Chapter 156

Chapter 156
Jeremy.

There’s a little girl on the battlefield, surrounded by enemy men all shouting the same things at her. Fuck, what do I do? She’s the witch we are looking for, that much is clear, but she is just a little girl, barely above eight years old by the looks of her.

It’s easy to see she is being mistreated, her blonde hair is mattered so bad with dirt it’s hard to see her colour through it, and her blue eyes look sunken in, as though she hasn’t slept in days.

It makes me wonder what they did to force her into doing this, what sort of control do they have over her and can I break that control to free her?

I turn to Drake, his eyes full of concern, mirroring my own. “What should we do?” I ask him, he always has all the answers in a situation like this.

“She might not want to be saved.” Drake says gravely, his eyes flickering to mine, “It depends on what they are using against her.”

I nod, understanding, “So, we just approach slowly, with a lot of men, and take her away from them by force and give her a choice.”

He scoffs, “And what would that choice be? Join us or die?”

I shake my head, eyes heavy with pain. “NO, that is exactly what we don’t do. We have to make her feel safe with us, otherwise she’ll just kill us and move on.”

Drake stares at me for several long seconds, “Ok, we do this your way, you take the lead.” He says slowly, voice soft. “But shout the moment you need help and I’ll come running.”

“How about you get some men together and take down the scum trying to control her, and then I’ll move in and try to reason with her.” I suggest, my voice oddly calm considering what I will be up against.

Witches are dangerous. Really fucking dangerous.

I’ve never personally met one, but I’ve heard the stories, and I’ve seen the aftermath of their power, and neither fill me with confidence. Witches can be unpredictable, and very emotional. Normally wolves like to keep them far away from packs because one wrong move can lead to the destruction of everything. So, why did they have her here? Did they think that she’ll help them win.

We are already pushing the warriors back, and the ones we give the choice of surrendering in return to safety are leaving the ranks and joining ours.

Drake calls a few men to follow him, and he heads straight over, engaging in a fight with the warriors there to control her and make sure she does as she is told. She flinches when one of them raise a hand at her, and it breaks my heart.

She has clearly been abused by these men; I just don’t know the extent of that abuse. If I do this wrong, she could potentially kill us all, but if I do it right. I save a life.

Drake gives me the signal I’ve been waiting for, and I head through the crowd of fighting, making my way towards the frightened little girl who’s hiding behind the wheel of a car.

“Hey it’s ok.” I tell her, kneeling down next to her as she hides her head in her hands. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

She looks up at me, her eyes red with tears. “That’s what they all say, but they all hurt me in the end.”

My heart breaks for this little girl, I want to help her, but can i?

“What’s your name?” I ask her, keeping my voice gentle, “I have a little girl, she’s almost one years old.”

She looks up at me when I mention Amelia. “My name is Sophie.”

I take her little hand in mine, hiding my pain when her power peels through my skin, burning me. “I don’t want to hurt you Sophie, and I won’t if you agree to come with me, we can give you a home here, away from whatever they’re forcing you to do.”

Sophie looks down at my hand, as though searching for the pain to register, it seems like she can’t control it. I know that if she could, it would have been a lot stronger.

“Will I have to use my powers if I come with you?” she asks, her voice small and afraid.

I shake my head, “No baby, not if you don’t want to.” I tell her, holding her hand a little firmer. “But we can get someone to teach you how to control it if you want, that way you won’t have to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t like hurting people; Alpha Tris makes me.” She admits, sobbing into her knees. “I hate him.”

Alpha Tris is one of those who have rebelled against Sarah and her rule, he’s the one that brought the majority of the young warriors to fight against their will.

According to all the sources we have, he’s a monster.

“We are going to stop Alpha Tris, I can promise you that.” I tell her, my voice a little harder, though not intentionally. “Do you have a family? Someone who can take care of you?”

Sophie shakes her head, “He killed my mum.”

“What about your dad?” I ask, feeling my heart plummet for this little girl.

She must have been through so much in her few short years.

“My dad died when I was little.” She whispers, “Alpha Tris has guardianship over me until I turn eighteen.”

“Not anymore, not if you don’t want him to.” I say, and she takes my hand again, the pain worse this time. “We can take you in, your life can be completely different here, my mate loves children, and I am sure she will be willing to take care of you.”

The pain radiates through me again, and I realise that she’s testing me. She’s trying to make sure I am not lying to her.

I lean close, stroking her hair back out of her face as she flinches, expecting to be hit. “I know you want to hurt me, and that’s ok, that’s because you don’t know who to trust right now, but I promise we won’t hurt you.”

Sarah will know how best to navigate this situation, but for now all I can do is my best.

“I’ll come with you.” She whispers after a while of silence, her eyes scanning the crowd of faces. “If you promise that I never have to go back to Alpha Tris.”

“I promise.” I assure her, “You’ll never again have to use your magic to hurt anyone, and no one will hurt you.”

She nods, climbing into my arms, “I am tired, can I stop now?”

“Can you stop what?” I ask, confused.

“Can I stop using my power to make the wolves stronger? It hurts my chest.” Her voice is so small, so innocent that it catches me off guard as she clings to my shoulders.

This little girl has been through hell and back, and I want to protect her from anything like this ever happening again.

“Yes.” I whisper. “You can stop.”

A second later she’s asleep in my arms, snoring softly against my shoulder.