Her Probation / Paul Lahote

THIRTY FOUR

"You're not the only monster in the room, you know." Maybe Paul's words should of scared Fern since she was yet to see him shape shift into the spirit wolf he spoke about only a couple of weeks ago, but she felt the opposite. Paul was anything but a monster. But what pushed the knife through her heart was the guilt of putting himself and his secret in jeopardy in order to save her. She knew that killing somebody was a difficult task. There were men that were dead because of her, not by her hands directly but because they thought too much of her and Enzo had never liked that. That kind of guilt and mental place killing takes a person is detrimental and it was the last place Fern wanted Paul to go.

It was this exact moment that Fern wished she'd pushed Paul away. This was a long time coming and all the words of comfort he shared with her would be for nothing. The only way to save him now from ruining the rest of his life was to cut the ties between them. Fern didn't care that she was going to hurt after doing so, but she did care that he would be upset with her for doing so. But she'd rather him be upset for a short while than be damaged forever. Fern fathered all her energy and feelings towards Paul and pushed it into a box, forcing it shut and locking it. She tried her very best to look up at Paul with cold and emotionless eyes. She stepped closer to Enzo and actively lifted her hand to wrap around Enzo's rough one. A shiver ran through her spine at the contact.

"Cut the shït, Paul. Just let whatever was between us go...not that there was much there." Paul's eyes looked broken when they turned to meet hers. She had to try her hardest not to let a tear slip and she completely avoided looking Sue's way with every fiber in her being. Fern knew the second she looked at the beautiful soul of Sue Clearwater she would break.

"You don't have to play his game, Fern!" Leah hissed.

"It's not a game, Leah. It's the big scary world that Enzo is offering..." Fern's empty voice trailed. Fern watched as Leah's face changed and she lifted her chin. She inhaled deeply and frowned.

"Paul." In the distance, Fern could hear sirens and a sense of relief filled her momentarily. She was glad that help was on its way but she knew that police didn't mean that everything was going to be instantly okay. Police also brought intensity, heat and danger of irrational decisions. The last thing she needed was for Enzo to lose his cool or worse, quickly wrap things up in order to escape.

"Fück" Enzo hissed and left the room, leaving Fern behind. All of a sudden, Fern heard Leah let out a yell and she very quickly lifted her hand, tugging the gun from the man's hand and slamming the butt of the gun into his forehead. Fern hardly had the chance to blink before he fell to the floor, as the gash opened and blood fell from the wound. Fern's brain quickly registered what Leah had just done, but Leah was running off adrenaline and the inhuman speed of her spirit wolf.

In the blink of an eye, Leah had managed to swiftly wrap her strong arm around her mothers waist and lifted her leg to land a solid stomp onto the other mans foot. Fern knew the sound of shattering bones and watched in awe as the man hunched over in pain. Leah punched the man in the nose, hardly waiting for him to hit the ground before she was moving onto her next move. Fern was sure the stranger was unconscious, but became too worried about their escape to care. Leah didn't think twice about gently pushing her mum to the side and twisting her fist towards the window. The glass shattered around her as a result. Fern couldn't believe that Leah had knocked down the two men in the span of ten seconds. All the while Paul watched on with wide eyes as the men retraining him tightened their grip on him, thus making his escape a lot more difficult.