*unedited and not even read through

CHAPTER 6: CELESTE

Cold water drops pelt over her, numbing her body to the same extend of numbness that seems to have a hold over her head.

Her hands shake as her lowest moments play like a movie through her mind, yet no feelings get evoked. Being alive is a boon, having survived everything and yet having come this far. Having a new family and identity.

But she could still feel the way her magic came to her, the way it felt for the first time as it leisurely moved through her palms from its host.

Unable to handle it, she slams her hand in the glass stand next to her, a desperate attempt from her side to feel something, be it the physical sense of pain.

Bringing her injured hand up to her eye level, she watches helplessly as the red of her hand started getting washed by the water from the shower head. It took only a second before wisps of her magic appeared around the cuts in her flesh, and in her unseeing vision, they healed her wounds leaving behind a tingling cold sensation.

Dark magic, it has often been a subject to miss conceptions, and that is the reason that people regardless of their species avoid talking about it.

Unlike white or pure magic, which has boundaries and regulations, and is divided massively, the dark magic is like an ocean of water to be used as you please, with no one wanting it and hardly a few that can handle it.

And the dark magic is as loyal to its host as the wolves are to a pack.

Hell, a wolf may leave the pack at some point of his life but dark magic won’t ever do so. It looks out for its host, working on his/her will and protecting them with its all might.

Celeste takes a deep breath, willing herself to move forward even in the haze of emotional numbness. Closing the shower, it takes her a few minutes to change and enter her room. She picks up the phone and calls her team to her room first before dialling for her brother.

“Celeste.”

“You know, your way of answering a phone is absolutely ridiculous.”

Celeste sits on the edge of her bed, feeling better just at the sound of brother’s snort.

“You can hardly expect me to answer with a ‘Hi girly’ or something in the middle of a meeting.”

“A meeting?”

A knock sounds through the room, the door opening slightly by Willow. Celeste nods her in, watching as her whole team filters after the Wind Element.

“Yes. The pack is in unrest. A few members had family in the two affected packs and got to know about the wolves. Not a lot of detail but enough to cause panic. I have to answer their questions but the ranked ones wanted a meeting to clear out what will be a better option to deal with this.”

She hums.

“So you handle this meeting and I will fill you in later.”

With a goodbye on the both sides, the witch cut off her phone before looking at the nine people scattered in the room.

“Report.”

A command was enough.

Zoe steps forward in attention before she reports about what the trackers could find, or rather could not. The trackers have tried to trace the path the rogues had taken to Silvette Pack, but their path had been in and around the few cities close by only.  There had been no indication of any struggle in the path, nor did they have any beef with any other group of rogues.

Once she has reported, Zoe stands back to stand next to her partner.

Earl steps forward next.

“The pack doctor was horrified at the bodies and wanted a proper burial but we got them cremated, because their body had started to rot. The substance was found in each body and a sample from each body as well as the blood of each victim had been collected and stored to send off to research lab in the Royal Pack.”

Celeste nods her head before asking, “What about the pack?”

Earl steps back and Jason answers instead.

“The pack members are now a little less restless after the king had addressed them, but it won’t be long before they start to panic again. I had already asked the alpha to command everyone to stay together and not to wander farther than needed.”

“Very well. Earl and Zoe, get the necessary documents from the pack doctor for the death of the weres. Ed, Mac and Dylan pack up. We will go back home, departure right after lunch.”

The five left and a few moments of silence later the core member of her team started the discussion, the one that was meant to dig deeper into the things.

“Celeste,” Willow starts, wringing her hands as she speaks with a helplessness in her voice.

“I tried everything, the wind has no track of where they came from. It doesn’t make sense at all, because they are werewolves, they are supposed to leave scents behind… it would have been logical had they been vampires but…”

“I understand Willow, and I do know you must have done anything that you could. We will figure it out.”

Alan comes up to Willow and gives her a side hug, speaking as he gives support to the most innocent one of the group.

“I have to agree with Willow here. It is suspicious. I flew around as much as I can but the trace was… how do I say this? Unnatural… or rather too natural for someone who have been seen around the pack lines so many times. It doesn’t match the witnesses and testimonies.”

“So we can assume that someone created a fake trail?”

Celeste hums at Seth’s question as she thinks it over before shaking her head in negative.

“As much as that can be the case, we can not rule out that maybe they did travel to cities and all.”

“With Werewolf speed? I hardly think so…” Jason interrupts, “If I and Seth were to go about our days running around the pack and cities, he would be much faster than me. So until and unless they have vampire speed, that’s not possible.”

The vampire, and the others started to discuss it, their opinions and their believes but the witch could hardly make it out as her mind plays the lines she often heard back then.

…hybrids…

Knowing it is time, she decided she needs to address the issue as it is.

“That may have been exactly what they did Jason.”

Her sentence was spoken as quietly as she could but the effect it had was like it was yelled at the top of her lungs. The silence is deafening but Celeste stands up from her bed, standing tall as she crosses her hand.

“About a decade ago, there was a group who wanted to create a potion to make hybrids. It could very well be them again, or someone following after them.”

“Why would anyone do that?”

Willow leans more against the daemon as she thinks about the people who would force hybrid-ism on others. As a descendant of Anemoi clan, Willow can hardly imagine anyone willingly wanting to suffer having to keep peace with the two parts of their own self.

“I wish I knew the answer to that…”

“How do you know this?”

The witch sighs, knowing she needs to come clean to her team. After all, how can she expect them to understand her fears if they have no idea what had already happened.

“Because you cannot create any supernatural being without magic. Hybrids, no matter who they are, come under supernatural too… A potion can be created by magic OR science but for it to actually combine the two species it needs powerful magic to combine it and make it work in whoever that takes the potion without side effects.”

“You mean… The groups Andrea and you were trying to hunt down…”

“Yes Seth. Andrea was helping me hunt the group who wanted to create the potion back then. They actually did almost create it back then, and a few trails later they would have given to their test subjects but I ran away before they can have my blood to bond the potion and my magic.”

In the worlds of witches, no magic is as strong as one that is bound by blood.

And when a new species is to be created, magic needs to be as strong as possible. Though, Celeste still finds herself wondering about the questions she can never get the answers for.

“Willow, what did the wind tell you? There must have been something right?”

The wind element sighs, while the daemon shoots the vampire a sharp glare, the pale man shrugging innocently before going back to the tiny girl that still stood tucked by the daemon. No matter what the two may say and how they pretend, everyone in the room could see how they gravitate to each other in times of despair.

The daemon, harsh and unforgiving, a creature raised from the pits of hell to bring havoc on earth always seems to be the one to provide the petite wind element, a creature who descends from a long line of staunch followers of Gods of wind.

The unlikely pair, however, don’t seem to avoid talking about the very obvious feelings they have, not because they want to hide it, but because they have yet to realise it themselves.

The dark witch feels her lips twitch up in a slight smile.

She can not be happier for her two friends. She tries not be favourable on anyone, but personally she has always been closer to Alan than anyone else that is on her team. She had met Alan even before she had met Andrea, and has always considered as her second brother.

If anyone deserves having an innocent and pure girl like Willow love him unconditionally, it is Alan.

“Nothing out of order. The wind had their voices of course, but that too had nothing very different about it, at least nothing that we don’t already know.  Though there is something that is weird. The talks before the bizarreness are about the recent club they had managed to get inside on the purely human territory and how cool the bar tender was to give up free drinks to them. From the looks of it, they have been to the club a few times.”

“Interesting.”

Interesting indeed.

After the presence of supernatural finally became apparent to the humans, who had been drunk on the knowledge of being the superior species prior to that, treaties were quickly drawn up.

At that time, despite all the supernatural beings being stronger, all agreed that humans that are not ready to exist along with others should have a safe place where no supernatural would ever enter. Now, unlike the borderlines of the packs and coven and kingdoms, these pure human cities have a marked border on the maps but no magic protecting it.

However, the tightly packed cities have high walls surrounding it, only four gates for going in and out that are always filled with armed men twenty-four seven.

So, how did the group of rogues, with no money and no strings get inside a pure human territory? Repeatedly at that. Why did they get entry in a club so many times when they have no resources? And why was the bar tender being so generous to them?

“Did you get the name of the club?”

Willow gives a sad smile to the werewolf, shaking her head in a no.

“Its okay guys. We will start to search about this club from home. Give yourselves a break for the time being, because ones we reach our pack soils, we won’t stop till we find whatever the hell is happening. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

Seth was the only one to respond, making him roll his eyes in annoyance.

Willow still seemed sad, and Alan still had his attention on the wind element while the wolf looked nervous about something.  

The vampire at times felt a bit awkward around his team, not that it was the others fault. However, with Alan always conscious about Willow and the wolf being often sort out by everyone in the pack, he felt a bit left out.

It is better when he is on the Anderson pack, where he is surrounded by wolves he knows and humans that he has bonded with. But on missions, it became very apparent that the vampire is lonely. How he wishes to be someone special to someone. How he wishes to find a partner for life.

Willow turns around, freezing when she realizes the proximity she had with Alan. A slight blush spread through her cheeks and her heart stuttered. The daemon steps back, crossing his arms across his chest with a blank expression on his face.

Celest sits back on the edge of her bed, watching as Seth straightens before making his way to the door. Just as the vampire was about to open the door, Jason calls out at him to not do so. Confused, the four others look back at the wolf in confusion.

“I have something to tell you all.”

Jason heaves out a breath before standing in at- ease form with his shoulders thrown back. He was nervous, with his throat dry as he stood in front of the four people he considers as his best friends more than team mates. If his father saw him right now, all he would have to say is how absolutely ridiculous he is being.

But their opinion mattered to Jason. For they always had his back more than all the high-ranking wolves of his pack. Those wolves, the one’s that were supposed to support him either had too high expectations from him or were waiting for an opportunity for him to stumble.

The people in front of him accepted him as he was, made him realise that it is possible to be strong without always being up-right.

“Jason?”

He snaps back to his reality, looking at the witch she has seen grow up, the vampire who is his best friend and some one Jason can always fall back to. Willow looked nervous and worried, like the little sister she was to him and the daemon stood behind her with his eyes studying the wolf.

“Wolfie, relax and speak.”

Seth turns around to face him fully, his voice urging Jason to speak out his mind.

“I met my mate.”

His statement is met with silence for a time of exact two seconds before Willow lets out a squeal and rushes to hug him. Celeste laughs out in happiness and the two men move forward to congratulate him.

“I am so happy for you Jason.”

“You deserve all the happiness that the world can give you.”

Willow’s statement made the others laugh again, the vampire speaking to her in between his chuckles.

“Wow Willow, way to make all of us feel un-deserving woman.”

Celeste slaps his chest lightly as Willow rushes to stutter an apology and an explanation, her cheeks rosy in embarrassment. Jason can’t help but smile, assuring Willow that the vampire was just joking.

“Why were you so nervous though?”

Jason sighs because he knew that Alan would be the one to catch on it.

“As you guys can guess, she isn’t from our pack. She is the primary beta of the King.”

This time the silence that followed was not positive at all. Everyone knew what it meant. Either she leaves and joins the Anderson pack, something that they all knew Jason wouldn’t want for her. After all, asking her to leave her family, friends and position for her to have no position back at home would not be fair.

The second option is he leaving and joining her pack, something that is not only frowned upon in the society, that a man leaving to join the woman. But also, he would no longer be able to be on the team.

Sure he can stay away, the two of them keep their position and meet every few months. but that will be tiring as well as heart-breaking for the two wolves. And soon enough, the first two options would be the only ones to choose from.

“What do you want to do Jason?”

Seth steps forward, asking in concern as he looks over to the strong wolf in front of him.

Jason shrugs, bringing his hand to rub his face as he thinks over everything. Heaving another sigh, he looks at his commander for help. Soon all the other do that too.

“What?”

Celeste sighs when they don’t respond. She knew, they all did, what Jason wanted to do. He was just asking their opinions, her opinion if he was making the right decision.

“Jason, You want to join her, and that is very obvious. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing that. If you have any problem, we are always a call away.”

Jason lets a smile lift his lips, the other giving him their support too. He knew his friends will have his back, always.

“What will we say to the others in the pack?”

Celeste snorts at Willow, before turning to look at Jason as she speaks.

“Anyone who says anything, tell them the salary as a special force member is nothing as compared to the salary of the Primary Beta of the Royal Pack. Plus, the pension and the add-on credit you will get.”

Alan shakes his head at her, asking in amusement.

“Really? Way to make their bond and his respect for her look like a monetary benefit.”

Celeste can’t help as she shrugs.

“Why tell them the intensity of something when they won’t understand? The economical thing is easy for them to understand than, accepting the respect Jason has for his mate and her job.”