"Careful Ezra. Your words mean death, you should know our doctrine." Emir warned. Ezra tried to catch his breath.

"Well sorry. Am I supposed to let this go? My friends are hurt and Tatyana's heartbeat is getting slower. I know you can hear it too. W-we're out of energy. W-we can't carry her and you think I should thank you? If she dies... I will end you myself one day." Ezra said his tone still low.

Emir chuckled, "How exactly do expect that to happen? To challenge me, you will need to invoke the 9-vote system kid. You're just not old enough to do that, you look many years younger than my current Omega Ashar... and he's 20. You need to be at least 17." he added waving his hand in dismissal.

Ezra held his stomach in pain, "Maybe not now, but I will get there. What're 2 years?"

Emir gave him a sad smile, and Ezra tried to ignore the emotion it had. Emir looked over at Ezra's friends and nodded.

"So young and ready to die. But with how things are, I guess I'll wait for your official challenge then. Take care of your friend, she is delicate. I hope you learned first aid." Emir paused in thought.

"I will send my unit's Sigma to check things out," Emir added . To check things out? Ezra could feel himself getting worked up. Couldn't he see the damage he already caused?

"F-fu—

"T-Thank you, Regent," Terrance's voice came cutting Ezra off. Ezra looked over at Terrance in anger. But Terrance gave him such a stern look that Ezra bit his lip. Their Regent nodded in response.

"Ezra, you won't be able to use any ability for the next four hours. Maybe some pain will be enough punishment. Best of luck," Emir muttered. As he turned to leave them, Emir looked to his far left almost as if he heard something. Pausing he looked back at Ezra.

"Maybe you will have some help." He then signaled to Ashar to leave. Ezra could not help but look at him with contempt. As they left Ezra finally leaned on the tree, exhaling in exhaustion and pain. He looked up at the stars.

"Thank you, Regent," Ezra mocked. "Yes, thank you for almost fucking killing my friends!" He mocked angrily as his eyes meet Terrance. That was when he noticed Terrance was on one of his knees, his hand on top of it and his other touching the ground. He had traditionally bowed to him, that stupid homicidal Regent. It pissed him off, even more. He couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Yeah, why didn't we both start threatening him? Then we could all die together, right? Because what you did right there, that was so much smarter, wasn't it?" Terrance asked looking up bitterly. With a thump he saw Terrance fall back onto his ass, his face flushed and tired. Ezra tried to look away, he was starting to understand how stupid his actions were.

"Enacting the 9-vote system... it means to challenge him for his seat! How stupid were you? Do you even know what that means? When in the hell did you learn how to lead a whole Territory?"

"I don't. I didn't even know... what it meant." Ezra began, voice low. "But I would have said anything to make him scared, anything."

Terrance bit his lip, "you're so lucky, so lucky he did not just end us on the spot. I mean you hit him, I saw it before I passed out completely."

"Emir said I hit him with resonance and I don't even know what that means. I wasn't shifted at all when I got him off, Tatyana. Everything was such a blur."

There was a silent pause. "When I came to, I saw your hands and feet glowed lightly, and when he broke your hand and he did whatever that was... it all stopped. Maybe that was it?"

Ezra shrugged in response. His breathing was getting harder and his vision was blurring. Something whispered to close his eyes.

"Your stupidly aside... I am happy you saved my mate," Terrance added with a small smile. Ezra blinked in amazement and tried to ignore his pain. When had that been a thing? Terrance must have noticed his response because he chuckled.

"I was going to tell her at the waterfall... I know she has a crush on me... and I've been trying to hide mine... I was going to confirm it at the waterfall but then this happened. Anything that can go wrong will, right?

Even you could have not noticed Ezra. We may be in the same tribe but were not connected via a pack link... like your dad's unit... so you would not have noticed. Only my dad did and family is one of those other mysterious connections."

"Thanks for telling me now... for telling me when I can't even move. When I'm on the edge of passing out." Ezra said softly in pain.

"I might join you, buddy. I think I have a concussion and I pushed myself just to beg him to spare us, Ezra. C-can you move over here and actually help your f-friends," Terrance said his breathing picking up. Ezra could tell Terrance was still feeling dizzy. His words were getting slower and it seemed like he was getting tired by the second.

Ezra looked at Tatyana, her eyes closed and her chest rising. Ezra could not feel any more powerless. He could feel the tears form in his eyes.

"I-I fucking can't Ter. I-I really can't even move," he whispered bitterly. "Whatever he fucken did, I can't even hear the bells from my spirit. Tat's also a half-blood, their bodies are like mortals and how can I heal her when I can't even heal myself? I can't even tell if he's even around us anymore... H-how? How ... How am I supposed to help her?" He asked angrily.

Terrance sighed exhausted, "How fucken long does it take a shifter to recover after getting their ass beat Ez?"

With no response, Terrance forced himself to look over at Ezra, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow. He saw the blood drop from his nose to his chin. If only he could tilt his face. Ezra had passed out. He looked over at Tati, his frustration fueling his ongoing terror. He could feel his eyes sting and his eye grow heavy. If anything, it would be best not to touch her until help came. Maybe this moment was just so they could bathe in their helplessness, courtesy of their Regent. But if anything, he hoped anyone would come and help them.

----

Ezra could feel the coldness on his abdomen then warmth. He could hear words, they rhymed, and with it came a plead. To his surprise he understood them. A girl was asking nature to help heal, to restore?

He heard it then, a sound of a familiar bell as his eyes fluttered open. The sound was low but it was enough for now. Then he saw it, a hand next to his face, it was enough to startle him. Who was near him? As he looked down he saw a robed figure, her other hand on his stomach, her hand glowing.

Before he could think, he acted. With his good hand, he pushed the figure down. A feminine gasp filled his ears as he pinned her to the ground. His hand grabbed hers to the ground as he straddled her. It was with the move that the moonlight illuminated the figure.

She was tall, maybe as tall as him. She had black hair and bright yellow almond eyes, her skin fair. Her figure was covered by a cloak but as the wind blew, he saw her dress. It was a girl and she looked terrified, but he could tell she was not the Regents Sigma.

"Who are you?" Ezra asked cautiously but squeezed her hand. The girl winced, "I live not too far from here. I am a half-blood; I know first aid. I just came upon you all and you're all still hurt."

He could almost feel her fear, but his protective nature was not letting him let go. No matter how she looked at him, no matter how he wanted to be gentle now.

"Why are you here? I thought the clearing was to be closed," Ezra asked his tone still emotionless. He could feel her pulse race as he held her wrist.

"It's already 11 pm and I only came to get herbs founds in the clearing before morning."

Ezra did not know what to do, but as he looked at her held wrist he found a woven bracelet with a stone, it was a balance band. His two aunts had one, so did his grandma and they healed too but they were witches, well mages. He could almost hear them curse him at the word witches. Balance bands were given to help control spirit energy, and to help minimize wasting excess magic when first attempting spells. They were given to mages for the same reason when they first were young, many no longer needed them after a certain age.

"You're wearing a balance band, are you a witch?" He asked curiously.

"H-how do you know of balance bands in Ever Green? We aren't fond of mages here..." She asked staring up at him. Ezra blinked at her tone and statement. What was she implying?

"We?" He repeated, his tone low and dangerous. "I am a son of a witch myself. Does that mean you are not fond of me? Are you a threat to me?"

Her eyes widen in shock as his narrowed on hers. Though he could feel her fear growing he could not help but feel insulted. She was so pretty to him and yet so irritating now.