"Yes, though I hoped to speak with you anyway. I have some experience here."
"Are you a counsellor or something?"
“One day. That’s what I went back to school for. My experience is more personal.”
"Oh, are you…" Something supernatural. Duh, the Slate brother’s job involved supernatural people and an evil mage targeted Aaron for a reason.
"Not too long ago I learned that I wasn’t an average human. I’m an empath. The short version is that my gift allows me to feel other’s emotions. So when I say I know how you feel, it’s not just an expression or because I’ve been there too. I literally feel it."
No wonder he didn’t believe me when I said I was fine.
"How did you break through?” I asked. “How did you call forth your powers?"
"These powers were there the whole time. I just didn’t realize or know anything about the supernatural."
"Oh. My shifter traits were hidden. There are still moments I’m almost convinced this is a misunderstanding." Did I sound stupid?
Aaron only watched me with a patient smile.
“Uh, I’m not in denial,” I assured. “My extra senses wake up for a few minutes at a time, so there’s definitely something there. I’ve seen the evidence. But this part of me still feels so foreign and I have no idea what kind of Pandora’s box I’m opening up.”
“Yes, this primal side of you will be somewhat different. Though not entirely foreign. Think of it this way. If you weren’t given a voice for years, if someone was always there holding you back when you tried to act or speak or feel, what would you want?”
“All I’d want is the chance to be heard.” To do what I hadn’t been able to do for so long. Have my own say. "And you think I should listen?”
“Don’t you think so? It’s long overdue. We often fear what we don’t understand, and when the thing we don’t understand comes from inside us, well, that can be a terribly lonely and painful experience.”
"Yeah,” I agreed quietly.
"You shouldn’t have to fear yourself. You deserve a chance to understand yourself. You deserve to be whole."
The words almost sounded like a guru preaching a path to enlightenment. How zen. That didn’t mean he was wrong.
16.A Fetching Shade of Red
Chase
I grabbed sheets and started making up the couch in the living room. Lucas and Aaron were talking in the kitchen and then Aaron stopped to chat with me before he went to bed.
Why did I bother preparing the couch every night when not all the pillows at my place were even equipped with pillowcases?
This was a home. A family lived here. Homes had clean sheets on the bed, even if the bed doubled as a couch. The apartment was my territory, but it wasn’t exactly sacred, only a place to sleep.
Obviously Aaron’s words hadn’t left me yet.
The bed was almost made when Lucas found me and interrupted. Taking one look at his severe face, I began moving closer. “Hey, is everything ok—"
"I can do this," he promised. “There’s something, I feel something new. I can shift.”
"We’ve done enough for one night," I tried to nudge him into the nearby chair to sit.
"Either help me or don’t get in my way.”
With him doubting his mind and senses, Lucas spent a lot of time being unsure. But this right here was exactly what I saw when he told me he’d say goodbye to his dad with or without us. Those moments when the doubt left and he knew exactly what he wanted? There was no stopping Lucas then.
So that only left how to help.
With his eyes closed and jaw clenched tight, his plan seemed to be stubborning himself into shifting. As if forcing something natural ever worked. The only thing I could think of doing to help…
