Finding Forgiveness

Ella's POV

An hour later, Max, Milly, Leo and I were stood amongst the tall pine trees of the forest by the edge of one of the pack's many large lakes. We were a mile from the village Milly and Max lived in and we'd seen no one.

"We're alone,” Leo said after returning from taking a quick walk around our surroundings, checking no one was around.

Max stood with his arms folded and a look of steel as Milly turned out towards the lake. She took a deep breath and glanced across the blue water, which reflected the sparkling rays of mid day sun. She then closed her eyes and brought her hand to the amulet.

For a few moments, there was nothing. Just complete silence as Milly stood motionlessly, holding her eyes tightly shut.

She was concentrating hard, I could tell.

Then, the most amazing things began to happen.

At first, the skies darkened as the clouds came rolling in. Then the gentle breeze whipped up to a gale, blowing the leaves on the forest floor into columns of spirals and shaking the branches of the trees above. I looked up to Leo who was watching the sky in awe.

Then the water of the lake began to bubble and splash and cave up into large waves, crashing at the surface.

She then held her hand up and everything ceased. The skies drained back to blue, the water retreated and the air became still and calm again.

Milly then opened her eyes and turned to us. Leo smiled and nodded. "You are gifted, Milly," he said.

"There's more. Do you want to see?" she asked.

We nodded and she turned back to the lake.

Max still stood a few metres away, his eyes cold and fixated on Milly. There were another few moments of silence before the ground around us began to shake. To begin with just a little, and then progressively more. I had to take Leo's hand for support until it suddenly stopped. Only a few seconds later, a spark struck a metre of so away from Milly's feet, it the blossomed into a flame and grew into a perfect circle of flickering fire all around her.

The flames brought a red glow to her face as she leant her head back and the grew into tall curling beacons moving at the command of her hand.

It was then that we heard the snapping of a branch only ten or so metres away.

Leo's eyes snapped to where it was coming from and Milly opened hers too. There was a boy, eleven years old at most, stood, half-hidden behind a tree with his mouth ajar.

Milly's eyes suddenly became filled with panic as the boy stared at her. Leo stepped forward towards him but he turned on his heel and began to run in the direction of the village.

"No!" Milly said lurching forward too and reaching out towards him. But as she did a powerful ball of fire shot from her hand, and ejected straight towards the kid.

It didn't hit him, but it did scorch straight through the trunk of a great towering tree which then groaned and creaked before ascending straight towards the floor.

The boy turned and looked up as the wooden shadow cast upon him, growing in size as he stood frozen to the spot.

"Move!" Leo shouted as he ran towards him.

But there was no way even Leo could ever get there in time. The tree landed with a crash, shaking the floor nearly as much as Milly had, trapping the boy underneath.

Milly gasped and all the fire vanished as she dropped to her knees, bringing her hand to her mouth

By then Leo had reached the boy and was already hauling the tree up. Max and I were quick to help him and although Leo probably could have done it himself, between us the tree was off him in seconds.

He howled in pain but he was alive. I breathed a sigh of relief as Leo ordered Max to get a doctor from the village.

Leo then ripped his shorts off his bleeding leg as I tried my best to comfort him and stop the screaming

"What's your name?" Leo asked.

"Anton," he sobbed.

"Okay, Anton," Leo said, "It's me. Your Alpha, Leonardo. And this is your Luna, Ella. We need you to be really brave, okay?"

He nodded and his screams turned to sobs as his face grimaced in pain. "Good boy," I said taking his hand, "Everything will be okay."

"I want my Mama," he replied.

"Does she live in the village?" Leo asked and Anton nodded.

"She'll be here soon and so will a doctor,” Leo continued.

I looked down at his legs, they were broken for sure, crushed by the weight of the tree.

It wasn't long before Max returned, a man with a briefcase in hand, two worried-looking women and a whole crowd a few yards behind them. Leo looked up and then back to Milly probably concerned about the number of people here to see the spectacle and phenomenon of a tree magically setting alight and falling on a kid. But right now, getting Anton the help he needed seemed more important and he turned back to the Doctor.

"The tree has landed on his legs,” Leo said.

The Doctor nodded before Leo and I stood up out of his way as he and the two women crouched beside him.

One looked to be his mother, the other maybe an older sister but both were able to comfort him as the crowd of people circled around, gasping and fretting.

Some looked to the tree, the scorch marks and then to Leo and I, probably wondering what the Alpha and Luna were doing out here.

It wasn't long before the question came up.

"How did this happen, Anton?" One man asked.

He looked up his eyes setting on Milly.

"It was her," he said through sobs.

"Who?"

"That girl," he said pointing to Milly, "She's a witch."

Max's eyes widened as all stares fell onto Milly who was still on her knees over by the lake.

"I watched her make the skies grey and the wind blow and the ground shake and the water bubble and then burn this tree down on top of me," the boy continued.

"And look at what is around her neck,” Another man said.

Milly brought her hand to cover the amulet but it was too late. "Witch!" another woman screamed. "There's a witch in the village!" "She is a danger to us all. Alpha, do something!" another man pleaded as a chorus of gasps and curses spread through the crowd.

"She has hurt my brother," the younger of the two women by Anton added.

"No, please,” Milly said standing up, "I didn't mean to. You have to believe me."

As the witch chants and accusations continued, I noticed the sky begin to cloud over again and then wind pick up. Milly was staring down at her hands, breathing heavily, clasping at the amulet, clearly trying her best to control it.

But then her gaze fixated on one member of the crowd in particular.

A boy, about her age, with short black hair and bright blue eyes. He stared at her, a look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Otis," she sobbed stepping forward.

So that's Otis...

He backed away, which only brought enough exasperated sob out of Milly and darkened the skies even more.

"Stay away from us!" a woman shouted from the crowd.

"Alpha, banish her!" a man said before the rest of the crowd cheered and agreed. "Deal with her or we will!"

As the gale blew, Leo looked at Milly and then the rough waters of the lake, and the tremors in the ground. Her hands shook, sparks lighting up around her as the tears streamed down her a face.

"Enough," Leo bellowed to the crowd, silencing them immediately.

He then paused as Max marched over to Milly and took her hands before guiding her gently away. The weather began to clear again and the surroundings returned to still.

"No harm will come to this young girl. That is an order," he said, "Anyone who disobeys it will be punished.”

No one dared speak up.

"If you are here purely to spectate, go home. There is nothing more to see," he added before marching away in the direction Milly had Max had gone as I followed him.