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SMOKE N MIRRORS
AUGUSTINE WANTED PEACE, AND SHE HAD FINALLY GOT IT WHEN SHE SAW A LACK OF WOLF SHIFTER PRESENT AT THE CREEK.
Come to think of it, she hadn't recalled a time where she wasn't actively being watched by a wolf from the opposite side of the creek. There was always a looming presence around, sometimes it would hide as though she couldn't literally hear its inhumane breaths and rumbles.
But not that day. It was her first time back to the spot in the woods that she claimed was hers ever since she found out that someone up above paired her with an aggressive dog. She couldn't face the humiliation or belittlement any more, so she stayed her distance like that man wanted. Only, in seeking an escape, solitude, from the events unfolding at the Cullen residence, her feet led her to the creek.
Picking out a tree, she plopped herself onto the dirty ground and pushed her back against the spruce wood. She pointedly did not look beyond the creek that belonged to the shifters, rather choosing to focus on the ground around her.
Augustine never thought she would tire of her supernatural senses, mostly because she couldn't think of ever not having them at her disposal. She watched as a colony of insects migrated towards the creek, watched the grains of dirt fall from her fingertips as she picked up a clump, and held back from sticking her entire palm into the rough earth.
Still, she fidgeted with a small stone she reached for beside her and envisioned what she had planned for the evening. If all went well at the house, if Bella surpassed everyone's judgment (and by everyone, she meant Rosalie), Augustine wished for a celebratory puzzle-building night between her and the confines of her bedroom.
First, she had to write her weekly letter to the Denalis. Her letters had gotten shorter as of late as she grew tired of answering their questions about the whole mate ordeal — an ordeal which Carlisle told them about before she even got the chance to put ink on a page to send to Alaska. Carmen especially wanted to know everything and anything about the wolf, which made Augustine want to write about literally anything else. It was clear the others hated wolves, what with being natural born enemies and such, but Carmen couldn't help it; finding your mate was always exciting news.
Except, it filled the younger girl with anything but excitement just thinking back on that day.
Most of her recent letters consisted of, 'how's the weather up there, guys' as if the cold weather was gruesome to them and, 'has Kate electrocuted anyone lately' as if the blonde vampire was going around doing so as a mere hobby.
Augustine found herself snapping from a daydream as she heard a soft clicking sound. Turning to the rock she was spinning around in her palm, she realized that it was in fact not a rock— instead, a plain looking black pen was within her palm and it seemed as though the noise had come from its cap flicking off.
Her eyebrows furrowed, amber eyes nervously searching for the rock that she was sure was in her hand. She sure as hell hadn't brought a pen to the woods, and she dropped it from her grasp as though it burned her. She hoped that if she blinked, it would magically turn back to the rock she just had, but to no avail.
As she stared at the pen that was laying before her, its cap disguised underneath some fallen tree leaves, the sound of gravel crunching rang out.
The ravenette's gaze jolted to the other side of the creek, a boy staring back at her with a distrusting gaze of his own. He couldn't have been more than two years older than her, and was definitely not the burly man she'd spoke to the last time she was here. At least this one was wearing a shirt.
And based on the way she immediately caught his scent, evergreen and immensely woodsy, she immediately knew that she was looking at the shifter who'd been fated to her.
The speed at which she stood upright was like lightning, the mystery of the pen gone out the window as the two engaged in what appeared to be a staring contest. Augustine had to hold back a smirk at that observation, given that she knew she would win based on the sheer fact that vampires didn't need to blink. It was child's play, really.
But wolves? Well, it's no doubt he caved in first by blinking rapidly, his chest heaving only slightly. "I thought Sam told you to get lost, leech," the boy barked out, his hands balled into fists at his sides.
Leech. Yeah, Augustine's undead heart seemed to clench and boil simultaneously at the nickname he bestowed upon her. It was one thing to deny the bond that was evidently there, but it was another to be an asshole about it — to be an asshole to her.
Oh, she hated him.
Augustine's lip curled back, crossing her arms over her chest and mentally jotted down the name for the man she met last time. "Am I breaking any rules right now?" she asked rhetorically, stomping her foot twice onto the ground before adding, "once again, nope, didn't think so dog."
The boy scowled right back at her, his forehead creasing angrily and Augustine's face shifted into one of smugness. Gotcha.
"You haven't come back in weeks, why now? Are you planning something?" He was quizzing her, now. Searching for a reason as to why she kept returning, searching for a hint that would unveil a super secret plan to destroy the treaty.
Augustine couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of her. Smacking a hand over her mouth, ignoring the way the boy's shoulders seemed to deflate for a moment, she put a hand on her hip. "What, you're stalking me now?" she asked with a scoff of disbelief. "That's fan behaviour at its finest, wolfy!" The boy growled lowly at that, and for a second the girl thought he was about to outright shift or something right in front of her based on the rapid rise and fall of his chest.
She took a tentative step away from where she'd subconsciously approached the edge, guessing he really did not like that nickname. But, if life in Alaska taught Augustine anything, it was that sometimes you needed to fight fire with fire; and this was most certainly one of those times.
"Do you have an innate ability to piss people off, or is it something you practice in the mirror?" he quipped fiercely, tone mixed with distinct amounts of irritation and anger. "Can bloodsuckers like you even use mirrors?"
Low blow, dude. Augustine couldn't back down now, far too committed to be the last one standing. "I may be annoying, but at least I'm not an unoriginal, crawls around on all fours, simple-minded douchebag!" she retaliated, watching his nose twitch funnily. "And I use my mirror every day, thank you very much... but you obviously don't, though."
She watched the brunet take a large step forward, her eyes widening a fraction as it looked like he was about to surge forward. The expanse of the creek was not small, but if he shifted, it was a distance he could make easily if he ignored the treaty rules. And to be honest, it certainly looked like he was about to throw caution to the wind.
"Paul!"
Both their heads snapped to the sound of another voice approaching, the boy's steps faltering backward as he gave his full attention to the newcomer. Though, it wasn't really a newcomer; it was that man from last time— the Alpha, Sam.
It looked like he was summoning the boy away from the scene, convincing him that he had other duties elsewhere, while that name echoed in her mind. Paul. Paul.
Paul spared her a final, albeit heated, glance before jogging off with Sam. It was the kind of look that screamed this isn't over. The Alpha only nodded in acknowledgement as he made eye contact with Augustine, and the younger girl felt herself nodding back almost timidly as she watched them leave.
Well, at least she had something interesting to write about in her letter to the Denalis.
And if she spent three-quarters of the page writing about the chisel of his jaw or the darkness of his brown eyes? That was her business and hers alone.
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[ wyn's note ]
ahhhhhh! like i said, very enemies to lovers (but can you guess who might fall first and who might fall harder??)! personally i think they're both fans of each other, but that's pretty disguised beneath the loathing lmaooo
till next time! xx