Run

My breathing was a little uneven as I hung up the phone. No one had actually been on the other line, but my skin crawled all the same. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. Jasmine was in trouble, deep down I knew it. I looked at Rhiannon, not sure exactly what to say. My mouth still tasted dry and no words dared form on my lips. My eyes shifted back to the house. I didn't know what to do. Did I go after Quinn or did I go to Jasmine? A small, strangled noise escaped my throat. Rhiannon reached out to me, put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. I finally found my voice. I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly.
“I need to go, but-” I broke off and looked at the house. How could I leave Quinn? I needed to explain, I needed them to know. It wasn’t Quinn’s fault, just like it wasn’t mine. But Jasmine... The call had come from her phone, the line had stayed open. I had to go to her, I had to find her.
“It’s okay,” Rhiannon said and nudged me towards the side gate. “Go, I’ll try and talk to your parents.” I bit my lip and stared at her and then the house for a few minutes before nodding slowly. I dialled Tristan’s number as I ran. The crawling sensation down my spine told me we didn't have much time. It took me three goes to get him on the phone and I was so desperate to do that that I failed at unbolting the gate, instead choosing to vault over it in a dress. If I had not been what I was, there was no way in hell I would have gotten over it. I landed, teetering on my heels as I moved towards my car. Tristan finally picked up and I realised I hadn’t been the only one to receive the mysterious call. He spoke so fast I wasn’t sure he was speaking English and I had to ask him more than once to slow down and start again.
“She called me,” he said finally. I didn't have to ask who the ‘she’ was. I already knew.
“She called me too,” I replied softly. He was silent on the other end.
“What do we do?” He asked. His voice was a lot stronger. The underlying tension that had been between us before had finally vanished. Tristan knew we had a common interest.
“You’re at school, right?” I asked. My multitasking skills had vastly improved since moving to that school, I always seemed to be doing more than one thing at a time.
“Yeah, why?”
“Go to Haines.” I flicked the headlights on at the end of the drive and floored the accelerator. “And find out where Helena is.”
“She’s gone,” he said almost absently.
“What do you mean gone?” I was so close to smacking my forehead against the steering wheel.
“She left for the summit meeting already.”
“That’s still days away,” I mumbled. Where could she have gone? The needle was still creeping up on my Speedo and for a second I envisioned the car flying off the road and landing in a ditch. My foot eased up on the accelerator and touched the brake ever so gently. I was no help to Jasmine dead.
“Tristan?” I said wearily. “You don’t think this is a trap, do you?” I could head him breathing on the other end of the line, but he didn't answer me. He didn't want to believe it was a trap anymore than I did. The possibility was still out there. Helena had to know that we were getting close to catching her by now, we hadn’t exactly been all that careful. I sighed softly. “Tristan, I need to know where I’m going.”
“Haines isn’t here,” he said. “She went with Helena.” I had a bad feeling about this. He gave me the address and said he’d meet me there. As a vampire he could probably get there a lot quicker than I could, but I had to try. I couldn’t let Tristan get there and rush in all high on emotions. If this was a trap and I had a very strong feeling that it was, then we were going to need help. I hung up on Tristan, making him promise not to go in there before I got there. He eventually did, reluctantly. I rang Rhiannon, but got her voicemail instead. I left her a message telling her to hurry, promising to take her away and to try and recreate what we’d done for her. I knew that was a big promise, but I needed her. I needed her to try.

Tristan rang me three times while I was driving. Jasmine lived closer to me than what it was to drive to school. It still took me four hours to get there and he was getting impatient. Rhiannon hadn’t called back which worried me, but I could still feel Quinn on the other end of the bond, a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. I relished in this. It meant he was alive. I held onto this as I drove. Quinn was okay, I trusted Rhiannon. I trusted that she could get us out of this mess. I hoped. I pulled onto the street and searched for the house.
“64, 66...” I murmured. “72.” I slowed the car and peered down the driveway. I couldn’t see Tristan or anyone else for that matter. I dialled his number and it went straight to voicemail. “Great,” I mumbled and got out of the car. I looked down at my dress and rolled my eyes. Lucky for me, I was a wolf and always carried a spare set of clothes in my car. I changed right then and there on the side of the street, laying the dress across the backseat of the car. The shorts were a little tight and the shirt bared most of my stomach, but it was better than trying to fight, if there was fighting involved, in a damned wedding dress. I pocketed the keys and my phone and began the trek up the drive. A cool wind swept across my bare skin causing Goosebumps to dot my flesh. The trees swayed softly and the crickets were the only creatures that spoke. I hugged my arms over my stomach as my eyes automatically scanned the path ahead for signs of any threats. The house came into a view and it was something out of a horror movie. The windows were shuttered, but now I could see lights behind the shutters. My heart stuttered in my chest and my breathing became a little uneven. I didn't know what to expect. The front door was wide open, the light from within casting long lines across the lawn.
“They’re here,” a voice said from behind me. My heart leapt into my throat and I clamped my lips so hard I bit my tongue. I rounded of Tristan. He’d scared the shit out of me.
“Damn it,” I hissed and slapped his arm. “I damn near jumped out of my skin.” A small smile twisted his lips. It was the closest he’s been to actually smiling in so long. I smiled in return and turned back to the house.
“What the fuck are we going to do?” I asked him.
He shook his head from side to side slowly. “Just go in there and hope for the best.”
“Great plan,” I muttered. “Let’s go.” Tristan walked at my side as we moved towards the house. I felt uneasy; the feeling was crawling across my skin. Quinn stirred at the other end of the bond, but his walls were still up and I couldn’t get past them. I don’t know what irritated me more, the fact that he could hide from me or that I couldn’t hide from him. It was something I’d have to ask Tristan about later. Vampires had a similar ability when they found their mates. I didn't assume that Tristan had found his in any way, but it was possible that he knew a little more about it. Walking up the stone front steps, I moved in front of Tristan. The house was deathly quiet and I juggled with the possibility that there could be a spell up over the house. In that case, we’d probably need to kill her to get out.
“Can you sense them?” I asked. He nodded slowly, a strange look on his face. “What?”
“I can hear her,” he whispered. “Jasmine, she’s calling us.” My heart broke. Between the pain on his face and that in my chest, I wasn’t sure who was hurting more. Both of us made for the stairs at the same time, breaking into a run as we tried to be as quiet as possible. I was damn sure that they already knew we were here before we even began searching the upstairs rooms. We found Jasmine in the end room. She looked so peaceful just lying there. Tristan went to her side, kneeling beside the bed, he was almost in tears as he kissed her forehead and stroked her hair. I scanned the room for anything. Anything that would tell us where Helena was, or even where Jasmine’s parents might be. The room was bare of anything except the bed on which she lay. I had a really bad feeling, including the sensation I was being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up and the wolf in me was dying to be set free. The full moon was almost at its peak. I was surprised that I hadn’t turned already. It had been all I’d been able to think about on the way here. A soft whimper escaped my throat. Tristan looked up, a question on his lips, but something told me he already knew. A soft breeze moved across me which wouldn’t have been all that odd except the windows were all shut and we were standing in a small room. I half turned to find Damien standing in the middle of the hall. I was speechless. I didn't know what to say or think. Damien just stood there, looking exactly as he had the last time I’d seen him. There was a coldness to this Damien though, something was missing. His soul, something inside me whispered. Damien was missing a part of himself, an essential part of himself. I wasn’t sure of what to do, or say for that matter. This wasn’t Damien, just the shell he’d once occupied. Tristan came up behind me, put a hand on my arm and moved me to the side. If Damien didn't have a soul then we didn't need a priest or priestess to put them to sleep. It certainly would make our job easier, but they weren’t in there. It wouldn’t do them any good.
“It’s not him,” I whispered. My words broke whatever spell Damien had been under. He lurched forward, his steps not even half as graceful as what they had been. He grabbed Tristan and threw him clear over the banister to land flat on his back on the marble below. Damien turned to me. No wolf should have been able to throw a vampire that easily. He tackled me head on, sending us both flying back into the bedroom. Damien landed on top of me, teeth bared, he lunged for my neck. I threw my arms up, barely warding him off. His eyes weren’t his own, they were flat and lifeless; the spark had gone. Damien had gone. I needed a weapon. I need something that would put him down, for good this time. This thought brought tears to my eyes. A small part of me had hoped that Damien was still in there somewhere, that he could be saved. His weight disappeared off of me and I looked up to find Tristan standing over me, something that looked a lot like pure rage in his eyes. He threw Damien back into the hall and stalked after him. My heart was racing far too fast for my human form, I was about to shift, I couldn’t shift. I needed to stay human, an almost impossible concept for a wolf my age. The instinct to shift, run, hunt, kill, was almost undeniable. Right then the urges were so bad; I needed to get out of there before I shifted involuntarily. I would have the advantage over Damien if I shifted, but then I couldn’t help Jasmine.
“So many damn choices tonight,” I mumbled as I began stripping. I stopped when another set of footsteps joined the two in the hall. Tugging my shorts back on, I moved into the hall. Damien wasn’t alone, now we were fucked.

My breathing was shallow as we trekked through the trees to some meeting place the alpha had obviously set up. One of his cronies, one I recognised from the photographs, walked in front of us, while four of them walked behind us, one of them carrying Jasmine in a fireman’s hold. My Wolf was in no way okay with this and considering we were now completely in sync, it was somewhat of a bad thing. I kept my eyes focused ahead and all thoughts on not tripping over some stray tree root. It wouldn’t be good to show signs of weakness now. We didn't have to walk far, the clearing came into view, or should I say the massive ass bonfire came into view and then all the bodies around it. The alpha had brought everyone here. Tristan and I were vastly outnumbered. At the far side of the clearing standing atop a flat rock, was Helena. My anger stirred and it took every bit of self control I had not to snap at her like the wolf in me wanted to. Eyes fell upon us, they weren’t all as flat and lifeless as Damien, but they were damn close. I could see what Mrs Haines had meant about having someone put them to rest. A small part of me wondered if a witch had the ability, before we’d only thought of priests and priestesses to do the job, like an exorcism, but a witch had raised them, so one should be able to put them all down. I liked that idea more than attempting to ‘kill’ them all. A crawling sensation moved over my skin. I hated the way they ‘felt’. It wasn’t right or natural at all. They marched us across the field, others getting up to follow behind us. They all wanted to see what Helena was going to do. They wanted to see us die. Mrs Haines sat at the base of the rock, her legs drawn up and her chin resting on her knees. She looked miserable. I studied her small pixie face and wondered if she’d voluntarily helped Helena or if she’d been forced to. I’d have liked to believe the former. I pulled my eyes from her and looked at Helena. She seemed pleased with herself. The alpha moved to her side and the wolf that had been carrying Jasmine, laid her at his feet. Tristan was a ball of unused energy; he was shaking where he stood. The anger in his gaze was murderous. Given half the chance, he’d rip Helena’s throat out in a heartbeat. As I gazed up at here I noticed something, her lilac eyes appeared hollow, much like the eyes of the dead students. Her once partially black hair was now turning a silvery white and while she had always been frail, now she looked down right breakable. This was really taking a toll on her. I wondered how much more she could stand. Helena was no longer the threat here; it was the dead students bristling for a fight. While they weren’t themselves, they were still stronger and quicker than both Tristan and I. Not to mention they outnumbered us ten to one. I couldn’t take that many on at once, especially this close to midnight. I looked up to the sky; the moon was nearing its peak. What were we going to do? In mere minutes, I and many of the others in the clearing would shift and Tristan would be left to fight the remaining creatures. I pressed down the fear that was threatening to consume me whole. We knew too little about these beings and now we were out of time. Fight or flight. The words hummed through me. My wolf hated the idea of fleeing from a fight, hated the thought of leaving Jasmine or even Tristan to deal with this mess. I couldn’t see any other way about it. We couldn’t fight all of them. We couldn’t win. Deflated, I looked for routes to escape. If I could just find a way to let Tristan know my plans... My thoughts trailed off as Quinn tugged at the other end of the bond. I momentarily let myself fall into his mind, seeing what he was seeing, hearing what my father was saying. Cold dread filled me, seeing all those wolves around Quinn...my family, I hated it. I wanted to be there for him. I wanted to stand by his side and fight for him. We were bound. I knew what that meant, that didn't mean I knew where all these protective feelings were coming from. Don’t lie, a snide voice said inside me. You know exactly how you feel about Quinn. I felt my shoulders sag as I listened to my father’s verdict. They were going to give him one shot, one chance and getting away. Hope bloomed in my chest, overshadowing the doubt of my own situation. Quinn was being given the chance to live. I willed him to look at my father; I wanted to see his face. Quinn kept his eyes down cast, a submissive gesture. Frustration built up within me and I screamed at Quinn to glance at him. Quinn struggled, the force behind my words too much for him to bear. He looked up.

I lifted my hand to my stinging cheek. I blinked away the vision of my father’s eyes. He’d known. He’d known I was there and I was watching. Something in his eyes had told me that he was doing this for me. He’d given Quinn another chance because he knew he could get away. My fingertips touched my tingling cheek. Someone had slapped me. I looked up at the person in front of me, the alpha, he was grinning like this was all some joke. I dropped my hand and glared at him. He chuckled and stepped away from me. Tristan was looking at me as well, I had a feeling I’d missed something. Helena moved so she was kneeling beside Jasmine. I itched to throw her as far from Jasmine as I could. Apparently Tristan felt the same way I did about the situation. He took a step forward and was pulled hastily back a few steps by a pair of shifters. He tried to fight them off, but it was useless, they were a lot stronger than Tristan was. He was just going to exhaust himself soon. I looked back at Jasmine and Helena; she had that knife in her hand, the same one the alpha had used on me. Jasmine didn’t have a connection with anyone...did she? Or was the knife a two way thing, with the ability to open up the mind to receive a new connection? I had a feeling I was on the right track. I glanced at Mrs. Haines. She had her face buried in her hands. I wanted to scream at her to help. I wanted her to stop all of this. She must have felt me looking at her because she lifted her head, tears in her eyes. I was surprised with the lack of sympathy I felt for her in that moment. She wasn’t a bad person; at least I hadn’t thought she was. Why was she here? I needed to stop this, if she wasn’t going to help me, I needed to do something. The moon called to me, filling me, completing me. I refused to answer it; I needed to be me to be able to help. It was getting stronger, far stronger than it had been before. I felt Quinn as he shifted on the other end. I longed to join him. My wolf reached out, coming up against a barrier every time. Quinn was running. He had five minutes to get out of my father’s territory before the wolf hunt began. If they caught him, they’d kill him. Rhiannon wasn’t far behind him; Quinn could hear her steps, her soft breaths as she ran. She was his silent guardian. Rhiannon would do anything right then to look after Quinn. A lot was at stake for her right then. She had the chance of the life time, I trusted her not to screw it all up. Neither of them would get here in time to help though. They were much too far away. I watched as Helena prepared a spell, something far more intricate than the one the alpha had tried to perform on me. Those milling around us slowly grew bored with the whole charade and moved away, closer to the fire to mingle amongst themselves. The alpha too, showed little interest in what Helena was doing. His wolf was visible in his eyes. I watched as he grew slowly more agitated. His wolf was demanding to be set free, just as mine was. The others around us didn't seem to be feeling the pull as strongly. Did they still have a connection to the moon? I wasn’t so sure. Their calm demeanour said otherwise. The alpha moved away, calling the wolves to him, they moved off into the trees. Tristan knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed to his knee. He’d taken a beating while I’d been mentally absent. Blood trickled down his face and I could tell by the way he was wheezing that he had at least one punctured lung. I wasn’t too worried about him, vampires healed even more quickly than wolves did. I turned back to Helena. She stood unprotected, kneeling beside Jasmine as she prepared the spell. I lunged at her. Moving too quickly for anyone to stop me. They were all too far away. I snatched the dagger from her frail hands, pulling her hair, I exposed her throat. Helena didn’t seem too fazed about her compromising position. A cackling sound emitted from her throat, her eyes gleaming with some hidden joke.
“What?”I demanded and pressed the dagger against her throat. A thin line of blood moved down her neckline, but it wasn’t her I was staring at. A small wound appeared on Jasmine’s throat. A mirror image to the one I’d just made on Helena. I looked up at Tristan, his eyes were on Jasmine. His soft brown eyes flicked to me, his shoulders sagging slightly. That’s why Helena was using the dagger; she was unbinding Jasmine’s life from hers and binding her to the pack. We couldn’t kill Helena without killing Jasmine. The remaining pack members were beginning to converge on us. I was stuck; there was nothing I could do. The dagger loosened in my grip. Tristan stood up and gathered Jasmine in his arms. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head and shut his eyes. I pulled the knife away from Helena’s throat. Jasmine was too important to her; nothing was going to happen to her. I let go of Helena and handed the knife to Tristan. I held his gaze for half a beat and he nodded softly.
“You have to kill her,” I said quietly. A gasp arose from behind me. Mrs Haines was looking from Tristan to me.
“You can’t!” She hissed. I shot her a glare and moved to Tristan’s side. The dead students had stopped moving. They really wanted Jasmine to join them. Why? It was something we’d have to work out later. I looked up at the sky. The full moon gazed back at me and I finally let my wolf take hold. The moon welcomed me into her loving embrace