CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
WITCHCRAFT

Montana and her family were sat at the table, but not a word had been spoken between them.

Tye was staring at Nita, wanting his wife to begin the dreaded conversation. Dakota was drumming her fingernails impatiently against the table. Montana was about to throw up.

A lot had happened in the past twenty four hours. She'd discovered that she had strange powers – ones that potentially wanted to her to maim or seriously injure a vampire? Something along those lines.

Sam had hinted that her parents knew, or at least had something to do with it, which Montana thought was incredibly fucking sneaky.

Then, she and Jake had probably the biggest argument of their life, which consequently ended in Jake confessing that they were...soul mates? Honestly, Montana was still trying to wrap her head around it all.

With a light sigh, Nita rested her hands in front of her on the table, clasping them together. The anticipation in the air was building. Montana sat up straighter, Dakota stopped tapping the table. Their eyes darted between one another, all of them waiting for Nita to finally speak.

"I'm not sure how much Sam told you."

Montana resisted a raise of her eyebrows. It wasn't the finest of her mother's opening lines, but at least she'd finally said something.

"Um, pretty much nothing," Montana replied, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

There was a passing look between Nita and Tye that did not go amiss. Montana had never seen her parents acting so strangely before.

"We'll try and start at the beginning then," Nita said, clearing her throat a little. "My family line has always had magic in their blood," she began. "My grandmother was a practicing witch. A healer, mostly. This was passed down to my mother, and then to me and your Aunt."

Nita looked at Dakota briefly as she spoke. Montana's eyes also flashed to her cousin, who was leaning forwards in intrigue. It was clearly news to her too.

"My mother didn't practice, and I haven't in a very long time," Nita continued. "We weren't sure if that would have an effect on the dominance of your gene. When you turned eighteen and there was still no sign of it, we thought it may be lying dormant. That can happen. You can go your whole life without tapping into your power. After all, that's what my sister did. So we were quite surprised when Kaia started using magic."

"Kaia?" Dakota asked in surprise. She held a hand up, forcing them all to pause for a moment while she continued. "Hang on a minute, Kaia can do this too?"

"Yes."

"What the hell?! Why can't I?!"

Nita smiled sympathetically at the girl who had become like a daughter to her. "Again, it may be lying dormant. This can happen."

"So how can I activate it?" Dakota asked, frowning. Montana looked at her quizzically. "What? This is super cool. I wanna do it too!"

"You may be able to soon," Tye spoke, for the first time. Their eyes curious eyes drifted over to him. "Kaia is coming back home." He shared a look with Nita, who nodded for him to continue. "We think it's time to tell you the truth about where she's been."

Dakota's frown deepened. "She's not in California?"

Nita shook her head. "The last time we spoke, she was in New Orleans."

"New Orleans?" Montana and Dakota questioned at the same time, looking at one another unsurely. Damn, Montana's parents were secretive.

"Do you remember your uncle Chey?" Tye asked both girls, who nodded their heads. Uncle Chey hadn't been around their lives much, he often kept away. The last time they had actually seen him was two years ago. Apparently he'd gone travelling. "His mother was Quileute. They met after my parents divorced. My father fell in love with his mother, and they married and had him," Tye explained. "Before either of you were born, I was very close to my brother. This is a tight community, we are all like family here. I knew what he was, so did the council."

Dakota's eyes almost bulged out of her head. Montana thought she might explode. "Uncle Chey's a witch?!" Tye nodded in confirmation. Dakota's lips parted, a breath escaping her lips. She sat back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. "Damn, guys."

"You have to understand, that there is magic all around us," Nita stated. "It touches each one of us, but in different ways. We hid the truth from you, not because we didn't want you to find out, but because we had to wait for the right time. And now we know, this is it."

Tye drank from his coffee mug before he spoke ahain. "When Sam Uley shifted, all the elders were shocked. It hadn't happened in generations. But we knew there was a reason why it did."

"And not long after that, Kaia accessed her powers," Nita said. "For a long time, it's felt like something was coming."

"Kaia and Chey left after Jared and Paul shifted," Tye informed. "With the shape-shifter gene being activated, it was only a matter of time before a new generation of witches would be coming through. Kaia and Chey decided that they needed to find other people like them, people that they could learn from. So that those teachings could be passed on."

"There is something coming." Nita's tone darkened. Montana swallowed thickly. "We know that, especially now more of the Quileute boys are shifting. And with you discovering your magic..." Nita shifted her eyes from Montana to Dakota. "And you potentially to follow...It's a sign that there's something we have to prepare for."

The room fell silent. Montana's heart was pounding. She wasn't liking the sound of this.

"So are Kaia and Chey coming back?" Dakota asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," Nita affirmed. "Very soon."

"And they'll be able to...help me?" Montana questioned, a little apprehensively. Her parents were making it sound as if she had to be ready for battle. They hadn't even explained to her what she could do yet!

"Yes, sweetheart." Nita's expression softened. "I know it seems overwhelming right now–"

"How do I control it?" Montana cut in. "Because, personally, I don't want to accidentally, you know, blow up the school or something when my teacher gives me homework."

Nita smiled. "That won't happen."

"I mean, it might," Montana argued.

"You will have to be careful, of course," Nita told her. "Your magic could be linked to emotions. For some witches, emotions are what solely dictates their power. We don't know how much this will apply to you yet, but there are many ways of training."

"It makes sense," Dakota said. Montana turned to look at her. "I mean, you were feeling a lot when it happened right? Sad about Harry, worried about Bella, angry at Bella and Alice, protective over Jacob. I could go on..."

"I guess," Montana said quietly.

"Your father and I were also wondering whether being around so many shape-shifters has had an impact," Nita spoke again. "You are very close to Jake and Embry. It may have contributed to unlocking your powers. Or, at least, the speed of how it happened."

Dakota's eyebrows lifted in amusement at the comment, a faint hint of a smirk toying across her lips. Montana glared at her.

"Your connection to Jacob could have also influenced the way you felt about the vampire, causing your magic to act against her," Nita added. "We don't know entirely. There might be no link at all."

Oh, there's a link alright, Montana thought.

"So, what now?" Montana asked. "What do I do?"

"Research," Nita answered. Montana wanted to groan. Not more research. "The council are going to help. I can help. Kaia and Chey will be home soon. It'll be okay."

Montana nodded along at her mother's reassurances. It didn't exactly feel great, but she felt somewhat better, knowing what was going on. It still scared her, of course. Something so undiscovered. She didn't accidentally want to do anything she didn't mean. Montana supposed the best thing she could do was get her emotions in check. Probably easier said than done...

"Do you have any other questions?" Nita asked gently, noticing the concern brewing in her daughter's eyes.

Montana shook her head. "Not right now. I, uh, I think I'm gonna go for a lie down?"

Nita nodded in understanding. "It's been a tiring few days."

"Yeah," Montana agreed. She got to her feet, glancing over her family once more. "Okay, um, see you later, I guess."

This was crazy. Everything was crazy. Ever since she found out Jake and Embry could shift into giant wolves, Montana's life had reached new levels of crazy.

As she headed up the stairs to her room, she started to hear footsteps behind her. Montana could tell by the weight of them that it was Dakota, though she was surprised she hadn't heard some sort of sarcastic or witty comment by now.

When Montana reached the landing, she turned around, facing her cousin. "Hi."

Dakota smiled sheepishly. "Hi." She reached the top step, holding onto the banister. "Did you wanna talk about anything?"

Montana shrugged her shoulders. She wanted to talk about a lot of things, she just didn't know where to start. "I guess we could."

"Only if you want to," Dakota encouraged.

Montana didn't say anything, and instead led the way into her room. She got into her bed, and Dakota sat on the opposite end, crossing her legs. The two girls watched each other silently for a few moments.

"So, uh, magic..." Dakota began, a grin twisting on her lips. "That's pretty fucking cool."

"Yeah," Montana agreed. It was cool. Terrifying, but cool.

"I think it's kinda homophobic that you and Kaia got these powers and I have nothing, though," Dakota said.

Montana blinked rapidly at her cousin, her eyebrows raising at the revelation. "Hang on. Did you just come out to me?"

Dakota's eyes widened. "Oh...I think I did."

Montana broke out into a smile. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Dakota chuckled. "Uh, you're okay with it, right?"

"Of course." Montana's expression dropped at the question. "Did you think I wouldn't be?" She asked, her eyebrows pinching together in concern.

Montana sincerely hoped that wasn't the case, she had never wanted to come across that way. After all, Dakota's admission hadn't exactly surprised her. She had always tried to seem as supportive and encouraging as possible.

"No, no," Dakota quickly shook her head. "I was just...nervous, I guess."

Montana reached for her hand. "I'm proud of you."

Dakota smiled. "Thank you."

A teasing grin formed on Montana's lips. "So...any–"

"Nope!" Dakota shut down immediately. "No girl crushes. We're here to talk about you."

Montana chuckled. "Okay, okay."

"So, I'm gay. You're a witch," Dakota said, pausing briefly as Montana burst into laughter. "Anything else new?"

Montana was, to say the least, suspicious. Not only at the question, but the way it had been said. She narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "Do you know something?"

Dakota rolled her eyes. "Yes, okay, fine. I saw you and Jake on the driveway."

Montana's stomach dropped. Shit. "What did you hear?"

"Nothing, unfortunately," Dakota said. "You were too far away."

Montana simply shook her head. Dakota grinned cheekily at her. "So, what happened? Looked pretty intense."

"We were arguing," Montana replied. "He was being unnecessarily stressed out. And then he said..." Montana paused. Should she? Dakota was bound to find out at some point. "He said I was his...imprint."

Dakota gasped. "He finally told you?!"

"You knew?!" Montana spluttered out.

Dakota nodded her head eagerly, leaning forwards in excitement. "Oh my god! Jared owes me twenty bucks! I said he'd do it this month!"

"You bet on it?!"

"Of course!"

Montana glanced away for a moment, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the words to say.

Should she be annoyed that everyone else knew long before she did? Montana guessed it wasn't easy for Jacob to admit, but still, the others were placing bets! How long had they known?!

"So, what did he say?" Dakota asked excitedly, reaching for her hands. "What do you think?!"

"I don't...I don't know," Montana admitted. Her head was still a bit all over the place, to be fair. "It's...well, I didn't feel entirely surprised, you know? Which was kinda weird. It just felt...right? Like we were always meant to be connected in some way." Dakota's grin widened even further, if that was actually possible. Montana felt her face heat up. "Stop looking at me like that!"

"I'm sorry! It just feels like I've waited forever for you two to realise how perfect you are for each other!"

"Shut up."

"Nope! Never gonna stop talking about this!"

Montana groaned, falling back on the bed. As soon as the back of her head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes shut, wishing to block everything out, including Dakota.

"You know, for someone whose magic powers depend on whether they can get their emotions in check, you really don't like addressing your feelings," Dakota noted, arching an eyebrow.

Oh. Montana hadn't actually thought about that. Unfortunately, Dakota was, kind of right. It wouldn't be good for her to keep burying things the way she usually did. Even though that was so much easier...

God, now she'd actually have to talk properly about her feelings. She only ever usually did that, like, twice a year at most. Fucking hell.

"You need some time alone, don't you?" Dakota asked, giving her a knowing look. "To think about things obsessively." It was both a blessing and a curse how well Dakota knew Montana. "I'll leave you to it. Just let me know if you wanna talk again."

Montana nodded her head, smiling softly in thanks. Dakota squeezed her leg reassuringly, before climbing off the bed. Once the door was shut behind, Montana released a heavy sigh, turning onto her front and burying her face in her pillow.

Montana did not want to think. All she wanted to do was sleep. So she did.

A/N

So, this was basically an explanation chapter into the background of Montana's powers, and a bit more info on her family life too. As we are entering Eclipse era, I've tried to tie the activation of her powers to the gene preparing her for the upcoming events, such as the incoming vampire army etc. But also, yes, Jacob imprinting on Montana had an impact on furthering this. More will come to light later on too.

Everything makes sense in my head but I know that might not 100% translate in the chapter, so pls ask questions if you are unsure on anything!!

Here's a family tree I made that I hope might help if anyone is a bit confused in that area:

I'm currently dividing my time between this book and my other two twilight stories, which is why updates might be taking a little bit longer. I also now have a Sirius Black fic too (called Memento Mori, go check it out!!) so I'm balancing my time the best I can.

Finally, to those of you in America, I am hoping and praying for the right outcome in your election. I don't quite know how things work over there, but if you are eligible to vote and can still do so, then pls do get that orange asshole out of office!

To my UK homies, stay strong for lockdown round 2 ✌️

Sending love and positivity to you all. 🤍