𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏

𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚

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╰┈˚ · ° .  THE FIRST TIME I REMEMBER BEING DRAWN TO FIRE WAS WHEN I WAS FIVE.

There had been a downpour of rain that afternoon, so heavy that the sound had overpowered everything, even my own breathing. It had started unexpectedly, the sky hadn't held a dark cloud, and then it did, gray overshadowing the orange of the sky as the sun started to set.

I was happy though, I was sure now that my father couldn't hear me. So I heaved a content sigh, leaning back against the wall with the rag doll in the shape of a black wolf in my hand and warrior queen in the other. I was so happy that I hadn't thought of the night that approached quickly as I let my mind wander to scenarios with my toys. I could breath and I could whisper the words out loud other than in my head as I played. I was so happy, and then I wasn't.

At twilight the first shiver of fear traveled down my spine when the light began to dim. After sunset, I was trembling, huddled in the corner holding my dolls to my chest, biting my lips to not let out a sound as I cried silently like I thought myself to do to not being heard.

I had squeezed my eyes shut trying to convince myself that it was so dark just because they were closed.

"Tris?" I yelped out loud as I heard a voice. Immediately after I slapped my hand over my mouth, an involuntary movement at the sound. "Tris?"

I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid. I repeated in my head over and over again. I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid.

"Beatrice!" A hand touched my shoulder and I sobbed, biting my lips until they almost bleed to just stop being so loud. "It's me, it's Sammy. You are okay, everything is okay."

I opened my eyes slowly and I whimpered. I couldn't see anything, just the outline of someone. But I recognize his voice now, "Sammy?"

"Yes, yes it's me."

Oh. I launched myself at him still trembling with fear, now noticing how he was all wet. "I don't like it here."

"Because it's dark?" He asked, one hand a top of my head as he petted my hair.

I nodded.

"Let me try something." He mumbled. There was a weird sound of metal, sparks flying and then a flame was brought to light, and I could see him. I was right, he was all wet from the rain, and in this light, the fading bruise on his cheek looked almost purple.

"What is that?" I swallowed down my nerves before backing away from Sam. Oh, the flame was gorgeous. "Can I touch it?" I asked. The fire came from a metal box, it was shiny even with millions scratches all over it.

"It's called a zippo." Sam replied, now sitting in front of me with his legs crossed, "I found it in a drawer a bit ago." He passed it to me, "Careful you can burn yourself so don't touch the orange light."

I nodded again listening to his warning as I carefully took the zippo in my hands. "I like it." I said after a moment, the flame was so warm, bright, it casted away the shadows. It made me feel safe, like Sam, I wouldn't need to worry about the dark with it. "Can I keep it?"

"Yes, you can." he replied, "Just promise me you'll be careful with it."

"I promise." I smiled at him before returning back to the flame. No more dark, no more shadows. If there was fire there was light.

That night was the beginning of my life.

══════ 🜂🜁🜃🜄 ══════

╰┈˚ · ° .  "I don't like this, I don't like this at all."

My head made a loud sound as it banged on the table, at the same time I let out such a loud groan that I was sure the guys in the woods actually managed to hear, "Yes, Seth, we know. You said this. You have been saying this since you phased, everyday, every hour, every five minutes. For two weeks."

"Well you wouldn't have to hear me if your brother would just let me go with them." He replied back with a whine, and when I peaked at him, his bottom lip was jutting into a pout and the arms were crossed over his chest.

"He is just trying to protect you." Layla told him, only to grimace when the boy loudly replied.

"Protect me?! I should be out there protecting you and the tribe!"

"Seth?"

"Oh no." I chorused with Layla as we all turned towards Amelia.

"Yes, future sister-in-law?" The younger boy had quickly taken to calling Amelia that after he learned that his sister imprinted on the girl—not like the two girls were on speaking terms or had talked to each other with more than snarls since that day—but he didn't quit. Seth was optimistic to his core, and probably the number one supporter of the two girls.

We winced simultaneously at the name, honestly, at that point, we were only waiting to see when Amelia would just kill the boy. It seems the day was arriving soon by the look of things.

"Do you want to go out there and patrol and hunt for Victoria?" She asked.

"Yes, more than anything."

"Then think about how you would feel when that would need to be postponed even more because your body is too occupied to heal the stump where once your tongue was after I cut it off."

Oh jesus.

"Well, that wasn't very nice, future sister-in-law."

"I swear to god kid, do you have suicidal tendencies?" I asked, wide eyed at the guts that he was showing. Honestly, I really liked Seth, he was funny and we would team up to crack up jokes at the expanse of the pack alongside Jared a lot.

"Alright," Emily chuckled, walking back inside her home, "More studying, less bloodbath."

"Tell your cousin to stop whining and maybe the bloodbath will be avoided."

"Still annoyed that Sam is keeping you benched?"

"Yes." the rest of us three girls said at the same time as Seth started once again his monologue of why he should be allowed to go with the others.

From the corner of my eyes I saw the sliding door opening, and when the girl coming in caught the sound of Seth's voice, she quickly backed up, "Hell no! Come inside, you can't leave us here to suffer alone. We are a coven."

"That's not fair, Trixy!" Kim stomped inside, huffing dramatically all the way to the table as she unceremoniously sat down with us.

And after another 10 minutes of Seth talking, I had enough, "You are taking the kid with you tomorrow." I said opening the coven-pack link with my brother.

"He is too young, We talked about this." Sam replied curtly. Through the bon I could faintly hear the scent of pine and grass coming through.

"I swear to god Sam, you are taking him with you. He is making us go crazy."

"That's my boy!"

"Your boy is seconds away from having his tongue cut off, Jared." I told the shifter who had excitedly commented before.

"Beatrice!"

"Oh please, you are not here to listen to him whine all the damn time. Make him patrol somewhere safe. Just don't tell him. You are doing this for our very quick declining mental health." I cut off the connection without hearing his reply. I cleared my throat, earning the attention of the younger boy, "Guess who is finally going on patrol tomorrow?"

He remained speechless for about a second—a second of peace and quiet—and then he was talking again, "Are you kidding me? Are you serious? You convinced him?"

"Yes."

And then he was whopping very loudly, jumping from his seat in excitement "You're the best." He hugged me so tightly that I stopped breathing for a second, "I'm on patrol duty! I need to tell my mom." The boy was soon outside, phone in hand, and the house was silent.

"We are making you a fucking statue Trixy, I swear to god." Amelia literally deflated, her body sagging down onto the chair. "I was about to stab myself if he continued,"

"How did you convince Sam?" Emily asked with an amused smile curling her lips and showering her face with light.

"I didn't. I just told him." I scoffed. "He is probably making him patrol somewhere that doesn't even need to be patrolled."

"As long as he is not here..." Layla mumbled, wincing at her own words. Even she couldn't do it anymore, that was saying a lot.

And when the following day arrived, I was about to kill my brother, because Seth was patrolling the yard in front of Emily's house. But when lunch arrived and Seth only lingered for a quick bite before phasing and returning to his post, I was actually going to thank him.

Sam was a good alpha. He cared about his wolves. Seth was only fifteen, much younger then the rest of us, Sam hadn't wanted him with the rest of the pack hunting not because he wasn't good enough or a strong enough wolf, no, he hadn't wanted him to see how cruel our world could be. So he had given his youngest member a role that he knew he would love, one that made him feel still a part of the pack and useful. Seth was struggling with fitting in as the youngest, and after his father's death he needed something, anything, Sam had given him that.

We didn't need the house to be patrolled, the range was off, no cold one could ever arrive till there, and spells were in place to make the house the safest place in the Rez, but giving Seth a place to protect—someone to protect, since there was always someone in there—it gave him a purpose.

Yeah, Sam was a good alpha.

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╰┈˚ · ° .   The table at Emily's house had long been too small for all the pack and the coven, but for now, we made it do. Few of the guys were helping Emily with the food, other of us setted the table and soon we were all sitting and eating.

With the small space available—only 8 chairs, 5 at the round table and three stools at the kitchen counter—we had to get creative. That was the first time since Leah and Seth had shifted that all 13 of us were together.

Much to few of the wolves' pleasure, we were short of one too many chairs, and that was how I ended up on Paul's lap, Emily and Kim weren't bothered by their spots on their boyfriend's laps either. Embry had turned ten shades of red when the idea of the imprints sitting with their wolves, but once Seth had teasingly offered Layla to sit on him, the idea hadn't looked so bad and Layla ended up sitting with him even if she couldn't look the boy in the eyes for the rest of the night.

We were still a chair short. Leah and Amelia were glaring at each other, Maddison and Jacob on the other hand, were acting as if the other didn't exist.

"Maddi." Amelia almost snarled the name, and the girl jumped in surprise, "Come here, you are sitting with me."

"Good idea." Maddison was quick to agree, nodding her head vigorously.

I was watching the scene with too much amusement that I knew few others shared. This wasn't a funny situation, but if there was one thing that we could all agree on, well, it was our need for drama. Fortunately for us, it didn't seem like it was going anywhere.

"Leah, what are you doing?!"

"I wasn't expecting that." Paul muttered under his breath, to which I fervently nodded. "Not at all."

"Looks like Leah isn't as unaffected by the bond as she loves to say." I commented, as I watched the girl yank her little brother on her lap leaving two chairs free, one for Amelia and one for Maddison.

"I'm not on board with this, like at all." Seth declared trying to get up only to be stopped by his sister.

"Let's eat!" Emily cleared her throat, dispelling the silence, but still, the atmosphere was tense and the usual lighthearted and easygoing talks felt much strainer.

There was so much happening between us all that it was impossible to be completely natural. Starting from Sam, Leah and Emily triangle, then Leah imprinting on Amelia, Maddison loving Jacob and Jacob loving her sister even if he had imprinted on her, even Jacob and Embry were fighting. It was all such a mess, a ball of knots that were catching at the comb.

It was almost suffocating to think about it.

My only solace that night as I thought of it all laying on the grass of the backyard underneath the stars, came in the form of a silver wolf that stepped from the forest and curved around me as if to protect me from the world.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone! 

Welcome back! This is the last act of this book and I'm sad and happy at the same time. Take a look at the graphic at second aesthetic chapter (Be aware of possible spoilers!) Last I tried to do some manip but they are not that good, honestly. 

 So we are starting with a heavy beginning in this chapter with a memory of Beatrice when she was little, which is heartbreaking that she didn't cry out loud because she was scared of her father even if she was outside and it was raining heavily and he couldn't hear her. Sam is the best big brother. Those two have my heart.

Seth is the sunshine kid that can't stop talking about anything. I just can see him in my mind like that. I adore him. And he and Mia are just precious.

A sprinkle of how the two new imprints are faring, which is not good at all. As I always say, most of my characters need to sweat for their happy hangings. I'm evil like that. Embry and Layla are still too cute for my heart.

I know I know there is literally no Paul and Beatrice in this, which I will rectify soon in the next chapter! Trust me. 😉

Thank you for reading this chapter, I'll see you on Thursday!

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾