Blood of a Half-Witch

Heavy sounds of feet rang in the running woman's ears as she raced through the forest in fear. She was already weak and had been running for hours but those blood suckers wouldn't let her go.

Another wave of dizziness hit her as a dart full of poison hit her back. She had been deflecting it with her magic but it seemed she couldn't hold them off forever.

"You can run but you can't hide Alice." The annoying voice of the vampire's leader sang.

Alice heart thundered because she knew he was right. Her body was already getting weaker and weaker. She couldn't properly use her magic when she wasn't in proper focus.

The smiling face of her little daughter flashed her mind and it fuelled her to run faster. 'I'm doing it for lily' she comforted her hurting chest.

"Mummy where are you going?" lily said in a small voice holding the back of her mother's dress.

Alice could feel the vampires coming and her magic ward over the house would not hold for much longer.

Alice lowered herself to her level and gave her a shaky smile.

"I'm going to get birthday presents. You'll turn six soon." She said.

Lily touched her cheeks with her small chubby hands.

"Why are you crying mummy?" she asked so innocently looking like she would cry too.

Alice body shook in pain but she held onto her smile and pulled Lily to her chest.

"I love you so so much Lily. I want you to always remember that." Alice said fiercely to her and didn't let go until she nodded.

Lily stared at her mum as a book appeared into her hands in a burst of purple flames. She thrusted it into her small hands.

"This is your early birthday gift. It will tell you everything about yourself." Alice said as she brushed a stay hair from Lily's face. Her face lit up in excitement at the early birthday present as she held it to her chest.

Suddenly the door burst open, it was her dad and his face was as pale as a ghost.

"Alice...they're here." He said.

"Tom." Alice said as she stood to her full height. Lily stared up at her mum, wondering why her face was set to stone.

"I love you both. I'll be back." She said placing a kiss on Tom's lips and Lily's forehead. Tears streamed down her face and Tom's face as he begged with his eyes to come with her. She shook her head, they couldn't leave Lily all alone.

"You're special, Lily." That was the last thing she said as she stepped out the door.

Alice wanted to forget her last memories of her family, she felt it would make everything seem easier to accept. She stared at the moon, it was bloody red. The blood moon as it was famously called. The witches are hunted and killed for her blood by evil bloodsuckers. It was a banned practice but they obviously didn't care. Witches were already scarce in the supernatural world.

A vampire jumped in her path suddenly but she was able to steer away from him, she kept dodging vampires until she figured out she was cornered. Although her boots were shaking in fear her eyes glowed manically at them causing it to flash purple for a brief moment.

"Give up. No matter how powerful you are you can't take us all at once." Gregory the leader said stepping out of the shadows with a sadistic smile. He was pale like the rest of his followers with bloody red eyes and sharp fangs. Alice wondered how he didn't cut himself while he spoke.

"I'd like to see you try." She wasn't going down without a fight.

Gregory's face shifted to something inhumane as he screeched his fangs elongating more. The vampires attacked at once all at the same time.

Alice did all she could deflecting the attacks and throwing them in the air with her magic. Gregory waited until she wasn't looking and stabbed her neck with a big syringe filled with a strange liquid. Alice vision blurred as her consciousness slipped from her grasp.

"Lily..." she whispered as she finally dropped to the ground listening to Gregory's evil laughter in the background.

All Alice could feel was pain when she could finally open her eyes. She noticed she was chained with her hands suspended in the air and her knees to the ground. Her veins were connected to little pipes that pumped blood out of her body. Alice screamed in pain.

"Ah you're awake." Gregory said with a smile as if they were meeting for the first time and talking about the weather.

"You kidnapped me." Alice said through her gritted teeth. She clenched her eyes shut, she didn't want to see her blood dripping in a huge tube. She remembered telling her daughter and mate she would return. Alice knew she couldn't survive this.

"You will fetch me a lot of money." Gregory said as he dipped a finger in one of the pints of blood and licked it clean. His eyes sharpened.

"Witches are the most powerful during the blood moon which make their blood more expensive when harvested during the blood moon." Gregory said stopping in front of Alice.

She hung her head low in defeat but Gregory wasn't done yet.

"I know you have a daughter...Lily wasn't it?" he said with a devious smirk when Alice's head came up with a start.

"Don't you dare-" she began but she cut her off.

"You can do nothing when you are already this weak. After you die she will follow." He mocked.

Alice couldn't believe how heartless this man was and could see there was no getting through him. With every ounce of strength she had she began muttering some spells.

Gregory's smile flattered a bit.

"What are you doing you witch?" He said baring his fangs to intimidate her.

Alice's eyes glowed purple brighter than it has glowed before and her spells grew louder.

"Kill her. We have gotten enough blood for now." Gregory told one of his followers. As he approached her he was thrown backwards by an unknown force.

The spell chants continued. Alice was doing everything in her power to put a protection ward on her family that would protect them from the evil vampires.

"KILL HERRRR!!!!" Gregory screamed.

Alice smiled as blood spilled from her mouth. She had completed her spell. Now she could rest. Lily was finally safe.

"Find the girl." Gregory snarled staring at Alice's dead body.

Some kids ran around playing in the sand pit. Their voices rang cheerfully. A lone girl sat on a bench. She appeared very sad and not moved by the excitement of her peers at all. A fat tear rolled down her cheek.

"What's your name?" a boy asked her as he sat next to her.

She turned to give him a proper look and recognised him. She was the pack alpha's son. He smiled at her showing off a missing tooth.

"I'm Lily." She said very quietly. If not being a werewolf the boy wouldn't have caught it.

"I'm Jackson. Everyone calls me Jack though." He said before stretching his hand and wiping her tears.

Lily stared at him in surprise. Most kids don't want to play with her. They call her a freak when the adults aren't watching. This was the first time someone was being nice to her. More tears rolled out.

"Why are you crying?" he asks.

Lily remembered why she was crying. Today was her mum's birthday but she wasn't around to celebrate it with her.

"My mummy isn't around." Lily says instead.

Jackson nods. There's comfortable silence between them.

"Do you wanna build a sand castle?" Jackson says after the silence already standing up and dragging her along.

Little did they know that their interaction would blossom into a wonderful friendship.

9 years later

A young wolf sprinted through the forest as if searching for something incredibly important. He paused at the backyard of a lone house and dropped the clothes he was holding in his mouth. The wolf looked around before bones could be head cracking and popping back in place. A teenage boy stood probably 15 or freshly turned 16. He threw some stones at the window of the house hoping to hear an answer. No answer called back.

He decided to climb in by using the tree right next to the window. It didn't take him anytime and he landed on his feet inside the room. It was a definitely a girls room.

He was to be the next alpha of Greenhill pack. Every alpha goes for training around the ages of 15 or 16. They will stay for 2-3 years and interact with each other as they learn to be the future leaders. He is sad to go which is why he wants to see his friend one last time before he goes.

"Lily... Lily." He called out softly.

He didn't want to be caught by her dad. A book on her reading table caught his eye. It was bounded with alligator skin leather and had strange unreadable language written on the cover. In general it looked weird. The boy in curiosity reached out and touched it. The unexpected happened. It caught up in flames. A scream left his mouth.

Feet came running into his direction and the room door was thrown open. Lily stood staring wide eyed at the burning book and pushed the boy aside as she tried to put the fire out. After a few seconds the fire went out.

"What's your problem Jackson?" Lily yelled. Jackson stared at her in dumfounding silence. When Lily calls him by Jackson and not Jack it meant that she was really pissed.

"I can explain." He started to say but she cut him off with a scream.

"You just destroyed the one thing I had left of my mum."

Lily's mum 'left' her and her dad when she was six. She thinks about her every day and nothing could make her hate her mother. She happy that the one thing her mother left behind was proof that she real.

Jackson stared at the book. Only half of it was remaining but he wasn't going to mention that.

"I didn't destroy it. It burst up in flames by itself." He said defending himself.

The book has a writing that can only be read by a witch. When a non-witch touches comes in contact it defends itself by bursting into flames.

"Well I don't believe you." Lily said tapping her foot in impatience.

Jackson held a growl and sighed. He wanted to tell her that he was leaving for some years and didn't want their friendship to end on a bad note since they have been friends for years.

"Why would I destroy your book on purpose?" Jackson gritted out.

"My mother's book." She corrected.

"It's just a book." He yelled out.

The silence stretched.

"Just a book? JUST A BOOK?" Lily yelled her eyes flashed purple but Jackson believed it to be a trick of the light.

Lily felt completely helpless. The book was the only anchor she had that kept her from going crazy. It made her understand that she wasn't a freak only just a witch. Now that almost the entire book is gone what would she do? She doesn't know any other witches and Jackson doesn't even know what he has done.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she pointed to the door.

"Leave."

Jackson looked at her in shock. He didn't want to believe that she was ready to end their friendship.

"lily." He called her name softly.

"Now!"

Jackson had no choice than to respect her wishes. He headed to the window but just before he jumps he turns to look at her one more.

"I'll see you later." He says. Then jumps while shifting to his wolf. He howls into the moon and disappears into the forest. Lily watches him as he goes before breaking down in tears.

Her father came to her room surprised that she was crying and comforted her. Lily cried more with the knowledge that she has lost a friend and a part of her mother that night.

Lily awoke the next day with puffy eyes from her tears. She checked her messages hoping that she would she a message from Jackson. There was a message from Hannah though her best friend.

'Why did you tell me that Jackson is going for his alpha training? He left last night.'

Lily stared at the message in shock. She realised that was the reason Jackson came the previous night. The alpha program takes years meaning they weren't going to see each other again. Or even apologise. Tears stung Lily's eyes.

She wondered if their friendship could ever be fixed again.

3 years later.

A white wolf sprinted into the forest after a rabbit. It would be her breakfast. Lily was proud of her wolf and its colour. Although she was a late bloomer due to being a half witch she was able to catch up with the rest of her peers. Her wolf was very fast.

She caught the rabbit and went to hide in the bushes to snack on it. The warm fresh meat was delicious. Lily hadn't even eaten half of her meal when her wolf suddenly became restless.

A glorious scent hit her life a truck. It was purely nature. The forest and the earth. Her wolf whined in search of the scent. Lily didn't want to be controlled by pure instinct so she fought for control over her wolf.

A huge wolf with his coat and black as the night emerged from the trees. He stared at Lily as if trying to figure out who she was. Lily hasn't seen a huge black wolf on pack lands before but didn't feel threatened by the wolf one bit.

Lily remembered that she had to be at school early so she dashed to where she came from. Surprisingly and thankfully the wolf didn't chase after her. When she got home she shifted back to human and wore the clothes that she left on the porch before entering the house.

Her father; Mr Rivers; was making some breakfast, since she didn't finish her rabbit meal she scarfed down some. Bacon, eggs and sausages.

"Whoa, honey. Slow down." Mr Rivers said with a smile. He like that Lily liked his cooking.

"Thanks for breakfast dad." Lily said after she swallowed her last bite of food clearing her plate. She dashed up the stairs to take her bath in record time.

"Happy birthday kiddo." Mr Rivers said as she headed towards the door.

She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"We will celebrate your birthday with a little dinner tonight." He says hugging her tightly. She hugged him too.

"You know that I love you right. Very much. I'm proud of you." Mr Rivers whispered into her ears. Warmth and love filled her chest.

"I love you too dad. I can't wait for tonight." Lily said smiling against his chest trying not to cry.

When he finally released her she headed towards the door and paused turning back to smile at him.

"Thank you dad." The door slammed shut.

Lily just turned 18 today. It didn't really feel like her birthday. It felt like it was just another ordinary day. She was finally in her senior year of high school and couldn't wait to graduate. Turning 18 meant that she would soon meet her perfect mate chosen for her by the moon goddess. She tried not to think too much about the wolf she met earlier. He seemed so familiar.

Lily walked to school hoping to catch Hannah her best friend on the way. The school was for only werewolves built by their pack. Her face lit up when she saw Hannah. Hannah was already 18 but hasn't found her mate yet.

"What's up girl?" she said hugging her.

"Happy birthday to you." Hannah sang in her horrible off key voice prompting lily to laugh.

"Guess what?" Hannah said as soon as the song was over. "Jackson is back. Or should I say alpha Jackson."

Lily's chest constricted at his name. All through the time that he had been away she avoided saying his name or talking about him like a plague. Obviously she knew he was back. The entire pack had been clamouring about his return but she chose to ignore them. Hearing it from Hannah's mouth made it seem more real. The fact that he never came to see her.

"Is anything wrong?" Hannah asked, her face full of concern.

"Everything is fine." Lily quickly said. "Everything is just fine."

They walked into the school building together. Lily wondered what she would say if she saw him again.

She paused her tracks when the same scent she smelt earlier in the forest hit her. It was faint and overwhelmed by other scents but it was still there. She looked ahead in search of the scent of the forest and earth but there was a crowd of students.

Hannah pulled her out of the crowded hallway and into the classroom.

"you have been distracted since morning." She said as they headed towards their assigned seats. Lily didn't respond because the scent was getting closer and closer.

Panic flooded her chest. She tried to calm her pounding heart in vain. Hannah gave her a concerned look as they sat down but she ignored it.

The teacher walked in and the scent drew nearer.

"as we all know alpha Jackson has finally returned so there no need for introduction." The teacher said.

Lily was sure that everyone in the classroom could hear her heart thump with each step that Jackson took into the class. Fear and panic gripped her but not only that. Desire.

Jackson entered the class with a bored look on his face, but suddenly froze. His head came up with a start his eyes meeting Lily's in an instant. It was like time stopped and it was just them caught in bubble.

His lips slightly parted slightly. Electricity crackled between them and it seemed they weren't the only ones that noticed. The entire class were already coming up with conclusions in their heads.

She knew it. He knew it. They knew they were mates.

A hand nudged her slightly. It was Hannah. Her face was full of confusion.

"What's going on? It's like you're in a trance." she says in a hushed whisper. Lily felt like she was in a trance.

Jackson finally snapped out of it and walked towards her with a determined look on his face.

Lily did the only thing she could think of in that situation.

Get up and run.