Those Eyes Ch. 11

I listened to them talking, taking special care to keep my breathing even and quiet. I knew that the individuals in the room were my siblings, and I fought the part of my being that was drawn to them. The room was quiet, and I briefly wondered what they were all doing, what they were thinking, what they looked like.

I listen to everything that was said, fighting to keep my emotions under control. For a moment it had seemed like they were going to let me go. There was hope for a moment that I would see Alex again, but then it was crushed with Aara's words.

If I didn't go back, their brother—our brother—would be killed. If I willingly gave up the only thing that had made me happy in the last five years, I would save the boy I had never met. His life was suddenly in my hands, and the thought was overwhelming.

No longer could I control my breathing. There was suddenly not enough oxygen in the room, and I felt as if my lungs would explode with the effort I was making to inhale and exhale. Alex. I'd have to leave Alex. My very existence cried out at the thought.

I felt the familiar stinging behind my eyes and closed them tighter. It was as if two sides were warring in my subconscious.

He is our brother, our family, one side said.

Our mate is our family, the other argued.

Then suddenly it was if both sides came to a conclusion, a resolution.

This boy is our family too. Our mate, he will find us.

I felt a calmness in the corner of my mind and reached for it, letting it consume me. A tingling feeling started at my head and moved down my body, leaving a soothing warmth in its wake. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was then that I heard the gasps around the room. I could sense four sets of eyes trained on me, staring intensely. I forced myself to open my eyes and meet their gazes.

They were all looking back at me, shock and awe in their expressions.

"Santana?" the redhead asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper.

I tried to say yes, I tried to respond but nothing came out except for a high pitched "yip." I tried once more, and the same sound occurred. I looked at my siblings, hoping they read the confusion on my face.

I watched their eyes peruse my body in astonishment. Once more I tried speaking, tried to ask what was wrong, why they were staring at me with those strange expressions and all I heard was a strange whining sound. A sound that reminded me of a dog...

I lifted what I had believed were my hands and nearly screamed when I saw paws and fur! I fought to control my breathing, a panic attack was surely on the horizon.

Calm down, something inside of me whispered. Let me take over for a bit.

I suddenly realized that this was my wolf speaking. The revelation was strange but reassuring, and I couldn't help but relent to her request.

"None of us can do that." I heard the blonde whisper. "Not even the hybrids who seem more wolf than anything else."

"I know," the tall man said with an audible gulp. "What do we do?"

Removing my gaze from my paws, I looked at the faces of my audience. I was immediately struck with how beautiful they all were. Each of them was unique, but they all shared the same upturned green eyes that I possessed. This was my family, the very thing I had been missing my entire existence. I suddenly remembered Alex talking about his siblings once. He had referred to them as "pieces of his soul in different bodies." I wondered if these people would be that for me. I wanted these people to be that for me.

Go with them, the voice in my whispered once more.

What about Alex? That was my immediate thought.

Go with them, he'll find us.