Chapter 22 Wolves and Witches
Tasha's POV
“Cole!” I hear Serenity’s voice ring clear in the clearing over all the pain and growling.
I turned and saw Cole on the ground, barely able to stand. Serenity runs to his aid buy Anton cuts her off and grabbed her by the neck.
“Serenity!” I called for her and tries to run to her side.
He whispers something to her before he pierced her just below the chest, blood rush out of her, her face contorting in pain, and as he push deeper she let out a blood curling scream, I look around as the sudden silence of the clearing broke with the howling of the all the shifters. Slowly more howls came not far from us.
More shifter? I wondered.
Out of nowhere Gelya arrived, grabbing her brother by the arm, pinned him on the ground and killed him with no hesitation. Only then did I noticed that almost all of the vampires had been killed, the remaining now stood at the edge of the forest, staring at Gelya.
“Stay and be quiet.” Gelya tells them, and they bowed down to her command.
“Serenity, sweety, look at me!” I hear the vampire who seemed to be acquainted to Serenity beg, sitting beside her on the ground as hearshe laid her down, “I’m sorry, but this is the only way to save you…”
“What are you-“ I hear Cole about to argue but I stopped him, for some reason I trust this woman, and basing from the worried look that she has, she wouldn’t do anything to hurt Serenity.
I watch as the beautiful vampire hover over Serenity’s half dead body. I can sense her life slipping away, and there was no other way for us to save her than to take the chance of what this immortal is doing.
She bit her on the chest, just right above the heart. Serenity shakes for a second and gives a whine and that was it. No fuss, no pain.
Slowly, I see Serenity’s wound healing in a phase that would wow any mortal- me included. Her blood soaked clothes shows just how near she was to death, but she was slowly getting her color back.
The woman sat up and turned to me.
“You have to leave,” she hurriedly says, “now.”
“What?”
“If my husband finds out that his son is dead he wouldn’t stop until he finds Serenity.”
“I can’t leave my family-“ Cole argues.
“My daughter and I will stay with them and help them as much as we could.” She assures him.
“But what about Serenity? Is she even ok?” Ken asks.
“She’ll be fine.” The woman says, “Gelya?”
I turned around and saw Gelya walk up to us carrying a back pack and handed it to me. “It has everything you need. You have to leave now…” she looks up the moon, “they’re coming and I don’t think her bloody clothing will help.”
“Them?” I asked.
“My kind and hers.” She then glanced at Serenity, “I guess I can say both of my kind.”
“What are-“ but she cut me off by pushing the bag to me.
“You have to go now.” Gelya turns to Cole. “Keep your mind open, she had linked you with her, that means you are also linked to her mate or her pack. Once you are near your destination, send a message ahead to the King before you enter their territory.”
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned and saw the older vampire, “Stay together, never leave each other’s sight, not for a second.”
Somehow, that feeling of trust over came me again and I just nodded- no questions asked.
“Now go, we’ll take care of your family.” Gelya says as she picks Serenity, Cole shifts into his wolf. I put on the bag before walking up to him.
“And young witch?” I turned to the woman and felt her hand reach for my face, smiling. “Stay safe, please?”
“We’ll protect her, I promise.” I said.
She shook her head and, to my surprise, kissed me on the forehead, “You are just as important as she is, protect yourself as well.”
I stared at her letting her knowing gaze make my mind create one question after another.
“Tasha.” I turned to see Gelya call for me, she had already set Serenity up on Cole’s back.
With one last glance at the older vampire I ran toward her and I pushed myself up on Cole’s back, holding unto Serenity as well.
“We’ll see you soon.” Gelya says.
I nodded and with that we left.
I laid Serenity beside a log and covered her with the blanket that Gelya packed for us.
I scanned her whole body, checking if there was anything new with her. We ran for hours and that had given me enough time to think of what had happened. And on top of my head was the possibility of Serenity being a vampire.
“Is she ok?” I hear Cole ask as he tossed another wood into the fire that he had started.
“I think so.” I said, pushing her hair away from her forehead. She was a bit warm, which surprised me.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Oh, uhm, well…”
“You think she’s one of them now, don’t you?” he asked.
“Well-“
“Don’t worry, she isn’t.” he says, “Her aunt isn’t dumb to do that.”
I frowned, “I didn’t say she is.”
“Well, it would have been stupid of her if she does it anyway.” He shrugged, “Something changed in her though, I won’t deny that.”
“Change?” I asked.
He sighed and looked at me, “She gave her some sort of vampire’s essence.” He says, “Unlike shifters, vampires are almost indestructible, their healing ability comes from their venom, ours is a natural thing and flows in our blood- literally.”
“But what about Serenity?” I asked, “how come she can’t heal herself?”
“You heard the blood sucker.” He says as he turned his attention back to the bonfire, “she doesn’t have her wolf with her; right now she’s more human than a shifter. I never witness an actual case of a human being separated from its wolf, but I have heard of it.”
“What’s the difference?” I asked.
“Well, there are some things that they are incapable of.” He explained, “One is their healing ability. But Serenity seems to still have her strength and a bit of her speed.” He stared at the fire, deep in thought as he continued, “And basing on what I saw that night when we escaped the hunters, she obviously still have half of her deity wolf’s powers.”
“That’s good isn’t it?” I said.
“Yes,” he shrugged, “we wouldn’t have any problem with other shifters along the way. But…”
“But?”
He shrugged, “She’s the daughter of the moon, her wolf is missing, her bond with her mate is starting to weaken after what that hunter did to her-“
“What did he do to her?” I asked.
He stiffened and stared at nowhere in particular, I stared at his sudden discomfort and it sank in me. I looked back at Serenity amazed.
I know how she had wished and prayed to be able to go back home and be with her family- most of all her mate. But finding out what she really had been through and seeing her so pessimistic, I can’t help but admire her.
“What about her mate?”
“What about him?”
“Well,” I mumbled, “you said their connection is weakening…”
“I wouldn’t worry about that much.” He says as he tossed another log into the fire. “An alpha’s connection with his mate is much stronger than normal.”
“Why is that?”
“An alpha’s mate is more than just his life.” he explains. “To normal mates a month or two will break the bond. But not for alphas…” he paused, “especially not to her.”
I stared at him and sat across him from the bonfire, “What about you?”
He looked at me, questioned. “What about me?”
“Well, you haven’t really look for her, have you?”
“Cause I’m not planning to.”
“That’s a bit unfair to her isn’t it?”
“It’s unfair to all shifters if you ask me.”
“Why is that?”
He sat up and looked at me straight in the eye. “Having someone incorporated in your system, not knowing who she is but then you still fall in love, practically give up your life and everything that goes with it, just because its fate.” He shook his head, “Where’s the justice in that?”
“You’re just saying that because you haven’t found her yet-“
“And I will still have the same thinking when I do meet her.” he said.
“That isn’t for you to decide.” I said, “She’s part of that injustice. It’s as much as her fate and life as it is yours.”
“She wouldn’t have much of a say to it if I already have someone.”
I gave him a look of surprise. “What?”
He shrugged and shook his head, “Forget about it.”
I raised a brow, “Tell me Cole.”
“No.” he says firmly and stood up.
“Cole, you haven’t kept a secret from me and we aren’t starting now.”
“That’s what you think.” He mumbled, which I think he didn’t want for me to say. He stood up and turned to leave.
I stood up as well and crossed my arms over my chest, “Cole, you are going to tell me-“
“And what will you do once I do?”
“What?”
He turned around, looking frustrated. “What will you do when I tell you that you are the reason why I hate being mated to a stranger who is probably in search for a perfect guy that can give her a future that isn’t even in parallel to what I like, but I’d probably give in to it ‘cause I’m supposed to love her.”
My mouth dropped open and just stared at him. At that moment I was racking my head of how to respond to his inappropriate proposal.
“I don’t have a perfect life Tasha, you know that. And the moment that that- that- that little brat girl sees that it would either she reject me or wish I was dead.”
“You don’t know that-“
“I do!” he snapped. Then he walked up to me and grabbed me by the arm. “But you…” he shrugged, “you wouldn’t judge, you never did…”
“Cole…”
Then he stepped up again, running his hand down my arm and took my hand on his, “Tasha, please don’t push me away.” He whispered, “I wouldn’t know what-“
“Cole, please don’t.” I pulled my hand away.
He frowned and staring at me. Eyes filled with sadness and… disappointment?
“I shouldn’t have…” he says taking small steps away from me, “I shouldn’t’ have listened to her…”
“Listened to who?”
He shook his head, ran to the end of the forest and shifted and ran off to who knows where.
“Cole! Cole wait!” I shouted running after him. “Cole we’re not supposed to separate!”
I heard him growl before he finally disappeared in the darkness.
I sighed and reached for my temple, trying to calm myself.
I looked back in our little clearing and stared at Serenity’s sleeping body.
How can one girl affect so many? I thought with a shrug.
If she never came, Cole wouldn’t have said those things. He wouldn’t have run off. He wouldn’t have put our friendship in this awkward position where it would tip anytime and come to the end as we know it.
I sighed as the air around us shifted from relaxing to strong and cold. The fire bent against it, bowing and giving into submission to the wind.
I walked back to the bonfire looking for any more logs and shrugged when I realized that Cole had tossed the last of it. To make matters worse, Serenity gave a low moan and shivered under the blanket.
I knelt beside her and reached for her forehead, she was burning up.
I shrugged, I didn’t have any medicine or even herbs with me. And the wind picking up isn’t helping at all.
I looked around and shrugged again before I found myself walking to the edge of the clearing.
“I just need to get some herbs, Serenity.” I whispered to her. “Cole will be back… somehow.”
Before leaving I casted a spell that will keep intruders away. But not Cole.
Never Cole.
I walked through the dark forest, keeping my guards up. But I guess it wasn’t enough.
‘Cause the next thing I knew, my arm was roughly pulled behind me making me drop the branches I picked up and a bag put over my head before I succumb to the darkness.
