Playing with Fire #1 ✔

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓 - 𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫

"It's not good," Wednesday said as soon as Theo was out of sight.

"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.

She shook her head and rubbed her forehead with her hands. "It's not clear. Well, not as clear as it should be—"

"What have you got, Wednesday?" Al butted in. "Spit it out already."

Wednesday rolled her eyes exhaustedly. "He's in trouble; serious trouble. There's some sort of organisation in the U.S. hunting him — that's why he's moved here."

Trying desperately to keep an open mind for Theo's sake, I let out a breath. "Why are they hunting him?"

"Something to do with his pack." Wednesday looked down, eyes shifting to everything apart from me.

"What about his pack, Wednesday?" I insisted, exclaiming, "You can't just tell me part of the truth!"

"He doesn't have a pack anymore, not really. He's an Omega, a lone wolf. But the worst part is that... he doesn't know that he's an Omega. He thinks he's still part of his pack. He thinks they left him..."

"And the truth, why are they hunting him?" I hissed at her.

"According to this organisation's views, he—" My best friend faltered, her skin paling. "He killed them, every single last one of them."

Wednesday's words hit me like a sledgehammer to my skull. Shock flooded my body, yet that wave of panic was rapidly countered. Every fibre in my body began to tingle with heat, making my veins buzz with energy.

I remembered the weird graffiti symbol I'd seen on the train ride back from Ashley's — that pierced heart. It had to be linked to this, to Theo being hunted.

"What do we do?" I asked through gritted teeth as I tried to push the fire down.

"Yeah, do we help him or what?" Al questioned.

If there was one thing that Sarah at CAP taught us, it's that supernaturals should always look out for one another. We don't survive on our own; it's as simple as that. And if Theo was a lone wolf, then he might be in serious danger if we left him to fend for himself.

Wednesday's face was now a stony shade of grey. "The thing that gets me is how on Earth Theo doesn't think he's killed them — and yet this organisation thinks he has."

"So...? Do we help him?" I repeated anxiously.

Wednesday mused, "First off, I think I need to read his palm."

"Well, that should be interesting," Al scoffed, shaking her head slightly and casting her eyes heavenwards.

"We'll have to find him first," I stated after a quick glance around that told me he was nowhere in sight.

"Already on it." Wednesday closed her eyes, calling Theo back.

A few minutes of utter silence later, Theo came back.

"Hey, what's up?" He said, as if nothing had happened and as if nothing had changed — which of course, as far as he was aware, nothing had.

World-shattering words had changed everything; my mundane and innocent existence had been flipped on its head. Theo was no longer just a cocky, American guy. The accusation of him being a murderer inverted and disturbed the entire universe — or so it felt, anyway.

Yet I still felt obliged to give him a shot and hear him out. It was unbelievable; the fact that he didn't think he'd killed anyone.

"Give me your hand," Wednesday instructed, jabbing out her own.