"Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye."
- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

EIGHT

Dianne's eyes fluttered open, focusing on the blooming, purple iris in front of her on the bedside table. It brought a smile as she remembered the events of last night. She checked the piece of paper beside her to see the writing still visible in her native tongue. Her smile grew wider as she threw the covers back and headed downstairs for breakfast.

Irene was already at the dining table with a cup of tea between her hands.

"Morning!" She greeted happily and pulled out a mug for herself.

"Kettle was just boiled." Irene couldn't keep the grin from her lips at the energy surrounding her daughter. She had cracked her power, Irene could sense it.

"I did your spell." She took a seat next to her mother, a cup of coffee in her own hands and a piece of toast in front of her.

"Some more practice and you might be able to use the book soon."

"What else can I practice with?

"Anything." Irene demonstrates by moving the sugar bowl into reach of her hands without saying anything. "You don't need a spell to do as you desire."

"It can just happen?" She asked feeling unsure.

"Emotions help with achieving." Irene put a teaspoon of sugar into her tea. "It's what drives everybody, magical or not." Her daughter picked up her toast spread with jam and took a bite. "You should stay home today."

"What?" The statement caught Dianne off guard.

"Least away from the forest." She warned.

"We could stay near the beach." The younger Clearwater suggested.

"Guess it's not far from the house."

"Why is it important to be at the house?"

"As long as I'm alive, the wards around this house will protect us."

"Protect us from vampires?"

"Among other things." Irene took a sip of her tea. "There is more going on then your aware." She warned her daughter.

"Like what?" Dianne questioned, wanting to know the full story – jump in with two feet.

"Shouldn't you be leaving soon?" The older woman pointed out, glancing at the dining room clock.

"Oh shit." With a glance at the clock, she quickly took one last sip of her coffee before jogging up the stairs to the bedroom.

She fiddled with her small camera in the passenger seat of the old car, Terry sat at the stirring wheel. "So where are we headed?"

"Thought we could do the beach and cliffs." Terry suggested, already heading in that direction.

"The cliffs always have a good view of the town." She agreed with his choice.

"And the ocean." He pulled into the parking lot of the La Push beach and the trio picked up their water bottles and cameras for their walk.

Once they reached the sand, she slipped off her thongs and put them in her back pocket as her toes dug into the soft ground. "I missed this."

"You don't have the beach at your place?"

"Nah, too many buildings and cement." She truly did miss the forest and ocean side.

"It's a beauty, the fresh air." He bent down with his camera lens and took a few snaps of the sea tide drifting back and forth against the sand.

"It is." Her eyes traveling the length of the forest touching the edge of the beach. "The cliffs?"

He answered her by heading in the direction of the tree line. "You ever done cliff diving?"

"Cliff diving?"

"Yeah, Sam's gang does it."

"It's not a gang." She urged.

"Sorry, I forgot your cousins are with him." He took another photo. "That's what some call them."

"You shouldn't believe all the town gossip." She advised, knowing that small towns talked.

He nodded his head in slow agreement. "So have you cliff dived?"

"I don't think I could do the fall." She looked over the edge of their dirt footpath, seeing the steep drop. "You?"

"Don't think I could swim to the shore after diving." He admitted after taking another shot.

"There is that." She paused at the top of the cliffs, her heart beating wildly in her chest at reaching their destination. "Now this is a beauty." She lifted her camera to take a shot of the view.

"I need a drink." Terry reached around to his backpack to grab the bottle of water.

"I could sit here all day." She commented.

"Or I could show you something better?" He nodded towards the forest.

Dianne paused, remembering her mother's warning about traveling the forest. "Is it far?"

"It's an easy walk." He encouraged.

She bit her lip in thought – surely, she would be fine for a small walk. "We'll make it quick." The turning of her stomach begun as she started following Terry into the trees away from the ocean.

The pair had been walking for half an hour, the churning of her stomach getting worse with each step. "How much further?" She questioned Terry beside her.

"Not long." He was happily taking photos, his gaze focused on particular objects instead of the environment around him.

Dianne was nervous that they'd come across the Pack, that would defiantly be a hard one to explain to him.

"Have you noticed that we haven't seen any birds?" Terry sounded disappointed, it was one of the few things that he liked to take photos of during his trips into the wild.

His observation had her stopping on the path – he was right. There was no animal in sight, whether that be bird, rabbit or deer. It was completely silent except for the footsteps of Terry beside her. "We should go back." She whispered, her throat tightening along with her uneased stomach.

"The waterfall is only a few meters away." He argued.

"Let's go." She requested with a bit more force.

"No stay." The commanded sounded sweet coming from the third comer, their straight posture and red eyes had her mind screaming to leave. She didn't dare move as her thoughts tried to process that this was a Cold One, a vampire standing a few feet from her.

"We're going." She sounded winded, breathless at the male vampire in front of her.

"But I'm sooo hungry," Sounding much like a child being declined. "And you smell soo good, dear Dianne."

Her name coming from the vampire's lips had her heart beating furiously. "Oh, you two know each other." Dianne threw Terry a pointed look at his statement, not realising the danger of their situation.

"We will soon..." The male vampire took a step closer, making the panic rise within Dianne. "I've never had a witch, first time for everything." He quickly made for her direction, causing her stomach to launch. She automatically threw her hands up to protect herself, though she knew it would be fatal against a vampire as she closed her eyes.

Not feeling a lethal blow, her eyes opened to find the vampire frozen in motion. A foot from her, its red eyes feverishly blinking at her in anger. She bit her bottom lip hard, not taking the risk of moving an inch as her heart thumping loudly in her ears.

"Dianne?" She could feel Terry's body trembling against her back, his voice quivering like her braced hands.

Suddenly, a wolf tackled the creature from her sight, followed by three more wolves behind it. The last one had dark grey fur and she knew it was Paul, he gave a snort of anger in her direction. "Go home." The stern, angry voice echoed in her ears, surprising the woman before the wolf followed after his pack mates.

"What the hell?" Terry's stunned whisper reminded her that she wasn't alone, a civilian had witnessed a secret of La Push. "We need to get out of here!" His voice became more frantic as the events caught up to him.

"Terry." She kept her voice soft, like she did when talking to a patient. "We'll head back to your car." He nodded his head with quick movements and backtracking their steps.

She tried to not analysis that she'd heard the wolf speak to her and focus on Terry's unsteady footsteps to the car. "Did you see that person?" He fired off more sentences. "It had red eyes!"

A vampire.

"And it moved so fast! Maybe the person's on drugs, it's affecting…" He had a one-sided conversation with himself, his mind trying to rationale the events.

Blood could be counted as a type of drug to vampires. Dianne thought to herself, not knowing or wanting to explain the events to her new and normal friend.

They were getting closer to the car now. "I'll drive." She volunteered, not thinking Terry could do the simple task with his frantic mind. Without question, he passed the keys to her as they got into the vehicle. Terry quickly put his seatbelt on and locked the windows and doors, though Dianne knew that would be no match for the creatures. "Where is your house?" He mumbled out an address and she brought the car to drive.

The silence in the car didn't last long as Terry broke out in other rumblings. "And what about those things!? They were huge! They looked like beasts!"

Wolves – their protectors.

She had to bite her lip from arguing with him, those beasts happen to be her family and friends. "They saved our lives." She quietly voiced, not wanting to argue with him.

"Or maybe the person was just closer to them? An easy target! We could have been next if we waited around and…"

Her fingers tightened on the stirring wheel as his conversation continued, she tried to drown out his worries because they were unnecessary. Yes, she was worried but not about their safety. Her thoughts on the wolves chasing after the vampire and Paul's voice echoing in her mind.

They pulled into his driveway, Terry still talking to himself while Dianne unclipped her seatbelt to exit the car, when something he said caught her attention. "What?"

"I said, we should report the animals to the police, they were headed to Folks." He stepped out of the car, panic running through Dianne as she thought of a patrol in the woods with her wolves.

"No." She disagreed with him, making the man turn to her in surprise.

"No? There needs to be a search party for that man."

"You need to forget about it." The panic still gripping her at the thought of discovery.

"I need to forget?" Terry asked confused at the behaviour of the woman.

With more force behind her words, an electrifying sensation filled her body. "You need to forget about todays events."

"I need to forget about todays events." He repeated in a soft tone with dazed eyes.

"Go in the house and play a video game."

"Go in the house and play a video game." He repeated once again before walking up the steps to his front door and entering without a further word.

A sickness swirled in her stomach as she realised what she'd done - her emotions had taken over and opened her magic without her fully realising it. With unsteady feet, she quickly left the front yard of Terry's place and headed for the forest.

She got a few meters into the woods before she had to pause against a tree, her stomach rolling before it emptied itself out onto the forest floor. She felt light-headed and tired as she tried to ease her stomach. She crossed her arms over her head on the tree and using them as a pillow to rest her spinning head.

Taking deep breaths, she slowly eased the faintness as she listened to her surroundings. The forest seem to be alive with birds in the distance, a cool breeze brushing against her skin, the rough bark underneath her arms and the scent of pine that encircled her. She lifted her head and focused on the sunlight flickering through the tree limbs. She locked the chilling events into the corner of her mind as she focused on the here and now – like getting out of the forest before something else found her.

Go home – Paul's words slipped through her guard, reminding her what she needed. Without a backward glance in Terry' s house, she broke out into a jog towards the safest place for a witch – the house enclosed by magical wards.

Once entering the house, she felt her heaving chest settle to a regular beat, but she couldn't physically relax knowing that a vampire knew her name. "Dianne." She couldn't prevent the small jump at hearing her mother call from the attic.

She slowly made her way upstairs and walked straight into the attic, the door staying open ever since she'd opened the magic swimming in her veins. "Yes?" She took a seat on the stool while her mother turned from a basin of water.

"You were lucky today." The older witch remarked.

"Do we really need to talk about this now?" She felt mentally and physically drained after the events.

"If you're to swindle with magic, then you need to listen."

"I wouldn't have anything to do with magic if-"

Irene interrupted. "If you weren't curious?" She raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "Remember that everything you can do, so can I."

Dianne cast her eyes down, knowing that she had been disrespectful to her mother and descendants. "What happened today?" The one questioned swirling around her thoughts.

"Your emotions were running on a high and your body reacted to protect yourself," Irene answered, knowing that until her daughter could control her power that emotions would be subject to it. "For example, the vampire attacking made you fear and prevented-"

"How do you know about that?" She questioned, knowing her mother hadn't been present in the forest.

"There is a great deal happening in our little corner of the chess game, I was merely following a lead that crossed paths with you."

"Like a glass ball?" Dianne imagined those clear balls that one would see at the carnivals.

"More a basin of water, anything containing water actually."

"So you can see the future?"

"Not the future, but current moments. Knowing the future can be a deadly tool, somethings are better left unchanged." Irene licked her dry lips, preparing herself for the next slice of information. "But some can… develop such skills from vampires."

"Develop?"

"Witches have known to takes a vampires skill to harness for themselves, which goes against our beliefs." Irene warned. "You were close to doing that today."

"And Terry?" The churning of her stomach effecting her again.

"Your power was lingering on the surface, your emotions stirred it."

"I knew it felt wrong." Dianne tried to explain. "But I couldn't let him tell the authorities." She looked down at her hands. "They would have hurt Paul, the pack." She enforced her reasoning.

"You don't know that." She put a comforting hand on her daughters. "If it had been explained to him, he could have kept the secret, like so many do today."

"Who?"

"Many are my age, the new generation isn't as observant, though social media has made it difficult in keeping secrets."

"How do you tell someone?" She could hardly wrap her mind around it, how could she have explained the supernatural side to someone else.

"Any of the council members, or Sam." Irene started tidying up some of the jars on the table to put back on the shelf. "He has had a lot of experience with introducing members to this life."

"Right, Sam." She hadn't had a real conversation with him since pairing with Emily. There was a time when she couldn't get rid of the gentle man at her Aunt's house.

"He is a great man, fate had different plans for him."

"Of course, fate." She was starting to dislike that word. "I'm going to make a cuppa." She stood to leave the room, only to have her mother call once again.

"Remember, don't let your emotions control you." Irene warned, remembering her own experience as a youngster.

"I'll practice." She promised before leaving the attic.

She was coming down the stairs when the front door suddenly opened, she paused as she felt the energy rolling from him. Paul didn't bother about personal space as he came to stand an inch from her, his hands slightly shaking. "I thought I told you to stay out of mischief."

"That was only for the other day?" She meant it as a statement but it slipped out as a question as he gazed at her intensely.

"Not with your scent." She would have taken offense to that if he didn't bend his head into the curve of her shoulder and breath deeply. His hands moved to hold her hips, squeezing them softly as she noticed that his body had stopped vibrating.

"Catnip." She recalled Leah's conversation in the forest, her scent to vampires….and Paul seem to have an effect. "But you're a dog." She remarked, trying to bring some light to the matter.

A growl rumbled through his chest while his head remained in its position at her neck. She hesitantly moved her arms around his shoulders, running her fingers through his hair. She felt the tension in his body relax and his hands lower to her backside. She was tempted to say something about his hands but ignored it and gave into the feelings that spread through her body – comfort and safety. It was reassuring after the events of the day with the near miss with the vampire and outbursts of powers.

"You smell like him." Paul pulled away, checking her over.

She wasn't sure who he meant by 'him' – the vampire or Terry. Either one wouldn't be ideal for the way he was checking her over. "You guys got there in time." She reminded him softly.

There was an unhappy twitch of his mouth before he grabbed her hand and started leading them out to her car. "Sam wants to talk you."

"Sam?"

"Leader of the pack." Paul opened the passenger door for her. "There are some things that need to be discussed."

"Oh." She signed before putting her seat belt on – today seemed to be one of those days.

"You were lucky." He muttered once getting into the driver's side and putting the car into drive.

"I shouldn't have taken him into the forest."

"You shouldn't have been there," Paul argued back. "We have bloody new borns left, right and center."

"New borns?" She wasn't familiar with the term.

"Recently bitten, their abilities are heightened and they're unpredictable."

She read between the lines. "Harder to kill?"

His hand thumped on the stirring wheel in frustration. "Unpredictable." He didn't like the idea of a bloodsucker getting the upper hand on him.

"Be gentle, that's my car your beating up." She teased, trying to get him to relax but he only grunted at her.

"That's the least of your worries." He remarked, thinking once again of the vampire in the forest standing a couple of feet from his imprint. His imprint who was still learning the ropes in this world, and the Folks mind reader bloodsucker was pushing his limits with his suggestions.