“Zander, what are your thoughts if I start writing down spells and stuff I hear in my mind and turn them into a grimoire? I know the witches lost all theirs, so if I can then surely that’s a good thing? I know it could take years but surely if I can write down the main it could be a big help.”“I’m not sure, Willow. If a vampire got their hands on it and a witch agreed to help them, it could be deadly. The witches were lucky they were burnt and not taken in the first place; had the vampires taken the grimoires, they could have used a witch against us.”“It’s a good idea,” comes a voice. “It means the leaders of each coven around the world could protect the covens against vampires.”The three of them turn to see Camille standing in the doorway. “I apologise for my attitude towards you both, Willow and Alaric. Now I can’t feel my powers, the magic has woken me up.”Zander sm

Alaric walks to the door and knocks, standing and watching as Camille opens it.“Can I see Willow, please? She isn’t answering.” He’d already spent hours worrying before finally giving in and coming here to see if she was okay."Good luck with that; her and Zander left hours ago and no-one’s seen them since. Willow left her phone here and Zander’s is off.”Alaric nods worriedly; something must have happened.“I can get one of the others to do a location spell if you want? It’ll take a while, though.”Alaric shakes his head.“It’s fine, I will shift and see if I can hear her. It will be quicker and if she is fine I can just leave her to it.” Camille nods, shutting the door, and Alaric walks off to shift among the trees. He tries to focus on Willow, the faint sound of her heart making him relax, yet all he can hear is the muffled sound of music, no talking. And then

Zander smiles at her as she walks in, his expression changing to apologetic when he sees the tears that threaten to spill from her eyes.“I’m sorry, Willow, what happened?”Glancing around she doesn’t see anyone, so she sits down, Zander sitting next to her.“I tried getting him to admit the truth about Yasmine and the baby. He explained, and by the end he walked out and said he would see me around. I think the fact I struggled to find something to say made him think I saw him in a bad way, but I just didn’t want to say something without thinking and end up upsetting him.”Zander nods. “He may just need time. He likes you, Willow; this is my fault, I should never have said it.”“It isn’t your fault, I pushed and pushed and sounded disgusted. The fact he seems so sure he doesn’t want to stop shifting and have a family scares me. I want kids, he clearly doesn’t, and how wou

Alaric looks at Willow; he had no time to run, no time to even move, he was momentarily immobilised due to the shock of how quickly the emotions came flooding back. He watches her as she walks towards him, her hand stroking along his head when she reaches the mass of fur.Alaric finds his head tipping to the side, slightly enjoying the feel. This is something he hasn’t had before. Other than curling around her when she passed out on the field that night he hasn’t ever felt a human’s touch in this form. It’s… different. Willow kneels before him, her arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace, a low whine escaping his throat as his body relaxes against her touch. The thought of how close he was to hurting Azalea flutters into his mind, but vanishes quickly as he feels himself calming down and his breathing settles. His eyes are closed as he feels the warmth of Willow’s arms around him.“I love you, Alaric,” she murmurs in

Going home everyone is quiet, unsure of how things will go tomorrow. It will be hard; they plan to talk to the witches before Alaric appears, but the witches are smart and some will be able to sense that he’s been there so frequently. Willow finds herself drifting asleep in Alaric’s arms, smiling and happy. He agreed; she hadn’t expected him to agree, not so soon anyway. She also never expected him to propose. She guesses, lately, he’s just been very unexpected. Waking up the next morning she smiles, glancing to Alaric as she kisses him gently.“Morning,” he smiles at her as he slowly sits up. “No time for lying here and cuddling. I need to leave before your visitors arrive.”Willow nods and laughs, both of them getting ready and walking downsta