You Should Probably Put Some Clothes On

Phoenix's POV:

"Fuck fuck fuck" I whisper trying to find my shirt.

I didn't find my so-called mate's chuckle very funny as he slid his shirt back on like he wasn't just about to -

"Phoenix, are you okay?" I heard my dad call out taking me from my thoughts in a matter of seconds. 

"Yeah, I'm okay, Dad. We will be right out," I said, turning to Raph and giving him a low, snarly growl.

He just gives me that pretty smile that I really want to punch right now. I mean who even is this guy?

I barely even knew him, and his hands were just about down my pants.

Nat was pacing circles in my mind, pent up and frustrated like the little hussie she is and if I could, I would rip her out of my head right now. 

Never again, I thought to myself. I don't even know him, mate, or not; that's not going to happen. My cheeks were flushed. The embarrassment of how easily I got carried away was rising to my skin by the second.

My embarrassment quickly turned to irritation; I could feel my hands trembling. The combination of my feelings and the sudden memory of that letter turned my entire aura to rage.

I don't know how long I had been pacing or when I had shredded my shirt into pieces. 

"Phoenix?" I could hear him and his nervousness, but I didn't care.

I looked up at him with anger in my eyes before they followed his shocked gaze. I looked down at the ground, realizing my shirt wasn't shredded; it was burned; little fried pieces of my shirt lay on the ground.

I turn my hands palms up. I could now feel the heat and see the purple glow radiating from my hands. I shake my head, trying to figure out if I'm dreaming.

I'm not. So, of course, I panic.

Running out of the bedroom to the bathroom I quickly turn on the facet. Cool water dimmed the glow and heat from my hands. 

I took a deep breath and turned around, face-planting straight into Noah. I knew his smell. Sweet and comforting.

He put his arms around me gently. "It's going to be okay," he murmured.

"Not that I'm complaining, but it may be best if you put some clothes on." I watched the words come out of Noah's mouth, but my body stayed frozen not wanting to accept what I had done.

Internal dread washed through me as I realized I had managed to put my bra back on, but my shirt was still burnt pieces on my bedroom floor.

I could hear Raph's possessive growl down the hallway. Stomping down the hallway back to my room, I growled back at him, much to his surprise. I quickly passed him and returned to my bedroom to get fully dressed this time.

'You're starting to gain your full power, Phoe,' Nat murmured to me softly. I scoffed inwardly, resisting this knowledge because, honestly, I just wasn't ready for what that might mean. 

Raph's POV:

"It's been hours; we need to go look for her; she could be hurt or kidnapped or worse!" I growled.

"She isn't any of those things, Raph. You just need to calm down," Noah said, rolling his eyes as if I were being dramatic.

"You don't know that," I responded. "But I do, actually," Noah retorted back as if he held knowledge of the unknown.

"Alpha, um, Noah might actually know, um... we should trust him," Jo said nervously.

Apparently, I was on my own side, alone at this point. 

Phoenix had left out her bedroom window at some point hours earlier and I was worried sick. According to everyone else, I needed to give her some space and let her come to terms with things alone, but that was not within my nature as an Alpha or her mate.

Atti was restless and worried, circling around in my mind incessantly. Something didn't feel right.

Was our bond just that strong already, or was something lurking? 

Jo had given Noah and her parents a rundown of what he knew about the Tempus Mutare.

We were still at Phoenix's house and had started to devise a plan to protect her and figure out what and who could be hunting her as we spoke.

Noah had started recalling memories or dreams that helped us piece some things together, but there was still so much missing. It was becoming clear that we were in way over our heads, with almost no concrete information on what she was, what could be hunting her, or if they even knew.

I finally sent Jo to inform our pack that we were on a side quest, scouting some denser areas around the border.

I couldn't let anyone know the truth, not yet. 

Noah passed out on the couch after a while. There was still no sign of Phoenix, and my will to wait was growing thin.

My ears perked up at the sudden sound of crackling. No, maybe it was like glass breaking. I couldn't figure it out. I walked closer to where the sound was coming from, deeper down the hallway to the Phoenix room.

If I had any instincts at all, they should have been alarmed, but I feel drugged up and magnetized to its pull. 

I stood in the doorway of her room now, black shadowlike figures looming and moving across her walls, exploring and devouring every inch of her room. I couldn't move, nor could I breathe at that moment.

The figures weren't full like humans or wolves; they were almost like mists or shadows, moving at speeds that my brain could not process.

I could feel the slivers of their darkness shoot through me as soon as they felt my presence as they started to attack my soul internally. My knees gave out, thudding to the ground as I gasped for air.