𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏

𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣

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╰┈˚ · ° .   FLAWLESS MOCHA MARBLE-LIKE SKIN, red haunting eyes. A burgundy colored suit stained in various spots with smeared dirt that looked too big on the shoulders— a tell-tale sign of it not fitting quite correctly. Bare feet glided against the earth, almost not touching the soil as the man moved with the wind.

A gasp was caught in my throat, choking me with fire, scalding my veins as magic awoke. For a second or more, I struggled with my breathing— it was erratic and at the same time coming too short.

"Beatrice." The arm around my middle prevented me from moving further, the hand warm as the sun, scalding against my already too hot body, trying to pull me back to him. Paul's voice was still thick with sleep and I knew that he was more asleep than conscious at that moment, but I struggled with my breathing, with containing my panic and the viscous flow of the magic in my veins, I could barely hear my name being called a second time.

I felt like a scream got stuck in my throat, trying to crawl out, scratching my vocal cords in the attempt to be left out and to be heard.

I don't know how, I knew that Paul was a heavy sleeper, to wake him up it would usually take me about too much time to count— maybe it was his wolf, whining in the back of his mind for his imprint, somehow feeling my distress that made him snap out of his sleep-clouded mind and becoming attentive.

His warm chest was at my back, his hands coming to steal mine that were clenched in tight fists. A sound of distress left my lips, even through my panic, I was aware that my magic was making the room warmer than usual, I could feel the flames begging to be released from my palms, and I was so afraid that I could somehow hurt him.

I tried to pull away but that only made him hold me tighter against him.

"Breath." I perceived it as a whisper, his voice slithering through my panic. "I'm here."

It took another minute for my breathing to stabilize enough for me to let out a sigh, slumping against him, eyes closed in relief. "Paul." Like a prayer I said his name. I still couldn't understand how he could make me feel like I belonged no where else but in his arms. Safe, loved.

"I'm here." His heart was beating a tad too quickly, I could hear it as I laid my head on his chest. "I'm here." He repeated, brushing away the loose limp strand away from my face with so much tenderness that it made me melt even further against him. "What happened?"

Like a lightning had struck me, my spine snapped upright almost in a perfect posture. Exactly at that moment, a howl echoed through that thick forest of the reservation. A warning.

"Someone trespassed in our territory."

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╰┈˚ · ° .   Burned footprints were left on the ground from which flowers blossomed, steam oozed from my skin. My eyes were sharp with focus, the forest around me calling the magic in my veins.

"He is coming your way, Sam." Kimberly spoke through the bond between wolves and witches, a warning for him to be prepared for the incoming vampire.

The night was thick around us, still drowning the forest in shadows and darkness. It had been more than a week since the man had entered our territory for the first time, and still, we were no closer to getting him. Not only was the vampire a danger to people since he drank human blood, but his presence in our territory had pushed Embry and Layla closer to the supernatural, making our job even harder since we had to lose a wolf and witch to keep an eye on them all the time.

Kim had her eyes closed, fingers in the soil as she used her gift on earth to track the Cold one.

An howl pierced the air as the alpha attacked, followed minutes later by his pack mate that had finally joined him. "Beatrice." The earth witch called my name, her way of letting me know that it was time to do my part. The fingers of her free hand clutched onto my wrist, connecting us together as she showed me the way through the drops of aether's power.

Fire burned as my magic responded. Flashes of images behind my eyes appeared, letting me see for a fraction of a second the vampire reeling back from the wall of flames and changing his path now in the direction of the two wolves. We waited and waited for what felt like days when in reality mere a few minutes had passed.

"He is directed towards the border." Sam snarled. The cold one had gotten away from the wolves, but no hope was lost yet.

"Where?"

"Cliff side on the northern part."

"We are losing him." Kim stressed, her distress was clear on her face, frown line tugging at her forehead.

"Fuck." I let out, passing a hand over my face. "Plan C it is."

Kim and I were quick to connect our magic together. Fire, earth, creating walls of flames and traps of heywire vines. Thanks to the open bond between the coven and pack, after mumbling a single easy spell and taking the magic from the aether, our vision was swarmed with the sight from the wolves, combining what we could see to launch more precise attacks.

The Cold One almost stumbled upon a root that had grown instantly under his feet. His red eyes flared with annoyance and pain as the sleeve of his jacket caught on fire. The wolves continued their pursuit, closing on him more and more, running, their paws hard against the earth as they followed after the invader.

My fingers trembled from the adrenaline and exhaustion, my magic scraping against my bones trying to find more power, but after days of doing this, no much energy was left. I could barely feel my feet, my eyelids dropping with tiredness.

I twitched in my spot as I poured more magic in the spells that we casted to stop the vampire from going any further. His eyes were red, a clear sign that he had fed on human blood.

"We are losing him." I muttered. We were too tired, all of us. The wolves were not as fast as they normally were, our attacks almost lazy, lacking any real power behind them. And the vampire was toying with us, the smirk at the corner of his lips showed his arrogance when he took a moment to look behind him.

It was the first time that we had to hunt, we were inexperienced contrary to the vampire that had for sure lived for hundreds of years more than any of us. We had only a year of experience on our back, to learn how to control our powers and run like a pack.

But we didn't give up.

Shooting from the ground, fire and earth joined together. Chains of vines caught on fire latched on the ankle of the vampire.

Sam launched his wolf body, his jaw open, sharp canines reflected by the light of the moon that shone through the canopy of trees above.

The vampire reeled back, using his strength to push the wolf aside, his hands burned when grabbed the vines. A shout tore from his throat at the contact with the fire, his marble-like skin cracking. In the meanwhile Jared had arrived, and with a menacing growl he jumped to the attack.

The hope that had blossomed in that instant as the vampire was surrounded by two wolves, vanished with a single howl. One that belonged to none of the three shifters. A new wolf. A thunder cracked like an omen, flashing through the darkness of the night. Water fell from the sky, the first drop landing on my cheek making me lose focus on the magic. Torrential winds followed, brushing through my already unruly hair, the braids not doing much work to keep them away from my face after the entire day spent in the forest. An earthquake followed, shaking the ground hard enough to almost make me lose my balance. My gaze snapped to the earth witch, her face as perplexed as mine. And then a lightning struck further down the forest catching a tree on fire sending red, orange and yellow hues to discard the shadows.

And then it was as if nothing had happened. No wind, the ground was firm, the fire had doused off and the rain had stopped the pouring only leaving us all drenched in the aftermath.

"What the fuck?" I stuttered the world through a confused and slightly fearful breath.

"He got away." Jared spoke through the bond in an angry growl,

"Embry shifted." Paul said. He had been the one assigned to keep an eye on the latest shifter, same as Amelia with the witch.

"Amelia? What about Layla?" The girl took more than what we all would have liked to reply, but soon her voice echoed through the bonds.

"She is fine but passed out."

"Bring them both to the Pack house." Sam said with a tired sigh, before all together closing the communication.

Wolves and witches were different. We saw the supernatural in different ways. For them it was a curse, for us a blessing. I could understand their point, having to leave everyone behind, relationships and friendships alike. The anger, the lies, the life dedicated to a bigger goal that you hadn't chosen. For witches having access to our powers was like regaining a piece of yourself that was blocked from us for our entire life. When you feel the power in your veins the day you unlock your element, it's like breathing a full breath for the first time in your life.

Our powers made us whole. And now, we were one step away from finally connecting entirely with our souls with a full group of a 4-witches coven.

✎

˗ˏˋ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ˊˎ˗

Hello everyone! I really love this chapter! I wanted to write the witches using their powers for attack in so longgggg. I like how they actually work with the pack to help them. I hope you liked it too! We even had a small moment in the beginning with Paul!

 I took some creative liberties with the Laurent plot to show that the wolves are still young and inexperienced, and to build up their fighting style and pack with him. I'm sure it was Victoria that was around to make the guys shift but in here it's Laurent, Victoria will come soon tho.

Embry and Layla are here, I have so much in mind for them.

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

˚ · ° . 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 . ° · ˚

𝐓𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲

 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞!

– 𝐋𝐨𝐥𝐚 ☾