You Will Be Mine (New Horizon Book 3)

Chapter 9: Jeannie

The door to Gabe’s office is closed, which almost makes me second-guess whether I should even be here. He’s probably busy. He didn’t give a specific time, and I should have asked somebody when might be a good time to disturb him.

But I think that’s just the way my grandpa trained me to be skittish around strange men lingering in my mind and popping up in places it doesn’t belong. I was invited here. All I have to do is knock, and if it’s not a good time, he’ll tell me.

So, I knock, which is when I realize that I don’t even know if there’s a proper etiquette for that. How firmly should I knock, and how many times? Even now, with this simple task, am I making myself stand out as the silly, ignorant farm girl because I don’t know how to knock on a door like a normal person?

Gabe opens the door only seconds after I knock, and he doesn’t seem to mind how I did it. He’s smiling and seems genuinely happy to see me. I can sense Simon stirring around in there too, paying close attention to our interaction and feeling eager to come out. I hope that being around me so much isn’t going to make Gabe sick of me simply because of the effect I seem to have on his wolf.

“Hi, Jeannie,” he greets me, grinning. “Can I have a hug?”

“Uh, sure,” I agree uncertainly. He’s always very touchy-feely with me, but other than when Simon used his body to embrace me, he hasn’t actually sought out that much contact before. Mostly hand-holding and touching my shoulder and my hair.

But before I know it, I’m wrapped up in his arms and pulled against his body. I suppose I could lean my head against his shoulder, but it feels a bit too intimate for my comfort. He’ll have to settle for my arms tentatively hugging him back.

“Thanks,” he smiles gratefully as he pulls away, stepping back to let me into the room. “And you remember Garrett, I’m sure. He was around yesterday.”

“Yeah, we met,” Garrett confirms, standing from his chair to come greet me.

It looks like the two of them share this office. Their desks are butted up against each other, their chairs facing each other as they work. I’m still not sure what work they do, but there are a lot of bookshelves around the perimeter of the room. Some of them look like the sort of books you see on television, the ones in every lawyer’s office. They have the thick, gold-gilded bindings like that.

“Nice to see you again,” I nod at Garrett, and then accept his hand when he offers it to me for a handshake.

“Here, come sit by me,” Gabe suggests, already pulling up a chair next to his. “At least for now. We can take you on a tour later, and Garrett just suggested that we should take you outside and show you around some of the walking trails.”

I get this strong sense from Simon again that he still wants me to get on his back so he can show me around in his own form. Gabe’s brown eyes change to Simon’s gray-blue ones for a couple seconds, and I can’t help wondering if that’s because Simon was just trying to communicate with me.

“I think Simon was wanting to take me around,” I tell Gabe, feeling an obligation to try to give voice to what Simon wants since it seems like Gabe doesn’t often pay attention to that.

Gabe freezes in place, staring at me like I’m a wonder he can’t quite figure out, and I can’t help squirming a little under the intensity of his gaze. Maybe telling him how Simon is feeling was a bad idea.

“How did you know that?” he asks me after a moment. “Simon literally just said the same thing.”

“He can talk to you?” I ask, astounded.

I didn’t realize that. I thought they communicated the same way I do with animals, by sensing each other. But he said Simon “said” it to him as if he told him with words.

“Yeah, each wolf-man pair can communicate with each other telepathically, in their shared mind space, and each werewolf can communicate telepathically with other werewolves in their pack using what we call mind-link,” Garrett explains.

Gabe is still studying me intently, probably wanting my response to his question, but I’m still stuck on this revelation of their telepathic communication.

“So, you and Gabe can send silent messages to each other’s minds?” I question Garrett for clarification on this whole “mind-link” thing.

“Yep, exactly,” he confirms. “And when we do, our eyes will look a little strange, kind of cloudy and out of focus. When we’re communicating with our wolves, our eyes will change back and forth between the eyes of the man and the eyes of the wolf, depending who is controlling the conversation at any given moment. Although I suppose I should add that the same thing happens during any moment where the man and the wolf are battling for dominance.”

“Okay, wow,” is all I can say about that for a moment.

It’s kind of incredible to think about, enough that I sort of envy the werewolves. I wouldn’t mind having a friend in my head.

“Did Simon talk to you?” Gabe asks, still stuck on his earlier question. “How did you know he wanted to take you running?”

“Because he wanted to yesterday,” I explain, realizing too late that it still doesn’t answer the part about how I know. Nobody said it to me, not even Gabe. I sensed it from Simon, and I’m not sure how to explain that without making them suspicious. “At least I was assuming that was what he wanted when he was nudging me and pulling on my shirt. It seemed like he was trying to tell me to get on him.”

“Oh, gotcha,” Gabe says, though I get the sense that he isn’t totally convinced.

I regret saying anything about Simon because I have a feeling he isn’t going to let it go. His eyes change back and forth between his and Simon’s a few times, and it finally sinks in that I might be in trouble.

If I can connect with Simon, he might be connecting with me too. And since he can talk to Gabe, he might be telling him all about it right now. I swallow nervously a couple times, wondering if I should just bail, though that would probably look even more suspicious.

I guess what’s the worst that could happen? They find out I’m kind of weird, but they’re also kind of weird. They’re werewolves. Maybe they’ll be more understanding than my human grandparents.

“Hey, since I answered a question for you about us, would it be okay if I ask one about you?” Garrett asks, seeming a bit nervous and uncertain.

I want to say no. Gabe is already suspicious, and I’m worried what Garrett might be wondering about me. For the most part, I’m not that interesting, except in the ways where I’m a little too interesting for comfort. But he presents a good argument. It’s only fair if I answer some questions in return for them telling me about werewolves.

“Sure,” I tell him, hoping it sounds convincing.

“How do you get your hair like that?” he asks, and I notice that Gabe’s attention snaps back to me too.

I guess he’s done with Simon, and he wants to know about my hair too. But why do they care? I can’t be the only person around here with colorful hair. I’ve seen plenty of people with hair like mine on television, so I’m assuming it must be fairly common.

“I’m sorry, it’s just interesting,” Garrett explains. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s not at all what I expected from a girl who grew up on a farm as sheltered as you were. So, I was just curious about it is all. I think we all are.”

“If I’m being honest, it was one of the first things I noticed and wondered about you too,” Gabe chimes in, reaching over to twirl his fingers through some of my hair.

He seems to like doing that, and I suppose I haven’t done or said anything to tell him not to.

I sigh, suddenly feeling like I’m being interrogated, though I know they don’t mean it that way. It’s just that every question they’ve asked is one I don’t have a good answer for.

Gabe’s eyes change back and forth again a couple times, and I use it as a distraction to put off answering the question just yet. But then he gives me a warm smile, his brown eyes shining at me affectionately.

“Simon wants you to know that even though I seem like a jerk, I’m not really, and you can trust us,” Gabe tells me. “He seems to be able to sense that you’re nervous and maybe even a little scared.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Garrett apologizes, blushing again. “I thought it would be an easy answer.”

I look back and forth between the two brothers in the room with me, these sons of Mr. Bentley. My grandpa knew they lived here, and yet he wanted Mr. Bentley to bring me to live with them anyway. All the Bentleys seem like good people, and I’m sure these two are no exception. I can sense the wolves within them, and I know they mean me no harm.

I guess it’s finally time to try trusting someone with one of my secrets.

“I don’t know how it got that way,” I admit finally, not brave enough to hazard a glance at either of their faces as I explain, “I just woke up one morning, and it had changed color. My grandparents didn’t even believe me about it. They thought I’d died it, but I didn’t.”

“Wow, that is interesting,” Gabe comments, and I can’t tell if that’s just him being dismissive, or if he actually believes me.

“Especially because my grandma went and bought four boxes of hair dye to change it back to black, but it didn’t work. She tried twice.”

“Fascinating,” Garrett says, and I can hear the wonder in his voice.

I finally look up at him and find that he’s giving me a genuine smile, and he seems interested in what I’m telling them. A look over at Gabe reveals that he’s reacting in much the same way as his brother. Maybe they do believe me.

“And then she tried cutting off the colored parts, but that didn’t really work either. The color just kept climbing up higher and higher, and it was like she was chasing it with the scissors until there was hardly any hair left on my head.”

I shake my head as if I’m trying to shake out the memories. That morning of my grandma frantically trying to “fix” my hair before anyone could see was kind of traumatic for me. She acted like it was life or death, when to me it was just a little color that I actually kind of like. I don’t understand it, but I also don’t mind it.

“Thankfully, my hair grew back quickly,” I add once I notice the looks of horror on their faces. I think they not only believe me, but might even feel bad that I had to go through that.

There’s still one thing I can show them to be sure though. If there’s any doubt left in their minds, this should resolve it. And there’s no reason not to. I’ve already revealed the secret, so at this point they either think I’m crazy or have accepted that there’s something inexplicably strange about me.

“Do you have scissors?” I ask Gabe, since he’s closest.

“You don’t have to do that,” he answers as if he already knows what I intend to do. I think he has the wrong idea though.

“I’m just going to snip a small spot, and it will grow back by tonight,” I assure him. “But you should see this. It’s kind of cool.”

He reaches into a drawer of his desk and pulls out a pair of shears, still giving me a skeptical, worried look as he hands them to me.

“I love your hair. Don’t hurt it,” he gives me a playful pout, and I can’t help but laugh.

“It will be fine, promise.”

I stand up and hold a small section of my hair over the white papers that he has spread out on his desk, and bring the scissors into position to cut off a few inches at the bottom.

“Watch the hair that I cut off,” I instruct them before snipping it off and letting it fall onto the paper.

“Whoa,” Gabe remarks as he watches it change from the purple color back to its natural black.

“And that will just grow back by tonight?” Garrett asks.

“It should, or at least that’s my guess. My grandma cut it really short before, and it only took like a week for it to all grow back. This seems to be the length and the colors it wants to be, and I don’t bother fighting it anymore. I put it in a ponytail when I have work to do, and that’s about it.”

“I do remember that ponytail quite vividly,” Gabe smiles, reaching out to grab some of my hair to play with again. “Though there wasn’t any purple in it then.”

Garrett gets quiet and thoughtful, so much so that even Gabe takes notice.

“What’s going through that noggin over there?” he teases his brother, still twirling my hair in his fingers.

I still don’t know why he does it, but I have to admit that I don’t really mind it. I thought he was trying to be flirty, but maybe it’s just something soothing for him to do. I used to twirl my own hair for the same reason.

“How old were you when your hair changed like that?” Garrett asks what seems to have been on his mind.

Unfortunately, I know the precise answer to that. I’ll never forget. It was a horrible day. My grandparents were freaking out, and it spoiled all our plans for what was supposed to be a special day.

“It was the morning of my sixteenth birthday,” I tell him glumly. “And spending my day covered in smelly dye and getting a hack job of a haircut while my grandparents made me feel like an abomination wasn’t really my vision of how that day was meant to go.”

“Sixteen,” Garrett mutters to himself.

I feel Gabe’s arms sneak around me again, his knees interlocking with mine as he leans in to kiss my forehead.

“You’re not an abomination, and I hate that they made you feel that way,” he tells me gently.

He brings himself face-to-face with me and pushes his forehead against mine. It’s strange, but with his head touching mine like that, I can feel Simon stronger than ever. I know I should probably push Gabe away from me, but it feels kind of nice.

It couldn’t get more opposite than how I expected them to react to my revelation. It kind of has me wanting to tell them the rest, about what I can do with animals, and all the other strange things I can’t even explain.

“I feel like we should introduce her to Clarice,” Garrett says after a few quiet moments. “So much of what she’s told and shown us seems witchy, doesn’t it?”

“She’s not a witch,” Gabe insists firmly, pulling away from me so he can glare at his brother. “She smells human. She feels human. There’s no way she’s a witch.”

“Or maybe some other type of mage,” Garrett goes on, completely unaffected by Gabe’s reaction. “I’m not familiar with the other ones. I don’t even know what they’re called, but maybe Clarice would know.”

“She’s human,” Gabe persists. “End of story.”

“Oh, come on. Her hair magically changed color on her sixteenth birthday. That’s like textbook mage,” Garrett argues. “But you’re right about her not being a witch. Her hair and eyes are a little different than a witch’s, and you’re also right that she doesn’t have that witchy scent or vibe.”

It’s like they’ve forgotten that I’m sitting right here, still listening and completely horrified by what they’re saying. Garrett thinks I’m not human, and maybe he’s right. I wish I knew what he knows. But Gabe’s reaction is most concerning of all. It’s plainly apparent that he hates the idea of me turning out to be anything but human, and I can’t help wondering what he’s so scared of.

That’s what it is too, I know it. I sense it from Simon. He’s afraid too, and I don’t even have the nerve to ask why.

“And what about her power then? A mage’s power awakens on the sixteenth birthday,” Gabe points out. Then he looks at me, right directly in the eyes. “You don’t have any magical powers, right?”

Well, other than bonding with animals and communicating with them in ways I can’t even explain, but I’ve done that since I was much younger. And the part where I can control them, which did show up on my sixteenth birthday. And the things I can do with plants. And then all those weird things that started happening, like waking up someplace other than where I went to sleep. And a few other things that I have no control over. I think I healed a bird once, but when I tried to heal my grandma, it didn’t work. Didn’t work on my grandpa either.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Garrett answers on my behalf before I can figure out what to say.

“Jeannie, what is it? What can you do?” Gabe asks almost pleadingly, a hint of desperation to his voice.

“I don’t really know,” I finally answer. “There’s weird stuff I can’t explain, but I don’t know. What happens if I am something else? Do I have to leave?”

And there it is, my real fear. If not for these people, I’m all alone in a world I don’t even understand, and if they make me leave, then I have nowhere to go. And I like it here. I really like it here, and I like these people. I don’t want to leave.

I can feel tears pricking my eyes, and Gabe’s arms come back around me.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he assures me. “We already have a mage living here, and she’s a close friend of the Alpha.”

“Who’s the Alpha?”

I can take a guess at what he means by Alpha. I’m familiar with the term in general, and considering that this is a pack of werewolves, I’m assuming the Alpha is their leader. But the way he said it makes me think there’s more to it, like maybe I know the Alpha. And I have a suspicion about that too.

“Our mother,” Garrett reveals, smiling as though he finds something amusing. “Our parents really did just pluck you off the farm and plop you down here didn’t they. Just like, ‘Well, we’re werewolves but don’t worry about it. Here’s a nice shiny bedroom for you,’ and that was that.”

“I mean, sort of, but they also said that if I had any questions, I could just ask them freely,” I tell him, feeling a need to defend his parents. “Your parents seem like busy people, and I haven’t wanted to intrude. The important thing is that I have a place to stay and nobody’s calling all day demanding money and goods I don’t have for them.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Garrett concedes.

“Besides, your dad helped me a ton with making arrangements for my grandpa and getting everything finalized at the farm,” I point out.

And then I remember I was invited here for the specific purpose of asking questions, and decide to take advantage of that.

“So, what’s the deal with your mom and dad and Tyler? I’ve heard your younger brothers calling both men their dad, and I know they both stay upstairs with your mom. Are they all, like, together?”

“Yes,” Gabe chuckles, looking at me as though he finds me adorable or amusing. “I suppose this is as good of a time as any to tell you about werewolves, their Moon Goddess, and their mates.”

He makes it sound like he’s about to tell me a fairy tale or something, but that doesn’t make me any less curious. I’d love to know what that all has to do with Tyler, Mr. Bentley, and their Alpha mom.