Chapter 379 Chapter 379
He checked her room, the entertainment room, and as a last resort the common house, praying the whole time she wasn’t trying to bake again. When he exhausted all possible rooms, he went to the front of the house to look out the window, thinking maybe she was down at the lake where Shaelan was doing her tests. The younger children would be doing their studies right now and the two boys should be over at the fishery doing chores, so he wasn’t sure where else to look.
He was just about to turn around and go get his shoes when he saw her coming out of the trees that ran to the side docks around the lake. She was wrapped in a towel. He checked the shore again and saw that Olanna and Nolyn weren’t there now. Relief filled him; he’d been concerned she’d been in the lake when they were. Swimming in a pool with children was nothing like being in the lake with others. Breathing another sigh of relief, he was just about to turn to go back to the kitchen when Lucus and Paxton came out of the trees, towels wrapped around them. They were laughing and called out something to Terah. She stopped and smiled at them, pointing to the lake, Pax shook his head at whatever she’d said.
She’d been in the lake with two males. His mind started flying with all the ways that could have gone very wrong. He squeezed them shut, he knew she’d understood when he’d explained it. His gaze narrowed in on the boys wondering if Paxton had coerced her into going for a swim with them. Grinding his teeth, he spun on his heel and went back to the kitchen. Putting the kettle on to boil, he stood there leaning on the island tapping his hands on it. Paxton wasn’t that naïve, to ignore the warning that he knew Malachi had given all of them.
They came in the door, one after the other, still laughing and talking. Konner stood there, motionless, waiting for them to notice him. Lucus spotted him first and stopped so suddenly that Paxton, who was looking at Terah at that moment, walked right into him. His eyes went wide when he saw why Lucus had stopped. Paxton on auto defend mode, opened his arms, raising his hands. “She joined us; we didn’t know.”
Lucus bobbed his head quickly. “She startled Pax so bad, I thought he might die on me.”
Konner stood there, not even able to find the words to speak to them.
“I saw them leave and followed them,” Terah said, walking around the pool, toward the kitchen. “Do not be mad at them.”
Konner dragged his gaze from her to the two boys, still standing where they’d stopped. “Go get dressed.” He tried to keep the bark out of his words but failed.
Both teens jolted and made fast work of getting down the hall to their rooms.
Terah stood on the other side of the island now. “They were safe. I would not hurt them.” Her hair was dripping onto the towel, soaking it.
“You couldn’t know…”
Terah shook her head, a hard expression on her face, “I am strong, Konner, not weak as you think.” She practically spat the words at him. “I know they are boys; I would not hurt them.”
He gripped the counter tight and inhaled slowly, buying time to try to find the words to explain it to her.
“I am fine. They are fine.” Her words were clipped, “you can take two more off the list.” She turned and walked quickly toward her room.
Dropping his head, he closed his eyes. That was a big failure on his part.
“You shouldn’t be mad at her.”
Turning, he looked to see Lucus standing there, wearing a navy bathrobe.
“She was careful. She stalked us halfway across the lake, checking for herself how she felt about being in the water with another water clan.” Jamming his hands in his pockets. “We didn’t even know she was there until she popped up out of the water and did this epic twirl,” he waved his hands in a circle above his head, “like some kind of freaking mermaid or something.” He gave Konner a serious look, “she,” he opened his hand and made a face, “practically glows when she’s in the water, Konner, I’ve never seen that.” He sobered, “why does she do that?”
Konner wiped his hand over his face, feeling like a slug for reacting the way he had, “I’m not sure, but there’s a lot of things about her that are different.”
“But she’s like us, right?”
Konner nodded, “her line was the combination of Alpha lines from other clans, they hoped to strengthen the clan.”
Lucus snorted, “well they succeeded, she’s crazy fast, like swam circles around us and that, that twirl thing, I don’t even know how she does it.” He scowled, “I can get like four feet if I really build up the momentum,” he snorted again, “it’s like she grows wings and soars.”
Konner smirked at his dramatic expressions, but he couldn’t argue with them. “I saw her do in the pool house, with Kole on her back.”
“For real? She can do that carrying someone?” He frowned, “Kole isn’t that big, but still.” He blew out a breath, “just don’t be mad at her. She even warned us if she did anything funny to get out of the water.” He shook his head, “not that it would have mattered with how fast she is.” He shrugged, “I’m going to grab a shower.” He backed up two steps and then turned and walked back down the hall.
The kettle whistling caught his attention. Going over, he took it off the burner and then set it down. Two more off the list. That left Reeves and himself. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and then blew it out. He had no idea how he felt about things if Reeves turned out to be her mate. None at all. Shaking his head, he turned and started for the office. His want of a relaxing cup of tea was gone. He needed to get his head into work and keep it there.