Drowning with Fire #3 ✔

Chapter 25 - Ember

The dryads told us more than we'd expected them to, and so we didn't really need to go see my mum.

"Are you sure you don't want to make up with her?" Theo suggested, keeping forcefulness out of his tone as he was quickly figuring out how desperately a pack rushes to meet its Alpha's demands.

"I'm sure," I reaffirmed. "It's not like it was a huge fight anyway."

"She was just concerned about you, Em," he told me as I started leading us back to Wednesday's.

"Theo, if anything, she should be the one apologising to me," I said pointedly. "I'd just gotten home after being reborn and fighting Killian to get my stolen fire back. Do you have any idea what would've happened if he was allowed to keep that flame?"

"No..." Theo shook his head, trailing off.

Feeling indignation beginning to mount within me, I exclaimed, "He would've used it to consume hundreds of souls! The dryads said the dark spirit literally feeds on the destruction of lives, and who knows when, or if, that hunger will be satiated."

"Okay, I get it. Just... take a breath, Ember," the Alpha insisted, stopping and turning my shoulders so I faced him. "We'll figure this out, you know that, right?"

With my jaw clenched tightly, I nodded.

"And I have a feeling you'll want to reconnect with your mum when it's over... So will you please at least call her?"

"Fine," I grumbled, pulling my phone out of my pocket.

Without letting myself overthink the conversation that was about to happen, I called her and held my phone to my ear – ignoring Theo as he mouthed, "Thank you!" beside me.

My phone rang and rang until the operator told me, "I'm sorry, but the person you are trying to call is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later–"

"Voicemail," I told Theo bluntly and shoved my phone back into my pocket with a huff.

"At least she'll know you tried calling," Theo spoke as he caught up with me – I'd started walking off again. "You have to make up with her eventually. I mean, she's still your mom, Ember."

"When was the last time you called your dad, huh, Theo?" I whirled around and threw the words at him. "When was the last time you had a normal conversation with you dad that didn't involve the supernatural world?"

A muscle jumped in Theo's cheek as he stared at me. "You know it's not the same..."

"Yeah, I do." My voice continued to rise until I was almost yelling at him – fuelled by inexplicable and inexcusable anger. "And you know I don't get on well with my mum all the time!"

"I'm just trying to help, Ember," Theo exclaimed and threw his hands up in the air incredulously. "I saw how happy you were at finally getting along with your mom, and I don't want you to lose that!"

Realising the total sincerity in his voice, I dropped my guard and let out a heavy sigh. I focused on my calming my breathing and finding grounding in Theo's concern for me. While I wasn't losing control, I was enraged for no obvious reason.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." I shut my eyes, shaking my head.

"You're stressed, we all are..." Theo spoke softly; the tension between us sliding away again as if it had never risen. "And you know – I know – we all know that Killian's presence affects us in dark and uncontrollable ways."

"He just... makes me so angry," I attempted to explain to him, opening my eyes and letting my gaze rest on his gentle, wary hazel-blue eyes. He stood a bit away from me, probably at a safe distance should I have lashed out with my fire, yet I focused on his eyes all the same. "He enrages my Phoenix and I don't think I can always control it."