Steel: The Transformation

Chapter 28

Chapter 28 

Cleo POV

The knives were laying in a long gleaming row across the counter, after discovering my parents' secret stash I had decided to buff them up and make sure that they were all functional. I was playing with one of the smaller daggers when I heard a knock on the door. I could tell from the way the visitor was rattling his keys in his hand that it was Jackson and that he was nervous. I grabbed a handful of knives by their handles and walked over to the secret wall compartment next to the front door.

"It's open," I shouted as I started to hang in the knives. I knew that I probably should keep my secret stash hidden from everyone but it was only Jackson. He walked in through the door hesitantly and shot me a surprised look as I hung the last of the knives onto its small metal hanger. I gently stroked my hand against the wall and clicked it shut, hiding the knives from view.

"Hi," he said gently.

"Hi," I replied, turning my back to him as I walked back to the kitchen counter. My fingers immediately started playing with the small dagger that Alec had given me. I looked up at Jackson, expecting an explanation for why he was here. I didn't even have the energy to be angry with him anymore. When I looked at him now standing in the living room and looking over at me with a nervous glance all I could feel was exasperation and sadness.

"So I need to talk to you," he started.

"I assumed as much," my hands were now busy playing with a throwing star, cleaning it with a small cotton cloth.

"I really need to know about the hunters Cleo. How many are there and what do they want? Cleo, you really need to tell me," his voice was pleading.

I felt a tiredness move across me, why did he keep coming back to this yet he hadn't even apologised for trying to attack Alec? He hadn't even mentioned the fact that he broke my trust so easily, that he had lied to me.

"Why do you keep asking those questions?" I could see him start to defend himself but before he could get any words out I cut him off. "Look, you could probably figure out these answers yourself. But you're very quick to come running to me and ask questions."

He looked at me in stunned silence.

I took the opportunity to ask him a question back, "Have you even tried asking your elders for answers on the Hunters?"

His silence confirmed it, he clearly hadn't spoken to his father or any of the elders about the Hunters.

The silence filled the room for a moment, before he started to speak, "Cleo, it's not that easy. When I first changed my father and the others in his pack helped us. When Tim changed his parents helped him too. But after that, they have left us to deal with our own problems. We don't even talk about being wolves with them. It's just the way it works. We have our separate packs and we never mix," he concluded and looked at me pleadingly.

I could feel the frustration build up within me, he was just accepting an old tradition because that was the way it had always been.

"You have resources of your own. You should be able to find the answers you need. If you don't, why don't you take some time to think about how to get those answers instead of always coming running to me," I could feel how I was getting annoyed. It was all about what he needed for his pack, he hadn't even thought about how it affected me.

"I guess you haven't even thought about how this is affecting me," something in my words seemed to have hit a note with him. "Have you even considered that it's hard for me to see you after what happened?" my voice was raising now, "You lied to me and betrayed my trust," my voice drifted off and I pulled my focus back to the dagger on the kitchen counter.

"Look..." his voice was shaky, "I am really sorry for what have happened. I know I haven't thought about how things have been for you enough."

I nodded slightly and heard my voice say, "If you truly need help and have questions, you can come to me as a last resort. But you need to stop using it as an excuse to see me. With everything that has happened, it's just easier if you keep your distance." I looked up at him, emotion was playing across his face but I could see that he was trying hard to control it.

He swallowed hard and took a deep breath, "I didn't even think about the fact that your transformation has been so hard on you. I just assumed that it would be relatively easy like mine was. But I understand now that as transformations go yours was not normal."

Something in his words rung a warning bell inside of me. I knew I hadn't told him that much about my transformation. How could he know that within the Basati community my transformation was considered something out of the ordinary? My senses sharpened automatically and I felt the smell of the forest and the scent of pine cones linger on his clothes. My mind clicked when I put together the words he has just said with the smell of pinecones, before I had any chance to react my hands had acted for me. The dagger flew across the room, ripping into the collar of his shirt and jabbing itself into the wall. A small piece of fabric clung around the edge of the dagger buried into the wood panelling.

"Pinecones," I breathed the word out and looked straight into his yellow wolf eyes that were filled with sadness. I studied him for a second, his expression said everything it was admitting to what his mouth was not saying. He had been there and he knew that it was wrong.

"Maybe it's time for you to leave now," my words came out harshly.

Author's Note: So a bit of a shorter chapter this Sunday. (By the way, I love the song this week - so beautiful but very sad). 

Things are not going well for Jackson :( And Cleo's figured out he was following her...

I might post another chapter earlier than Sunday. If you could give my other story Magic's Mark a chance and read maybe a chapter of that, it would mean a lot to me.

Song: Parlor Hawk - Scars