wild ↣ p. lahote

xii. the war

"WOW." Was all Sam said. "That's some necklace."

"Can I see it, please?" Billy asked. When Aurora hesitated, he shook his head. "No one here will try to attack you if you take it off."

Aurora looked at the faces of Sam, Billy, and Emily, and knew Billy was right. She was safe with them. Unlike the Cullens, these were real people who didn't want to suck her blood constantly. Slowly, Aurora unclipped the necklace and handed it over to Billy. "Careful," she said, "it's a little bit older than you."

Billy took the necklace and examined it closely. "This really is intriguing," he said after a moment. "It looks—no offense—like nothing. Like a normal necklace. But it's so much more."

Billy handed the necklace back to Aurora, who quickly clipped it back on. She still didn't feel completely safe with it off. "What all do you think it can do?" She asked her little audience.

"I think—and this is just my opinion—that it does whatever it needs to do in a situation to protect its wearer." Emily spoke up. "Think of it this way: it got you to hop onto Jared and be taken to safety. It masks your scent, it makes your blood taste bad, it makes you impenetrable to anything done by anyone supernatural. It pushed away your friends so that you could get to safety inside the school. I think it can—and does do—anything it can to protect you."

"That's what I was thinking, too." Sam said, nodding at Emily. "It must have taken a very powerful witch to be able to do that."

"You're lucky you have that," Billy said, looking at Aurora. "Have you talked to your parents about this?"

"I live with my aunt," Aurora said, correcting Billy. "And I haven't told her, because I doubt she'll believe me. I don't want to get her involved in all this stuff, either."

Billy nodded. "I understand."

"Should you be heading back to school?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

Aurora groaned. "I never want to go back there again."

"How about you get a snack and then you head back," Emily suggested, already moving towards the kitchen. "Do you need a ride?"

Aurora shook her head. "No, I can get one." She stood up and stepped outside onto the porch, pulling out her phone and dialing Emmett.

"Aurora?" He asked, picking up on the first ring. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm at the reservation. Can you come and pick me up?" Aurora asked, twirling a piece of her hair as she spoke.

"Of course, baby. I'll be there right away." Emmett said.

"Okay. Thank you," Aurora said before hanging up. She sighed as she crossed her arms and looked out at the trees around the house, watching the wildlife. Oh, to be a bird. To be able to fly around with no problems. With no worries.

Aurora frowned. She already wished she hadn't called Emmett. He'd attacked her the day before and that day she'd attacked him. She'd found out her best friends were werewolves, she'd met the people she'd dreamt about, and she'd discovered some more magical capabilities of her necklace. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped alone in a car with a big scary vampire.

But the big scary vampire was her loving boyfriend who she would give her life for. She truly loved Emmett more than anything. Even though it had been a rough 24 hours, she still wanted to be around Emmett, to cuddle him, to bicker with him, to laugh with him. To love him.

☽

Emmett's white Jeep rolled up slowly to the reservation. He stayed in his car, this time not hopping out to open the door for Aurora. His gaze barely even glanced at Aurora before locking on Sam standing stoically behind her. The two supernatural creatures stared at each other as Aurora climbed into the Jeep, neither wanting to be the first to break eye contact. Eventually Emmett was the one whose gaze first pulled away as he glanced at his girlfriend.