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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 14

Meliorist Sanctum

"Why is he here?" I can't stop myself from blurting out as I glare at my grandpa. How dare he...after everything that happened, what logical reasoning did he go through to come to this ridiculous conclusion?

"Acacia," I hear that note in Grandpa Keir's voice, though I look to where my parents are standing and my dad nods. He had already received permission for this encounter, and that's making me a bit more angry that I'm the last to know anything...especially when it involves me personally.

Grandpa Keir motions for me to come closer so that I don't draw any more attention from a few who flicker their gaze toward us. Bryant walks with me, the two of us moving toward one of the side walls before coming to a halt a few feet in front of the both of them.

It's been almost two years...

I guard myself, wrapping my arms around myself while my gaze first flickers briefly from Taron to then land on Grandpa Keir. He begins to tell me, "I'm losing my granddaughter...because of the misunderstanding, I don't want you to feel like you're no longer welcome to spend time with us."

Misunderstanding.

Mistake.

Accident.

It's all the same thing.

When I say nothing in return, my heart beating fast as I have so many mixed emotions, Bryant gives me strength. I don't feel as alone when he wraps his arm around my lower back, feeling him draw me closer to his body, feeling the security and strength radiating from him. Taron tenses at his actions, my grandpa also noticing the subtle movements, though he doesn't call it out.

Instead, Grandpa Keir states, "I brought Taron with me at the discretion of Alpha Chris as well because we both feel that he owes you an apology. He's here to mend the broken bond you have between my pack as the note we left everything on is begrudging, and I can't stand you feeling unsure of where you feel safe."

My eyes leave my grandpa as I slowly bring them to meet with Taron's. He holds my gaze, seeing the way he's gradually changing especially when he speaks. His voice is more profound, yet familiar when he states, "I'm deeply sorry that my reckless actions brought you to distance yourself from your second family. I understand many love and cherish you like you truly are tied to the Silent Stars Pack, and I humbly extend my sincerity when I ask you if there's any way we can come to a cordial relation."

Who are you?

Because...you are not the Taron I grew to know.

The way he speaks...he's changed a lot.

I nod with apprehension, not wanting to speak because I know my voice is going to betray the way I still feel toward him. He may have cut ties with me...but my feelings remain the same, and because of this, I can't honestly accept what he's asking of me. I'll stay with my parents for the summer.

To disrupt the growing silence, Grandpa Keir acknowledges toward Bryant, "You look rather familiar...have we met?"

Bryant replies, "I've seen you before when I was younger," he pauses a moment before telling him, "my father is Bryson Church of the Primordial Snare Pack."

Taron's nostrils flare momentarily before he mutters, "Of course you're his son..."

Grandpa Keir puts an end to this immediately by saying, "I understand very well about the conflict between the Crusaders Pack and the Primordial Snare Pack," he pauses while glancing between Taron and Bryant before finishing, "you are not your fathers, and perhaps you can start acting the way alphas should when seeking out a peace treaty."

Bryant shakes his head and snaps right back, "You're merging with their pack. I'm not gullible...I know very well the Crusaders Pack will not stop their assault on my father's territory...if anything, they'll be able to snatch it up that much easier with your pack at their disposal."

This isn't going very well...no, not at all.

"This is Meliorist Sanctum...we are all the same here, a safe place and have provided by my dad," I hesitate slightly when I see that Taron is about to stand up for not only his pack but my grandpa's. This is not what we need right now when the place we stand in represents peace, and I can't do this right...

...Grandpa Keir shouldn't have brought Taron.

After a few moments pause, I tell Taron, "I accept your apology...have a good night."

I see his muscles tense, the way his facial features shift slightly especially when Bryant is the one to realize that this conversation is over. He nods at Taron and my grandpa before he turns and leads me away from where we'd been confronted. Moving toward the far end of the room, I finally let out the air I'd been holding in my lungs without realizing until just now.

"I'm sorry that he's the piece of work that made you feel the way he did," Bryant is on another round of apologies on Taron's behalf, and all I'm trying to do is calm down gradually from what could have been a somewhat embarrassing outburst.

"It's fine," I reassure him as he looks me over, "I'm over it."

I'm far from over it...

The room had gradually begun to fill, dancing taking place while the council members socialized with students. It's my thought that they are gauging how they feel being within this school to understand better what may or may not need changes for the upcoming year. Ciarán...I can tell he's looking forward to showing the Valentine bloodline dance with mom as the night carries on, it's the dance he and I would have performed if I was a vampire.

"Acacia!" Ciarán peels away from his group of friends and comes up to Bryant and I while we're drinking fruit punch. He quickly looks over Bryant before asking, "Since when did he become your boyfriend?"

Furrowing my brows, Bryant and I look at one another before I state, "Ciarán, we aren't dating," I pause a moment and watch the way his features drop before I question, "where did you get that idea from?"

"Mercury and Cypher mentioned it," as my brother tells me this, I quickly glance around the room and see Cypher snickering with another of their friends while I don't see Mercury at all.

"Ciarán," Dante comes up behind him, and as he turns around, he states, "it's time for the dance with your mother."

Of course, it is.

Bryant and I pull back away from the dance floor area while I set my empty glass down on the table top next to me. I watch as Aspen sits up on a chair while Nyx is on one of the window ledges halting her conversation with another faerie as Dante and Ciarán walk away from me and toward the center of the room. Grandpa Keir and Taron are standing off to the side with my dad, Gabriel, and Edeline remaining near the entryway.

It's Lars I haven't seen tonight, but I don't question anything when I look at Dante move toward my dad, stopping while mom meets with Ciarán. Sadly, this is just another one of those times that I am reminded that I'm not like everyone else in my family and my brother takes center stage attention the moment they begin their dance.

Dad wanted to dance with me regardless of it not being a bloodline dance, but I don't want to...I don't want to embarrass myself with him because he's not just seen as my dad, but a council member and the beloved of the Hybrid Queen...mom. I haven't felt this out of place since before starting school, but I'm reminded continuously around them all that I'll never have the life I want, and there'll always be something to compare me to.

I'm not upset with Ciarán or mom because their dance is quite beautiful and it is nice to see them having a mother-son dance. It's nice to see my brother in different lighting than how the entire year has been. As their dance comes to an end, more of my peers begin to take their dates and start dancing to a slow song. Mom moves off to the side with dads, but not before giving Ciarán a quick hug while he goes back to join his friends.

Bryant leans down close to my ear and whispers under the volume of the music, "Would you like to dance with me?"

"I...don't know..." moments and memories flash through my mind of when dad had attempted to teach me how to dance. I'd rather lose a chess match than take my chances dancing in front of everyone, but Bryant is sweet and makes me think differently.

"Come on, we'll just slow dance and move in a circle like everyone else who doesn't know how to dance," he chuckles and when I look up into his eyes he smirks before stating, "besides...didn't you want to get back at a certain someone for breaking your heart?"

Bryant arches a brow as I think this over, sweeping the room to see that Grandpa Keir is talking to mom while Taron stands beside him facing out to my peers. He's watching, but I can't tell what for and I quickly avert my gaze when his eyes meet with mine. Bryant is right...but I don't know whether or not he has any feelings toward me, especially not after what happened...and the way he had just spoken early...

"I'm going to look like an idiot," I murmured back to him.

Bryant quickly responds with a question, "Aren't we all?"

A small smile makes its way onto my face when I finally run out of excuses to give him. He offers me his hand, and I let mine fall in his before he slowly guides me toward the dance area. Many couples are so cute and close together, holding each other as they rock back and forth in their so-called, 'dancing.'

Perhaps Bryant was right...we'll be just like everyone else, and whether or not that makes me a fool in the eyes of others, at least I'm in good company.

When we stop, he lifts my hand up and onto his shoulder while I raise my free arm of my own accord, resting it on his other shoulder. Bryant's hands gently settle themselves just above my hips at my waist, my eyes glancing away for a moment before he asks quietly, "Are you uncomfortable?"

"No," I bring my gaze back and lift my eyes to meet with his. I tilt my head to the side and smile as we begin to dance slowly while saying, "Thank you for being so kind to me."

"You don't need to thank me," he replies and states, "I find you genuinely just so sweet Acacia, just someone you don't come across that often, and I'm thankful for you allowing me into your life."

So...kind...

I can see out of the corner of my eyes while we dance, the way dads stare at us now and then...even my brother is halted in his conversation as he looks over Bryant. Something draws Grandpa Keir's attention, and I see that Lars has arrived, watching the way they are interacting as we move in circles.

Taron.

He stands there with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his nails almost digging into the fabric of his top. It's those golden eyes of his that bring back conflicted emotions of how I feel toward him...and his wolf.

Does he want a cordial relationship?

Then maybe he should stop acting the way he does about what I do with others. It's not like he's taken my side...he threw me right under the bus last time...

"Acacia," Bryant's voice is low when I bring my focus back to meet with his eyes, one of his hands gently cupping my cheek. His lips lower closer to mine, but he hesitates for a moment and stops his movements. It's only when I exhale quietly, and nod slightly does his lips gently place a kiss on mine.

It's a safe feeling, a warm feeling.

A few things happen right after our kiss. The first being that Taron moves away from the spot he's standing on and walks right out the doors to the building. The second thing that happens...mom and dads are pretty much halted in their conversations, leading a lot of eyes to linger on Bryant and I. The last thing that happens, is Ciarán suddenly becomes all defensive and big brother when he makes his way toward us.

I saw the hurt and anger in Taron's eyes...

...why if he doesn't care anything for me?

Either way, I feel like it's my fault and I'm the one who has to apologize this time. What for? I'm not even sure, but he's not telling me everything just like everyone else around me.

"Aca-" I cut Ciarán off as I excuse myself from Bryant and he nods. He must know past the surface, a deep history that needs to be put to rest today...

"Ciarán, how are you?" Bryant intercepts my brother, but I hear a heated conversation fading away into the background while I cross the outer portion of the dance floor.

"Acacia, what's going on?" Dad is the one to confront me before I can make it to the doors. There's so much more going on that you're remaining oblivious to and it doesn't matter any longer because I can't say anything...

"I need to apologize to Taron..." my voice trails off before I state, "...I think I might have inadvertently upset him."

"By doing what, exactly?" Dad is trying to pry. Of all the times he wants to try and figure something out it has to be here and now.

"Let her go, Cormac," Grandpa Keir comes to the rescue when he finishes, "we want peace, so let her do what she needs to do," he only pauses once more to nod in the direction of the other council members, "you have year-end announcements, let your daughter make her own choices."

It's not like he's wanted to pry until now...I'm better than him at hiding the feelings I wish to project on the outside. He hardly knows how I feel, a facade for the rest of the world I'm gladly living behind because that means everyone else I hold dear is safe.

Dad nods at me and states, "If you need to talk, we can when we return home this summer."

I let everything fade away as I walk out the doors to the school grounds. Stepping further away from the building, I'm glancing around everywhere, deciding to head down closer walkways as I call out, "Taron?"

There's no response, the warm night air of the start of summer billows around me. I look everywhere, moving to pathways further away as I continue to call out his name, yet I never get a response.

"Finished with your date already?" His voice sends a chill down my spine. My movements halt as I exhale calmly before searching the area in front of me. His footsteps draw closer behind me until I feel his presence right behind me.

"I...no, I just was looking..." my voice feels distant when Mercury curls a strand of my hair behind my ear, his lips lower closer to it.

"You enjoy having your heart broken, I've come to that conclusion," he chuckles when he continues, "as I've explained to you before...what werewolf in their right mind would choose a human like you over another werewolf? Tell me, Slave, why do you believe yourself to stand a chance?"

I shake my head when his tongue touches my earlobe, a sickening feeling stirring in the pit of my stomach regardless of the way the heat travels beneath his touch. Breathing out I say, "Sir...I..." perhaps he's right...it doesn't matter because I'll never be what Taron already has with Sophia. Bryant will be leaving to return to his father's pack...I'm going to isolate myself once again.

"That's what I thought," he lifts his lips away from my ear before turning me around on the spot. Tilting his head to the side, he chuckles, "Your date was lucky enough to get a kiss...how about one for your master?"

I lower my head with defeat and whisper, "I..."

I can't even bring myself to fight against him anymore because I know what comes from doing just that. Mercury's fingers entrap my chin before tilting it upward, his malachite eyes meeting with mine. His lips are claiming mine all too easily, and when he pulls me closer to him with his free arm wrapping around my back, I gasp.

His tongue slips past my parted lips, revolting in the way he tries to play with my own. My hands are balled up into fists, pushing slightly against his chest to provide some space between us. As with every time he does kiss me, that warmth trails beneath my skin...the way I find myself internally being pulled toward him makes me resent myself for falling into his actions when I kiss him back.

Between unwanted heated kisses, he groans, "You'll be mine one day...fully."

His fingers release my chin and skate down the side of my neck. The sparks that follow make me want to kill myself inside slowly...

"Acacia?" Taron's voice holds a hint of anger as a dark growl comes from the back of his throat. Mercury only pulls away from my lips so he can see Taron standing now in the walkway before us.

I can't see him, but I can feel his eyes on my back. So many emotions run mixed within my soul, and it tears at it when Mercury suddenly spins me around so I can see Taron. His golden eyes are locked onto me, my heart sinking when Mercury tells him, "She's not worth fighting for...after all," he trails his fingers down my neck before stating, "you already have another you're promised to."

"That doesn't mean you can't hurt my friend just because you feel like it..." Taron's voice is dangerous and holds an edge to it I feel when Mercury's muscle tense while holding me.

He's quick to state, "I'm not hurting her...she's with me because she chooses to be."

"Acacia?" Taron questions me, and I feel like I'm being torn in two different directions, the unseen hands grappling at my heart.

"Give me your blood, sweetheart," Mercury tempts to test me, knowing this will send a message to Taron...one I don't want, but I can't refuse.

The tears are fought back with everything I have as I slowly tilt my head to the side and expose the soft flesh of my neck to him. Mercury notes with an air about himself, "Acacia Arin belongs to me."

💫--To Be Continued--💫
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