Tongue Tied

It's been several days, and people were hurrying back and forth. I have barely seen Ezra and Apollo since I mentioned Carter. I have been training pretty much non-stop with my father and I feel stronger than ever.

Ever since the day I threatened Apollo, the people around here have walked past me and acted very wary of me. It frustrates me because I can feel their demeanor change as soon as they notice my appearance, and it doesn't make me very confident.

Despite how self-conscious these people make me feel, my father always seems to help me feel assured. 

"Stella, don't forget to move your hands around like this," My father says while he shows me how to hold the flame in my hand. 

"I know. I'm sorry," I tell him as I adjust my hands, refocusing my mind on my power.

"What is going on with you?" My father asks, putting out the flame in my hands.

"Nothing," I say while attempting to ignite my power again, but my father immediately extinguishes it again.

"Tell me," He says while stepping right in front of me and holding my hands in his. For some reason, his touch made me feel safe. Safe to touch, safe to hug, and safe to talk to him. Is it because of him being my father or is it because our bond grew?

"I just don't feel comfortable in this pack anymore," I explained to him. After I said that, I ranted about how everyone is commenting and raving about how scary I was and how they didn't trust me. I then go on about how no one in this pack will speak to me; they will just speak to each other about me. 

"I understand that you don't feel comfortable here, but you and I are stronger than this entire pack and we need to stick together to help them," He explains.

"But what should I do? I have had enough of people talking behind my back?" I ask, a line of anger rushing through my blood at the thought.

"Ignore them. Or you could speak to them about it," He says.

"Really?" I ask. "I could just speak to them about it?" I say.

"Yes. That's one way you could get rid of the gossip," He says. I nod in understanding before stepping away, out of his arms.

"Can we finish training for today?" I ask.

"Yep. We will begin again early tomorrow morning," He says before beginning to walk away.

Walking back into the pack house, everybody was staying quiet while keeping their eyes away from me. I should already be used to it, seeing as it's been happening a lot recently. As I was walking up the stairs, I heard a woman's voice speaking.

"I can't believe you can even trust her, she almost killed you, just choose me," The woman says, angrily. The familiar voice that came after that surprised me.

"It doesn't matter that she almost killed me, she is one of the strongest and unique people I have met, and she will always be worth a whole lot more than you ever will," The man says.

Getting to the top of the stairs, there was a pretty blonde girl in a pink crop top and a sparkly pink skirt to match, speaking to Apollo right around the corner. As soon as the girl noticed my presence, she turned around, anger flashing rapidly in her eyes, daggers glaring right at me.

"You," She angrily screams at me while quickly matching towards me. "How dare you come-" Before she could finish, Apollo cut her off.

"Grace, not n-" Before Apollo could finish, I cut him off.

"It's fine, Apollo. I don't need you speaking up for me," I say, nodding my head for the blonde to continue raving at me.

"How dare you take my man. You almost tried to kill him and now you want him to want you..." She says. Before she could finish, I had already cut her off.

"Grace... If I want to kill someone I can, it just takes a lot of practice," I tell her. "And technically you are not Apollo's girl unless he decides. He decides to choose who to be with and it's his decision whether he denies you or not," He says. After my words, she glares at me again before childishly walking away.

"Thank god you called her out like that. I've been trying to get her off my back for a while," Apollo says while giving me a small smile. "Anyways, I gotta head to the basement to talk to some of my men," He says before gently passing me and heading down the stairs. I let a breath out before heading to my room. I wasn't sure what to do or how to handle everything at this moment.

Stepping into my room, I got into some comfortable pajamas before putting the television on and attempting to relax. 

Soon, I felt my stomach growl and I slowly adjusted my body to hang my legs over the bed to sit up for a second before I stood up.

Making my way downstairs, there were still people awake speaking in the kitchen. As I was leaning against the wall where the people in the kitchen couldn't see me, I listened to their conversation.

"I can't believe he could still be near her even after she tried to kill him," A male's voice says. "I understand that she's the Phoenix, but if my girl would have tried something like that with me, I don't think that I would ever be able to think of her the same or trust her again," The same voice says.

"No kidding. I can't believe the Alpha still hasn't rejected her." Another male voice says.

After that, I couldn't hold myself back and I ended up stepping out from behind the wall before noticing the three men in the kitchen. 

"If you have something to say about me, why not say it to my face?" I ask them, looking around them with a neutral look on my face. "So why don't you say it to my face?" I ask, stepping closer to them, leaning against the counter. "Is it because you're scared of me?" I ask. "Are you afraid that I'll shoot fire at you for stating your mind?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"W-we're sorry, Phoenix," The one that I didn't hear speaking earlier says.

"Why are you sorry?" I ask.

"We should have told you how we felt about you to your face," One of the other guys says.

"That's right," I tell them. "I'm not as scary as you think I am. All you have to do is get to know me rather than spreading rumors about me all around the pack," I tell them. "And by the way, even while I'm a Phoenix, I still have feelings. I'm sorry that I almost killed your Alpha, but I didn't have much practice with my power and now I do. I hope you can trust me a little more now that I do have more control over the power that I hold," I tell them before reaching behind them to grab some milk and a box of Frosted Flakes. "I'm sorry for frightening you, but I do want you to be comfortable around me. This goes to everyone in this pack," I tell them.