrew when we had gone for a pack meeting with the other packs. He introduced himself and that’s how I know it was him,” Sam gave her a sheepish look. “Honestly, I thought you would have recognised him sooner”.

Maya massaged her temples. There was no reason for Sam to lie to her. It was becoming more and more irrefutable.

“So yeah, that’s the reason why I was not so surprised that Andrew was your bonded. Damien and I had always thought that you guys had been so drawn to each other because of the bond, even though you both couldn’t feel it yet”.

Ellie nodded slowly, in agreement. “Yeah, I have actually heard that things like that could happen between mates. If they meet before they turn 21, they might feel something of the bond”.

Maya rested her head on the table, as she tried to make sense of what they were saying. She couldn’t see the resemblance, but if she was being honest, she couldn’t fully recall what Andy looked like either. Yet, everything Sam had said so far made sense.

Werewolves did go through an additional, final transformation right before they turned 21 and it was possible some changes were quite drastic. If she followed Sam’s theory, then it also explained why she had felt something akin to a heartache every time she saw Andrew. If he was indeed Andy, then it was  possible her subconscious self might have recognised him.

And as much as she did not want to admit it, the main reason that she was always annoyed was because Andrew’s scent reminded her of the cologne Andy used to wear when they were teenagers.

Maya sighed into the table.

It had been a day of revelations.

Her first love was her first heartbreak and in a weird full circle way, her first heartbreak was now her one and only soulmate.