Nicole abruptly jumped up from her seat like an enraged fury. Her fluffy short hair with a dandelion hairstyle fluttered around as she pointed her wand straight at the werewolf’s face.

- You forget that we have gone beyond the territory of the northern lands, which means that I can make a slug out of you at any moment. – she said with pride. – And I will be more than happy to pronounce a spell with this very tongue in my mouth, so that I will never see you again.

Thea sat with her mouth open, in a complete mental mess, completely not understanding how ordinary jokes led to this.

She thought that they would all be able to get along and even Nicole herself promised her that she would try to behave more calmly, but what was happening now before her eyes was completely different from calmness and caused alarm.

Urum glared at her intently, as if hypnotizing her, forcing her to keep her eyes on him and very slowly stretched out his hand to her wand, grabbing it by the tip.

- I dare to assume that all this bravery is put on. - He yanked hard, snatching the wand from her hands and breaking it in half.

- What have you done? – Nicole, boiling with anger, rushed at him with her fists, hitting Cornel along the way, and almost passing over Sean’s legs before she reached Urum.

He didn’t move, watching her, but when she swung her hand at him to hit him in the face, he had to dodge.

- It can’t be that your coolness is shaken. I thought you swallowed your tongue. - he said mockingly, continuing to dodge her with a grace that a professional dancer would envy.

- you’re just a complete je... - she paused for a second, restraining herself in another batch of insults in his direction.

And the more Urum avoided her blows with his hands, the further they moved away from the fire, until at one moment he jumped in the air, turning over with a wheel and in an instant turned into a werewolf.

His bright golden eyes caught her silhouette, her desire to relieve tension and this was the only sure way that really worked.

Adeline and Thea jumped up, about to separate the two, but Carrick calmed them down.

- There is no reason to worry, girls. Urum may provoke, but he knows where the line is that cannot be crossed. Moreover, Nicole needs to let off steam, she is too tense.

- He shouldn’t have done that to her anyway. - Adeline stated sadly. – she has tamed her wand for too long to make it malleable to her spells, how will she do magic now?

- I thought that only magicians are limited to using magic with a magic wand? Don’t witches use spells? Carrick asked.

- This is not entirely true. We use spells every time! - Adeline explained. – We don’t have to say them out loud, but we say them mentally. Without this, there is no release of energy flows. And by breaking her wand, Urum deprived her of the ability to conjure until she found a replacement. Of course, we can use amulets or crystals, but their capabilities are limited and they can not always accept the entire flow of energy if the witch is strong enough.

- Mmm, that’s how. – the man mumbled. – Interesting. Still, I’ve never gone into such subtleties, but it’s really puzzling.

- It turns out that Urum may begin to fear for his life. Nicole will certainly try to kill him in his sleep. - Sean interjected, not caring at all what might happen to his comrade.

While Adeline was having explanatory conversations, Thea and Klaus were on the alert, ready to intervene at any moment, but judging from what they could see, neither Urum nor Nicole wanted to use their services.

It was like a game they were playing until they were completely tired, because Nicole had nothing to attack with and she just clung to the wolf’s skin, literally trying to tear at least a piece out of it.

She beat him, pulled his ears, scratched and kicked while Urum rolled, trying to throw the mad girl off him.

No matter how much she tried to hurt him, it was so insignificant that it wasn’t even worth his attention, but he still played along with her, trying to exhaust her so much that she completely lost her strength.

- You’re a nasty, nasty werewolf! - She screamed as he threw her off his back and pressed her into the soft snow.

She immediately got to her feet and rushed at him with even more zeal.

Who and what did they say about fatigue?

It was as if this girl didn’t even know that such a word existed. Any fighter could envy her stamina.

Almost grabbing his fur with his hands, he suddenly bent down sharply, slipping under her and knocking her off her feet.

And while she was floundering and spitting from the snow that covered her whole face, he grabbed her pants leg with his teeth and dragged her along, rolling her through the snow, as parents usually do for their children. But unlike Urum, who saw it as entertainment, Nicole was just furious.

How could he embarrass her like that in front of everyone? Who did he think she was? A toy?

At the moment when he was about to turn in the opposite direction, she grouped, straining the muscles of her stomach and grabbed his hind leg, forcing his balance to stagger and the next moment she was already straddling him, grabbing his neck with her hands, squeezing with such force as if her life depended on it.

She desperately needed to prove to him that he was messing with the wrong person, but the harder she tried to squeeze the neck of the werewolf, the deeper she plunged her hands and body into the fluffy soft fur, noting that he was not at all smelly, as she called him.

And as if from resentment, bursting her, she slipped her hands out of his fur, but grabbed him by the ear and clamped it tightly with her teeth, biting.

The wolf howled and immediately got up on his hind legs, tipping over backwards and pressing her with all his weight into the snowdrift.

- It’s getting late. I’m going to bed. - Thea said to the others, after making sure that there really was no cause for concern. – Adeline, are you coming?

- Do you mind if I don’t come with you? – she asked a little confused, and everything became immediately clear when she grabbed Klaus by the hand, smiling sweetly.

She shrugged and smiled back, wishing everyone a good night.

Initially, it was assumed that she, Adeline and Nicole would sleep in this tent, but something went against their plans and now she slept here alone, sprawled out like a star, feeling the spaciousness and warmth from the fur capes, which were in abundance for one person.

And yet, looking at the ceiling of the fabric canopy, she could not help but feel the emptiness and inner cold of loneliness.

"You’re not alone," an inner voice whispered to her.

Recently, the voice in her head began to appear more often, as if she was talking to another person, but he was not next to her, but was sitting in her head. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Perhaps she had never listened to him before and did not rely on him, but more and more often this voice prompted her to make the right decisions, and now he has taken up complacency.

She grinned, finding it funny and maybe she was starting to go crazy, because normal people shouldn’t talk to themselves, right?

- I’m not alone. – she repeated in a whisper, feeling the weight bound her eyelids, taking her to the land of dreams.

***

She opened her eyes, noticing her mother’s loving face above her. Сatherine was beaming with happiness, radiating warmth and care, and her touches on her daughter’s cheeks were so gentle, as if she was the most precious creature on the whole planet. But that’s how it was. No one could ever compete for the right to be more loved.

Thea seemed to be watching what was happening from the side and her mind understood that it was a dream, because her mother was dead, and she had long since grown out of diapers. But it was a pleasant dream and her heart trembled when she saw the carefree smile of her own mother, whom she missed madly.

- Honey, how are you? – stroking and squeezing his wife’s shoulders, Horel noticed that she had lost even more weight. He came in a couple of seconds ago, but Catherine didn’t even notice it.

After giving birth, she began to eat much less and this worried him. Her milk disappeared against this background and a hired wet nurse had to feed the baby Thea.

At the same time, Сatherine withdrew into herself, became less sociable and more and more depressed. He couldn’t understand what was happening to her, but he could only guess that his reaction to her revelation was unacceptable to her.

Of course, as a loving spouse, he quickly realized his mistake, but how could he believe that this could happen to his own daughter? And he didn’t need any other evidence that his child came to life abruptly after his wife had a threat of miscarriage. It sounded as absurd as the glow around her belly.