I close my eyes as we step out onto the snow. It crunches under our feet as we walk, and slowly I take a peek from behind Aiden to see we're in a field. The trees line one side of it like an unpassable black wall and for a second, Brianna's vision comes to mind. What did all of that mean exactly? I mean, I could take a guess, but surely things weren't that transparent. Since my vision interpreting skills were as nonexistent as my snow boots, I forced myself to look around instead.
"I don't see them?"
Aiden circles around, breathing in deeply as Brianna closes the portal behind us.
"They're here." He murmurs, turning to the trees.
"Jack, Luke! Where are you?" WIthout thinking I call for them, breaking apart from our little threesome. "Guys?"
All I want right now is to be squished in a giant bear hug, or have my hair ruffled - even painfully. They can pick me up and throw me in the pool despite the weather, drink all the coffee before I get it, even hog the tv with their stupid sports. They can do anything they want so long as they come to us now.
We hear the thudding first, and Aiden grabs my arm to pull me closer to him. There is no dying the footsteps of wolves running and as the duo break out into the light, I nearly cry. Brianna holds up her hand, sending a spark of green light across the field towards them only it stops halfway, falling to the ground.
"What's that?" I ask, looking at her.
"There is magic around them." She mumbled, concentrating as both hands started to glow and it wasn't english she whispering in under her breath.
A bigger ball of green suddenly surged forward, lighting up the invisible wall like a neon spider web. Again and again she threw these light balls at it, as my brothers only got closer - not stopping. Could they see what she was doing?
"Shit." Aiden cursed as the sounds of a car came up behind us, and turning now, I recognised Mum and Dads car.
A sudden blast of cold hit us as the panting growls of my brothers followed. The wall was gone and Brianna sighed, shaking her hands as though they were wet.
"They need to get out of here." She ordered Aiden, her eyes turning completely white before she closed them. "Who ever is doing this is still nearby and I'd love to find them too."
Aiden simply nodded as he looked down to me. "Go to your parents, we'll handle this."
"But-" I started, nearly being knocked over as my brothers finally made it to us. Their wriggling bodies had steam coming from their coats, their tongues were pink and hanging out of the side of their mouths as their tails didn't stop wagging. "Come on, Mum and Dad are over there."
They pushed me along with them, and looking back to Aiden, a wolf now took his place. He wasn't like my brothers, or any of the other shifters I knew. He was bigger, stronger, the look in his eyes feral as we stared at each other. The snarling growl sent my way was an obvious message to go, and my siblings circled me, keeping me going as Mum ran towards us.
"What's going on?"
"Whoever did this is still around, they want to find them." I tell her as we get close enough.
I hate leaving Aiden and Brianna, and behind us the growls only get more savage. Mum doesn't need to be told twice, and Dad never turned off the car. My brothers shift the second they reach the side door and take the pants Dad passes out to them, but I don't get in.
"Sam, what are you doing?" Luke snaps, grabbing my arm as he tries to pull me into the car. "Get in."
"I can't just leave them." I protest, torn about what to do.
"Do you have some kind of power we don't know about that will help?" He tugs again, with a bit more force and I know he is right. What could I actually do if I stay?
"Well no, but-" I could talk to David if he was behind it. Try and get him to call a truce maybe?
"Then get in the car!" Mum orders and with a final look, I climb in.
"Crap that was intense!" Jack sounds much too excited for the situation as he slides in beside me and trapped between my siblings, I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to. "We were, like, stuck and yeah."
"Stuck?" Mum asks as Dad starts to reverse the second Luke is in.
He spins the car around and we drive off, soon hitting the main road as we head back towards home. Just like that, it's over?
"Yeah. We just couldn't shift and well, the more i tried it was like i suddenly didn't want to. Was it the same for you?" He asks Luke.
"Pretty much. It was this feeling of being lost. Like you knew what you wanted to do, but not really the reason why or the purpose of it." He sounded much to grown up for my liking. "It was actually kind of terrifying"
Jake only nods.
"Well, it's over now." Dad mumbles, not slowing as we leave the highway and head into town.
"For now." Mum looks at him and sitting in the middle, I can see the looks exchanged.
"The witch will fix it right, and Aiden?" Luke asks, the hint of panic in his voice unmissable and no wonder after what happened.
Before I can answer Dad does. "Doesn't matter. We're leaving."
"You can't just run away and-" I protest.
"We can." He growls. "I know people that will be able to help us."
"Oh really, what kind of people exactly?"
"Not now Samara!" Mum snaps. "This isn't up for discussion!"
"The hell it is!" Jake slams his fist against the door, snapping the plastic moulding of the cars interior. "I agree with Sam. We can't run."
"What if something had happened to you two? You survived this time, but there could be a next time. I'm not willing to risk any of you crossing paths with that, that, monster again. We are leaving. End of story." She tells him calmly, a tell-tale mum sign that if we keep pushing her, she would soon explode.
Good. Let her.
"We are doing what is best for all of you." Dad backs her up, our eyes meeting in the rearview mirror as he glances my way.
"You don't get to make those kind of decisions for me anymore!" Mum flinches yet he barely blinks. "Tell me, Dad, have you been talking about me to those people, the ones with the hybrids? Or what gave you a conscious Mum, not to leave me with monsters? Are they the ones you plan to run to now?"
"We were never going to leave you! We just wanted to make sure we were prepared for anything that might happen as you grew!" Mum answered. "They said they could help us, but I wasn't going to give up my baby. I love you Sammy, I always have and always will! We just want to protect you."
"And what about you?" I ask Dad, leaning forward in my seat.
"They're not all like them. What crap has he been filling your head with?"
"What are you talking about?" Luke frowns.
"David told me why he killed those people, the other shifters. They were monsters, and the things they did to hybrids-" I pause, unsure of how much I should say and looking back at Dad, I left it at that. "But he only found out who I am because of them, because of you!"
"What is she talking about?" Mum asked him, sounding as horrified as my brothers now looked. "We left them behind when we heard the rumours..."
"I had to be sure she wasn't going to be one of those, things. You saw them." He snapped at her.
"We knew she wasn't." Mum tensed, sitting up in her seat. "What have you done?"
"What I had to, to keep my family safe!" He yelled, finally slowing down as we neared our house.
"She is our family too." Luke took my hand in his, squeezing it as he did so.
"We're not going anywhere." Jake told him as he stopped the car on our driveway.
"Even after what just happened?" He turned back to look at the three of us, and he didn't look anything like the man I had always known. He was scared.
"How about we go inside, sleep on it." Mum decided, getting out of the car.
"And if the witch and hybrid fail or worse, come here, then what?" Dad demanded, getting out after her.
The three of us quickly did the same.
"Then we will just deal with whatever comes-" She froze and Dad growled, moving to shield her as he held up a hand for us to stop. "next."
From the shadows of the verandah, David emerged looking every bit as dark and dangerous as his reputation would have you believe. He smiled, fangs unmissable in the streetlight as he fearlessly approached. Not needing an introduction, my brothers were quick to usher me behind them as they stood on edge and tense, trembling with the urge to shift now even after the night they'd had.
"Hello Megan." He purred, with his smile gone and his face blank it was hard to tell what he was thinking as he looked her over. The way his eyes narrowed on Dad didn't make it as difficult as there was no hiding what he thought of him.
"David." Mum whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"You know, I thought that I'd feel, something, seeing you again." He came closer, as we all seemed unable to move or react. Even Dad didn't budge as he reached up to wipe the tears from Mums face. "How did it feel just now, unable to find your boys?"
There was a snarl to his words that made my stomach sink and breaking free of the moment, I moved quickly to stand beside Mum. No one else seemed able to speak or even move and I wasn't naive enough to think he was the only danger here tonight.
"Leave them alone." I warned.
"Or what?" He mocked, turning from her. "Your witch friend and the hybrid going to stop me?"
He was baiting me, but I refused to bite. "No. No one is going to stop you, because you're not going to do anything."
This clearly amused him as he smirked, coming closer to me.
"I'm not?"
"No, you're not. You've already won, they're all terrified of you." I stopped, wondering where exactly this could go. "Tonight proved you can do things, that you're as powerful and dangerous as they imagined. You showed that you can take it all away from them if you wanted, but I don't think you do."
The smirk dropped, and his eyes narrowed only before he could say anything I carried on.
"Because if you did it wouldn't be them you were hurting, it would be me. My brothers are truly innocent in all of this, your fight isn't with them and while I get you're angry with Mum and, him, you've beat them without really having to do anything. Here we are, talking. We've started to get to know each other, things they never wanted, so please, please stop all of this."
I wondered for a second how it felt for Dad to hear me refer to him as simply, him. No name, no attachment. Years of lies and rejection simmered within me for every time I had wondered what was wrong with me or why he never showed he cared or even said that he loved me. Yet I'd still defend him, do what I could to ensure he survived this and as David looked his way, I wondered if that subtle reference had done what I intended it to do.
"I was wrong before when I left you. Try and see it from my point of view for a second. My whole life, everything that I know has been turned upside down. It's easy to want to ignore it, pretend nothing has changed, but I realised as soon as I got home that I couldn't do that." I sigh, feeling so overwhelmingly exhausted.
"Meaning?"
"I'll forget this happened and you forget how I ended things at your place. I'm still not willing to give up my life and all that I have for you, and you can't expect me to. We can hang out like before and find a middle ground we're both happy with." I look around at my frozen family, wondering if he would accept my deal. "I know you're not what they all say you are, please don't prove me wrong."
He was quiet for too long. The wind picked up, cold and sharp across my skin making me shiver as I hugged myself, trying to feel just a little warmer. My mind began to wander to thoughts of sleep, of curling up beside Aiden after being told all of this had been nothing more than a bad dream - my life just as untouched and boring as it had ever been.
It wasn't Aiden who put his arms around me now, and I must have closed my eyes as startled, I found David now hugging me. "For you, I will do this."
"Thank you." I hugged him back, and the second we parted he was gone.
"Where did he go?" Dad growled, coming back to life.
"What just happened?" Luke asked at the same time, looking around as Mum pulled me against her.
"Oh my baby girl, are you alright?" She smoothed my hair and checked me over as the others surveyed the front yard and then the house, only calling us inside once they were satisfied David had definitely gone. "Sammy?"
"I'm fine, just tired." I pause on the verandah, looking around the silent street - worried I'd see David still lurking, but hoping Aiden would appear instead.
Neither of them were there.
"Come inside, I'll get the kettle on." She moved towards the kitchen where the sound of her whispering voice mingled with Dads. From what I strained to hear, he was still wanting them all to pack up and go.
"You're quiet?" Jack stayed at my side as I stood in the living room window.
"I'm worried about Aiden."
"He'll be fine. What happened though, I remember David appearing, but then he just vanished."
"I asked him to leave you all alone." I mumbled.
"Just like that he agreed?" He asked doubtfully.
"I thought I didn't want him in my life, but I do. I told him that, and then he left."
"Do you really? This was obviously an attempt to blackmail you into doing what he wanted. You don't have to do-"
"I know Jack. I would have done anything he asked if it meant keeping you all safe and I hate that he brought you guys into it, but I pushed him to do it too. It's all happening so fast, I just need some time to process it. If he had waited, I would have told him so without this drama."
"Well, so long as it's what you want." He sighed. "I'm so hungry."
Shaking my head I manage to smile. "Go eat then, I'm pretty sure Mum isn't just making coffee."
I hang back for a few more minutes, not wanting to face my parents and the worried looks on my siblings faces. Sure enough Mum had managed enough for a picnic on the kitchen table; cold meats, cheeses, bread and whatever else was in the fridge all came out.
Grabbing a coffee, I stood by the bench and held my cup tight as my brothers happily ate. Dad simply stared at what Mum put in front of him and even she nervously picked at a few things before finally turning to look at me.
"Hungry love?"
"No. I'm good with this, thanks."
No one said anything after that. Jack and Luke cleaned up as Dad disappeared upstairs and after a few minutes of picking up and putting down the same plate, Mum went too after shooting me an apologetic smile.
"No idea what his problem is." Jack growled.
"He isn't in control anymore." Luke mumbled as he loaded the dishwasher. "The vampire proved it to him. First with us, then with that little display."
"It wasn't really him though was it. He's clearly got a witch working for him somewhere." Jack added thoughtfully before tensing. "You don't think-"
"No." Luke answered and the pair went quiet once again.
"Think what?" I ask.
Jack glanced at Luke before looking at me. "Your friend, that red head. Think she might be in on it? Seems a bit strange that she comes to the pack, David finds you, they go off to fight what ever did that thing to us, only for-"
"Not tonight." I quickly tell him. No more thinking tonight. "I'm going to go and sit in the front room, hopefully they come back here."
They as in the possible traitor witch and my hybrid. My mind began to wake up, maybe coffee hadn't been the wisest decision as I fidget with the tassel on the blanket I pull over my lap. Leaning into the curve of the chair, I look out into the night, knowing morning was coming. There were too many options, too many stories and tales of he said, she said. I thought about the vision Brianna had, of Aiden's history with David and then about the other hybrids out there. I also thought about the ones who hadn't made it and without thinking, I found myself wiping the tears from my eyes.
"I've got you." It's Aiden's voice in my ear as I briefly open my eyes to find the first orange light of the dawn filling the front room as I'm lifted from my chair.
I snuggle in closer, finally finding the warmth that had been missing inside of me as he carries me up the stairs. The familiar softness of my bed finds us next, and Aiden doesn't let me go as he takes off his shoes. Once we're side by side, it's almost as though nothing else matters.
"You okay?" I whisper.
"I am now. Luke told me some of what happened here, are you okay?"
"I am now." I tell him.