Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) (7 page)

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
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“The warrior mark chose her. The pull of the warrior mark is strong, making it virtually impossible to avoid the urge to train and fight. In all our history, I’ve never known anyone able to fight against it like this. The ease she finds to opt out of anything warrior related is astounding.” Kelton frowned.

Cassandra waved a dismissive hand. “I’m sure she’s not finding it that easy.”

“She’s sure as hell making it look easy.”

“I’m sure she’s struggling with her inner turmoil.” Cassandra crossed her hands in her lap, “Rhian has always been a hard child to handle. I’ve never been able to tell her what to do and neither has any other authoritative figure. I don’t think that a simple warrior mark would be much of a challenge for her.”

“But it should be.” Kelton muttered.

“Perhaps it’s the lack of a male role model that’s made Rhian cry out for attention?” Cassandra sneered while smiling sweetly, which wasn’t an easy task, but she managed to pull it off.

Marion straightened up in her chair, offended on Kelton’s behalf. The room was engulfed in a testy silence, but Marion was too busy observing Cassandra every move and every word to bother to break it. She was a fascinating creature, so self-assured. Marion watched her as if she were some complicated science project.

“Are you sure that they’re mine?” Kelton suddenly blurted out. Her harsh remark gave him the opportunity to change the subject and get down to the business of why he’d really called her to the academy.

Cassandra looked offended. “Of course they are. Why would you even ask that?”

“Why wouldn’t I ask that?” Kelton was fuming but trying desperately to keep a lid on his temper. He glared at her with stony cold eyes. “What happened between us was a very long time ago. You turn up on my doorstep year’s later, drop that bombshell on me and you don’t expect me to question it?”

“How could you even think that?” Cassandra put a hand to her throat, as if heartbroken.

Kelton rolled his eyes, able to see clearly through her act. “Why did you leave it this long if they were mine? Why didn’t you come to me the moment you found out that you were pregnant?”

“I didn’t know how to find you.”

“You could have if you’d tried hard enough.”

“I did try.” She countered.

“Well, you managed to find us now. What’s the difference?”

“Times have changed, Kelton. There are more avenues to explore if you are trying to find someone.”

Kelton shook his head. “Our times haven’t changed. You know that there’s always a way to find us. It’s not like we’re under a directory on the internet.”

“You only have to look at them to know that they are your daughters. You only have to look in their eyes to see the resemblance.”

“I need a little more proof than that.” Kelton said in an even tone.

Cassandra gasped dramatically. “Proof? What do you mean? You don’t believe me?” Tears flooded her eyes, but Kelton felt no guilt. He needed something more than just the word of a woman that he knew for a matter of hours several years ago, and a woman he didn’t trust to boot.

“You can understand why I’m asking for this.”

“I don’t! I don’t understand, Kelton.” She dabbed delicately at her eyes.

“I need confirmation.”

“What are you asking? You want to take a paternity test? Is that what you want?” Cassandra’s tinkling laughter sounded nervous and contemptuous, like she couldn’t believe he would stoop to that level.

“Yes. That is exactly what I’m asking you for.”

The room fell quiet again. Cassandra and Kelton were looking anywhere but at each other. Marion felt awkward being there during such a personal conversation, but she wouldn’t leave Kelton. He needed and wanted her to be there for him, for moral support and because he didn’t want to be left alone with the woman. She could understand why now. Cassandra was a woman who clearly knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted.

“I can arrange this for you, if you’d like.” Marion offered quietly.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes. “I’m more than capable of arranging for the test myself, thank you very much.” Her tone had changed considerably now that she knew why she was here and now that Kelton had made it clear that he didn’t have the least bit interest in her.

Marion held her hands up, “It was just an offer. I’m happy to help if it can make things easier for all involved.”

“I would like Marion to arrange the test.” Kelton said.

“No. I can do this.”

Kelton shook his head and glared, “Marion will do this.”

“Pardon? Excuse me? You don’t trust me with this, either? Kelton, what has happened to you?” Cassandra looked highly offended.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Kelton could have kicked himself for asking that, which was just what Cassandra had wanted him to do.

“You weren’t like this before, so jaded.” Cassandra’s eyes flared.

Kelton laughed ruefully. “You have no idea what I was like back them, or what I’m like now. Don’t try and delude yourself. You don’t know me. We don’t know one another and never have. All we have in common was one mistake.”

Kelton took in a gasping breath. He hadn’t want to lose control of his words or his temper like that. He had wanted to keep things as professional as possible, hence why when he had phoned to request this meeting, he’d arranged for it to be held in his office at the academy. Cassandra had suggested an informal coffee, but Kelton had wanted to keep everything above board. However, he couldn’t pretend, not the way that Cassandra was. She had obviously got it into her head that they shared a deeper connection, when in reality, they shared nothing. They didn’t know one another and never had. He didn’t know her then and he sure as hell didn’t want to know her now.

“I don’t know how you can say those things to me, Kelton.” Her voice hitched emotionally.

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Do the girls know? That Kelton may be their father?”  Marion asked gently.

Cassandra’s head swung around to face her, her eyes flashing dangerously. “Who are you again? Why are you here? What right do you have to be here when we are discussing our personal affairs?”

Kelton banged his fist down on the desk before Marion could even summon a reply, making both the women jump. “She’s here because I asked her to be. She’s here because I don’t bloody trust you to answer me straight and get this done.” He roared.

He had come into this meeting determined to try and get on with this woman, just like he would with the parent of any other trainee, making sure he was professional and courteous throughout. He just couldn’t keep up the façade a moment longer. This woman infuriated him with her mere presence. She represented everything he had lost and his blood was boiling.

Cassandra abruptly stood up, her cheeks flushed with rage. “I do not appreciate being spoken to in this manner.” She turned to sweep over to the door, pausing with her hand on the handle to throw Kelton a look. “How you can even question their parentage is beyond me. The proof is there before your very eyes. However, I’ll grant you the paternity test. Do what you must. But, when the results come back, I expect an apology from you, Kelton, and I expect you to step up and speak to me about the role you will take in our lives.” Her eyes glared at him before she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

“What the fuck?” Kelton quirked his eyebrows at Marion.

“Indeed. What a strange woman.” Marion looked confused.

“And what the hell did she mean about a role in their lives? I want nothing to do with that woman.”

Marion stood up and drained the rest of her coffee. “I’ve got to say, I’m glad I was here. I wouldn’t trust that woman as far as I could throw her.”

“Thank you, Marion. I don’t think I could have done this by myself.”

“Not a problem. I don’t mean to be rude about your situation, but that was fascinating for me. You could wrap an entire psychology course around that woman and still have material to spare.” Marion grinned, trying to lighten Kelton’s mood. “I’ll get everything together. She didn’t need to know that I’ve already got everything we need.”

“Great job, Marion. You’re a star.”

“Leave it with me. I’ll go and get everything ready and then go and round the girls up.”

Kelton nodded. “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that she didn’t even ask to see the girls while she was here? She made a big deal of pointing out that she’d had a long drive here, but then she’s walked out without giving them another thought.”

Marion nodded along with him. She’s had exactly the same thought. “I don’t see her being very maternal towards the girls. I think it could explain partway how they are. Cala is trying her best to please everyone and Rhian craves attention.”

“This isn’t going to be easy, is it?” Kelton could feel himself freaking out at the thought of what the future could hold. If they were his daughter’s, they had a lot of time to make up for. How would he ever feel like a father to them? He didn’t even know them. The girls were virtual strangers to him and he had no idea how to overcome the hurdles ahead of him.

“Take it easy, Kelton.” Marion put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We’ll take this one step at a time.”

“Thanks for being here.”

“You’re my friend. Where else would I be?” Marion smiled and left his office without another word, leaving him to his thoughts.

 

 

Chapter Four

 

“Will you stop whining like a child?” Rhian snapped.

Cala closed her mouth and put her head down. There was no point in trying to talk to her sister. She never listened anyway.

It had always been the same. Just because she was different, she was the black sheep of the family. Their mother doted on Rhian, showering her with gifts, giving her her heart’s desire. Cala? She got nothing but grief. In a way, she could be compared to Cinderella. That was her life after all. She was treated like one of the slaves, a maid only there to do her sisters bidding.

Life had been the same ever since they were children. As soon as their differences became apparent, her mother lost all interest in her. In all fairness, their mother didn’t have a maternal bone in her body and she treated Rhian like a best friend rather than a daughter. That was still a huge step up from how Cala was treated.

“I just thought if you tried the training, you might find it a little easier to get along here. You don’t have to do this.” Cala bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything else. When Rhian was in this kind of mood, it was easier to let her get it off her chest and make no comment. She wouldn’t listen anyway, so what was the point?

“Why would I do training? Getting hot and sweaty, and for what? Nothing, that’s what. We’re not like those people. Why would I train when this is so much more fun?” Rhian sneered and turned up her nose.

“But, we’re here. These marks show that we are kind of like them.” Cala pointed to the star shaped mark that had appeared on their faces out of the blue. “You don’t have to do this. Can’t you just leave her alone?”

Rhian and her stupid plans were going to make their time here even harder. Why couldn’t she just try to fit in for once? Why did she have to make trouble wherever she went? All Cala wanted was a happy, quiet life but that was never going to be possible. Rhian was always trying to drag her into her ‘fun’, but Cala wanted nothing to do with it this time. This time, she wanted to try and make a life for herself, one on her own. However, Rhian probably wasn’t going to let her go that easily.

She could clearly remember the moment it happened. How the mark had appeared and changed their lives forever. It came all of a sudden, while she was out trailing after Rhian and their mother on a shopping trip in India.

Cala had been asked along and had jumped at the chance, hoping that this would be a time of bonding and building bridges, but she should have known better. They only wanted her along to carry their bags and trail after them, telling them how wonderful they looked in the clothes they tried on, while she felt like she was dying inside.

They had been in one of the designer stores that Cassandra loved, splashing the cash and spoiling Rhian rotten. The pair of them had been in the changing rooms, trying on dozens of different dresses while Cala sat outside the dressing room with her nose stuck in a book.

Cassandra had stepped out wearing a slinky black number that should have looked slutty, but she made it look classic and elegant. Cala envied her confidence, a confidence that Rhian had inherited, but had totally passed by Cala.

“You look wonderful, mother.” Cala said, trying to get some emotion into her voice but failing. This was the twenty-second dress that she’d tried on and they all looked fabulous on her. There was only so much enthusiasm that Cala could fake.

In her mind, she always called her Cassandra. It made more sense seeing as she didn’t feel the family bond between them. It wasn’t like she was a daughter, she was more of a hindrance. Cassandra didn’t know how to be a mother. She was closer to Rhian, but that was because her sister was as emotionally shallow as their mother. Not that she’d ever dare say that to their faces.

“Thank you.” Cassandra twirled, admiring herself in the mirror and preening like a peacock. She turned back to Cala and gasped. “What on earth is that?” She stepped forward, peering into Cala’s face, her scrutiny so intense that Cala instantly felt herself blushing.

“What do you mean?” she replied, confused.

Cassandra roughly grabbed her by the shoulders, hauling her up and shoving her in front of the mirror. At first Cala couldn’t understand what she was referring to, until Cassandra roughly pulled the hair back from her face, showing a strange mark on her temple that hadn’t been there this morning.

“What’s that?” Cala peered into the mirror.

A peeling scream came from the other dressing room and Cassandra shoved her out of the way to get to Rhian, who by the sounds of it was having a complete meltdown.

After a few minutes of peering at the strange marking in the mirror, Cassandra came out of the dressing room, cradling a sobbing Rhian in her arms.

Strangely enough, there was a smile on Cassandra’s face. Cala couldn’t understand what was going on and looked at her questioningly.

“Mother, what are we going to do?” Rhian sobbed, clearly seeing this as the end of the world. She’d traded on her good looks all her life, just like her mother, and this blemish was going to have a major impact on her. Cala wasn’t as bothered. She thought it was interesting and had never been very hung up on her looks.

“I know exactly what we’re going to do. This is better than I could have expected.” Cassandra was positively beaming now.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t question your mother!” Cassandra stepped forward and Cala shrunk back.

“What? How the hell am I supposed to cover this?” Rhian scrubbed at her face, as if trying to get it off.

“We’re going to take you to your father.”

“Our father?” Cala looked over, shocked. Cassandra had never even mentioned their father before. Growing up, it was almost as if they had been conceived in an immaculate conception.

“Yes. This proves it.” She said triumphantly. “Girls, come and sit down. I need to speak with you.” Cassandra waved her hands to indicate the small seating area in the dressing room. Obviously, Rhian and Cassandra took the only two seats, leaving Cala standing awkwardly next to them.

“Your father is a warrior with the Sons of Satrina. They are the protectors of the Lamia Matris.”

Rhian barked out a laugh. “Are you kidding me? Our father’s a vampire? Seriously, mother. That’s terribly uncouth.” She chuckled like Cassandra had made the world’s best joke.

“Rhian! Enough.” Cassandra said sternly, probably the first time she had ever snapped at Rhian.

Cala was shocked into silence by the whole thing. Not only had her mother spoken harshly to Rhian, which was a first, but their father was part of the Lamia Matris? And a warrior, no less! This shopping trip was suddenly looking up.

“I shall make the call now and will arrange for you to be taken to him. The mark that has appeared on the pair of you is the mark of the warrior.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Rhian said testily, clearly not appreciating being on the hard end of her mother’s tongue.

“It means that you will have to go and live with him.”

Rhian looked panicked. “What? You’re sending us away? Why?”

“Because you know I have been looking for your father for years. This is our way back in. Kelton is a wonderful man. One that I should never have let go.” Cassandra’s eyes darkened as she thought back to the man she had wanted, the one that got away. “This is our chance.”

“Can’t you just send Cala?” Rhian whinged.

“You will do as you’re told! Get your things together. We must leave now. There are many arrangements to be made.” And Cassandra swept back into the changing room.

“What? What about the dresses?” Rhian shouted, stamping her foot like a toddler.

“Leave them. This is much more important.”

Rhian turned and stabbed a finger in Cala’s direction, “I don’t know how you did it, but this is all your fault.”

Life had been the same since they were young children. If anything went wrong with their lives, it was always Cala’s fault. No matter what it was, or even if she wasn’t there, it was still her fault. Cala still held the hope that things would change for them. It was coming to the point in her life when she was going to have to accept that she was never going to be accepted by them and that they didn’t give a toss one way or another if she was part of their lives.

It was crushing. She and Rhian were identical twins, but they couldn’t have been more different. Cala had to spend her life in her sisters shadow, keeping quiet and doing all she could not to rock the boat. That wasn’t going to change. She’d hoped that this change in their lives would be for the better, bringing them closer together so that they’d finally have the sibling bond that Cala had always craved, but if anything, it was pushing them further apart.

Right now, Rhian was trying to get Cala in on a plan to make Aisline’s life a living hell. Cala didn’t want any part of it. She liked Aisline. She was one of the very few that actually noticed she was alive and tried to talk to her. There was no way she was going to have any part of Rhian’s plan.

“Stop being such a baby.” Rhian snapped.

“I’m not. I’m just not going to do this.”

“You’ll do what I tell you to do.” Rhian stepped forward, looking menacing. She’d always had the upper hand in their relationship and would bully Cala into doing what she wanted.

This was when it stopped. They were here at the academy, and away from their mother’s influence. Cassandra always took Rhian’s side and refused to see that she could do any wrong. It was time to see if she could stand on her own two feet.

“I will not do it. And I won’t let you do it.”

Rhian rose her eyebrows. “And how do you think you’re going to stop me? Give me a break, you are nothing.” Rhian burst out laughing, mocking her.

Usually, Cala would have broken down and done anything Rhian asked of her, just to get her acceptance. Not this time. Cala didn’t give her a chance to say anything else, running out of the room while she still had the courage to get away from her.

This was going to be the start of something. Cala had never stood up to her sister before and it felt good.

 

Aisline jogged up the stairs, grinning to herself. Things were generally starting to feel a bit better. Her relationship with Jackson was going well and they’d had more time to spend together over the last couple of days, and Rhian had stayed out of her way, which made everything else feel better.

Training was still an ongoing battle for her. She still loved it all as much as she had before the incident with the Mortuorum, but there was now an underlying nervousness that she had to constantly fight against. Most of the time, she was able to bury it in the back of her mind and get on with her life, however, there were occasions when one of the other guys would unknowing make a move or make a grab for her in a way that triggered a memory and it was all she could do not to freeze.

She didn’t want what had happened to her to taint her training, or the rest of her life for that matter. She had got out of there and she was beating it. But, sometimes, the memories of what they had done to her get the better of her. Even the strongest person couldn’t have gone through what she had and come out the other side unaffected. No matter how much she wanted to forget what they’d done and move on with her life, it would always be with her. She had to find a way to cope with it always being there, and not to let it win. Not to let them win.

Talking about it had helped a little. Actually, it helped more than Aisline would have ever thought possible. She wasn’t one for sharing her feeling, but in this case, she was learning the benefits of not bottling everything up inside.

Jackson never judged her or commented on the things that she told him. In all honesty, he was probably the last person she had ever expected to open up to, but they had got so close that it only seemed natural for her to want to share her fears with him. At first, she held back from telling him because she knew how he felt about her training to go out there and how scared he was for her during the abduction, but once they’d started talking, she couldn’t seem to hold it all in. Ash respected Jackson even more for the way he’d handled it. He hadn’t turned round to her and told her to quit her training, just to keep her safe. He hadn’t judged her rational or irrational fears. He’d just been there for her. Jackson gave her strength.

Damn, that boy was just about perfect, at least in Aisline’s eyes.

If Kayleigh had been around, she would have spoken to her. But she wasn’t. Ash missed her a lot. Kayleigh wasn’t just her mentor, she had become a good friend to her. It hurt that she’d run off without a single word as to why or where she was going.

Running around the corner, Aisline ran headfirst straight into Cala, sending her sprawling to the floor.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry. Are you alright?” Ash asked, immediately bending to help the girl back to her feet.

“I’m okay, nothing broken.” Cala said with a nervous smile.

Aisline helped her back up, covertly checking to make sure she wasn’t hurt. It had been entirely Ash’s fault. She’d been lost in her own blissful world and hadn’t been looking where she was going.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You went down with quite a thud.” Ash frowned.

“Honestly, I’m fine.” Cala blushed, brushing off her trousers self-consciously. She was royally intimidated by Aisline. The girl managed to fit in at the academy, not sticking out like a sore thumb, like she did. Cala was nothing like Aisline. It was like Ash had been born for this life. The training didn’t seem to be a struggle for her. Cala envied her for that. None of this came easily for her and she wasn’t quite sure how much more she could take.

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
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