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     𓏲 ࣪₊♡𓂃 HIKING TRIPS ALWAYS LET OFF STEAM, especially with Layla who constantly kept the entire group entertained. Sophie didn't blame Angela for falling for the blonde, it was impossible not to. Layla's sarcastic, hilarious yet caring and compassionate nature was endearing.

The group of five — Layla, Sophie, Jessica, Angela and Bella — all climbed up the rocks, hopping from one stone to the other, careful not to trip into the water that streamed throughout the rocks. Sophie felt herself slip a few times, having picked out a pair of trainers she knew were slippy, but her others were too dirty to wear.

Bella led the group, but suddenly the oldest brunette slipped on a rock, letting out a yelp, "Bella!" Angela called out, her motherly personality bursting from its seams and she rushed forwards, hopping on the rocks quicker, eventually reaching the injured girl. As the others approached Bella as well, making sure she was okay, Sophie headed forwards, continuing the hike.

The light breeze blew through her hair, she had the upper strands of her hair braided and clipped back, the rest of her wavy hair left down to rest upon her shoulders. She adjusted the hiking backpack on her back as she finally leaped off of the last rock to the muddy ground, adjusting her posture slightly.

She glanced back, noticing the rest of the girls bandaging up a slight graze on Bella's knee, and she winced sympathetically before heading forwards, curious as to where Bella was taking them in the first place. While she normally would've helped the Swan girl as well, there was a burning curiosity in the back of her mind, as if she was being pulled to the location like a magnet.

Two minutes later, Sophie brushed a few tree branches away from her face and entered a large, lit up opening in the forest. Her eyes panned the opening, dead plants everywhere, as if it used to be a flower field. A branch snapping nearby caught her attention and she snapped her eyes over, noticing dark red eyes staring back at her.

The brunette furrowed her brows, her eyes raking over the man's form. Dark skin, dreadlocks, dressed as if he lived in the 1800s. And his eyes gave him away, she knew immediately he was a 'cold one' and the devilish smirk on his face showed her just how dangerous he was.

The man sped forwards, stopping just a few metres away from her and she stood her ground, narrowing her eyes at him. As if on cue, her eyes shone a bright purple, sparkles glistening in her irises and the man took a step back in what looked to be intimidation, or perhaps even fear.

Sophie couldn't control it, she oh—so wished she could and if it couldn't get any worse, purple mist began to seep from her palms, engulfing her fingers whole.

"He might've hurt her already!" Embry's voice entered her mind and she faltered, a brow furrowing in confusion. The purple in her eyes flickered, giving the man the sign to make his move and he sped forwards, flinging his arm at her stomach with an inhuman strength.

"Hurry up!" Jacob's concerned voice now entered her head as she flew through the air, landing on a rock nearby. Sophie let out a loud groan of pain, her eyes squeezing shut as she felt her beige top stick to her stomach, now wet. She finally opened her eyes with a grimace and looked down at her stomach, noticing dark blood spreading across her shirt from the back.

"Fuck." Sophie cursed under her breath, attempting to move but just as she tried, not only did a sharp sting surround her back, but she also noticed the man now standing in front of her, a wide, angered smile on his lips. She stared up at him, breathing heavily, her hair stuck to her neck from her constant sweating and she held her hand onto her stomach, now glaring at the man.

If these were her last moments, she definitely didn't want to spend them scared, intimidated nor pissing herself. She held her head high, not backing down, even if she'd lost.

He let out a low chuckle and moved to take a step forwards, only for loud, earth—shaking footsteps to approach. He turned his head to look at where the sound was coming from, as well as Sophie, who smirked wide at the sight of Sam Uley in his wolf form.

Sam stood tall, his black fur standing up on his back as he took a few intimidating steps forwards, growling angrily, "I can't believe it." The man muttered and when four other wolves — Jared, Paul, Embry and Jacob — appeared from through the bushes, all moving slowly as if they were hunting down their prey like predators, he finally made a move to get away as fast as he could.

As he ran, Sam, Jared and Paul ran after him, Embry and Jacob staying back to make sure Sophie was okay, "Shit, you okay?" Embry's voice entered her mind again and she smiled softly at the two wolfs who approached her slowly. She placed her hands on either sides of her body, pushing herself up with a strained look of pain.

"Well, you took your time. I almost died." Sophie joked, managing to stand up straight and she placed her hands on her lower back, feeling for injuries. When she pulled her hand away, blood was dripping from her fingers and she let out a heavy sigh, wiping the blood on the dry parts of her shirt.

"Maybe you should heal that." Embry suggested and Jacob's ears perked up, his eyes trailing over to his friend.

"She can heal, too?" Jacob's eyes were wide with shock and Sophie smiled again, only lighter this time. The two wolves watched as she pulled her backpack off of her back, the bag now ruined, covered in her blood and she placed her hands on her back, waiting a few moments.

Purple mist seeped from under her hand once again, only now, it was beneficial. She closed her eyes, feeling a tingling sensation on her lower back where she'd been impaled by the blunt rock.

"Holy shit." Jacob muttered and Embry laughed, nodding in agreement when Sophie spun around, no wound in sight.

"Sick, right?" Embry bumped his head into Jacob's, and Sophie looked over at the spot in the forest where Sam, Jared and Paul had ran off to.

"You guys might want to help your pack out. I also think my friends are gonna arrive soon." Sophie warned them, the corners of her lips upturned slightly and Embry nodded, turning to speed off in that direction. Jacob stood still for a while, almost admiring her momentarily.

"She's beautiful." Jacob's thoughts slipped accidentally, even though he couldn't control his thoughts and Sophie furrowed her brows, confused, "Oh, I was talking about the..." He tried to come up with an excuse, his eyes darting around in embarrassment and Sophie knew that if he was in his human form, his cheeks would be a bright red colour just like a few days prior, "Bye!" Jacob suddenly ran off, muttering curse words in his mind, "I'm such an idiot! I don't know if she can still hear me."

"I can!" Sophie called out to him with a hand curled around her lips to echo her voice and he muttered one more curse word inside of his mind before he slipped between the trees. She couldn't help but let out a laugh as she bent down, zipping open her bag to grab her extra backup shirt.

She slid the shirt over her head, the clothing baggy enough to cover her entire tank top, no blood stain in sight and she pulled her backpack onto her back, the blood stains on her backpack unnoticeable.

The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she looked towards where she'd entered the opening, watching as an exhausted Layla appeared, Angela's hand in hers along with Jessica and Bella trailing behind, "Where even is this? This was such a waste of time." Jessica moaned on once her eyes landed on the dead opening, having expected a beautiful field of tulips.

Layla noticed Sophie stood nearby, and let out a sigh of relief, "Oh, my God. Why did you disappear like that? You scared the living shit out of me." Layla let go of Angela's hand and rushed forwards, wrapping her arms around her cousin like she'd disappear if she let go even for a moment.

"I'm sorry, curiosity got the best of me." Sophie chuckled, hugging her back as tight as she could and when they pulled away, Layla's eyes scanned the shirt the St. James was now clothed in.

"Is that my shirt?" Layla furrowed her brows, pointing her finger at the picture of David Bowie in the middle of the grey shirt and Sophie smiled wide, shaking her head in denial, "Yes, it fucking is." Layla rolled her eyes, shaking her head in playful disbelief before turning around, walking back over to Angela.

"I'm so tired. I just wanna go home." Jessica continued to complain, rolling back and forth on her heels whilst Bella took a few steps forwards, her eyes searching around the opening.

"I'm sorry, guys. The sun must've dried out all of the flowers..." Bella told them, seemingly in shock and disbelief at the sight. Sophie felt bad, she knew what it felt like to have something so dear to you ripped from between your fingertips.

It hurt. Like hell.

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IT WAS NIGHTTIME, the stars hung lowly in the sky as well as the moon, Sophie had somehow convinced her parents to watch Finding Nemo with her, for which she was eternally grateful despite the fact they didn't seem to enjoy it as much as she did.

Towards the end of the evening, around eight at night, Sophie found herself sat on her bed, cuddled up in the corner as she read her grandmother's journal, her eyes squinted with concentration. So much concentration that she didn't even hear nor see the pebbles being thrown at her window.

The different languages, the intriguing sketches, the spells, the random numbers. It was all so fascinating to her, her grandmother was obviously crazy, yet Sophie found herself wishing she would've been able to meet her.

Her eyes flickered up over the page for just a split second, a pebble being thrown at her window for the eleventh time catching her attention and she placed her book down beside her thigh, quickly climbing off of the bed. She walked towards her window and opened her curtains, looking down at the ground below.

Lo and behold, Jacob Black was stood beside the tree that was sat outside her house, and she scrunched her brows for a split second, quickly opening her window, "Jacob?" Sophie stuck her head out, her expression confused whilst his was eager, or possibly even excited, "What are you doing?" She asked in a hushed voice, yet loud enough for him to hear, unaware of his supernatural hearing.

"Make some space, I'm coming up." Jacob told her, shuffling on his feet a tad, preparing himself to climb the tree but his plans were ruined when she shook her head at him.

"No." Sophie told him, sending him a guilty smile. She didn't want to reject him, she felt incredibly apologetic about it, not wanting to hurt his feelings but she'd spent so long getting over him, she didn't want to accidentally fall for him all over again, no matter how much she still cared for him.

"What?" Jacob replied, scratching the back of his head, clearly taken aback by her rejection.

"I said no, Jacob. I've gotta go to sleep, I have a test tomorrow and Jerry doesn't want any visitors." Sophie glanced over at her fish who swam happily in his fish tank without a care in the world and the corners of Jacob's lips upturned slightly at her sense of humour.

"Well, if Jerry doesn't want me here then... I suppose I should listen." Jacob chuckled, running a hand through his hair, his eyes directed to the ground for a quick moment. He looked back up at her window, expecting her to still be there, only to catch her in the process of closing her window and swiftly pulling her curtains closed without so little as a goodbye.

He couldn't help but wonder why, instantly assuming that she was still upset with him for which he couldn't blame her, it's not like he'd apologised for all of the hurtful things he'd done to her. After imprinting on the brunette, he couldn't even imagine ever hurting her, which only caused him to beat himself up all the more.

The shapeshifter hesitated about whether to leave or stay just in case she was talking to her Mom or something else that'd made her run away so fast. He decided to leave, he knew how much Sophie wasn't fond of him anymore, he wasn't expecting her to ever like him again. He wasn't that lucky.

Jacob rushed off back into the forest behind the house, and just as he disappeared into the darkness, Sophie's window opened. She let out a soft sigh when she realised Jacob hadn't waited for her, but... it wasn't as if she was surprised, she was used to this.

It thankfully wasn't as painful anymore, and she was eternally grateful to Layla for helping her get over Jacob Black, the boy who would never be enough.

@amxliewrites — 2025