Chapter 10

Ande's eyes flickered to me and sympathy washed over her face and immediately I began to feel guilty for thinking of my mother, when she could hear my thoughts. That wasn't very nice of me. "Calla!" she scolded me. "Don't think like that! Of course you have every right to be thinking of your mother. Forgive me for being so careless."

I nodded my head to let her know that I forgave her, but my mind wasn't there anymore. I was stuck in the past and I was thinking about my mother.

FLASHBACK

It was my fourth birthday, yes I had a very good memory and could remember that far back, and I was playing outside in the sandbox—making a sandcastle. My mother had just come outside to tell me that it was time to go in. All I could think of at the time was how beautiful my mother looked. I remember that she wore a long black floral dress that flowed down to her feet, and her long golden-brown hair blew every which way in the breeze. Her cheeks were a bright rosy color that lit up her face. To me, she looked like an angel.

"Calla," She sang, as she stepped up to the swing set. Yes, my parent's allowed me to play outside by myself. They didn't worry about me; I could handle myself just fine. I knew not to talk to strangers. "Time to come inside!"

"Five more minutes mommy." I begged, hoping that she would let me play outside longer. I loved being outside. I loved the feel of the glorious sunshine that beat down on my neck and warmed me up.

"No, darling." She told me, as she bent down to my level. "It's time to go. And besides, that's what you said five minutes ago. Daddy wants you to open presents now, and Bryn just got here. She wants to see you."

My eyes lit up when she told me that. Bryn was my best friend and we loved spending time with each other. "You should have told me that!" I scolded, as I clamored out of the sand box, accidently kicking sand everywhere.

"Calla!" My mother shouted, as she brushed the sand off her beautiful dress.

"oops, sorry mama." I apologized, as I raised my arms, in hopes that she would pick me up.

Mother laughed when she saw me and bent down to pick me up. I remember being so excited when I saw Bryn, and opened the beautiful best friend necklace that she brought me. I remembered getting a stuffed teddy bear from my brother, and a gorgeous, over-sized doll house from my mother and dad. I don't think I ever stopped playing with that doll house until I was about ten years old. Those were definitely the best days of my life, and I wished that I could go back to them when we were still a family and we didn't have to worry about anyone being killed.

END FLASHBACK

Tears had now spilt over and there was nothing I could have done to stop them. Adne had scooted closer to me, wrapping her arms around me, smoothing my hair back as she rocked my back and forth. Here she was comforting me, when I clearly should have been the one comforting her. "Calla, is there anything I can get you?" She offered, sweetly.

I shook my head. There wasn't really anything that I wanted, except maybe Shay. He always knew how to comfort me whenever I was sad. There was something about the way in which he touched me and soothed me with his comforting words that no one else could do. But after the way I talked to Shay earlier, I doubt he would want to ever come.

"I'll get him for you." Adne whispered, as she went to stand up.

Immediately, I grabbed her hand. I hated being left alone when I was this sad. I tended to somehow get in a state of depression and it was hard to get out of. "Please, don't leave me alone." I begged.

Adne nodded and sat back down, continuing to comfort me. I could tell that she was worried about me, but there was nothing I could do. "Okay, I'll stay." She whispered, pulling me closer. "You're going to be okay, Calla, I promise. I won't let you get depressed." Of course she would know about that, I winced.

XXX

There was something really wrong with Calla. I knew that she was just thinking about her mother, but no one that I knew of ever got like this. She wanted Shay but wouldn't let me up to get him. I guess I was just going to have to use my telepathy. Yes, I was leaving this part out, when talking to Calla. She didn't need to know everything about me. I had the right to have a few secrets of my own. Not only could I read thoughts, but I could also send thoughts into other people's minds. I'm pretty sure that Lydia couldn't do that. I was feeling pretty smug about being able to do something that Lydia couldn't. it made me happy.

Though I couldn't believe that Lydia had mind reading abilities too, only hers seemed much more advanced than mine. I couldn't read everyone's minds; I could only read the minds of those around me. It would be nice to have the ability to read everyone's mind in the entire world though.

'Shay' I sent my thoughts to him, hoping that he would hear me and come as quickly as he could.

I could tell that he heard me calling him and that he was slightly confused and freaking out about what had just happened. 'Shay, don't freak out okay.' I told him. 'it's Adne. I need you, or well Calla needs you. Just think and I'll be able to hear you.'

'Adne?' He questioned. 'How are you doing that?'

'I'm telepathic.' I told him smugly. 'I can read and sent thoughts to people's minds.'

'I know what a telepathic is.' He sounded annoyed. 'I'm not stupid.'

'I didn't say that you were.' I argued. 'but seriously, Shay, I need you to come here right away. It's Calla, something's wrong. I'm worried about her.'

'What do you mean? What happened?' he asked.

'I'll explain it to you later, but right now, you better come as quickly as you can.'

'Okay, I'm on my why. Where are you exactly?' He asked.

'outside Calla's bedroom.' I explained. I knew we needed to get Calla into her bedroom before someone started asking questions. She didn't need that.

'Okay, will be there in a sec.'

I could tell that Shay was on his way, because I could feel it in his mind. He was worried. He hated the fact that something could be wrong with Calla, and he wanted to get here as fast as possible—good.

Before I knew it, Shay was here and immediately I felt relieved. I knew it was wrong of me, but now that he was here, I could go. I honestly didn't want to be around Calla when she was like this. I knew it sounded bad, but it wasn't because I was mad at her, but because I was beginning to feel sad about my own father. I didn't want to cry, especially with Shay around. He made me nervous for some reason.

XXX

My mind raced in fear for Calla. Something was wrong and I didn't know what. I reached Calla and Ande in less than two minutes. I hadn't gone very far when calla sent me from her room. I hated being apart from her and I hated fighting.

The reason I didn't go far when Calla sent me from her room, was because of just this reason. If Calla needed something, I would be able to get there quickly. "Adne!" I greeted, as I saw her, but my attention immediately went to Calla, who was curled and wrapped in Adne's arms. "So what happened?" I asked, kneeling in front of Calla, trying to pry her hands—unsuccessfully—from her face.

Her face was red and I could tell that she had been clawing herself. Oh no, please don't be depressed. The last time she was depressed, she went as far as slicing her wrists with a knife, or any sharp object that she could find. I didn't want her to go through that again. And honestly, I didn't know if I could go through that again. It really tore me up seeing her like that.

"I really don't know." Adne whispered. "she was thinking about her mom and just started sobbing. I didn't know what to do, so I called you."

I nodded my thanks. "It was good that you called me when you did, because It would be bad if she gets depressed"

"How do you know that she's not already?" She asked.

"You're right, I don't. I have to try to get her talking, and get her to stop clawing at her face." I told her, feeling annoyed that Adne hadn't tried to stop her. "Calla," I whispered, once again trying to pull her hands down. "Sweetheart, please look at me. Lift your head up and look at me." I ordered. Since I was the head alpha, I knew that she would have to listen to me.

"Does it really work that way?" Adne asked.

"What do you mean?"

"When you order Calla to do something, she has to respond?"

I nodded my head. "Everyone has to respond to me, no matter if they are in my pack or not. If someone doesn't respond, there will be hell to pay. No one wants to defy an order from an alpha."

A look of confusion spread over Adne's face. "But I thought calla was an alpha too? I didn't think that she had to take orders from anyone."

"it doesn't work that way." I told her.

"Why not?"

"Because, I'm the head alpha. And everyone, I mean everyone, has to answer to me. No way around it."

"That just doesn't seem right, or fair." She grumbled.

"Well haven't you ever heard the phrase, life isn't fair?"

"Of course I have, but that just doesn't mean that I like it, or that Calla should have to follow orders like that. It just seems so wrong." She replied.

Well, she didn't have to like it, and besides, she wasn't a guardian, so she couldn't fully understand it like we could. No, not everybody was happy about it, the other alphas especially, but that was the rule. The penalty for breaking that rule was severe. It consisted of banishment from the pack and or death. It was cruel, but the elders wanted to make sure that it wasn't taken as a joke.

I know Calla had already defied one order that I had given earlier, but I was trying to be lenient. After all, she had just lost her mother and had been hurt. It was one that I could let slide by, but I knew that I couldn't do it again, especially when I knew that there were other people watching me. But enough about that, I would worry about it later. Right now, I had to try and reach Calla before she was too far gone. "Do you think you could go get Bryn?" I asked. Bryn was more likely to have luck reaching her if I for some reason couldn't.

"Of course." She said, just standing there, not moving—like she was calling her with her mind. I was hoping that she would get up and go get Bryn. I kind of wanted to spend a few minutes alone with Calla. I hadn't actually spent that much time with her since we got here. It seemed that she was too busy yelling at me, or hanging out with Adne, her new best friend. Don't get me wrong, I was glad that she was making new friends, but I wanted to be the one to spend time with her. I guess you could say that I was jealous.

"Do you think you could actually go get her?" I asked. I'm sure that she had already read my thoughts and knew that I wanted to be alone with her, right Adne? I thought to her.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving." She said, quickly standing up.

"Thank you." I said, turning my attention back to Calla.