Wilderness

It was past 2 at night, the resonance of howls had most of the town frightened and tucked in beds.

There were many wolves out in the open, running everywhere, a few hunting, some hiding from their families.

And then there was a girl, who was running out in the open fearlessly, searching for the man she cared deeply about, Swan was not afraid of anything, she just needed to make sure Jayden was okay.

She traveled from branch to branch, jumping and hiding behind the leaves, It was hard for Swan to track Jayden as the environment was polluted with multiple wolves' scents, but she finally caught his scent, She could smell him, but couldn't find him.

Until she saw a bush shaking, when she approached the bush with slow steps she realized it was really Jayden, she got down on her knees and gently touched his back, he growled at first not knowing who it was, but then he sniffed her and rested his head on her lap as he closed his eyes.

She gently ran her fingers through his fur which made him feel good.

He guttered and looked up to her she held his face in her hands "Jayden! I need you to follow me… We will get you to safety!" She stood up.

Emric was restlessly waiting for them to arrive so he could discuss whatever Brigid told him.

He walked and walked until Swan arrived with Jayden following him.

Emric sat on his knees and slid his hand on Jayden's back "You are going to be alright buddy!" He whispered.

"What happened?" Swan asked.

"Brigid is suggesting to redo the rituals to get everything back to normal!" Emric filled her in.

"What? You mean committing three unforgivable sins?" Swan yelled.

Jayden stepped back his eyes widened, his ears pointed up and grunted with his mouth open.

"Relax… relax! No one is doing sins on my watch… This is what I thought too, until she explained her idea with more details." With Emric's words, Jayden sat down and eased himself.

"Her idea is much much better I swear!" He exclaimed and took them inside Brigid's chamber.

Inside her chambers, she was sitting in the middle of the room on the ground, holding two strange kinds of rocks in her hands and Patricia was making a salt circle around and there was just one area left so Jayden could get inside the circle.

As soon as he sat in front of her Patricia closed the circle and Brigid started to mumble something, Swan and Emric had to leave the room and after half an hour the ritual was completed, when they were called inside it was Jayden lying on the ground unconscious.

Patricia had already removed the circle so Emric could cover and carry him out of there, and the rocks that Brigid was holding in her hands were now transformed into a doll of a wolf.

She handed over that doll in his hands "Keep it safe no matter what!" She said it as if it was a matter of life and death, and then she fainted when her nose was bleeding.

On Patricia's guidance, they left them both in her chambers.

As for the Jayden? It didn't take him so long until he woke up Emric was waiting for him right beside him.

He woke up cracking his bones "I feel like as I've been beaten up like hell!" He rested his back on the headboard.

"No one can do it on my watch… except for me" Emric laughed.

"How's Brigid?" Jayden asked.

"She's still resting, her brain bled out which made her dizzy" Emric was worried "I just know one thing though… we are not making her do that again"

"Of course, if doing this just for me made her go through so much pain, imagine what would happen if she did this for every wolf" Jayden wore his clothes and sat beside Emric "What are we going to do now?"

"Maybe we should wait for her to get up maybe she knows what to do" Emric suggested when Swan barged inside the room "I'm afraid we don't have time to wait."

Swan brought Ryanne and Rose inside with her he was turning gray as if he was drying up.

"What happened to you?" Jayden reached him.

Ryanne showed him his arm with a bite mark.

"Did I do that?" Jayden's eyes widened.

"No, you didn't, instead you just gave me enough time so I can sneak out!" He explained.

"What do we do? He will die!" Rose panicked when Swan stared at her.

"Why are you here? You fulfilled your mission What are you here for now?" She approached Rose.

"She's already been punished for putting her faith in Hawkbone! What is happening with all of us is not because of her! She was just a pawn, she's been thrown away after being used" Ryanne explained everything to them.

Ryanne was breaking down, it seemed like he couldn't make it through the night.

"Let me talk to Brigid!" Jayden begged Patricia to let him meet her, he somehow convinced her.

When he reached, she was sitting on the chair by her table, she was restless and upset.

"Anything?" He asked.

She nodded "It seems like we've been pushed inside a blind well" She face palmed, and for the first time Jayden saw her nervous "Patricia told me you needed to ask something?" She closed the book.

"A friend of mine has been bitten by a wolf… and…" He was nervous he didn't know how she would react about bringing a vampire to the sanatorium but she left him in amazement when she smiled.

"Is your friend a vampire?" She folded her arms resting her back on her chair.

Jayden shyly nodded "A vampire can be cured from a werewolf's bite if he or she drinks the werewolf blood" She exclaimed.

"Isn't it weird?" Jayden raised an eyebrow and narrowed the other one.

"What can I say Jayden… Nature is tricky, sometimes you can find the antidote in poison itself" She smiled.

"Wait… I've got an idea!" Her eyes widened "I'm sorry, Jayden but I really need to be alone right now! Send Patricia and Jinx and go save your friend." She said opening a drawer of hers.

She then looked at Jayden again and called out to him "Don't feed him directly from the source, or you will die!" She yelled.

Jayden kept thinking about how can he feed Ryanne his blood without putting himself in danger when his eyes met with a knife resting inside the belly of an apple.

He pulled it out and asked Swan to bring a glass, when he reached Ryanne he was on a bed and he looked as if he was made of clay and it was drying up.

Jayden reached him and cut open a spot on his palm from where he poured his blood inside the glass, he offered it to Ryanne he started drinking it without asking why he had to drink it.

Jayden had no idea that Ryanne wasn't the only one who was drawn to his blood, Rose learned to control her thirst for blood but when it came to Jayden, it was hard for her to resist, she wanted to just jump on him and drain him out.

"Woah! Your heartbeat is getting normal!" Jayden smiled as he watched his skin getting back to life, what he didn't know was the fact that what he heard was not just one heartbeat, there were two.

He was watching Ryanne recovering, meanwhile what Rose was watching was Jayden's blood dripping down from his wound, Her eyes had already turned red, and her throat was getting drier "Just one sip!" she whispered.