Chapter 5 - Losing Control

GODDAMIT!!! STOP SHOUTING THIS INSTANT!!" Mantilo bellowed as he suddenly appeared in the kitchens doorway. The moment his eyes rested on the scene unfurling in the room he let out a hair razing snarl of disapproval. "YOU WILL RELEASE EACH OTHER....RIGHT NOW!!"

The authority....and the danger in that tone barely managed to make the rage dissipate. Instead Ezekiel almost made the mistake of turning to his father and roaring back at him.

The only thing that stopped him was Brandon suddenly standing next to him, with Nate. Nate didn't speak he simply put a strong restraining hand on Ezekiel's shoulder. Brandon reached out and gripped his wrist, grabbed and his shirt squeezing it slightly.  A small fist hitting Ezekiel on his chest.

"Ezekiel! Look at me. Calm down!" he called as he captured Ezekiel's gaze. The feeling of warm leather was all that registered from his touch but his voice was somehow calming to his senses.  Nates touch helped him as well. It all washed past the anger, thier presence cut across the anger, and dashed it away.

"Ezekiel let him go...Come on, it's not worth it. I know you dont want to hurt him..." Brandon softly implored with a tip of his head, before he dropped his hand and stepped away.

Ezekiel snarled wanting to ignore the calm settling over him before he looked back at Lander. Then without a word he shoved Lander back and finally released his clothing.

Lander growled right back him before with a huff, he yanked on his rumpled shirt and started to step away. But perhaps because he always had to have the last word, Lander took a step back in Ezekiel's direction and lowered his voice into a whispered hiss that he directed at Ezekiel and Ezekiel alone.

"See that? Seehow close you were to losing it right there?" Lander asked, a serious look in his eyes as he glanced at Brandon and Nate, then back at Ezekiel with a small smirk on his face.

"It's like I said to you the other night Ezekiel. It's in your mind." He slightly preached as he reached out and tapped on Ezekiel's forehead. " You're dangerous....when he's around, you ARE dangerous. Your losing control!"

Ezekiel hissed and slapped his hand away.

Suddenly Glen broke away from Mantilo at that moment and released a soft sigh. "My gosh! What on earth is going on in here?" Glen huffed, crossing the room. She was wearing a slim whit sundress, slashed with a rainbow of dyes, fanned out in the elegant shapes of unfurling flowers. Her sandy brown hair was pulled back at her nape in a beautiful braid and a simple pair of clear gems sat sparkling in her ears.

"You boys were so loud and boorish that we had to cancel the meeting we were holding down the hall ." Glen walked over to the table, her big green eyes widening slightly as she spun and sent a glare about the dining room. "And you spilled juice everywhere!" she cried. Her gaze brushed over Lander, then Ezekiel and it softened as she crossed to them.

"What on earth has got you both so riled up?" She asked as she came up to them and placed a small hand on both of their arms.

Silence followed her question. Mostly because no one except for Lander and Ezekiel knew the real answer to her questions and neither of them seemed willing to share.

Mantilo who was waiting for a response as much as anyone else in the kitchen, let out an impatient growl. "WELL? Are you two going to explain what the hell all of this was about or not!?"

To Ezekiel's surprise a wide smile suddenly spread across Landers face. The pendulum that was Landers emotions causing Ezekiel to feel temporarily bewildered. "It was nothing..." He said, then Lander turned his cruel green gaze to Ezekiel and shrugged at him.

"Right?" he asked with a slight lift of his eyebrows.

Knowing that it was best to simply agree Ezekiel dropped his gaze and nodded his head.

"Right....It's nothing..." Ezekiel bit off, looking away from the quizzical glances everyone was giving him.

Keeping his gaze on the ground to hide the glowing slits that he felt his eyes had become Ezekiel walked away from his mother and quickly took his seat next to Brandon who wasn't staring at him like everyone else, but was glancing at him from the corner of his eye every now and then. Glass was cleaned up and the table pushed back into place.

Lander, Nate and Glen all broke apart and went to their own seats, everyone did, except for Mantilo who crossed his large arms over his chest and sighed.

"Well, if this foolishness has been settled, is everyone ready to hear their assignments and a few personal announcements concerning the Celebration?" he asked every in attendance.

With a solm nod everyone in the room agreed, everyone except for Brandon who turned to Ezekiel and quickly whispered. "Um...Can I be in here for this? Isn't he talking about Guardian stuff?"

Ezekiel could only nod him off.

He wasn't able to speak without hissing, so he held his tongue. Ezekiel privately struggled to control the slight after shivers of adrenaline and he felt his Heart racing. It was just dying down. The threat that Lander had made sitting like a lump in his stomach for a few more dark minutes charging Ezekiel with deep discomfort and making his inner Leopard snap in violation. 

In those seconds Mantilo's heavy voice filled the room as he began to lay out the daily patrol routes for Ezekiel and his brothers, but Ezekiel drifted in and out as he spoke. Until Brandon suddenly turned to him, with a suspicious look on his face he leaned over and whispered to Ezekiel so as not to interrupt Mantilo. His dirty blond hair shifting forward on his crow as he caught Ezekiels gaze.

"So...um....What WAS all that about...?" Brandon asked him in a hushed tone, his gaze burned as it pinned Ezekiel to the spot. His cool green eyes always managed to capture Ezekiel interest, but Ezekiel was worried to look back into them at that moment.

"You kinda looked like you were about to strangle Lander to death or something Ezekiel." He said.

To get away from that question, Ezekiel put a hand over his eyes pretending to rub then and let out a sigh. "IT was nothing. Forget it even happened." He whispered loud enough so that Brandon could hear him, then he lapsed back into silence....and so did Brandon.

Instantly Ezekiel was grateful for the silence, grateful that Brandon's gaze was no longer fixed on him, because the incident that had just transpired was in fact....everything.

Especially since it had been all about Brandon.

Ezekiel wanted to forget it. But Landers words had been echoing in his head ever since that night.

You are dangerous....He's messing with your control...

Ezekiel wanted to forget but he remembered exactly what he had been dreaming about the night before.