Claudine found herself running, one of her wings torn off by a wolf she wasn't able to block. She tried calling out for Grunk but she wasn't getting through to him. It was at this point she heard the screams. The pixies were being rounded up and taken, taken into vans, vehicles.
A wolf came at her, tackled her. She fell onto the ground, cracking her chin. She attempted to run but was held down, the wolf bit her on the shoulder blade.
"Aaaahhhh!" She screamed in so much pain. She heard Zhiliary laughing, walking up to her, no longer nude but with a towel wrapped around her body, covering her mid section and bosom.
Zhiliary picked Claudine up by the hair, swinging her around like a puppet. She leaned down and smirked. "You're very pretty," Zhiliary said.
"Sspppt!" Claudine spit in the Alpha's face. Zhiliary slapped Claudine across the face, breaking a tooth.
Pain exploded in Claudine's jaw, hot and jagged, radiating up into her skull. She tasted copper flooding her mouth. Zhiliary's grip tightened in her hair, scalp screaming as strands threatened to rip free.
The cold forest floor pressed against her bare legs and the raw stump where her wing used to be. Shivers racked her body, not just from the chill air but from the burning agony in her shoulder where the wolf's teeth had sunk deep.
Each ragged breath sent fresh stabs through her ribs, and she could feel sticky warmth spreading beneath the thin fabric of her torn shirt from the bite wound.
Over the ringing in her ears, she heard the relentless growls and snarls of nearby wolves, the frantic shouts fading as the last pixies were shoved into dark vans, engines rumbling like beasts. Dust choked her nostrils. Zhiliary's mocking laughter vibrated against her skin where the Alpha held her writhing form.
"To the ghetto you go, um," Zhiliary mocked.
Grunk was on the ground near the Groken tree, he was breathing heavily, even wheezing. His throat was held, but not by a hand, magae.
He was brought to his feet and then his feet were dangling in the air, the witches surrounding him.
Tany sighed, "I don't want to send him to the ghettos. I hate they have that." Tany complained about the wolves.
Claudine's vision swam, the world tilting violently as Zhiliary's grip intensified. Blood trickled from her split lip, mingling with saliva and dirt, each droplet hitting the leaf litter with a soft, final tap.
Her broken tooth felt jagged against her tongue, a sharp reminder of humiliation cutting sharper than the physical agony radiating from her jaw. The exposed nerves screamed, a high-pitched whine drowning out the fading pixie cries.
Thud!
She was thrown into the van with the other pixies, Grunk no where to be seen.
"I HAVE A WAAANNNNND! DUN DUN DUN DODODO! IIIIIIIII HAVE A WAAANNNNDDD! DUN DUN DUN!" Sous danced around the wand store shaking her butt, and jiving her hips while Kara and the shop keeper stood to the side with sweat drops beside their heads.
She skipped to the counter snd slammed the wand on the counter.
SNAP!
Sous eyes became white, purple veins popping in her forehead. Little baby sweat beads quickly came to her face and she slowly turned around to the shop keeper. Who was clearly irritated by the new broken wand.
"I'll look for another one," Sous said very quietly like a mouse.
SNAP!
"SOUS, STOP SLAMMING THE WAND ON THE COUNTER!" Kara yelled.
They walked in the snow toward their home, Sous swinging her bag around of three hands, two broken and one actually good and fine. She had a smile on her face, eyes closed like all was well.
"So what spell should we learn first?" Sous asked.
"We're going to start with the basics," Kara said. "So push, pulling, levitate."
"I feel like I'm eleven all over again," Sous said. Kara pinched Sous' cheek, making fun of her while the two laughed with one another.
A gust of wind blew snow onto their eyelashes, forcing Kara to blink rapidly. Sous giggled, shaking her head like a wet dog, sending powdery flakes flying. They reached the weathered door of their cottage, its wood groaning under accumulated ice.
Kara fumbled with the frozen lock, breath misting in sharp bursts. Inside, the warmth hit like a physical wall after the biting cold. Boots scraped against the worn mat, leaving muddy streaks and melting snow puddles. Sous shrugged off her coat, letting it slump onto a crooked wooden peg near the door.
The familiar scent of drying herbs and stale fireplace ash filled Kara's nostrils as she moved toward the small kitchen nook. Kara's fingers brushed the cold cast-iron stove handle; she needed to stoke the embers, coax warmth back into the hearth.
The silence pressed thickly, broken only by the soft drip-drip of melting snow from Sous's abandoned coat onto the stone floor and the faint, rhythmic ticking of the mantle clock, a sound usually unnoticed, now unnaturally loud.
The kids were in school still and the adults had the place to themselves. Sous took out her wands and placed them on the table. She smiled at them, even the broken ones.
Kara was trying to start a fire with matches and was eventually able to do so once Sous pulled their hands together, and the Alpha slightly blew.
Sous walked to Kara and hugged her. She wrapped her arms tightly around Kara's waist, pressing her cheek against Kara's shoulder blade. Kara wiped her hands on her apron.
Kara's stiff shoulders softened beneath Sous' embrace. The Omega inhaled sharply, the scent of Sous' cold woolen sweater mixing with woodsmoke clinging to their clothes.
Sous' fingers dug into Kara's ribs, knuckles pressing against firm muscle beneath thin cotton. Kara didn't move; she only closed her eyes.
The Omega felt Sous' heartbeat thudding through layers of fabric, a rapid, fluttering rhythm against Kara's own steady pulse. It was important for them to be close like this because they would be fighting a common enemy soon.