09. Her Will

Sablecrest Pack House

A loud knock on the door made Kieryn look up from his sketchbook. There were more knocks than usual, and he guessed that the person behind the door must be excited. Just like he expected, when he swung the door open, he saw a wide grin on Christine's face.

She rushes in and immediately hops onto the couch, giggling as she beckons him over. Kieryn closes the door and walks to the couch, sitting next to her and looking at the object inside her hand.

'A... box?' The small box was white with a picture at the top, one which he didn't recognize. He tilted his head as Christine giggled.

"You're so going to love this," she says. She opens the top cover of the box, and Kieryn beamed with anticipation for what gift he's going to get this time.

Christine pulled out what looked like an object shaped like a rectangle. The screen was black, and Kieryn only stared at his confused face. He looks at Christine, wondering if something was supposed to happen. Christine notices that he isn't excited and rolls her eyes, taking the object from him.

"It's a phone, Kieryn," she says with a matter-of-fact voice. She pointed the black screen at him with a blank face. "This will help you communicate with people faster since writing takes too long. You can do so many things, like call people, text people, and play games."

Kieryn's mouth opened as he nodded in understanding. He's seen people use something like this before, but he didn't know how it worked.

"I'll teach you how to use it," she says with a smile, pressing a button on the side of the phone.

The black screen turned white as a logo that was on the box appeared on the screen. Kieryn gasps as he looks closer at the moving pictures trapped inside the phone. He looks up at Christine, who smiles at him.

Christine sets up the phone and shows Kieryn the basic motions to navigate the phone. She laughed every time he messed up, but she showed him where he went wrong and did the correct motion over and over until he got the hang of it.

Kieryn holds the phone in both his hands, as if it was a frail object that could break if he dropped it. He watched in amazement as the screen changed with every swipe and press. Christine crosses her arms like a proud mother.

"This was bought by the Alpha," she informes. "I'll add her number and my number into it so you can always talk to us if we aren't around."

Kieryn nods and watches as Christine enters her number. She adds a contact name before getting to Adella's number. She gives the phone back to Kieryn after, showing him which buttons were to call and text.

"I'll give you everyone else's numbers later," she says. "Now, try texting Alpha."

Kieryn's head whipped to Christine and he looked at her in disbelief. 'What? Why would I do that?'

"It's for practice, Kieryn. Don't worry, it won't bother her or anything. It's not like she's doing something at the moment." Christine tries to reassure him with a pat of the back but Kieryn only vigorously shakes his head.

Christine only stared at him, not willing to back down. He gulped as her stern gaze burned into him and he wanted to look away.

"Kieryn, text her."

He followed her orders, not willing to risk his life going against this woman. His hand shakes as his fingers hover over the keyboard, biting his bottom lip for anything to say. His fingers finally move slowly as he types.

Kieryn: Hi.

He wanted to smash his head into the wall, embarrassed that he sent something so awkward like that. He prayed to whatever God was out there that Adella wouldn't see or respond to it.

He peeked at his phone after a moment, not seeing an answer to his text. He sighs in relief, putting his phone down on his lap. Christine smiles at him and claps her hands.

"You actually did it," she cheers.

Kieryn rolls his eyes, and that's when he hears his phone ding. He freezes as his eyes are training onto the small object, slowly picking it up with trembling fingers.

Adella: Hello, Kieryn.

Kieryn mentally screams as he throws the phone to the other couch, hiding his face in his hands. He wanted to do more than bang his head on a wall. He wanted to let the ground swallow him and take him into a dark abyss, never to be seen again.

Christine only laughs, clutching her stomach as she falls back onto the other cushion. "Oh my God, I didn't think she would respond."

Kieryn looks up to give her a glare as she continues to laugh. 'It's not funny.' He wished he could throw the phone at her, but his embarrassment kept him stuck to the seat.

The phone dinged again, making Kieryn freeze up. He slowly turns his head to the phone, staring at the bright screen that lit up because of the new message. She probably responded because she didn't get a text back from Kieryn.

"Go answer it," Christine says, poking the man's back.

Kieryn gulped before standing up and stalking over to the phone. He picks it up, reading the message sent.

Adella: How was your day so far?

Kieryn felt his chest flutter at the innocent text message. He bit his bottom lip and typed a response. Christine watched with a smirk resting upon her lips.

Kieryn: It's been going well. What about you?

Kieryn wanted to give himself a facepalm. He didn't want to come off as awkward to her, but everything he said seemed to sound horrible.

'Will she think that's annoying?' He chewed on his bottom lip in thought, wishing he could change it to a more casual sentence.

Adella: My day has been great. I'm glad you are getting used to your new phone. I hope I'll be able to text you more often.

The man subconsciously smiled, feeling the flutter in his chest getting larger. 'She's way nicer than I thought she was. God, if only I could see her.'

Adella most likely didn't know the effect she had on Kieryn right now. His heart raced as an orange hue tints the paleness of his neck. He couldn't see anything else in the room but the phone in his hand, rereading Adella's message hundreds of times.

Christine brought him out of his thoughts with the sound of her voice. "It looks like you're having fun."

The man looks at her smug face, frowning at her. She giggles before standing up, placing her hands on her hips.

"If you're really so happy, go and see her." Christine's smile grows wider at the dumbfounded face on Kieryn. "Don't mind me, I'll just be on my way and let you have some privacy," she sings, skipping to the door.

Kieryn throws another glare at her as she leaves, chuckling to herself.

He shakes his head with an eye roll, staring back at the text message. Another smile crawls onto his lips as he types.

Kieryn: What are you doing now?

At this point, he didn't care about how awkward his messages were. He only wanted to see her send a message responding to it. He didn't mind speaking to her like this, even though he liked hearing her velvety voice more.

Adella: I'm currently speaking with Sandra in the sunroom. If you'd like, you can come join us.

If his smile could grow any wider, it did in that moment. The invitation made a subtle feeling explode in his stomach.

He stopped to read the same sentence multiple times, making sure he didn't read that wrong. When he was sure that what he was looking at was real, he pockets the phone and walks to the door.

Maybe I should go see her.

Later,

As Kieryn walks through the hallways, he gives himself a pep thought. He went over his mental script to thank Adella for the phone, making sure to type it out on his phone in perfect grammar.

Before he got to the sunroom, he changed his script four times and made sure he memorized every single word. He stood behind the door, pumping himself with confidence. His hand reached for the doorknob, twisting and pushing it.

He saw Sandra first; dressed in a red geometric print maxi dress and ankle strapped sandals. Her tanned skin glowing as the sunlight shone down on her and her curly chestnut hair was brushed behind her and styled into a low ponytail. He noticed that she was chatting with someone and he pushed the door wider.

Memory of the script he practiced in his head disappeared when his eyes laid on her.

A beige square-neck drawstring dress hugged her curves in all the right places, making her chest look fuller. His eyes were drawn to the cleavage that peeked out and then down to her bare legs. She wore black tie leg thong sandals and her toes were painted white, matching the simple white necklace on her neck. Her hair was brushed and rested over her shoulders and her lips were done with nude lipstick.

Kieryn clutched on the doorknob tighter, forgetting everything about what he planned to say. Before he could look back at his phone, Sandra catches sight of him and beckons him over.

He gulps and walks through the door, eyes trained on Adella. She turned her head to look at him, a small smile resting on her lips.

'Her smile...' Kieryn felt his chest clench as he stood in front of the women.

"It's good to see you, Kieryn," Sandra says with a grin. "Come sit down with us."

Kieryn notices that Sandra was in an armchair, so he couldn't sit next to her. There was no other seat except for the couch that Adella sat in. The woman pats the seat next to her, gesturing for him to sit by her.

His feet move faster than his brain, taking his seat by the woman. He was so close to her that her arm brushed against his with a slight movement. The electricity of the touch made him shiver but he didn't move away.

"Like I was saying," Sandra continues. "I think we should all go to the beach for summer. You know, sitting in the sun, drinking smoothies, playing in the water. I'm all for it."

"Sandra, you know that isn't possible at the moment," Adella's smooth voice says, entering Kieryn's ears. "I still have a lot of work to do, and so do you."

"But Adella," the woman whines. "Summer is literally the best time to go out to the beach. Did I tell you about the beaches in India? It's literally so beautiful and the service there is on par with five-star restaurants. I could only go once though because I had to research a new virus over there. God, my boss didn't let me catch a break."

As Sandra continues to talk, Kieryn focuses on the feeling of Adella's skin against his. He was tense as his eyes flickered from her to his lap. His body jumps when Adella adjusts herself, leaning against him for a moment.

Adella notices and looks up with a worried expression on her face. That's when her hand travels to press against his knee, making his breath hitch in his throat.

"Are you alright, Kieryn? You're tense." She scans his frozen face with heightened worriedness. "If you're too uncomfortable, I won't force you to stay."

Kieryn didn't hear a word she said, focusing on the electricity that buzzed from his knee to every part of his body. He stared at her hand as it moved up half an inch, trying to calm down his racing heart.

Sandra stopped talking to observe the two with a knowing smirk on her face. Look at these two.

That's when the door opened and three chefs entered with a tray of food and drinks. A grin stretched onto Sandra's face as she clapped her hands in excitement.

"Finally," she said as the men placed the plates on the table beside them. They hand the women their sparkling red wine sangrias and Sandra immediately takes a first sip, sighing at the taste of her favorite drink.

"Lemon butter white fish with two red wine sangrias," one of the chefs said, tucking the tray under his hand. "Enjoy, Alpha and Mrs. Rochella."

They leave soon after as Sandra takes a bite of her food. "I love you so much Adella. Thank you," she says, humming at the savory taste of the fish.

Adella smiles as she sips, keeping her hand on the shifting Kieryn's knee. She looks at him and gives him a reassuring smile.

"You can have some of my white fish if you'd like."

Kieryn snaps out of his thoughts and shakes his head, not wanting to take what wasn't his. Adella chuckles and brings a fork of her fish to his mouth, one hand under so it wouldn't fall on the couch. Kieryn blushes when he realizes that Adella wants to feed him herself.

"I know you like fish. It's okay to try some," she says, smiling wider as she pushes the fork to his lips.

Kieryn reluctantly opens his mouth wide enough to allow the fork to slip through. As soon as the fish touched his tongue, he tasted the many flavors of the spices and the slight lemon on it. He hums and chews the food in one cheek, Adella giving a satisfied smile.

Sandra puts her hand under her chin, her gaze going from Adella to Kieryn. "So, what do you like to do, Kieryn? Like, maybe a hobby or something."

Kieryn turns his head to Sandra and pulls his phone out, typing onto it quickly. He turns the phone to Sandra, which she leans in to read.

"Ooh, drawing? I guess we have an artist over here." Sandra wiggles her eyebrows as Kieryn feels a blush of embarrassment appear on her cheeks. The woman laughs, finding entertainment in the way Kieryn blushed easily.

"How about you and I go shopping one day?"

"Sandra," Adella warns.

She rolls her eyes. "What? Money is supposed to be spent, and what better way to do that than shop for things you like? What do you say, Kieryn."

The man feels overwhelmed by the offer, not knowing if he should say yes or no. He's been outside in the forest for so long, knowing the dangers that await him if he leaves the Pack House. Yet, he did want to go out and see the bustling city that he's only heard about for himself.

Seeing that he went quiet, Adella's hand slid up and down in a comforting motion. Kieryn jumps, as well as his lower part. He heard his heartbeat as he stared at the soft hand that caressed his thigh.

Adella turns back to Sandra with narrowed eyes. "Don't overwhelm him, Sandra. He'll decide on his own whether he wants to go with you."

Kieryn's eyes widened slightly as he watched Adella's hand slide up an inch. The warmth of her hand paired with the buzzing from her fingertips made his eyes close halfway.

"I'm only being nice," Sandra scoffs.

Adella's hand slid up higher, resting on his mid-thigh.

"Well, obviously that's not working," Adella retorts, rolling her eyes.

Her hand moved up further, almost reaching his center area. His lower part twitched, and he wished that she would touch the place he needed her most.

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry," she says, sighing deeply.

A smile of approval places itself onto Adella's lips.

Right before Adella's fingers could brush over Kieryn's tightening pants, it slid back down to rest on his knee.

Kieryn felt a wave of disappointment wash him, scrambling to cover the small tent in his pants. Adella continues to keep her hand onto his knee, keeping her eyes on Sandra as the woman chatted about other subjects.

His head was somewhere else entirely as he tried to relax his quickened breath.

'Why does her touch keep doing things to me? I must be on something.'

Meanwhile,

Haylee gasps and claps, watching the two witches go at it. Liam crosses his arms, observing June's form as she fights the more experienced witch. 'At this rate, she'll lose.'

Paige cocks her head as she sees June breathing heavily. "Sure you're not going to get another fluctuation from pushing yourself, June?" She mocks.

June scoffs and wipes the sweat off her chin with her arm. As she sends a wave of ice, she says, "Shut up and fight me! I'll worry about the consequences later."

The girl's instructor was close by in case there was an emergency, but far enough to not be affected by the powerful magic. When June was fully healed, Zachary decided that every last day of the week will be a spar between his two students.

It would help June grow as well as learn a thing or two. Her body will gradually get used to the tough training as well as magic combat, so she'll be less likely to get a dangerous magic fluctuation.

June resisted against Paige's storm of fire, constructing a wall of her ice. She prepared a couple of javelins to throw at her to catch her off guard. Zachary realizes what she was doing and smiles in amusement.

'So this girl can actually use her head.' He grinned like a proud father watching his kid walk for the first time.

Liam stood a safe distance away with Haylee so she wouldn't be injured by the effects of magic. His scrutinizing gaze went from Paige, and he tsks in disapproval.

'She's using powerful blasts to overwhelm her opponent, which I'm sure is easy for her. But, she only relies on her magical strength and not her physical strength. If June were to pull a surprise attack on her in which she can't use her magic, she'll lose.'

Liam studied the girl's faults in a few seconds, deciding he should give them some pointers. He drops his hands and taps Haylee's shoulder, making her look up at him.

"Your session starts in ten minutes. Let's go." He starts to walk as Haylee whines, trudging after him.

Zachary bid them goodbye with a nod, looking back at the match. June slips on her foot, falling on her behind as Paige hurls fire at her.

He decides it's time to step in and he raises a hand, quickly manifesting a barrier that blocked the fire from reaching June. He places his hands behind his back as he looks at the panting girl.

"You're doing better now, June," he praises with a smile. "Of course, you're not on the level of my daughter, but you're still doing well."

Paige raises her chin up in pride as June rolls her eyes.

"Whatever."

"We still have a long way to go before your control training is complete, but you just need to grow steadily day by day," he continues. "Get into position and let's start."

June and Paige sit down on the floor and cross their legs, placing their hands on their knees. Zachary told them on the first day of control training that this position allows magic to flow faster throughout the body. At the last few stages, they would learn how to control their magic while standing and moving.

When he tells them to begin, June starts to close her eyes. She then sees a figure at the corner of her eyes and turns, her eyebrows raising when she sees Elmarie a distance away. She leaned on a tree and crossed her arms, watching the girl with intent to make sure nothing happened.

A smile stretched onto June's face, which didn't go unnoticed by Paige.

'I'll train hard... for her.' June shuts her eyes, beginning her control training.

Elmarie smiled, pleased to see that June is taking the class seriously. Ever since that day of her magic fluctuation, she's been keeping close to June. Except not, she can only watch from a distance.

She remembered when June showed her resolve, determined to train.

In a world of wild animals, traitors, and people who wanted to take advantage of others, one needed allies and strength to survive. June has full control of what path she takes, and Elmarie won't stop her. The girl would know first-hand how cruel the world was, and it is up to her to decide whether she wants to live in it without hope, take advantage of others to protect herself, become stronger so no one will be able to control her, or leave it quietly.

June knew those were the only four choices the world gave, and she had already made her decision.

Elmarie was glad that the once stubborn girl was no more. She was replaced by a strong-willed, ambitious one.

'I'm so proud of you, June.'