The Lycan Within

c. twenty seven

Sebastian's POV

Morning came and Celeste lay there. Still and unmoving, although her faint heartbeat was all the encouragement I needed. I ran my fingers through her dark curls, watching as her smaller form moved gently with each breath. I had almost lost her last night, and even at the thought of it, my mind slowly began to creep into dark territory, so I slowly pulled myself from her sleeping form and left the room, walking through the familiar halls, following the sound of faint chatter, only to find both Bathilda and Edmund speaking in hushed whispers, and as they noticed me, they looked up at me, sharing an awkward look between each other. 

"Son," my father said, pulling his wife close to him.

"Sebastian," I corrected sternly, ignoring the pained stare that my mother gave.

"But you're our son, how long will this go on for?" my mother pleaded. 

I scoffed simply, pushing past them to find Benjamin, Catori and Irene sat in the kitchen, the air heavy with sadness. I looked between the three of them, and nodded firmly.

"She hasn't woken up yet, but she seems stable." I said firmly, taking a seat at the island counter as Bathilda and Edmund walked in, watching us from the doorway.

"I'll burn the witches myself," came the rumbling voice of Irene.

"Somehow, I don't think it was them," came the voice of Bathilda, and we all looked up, to see the familiar stoic expression on her face.

"If this was caused by magic, silver shouldn't have worked," she continued, and I groaned, rubbing a hand across my temples.

"I might have to slice my own tongue from my mouth for this, but Bathilda's right," Benjamin added.

"What if she can't shift?" came Catori's worried voice.

"It's starting to seem likely," Irene mumbled lowly, and the air seemed to become heavier and heavier. "She never shifted when she became of age, so what if the neurological connections to her wolf were..." Irene couldn't seem to finish.

"Permanently damaged." I finished for her, and my body heated up as I felt a darkness swell within my chest.

"If Esmerelda wasn't already dead, I'd tear her limb from limb myself," and I could hear the beastly deep tone in my own voice, and could feel my own control slipping.

"Once we deal with these witches, we need to do some digging into my angel's past, those who hurt her deserve to suffer," I said sternly.

"I can't imagine anyone wanting to hurt Celeste, she's like a sister to me and she's practically the kindest little thing," Benjamin added, rubbing his jaw deep in thought.

"She has witches after her?" came my mother's voice in shock. I looked at her, offering her a simple nod.

"Is she really worth all the trouble?" my father asked, and simultaneously four chairs scraped against the expensive tile and the sounds of our deep snarls ricocheted off the walls, and I noted the small step backwards my mother took. 

"Ritual or not, she's a part of our pack, and as she would for us, we would die for her if it came to it," came Benjamin's voice, and I was surprised to see Catori firmly nodding in agreement.

"But the witches Sebastian, there's barely a hundred walking the earth,"                                                  

"And there's only one of her," I snapped.