The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 146

DALE

I stared at the panther in the tree; I knew she would be up there. All the pack members were looking everywhere else. I couldn’t believe the others would be so stupid to talk about Izzy and Allie so openly and not even realize Blake was behind them.

“Please come down,” I say as the green eyes stare back at me.

It looked like Puna and Izzy were having a conversation.

After a few moments, Puna descends the tree. Once on the ground, she sat on her hind legs, watching me. I have to admit; that I felt kind of scared. This is the panther that could kill or even take anyone out, whether she had power or not.

Puna shifts, and Izzy appears before me; I turn my head. We are all used to seeing everyone naked, but she is my sister. I hold my hand out behind me with a t-shirt I grabbed from Paul.

We both agreed that I would talk to Izzy while he made sure everyone else stayed away from her. She needed to calm down.

“You can look now,” she says.

I turn around and stare at her.

“What are you doing here?” she asks. “You going to tell me the same thing as everyone else?”

I stare at her; I know she has been trying to get hold of Blake. I have been in the office mostly when she was trying.

“I don’t need to,” I say to her. She cocks her head to the side, and I can’t help but smile. “I know you were trying to get hold of him, but why didn’t you tell him you spoke to someone who was not Anita? They were supposed to give her the message that you called.”

Izzy stares at me but sighs. “I was going to, but my cousin opened her big mouth,” she says.

Izzy looks around, but she sighs. “I never meant what I said to Blake,” she says, turning to look at me. I could see tears were there, but she held them back.

I look at her; I know she didn’t mean it. She was struggling with her emotions. I could hear and feel everything that she was going through.

I could feel eyes on us, but I never let them know I knew they were there.

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” I say to her. She looks back at me and nods.

Izzy takes the lead, and I follow her. I walk alongside her, and we head toward the river on the far side.

After ten minutes of walking in silence, we came to the river. Izzy takes a seat on a rock, and I sit next to her, keeping my eyes focused on the water.

“Allie remembers everything from the war,” she says quietly. “I mean everything. Allie watched Amir drink Kat’s blood and even witnessed the death of two people who she cared about.”

I look at her, and a tear slides down her face. Her eyes dart to her lap, “I never had to deal with my emotions as it was like a fuel source for my power,” she says. “This is all new to me. I never once had to feel anger fill my veins as it did back there. My love for everyone would warm me, especially when I was on the run. The thought that they were safe made me at ease.” She looks at me, and her eyes hold every emotion you could think of. But my heart aches; she never had to feel like we had to. We all know what anger and hatred feel like, but when you apply guilt and fear to the mix, everything is more complicated.

I moved my hand and placed it in hers. I gently squeeze it, but I look up at her. “Izzy,” I say quietly. But Izzy shook her head, “don’t feel sorry for me,” she said. “I knew this would happen when I moved my power.”

I say nothing. I could feel the eyes on us once more, and I knew who it was. She wanted to make sure she was alright.

“No one understands that I never had to feel the anger or the guilt like everyone else,” she says. “When you haven’t felt those types of emotions ever in your life, but suddenly felt them all. Every single one came full force at me.”

I look at her, but my mind wanders. She never had to feel anything before, but now she has to deal with it; that must be hard to muster.

“I have to say Izzy,” I say to her. “I wouldn’t know how to do what you are doing, going from not feeling anything to now doing it. It must have been hard.”

I glance at her; her eyes say so much.

“You have no idea,” she says quietly. “No one understood my power; if I tried to explain, people would be confused. Alice never knew how my power worked or how it was fueled. Kat sort of knows, but only a little.”

Izzy looks at me briefly but turns to look at the river. “Lena only knows what I told her,” she says. “I never give much away, not even to friends. Someone always could use what you give them to stab you in the back.”

I sigh. “I know Lena told Alice and everyone, but she was worried for Allie’s safety,” I say to her. But Izzy doesn’t bat an eyelid at me.

Lena told me what she did the night she came back from Izzy’s room, and she had a funny feeling that if Izzy took Allie’s memories, it would cause Allie’s fate to change.

Lena gave little away and has been reading more about Izzy and Allie’s power, even though there is nothing about Allie’s ability to go through. I knew my mate was trying to help, but when you only give someone half a message, it usually ends in an argument.

Both Lena and I have been arguing lately, as she has been investing in looking for more information about Izzy and her ancestors. I want to start a family, but I know Izzy needs to talk to Lena about stuff.

“Why did she tell them what I did?” blurts Izzy. I looked over at her, and her eyes bore into mine as I met her gaze.

I sigh. “Lena and I argued about what she did,” I tell her. “She only did it for you to listen to her reasons.”

Izzy huffs, “what reasons?” she asks. “She never gave me any reasons why I shouldn’t have taken Allie’s memories. I thought she was all for it, like you and me.”

I stare at her but look at the water. “Lena seems to think that whatever you decide for Allie, it will change her future.”

“She said something about fate but never told me what she meant,” she says.

I was about to open my mouth, but someone spoke instead. I knew she was following us, and her scent always got to me. I glance over my shoulder to see Lena walk up to us.

Izzy stares at her but says nothing. I could feel Puna through Izzy; she was quiet while we talked. But something about my mate has Puna on edge.