You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 35: Jeannie

“Clarice says that it should work the same way that you do anything else, Jeannie,” Mrs. Bentley tells me. “Whether it’s picturing the effect you desire or holding the idea in your head, something along those lines. Whatever you did to make the shift happen, you should just have to do something similar to reverse it.”

Except I don’t know what I did to make this happen. It just happened. At least … I think so.

It’s hard to think with everyone watching me like they’re expecting me to do something incredible. They forget that I have no idea what I’m doing, and I’ve never been a wolf before. That’s what they’re telling me I am, anyway, and it seems to fit.

I can smell everything like this, and every little movement makes my ears twitch. I can even hear all their heartbeats, at least the ones of the people standing right next to me. When I try to talk, it comes out sounding just like Simon and Sebastian, but otherwise I can still control my body. It’s weird, since I have four legs and a tail now and I’m not used to it, but it works.

The other thing that worked was trying to help Gabe’s wounds. I could sense how much he was hurting because apparently Simon hurts right along with him, and the wounds Simon received transferred to Gabe’s human body. That’s fascinating in itself, but then I discovered that I can still heal him even as a wolf. It took me a minute to figure out how, since I don’t have hands like this, but I just had this notion that if I could somehow touch him, it would work.

And realizing that rubbing my face on him was not only awkward but didn’t seem to be as effective as I’d hoped, and then remembering that dogs tend to wounds with their tongues, I decided to try that. What’s disturbing is how good it felt to lick my mate. And though I did want to soothe Simon’s and therefore Gabe’s pain, I was glad when Mr. Bentley pointed out that he didn’t really deserve it. He and his brother chose to fight, so they can sit there and deal with the pain.

But now, I can’t come up with a plan for how to reverse this whole wolf thing because I still can’t figure out what I did to cause it, if it was even me that did it. It’s intimidating to be standing here failing at the thing that mages are supposed to excel at. You know, magic. And it sucks that so many people are here to witness it, but more concerning is the thought that crosses my mind next. What if I’m stuck like this?

“Come here, Jeannie,” Gabe says, cutting through my worried thoughts. “I know I’m not your favorite person currently, but it might help to come sit by me and relax.”

I have to think about that for a second. I have a lot of mixed feelings about him presently, and a lot of mixed feelings about myself and the role I played in creating the current rift between us. I learned a lot today that has me questioning everything. But does that even matter right now? None of it matters if I’m stuck like this.

He’s my mate, and the mate bond supposedly has mystical power. It’s not designed to help mages use their magic, but it does help mates focus and clear their heads. Maybe he is what I need right now.

I pad my way back over to him and sit beside his legs that are sprawled out on the ground. He reaches over to pet me, which is still a strange experience for me but isn’t necessarily unpleasant. Quite the opposite, to be honest, especially when he’s the one doing it.

He gently pushes down on my back, and I realize he wants me to lie down and relax with him. It’s weird, but dogs do it, so I guess it makes sense. It’s when he pats his lap, trying to coax me into draping my wolf head across his legs that I’m about ready to give up on this whole plan, but with a sigh, I decide it’s worth a try. If I’m stuck like this, I might as well get used to everyone treating me like the family dog.

But to my surprise, once I have my head in his lap and he resumes his petting and scratching behind my ears, it’s like my eyes close on their own from how soothing it turns out to be. And once they do, it hits me. I know what happened.

I distinctly remember wishing I could be a powerful wolf that Simon and Sebastian couldn’t ignore anymore, and then I became one. Is that what I did to cause my magic to react? It had to have been because that was when everything got weird. There was that intense feeling that started even before I thought that, but that wish seemed to be what triggered the change.

I could try wishing to be my normal self again and see if that does anything. Holding that thought in my mind and picturing as much of my normal self as I can think of, I finally start to feel that sensation from before washing over me again. It’s not as strong this time, I guess because my emotions aren’t as intense as they were when I was watching my two good friends fighting, but I feel Gabe stop petting me as my senses get kind of difficult to interpret again.

“Yeah, there you go,” he praises me, and I open my eyes and turn my head to look up at his smiling face.

He looks like he normally does, and turning my head feels like it normally does, so I realize in a panic that my body is human again and my head is still in his lap. I hurry to sit up and get away from him because that’s just awkward, and then I can’t help feeling and checking myself over everywhere to make sure everything is as it should be. It all seems to be.

“Welcome back,” Mrs. Bentley tells me. “I bet that was quite an adventure.”

“I still don’t really know what happened,” I hate to have to admit to her. “I do know that it’s never happened before though. I’ve never even felt those sensations before.”

I could share with her my insight that it might be linked to my thoughts, but I’d rather not confess that I have powers I have no idea how to control and might be able to activate with a mere thought. So far, nothing that I’ve been able to do has been dangerous for anyone but me, so it’s probably not something she needs to know anyway.

“Clarice also said she’s going to cut her trip short and come back to talk with you sooner rather than later,” Mrs. Bentley informs me. “She suspects that you may have even more hidden abilities that you have yet to discover, and she’d like to be the one to help you get in touch with the rest of your potential.”

“I have no objections to that,” I can’t help sighing with relief. “I could probably use a mage mentor right about now.”

Especially if she has any insights about how to keep myself from thinking any other random magical effects into existence.

“I’ll say,” Gabe agrees, smiling at me. The way he’s keeping his hand resting between us makes me wonder if he’s also fighting back an urge to touch me again. “But it’s really exciting to see you so quickly figuring out how to use more of your magic, now that you’re not being forced to hide it and act human.”

I suppose that’s a good point. I hadn’t considered that that might be why this is happening now. I’ve been researching mages like me and making a deliberate effort to learn how to do things like use the trees to transport me places, so I suppose it could be stirring around all kinds of things inside me. And maybe that’s why my grandparents always wanted me to hide, ignore, and forget about my mage traits. They might have suspected it would only get “worse” if I gave into them.

The medics that were called over have arrived and are working on getting Gabe and Garrett tended to, despite the moaning and complaining they both are doing about how unnecessary it is.

“Don’t listen to them,” Tyler tells the medics. “Treat them as if they’re unconscious invalids and do what you need to do regardless of what they say.”

“You got it,” the taller of the two medics tending to Gabe answers him, smirking as if he’s enjoying being permitted to push Gabe and his brother around.

“Jeannie,” I hear another man’s voice say from behind me, so I turn to see who it is.

It’s the man who called the medics over, and from what I overheard, he’s also the mysterious Beta I haven’t met until now, the father of Gracie and Gabby.

“Hi, I’m Beta Ryan,” he introduces himself, holding out a hand to me so I can shake it. “Alpha Aly asked me to come and escort you back to the packhouse.”

I glance around, realizing that she’s disappeared from our gathering, and her mates seem to be preoccupied with their sons, so I suppose that makes sense. Except I don’t know why I need an escort. I can see the packhouse from here and know my own way back.

“Okay, you’ve got me,” he smirks. “You’re right, you don’t need me. What she actually said was to come make sure you’re okay after all that just went down, but I decided to walk you back.”

“How did you know what I was just thinking?” I ask, genuinely surprised that he just took the words out of my brain.

“Sweetie, you’re not hard to read,” he chuckles. “The expression on your face was pure confusion, and you were looking over at the packhouse like, ‘But why? It’s right over there,’ so I guessed what you were thinking.”

“Oh,” is all I say to that. I can’t help blushing from how embarrassing it is to be caught having a clueless moment by someone so important.

“Anyway, I just wanted to have a quick chat with you about something,” he goes on, offering me his arm the way that Gabe does. I guess he wants to literally escort me.

“Okay,” I answer him uncertainly.

I also can’t help noticing how different he feels from Gabe and Garrett. I think it might be because they’re taller and bulkier than he is. I know not all men are the same, obviously, but I have experience with so few of them that it feels strange to be walking with him instead of the Bentley boys.

“I think you’ve met my eldest daughter, Gabby,” he says next, and the way he says it has me concerned. Why does it sound like he’s about to deliver bad news? “I know this is strange for her own father to be saying, but I think you should steer clear of her. She’s been a moody troublemaker since she was a teenager, and though I hoped she would have grown out of it by now, especially considering how much time she spends with my strict, overbearing in-laws, I don’t think she has.”

I can’t help wondering how aware he is of the impression Garrett seems to have of her, that she’s selfish and manipulative, and if that’s what he means by “troublemaker,” or if he’s alluding to more.

“I don’t know exactly know what went down between her and Gabe and Garrett back when they were teens,” he goes on, “but I do know that around then was when her behavior seemed to escalate. I’m also aware that they’re no longer friends with her, and I suspect that she’s to blame for that. However, she’s always had crushes on both boys, and I fear that she might not take kindly to someone new coming into the mix. Especially not someone with an indisputable claim on Gabe, who I think might have been her favorite.”

I don’t know why he’s telling me this. It seems almost cruel. Gabe’s my mate, and of course I’m going to be bothered by that, especially knowing that he had a previous relationship with her. Although what’s strange is that it’s Garrett she should have preferred. He was her mate, after all.

“She would never tell us who her mate was, but she did admit to rejecting him long ago. And I can’t help but wonder if it was because she hoped to be able to mate with one of the Bentleys. But once I was made aware that they no longer wanted her around, I sent her away to my mate’s old pack to live with her grandparents. Gabby only comes for occasional visits now, and we're a couple days into one of those visits. She'll be here until the end of the week.”

“I don’t know what you intend for me to do with all of this,” I finally decide to speak up. “If your goal was to make me self-conscious, worried, and maybe even a little jealous, then congratulations. You did it.”

“Oh, Jeannie. No, that’s not it at all,” he assures me, his face softening as he turns to me with an apologetic look. “I’m telling you this because I suspect her old feelings are being stirred up now that you’re here. She’s never truly had to come to terms with the fact that she doesn’t stand a chance with those boys. And with neither of them mated all this time, she’s never had to face any real competition either. But now, here you are. I’m not trying to make you paranoid or jealous, I’m trying to make you cautious. She’ll only be here a few more days, and in that time, I’m advising you to try to stay clear of her. I don’t want her getting any ideas or trying anything with you.”

“Why does it sound like you’re advising me from previous experience?” I can’t help asking accusingly.

Maybe it’s paranoia, or maybe it’s that him coming to me makes little sense and I don't really appreciate the intrusion, but I’m finding this little conversation to be suspicious and strange.

But when he sighs and looks away, I know I’m onto something.

“Because I am,” he admits dejectedly. “If she were to try anything with you, it wouldn’t be the first time she’s tried to scare away someone she perceives to be her competition. That’s why we sent her away in the first place.”

Now he finally admits that, even though he said before that it was because the guys weren’t interested in her, or something like that. The strangeness only keeps getting stranger, and I can tell he’s being guarded with what he’s willing to tell me.

“What happened?” I ask, now more worried than irritated. “What does her ‘trying something’ even mean?”

“What happened isn’t important. What’s important is that you do your best to steer clear and not antagonize her.”

“Or what will she do?”

“Hopefully nothing,” he gives an exaggerated smile, obviously trying to brush it off.

Which is annoying. If he suspects she has her sights set on me, then he should be telling me what to watch out for. But we’ve arrived at the back door to the kitchen, so he releases my arm and steps away, as though he intends to part ways with me here.

“I’m sure you’re probably thinking all kinds of terrible things about me after this, and I can’t say that I blame you,” he says, stepping backward off the stoop as if slowly backing away from me. “Maybe I should grow a backbone and just send her away now, knowing that she’s upset after learning about you and Gabe, but I can’t help it. She’s still my daughter, and we barely get to see her. My responsibilities here make it hard to travel too, so this is one of the only weeks we’ll have with her this year. That’s why I’m coming to you, who I perceive to be the more reasonable of the two of you, to plead with you to just avoid her if it’s at all possible.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Garrett already warned me away from her, and I already planned to keep to myself,” I tell him reassuringly. “So, she’s the one you need to be focusing on. I’ll just stay home if that’s what it takes, though I do still need to come tend to my chickens, of course.”

“Garrett, huh,” he says, seeming lost in thought as he stares off into the distance for a moment. “Well, I suppose that’s good then. Maybe I didn’t need to bother you after all.”

“No, but I do appreciate the warning. Knowing that she can be like that, I’ll be careful about not even giving her opportunities to bump into me. I’ll stay home, like I said. I don’t want to be the reason why you can’t visit your daughter.”

“You don’t know how much I appreciate that,” he tells me warmly, his smile finally seeming genuine instead of nervous and forced. “You’re a good kid, Jeannie, and you’ll be good for Gabe. I can already tell.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just stand there blushing and feeling awkward until he laughs and reaches over to give my arm a reassuring squeeze.

“Alright, I’ll let you get back inside and take myself back to work. You enjoy the rest of your day, Jeannie, and give that mate of yours a little hell when he gets back from seeing the doctor. Pull that wolf of yours out if you have to.”

His eyes are twinkling as he’s chuckling at me shaking my head at him, and then he gives a small wave and turns to leave me there. I head back inside and straight up to the Bentleys’ apartment, both to avoid Gabby as promised and to finally get myself to somewhere quiet that I can think.