Pop lay beside me on the grass outside, just holding Donny to his chest and staring silently up at the sky through the leaves. I was leaning against Paige while she babbled on about knocking Logan out at their training this morning.
Everyone is slowly accepting Pop's presence with us. Slade is still...cautious around him and places himself directly in the path of Pop from me. And I don't tell him I let Pop hold Donny. He'd lose it.
"Hey, Piper, where is your mum? I thought she was meeting with us today?" Archer asked me in confusion as he dropped down on the picnic blanket dragging Terri down with him. Everyone except Christopher, Slade, Brock, Colt, Seth and Maggie was here.
"I think she said something about sorting a Coven out." I told him with a small shrug of my shoulders and his eyebrows rose up in surprise.
"Hey, Lucy, can you tell us something about Witches?" Paige asked Lucy eagerly after shoving Logan's face away from her. His cheeks were stuffed with food and he was trying to spit it all over her.
"What would you like to know?" Lucy asked her slowly as she straightened up and popped a strawberry in her mouth. She was sitting as far as she could away from Pop.
"How come we don't interact with Witches? I mean, other than Mandy. And the woman she was talking to when we were looking for Piper was pretty shocked and angry when she heard King Slade in the background." Jay interrupted Paige before she could offer something to talk about with Witches. Everyone glanced down for a moment at the reminder about that time.
"There is quite a bit of history between Lycans and Witches." Lucy began to explain to us and Pop smirked beside me at her words. "Witches were once allied with Lycans, before one of their Elders decided that it'd be in their best interest to ally with the Vampires." Lucy explained to us uneasily and everyone except Pop gasped in shock along with me. From what I've understood, Witches are meant to be neutral parties and with their gentle behaviours and 'balance with nature' it seemed implausible for them to side with such a destructive species.
"Why aren't they with the Vampires now?" Paige asked Lucy curiously as she frowned uneasily and Lucy gave her a small smile shaking her head slightly.
"Would you believe it had something to do with a power struggle?" Lucy quizzed us ion amusement and I shared a doubtful look with the others. "They were powerful allies, would have annihilated the rest of us and ruled the world with an iron claw. But Witches backed out at the finish line because they couldn't control the Vampires." Lucy conclude with a clueless shrug while I frowned deeply at what she said. It seemed to easy and suspicious for Witches to suddenly back out from the winning side. "Since then, Witches have been the neutral side." Lucy told us simply and I glanced over at Pop when he hummed in agreement.
"How sweet; a Lycan is trying to teach our history." A strange voice spoke up with a sneer and everyone turned to face them in surprise. Pop tensed up on the ground beside me and his eyes changed. At first they went pitch black, the whole eye, and then a deep, blood red colour showed up in places.
It was scary as hell.
"Ivy, you are being rude." Mum sighed out in annoyance and I spun to face her quickly. She stood next to two women looking uncomfortable and very annoyed with them both. They seemed to ignore the tension she was feeling and glared spitefully at us.
I smiled widely in greeting at mum when she spotted Pop and I and hurried over to scoop Donny up. Mum pocked her tongue out at Pop when he opened his mouth to protest and I giggled in amusement at her.
"You've gotten bigger!" Mum cooed at Donny lovingly as she cradled him close to her. His eyes stared up at her with a creased eyebrow before his eyes shifted over to me. His fingers stretched out to me and I dropped my chin to his hand so he could grip tightly.
He takes comfort from holding on to me. It's sweet.
"So, this is my Great-Grandson?" Someone spoke up curiously with a smile in their voice and I slowly turned to face the older woman. She was staring down at Donny in mum's arms and I frowned deeply at her standing in her line of sight.
"I'm sorry? Who are you?" I asked her sharply tensing myself up and the Warriors stood around me protectively. The woman's eyes widened in surprise before pain crossed her face when she fimally felt the hostility towards her.
"You never told her about me?" The woman asked mum and in a pained voice as her eyes shifted over to her and mum scoffed handing Donny to me.
"I told her you wanted nothing to do with us." Mum informed her truthfully folding her arms over her chest. "She met James' parents before they had their accident, and the only grandparent Piper knew was dad. You made sure of that, mother." Mum informed her in a bored voice and I watched the old woman grimace at her worlds while the younger one glanced away clenching her jaw.
"We have come to realise that we made a grave mistake exiling you from-"
"Mistake?!" Mum exploded furiously in the middle of the woman's sentence. "What you did was not and never will be, a mistake." Mum hissed viciously at the pair and I shifted uneasily feeling a chill run down my spine. There was something powerful about mum and even caused the Lycans to cringe back from her.
"Mandy, we're trying-"
"I don't want to hear anything from you!" Mum screeched as loud as she could and I turned Donny away from her when he started crying. Mum glanced at me apologetically and I nodded in understanding. "You bound my powers, shunned me as your child, called Piper every name under the sun, stripped me of any title or possession, and abandoned me in a town ruled by Lycans. Why should I ever forgive you?" Mum hissed venomously at the women and they both couldn't look in her eyes. Pop was still lying on the ground but was rigid and tense waiting for something. I can't imagine what he's going through being so close to these women again.
The doors to the palace flew open and Slade bound down the stairs with a frantic look on his face. He was obviously told that Witches are getting antsy.
Now I have to deal with the repercussions.
Slade hurried to my side and pulled me close checking over our screaming son in the process. Then he gave everyone a disgruntled look I had to smooth a snicker at the sight of.
He's not in a friendly mood today.
Donny may or may not have kept kicking up a stink until we had him in the bed with us -Slade couldn't cuddle me properly.
"We didn't know what to do, Mandy." The younger one spoke softly lifting her face to square off with mum.
"Anything would have been better than what you did, Ivy." Mum told her firmly and 'Ivy' glanced away once again. "I tried contacting you for months afterward. I didn't want to be alone, never had such isolation from everything I knew before. But the second you realised that the Coven was yours, you turned your back on me." Mum whispered with a betrayed look on her face that caused Ivy to flinch slightly at mum's blow. "Not once did either of you check up on me. To see if I was even still alive." Mum sneered at them both in disgust and the older one pressed a hand to her chest. "I was the one who had to bite my pride and call the family who exiled me for the chance to reach my daughter in time. And still you both stand in front of me and say that it was all a mistake and you didn't know what to do?" Mum asked them rhetorically with her hands clenching together slowly. They both dropped to their knees with pained expressions.
Pop stood to his feet sharply and placed a hand on mum's shoulder until she relaxed.
He concealed himself again before Ivy and mum's mother stood to their feet again.
"How dare you disrespect us like that?! How dare you attack your leaders! You are a common Witch, Mandy, what you did is punishable!" Ivy shrieked furiously at mum who scoffed loudly and rolled her eyes at her.
"Technically, I'm still an exiled Witch, Ivy. That means that little rules like that don't apply to me." Mum informed her with a smug smirk on her face and Ivy's jaw dropped so I giggled in amusement. Slade glanced down at me with a small glare to keep quiet, but I noticed the smirk on his face.
"She needs her family, Mandy. We are her Witch side and have a right to her and her son." The woman told mum determinedly and everyone around me tensed up before the Lycans released low, threatening growls.
"Always trying to push the boundaries you can't, Pamela." Lucy sighed tiredly at the woman and her eyes snapped over to her. The woman glared furiously when recognition crossed her face and her stance turned defensive.
"Witches need to keep the balance. Initiating Piper and her son is not pushing any boundary, Lucy." The woman sneered in disgust at Lucy who simply raised her eyebrows at her.
"Piper is the soulmate of my son, Pamela. She is protected by Lycans and needed by them to survive. You have no more right over her." Lucy informed her calmly and Pamela's jaw clenched in irritation at her words.
"Always pretending you know everything, Lucy." Pamela sneered furiously at Lucy and she smiled widely at her in return. Pamela did not return it.
"I know more than you. And when to leave things well alone." Lucy commented in amusement and Pamela huffed out a breath before her eyes turned to the palace. Christopher came strolling out whistling to himself before freezing when he saw the stand-off.
"Here we go again." Christopher sighed in annoyance as his shoulders slumped and he gave Pamela a pointed look. "Remember what happened last time you tried to have things your way, Witch." Christopher warned Pamela firmly and she narrowed her eyes at him dangerously.
"Wait, you've met before?" Archer asked them in surprise while there was a break and Lucy glanced back at him in amusement.
"Once or twice." Lucy murmured cheerfully to him while Pam scoffed at her and rolled her eyes. There was too much tension and hostility for it to only have been a few encounters.
"Tell the truth, Lucy." Pamela taunted her with a sneer on her face and Slade snarled dangerously beside me at her. He's very protective of his mother. All his family, actually. And his unstable mind certainly isn't helping the situation.
"Alright." Lucy conceded lightly before smirking at Pamela in amusement. "Pamela and I go back a few centuries." Lucy dropped on us simply and my eyes widened before I glanced up at Slade wordlessly. He gave me a look to explain everything later.
"We were born in the same town and grew up together. Best friends, we were." Pamela continued with a sweet, sarcastic smile on the end and Lucy hummed softly lifting her head proudly.
"Indeed." Lucy agreed with her simply before lacing her hands together in front of her. "Until someone got a little gift and abandoned me." Lucy added as an afterthought smiling sweetly at Pamela.
"I became an Enchantress!" Pamela exploded indignantly at Lucy and she narrowed her eyes slightly while Christopher stood beside her protectively.
"You became shallow and power driven!" Lucy protested loudly to Pamela who rolled her eyes and turned her back disrespectfully. "I stood by your side against those who wronged you and when you were bestowed the honour of running a Coven, you turned your back on me!" Lucy yelled with raw betrayal in her voice that made my heart clench in my chest. It was clear then that there was so much more to Lucy than what she's allowed us to see.
"Why would I place my coven in danger being associated with your kind?" Pamela sneered at Lucy in disgust finally turning to face her again and Lucy growled warningly at her.
"I was a common wolf back then!" Lucy yelled at her furiously and Pamela shrugged uncaringly at her. Her eyes moved over to Christopher and fury covered her face again seeing him.
"And then you found Christopher." Pamela hissed harshly at Lucy who threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "We swore to each other that when one lays claim, the other backs off!" Pamela shrieked at Lucy and suddenly sent a ball of energy at her. Mum stood in the way of the attack and held the energy ball between her hands. Slade positioned me behind him instantly watching Pamela and Ivy with deadly eyes.
"Attack again and I will send it back to you." Mum cautioned Pamela in a hard voice as the energy ball flickered out in her hands. Pamela clenched her jaw tightly glaring at mum, but backed off slightly.
"You of all people know that destiny is something not to be messed with." Lucy carried on with the conversation after nodding gratefully at mum.
"But you could have told me." Pamela muttered bitterly at Lucy and she gripped her hair tightly in frustration.
"I did!" Lucy shrieked helplessly at her with a desperately look on her face to get through to her. "I told you that Christopher gave me all the signs of a mate and yet you still ignored my pleas and tried to have him." She snapped harshly at Pamela with dark eyes remembering that part of her life. I completely understood what she was feeling; the mere thought of some other woman having an interest or touching Slade makes me murderous.
"And I would have, too." Pamela told her seriously lifting her head proudly at Lucy. Christopher cleared his throat in an effort to lower the rage Lucy was emitting.
"If Selene hadn't interfered, you mean." He told Pamela with a glare on his face and she flinched back like he hit her. I frowned up at Slade in confusion shifting Donny in my arms slightly when he began wiggling.
'Who's Selene?' I asked him through our mind link and Slade glanced down at me over his shoulder.
'Our Goddess.' Slade told me in a hard voice at the turn this conversation has taken. 'Selene created all creatures that run under the night -other than Vampires and Darklings. Her power is vast and unlimited. She grants us our perfect soulmates.' He added with a content smile on his face as he stared at me and I blushed under his eyes before kissing his cheek gently.
"She couldn't leave well enough alone." Pamela sneered furiously at Christopher and Ivy stepped up alongside her trying to look threatening. She looked pathetic compared to the Lycans.
"You were trying to break up a very important and vital bond-ship, Pamela. Of course she wouldn't allow it to happen." Lucy snapped harshly at Pamela and a round of tears fell from Pamela's eyes as she gave Christopher and Lucy a look of undying hatred.
"She turned my family to stone!" Pamela shrieked with a heartbroken look on her face and Lucy took a daring step forward.
"You were going to destroy nature's balance! You needed to be punished!" Lucy roared powerfully at her in return and Pamela covered her face screaming in anguish.
"Iwill never have them again because of you!"
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This one didn't take as long to write, thankfully.
I'm beginning to run out of things I need to happen, so there may only be a few more chapters before it's all finished.
Hopefully this gave a bit of insight into what Mandy's had to deal with. I'll do a chapter explaining everything next.
Thanks for reading! Xx
P.S. The image is Pamela.