𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨

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𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥'𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐯

╰┈˚ · ° .   BEFORE NIGHT HAD FALLEN, the girls had gone through another 2 episodes of the same kind. Burns across Beatrice's body, dirt-coughing for Kim and Amilia continuous lack of air. The witches were completely and utterly exhausted when dusk had arrived— so much so that they hadn't even blinked twice at being moved in a more comfortable place.

We had regrouped at Emily's home, the place more secluded to the edge of the Reservation giving us the privacy that we needed to conceal screams of pain and heavy sobs. Not to mention that the elements of fire, earth and air that appeared out of nowhere along with their pain, their magic flaring unexpectedly during those episodes.

I passed a clean rug across my imprint's forehead, drying the sweat from her skin. Taking her hair tie that was on her wrist, I did my best to put her hair in a bun away from her face. She had foregone her clothes, the sting of the burns too much to bear with them on, only my shirt— that I was maybe a bit too quick to give— to cover her up. Even with the current situation, my wolf had purred when she was cocooned in my scent and clothes.

Similar to her, Kim was a sweaty mess. Her cheeks wet with tears, throat damaged from the continuous coughing. Dirt was smeared across her lips and visible skin. Even her clothes had stains on them. Jared— much like myself from Beatrice— had not moved a second from near his imprint.

For Amelia it was different. She was cladded in so much clothes and heavy blankets that she almost disappeared behind all that fabric. Everything to shield away the cold that seemed to have seeped into her bones. Her face ashed from the lack of strengths, and her chest rattled with every breath, strained by the events.

Footsteps came closer, with my wolf on the edge after witnessing our imprint suffering for hours, I snapped my head towards the sound, "Make her drink this." It was Maddison, but still, I could let her come near Beatrice— who was half asleep on me. "It's one of Kim's tea, it should help to calm them down and heal a bit." She explained, clearing her throat as she saw the narrowed look in my eyes, instinct riling me up and searching for any possible danger.

"Thank you." I said after a moment, relaxing when I could finally recognize who she was after blinking the fog of my protective instincts..

"Maddi." Soft and in a broken tone from her raw throat, Kim called for the Swan girl. "The grimoire."

"What about it?"

"Read it." The witch in my arms spoke, eyes half open, "Maybe you can find something in them."

"I called the council." Sam said, entering the house with his phone still in his hand, "They will be here shortly."

"We should have called them hours ago." Muttered Jared as he frowned down at Kim.

"Kim is right, we should read the grimoire." Amelia said, her head only peaking slightly from all the blankets.

"How? We can even open your eyes fully." Beatrice replied.

"Just sleep." Sam said to the three. "We will read the grimoire. And the elders will know what to do."

"In the meantime," Standing up and leaving her place for Maddison near Amelia, Emily addressed everyone, "We should all eat something." She said, "And make sure that the girls drink the tea while I bring the food out."

"Yes, mom." My lips curled up as the three witches all muttered sarcastically the same thing.

Emily rolled her eyes but it was impossible to not notice the affection that she had for the girls.

The house had a very spacious living room, the L-shaped couch big enough for the three witches to lay comfortably on.

Plates were soon brought out, we ate in almost complete silence, the loudest being muttered words not louder than whispers. It did nothing to calm my nerves that builded up more and more as the times passed.

I passed a piece of bread to Beatrice as I noticed that she hadn't even try to pick her fork. "You need to eat something." I told her in a hushed tone, "Please." But she shook her head, shoulders slumping on herself. I hated to see her like that. Eyes on the verge of pooling with tears, bottom lip trembling. "Come here." I didn't wait for her to move, I just grabbed her as gently as I could before bringing her into my lap.

It was unexpected— not unwanted— how she immediately curled into me, breathing a sigh of relief, almost as if to find a moment of solace.

"Better?" I asked, trying to understand better. She bobbed lightly her head with a positive answer.

My eyebrow shot up in understanding. I did not know if it was the imprint bond or the wolf-witch bond, but it helped her somehow.

"Jared." I spoke out loud, at that moment wishing that like the girls, I could speak mentally with my pack even without shifting. Lowered my tone to whisper, knowing that he was aware that I was trying to speak with him, the beta could hear me perfectly even in a hushed tone. "Ask Kim if feel physically better when you are touching her." A moment passed as he tilted his head to speak to his witch before he turned and nodded his head at me.

"What is it, Lahote? Speak louder." My head turned to the air witch, even if suffering, she was still a pain in the ass.

"The wolf-witch bond, it maybe can help you feel better." I told her. She was the only one without a wolf draped around her.

Amelia glared as Sam rose from his seat, "If you think of taking another step towards me, I'm going to suffocate you."

"Before or after your powers suffocated you?" Sam snorted his sarcastic question. Emily slapped his arm, narrowing her eyes on the wolf in warning.

"If it helps you, can you at least try, Mia?" She said, softening her tone and showing her, her doe eyes.

A second, two, and finally the air witch relented with a sigh. "Fine." Sam hugged her, much to her disgust, but a moment later, she spoke again. "It's slightly better but not by much. Almost feel the same." She admitted with a shrug. Apparently losing her remaining strength, Mia then slumped against the couch, "I can do without, thank you."

Okay, I guess it's the imprint bond— I thought with a quick glance down at the witch in my arms.

"Okay," Sam said, suddenly serious, "we need to start reading the grimoire. Where is it?"

"My room." Beatrice mumbled, the words almost lost as they were muffled against the skin of my neck. "There is a problem, though. You can't see it and you can't read it. We need to give you the permission to do it with a spell."

"How? You can barely stand?" Jared asked.

"Maddi. We can make her read it." Amelia informed him. "It's simple. We just need to give her a kindle of our power. It will temporarily give her access to it."

Maddison widened her eyes, a finger pointing it at herself, "Me?" It was more than just giving her the access to it, it was the trust. Witches protect their grimoire with everything in them, giving someone that wasn't one of them access so freely was almost unheard of.

"Come here." Locking gaze with the human girl, Beatrice let a small smile curl her lips. When Maddison was only a few steps in distance from us, a small flame not larger than a coin, slipped from my witch's fingertips landing in the heart of the Swan girl,"You are part of our coven."

Amelia followed, a tornado as big as the flame had been, left her fingers ending in Maddison's heart. A bloomed flower of earth magic followed, given by Kim.

"I'll come back as soon as I can." Wearing her coat, in a second Maddison had disappeared out of the front door.

Just when we heard her car driving away, others entered the priority. The doorbell rang, but by the smell, we already knew who it was.

The elders. But as they took a single step inside, a scream fell from Beatrice's lips.

Another episode starting, and from the look of it, this one would be the worst out of every single one that they had so far.

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╰┈˚ · ° .  The scream that was torn from Beatrice's lips was one of pure agony. Fire danced from her fingertips, the skin of her arms sizzled, the scent of burning flesh reached my nostrils.

"What is happening!" Billy Black, Chief of the elders had shock and fear to show on his face. His own daughter let out strangled sobs, her nails scratching at her neck as if It somehow it would help her breath better.

Kim wasn't any better. She convulsed on the floor, her eyes puffy with the strain of the continuing coughing dirt.

"What is happening?!" Once again, Billy asked with panic, his eyes neve leaving his daughter who struggled on the ground.

"That is exactly why we asked you to come here. We have no idea." Sam replied, "And it's getting worse."

A snarl echoed through the room, Jared had his eyes filled with tears, "Help them, you are the council you should know what to do!" he demanded. I noticed how his fist stayed clenched on his side, and how he never took a step more than it was needed to give her just enough space.

"We are the council of the wolves. The witches do not fall under our jurisdiction." Henry Clearwater said, winching as another scream could have been heard echoing in the living room like a dreadful remainder of the girls writhing in pain.

"How do we make this stop? This is already the fourth time that happened" Keeping as much control on his emotion, something that both Jared and I lacked at that moment, Sam turned to Old Quil. "Your mother was the previous fire witch, you should know something more."

"Witches do not reveal anything to people outside of their coven." As he spoke, the tone used was one that told us of his wisdom, but his carefully placed words only ignited further my anger. "We can do nothing about them."

With a snarl that was all my wolf I turned to the council, "Nothing!? This is going to kill them! Witches might not fall under your jurisdiction but Beatrice is my imprint, that means she falls under the pack protection."

"It's not like we don't want to, we do not know what to do." Trying to placate the rising angers in all of us, Henry put his hands forward, softening his tone.

"Imprints." Billy cleared his throat, "It's a fact that imprints can soothe physical pain when touching. It may help."

"We already know." Sam gritted out, "Amelia doesn't have–"

The man clenched his jaw, hardening his eyes. "I know."

It was the only thing that I needed to rush back to my girl. She felt boiling hot against me and I suppressed a winch as I felt a wave of fire stinging against my skin. I didn't care, not as long as I could help her. "It's going to be okay, Little Arsonist." I whispered as I hugged her to my chest carefully to avoid touching the burns on her arms and legs. "It's going to be okay." Her strangled sob made one form in my throat— I didn't let it out, just a tear that felt like a stab in my heart. "I'm here."

More time passed as I tried my best to soothe her as much as I could. When the episode finished, I was left with a sobbing witch in my arms as her wounds slowly healed. Amelia took a bit more time, that is how we knew for certain that the imprints-bond really had made a difference in helping physically too somehow in this.

The girls passed out immediately after, all too tired to even let out another sound.

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𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞'𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐯

╰┈˚ · ° .  When I woke up, my head felt heavy, pounding with a headache strong enough to make my eyes fall shut immediately after I had opened them.

"Hey." The soft murmur was joined by a gentle touch on my face.

"Hi." My voice was crooked, the single word coming out in a broken tone. My throat ached, but it was soon being soothed by the cold water that was offered to me. "What time is it?"

"Close to midnight." Paul answered, his lips were tight at the corners and I could recognize the worry in his eyes immediately.

"My head hurts." I winced, my hand massaging my temples.

As soon as I said that, Paul brought me closer to him, my body entirely over his, my head resting in the crook of his neck. I didn't even care that I was wearing only his shirt, his warmth was like a balm for my aching muscles. "You are warm." I mumbled, probably not even aware of what I was talking about, half delirant from the events of the day. "I like it." Even with my high temperature, his body heat was oddly calming to my heart.

"You should sleep." He said, fingers tracing patterns on my back underneath the shirt.

"Did you find anything?" I asked.

"Maddison is searching. The council is here, they are trying to help." That meant no, they didn't find anything yet. "It will be okay."

I gulped, not really believing him in that moment. Noticing my emotions, Paul pulled my chin gently making me face him, "It will be okay. I promise."

"You can't promise me that, and you know it." I said, ignoring how my voice trembled and eyes pooled with tears. "It's too much, I don't know how long I can take it." I admitted something then, to him. Something that I had no idea how I had the guts to say. "I'm afraid."

Paul let out a breath, bringing me even closer to him if it was possible. Our foreheads touched, our nose brushed against each other and I could feel his lips moving against mine as he spoke, "We will find what is happening. I promise. I promise, Beatrice. Just don't leave me, please."

I did not know what to say, how to reply to that. His words were wholeheartedly felt, I knew it with all myself. And when he shed a tear, my own followed.

"I want to kiss you." He said breathlessly, "I don't want just one kiss, I want more. I want to kiss you again even just so I can know that you are here." But he didn't close the space that divided us, no, he inched backwards enough for him to look at me directly into my eyes. "I won't. Not until this will be over."

I nodded, half annoyed by it and half grateful because it felt like a promise. His chest began to tremble, a sound that soothed my soul emitted as an echo. I felt my body relaxing instantaneously, my mind feeling lighter.

"I like it when you do that." I admitted through a sigh, moving back in my previous position with my face hidden in his neck.

"You do?" I noticed how his voice held a slight tinge of happiness and proudness, but I felt too content to think more about it. "Good."

"What is it? This sound."

A beat, two passed when I felt him stiffen, but all was forgotten when a shout reached our ears.

"I found it!" The voice was of Maddison's. It came from the living room, arriving in the bedroom where we were clearly. "I found it!"

In a second, he was up, and he was carrying me in his arms back in the living room. "Put me down." I hissed at him.

He raised an eyebrow in my direction, "It looks like your smart mouth is making a comeback"

My eyes narrowed, "It never went away." I stated proudly, tilting my chin up, only to grimace when my headache protested.

"Stop moving so much, for fuck sakes." Paul half groaned, half snarled, pushing my head back to his chest before mumbling under his breath lightly enough that I almost didn't catch, "Better."

"What is it? What did you find?" Jared was bouncing on the heels of his feet, staring anxiously at the girl. I noticed the council then when we entered the room, all sitting in the living room with Maddison, Emily and Sam. Amelia was there too, half asleep on the couch near his father.

"It's the water witch," Maddison said, "Or more so the lack of one that is the cause of all of this. The other three elements are trying to balance it, but while doing that, they are just pushing, only resulting in creating more chaos."

Old Quil hummed deep in thoughts, "My mother used to say that if there is no balance there is no life."

"So it can be it?" Billy asked, his hand squeezing the one of his daughter.

"It can certainly be the most possible cause."

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean with no life?" Jared freezed, "Is this killing them? Can this kill them?"

"It is already doing it." Weak and a scratchy tone Kim said entering the living room on her own. Jared sprinted in her direction, helping her down on the empty seat that Sam vacated.

"Already doing it?" Paul snapped his head in my direction, the question asked all over his features.

"I don't know, I just... yeah, It true." In the end I admitted, my shoulders slumping.

"What do we need to do? Unlock the other witch?" Sam asked, his fist clenching at his sides.

"We can't." Amelia answered, "Witches unlock their powers when someone shifts."

"Then we make someone else shift!" Paul snarled, more wolf than human.

"It's not time yet for another wolf." Old Quil stated, head shaking in disapprovement.

"I don't care if it's not their time, they are dying!"

"Aether." I whispered, my mind racing to remember every word written in the Grimoire.

" What about it?" Emily had a gift, she could emit calmness even in the worst scenarios, and having an empathic gift, all the hard emotions riding this room were not good, she was a balm soothing us.

She squeezed my hand, encouraging me to speak more. "It's not the water that creates balance, but the fifth element that can only be reached when the others are all unlocked." I explained, "That is what gives the balance."

"We don't need another witch." Amelia said, catching my train of thoughts, "We need the Aether."

"Doesn't that mean that you still need another witch?" Jared asked, looking between us.

"No." his imprint replied, "The aether element does not belong to a single witch. It's shared. We will not be able to unlock it completely, but we don't need that."

"Are you saying that you want to forcefully unlock it?" Henry asked.

Kim, Amelia and I shared a look. "Yes." We said at the same time.

"And are you sure that this will help?" This time the question came from Emily.

"It will." Kim nodded, "At least temporarily. It will give us time at least."

"Alright." Sam clapped his hands together, the decision taken. "How do we do it?"

"Well..." Opening the connection with my coven I spoke directly through it. "We need an anchor." I told them.

We shifted our gaze simultaneously to the person that we all had in mind. "Do you think that she will accept?" I asked.

For a second none of them replied.

"She will. We all know that she would do anything to help us." Amelia said. "Are we sure about this?"

It wasn't something to be taken lightly— this was trust and loyalty to its core.

"I wouldn't want anyone else to do it other than her."

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone!

This chapter has mixed Pov, but I wanted to share both views, I hope that you didn't mind! Paul's overprotectiveness is railing him hard. The one kiss mentioned from the last chapter of Act 3? I had to throw it in there. 

This whole plot with the unstable powers was a surprise even for me to write, it just came to my mind, but I liked it and since it was mentioned before a few times how their powers could be unstable without a full coven, I thought why not. 

This chapter was actually two in the beginning that I merged together. That's why it's so long. The last 10 I guess are all this long if not more actually!

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

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾