The gentle caress of the evening wind poured across my back, like the cool trellises of a spring-morning stream, laying itself over the pebbles of its bed. It caused me to shiver uncomfortably, it had been incredibly humid not but an hour earlier, and the sudden drop in temperature made me feel more wet than comfortable.

It was the middle of the week, five days after the fair. We'd never returned to the fair after seeing Flint, thinking it was better to avoid him at all cost. When peeking from the clouds; the moon poured a light of priceless silver that settled comfortably on the twisted, and gnarled tree bark. I wasn't too far from the manor. Victoria had finally relented in leaving me alone, my face all but totally healed, and while I had enjoyed her unwavering attention; there was only one person I wanted to spend my time with, and I was waiting to meet him.

"It's nice to know you're not bored of me" His sweet voice hummed through the air, snatching me from my own thoughts and causing me to jump slightly at the sudden interruption. He, of course, laughed, which caused me to grow flustered with embarrassment.

I watched as he stepped, gently from behind a tree that was slightly raised from the floor by an embankment of dirt. He never stumbled, or lost his balance when I watched him move. Each foot step was a proclamation of silent confidence, like placing it on that particular, individual, spot, had been practised a thousand-thousand times.

He hopped down from the embankment, landing a few feet from me with a feather-light huff, before approaching me, a sly grin on his face, and his hands clasped behind his back in a mischievously innocent manner.

"You're an ass" I spat as the redness of my cheeks began to settle, and I pushed feeble hands into the strength of his chest. He got dangerously close in his coy manner. His face an inch or two from my own, I couldn't stop my lip from quivering and I couldn't stop myself from noticing how much it was quivering.

He kissed me. But left me wanting as it lasted barely a second, my lips pawing after his as he stepped back, and leaving me pouting somewhat. Which was peculiar for me, as I don't pout.

"So, do you really think Flint is in cahoots with someone?" Aramis said, as he stepped in a playfully shifty manner. Shifting his balance from one leg to the other as he balanced perfectly on a knotwork of tree roots.

"Well... He doesn't strike me as someone smart enough to know the things he knows" I responded, a little disappointed that Aramis wasn't kissing me right now, but ultimately did understand the need to talk about it.

In the days that had passed, I had noticed some strange things happening, specifically with my phone. Unless I was going mad of course.

"And if my suspicions are correct... It's a Witch who is helping him..." I sighed, exasperated at the implication. A part of me couldn't believe that such a thing could be true, but I wasn't naive enough to not consider it a highly likely possibility. "But, whoever it is, I feel like they, at the very least, feel guilty about it. Which would explain why magic hasn't been used directly. Or it's someone who isn't very good. I think anyway... I want to believe at least that."

"Hey... I'm sorry to ask this but... Have you considered Victoria? She's the closest one to you right? The only one other than you that could reasonably have access to all your things? Like your phone?" Aramis suggested, I scrunched my face up at the thought. Turning away to rest my forearm against a tree.

"I hope not... No. She definitely wouldn't. I'm almost certain if she had that much of an issue, she wouldn't move others round like some cartoonish puppet master. She'd do it herself, and trust me... She may be a charmer, but she most definitely could do it herself."

"I suppose... She is charming" He smiled, I could tell he was eager to get the subject off Victoria. Even if he wasn't particularly convinced that it couldn't be her, and who could blame him, he seemed to understand that I wasn't too keen on the idea of even talking about it.

"Oh, you have no idea"

"What?" He furrowed his brow in confusion "You don't think she's cast like... a charming spell on me do you?"

"Oh most definitely. Like I said... Victoria is a charmer. Other than her award-winning personality, as you already know, she specialises in bewitchments and other spells that alter your perception, specifically about her. Sometimes I wonder whether she's doing it on purpose, or if it's just something she developed so much in her teenage years that she's never really, turned it off." I said smiling as I thought about Victoria. She really was amazing. A lot of my own talent with the craft comes from trying to stay competitive with her, something that faded out as we got older and I realised I'd probably never be able to keep up.

"No way. I'd totally know if someone pulled that hocus pocus on me. I'm wicked perceptive." He said, puffing out his chest in a confident swagger. I smirked, raising one of my eyebrows.

"Oh really?"

"Mhmm" he responded, although his confidence slightly faltered as I watched him start to sort through everything he ever knew to just double check nothing has been messed with. It was funny, as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well then. What does she look like?" I asked smugly, watching as his face contorted into some form of a grimace, like the question was the foulest taste that had ever laid on his tongue, and he was scrunching up his noise in an attempt to get it out.

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"Ok, we'll start off easy. A perceptive young lad like yourself, should be able to tell me what colour her eyes are? Surely you know that one?" I toyed, probably enjoying his inner turmoil a little too much.

"Blue?" He hesitantly asked, as if he would receive an electric shock at the wrong answer. He was cautious as he looked at my expression to read for the answer.

"A Sky blue, right? Like on a summers day?" I asked, a chord of victory in his expression before his confusion seemed to worsen for just a second longer, and I feared for a moment that he might have a stroke or a seizure, before his face dropped in realisation.

"That's my..."

"Favourite colour?" I smiled, a little sympathetically as he raised his hand to his mouth in a silent shock.

"Did you..."

"No, I didn't tell her. There really wasn't enough time to tell her before she met you, honest. Don't worry though. You're not missing anything major, it's not like she's secretly a man under there. Her spells literally just alter things ever so slightly about her appearance to make you feel a sense of familiarity with her. Like there's something pleasing and something you know about her. People tend to like things that they know and are pleased with. It might be her eye colour, the pattern of freckles on her face, if she even has freckles, the shade of her hair. Hell, it might even be the way she smells. One moment you're happily going about your business, then boom: a mysterious, attractive babe walks passed, smelling of your childhood summer memories baking cookies with grandma. That combined with her welcomingly confident personality, it makes you want to like her, and that's when she's got you."

"I am not gonna lie... That's kind of frightening" He whispered as he started to process my words, while simultaneously questioning everything. Like he was experiencing some form of existential dread, as if he was just presented a piece of knowledge that calls into question his perception of everything.

"Yeah, I understand that... Wouldn't be a very good trap if you knew you were walking into one, right? Does the fly know it's flown into the spiders parlour? Or does it just assume that it's found a place to rest for a moment? Who knows? I wouldn't worry about it though. Victoria has only ever once used her magic to effect someone seriously, and she didn't, and wouldn't, beat around the bush by using subtle charms either." I said, approaching Aramis and placing my hand on his upper arm in an attempt to comfort him. A pang of regret spiked its way through the pit of my stomach, as I suddenly felt like I probably shouldn't of divulged as much as I did about Victoria's penchant for charming magics. That might comeback to bite me later. "Hey... It's okay. You've got me, remember? I'll protect you from whatever nasty Witch would dare utter spells in your direction. I promise."

He seemed somewhat comforted by that. His face returning to the gentle smile he typically wore, and I was also comforted by that. Although I couldn't help a small rift merge into my mind, as I got the distinct feeling that now Aramis may assume that I had done something similar to him. Bethany assumed I ensorcelled him, and now that he knows that he may not even notice if he's been affected by magic, does he think the same? Does he still trust me? Did he even trust me to begin with and why am I only just questioning this now?

"I have no doubt that you will" He leaned in closer, and I suddenly found my back pushed up against a tree. I was aware of it's mossy hide, probably staining the back of my hoody a shade of green, but I didn't care as the crook of my back rested comfortably with the natural curve of it's trunk.

Aramis kissed me once again, one hand braced against the tree above my head, and the other rested lightly on the left side of my waist. I felt his fingers tense as they pulled every so gently, hooking themselves and pulling my waist closer to his while his lips hovered millimetres away from mine. My own lips tickled and itched, almost burned, when the promise of contact was made but yet to be delivered. I found myself restrained from being the one to initiate a kiss as my eyes locked with his. A slight welt of panic bubbled within my chest as I saw the slightest glimmer of the moon within his eyes as he buried his face right where my jaw meets my neck.

It was ecstasy, fire, and lightening all at the same time, as I found myself clasping at him with my arms. I was pulling him as close as I possibly could, wishing, pleading that our clothes would disappear to be rid of those few millimetres that distanced us so greatly.

When suddenly, he stopped whatever Vampire magic he was doing to my neck, causing an instant streak of almost anger to pulse violently down my spine as he looked to the sky. I followed curiously, upturning my face to try and peak through the canopy of the trees that was just barely allowing the moon light to bleed through it's leaves. It smelled wet. Like the onset of rain, I could smell the moisture in the air as I remained clinging to Aramis.

Almost as if on cue, it began to rain. The pitter-patter of droplets colliding with leaf, wood, and earth was backed by the ever present hiss as it began to pour heavily. We were instantly soaked, but neither of us seemed to mind.

A fluttering exploded in my chest as I looked upon this man that still held me, chuckling warmly at the rain. The rain adding a strange dimension to his kind face, his eyes looked at me in a way that instantly made my legs threaten to wobble. I felt warm. A heat bubbling beneath the surface of my skin despite the coldness of the rain. I seemed wholly consumed by each little aspect of his features and the entire picture at once. Like I was looking at everything and nothing at the same time, as my hand reached to the side of his neck and my thumb stroked the left side of his jaw. I barely noticed that I was smiling as I felt a strong pulling sensation whenever my focus was pulled back to his eyes, and I knew that I didn't want to be anywhere else. My brain felt like a million fireworks, firing in synaptic static, daring me to leave his company. Threatening it to be the most painful thing that I had ever experienced.

As I felt myself return to some form of clarity, I noticed he was staring at me much the same way. His eyes twitched slightly as they connected with mine, and before I knew it: we kissed once more. It was strange, and consuming. It was both the roaring, unwieldiness, of fire, consuming and burning in it's entirety. But it was also the cool, soothing of water. Washing over the pair of us in a cocoon of indestructibility. We were safe as long as we were together. It was needy and yet satisfied, and for just this moment, I had no desire for anything else. Even air felt secondary to me in this moment of ecstasy.

Imagine my pain when it was stopped. I could feel a heartbeat of panic pound through my chest as the sudden feeling of falling gripped my stomach in a deathly clutch. Aramis immediately looked worried his eyes wide in fear and concern as I steadied myself. A wave of goosebumps prickled my body like a thousand needles, as they fought through the rain. The Cunning.

Both our heads turned at the loud snapping of a branch, and stepping into view was a hulking mass of fur, muscle and teeth. My eyes opened in a primal fear as drool slipped from snarling jaws. It eyes burning like twin orbs of roaring candle fire. A steady stream of hot breath poured from it's maw as it's clawed, almost human-like, hand crunched the bark of a tree as it pulled itself further towards us.

It's ears, pointed and laid back as it focused squarely on Aramis. In a lupine howl it lunged forward in a blur of glittering teeth and claw, barrelling into Aramis. Pain ripped through my shoulder as I suddenly found myself sprawled against a tree that was at least five feet from where I once was. The sound of hissing and cries, drummed out any sound of the rain as I barely managed to pull my focus together and clamber myself to my feet.

The wolf tore into Aramis. Sprays of crimson smattering against the neighbouring foliage, like sanguine snow-flakes, as the pair rolled and locked together. My head was spinning as I looked on in horror. I felt sick, and dizzy, not that I could keep up with their movements in any case.

My eyes looked up once more. The moon was full. Burning intently in all it's brilliance in the separation of clouds that parted it's way. I should've known. This was my fault.

There came a thundering crash as a torrent of fur collided with an embankment, a plume of moist dirt and rock exploding outward violently as a number of trees groaned painfully in their collapse. My eyes darted to where the figure had been ejected from and stepping from the brush was Aramis. He was bleeding profusely, clutching his arm that barely hung on with scraps of sinew and tendon. His eyes ignited like the moon was burning within them, his teeth were bared. His jaw seemed unnervingly low to make room for the two fangs that protruded in a viciously intimidating manner as he lit out a loud, defiant, hiss that seemed to echo like a thousand raucous snakes.

A braver part of me dared to take a step forward, before being stopped in its tracks as the crunching sound of moving earth, stone and twig called my attention to the wolf that had been embedded into the embankment.

It too was bloodied, although less so than Aramis. Cuts scored along it's snout as one of it's eyes struggled to blink the blood away. It gave a low growl that seemed to vibrate my very chest.

"Leech" It spat in an otherworldly voice from vocal chords not used to the eloquence of speech. "The moon makes me stronger than you'll ever be you fucking piece of shit" It taunted, its wounds knitting themselves together with disgusting, slick, sounds.

Aramis held his ground, although through the utter madness of this situation, I could sense his distraction. Even now his attention left room for me.

There was a slight familiarity in his voice. I knew this wolf. I knew who he was. His name. Of course it all made sense to me, barrelling into my mind in a wave of eureka. That wave urged me onwards, pushing a surge of bravery I didn't know I was capable of. Maybe it was an overwhelming desire to protect and save Aramis. Maybe being launched into a tree awakened a chord of madness within me; at that moment I didn't care. I didn't want to care. I just had to save him.

The wolf tensed as I came into view. I could feel the ego radiating from his large hulking form as his breath began to slow in a confident rhythm.

My own confidence swelled, as Aramis did not move. An acknowledgement of his trust in me, in this moment; bolstered my spine, limbs and voice not to shake or crack as I spoke.

"This is the Witches Wood" My voice was a commanding mimicry of my fathers. "And you are not the only one who pulls strength from the moon."

I breathed deep. Ignoring the pain in my shoulder as I relaxed my arms and pulled at the light the moon poured down upon us all, absorbing whatever strength I could call upon; I took off my hoodie. Offering it outwards while my other hand became a beckoning gesture.

The wolf looked confused for a moment, before his eyes widened in furious realisation. I don't know if he knew what I was doing, or if I was just casting a spell, but I felt a lump form in my throat as the sudden realisation that he needed to stop me hit me like a jack hammer.

At the sound of a venomous snarl; a part of me braced for the incoming impact, or even death, as the wolf lurched forward; only for me to open my eyes and find that Aramis had thrown himself around the wolfs neck. The two struggled as they tossed and clawed at each other.

"Flint Ascort..." I called gently, kindly, as one would an old friend. "Flint Ascort, it's time to come home..." my voice was soft. It was endearing, and gentle, like a concerned family member, and I threw the hoodie in my hand at the wolf.

Aramis released Flint as he felt the wolfen body struggle weirdly beneath him. He hurried over to me, still clutching at his wounds, and I went to comfort him, but stopped myself to observe the wolf before us.

His snout crinkled up, like it had just stuck it in hot embers or smelled something awful. It clawed frustratingly at his face to remove the irritation, as little whimpers and snorts cried out in baleful whines. He looked smaller than he did before. The fur, slipping from his form and exposing the grey muscle that rapidly began to punch themselves smaller and regain a more fleshy colour. There was the sickening crack and crunch of bone and muscle as they took their new shape. It's wolfish howls becoming painful, human groans as his head upturned to the sky. His mane shrinking back to the normal, messy spikes that we recognised, the canine snout crunching sickeningly back into the human features we knew, until with a loud cry; he collapsed, shaking, to the floor.

He was naked, and sprawled along the dirt. The worst of the blood had fallen with his fur, but now lay an exhausted Flint. His chest heaved with heavy breaths as he looked up at us in shock and fear.

"W-What the fuck did you do to me!?" He cried, I noticed some form of internal mechanism running through his mind as he tried to process what had just happened. That I had somehow forced him from his Werewolf form.

"Every myth has a history of truth to it..." I spoke breathless, leaning on my knees before cursing in pain at my shoulder. Suddenly, all of our eyes snapped up at the loud, echoing thumps of heavy footsteps. A cry like an amalgamation of an angry bull and a lion, vibrated the trees around us that they themselves seemed to hush with the wind in intimidation.

"We've got to go. We've got to go now" I ordered to Aramis, wondering if I head the strength to run after all of this.

I folded Aramis' arm over my shoulders, damning the pain in my shoulder and started to bare whatever weight he would allow.

We started to take steps forward when all of a sudden behind us came the voice of Flint crying outstretched

"Wait! You can't leave me! Please, I don't want to die!"

It caused me to stop in my tracks. I looked to Aramis, his look was one of exhaustion, and confusion, but ultimately I could tell he was deferring to me. The sound of Flints pleads blotted out for a second. I should leave him. He could've killed Aramis. But if he dies, not only does that mean we'll probably never find out if someone was working with him, but we also lose any chance of this to end peacefully. Flint has already established himself as a threat, The Protector knew this. It always knows, and regardless of whether he was now defenceless; it will make sure there is no threat. There'll be war.

My eyes looked in a torn, pleading manner to Aramis. Like I was begging for him to make the decision for me. The bull-like thumps of the Protector were getting closer in it's rampage to rid the forest of all threats to the Witches of Tithe Manor. Each thump a pendulum heartbeat. What should I do? What the fuck was I going to do?

A/N: The biggest chapter yet! I hope you all enjoyed it, just a heads up: my updates may be slowing down as I work on each individual chapter a bit more. I can only promise at least one a week, but that doesn't mean there'll only be one a week from now on. I tend to be fairly irregular with my writing habits, and if I suddenly get the urge to write another chapter immediately, I will.

ANYWAY, I hope you enjoyed this one you guys. Love ya