Shaping Destiny (14 page)

“Oh my gosh!”

“What’s wrong, Leah?” Max
asked.

I stood up fast, as if I
were going to do something that would help. Dad and Mom
turned.

“It’s Jared. I went to
meet him for a dance performance. I snuck up on him while he was
reading a letter. The word
Sparks
was on the letter. That’s where I’ve seen it.
What if he's in danger? He did act weird when he saw me. What if
because they couldn't get me, they were going after
Jared?”

I was frantic trying to
locate my phone.

In my
room
, I thought. While darting to my room,
Max followed.

“Leah, stop and think
before you rush into anything.”

“Rush?” I said
surprisingly. “I've let all night and morning go by. How am I
rushing? My friend could be in danger.”

Max remained calm. “I know
you can only think about saving your friend, but think about all
the variables. What if that note you saw was just a prop, and it
was meant for you to see. What if they're counting on you to call
Jared and tell him where you are?”

“There’s always a ‘what
if’, and if that's their plan, then it has worked. I'm going to
call.”

I heard the phone ringing
in my ear and my heart beating in the other. Everything went silent
when I heard Jared say hello.

“
Jared! Hi! Are you
OK?”

“Yes, of course I'm OK.
You sound worried. Are you OK?”

I realized then he didn't
know I had even left. I'm sure it was only a matter of time until
my roommates would start to panic and would go tell him.

“Yeah.”

“Well, it's Saturday, and
it's a nice day. Do you want to go for a walk?”

“Wish I could, but I'm
just not feeling up to it.”

“OK. Do you need
anything?”

“No, but I wanted to ask
you something. I noticed you held a paper with the name
Sparks
on it, and I
wondered if that name means much to you.” I held my breath as Jared
replied.

“Sparks. Yes, that name
means a lot to me. It’s a family name. I know we've never been to
big family gatherings on my side before, but Sparks is my mother’s
maiden name.”

I felt sick and
speechless.

“Leah, you there? Why do
you ask?”

“Curiosity, I
guess.”

“All right. When you get
to feeling better, call me. We’ll talk.”

“Yeah, I'll talk to you
soon.”

I hung up the phone and
then lifelessly put it down on the counter. Three sets of eyes were
locked on me, waiting for answers.

“You look like you’ve seen
a ghost,” Dad piped up. “Tell us what he said.”

“They're family . . . I
mean they’re his family.”

“Jared’s family?” Mom
asked.

“Yes . . . Jared’s
mother’s maiden name is Sparks.” We had never thought or considered
that Jared was part of the enemy's family line.

The first one to speak,
Max said, “So is he in on it?”

“NO!” I burst out. But
then I thought about it. “I don't think so, I mean.”

“Well, let’s think . . .
When they first attacked you, you were walking along the sidewalk
of campus. How did they know you would be there? Jared?”

“Not necessarily. They
could have just been stalking me.” Max and I went back and forth
through all of our encounters with the Sparks family.

“What about the time they
grabbed you outside the student center?”

“Again, they could have
just been watching me.”

“The parking lot fight? Or
the last fight when we smashed into the semi? Jared could be their
inside man.”

“But we don't know that,
and he's been so close to me for years. It’s just hard to
believe.”

“Yes, but didn't that guy
you talked to last night say that he’s been watching you for a long
time?”

“Yes, me and my whole
family.”

“I'm just saying we can't
rule it out,” Max said as his final words. I didn't want to
consider that Jared could be a part of this at all. I put it in the
back of my mind.

Dad finally put in his two
cents as if he couldn't hold back his thoughts. “I let that
psychopath in my home and allowed him to be alone with my
daughter.” Anger struck his face.

But I had nothing more to
add. He may or may not be behind this war. All I needed to know was
that Jared was safe.

“Max, we have plenty of
land that is safe and fenced in, as you might have noticed. It’s
time to train my daughter every day until she is ready, and even
when she is ready she will train so she can stay sharp. We don't
know when they’ll strike again, but until then, we'll be getting
ready. We’ll not start this war, but if the war is brought to us,
we’ll not run. We’ll fight and end this. Leah, I know you don't
want to hear this but there will be death. They will not leave
without getting what they came for. You must use this gift to once
again save your family, just like Great-grandma had to do. After
lunch, go and start to prepare.” He looked back at Mom. “Sweetie,
I'm going to walk the fence line and make sure everything is still
secure. I'll be back a little after lunch.”

Lunch passed quickly, and
Max and I were out the door before Dad returned. We walked through
my property until our home was out of sight. Max walked ahead,
getting the feel of the land, which gave me time for my mind to
wander. The sky was cloudy and I could smell the scent of rain in
the distance. I could hear squirrels scampering under and over
leaves, preparing for the change in the weather. My senses were
more heightened when I could relax and concentrate.

“You have speed, hearing,
and smell. Your senses are all extremely more powerful than you’re
used to, and even your strength will increase when you're in animal
form. These are things you have to get used to and familiarize
yourself with. Also, you must be able to shift at will, without our
connection.” I stood there with my hands in my pockets, just
waiting for instruction. Max paced back and forth as he
continued.

“First, let yourself draw
in the environment around you. Everything that's around you. Close
your eyes, take in a deep breath, and feel the wind on your skin.
Smell the storm that's hours away, and hear the wind swirl around
your ears. Hear the plants and animals echoing in the air. Have
nature become you. A wolf lives and sleeps in nature. She walks on
her bare paws, on the cold ground, feeling the vibrations of the
earth. She breathes in smells and hears noises miles way. You must
find your inner wolf and feel as she does.”

I pushed everything
blocking my mind out, and I cleared my thoughts with a deep breath.
I could hear Max's voice sounding farther and farther away as I
grabbed on to the world around me. It was beautiful to immerse
myself in peace and meditation. I could take on the world with the
power I felt right at that moment.

Max came up behind me with
a large branch, holding it like a baseball bat. I didn't have to
turn around, but his smell gave him away. I stepped to the side
quickly and smoothly. I moved behind him with little
effort.

“What was that?” I threw
my arms to the side.

“Your first lesson, which
you passed successfully. That was just one thing coming at you, and
when this war comes, you’re not fighting only one person. You
definitely won’t be dodging just one swing either. It will be many.
Now, let’s do it again, but this time stay focused. You never know
where they’ll be or how many times they may strike.”

I was a little hesitant. I
didn’t want to fail. I nodded and again closed my eyes.

***

Hours passed as we fought
each other. Drops of rain sprinkled down through a glorious orange
sunset and landed on us. Our swift movements started to improve,
and the ground looked well worn all around us. As we huffed and
puffed, we both had the look of calling it a day. As we stood there
silently looking at each other, I couldn't help but laugh. I looked
over at him as my laugh started to fade, and he too had a smile of
happiness. He walked over to me with quickness in his step. His two
hands came up around my face and then slowed as he descended his
lips to mine. I thought of only his lips and the heat of his body
circling around me. The sky started to release more and more water,
and the raindrops started to soak our clothes. As I could feel his
lips pull away, I wrapped my arms around him.

Minutes later we rested
forehead on forehead. We smiled at each other in the rain, knowing
that this was another lesson in controlling my new abilities. The
sprinkle of rain turned into pouring water. We started to run
toward the house. As we ran into the backdoor giggling, we could
smell the aroma of dinner.

“Oh dear. Let me go get
you two some towels,” Mom said as she went to the hall
closet.

We dried ourselves off,
and I started toward the front room.

“Luke! Leon! How are you?”
I put my arms out for a group hug.

“Hey, sis!” Luke said
back. “I hear you've had quit the excitement this past week. We
thought we would stop by so we wouldn't miss out on all the fun,”
Luke said jokingly.

“Yeah, well I don't think
fun is the word for it, but I'm glad you felt the need to check up
on me. So Dad and Mom filled you guys in?”

Leon gave an embarrassed
look that gave away he’d heard a lot. “You can say that! Although
everything we heard was kind of unbelievable at first. But our
family sticks together and if you need anything, we want to help.”
They both nodded.

“Oh, no. You must not get
involved. The last thing I need is to have any of you guys getting
hurt.”

Leon was my oldest
brother, and Luke was the middle child. We all had dark hair and
tan skin, but I ended up with brown eyes and my brothers had
beautiful, ocean-blue eyes. Leon was always the sophisticated one:
smart and bold. He had short hair that reminded me of a
businessman. Luke had hair a lot longer, free and loose flowing,
just like his personality. They were both shy of six feet tall, and
very handsome. But I was biased.

“No matter what you say,
you know we can't just sit back and watch. So before you try to
convince me, you must introduce us to him.” Leon pointed over to
Max, who was drying his hair with the towel. Luke nudged me with
his elbow, trying to see if I would tell him some juicy
news.

“I don't know how much you
know about everything, but this is Max. Max, these are my brothers,
Luke and Leon.”

“It’s nice to meet you
both.”

“
You too,” Leon said as he
shook Max’s hand. “You have quite a title to live up to, I hear.
Our father told us about the important role you have in our
sister’s life.”

“She is worth it,” Max
replied.

“Yes she is,” Luke said,
winking at me.

“How long are you guys
able to stay?” I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to say good-bye
soon.

“Well, for as long as we
can,” Leon stated. “This is a family emergency, and we don't plan
on leaving anytime soon.”

“Good, I was hoping you
would say that.” I felt a sense of security having my brothers in
the house with me.

“Dinner's ready,
everyone,” Mom announced. “Get around the table.”

Dad sat at the head of the
table, and Mom sat at the other end. My brothers sat on one side of
the table, and Max and I were across from them. It felt perfect,
having the family together again, laughing and catching up with
each other. We filled in any gaps that my brothers had questions
about, and my brothers filled us in on their lives. We stayed at
the dinner table for a couple hours. These family times were always
my favorite, and something about having Max there a part of the
family made it that much more complete.

Two weeks
later…

Max and I grew stronger in
our trust and love, while Jared's relentless phone calls and visits
to the house made us grow further apart. Jared of course didn’t
know where to find me. Every attempt that he made to contact me
failed. My parents and brothers lied over and over, saying that
they hadn’t heard from me for weeks. I wondered if he believed what
my family told him. He knew how close I was to them.

***

THROUGH JARED’S
EYES:

“Where is she?” an angry
voice asked. I hesitated for a minute in fear, knowing that I had
failed.

“I told you I'm not sure.
I've tried calling her cell phone, going to her parents’ home, and
talking to her roommates. There is no sign of her. Her parents’
house is the first place she would go to be safe, but she isn’t
there.” I put my head down.

“So what you're telling me
is that you have blown your cover. She knows that you're behind
this. Your feelings for her have finally gotten to you, haven’t
they?” His voice echoed in frustration.

“I would be lying if I
said I didn't have feelings for her. But how could I not when I've
spent years with this woman. In the beginning, I gave you my word
to not let you down, and I still plan on doing that. I just messed
up.” I felt torn apart. I wanted to be Leah's hero and save the
day, but I had never been a leader. I ran ideas through my head
over and over again. What would my family say or do if I stood up
against them? What would happen to Leah if I didn’t?