A Time for Change (11 page)

“Chelsea, it is you turn since everybody else has answered a question except you. So, Chelsea, would you rather have sex on an airplane and have someone catch you or would you rather have sex on a plane and everybody hear you?” Jadelyn asked, trying her hardest to hold in a laugh.

“No brainer, I would rather have one person catch us instead of the whole plane looking at me like I am crazy,” Chelsea answered as she took a sip of her margarita, causing a fit of giggles from the rest of her girlfriends.

Chelsea reached for one of the cards and turned to Jadelyn. “Jadelyn, would you rather have a stranger catch you having sex or your parents?”

“A complete stranger without a doubt, all of you all have met my dad. Now would you want him catching you having sex?” Jadelyn said to them with her eyes open wider than normal.

“Hell no, I would rather one of my mothers’ catch me instead of your dad. Jadelyn’s dad has this scary way of looking at you that makes you feel like a child again whenever he catches you doing something,” Chelsea answered.

After all of them answered one of the Would You Rather sex questions, they moved on to different subjects until not a single card or category remained.

***

Ace picked up his skateboard. He was going to jump from the cliff they were on, to the cliff above the waterfall, even though the waterfall cliff had a twenty foot height distance from the cliff they were standing on.

“No, Ace, you are not going to jump the cliff, look at the height distance. We cannot afford for you to get hurt before the battle,” James said.

“I am not going to get hurt. I am going to make it. I got this, I just need a little adrenaline rush,” Ace answered.

“Nah, let’s go get the dirt bikes out of the shed,” Eli answered.

“What dirt bikes?” James answered.

“I had some of the Enforcers bring the dirt bikes to the shed when they brought the school supplies out here,” Eli answered. They all agreed and followed Eli to the shed behind the school.

One by one they pulled out a dirt bike, started them up, and took off for the muddy hills. For hours, they rode up and down the dirt hills, until dinnertime.

***

Chelsea, Charity, Jadelyn, and Treasure didn’t climb out of the water spring until they could see the beautiful stars in the sky. By the time they returned to the camp, the guys had already set up logs they could sit on around the fire. Ace told campfire stories as they all ate the chili Chelsea had put on earlier.

“How about we play dominos, a quick game of rummy and volleyball?” Jadelyn asked after everyone was finished with their dinner.

“Alright, girls against boys like always?” Chelsea asked.

“Sure but what do the winners get?” James asked.

“That is between the winner and their mate or mates,” Ace said.

Jadelyn got the net and ball out of the game bag, and sat it next to the fire. The guys got up and put it together while the girls went over their strategy. James called them over when the net was finished.

“We should have asked for Charity to be on our team,” James said.

“Why?” Trevor asked.

“Because she was one of the top ten in the world for volleyball,” Eli answered.

“Well why didn’t you tell us before we agreed to this?” Greg asked.

“Because Eli and I were the ones who taught her how to play and helped her practice. We know all of her moves since we taught them to her,” James answered.

“Alright but this better not be one of those cases of when the student becomes the teacher,” Trevor said.

“Fuck, we are screwed. Chelsea and Jadelyn were the top volleyball players on the Isle,” Ace said.

Chelsea played the outside hitter, which was a great all-around player. Chelsea was all over the field blocking shots and making points. It was hard for the guys to stop her shots. James dove for a couple and still missed them as he hit the ground.

Charity served the libero. Not only is this the passer on the court but also the digger, she had to pass it to Jadelyn, who was the setter, meaning Charity hit it to her and Jadelyn made the decision to hit it to either Chelsea or Treasure. Treasure was more involved with blocking the shots the guys sent over.

The guys, on the other hand, were just all over the place. No one knew where they were supposed to be, making it harder to play. A couple of times Ace and Eli ran into each other trying to go for the ball.

Charity served the ball to Jadelyn who hit it to Chelsea. Chelsea knocked the ball over the net and straight for Ace’s face, causing everyone to laugh. They played volleyball for the next hour with the girls winning. After playing volleyball, they played three games of dominos, where they guys won, but the girls won at rummy, making it two out of three wins. Each couple headed to their separate tents after the games were over.

***

Two hours after Chelsea, James, Ace, and their friends went to bed, the shifter Aishe called was watching them. He felt a strong pull to the shifters camping and had no clue why. He was watching the tents surrounding areas when he heard the sound of leaves rustling. He immediately shifted and went to investigate the sound. When he got to where the sound was coming from just moments ago, the lion shifter saw two wolf shifters and a lion shifter trying to sneak up on the campsite. He knew he had to catch them one by one without making any noise. He didn’t want the campers to hear what was going on.

He waited until they split up and went for the one who was closer to the campsite than the others. The shifter Aishe sent to help them jumped on the lion shifter’s back, knocking the shifter down. He pinned the shifter down with all his weight as the shifter thrashed around. Just as the shifter was about to howl, he leaned down and ripped his head off and dashed over to the other shifters. He quickly found the others and did the same to them before they could make any noise. He shifted and carried the corpses to the Enforcers in the woods so they could get rid of them before the campers woke.

***

They made their way back to the Alpha’s house after Chelsea made breakfast the next morning without knowing what went on during the night.

At the Alpha house, they noticed the Enforcers cleaning something off the window and fixing another window. James was the first one to approach, he noticed it said, ‘
lion/wolf shifter not welcomed on the Isle,
go back home
. He didn’t want Chelsea or Charity to see it so he directed them straight to the house.

***

James felt as though he needed a few hours with his sister alone so he took her to the park down the street. It felt weird not having Charity by his side almost every second of the day. Besides Eli, Charity was his best friend. He knew what she was thinking at times and she knew what he was thinking as well. Their friends on the human side thought it was strange for a brother and sister to be best friends and always together.

The park they were at was filled with green grassy hills and benches that surrounded a large pond. James and Charity sat on one of the benches while Charity fed the ducks, neither of them knew where to begin.

“So how do you like it here so far?” James asked, just to say something.

“I love it here, I just wish mom and dad were here with us,” Charity said as she turned to look at James.

“I know, me, too. I am sorry I didn’t get there in enough time to save them,” James said as he looked into his sister’s eyes.

“James, it wasn’t your fault. If anything it was my fault,” Charity said. She had been feeling guilty ever since she found out her parents were dead.

“What!” James yelled. “It was not your fault, Charity, it was the shifters who killed them that are to blame, not you,” James said as he grabbed Charity by the shoulders and turned her toward him.

“Exactly,” Charity said.

“What do you mean when you say ‘exactly’?” James asked in a confused voice.

“You just told me it wasn’t my fault it was the shifters fault and I am saying the same thing to you,” Charity said.

Damn,
James thought. He knew he had just walked right into that one. Charity was always able to get him to see the truth or the error in his ways by tricking him.

“Do you ever feel like mom and dad are still with us?” Charity asked.

“Yes, sometimes it feels as if they are watching me or I can hear mom calling my name,” James answered with a sigh.

“Me, too. Do you ever think the nightmares of seeing them like that will go away for us?” Charity asked her brother.

“Yes, we just have to remember the good times we had with them,” James said

As he thought about what Charity had just said, he knew it was time to take her somewhere else so they both could get new memories of their parents.

“Come on, I have one more stop to take you to, and I think you are going to love this one,” James said when he noticed the sad look that came over Charity’s face.

James had called Serenity earlier that day and she promised to have some good pictures out for him and Charity of their parents. He hoped they both could get some new memories of their parents out of this and the nightmares would stop. James wrapped his arm around his sister’s neck as they walked toward the Beta/Head Enforcer’s house where his mother’s best girl friends from the Isle were waiting for them.

Serenity, Faith, Grace, and Leslie were all waiting for them in the living room when they walked in. They had pictures of their mother and some of their mother and father all spread out across the coffee table. Charity and James took the only two empty seats left in the room.

“Wow, Charity, you look so much like your mom when she was your age,” Leslie said as she looked at Charity.

Charity smiled, she had never seen pictures of her mother and father when they were younger. They had left almost everything they had behind when they left for the human side.

Charity picked up one of the photos and traced her fingers along her parent’s faces.

“That was the first day your parents met at your mother’s eighteenth birthday party; well, it was all of our birthday party. We had decided to combine our parties since we were all turning eighteen right around the same time and invited every shifter on the Isle. We had a blast and that was taken a few minutes after they found each other,” Faith said as she smiled at the picture, remembering one of her best friends.

For the next hour, they told James and Charity the stories behind each of the pictures on the table.

“We have something else to give you both as well. After your parents left for the human side, we went and packed all of the things they left behind. Everything we packed is in the attic labeled
Katarina and Zuri’s things
. James, could you go up to the attic and get the things down so you and Charity can take all of it,” Leslie said when she suddenly remembered about the boxes they put in the attic over thirty years ago.

James stood and headed to the attic following Serenity’s directions. He reached his hands up and pulled the string when he reached the attic. The door didn’t budge as he pulled the string so he tugged harder each time until it finally opened. When he finally went inside the attic, a bunch of dust flew out, causing him to choke a little. James swatted spider webs out of his way until he finally reached the boxes he was looking for. He carried the five boxes out as quickly as he could because he was tired of smelling the stuffy air.

James and Charity divided everything of their parents up and hurried to the Alpha’s house to show their mates.

***

Baron and Jake headed to the Isle council building where they had their meetings. The council consisted of one shifter from each species. They handled everything from rule changes on the Isle to residents having conflicts with their Alphas.

When Baron told the council what happened to Charity when she was attacked the night at the Alpha’s house, the council volunteered to hand over the petition changing the rules of the Beta Battle. The council was behind the changes Chelsea and the others wanted to make on the Isle and would do anything to help them. They had no clue what had happened over the years; it seemed as though everyone was getting along, accepting each other, until Zuri and Katarina found each other. The council had even put in rules banning everyone from harming or harassing Katarina and Zuri, but it didn’t work.

The council building was a small one-story building with concrete columns in the front with light-brown hardwood floors and matching walls with a dome shaped ceiling on the inside. There was a large cherry wood desk with matching chairs where the council sat. Behind the council seats was a vault where they kept all of the important paperwork and Isle rules.

Baron and Jake could hear some rustling noises as they drew closer to the front door of the council building.

“Is the council here?” Jake asked.

“No, they went home a few hours ago, whoever is in there is not supposed to be,” Baron said as he pulled out his keys to open the locked door.

When Baron and Jake walked in, the shifters trying to open the vault immediately shifted so they couldn’t see their faces. Baron and Jake shifted as well and charged at the other shifters trying to break into the vault.

One of the shifters leaped over the desk and tried to make a run for the door. Jake caught the shifter’s hind with his teeth and pulled him back. As the shifter thrashed it caused Jake’s teeth to bury deeper into the shifter’s skin. The harder the shifter thrashed the more of his hind ripped apart until a big chunk was left in Jake’s mouth. The shifter fell to the floor where he bled to death while the fight continued.

Baron charged at the other two shifters that were standing in front of the vault. Baron wasn’t going to harm them, he was just going to hold them until the police came. That was until they started snapping at him with their canines and one of them actually bit him. Baron reached up, extended his claws, and slapped the shifter who bit him with as much power as he could. Being the Alpha made Baron stronger than he even knew he was at times. When he slapped the shifter, his claws slit the shifter’s neck, killing him instantly. The other shifter next to Baron howled at him before he attacked. The shifter actually had gotten a good chunk out of Baron’s shoulder before Baron could kill him.