- Your side? - The man sitting in the opposite direction from Thea laughed, as if she had said something very funny. – And what is this side? Yours or your vampire’s?

There was mockery in his voice and his evil gaze wandered from her to Raphael.

- Marcel, you said that we need to hear something very important. Is that what you meant? – the same man muttered, casting an angry glance at the Alpha.

- Preston, shut up. – he warned him, but the man just leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms over his chest and grunted with displeasure.

Raphael chuckled inwardly, noticing the tension between the two werewolves and he was the one who knew that Preston was a rebel. But it seemed Marcel was starting to notice it, too.Snakes started showing their heads at the very beginning.

- It doesn’t matter if it’s me or ’my vampire’... - she replied to his indignation. –... because we’re in league with him. And I want you to be with us.

She was about to continue when a young man got up from behind the table and, resting his palms on the table, bent down to stare at her.

Thea swallowed when she noticed that the man’s eyes were covered with a white veil.

He was blind, but he looked at her so intently that anyone would have doubted his blindness. A nervous shiver ran down her spine from the fact that she felt uneasy.

-Would you mind if I took a look at you, Miss Theanna? - He asked with a friendly smile that scared Thea even more.

- Look at me? What does it mean? - she frowned.

The man casually rummaged in the pockets of his battered raincoat and took out some... bones?

She cast a questioning glance at Marcel and he mouthed "shaman".

- I won’t do anything to you, Miss Theanna, you don’t have to be afraid of me. – the shaman answered, laying out the bones on the table in a circle, and in the very center making an improvised bonfire from a bunch of dried herbs.

A pleasant burnt smell, which usually comes from a bonfire, spread through the hall.

A couple of minutes later, when all the grass had burned to the ground, leaving only black ashes, the shaman bent down and blew on the table.

Dust motes of ash rose into the air, scattering like dandelion fluff and slowly began to settle on the bones scattered around, covering them like a blanket.

The man unceremoniously climbed onto the table, standing on all fours and gazing intently at this strange mess that was spread out in front of him.

- Hmm... - his lips curled as he bit the inside of his cheek, literally sucking it in. - I don’t think the werewolves can help you, Miss Theanna.

He sniffed after making his conclusion.

- Did the bones tell you that? – she said, questioning his "talent", but the man laughed softly.

- I see you are not impressed with my capabilities. - he gave her a warm smile, completely unaffected by her sweet mockery. "But these words were addressed not so much to you as to my own people.

And then it was the turn of the werewolves to stir up in indignation.

- I can see all the way up to this point, what brought you here, what caused you to come here, and also what will happen later when you leave here, Miss Theanna.

- It doesn’t matter at all, we’re not going to side with a vampire or a damn witch. – shouted in the hall. – Don’t you remember that sad experience of our ancestors? This is a confrontation between the two of them, so let them kill each other there. We won’t interfere anymore.

Thea began to feel the oppressive aura when her legs were covered with a dark veil. The creeping smoke curled, reflecting Raphael’s displeasure at how harsh the words thrown in the direction of his woman were.

He held on to pure enthusiasm so as not to spoil her moment.

The voices of the werewolves merged into a common background mass, as if they were at a bazaar on a market day. But the shaman did not listen to them, because all his attention was only for Thea at the moment, who attracted him very much with her interesting personality.

- They won’t help you, you see. - he spread his hands. – So what should you do?

Raphael’s eyelids drooped, leaving tiny squinted slits as his entire face contorted at this crazy absurd guy playing shaman.

- Marcel. – he rasped, dissatisfied with the way the meeting was going.

In his version of the development of this day, he imagined that he would come and force the werewolves to take their side. And those who refused, he gladly killed. However, this shaman confused all the cards, distracting Thea’s attention and unnerving everyone else.

- Hambu, what do you see? It’s important for me to know your opinion on this, because... - Marcel stopped when the shaman interrupted him.

- Because you decided to help them?

The crowd of werewolves went berserk again and some openly showed a vote of distrust to their Alpha. A couple of people defiantly left the hall without waiting for the end of the meeting, including Preston, questioning Marcel’s authority.

- Let them go. – the shaman waved away. – When I said that the werewolves would not help Miss Theanna, I meant that she would be the one who would help the werewolves, but not the other way around. Let her show what she is capable of!

His last sentence was addressed to Thea and he waved his hands in the air, encouraging her, but she was in her own stupor, not knowing what she should do, what exactly did he want from her?

Thea felt Raphael unclench his hand, freeing her, and at that moment "turn around" rang like loud bells in Thea’s head.

She turned around sharply, noticing that a huge scary werewolf was running in her direction. He was grinning angrily at her, being in a jump and swinging his massive clawed paw, and involuntarily she put her head in her hands and turned away, as if hiding in a cocoon of her own hands.

In her head at that moment, there was not even a thought of protecting herself, because she still felt the presence of Raphael next to her and was sure that he would not let the werewolf get close.

Only when seconds later nothing happened, and the crowd reared up again, choking with their own surprise, shock and denial, Thea raised her head and straightened up.

Raphael was standing next to her, but it wasn’t as she imagined.

He was behind her back, while the werewolf hung in the air, entwined with electric whips, convulsing, and his entire body was cut by ice blades as sharp as blades, which formed in the air at the moment when Thea wanted to remain unharmed and safe.

The soft touch of Raphael’s hand on Thea’s lower back attracted her and he advised her to release the werewolf she had captured as soon as possible. But was it safe, because he had just attacked her from behind?

The approval in Raphael’s gaze gave her confidence and she relaxed, causing her magic to dissolve as if it had never existed. And only the plaintively whining werewolf lying in an indistinct mass on the floor was proof that she was able to protect herself.

Irma was the only one who took off and ran up to the wounded werewolf, throwing a shawl over him, which she took off from her shoulders.

Looking around, Thea noticed that Klaus, who used to stand next to Irma, was no longer there and this sobered her up. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

- Oh, my God, Klaus. – her heart suddenly clenched into a tight ball, afraid to straighten out in order to beat at full strength.

She ran up to him, stretching out her hands to his bloody fur, but keeping them at a distance, as she was afraid to touch him, so as not to add even more pain.

Irma, on the other hand, was sitting on the floor and holding his furry head with unfocused eyes on her lap.

- He’ll be fine. - Irma said when she noticed tears in the corners of Thea’s eyes.

- Isn’t that amazing? -Shaman Hambu exclaimed, clapping his hands joyfully. – You defeated bliar without even entering into a duel with him. Although Klaus can only compete with a couple of werewolves from our pack. Do you understand how strong he is? But he didn’t even have time to come to you.

None of his words mattered to Thea. She never wanted to use her power on friends and family. This time everything happened so unexpectedly that her body reacted for her and if only she knew...

But why did he attack her?

She immediately turned her head sharply in the direction of Raphael and threw him a frighteningly angry look, from which he shivered. So that’s what they were whispering about in the morning?

It was a test for her and apparently Klaus was the only one who volunteered to show it.

But was it really worth putting your life in danger? Was there no other way to convince the werewolves to follow her?

- Miss Theanna, you are truly unique in being able to cast magic in the northern lands. I’ve never heard of such a thing... ever before. – the shaman admired, rejoicing like a child.

- Was it worth it to endanger Klaus’ life? - she screamed. - What if I had killed him?

She was screaming, almost desperately feeling fear from her own powers.

- But you didn’t kill him. - Marcel intervened, who was aware of this arrangement between Rafael and Klaus. – Klaus is more resilient than many of those present here and recovers much faster.

- And what does that prove? Was that enough to convince you? - she asked, forcing the air around her to cool down.

- This is just an additional belief. - Hambu said. - The werewolves will follow you, Miss Theanna. Otherwise, there will be no werewolves as a race. The fire of war will consume everyone without exception.