Chapter 58 Chapter 58

Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Kaelani POV

I stand there for a minute before smiling. “Hey, Felix, and yeah, sure.”
“We’re coming,” Kieran says.
I slowly turn my head toward him.
Zaire is already moving like the decision has been made too.
“Just give me a minute,” I say to Felix before grabbing both of them and dragging them farther away.
Neither one fights me, but I can practically feel the resistance coming off them. Once we're far enough that Felix shouldn't be able to hear us over the music, I drop their arms and turn to face them.
“What the hell are you two doing?” I ask.
“You heard your Nana, Shorty. Trust nobody,” Zaire says.
I roll my eyes. “I can handle myself.”
“We know that, but we don’t even know what he wants,” Kieran says.
“And standing over my shoulder while I talk to him is going to help?”
“Yes,” they both say.
I stare at them.
Meatheads.
“That's exactly why I need to talk to him ALONE,” I say.
Kieran's jaw tightens while Zaire looks past me toward Felix. Neither one of them likes this, and I understand why. Less than an hour ago, Caelum told us Felix was asking questions about whether I'm a witch. Nana's warning is still sitting heavily in my mind too.
But that only makes me want to know what Felix wants more.
“You two do realize if he’s hiding something, he probably isn’t going to tell me with both of you standing there growling at him.”
“I don't growl that much,” Kieran murmurs.
I give him a look.
Zaire snorts. “You definitely do.”
“So do you.”
“Never said I didn't.”
“Can we focus?”
Their attention returns to me.
“I’m going to talk to him. I’m not leaving the party, I’m not going anywhere secluded, and you two will probably stare at us the entire time anyway.”
“Definitely,” Zaire mutters.
“Obviously,” Kieran adds.
I sigh.
They both make faces before their expressions finally soften.
“Fine,” they say tightly.
“See? Growth.”
Neither one looks amused.
I kiss both of their cheeks. “Okay, bye.”
That works better than arguing. Both of them go quiet long enough for me to escape before they can change their minds.
I turn and walk off.
Nyra chuckles.
“You know exactly how to handle them now.”
“Barely.”
“You kissed them and ran.”
“And it worked.”
I can feel their eyes on me as I approach Felix.
He glances between me and the two guys behind me before raising a brow.
“Walk and talk?” I ask.
He looks back at the guys. “Are you sure we should do that?” he asks nervously.
I suck my teeth. “Aren’t you an Alpha? You will be fine.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, right.”
I laugh as we start walking, but I keep us in the main part of the party. I'm not scared of Felix, but I'm also not stupid. Until I know why he's suddenly so interested in me, there's no reason to make this easier for him than it needs to be.
“So what’s up?” I ask as we walk toward the drink table.
“I think you’re a really good fighter.”
I look at him from the side.
“Thanks.”
He smiles, but I don't say anything else. I let the silence sit between us until he looks over at me again.
“I like to be direct. You haven’t been this persistent about talking and asking my friends questions to tell me I’m a good fighter,” I say, raising a brow.
His steps slow slightly.
He laughs and nods. “Okay, you got me there.”
At least he isn't going to insult my intelligence by pretending Caelum wouldn’t tell me.
“I’ve just been curious. A lot of magical things have been happening around you. Then our hands glowed yesterday when we touched. Then Mitzy’s...” he says.
He trails off, but he doesn't need to finish. I know exactly what he's talking about.
The lights.
The strange things happening around me.
The way our hands reacted when we touched.
And now he's asking people whether I'm a witch.
I study his face as we stop near the drink table. He doesn't look threatening. If anything, he looks genuinely curious, but Nana's warning immediately runs through my head again.
Don't trust anybody.
That doesn't mean I have to lie about everything. It means I need to be smart about what I give away.
“Only tell him you’re a witch, but not what kind or how powerful,” Nyra says. “See what he does with that information. See if anything happens as a result.”
I glance toward Kieran and Zaire.
Exactly where I left them, both staring at us.
“That's actually not a bad idea,” I tell her.
“Obviously. I'm the smart one.”
“Don't push it.”
I turn back to Felix.
If he's only curious, telling him I'm a witch won't change anything.
But if there's another reason he's asking...
Maybe it's time I give him just enough information to see what he does with it.
“I am a witch. I found out on the first day of school. Let’s just say controlling my magic and understanding it has been harder than I thought,” I say.
I keep my eyes on Felix after I say it, watching for any change in his expression. Surprise, recognition, anything that might tell me he already knew the answer before he asked.
He’s quiet for a moment, and I study his face.
“Yikes, that must be hard,” he says thoughtfully.
His reaction seems genuine. There’s no sudden excitement or weird shift in his expression. If he was looking for confirmation, he’s doing a damn good job of hiding it.
“Yeah, it is, especially coming into the school year and being tested emotionally the first week,” I say, glancing at the now three goofs standing and watching us.
Of course Liam joined them.
All three are standing together now, pretending they aren't watching every move Felix and I make. They're terrible at pretending.
Felix follows my gaze. “So what’s the deal with you four anyways?”
I shrug. “I like being around them. My wolf seems to like them. As you can see, I can never really get too far from them.”
Felix looks toward them again before laughing.
“Yeah, I'm starting to see that.”
“They mean well.”
“That's one way to put it.”
I laugh because I can't exactly argue with him.
“Maybe I can hang with all of you guys one day after school,” he says.
The question catches my attention. After everything Caelum told us, part of me immediately wonders if this is another attempt to get closer to me.
Then Nyra's earlier suggestion comes back to me.
See what he does.
Keeping Felix around where I can actually watch him might tell me more than avoiding him ever will.
“Yeah, sure. Our new spot is seemingly Mitzy’s, so we’ll be there a lot after school,” I say.
If Felix is genuinely trying to become friends with us, then nothing happens. If there's another reason he wants to be around me, eventually he'll slip.
“Okay, cool. I will let you get back to it. Your Alphas are all walking over here, so it seems my time is up,” he says.
I turn my head.
Sure enough, all three are coming straight toward us.
“They're not my Alphas,” I mutter.
Felix laughs before walking away from me.
I watch him disappear into the crowd for a few seconds. That conversation didn't answer nearly as much as I hoped it would. If anything, Felix seemed completely normal.
“Now we wait,” Nyra says.
“I hate waiting.”
“I know.”
Liam smiles when he walks over and wraps me in a hug.
“What did he want?” Kieran asks immediately.
“To talk.”
“About?” Zaire asks.
I look between them. “Are you three interrogating me now?”
Liam laughs against me. “I'm not. I have something more important to discuss.”
“I didn’t like how you were dancing with Hayden. But I know you were trying to make us jealous. It worked,” he says, his tone holding none of the bossiness Kieran and Zaire had earlier.
At least one of them knows how to admit he was jealous without issuing me a damn rule.
He lightly kisses my neck.
My body shivers, and he chuckles.
“Yeah, there’s my girl,” he says before wrapping his arms around my waist.
I lean back against him for a second before looking at Kieran and Zaire.
“See? Learn from him.”
Liam grins.
Kieran rolls his eyes. “Don't encourage him.”
“I'm clearly the favorite,” Liam says.
“Don't push it,” I warn, but I can't hide my smile.
We spend the next few hours dancing before I suggest getting in the pool.
Somewhere along the way, I actually start enjoying myself enough that everything else fades into the background. My magic isn't exploding, nobody threatens me, and for once I'm not thinking about what might happen on my eighteenth birthday.
I'm just at a party with my friends.
“Lani, I told you nobody swims at pool parties,” Kaia says.
“Well, that’s stupid. I’m going swimming.”
“Of course you are.”
“It's literally called a pool party.”
“That doesn't mean you use the pool.”
I stare at her. “That might be the dumbest thing you've said all week.”
“And yet I'm still not getting in.”
I take my sandals off and then move to take off my shorts.
Kieran growls.
I stop with my hands on the waistband and slowly turn my head toward him.
“Shut up, you goof.”
He presses his lips together, wisely deciding not to say anything else.
I pull my hair up into a ponytail.
The second my shorts are off, I become aware of more than just the three familiar sets of eyes on me.
I feel eyes around the field follow me as I step toward the pool.
Instead of immediately wanting to cover myself like I probably would've before, I keep walking.
I chose to put on the bathing suit. I actually like how I look in it. That's enough.
I dive right in.
The cool water closes over me, and when I surface, I push my hair away from my face and grin toward Kaia.
“Still stupid?” I call.
“Yes!” she yells back.
I laugh.
Soon, other kids follow behind me.
“See!” I shout. “I started something!”
Kaia cups her hands around her mouth. “Congratulations, social navigator junior!”
I flip her off, making her laugh.
A boy swims underneath me, and before I understand what he's doing, I end up on his shoulders.
I yelp in surprise.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Playing chicken,” he says, winking.
I laugh despite being caught completely off guard and steady myself before I fall backward into the water.
“Put her down.”
Zaire’s voice sounds behind me.
My smile immediately disappears.
Oh, Goddess. Not again.
“Zaire, it’s just a game,” the boy says.
“Put. Her. Down,” he says again.
There's enough Alpha in his voice this time that several people nearby turn toward us.
The boy slowly goes back underneath the water before swimming away.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
I watch him leave before turning toward Zaire.
I am officially irritated now.
I glare at him. “Are you serious?”
“Very.”
Before I can respond, he jumps into the water.
He comes closer, wrapping his arms around me.
“Ours,” he says, kissing me softly.
Normally, that one word coming from him would make my stomach flip.
Right now, it only annoys me more.
I roll my eyes.
“This possessive shit you guys have going on is getting boring really quickly.”
His expression changes slightly.
“I will do what I want, talk to who I want. You don’t get to control that no matter what we have going on,” I say, pushing him off me and swimming away.
This time, Zaire doesn't follow me.
Good.
I love the possessiveness they have toward me, but sometimes it clouds their minds.
There's a difference between wanting me and thinking they get to make decisions for me.
I don't mind the growling. Half the time I think it's cute. I don't even mind them getting jealous. Goddess knows I've deliberately caused enough of it tonight.
But telling other guys they can't speak to me, dance with me, or even play a stupid game with me?
No.
I already said I was theirs.
What else do they want?
“A declaration,” Nyra teases.
“Absolutely not. I already let them all kiss me in front of the whole class.”
Nyra laughs.
“That isn't a declaration.”
“It's embarrassing enough.”
“You weren't embarrassed when you kissed Kieran first.”
I roll my eyes.
“Nobody asked you.”
“You did when you started talking to me.”
Annoying ass wolf.
I swim toward the other side of the pool, refusing to look back at Zaire.
He can stand over there and think about what he did.
Because if these three really are going to be part of my life—mates or not—they're going to learn something now.
Being theirs doesn't mean I stop being mine.