Fighting by Anaya Phoenix (black books to read txt) 📕

“I remember.”

“I asked if you wanted my help, because I knew this would happen. Do you remember that?” She nodded mutely, I could tell she was using her magick to tap into her memory banks. I would’ve helped her, but she needed to get a hold on her magick by herself. Valerie appeared out of nowhere with a soft gasp. She looked at her kids and sat on the other side of Isaac.

“She pulled me here.” Valerie whispered, her eyes boring into her daughters head.

“She needs to do it herself, she has to get used to it being in her.” I said, silently cheering on Vixie as she embraced her magick. She looked at me suddenly and touched my arm, pouring magick into me and letting me see. She was asking a silent question that was shrouded in a hazy memory. I made a noise of agreement and she tugged hard on it. She let me see myself, a younger version of me, holding her. We weren’t alone, I knew that. We were at her first birthday party and Valerie had let me hold her. As soon as she touched me, I knew the hardships she was going to face. I talked to her with pictures and feelings and asked what she wanted to do and, with an acceptance that rivaled mine at 18, she denied my help.

“What is she showing you? She’s guarded it from me.” Valerie sounded a little off put by that but it was mainly underlined by the worry.

“You wanted to accept it, and that’s fair. I came to you again, when the fae blood had fully kicked in. You told me you were fine and I left you alone.” I reminded her and she pouted, gripping my arm a little and showing me a clearer image. She’d wanted to say yes, I could feel that through the memory but she’d denied it because…

“Ugh, stubborn the whole lot of you! !” I grit my teeth and wanted to push her hand off but she needed my help, and her hand that was already tiny felt tinier in that moment. She was putting herself out because now she needed my help.

“She denied my help because-“

“I wanted to be her.” She cut me off, slowly sliding her tiny hand off of me and looking back to her brother.

“She was so strong, and her wolf was so there. I wanted control and I knew she’d gotten it herself, she’d grabbed her wolf and made it obey her and I thought if I just had a  little more time!”

“When did you come to her the second time?” I didn’t want to answer, I didn’t want to leave a nasty taste in her mothers mouth, or strike more pain in her brothers heart. I could’ve acted like I didn’t hear them, or pretend they weren’t worthy enough but they were.

“After her seventh birthday, it was when the fae part of her kicked in over time. She was coasting by, because the fae blood hadn’t been activated. At eight I felt the pain she felt, for the first and certainly not the last time. I didn’t want to alarm you and I knew that, because Vixie is entirely too clever, she’d gone outside to lick her wounds and ensure you wouldn’t smell anything. Without knowing she walked to my backyard and stared up at my window until I saw her and came down. She was going off of pure instinct and she was in so much pain it rolled off of her, but she was still in control. A remarkable little hybrid you have, because she’d already handled the magick. She got the gifts down pact, but when it came to the consequences she had problems.” Valerie gasped and brought her hand to her mouth and, if possible, Isaac’s face drooped more.

“We looked everywhere for you! You said you were hanging out with Louie!”

“That’s all I remembered! My wolf was in charge, it wasn’t me!” She sounded scared, her voice was so squeaky and high. I looked to Alissa and wrung my hands, I didn’t want to step in unless I absolutely had to.

“Victoria, you’ve been so reckless so… so stupid!” Everybody gasped and Vixie looked genuinely hurt but I was confused. All he’d done was call her stupid, and all she was was a scared little girl. Ohhh, my wolf groaned and I winced and scooted away from the two slightly.

“Isaac!” Valerie scolded, her blue eyes furious as she glared at her adopted son.

“No, she’s been acting like a stupid little girl and I’m going to tell her the truth. We are your family, you come to us when you need help. You don’t just ignore it and hope it gets better because then you’re suffereing and we can’t help you. Then you’re in pain and we don’t’ know and we go about living life while you’re stuck in a place. What were you thinking?” Vixie was quiet, seething with a silent and lethal rage. There was something else mixed in it and my sense kicked up. I widened my eyes and grabbed her as she doubled over in pain and wrapped my body around hers. Saying a prayer to Lupa I held her body close to mine and moved away from the small group of people, triyng to cause as little grief as possible. With a small cry Vixie’s body seemed to explode. There was too much magick and her wolf was trying too hard to come through and it was close to tearing apart. So, like a sun flare, magick was leaking out and it would hurt anyone who wasn’t magical.

                The magick assaulted my body, stabbing into my body as it poured from her. She shook in my arms, her skin was sweaty and cold and her breathing was labored. I closed my eyes and focused on her only, blocking out the sound and the rest of the wolves and put all my energy into her.

“You will make it through this, Vixie, I’m here to pull you through. Just focus on me, hold on to me.” I whispered softly to her, knowing she’d hear me. Her breathing started to hitch and her hair grew sweat drenched and her body twitched. I barely heard Valerie screaming, I only focused on saving Vixie. I opened my link to Eternal and to Mother Moon, knowing full well she’d pay attention to me. I focused on Vixie’s wolf and realized what the problem was. She was to be mated to an Alpha, as most Beta children are, so her wolf wasn’t as submissive as I thought. It was still struggling to fight off the fae side of her. While the magick grew, her wolf grew and she couldn’t handle it; she was just a kid. I couldn’t change the fate lines, the lines that had been in place since the beginning of the universe. I’d tried changing Libby’s too many times and came to no success. I could only alter what was going on in the now and now I would have to make an executive decision. I could take the wolf away from her completely, but I wouldn’t do that to Vixie. She was a hybrid, and Nimue didn’t take too kindly with the hybrids. If the wolf were to be gone, no one would be watching over Vixie and that didn’t settle over well with me. The only thing I could do was- She screamed, a blood curdling scream and magick was shoveled into me. It was almost too much but I pulled on my rage, the aspect that made me the Red Luna, and I held on tighter. Deciding it was all I could do, I pulled on Vixie’s wolf and used Lupa’s powers to aid me.

                Vixie went still and her breathing cleared, her body still twitched slightly but the magick stopped pouring out of her and when I looked into her I saw that there was peace. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, not surprised to see Valerie on her knees with tears down her face and John so close to shifting.  Alissa was holding onto Isaac’s shoulders, her body pressed against his as he watched with the palest face. I cleared my throat and put my rage away and lifted both me and Vixie from the floor. She felt so tiny in my arms and I looked to Valerie who had fresh tears down her face. I looked to John and stood up, still holding Vixie, and walked to him. His wolf was present, but it didn’t matter. He held out his hands and I gingerly placed her in his arms and she moaned slightly.

“We can talk later, I did what I had to.” He didn’t seem to be listening to me but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she was fine and she would continue to be fine. I made sure of it.  My body had already soaked up the magick, so now there was an excess.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some asses to whip into shape. Alissa, Isaac, I expect to see you both there soon enough.”

                                I jogged back to the training room and was relived to see that another war hadn’t broken out and that training was going smoothly. I sidled back next to Ander, who’s eyes were fixed to the training, and sighed softly. We could probably pull this out of our asses if we just kept at it. Eva cleared her throat softly and I jumped slightly, she was too good at randomly appearing places.

“A word, Luna?” Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail and her brown eyes were serious, crinkling my brow I nodded and walked off with her down the halls. She was going to the war room, which meant she really didn’t want other ears to hear. We had to take that precaution after the first week that Vixie spread panic throughout the shifters by telling them what was discussed in the room. She pushed open the door and held it for me before locking it snuggly behind us. She’d already wrangled up the rest of the victors, but hadn’t told them anything. They all looked anxious but war ready.

“What’s this all about then?” Seamus asked, folding his arms. He was an impressive specimen, his muscles toned and large but not bulging. He wore a sleeveless muscle shirt and performance leggings, his brown hair pushed away from his face and he looked entirely ready. Not too bad, my wolf murmured but then payed attention.

“They’re planning something big.” Was all Eva said before walking to the center table and looking at the maps. We circled around her and watched as she put pins in various places, but first starting with the north and south poles.

“They’re doing something, I can’t tell what exactly but my guess is it won’t be pretty for us.”

“What’s with the pins?” Urse asked, leaning forward on her palms and trying to figure it out.

“That’s where they’ve dug. Miles and miles into the Earth, each day getting further.”

“You think they’re trying to find us?” Filly asked, her head cocked to the side as she watched