Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 4 - Nat

Monday 11 January

~*Nat*~

“Okay, try it again.”

I sighed in frustration and clenched my hands into fists on my knees. Cody and I had been at this for about an hour and we still weren’t producing the results that Nahi was looking for. Considering that it was early in the morning on our very first day, I thought getting any results was a good thing.

Apparently, Nahi disagreed.

“We’ve been over this,” Nahi said patiently. She knew perfectly well how annoyed I was becoming. “You need to be calm in both body and mind for the transfer to happen.”

I scowled at her and shook my head. I knew my body was calm, but I was a long way from being calm of mind. Irritation and anger had been at the front and centre of my very core for days now.

Cody and I were sitting cross-legged opposite each other, trying to move a pebble between us. Nahi said that this was beginner training on how to ‘step through space’. Once we could master teleporting an inanimate object to each other, we could move up to trying to transport a flower, and so on until we could teleport ourselves.

At least now I knew how she was able to cover such vast distances so easily.

Cody gave me a cheeky grin and wiggled her eyebrows at me in an effort to lighten my mood. She held a palm out for me to take, the pebble resting comfortably in her other hand, which was resting on her knee. We had already moved the rock from my palm to hers, but I was struggling to bring it back.

I focused on the small thing that I was quickly coming to believe existed to taunt me, willing it to move. My hope flared when it flickered, but disappeared just as quickly when the pebble stubbornly remained where it was. I growled, first at the damn rock, then at Cody when I started feeling the hand I held shake from her silent laughter. I threw her hand away from me in disgust, which only made her laugh more, her shoulders shaking from the effort.

A sharp knock on the door to the bedroom-turned-classroom broke through the growing tension in the room, breaking me out of my funk.

Nahi grabbed the robe hanging over the back of her chair and swung it around to cover herself before opening the door. “Take a breather, girls. I need a minute to discuss the other rooms with the carpenter.”

Cody and I both sat back, leaning on our hands. Cody held up the pebble and rotated it in her fingers as if to taunt me with it. I narrowed my eyes at her, which only made her grin broaden further.

“Sorry to interrupt, m’am.” A deep, warm, and very male voice caught both mine and Cody’s attention. We both turned our heads to the door to find a young man, about our age, standing on the other side of the now open door. Nahi stood to one side, which allowed Cody and I to have a clear view of her visitor.

I looked at Cody, who had waved at our guest with a smile and was now tossing the pebble from one hand to the other, waiting for us to continue, before I returned my attention to him. He appeared to be about the same height as Cody, which made him about a foot shorter than me. His hair was dark brown, almost to the point of it being black, and although his temples, nape and beard were well trimmed, the rest of his hair was long and tousled, almost long enough to flop over his dark eyes. Only the large wire-rimmed glasses held his wayward fringe from obscuring his eyesight fully.

A pale grey t-shirt slouched over the top of his khaki cargo pants but sat comfortably under the tool belt that hung off his hips. The khaki-coloured steel- capped work boots completed his very tradie-looking ensemble.

“I’m hoping Takeshi told you to expect me?” After he gave a brief wave to Cody, he returned his attention entirely to Nahi, who nodded.

“You need to finish up in the other rooms, right?” Nahi asked, a slight tilt of her head as she crossed her arms to hold the robe around herself tighter.

“Yes, m’am.” He hooked his thumbs into his tool belt, completely at ease.

As irritated as I still felt, I couldn’t stop a throb of desire running through me before it ended up pooling between my legs. I blinked in confusion. What? It had only been a week and a half since Bells unceremoniously dumped me. Was I seriously finding myself attracted to someone else so soon?

I took a deep breath and held it as I thought through my feelings. This tradesman, whoever he was, was seriously good looking. There was no harm in just looking, right?

Right?

I slowly let my breath out. Yeah, there was nothing stopping me from looking. No-one could stop me looking.

And damn… He was one fine-looking hunk of a man.

Yup. I was going to look as much as I could while he was standing there. Why the hell not?

“Do you know how long you’ll be?” There was no annoyance in Nahi’s question, simply curiosity.

“Careful, Nat.” Alex had been pacing in my head all morning, coaching me now and then when I was getting really frustrated with something. Now, however, there was a slight warning in his tone.

“I can’t imagine it taking any longer than a couple of hours,” the carpenter said. “We’ve set them up to be like this room. Was there anything you wanted to change in here?” A small smile played at the corners of his lips when he caught my eyes briefly as he looked around the room, before becoming serious once more when he returned his attention to Nahi.

The fingers on my right hand twitched involuntarily. “About what? I’m not doing any—”

The pebble that Cody was tossing from one hand to the other stopped mid-toss, hung in the air for half a second, before it changed direction and headed for my forehead.

My eyes widened as I realised what was happening and swung my head to the side, but I wasn’t quick enough. The pebble struck hard above my right eyebrow, then bounced harmlessly into my lap.

“f*****g s**t-based c**k-balls!”

I rubbed my forehead with the heel of my palm as my eyes teared up from the sharp pain. It took me a moment to realise that the room had fallen quiet. When it finally dawned on me I might have sworn a tad too loudly, I looked up to see Cody staring at me. She mouthed the words ‘c**k-balls?’ with a raised eyebrow, before dissolving into silent giggles, her shoulders shaking up and down with glee.

I sighed, still massaging at the quickly developing bump on my head, and looked over guiltily at Nahi and the seriously hot tradesman. “Sorry.”

“You okay there, Nat?” Nahi asked, a smile playing at her lips, begging to be released.

“Yeah, yeah…” I trailed off, feeling rather embarrassed. The tradesman’s dark eyes were directed at me and were filled with curiosity, and just a hint of sympathy as well. Thankfully, it appeared he hadn’t seen the injury take place.

Nahi returned her attention to the carpenter. “Feel free to do what you need to. If you need me, just knock on the door.”

Was I imagining things or was there some reluctance in the tradesman’s eyes when he dragged them from mine to face Nahi once again? “Of course, m’am. I can’t imagine that I’ll run into any hassles on the install. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

“Thanks, McIntyre,” Nahi said.

“Oh, it’s just Mac, m’am,” the carpenter said, grinning first at her, then at me. “No-one calls me McIntyre except the government.”

“Mac, then.” Nahi inclined her head to acknowledge his words before she slowly closed the door, removing him from my sight, and me from his.

Once I could no longer see him, I returned my attention to Cody. She was laughing so hard she had collapsed onto her back and was holding her stomach. “It’s not that funny, Cody,” I grumbled, still massaging my forehead.

I returned my attention to Nahi when I heard her lock the door.

“Cody, time for a quick lesson on healing,” she said, removing her robe and tossing it back on the chair it had been draped on before Mac had shown up.

Cody immediately became serious, sitting up and looking at Nahi curiously. Nahi motioned for Cody to join her at the table that was off to the side of the room, getting out a bowl and a bottle of water from the wheeled utility cart under the table.

“Nat, you should note what Nahi’s going to teach Cody. Bunyips have a slightly different way of healing than we do, but it comes from the same basic principle.”

I nodded at Alex’s words and got up to join Nahi and Cody, popping the pebble in my jeans pocket.

“With practice, Bunyips can heal minor injuries,” said Nahi as she looked up at me. “Like Nat’s bruise there.” She gazed at my forehead where the rock had hit me, before returning her attention to the bench in front of her. She opened the bottle of water and poured it into the bowl. “Bunyips and Rainbow Serpents are very closely linked with water. We can both source it, transfer it from one place to another, and use it to help heal others.”

She placed her left hand in the now full bowl, swirling her fingers around to make the water rotate in an anti-clockwise direction.

“Rainbow Serpents are more adept at sourcing and transferring water than we are, but we’re better at healing.” Leaving her left hand in the swirling water, she raised her right thumb to the bump on my head and started to lightly rub circles around the wound in a clockwise direction, working her way into the centre.

A cooling sensation started spreading where she touched me, the sharp throbbing sensation that I had been feeling since the injury occurred, slowly dulling with each stroke.

“See how her skin glows at the wound?” Nahi asked Cody, who nodded. “That’s not because of her Rainbow Serpent powers, but because of the healing process. That being said, Nat is healing remarkably faster than I’m used to, which I’m assuming is because of her being a Rainbow Serpent.”

“I’ve learnt a lot over the centuries, sister,” Alex said, rather proud of himself.

“Now, who’s the cocky one?” I asked him pointedly. I grinned at Nahi, who I knew could hear the discussion going on in my head.

She chuckled, which caused Cody to raise an eyebrow.

“Okay, okay. I admit I may have forgotten more than I’ve learned, but I’m doing my best to remember everything,” he admitted begrudgingly, making me laugh.

I reached across the bench and grabbed Cody’s hand, knowing that she could hear both Alex and I if I was touching her. As soon as our hands met, a pulse of energy erupted from all three of us, rattling everything in the room.

Nahi immediately lifted her thumb from my forehead and took a step back from us, somewhat alarmed.

“Woah,” I heard Cody say as we stared at each other, both of our markings pulsing brightly. “What was that?” I shrugged and turned to look at Nahi.

“Goddess…” Nahi breathed. She rushed back to the table and lifted the now empty bowl, before slowly placing it back down with her jaw dropped in shock.

“I’m pretty sure that’s never happened…” Alex said, a hint of worry in his tone. “Can you recall ever seeing anything like that before, sister?”

“No, Alex. I can’t.” Nahi shook her head in amazement. “The others were right…”

“Um…” I frowned as I tried to think about how best to broach the subject. “I get that you’re both surprised at what just happened, but can someone tell us what should have happened?”

Nahi started pacing the room. “It was meant to be just a simple healing demonstration.” She looked at my forehead. “Well, at least that went right. Your bump’s gone.”

I raised my free hand to run my thumb along the spot I knew the pebble had hit me. There was no pain there anymore. “Oh, wow. You’re right.” A smile spread over my face. “That’s so cool!”

“Water is the conduit for the healing to take place,” Nahi said, slipping into lecturer mode. “With a minor bump like that, only a small amount of water is consumed to accommodate the healing process.” She looked at both Cody and I, still hand in hand. “When you two connected, you absorbed the entire bowl.”

I felt my forehead furrow again. “Is that a bad thing?”

Nahi scratched her cheek as she thought. “I don’t think so. I just can’t figure out where it would have gone.” She frowned. “Unless…” She stepped closer to Cody. “Do you mind letting go of each other for a moment, please?”

Cody shrugged and let go of my hand, our markings disappearing instantly.

As soon as Cody was clear of me, Nahi placed a palm on Cody’s sternum, her own markings sparking brilliantly, as did Cody’s. Nahi closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. “Oh… That makes sense.”

Cody turned her head to look at me. I shrugged. I had no clue what was going on.

Nahi stepped back, took a step towards me, and placed the same palm on my sternum, repeating the process. “Yes… That explains it.” She opened her eyes and smiled. “I’m betting you both feel full of energy right now, don’t you?”

I took stock of how I felt. Nahi was right. I felt like I could run a marathon and not break a sweat. I glanced at Cody to see her nodding in agreement.

“I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but what I think has happened is that we’ve discovered how you both trade energy.” Nahi started pacing again. “Cody knows how I trade, but it looks like she’s different.”

Cody nodded and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“Uh… Cody might know, but I don’t,” I pointed out, utterly confused.

Nahi laughed when she realised I didn’t know what she was talking about. “I earn energy through physical contact. Specifically, s****l contact.”

I froze at her words, blinking in shock. “Um… Okay…”

“For me, physical contact is how I replenish my energy reserves and transfer what I need to.”

I nodded slowly as the memory of her kissing me on the night I fled from Kinglake drifted into my mind.

“I receive payment for services or goods I provide by absorbing the energy produced by sex.” Nahi watched me carefully to see how I would take the news.

I chewed my bottom lip as I thought through what she was telling me. “And you’re saying that instead of having s*x like you do—”

“Like most Bunyips do,” Nahi interjected.

I blinked, but nodded in understanding. “Cody and I trade in water instead?”

She nodded. “I can’t be sure with Cody, seeing that she’s still untouched—”

My eyes widened, and I glanced at Cody with a questioning look. She shrugged.

“Murph?” I mouthed to her. She shook her head and waved her hand in the air as if to say, ‘I’ll tell you later’.

“—but it seems that at least one of you trades in water and absorbs it when you need it.” Nahi inclined her head while she continued thinking. “Although it seemed to only happen when we were all connected.” She continued pacing. I was beginning to worry she’d wear a hole in the carpet. “It could be that you needed me to kick-start the process. Maybe you could do it on your own next time?” she mused, scratching her chin absently. “The others were right.” She stopped and looked at us both. “You two are more connected than I realised.”

“So…” I chewed my cheek. “Nothing to worry about, then?”

Nahi beamed at me. “Not that I can see at the moment.”

“Okay, then.” I looked at Cody in relief. She grinned back at me, eager as always for the new information.

“One thing I do need to point out, Nat,” Nahi said, stepping closer to me and taking hold of my wrists. “You got injured because you lost control back there with the pebble.” She stared up at me to make sure I got the message. “You need to be calm of mind and body to control the transfer of objects, including yourself. When the pebble hit you, you were neither calm of mind nor body, were you?”

I gulped as I thought back over the lust-fuelled thoughts that had filled my brain before the rock hit me. “Not really…” I could feel my cheeks pinking from my embarrassment.

Cody raised an eyebrow at me, grabbed my shoulder. “You were lusting over Mac?”

“I know I shouldn’t have been, with what happened with Bells and all,” I said guiltily. “But come on! You saw what he looked like. How could I not? And I was only looking! I wasn’t touching! Only looking!” My voice whined as I tried desperately to defend myself, even though I could feel my cheeks heat even further.

I heard Cody laughing hysterically in my head. I swear that woman lived to torment me.

Even Nahi chuckled at my words. “Calm in mind and body, Nat. Although I appreciate you got quicker results from your lust than you did from the anger that’s been filling your mind this past week.”

I huffed. Nahi was right. Ever since I got my memories back, my mind had been filled with fury at how Alpha James had killed my parents and what the Kinglake pack had been doing to all those women. Add the fact that Bells had dumped me because of Alex, and the beating I had received from his twin brother Tatum, and Tatum’s girlfriend Zelda, and my mind was a whirling maelstrom of dark, twisted emotions.

“You’ll find your balance, Nat,” Nahi said, still gripping my wrists in support. “It just takes time.”

I let out a deep breath as I studied Nahi’s eager eyes. Why did I suddenly get the feeling that time was running out and I needed to ‘find my balance’ sooner rather than later?