The Chameleon Soul Mate Read online

  “Good God!” Alex said. “What are you two talking about? I know what a soul mate is and you can’t just touch someone and know if that is the case or not.”

  She knew she had a violent reaction to his touch, but there had to be another explanation. These people were telepathic, he was probably the first person she had picked up thoughts from. Soul mates, please!

  Leenea took Alex’s hand. Her touch calmed Alex. “As we told you, Alexandra, we have telepathic abilities. On rare occasions two people have the ability to open a telepathic channel that just the two of them share. It is activated with the first physical touch.”

  “It is true, my little pixie,” Tarsea once again channeled to her. “We are soul mates. I have caught snippets of conversation from you, I am sure you did not mean to send to me. The channel we have been using is the soul mate channel. I am sure of it.”

  “Stop calling me a pixie! I know I am short and I hate when people call me pet names that are related to my size.” Alex had always been sensitive about her height. She always felt dwarfed by her Amazon girlfriends, Shirl and Candy. Although she heard the rest of what he said about the soul mate channel, she did not respond to that part of the communication. She was still trying to deal with everything they were telling her about the special channel.

  “Stop antagonizing her through the soul mate channel,” Zane chided his son. “Talk to the girl. You are not making this any easier on her.”

  Tarsea straightened his posture and gazed at her. Alex never had a man look at her the way the man in front of her was, he seemed to be worshipping her. If worship was the right word. She was equal parts embarrassed and excited by his gaze.

  “I am sorry, Alexandra. You cannot imagine what it means to me to have finally found you. Soul mates are things of legend. When you came hurtling through the portal, I knew you were my soul mate. I have been holding myself back. From the beginning, I have wanted to capture you in my arms. In my efforts to control myself, I guess the immature teenage boy I use to be came back to the surface.”

  Overwhelmed by what he had said, she re-examined everything she had felt for Tarsea from the first time she laid eyes on him. Alex had been lusting over this man from the start. It was also true, there was an unexplainable inherent trust regarding him. His words were the first telepathic communication she had heard. What was hard to swallow was they could communicate in a legendary channel between fabled soul mates.

  “Listen, I do not know about this whole soul mates thing, or whatever you say we are. How do I know this is not just communication through a communal pathway? I’ve never experienced any of this telepathic stuff before.”

  Tarsea looked at her. He was probably used to women throwing themselves at him. The guy probably could not deal with anyone challenging or saying no to him.

  She lost the game of chicken. She broke eye contact with him. He was forcing her to make the next move, she had no place to go.

  “Assuming I believe you, how can I talk to you in your head? You also mentioned I leaked words to you. How do I stop doing that?”

  The idea certainly intrigued her. She could imagine the conversations they’d have if what he was saying was the truth. She had heard of phone sex, but never personally experienced it. The thought of such a conversation with him started to raise her temperature, yet again. She hoped she was not turning all shades of red. He disturbed not only her body, but her mind as well.

  “You need to concentrate on me,” Tarsea told her. “Imagine pushing a thought in my direction. Look at me and do not think of anything but me. We do not want you to enter the communal pathway. The opposite is true related to not sending words or phrases in my direction. When you are thinking of me, try not to push those thoughts in my direction. It will take some practice. The soul mate channel appears to be very sensitive in what thoughts are picked up.”

  Alex focused her entire being on sending Tarsea her first thought. She wanted to make it as impersonal as possible, in case she entered one of the communal pathways by accident. She had no idea what he was talking about, but knew she needed to start trying and understanding telepathic communication.

  The more he concentrated, the more the static started to increase in her head again. She felt blood dripping from her nose.

  Tarsea waited to hear his soul mate’s voice in his head. He watched Alexandra concentrate in order to use the soul mate channel. To his horror, he saw blood trickling from her nose.

  His mother left the room, no doubt to get more herbs and a wet rag for Alexandra. Tarsea in the meantime, grabbed a couple of tissues and handed them to his soul mate.

  She eyed him suspiciously as she accepted the tissues. Although he wanted to hold her, he got the non-verbal communication that she wanted him to keep his distance.

  Alexandra started crying. It tore him apart. Disregarding her body language, he brought her into his arms. He drew her closer, lowering his head to take in the scent of her hair. Ironically, she smelled of a beautiful purple tinted flower, lavender. His soul mate molded to him beautifully. A feeling of contentment that was new to him brought a calmness. He took another deep breath and took her scent into his lungs. He was relieved she let him hold her.

  “It will be all right,” Tarsea said in a soothing voice. “It will take some time to learn how to manage the channels.”

  As he held his soul mate, it came to him that the feeling he was experiencing had been written all over his father’s face when he saw his parents holding each other. He looked at his father and saw him in a new light.

  “You are soul mates,” Tarsea said. It was not a question, he somehow knew that was the case.

  His mother re-entered the room as he stated what he knew was a fact. She stopped in her tracks, then continued toward his soul mate after recovering. He released Alexandra, as she took the mug with the herbs from his mother. Alex’s eyes held his as she started to sip the herbal mixture.

  Neither of his parents responded to his statement. He needed to discuss with them why they had hidden their relationship all these years. Most importantly, he wanted to know what it meant to be soul mates.

  “You now know we are,” his father replied. “The mind control telepathic movement was starting to gain momentum when I met your mother. We connected at one of the opposition underground rallies, since it was no longer safe to meet in public. Everyone was suspicious of each other. When we realized we were soul mates with the first touch, we decided to keep it quiet.”

  He watched as his soul mate continued to sip more of the herbal beverage. She had a hard time accepting what they were. The next question he needed to ask his father was guaranteed to further alarm her. He had no option, he had to ask regardless. Alexandra needed to understand everything involved in being a soul mate.

  “Is it true about the evolutionary change that occurs with soul mates?”

  “What?” that obviously caught Alexandra’s attention. He watched as her gaze moved between him and each of his parents.

  His mother obviously knew Alexandra was beginning to panic and took his soul mate’s hand into hers. “When soul mates make love for the first time, a hormone is excreted from the brain. That hormone enhances the telepathic abilities our brains possess. There is no pain involved, not like what you are experiencing with the communal channels.”

  His father nodded in agreement with what his mother said. “All we have discovered to date is we have a natural immunity to mind control influences. We can enter a single mind to communicate, but not the ability to manipulate that individual. Your mother and I are careful when we do it. We make it appear to be a communal channel. That is how we have been able to rise in the government safely and aid in the rescue of dissidents before they are captured.”

  “If we do not wish to have a conversation,” his mother added, “we can merely listen to someone’s thoughts.”

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nbsp; Tarsea seemed to take in stride what his parents were telling him. Alex on the other hand was freaking out. Although she had heard Tarsea in her mind a couple of times, she had not done anything telepathically on purpose. The idea of additional powers, or whatever it was, was not a welcoming thought. She did not want to think about her brain excreting anything. It was terrifying.

  “Since Alexandra has not been using her telepathic abilities,” Tarsea’s father said, “any change would be just part of her normal experimentation of using new faculties. Tarsea, you will be able to navigate the different factions within the government and be better able to determine who you can trust and who you cannot.”

  Alexandra’s energy started to wane. After all, she worked half a day, drove up to Sedona, traveled through a portal to a parallel universe, and met her supposed soul mate. The adrenaline rushes she had several times since coming to the Troyk Universe were used up.

  “Can we sit, Tarsea, I’m exhausted.”

  “Alexandra,” Tarsea said with wonder, “you just talked to me telepathically through the soul mate link!”

  She was so tired, she had not realized she had sent those words telepathically. Whatever she did seemed so natural, it was done without thought. There had been no stress on her brain, no nose bleed.

  Tarsea led Alex to a couch and they both sat. He put his arm around her and she cozied into his body. It felt right. She made no attempt to leave his side or distance herself from him.

  “Alexandra is exhausted,” Tarsea continued. “It has been quite a day for her. We can put her in my old bedroom and I will sleep in Tolfer’s former room tonight.”

  Leenea stood. “I will make another mug of the herbs for Alexandra to help her sleep. It will help you continue to manage the communal pathways and allow you to relax and get some rest. I will be back in a couple of minutes.”

  Alex was too tired to tell Tarsea he should sleep in his own bed and she’d take his brother’s room. Soul mates or not, she was also relieved that he did not want them to share a bed tonight. She was not ready to take the dive into those waters, including any evolutionary change.

  Tarsea was sitting quietly next to her, he loosened his grip on her a little. She closed her eyes and worked to turn off the static building in her head. He smelled of herbal soap and of male. She loved his scent, taking in another heady breath.

  Leenea came into the study with the steaming mug of herbs she promised. She handed it to Alex, as before Alex drew the aroma into her lungs with a cleansing breath. Tarsea’s mother disappeared again as Alex took a sip of the herbal concoction.

  Alex had just finished draining the mug as Leenea entered the room. “I have put fresh linen on the bed in Tarsea’s old room and have found something for you to sleep in.” Alex took the mug, rising from the couch.

  “I will say good night to you here, otherwise, neither of us will get any sleep.” Tarsea gave Alex a light and tender kiss. As kisses went, it was pretty damn sweet. “The next set of kisses will not be so sweet, Alexandra. They will be full of the passion I have been holding for you.”

  Alex followed Tarsea’s mother to the bedroom. His words kept playing in her head. They both excited and terrified her. For once in her life she was reacting physically to a man. She seriously questioned whether she’d be able to manage this situation in her cool and controlling manner as she always did in the past. Alex felt she was close to combustion and wondered how she was going to handle Tarsea.

  Chapter 7

  Alex woke in a cocoon of soft sheets and what could have been a down comforter. She lazily stretched her body, not remembering the last time she was so comfortable. When she went to bed last night she was expecting to wake this morning disoriented, not knowing where she was. It was not every day you fell through a portal and found yourself in another universe.

  Throughout the night she heard Tarsea quietly talking to her, making sure she was all right. She was not sure whether she answered him in reality or just in her dreams. Surprisingly, she was alert and knew exactly where she was. Alex was amazed that she was calm and thinking logically, even this early in her day. The heated sensations she felt last night had been mitigated due to her separation from Tarsea.

  Although it pained her to leave such a luxurious bed, nature called. She had to face her second day in the Troyk Universe. Waking up each morning for Alex was always a challenge. She generally made her way to the shower in some kind of zombie state.

  She stepped into the warm shower and the water pressure slowly invigorated her body. Leenea showed her around the bedroom and connecting bathroom last night. It amazed her how similar the shower was to the one she had at home, although it had a better showerhead. There was purple liquid in a bottle that she assumed was shampoo. She poured some into her hand and was overwhelmed with a floral scent. The shampoo lathered nicely and then she rinsed it out of her hair.

  As Alex stepped out of the shower, she noticed the change of clothes Leenea left her last night. There was a light blue tunic and black leggings that ended up fitting her like a glove. Alex wondered where the outfit came from. Leenea had to be a good eight inches taller than she was. She slipped her feet into soft suede like shoes and was ready to face the day. Again, they fit her perfectly.

  She followed the wonderful aroma into the kitchen. There was Tolfer cooking up a storm. His brother and the rest of the men were milling around watching Tolfer’s artistry, as he put together breakfast.

  Tarsea went to meet her and wrapped his arms around her. It felt so good to be in his arms. It continued to feel natural, which was weird since she had known him for only one day.

  “Good morning,” he said through the soul mate link. “I hope I did not keep waking you last night. Each time I woke, I felt the need to check on your well-being.”

  “I think you actually entered my dreams,” Alex responded, “rather than waking me up. I felt safe and secure while I slept.”

  She did not know when she had been more brutally honest with anyone in her life. It felt instinctual to talk to him with such intimacy. Communicating to her soul mate Tarsea telepathically was now ingrained in her psyche. There was no strain on her brain, as there was with the communal pathways. She feared the communal path and another nose bleed. They said it was normal to bleed through the nose or ears when learning to leverage the various pathways. As far as Alex was concerned, it was foreign and gross.

  Alex felt something must have leaked from her thoughts, since Tarsea let go of her. He poured steaming liquid from a tin kettle on the range into a mug. The scent of the herbal mixture engulfed the kitchen. Tarsea handed over the mug.

  She let the aroma penetrate her lungs and then took a sip. Although she had been managing the static, she felt the pressure in her head weaken as she continued to drink.

  “I am all done here,” Tolfer said. “Let us all sit. We should talk about what steps we have to take today to blend Alexandra into Troyk society.”

  She appreciated that these men who usually communicated through their various telepathic paths were once again speaking aloud to include her in their conversations.

  Everyone followed the platter of food into the common room and sat around the table. For one ridiculous moment she thought of the Pied Piper.

  “Where are your parents?” she asked when she realized neither Zane nor Leenea were present.

  “They have gone to pick up your aunt from the tram station.” Tarsea shared with her between bites.

  Alex choked on the food she had been chewing. She knew she was going to meet her aunt, but did not realize it would be so soon. One of her favorite dreams when she was little was having one of her blood relatives show up at the orphanage and taking Alex home with her. Shirl and Candy would come along as well. Her dream was now becoming a partial reality. She picked up a glass of water and started to sip the cool liquid.

 
She could feel Tarsea’s stare. “To start off, we also thought Tolfer could work with you on how to use one of the communal pathways. You can listen in on what is being sent across the different channels. He teaches children how to manage the different channels they communicate through. Once we have your back story figured out, you can try to add something to that communication. Your head injury that we faked yesterday should buy us a day or two before people start questioning your silence.”

  She was not thrilled about linking into the communal pathway. Working with Tolfer made the prospect a little less scary.

  “There is one change you have to make when you speak,” Darden told her. “Here, we do not abbreviate speech with the use of contractions. You need to elongate your speech. You cannot, versus you can’t. I have not, versus haven’t. Got it?”

  Alex had a sudden flashback to Freshman English. “Yes, I have it. This just gets more complicated. What else am I having to learn or change?”

  “School is in session,” Starc joined the conversation. “You are going to learn about the Troyk world. We can teach you about our government and your role in society.”

  This was the first time Starc had spoken directly to her since introducing himself, so what he said weighed even more in her mind. He was tall like his twin brother, but more muscular. His eyes were a richer blue, like the color of deep ocean water. They had to be fraternal twins, rather than identical. She had no idea if he was a crystal telepath like Darden.

  Alex let out a long sigh, she never cared much for school. However, her education was more about ultimately earning a living, not surviving in a parallel universe. If Tolfer taught the way he cooked, she would be mastering the telepathic channels in record time.

  “If that is not enough,” Tarsea added, “the two of us need to get to know each other better.”