Chapter 278

We all watch quietly as Jesse becomes…acclimated to himself, to his new power. And I watch with a great deal of pride as Jesse’s breathing evens out, as he settles more comfortably into his chair, and as the shadows themselves become less chaotic clouds and instead more streamlined, flowing around him a bit as they did when he was in bed.

“Okay,” Jesse whispers, looking down and observing them as they swirl around him, faster and slower, like he’s experimenting with them. “I can…do this.”

“Can you shape them at all, baby?” Cora asks quietly, turning her head to the side.

“I don’t know,” Jesse murmurs, frowning at them, curious, ignoring or missing the pet name he previously forbade.

I sit forward, desperate to see what he can do.

“You did before,” Rafe says, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice. “You made them fish. It was…very cool.”

Jesse glances up at Rafe for a second, a smile on his lips, before he glances down at the shadows again. I gasp as they immediately begin to take shape – fish again in streams. We all lean forward, I think delighted at this change, and then I can tell when Jesse gains confidence, becomes more experimental, changing the shape of the fish and making them chase each other in little schools.

My eyes go wide when some of the shadows begin to clump together behind him, taking the form of a shark and then dashing out, scaring some of the minnows away. But the way Jesse laughs when it happens lets me know that it was all in his control – that he’s playing, enjoying seeing what he can do.

And so a little laugh bursts from me as I clap my hands together, beaming at my cousin, delighted.

He glances up at me and then at everyone else, as we all begin to murmur encouragement. And then Jesse’s laughing and his shadows change form again, this time gathering into two small cats at his side that begin to walk slowly around him, their dark smokey tails brushing warm against his side.

And then, as we watch, Jesse exhales deeply and begins to call the shadows back into himself, apparently finished with his experiment for the day. The cats fade into vague streaks of darkness before that darkness rushes through the air, to Jesse’s palms, and then slowly back into himself.

“Holy shit,” Jesse whispers, and then he looks up at all of us, grinning like it’s the coolest thing he’s ever seen.

“I’m so proud of you, baby,” Cora says, her voice choked. I look in surprise when Cora dashes across the room towards her eldest son, who quickly stands and wraps her up in a hug as his mom tucks her face against his chest, showing far more emotion than she usually does.

I grin at both of them before looking up at mom who is, unsurprisingly, crying, one hand pressed to her heart.

“Mom,” Jesse murmurs, laughing and stroking her back even as he blushes. “Come on, not in front of my friends.”

Cora just laughs and pulls away, wiping at her own eyes a bit. “I’m just really proud of you, kid,” she sighs. “Look at you, growing up, all magical with your shadow cats.”

“Shadow panthers,” Jesse corrects, still blushing a bit as Cora steps away. “Just…little ones. For now.”

“This is definitely a different class,” Tony murmurs, smiling around at us. And I can’t help it – I smile back at him, because it definitely feels like things are getting better around here.

“I had very little control too, in the beginning,” Cora says, looking Jesse in the eye for a moment but then addressing us all. “Storms and weather events just…happened in occurrence with my emotions.”

“One very particular emotion,” mom says, turning to grin at Cora a little wickedly, “if I remember correctly.”

“We’re done talking about that,” Cora says, her sentimentality wiped from her in a moment as she points a finger at my mom, who just laughs.

“Oh, ew,” Jesse sighs, falling back into his chair and putting his head in his hands.

“The point is,” Cora says, walking back to the desk with her head held high, “that you’re already showing an incredible amount of control, Jesse, and that with more practice…it will be very interesting to see what you can do.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of jealous,” Tony says with a nod. “I can do one thing and…it’s sort of done. No developments for me.”

“Well, we don’t know that,” Cora says to Tony with a small smile. “What Alvez said to you before was right – we should experiment.”

Tony considers it for a moment and then shrugs, nodding to her, letting her know that he’s game.

“But what do we do about what the God of Darkness said?” Jesse says, drawing all eyes back to him. Others stare at him in confusion, not knowing what he means, but my stomach twists a little, remembering what Jesse said this morning. “About…” he hesitates, looking around for a moment before deciding to press forward. “About his girl finding me, or whatever. Sort of…implying it had something to do with this?”

“Well,” Cora says, looking over at mom with some hesitance. “We have…sort of a hypothesis about that.”

“We do?” Rafe says, leaning forward towards them, quite interested now.

“We talked about it last night,” mom says, sighing and folding her legs up beneath her so that she’s just perched casually on the desk and looking around at the five of us. “And, I don’t think it applies to Jackson and Tony, but in our family at least…I think the magic starts to come when you meet your mate. I mean, in my case it was a little different,” she shrugs, “because…I didn’t know I was a wolf and then my mother gave me the gift as a literal gift. But all of that started when I finally met Dominic.”

“Whoa,” I say, my eyes going wide as I realize that…the same is true for me.

“And my gift only really manifested in Roger’s presence,” Cora says quietly, “after I had accepted the bond between us. Even if I, too, also did not yet know I’m half wolf.”

We all stare at them in a bit of shock.

“Wait, no,” Jesse says, leaning forward, tension in every single muscle. “No, this does not work – because I have not met my mate.”

“I know, kid,” Cora says, nodding to him quietly as Jesse stares at her. “But the way the God of Darkness phrased that…what if you have, and you just haven’t realized it?”

“What are you talking about,” Jesse says, speaking very quickly, his shadows starting to seep from him again as he starts to get freaked out. “The way that Ariel talks about it, I’d have known – I’d have recognized her instantly!”

“True,” Cora says, her eyes sad, holding a hand out to him. “But what if…you haven’t met her yet? But…she’s met you?”

Jesse’s mouth drops open, shadows spilling from it for a second before he notices and snaps his mouth shut, leaning back in his chair and staring off into space for a long, long moment, his shadows eddying around him in an anxious circle.

“Jesse,” my mom says, hesitating and then starting to get off the desk, clearly wanting to go to him.

“No, no,” Jesse says, holding a hand up towards her, even as he continues to stare into space. “I need a minute, please.”

Mom hesitates again but then turns back to the rest of us.

“I mean, like you said, it doesn’t work for us,” Jackson says pointing between Tony and himself. “I mean…unless I have another mate? And I met her when I was younger?”

My eyes go wide as I stare at Jackson, absolutely horrified by the idea, my mind flashing – instantly, of course – to Tasha, the girl he…

But I clench my teeth, forcing the thought from my mind, hating it. Hating all of it. Livid, and jealous, and horrified again.

Quite suddenly my body gets very, very hot – the energy focus on my hands, pressed to the desk in front of me.