One day.

One more day until they leave.

Until she leaves.

I've tried convincing her to stay but nothing's changed her mind. I've suggested that she goes back for a few days then comes back here but she's declined that too.

I still feel like Rei's holding me at a distance. I've tried getting closer to her but she kind of shies away from me.

Raiden and Clove have gotten close. Clove's decided that she'll go back with the others for a week or two then come back to stay here. Scott and Dean have become close friends with Killian and Zaine too, often hanging out together. Chase and Rhea have wormed their way into our hearts too and I know my friends and I would do what it takes to protect them.

"What did you want to talk about?" Rei asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.

We're at the house she and the other five are staying at. They're all downstairs with Raiden, Scott and Dean. I asked to talk to Rei alone for a while.

I sit in the chair at the desk. "Just... why do you seem to keep some distance between us? I get that we don't have the best past together but I thought we agreed we'd try to make a relationship between us work. Everything is in the past now but I feel like you're still holding on to it."

Rei's eyebrows furrow. "I'm not. I get that you've changed and genuinely feel guilty and regretful. And I do want to try a relationship with you."

"Then why does it feel like you don't want us?" I ask, my wolf coming forward slightly and speaking with me, our voice sounding slightly hurt.

Mentally, I wrap one arm around Jayden's neck and he leans against me, licking my cheek affectionately. I'm glad I managed to fix things with him after what I did to Rei. It took a long time but after months of him not talking to me unless it was cussing me out and him giving me many migraines, he decided I'd been punished enough.

Rei hesitates. "I..."

"Rei," Jayden says gently. "You can trust us. I promise, you can trust us."

She looks at us, her eyes meeting ours, then sighs softly. "I guess I'm just... scared. Scared of letting you in, only to... I don't know, have you follow the path of your dad or sister."

Jayden growls softly as he steps back and gives me full control.

"First of all, he's not my dad, not anymore," I say, my eyes narrowed, arms crossed. "Second, just because they chose to cheat doesn't mean I will. I'm my own person and while I can be an anger-driven ass, cheating isn't something I'd ever do."

Rei studies me, her eyes searching for any hint of dishonesty or anything like it. She won't find any, I mean what I said. I'll never cheat.

Rei comes over to me, kneeling next to me and resting one hand on my leg. "I'm sorry, Asher, for assuming. But you have to understand that I can't trust as easily as someone else can. It'll take time."

"And I'm willing to wait," I reply, gently grasping her hand. "I'll wait as long as I have to. But probably not without complaint, I'm not exactly the most patient person out there."

She smiles and nods. "I didn't really get that patient vibe from you."

I chuckle softly, "Guess we both have some things to work on then."

I lean forward and give her a kiss. Just a small, quick kiss.

"Come on," she says, smiling. "They're probably wondering what we're up to."

I nod and we both stand up, walking out of the room and into the hall.

"Finally done chatting?" Zaine's voice says from behind us.

Rei and I turn around to be met with the grinning shape shifter.

"What are you doing up here?" Rei asks.

"The wolves were asking about our powers," Zaine explains. "I'm showing them my snake bites."

He holds out his hand, showing us two small black rings.

Rei shakes her head, smiling as we walk down the hall and down the steps, Zaine quickly explains it to me that he can shift so he has the piercing holes and he has quite a lot of piercing jewelry-from earrings, to nose rings, to even nipple rings-for undercover missions, or for fun.

"Got 'em!" Zaine says loudly, as we walk into the living room.

He flicks some of his currently neon green hair (he changed it to match Dean's) out of his eyes and sits back down next to Killian, handing the rings to him. After Zaine shifts to make the piercing holes, he has Killian help him get the black rings in.

"Cool," Dean says, grinning.

"How often do you wear them?" Scott asks.

Zaine shrugs. "Not too much. I never got the point of most piercings, only earrings. It's still fun though. I don't have to go through the pain of getting the piercing and can take it away whenever I want. Same with tattoos."

He concentrates for a few seconds and a few small black stars appear in the corners of both eyes.

"Lucky," I say. "What can't you change?"

Zaine shrugs again. "Well, I can't hide this, no matter what."

He turns his head and holds his ear down to show us a spiral birthmark behind his ear, the dark mark standing out against his lighter skin.

"I can mostly only do things possible for a human to actually look like, whether it's from alterations like hair dye or piercings, or birth defects, like deformed body parts or extra body parts, though that usually takes more energy. Can't do rainbow skin or wings or anything fantasy. Though, I can slightly do animalistic features. Pig nose, maybe a small patch of skin-coloured scales, sharper teeth, cat eyes."

He blinks, his eyes becoming green cat eyes.

"Do you see how a cat would?" Raiden asks curiously.

"No," Zaine replies. "I don't know how a cat sees so I can't replicate it. I have to know how something works to be able to do it to myself, if that makes sense."

Raiden nods, telling him that he understands.

"What about casting spells?" Dean asks. "How does that work? I thought witches and warlocks only have one ability."

"We do," Clove says, "Minus Reina over there. We can use our abilities whenever we want with the only downside being that it drains energy when you use them. With spells, you need supplies, ingredients, maybe even a flipping altar, and you need to know how to cast them and be able to maintain them, meaning having your energy constantly drained. Every spell is different and needs different requirements. The more powerful the spell is, the more complex the requirements are."

"Like the tail of a werewolf killed on a full moon is one thing needed to cast a spell to keep werewolves off and out of a certain area or territory," Zaine pipes up. A distant look suddenly appears in his eyes and he shivers, leaning closer to Killian, whispering "They got mad when I couldn't hold that spell."

"You shouldn't've been able to," Killian says, holding him close. I know he must be talking about his abusive coven. "You were too young to be able to maintain a spell like that. It doesn't make sense why they got you to anyway and not have one of the stronger coven members do it."

"What about your fire power, Reina?" I ask my mate who's sitting beside me, changing the subject.

"What about it?" she replies, tilting her head.

"Is it hard to control the flames?" I say. "Could you set anything on fire or does it have to be flammable?"

"It's not too hard to control if it's a small flame," Rei says. "The more flames there are, the harder it is to control. The object usually has to be flammable but I can burn nonflammable things, it just takes more energy and concern. But I can't just start a fire across the room. I have to be touching the object and even then, the fire would start on my hand or whatever part of me is touching it, then travel to the material.

"Like if I wanted to start the bookshelf on fire without moving," she gestures to the bookshelf against the wall, "I'd have to start the flames on say my foot, then have them travel across the floor to the shelf, leaving a trail of burn marks."

I nod, understanding.

"Can I ask, how'd you get pyrokinesis?" Raiden asks. "And who gifted you?"

Rei tenses and I notice Clove and Killian do the same. Seeing this, Raiden and I both gently wrap one arm around our mates' shoulders, hugging them while Zaine rests his head on Killian's shoulder, gently rubbing his thumb over the back of Killian's hand.

Even the twins look tense, the two of them latching onto each other to comfort one another.

Rei glances at Clove and Killian, who both nod, letting her know they don't mind if she tells us. Chase and Rhea both run over to Killian, climbing on to his and Zaine's laps and seeking their older brother's comfort.

Rei sighs softly. "It was four days after I left."