Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait but I hope this chapter will make it worth it. Thanks for reading! ~ Wolfkins
Lilith dropped down beside the slow trickling steam with an exasperated huff and laid her head in her open palms. After her third attempt and third failure at apparating home, Lilith had given up on Thorfinn's stupid ass wand. Of course she'd steal a wand that was partial to its owner, of course! The morning had waned away to afternoon far too quickly and in a matter of a few hours it would be dark. She was lost, utterly and hopelessly lost. Was she closer to home, farther from home, was she even still in England? Gods only knew. Lilith rubbed small circles over her aching temples and fought the urge to cry. A few tears escaped but she stubbornly wiped them away, she'd done enough of that already, far too much in fact.
"No more feeling sorry for myself." she declared out loud.
Every problem had a solution, this particular one needed itself quite a hefty solution, but she'd find it. With a groan of effort, Lilith pushed her exhausted, starving body back onto its feet and spun around to get a good look at her surroundings. She was in a deeply wooded area and didn't see any paths or indications of rural life, which was disappointing but not unexpected. The sky was quite visible above though, which would help guide her, so she chose to go east. If she could continue in one direction long enough she'd have to run into something eventually and east just seemed good enough.
Her walk and the quiet serenity of the forest left Lilith to her thoughts, which ping ponged around nearly as much as her life had in the last few weeks. They ranged from why didn't I put on shoes to, can I drink from that puddle to, are red berries poisonous and why didn't I eat before flying into a rage, which finally led her back to the DeathEaters. What were they doing now, had they gone back to their master or were they looking for her? Part of her sort of wanted to see them again, though it was for various different reasons and yet what would she say if she did? She wanted to yell and scream at all of them, with the exception of Rabastan, for their plan to use her as a human puppet. Thorfinn deserved an extra smack on the face for his 'dark Lilith' comment and all the dirty things she knew he was picturing along with it. If given the chance she would probably given Rodolphus a big, fat black eye, or two, no words needed. Fenrir...what would she say to him? It was impossible to tell if he had actual feelings for her or if it was all just some sort of animalistic domination. And now that she was bitten, what was going to happen? Were they forever linked, was she going to turn into a werewolf? Lilith was fairly certain that only happened when bitten on a full moon but nothing she'd assumed so far had been correct sooooo that too was up in the air. But despite how infuriating the wolf was, she couldn't deny that she felt something for him. What it was, well that fact was very elusive. There was something in his eyes that spoke volumes about his own feelings and unlike his mouth his eyes weren't cocky or presumptuous. They were hopeful and nervous and there was something endearing about that that was drawing her in despite how hateful he'd been. She still wanted to give him a little stinging curse if nothing else though.
Rabastan was the only DeathEater that she didn't want to curse, slap or punch. But much like the others, Lilith had no idea what she'd say to him. She probably owed him an apology, he'd gone out of his way to try and warn her and in return she hadn't believed him. And then there was his kiss, gods she'd thought about that far too many times since the infirmary. At the time she'd been scared out of her mind but inexplicably Lilith found herself wishing he'd do it again so that she could actually concentrate on how it felt. She wanted to feel his lips and his strong arms and nothing more, no fear of some dark lord or being arrested and no confusion over being an involuntary wolf mate, just Rabastan. Of course all of this hinged on whether Rab and Thorfinn's words about Rab could be trusted and that was something she may never know the truth about.
"How does this work exactly?" Fenrir queried, handing Lilith's wand over to Rabastan.
Magic had always taken a backseat to his wolfish ways, something he regretted only because he had to depend on Lestrange for assistance.
"Turns the object into a tracker, which should lead us straight to her." Rab frowned as he accepted the vine, he knew how it should work in theory but hadn't ever tried the spell himself. How far away did the spell work from and what if she was out of range? Well, there was only one way to find out. "Avenseguim!"
For a long, tense moment nothing happened, Lilith's wand lying lifelessly across his shaky palm. But then his hand began tingling, coursing with magic as the vine shook with the first signs of life. The wizards exchanged a glance, both trying not to be too hopeful but knowing that between this and Fenrir's sense of smell they had a real chance of finding her. The shaking turned to wobbling which soon became a slow spin, as if the tip was trying to work out which way to go. This went on for a full minute before the tingling lessened and the wand slowly rose into the air, where it hovered and the tip jerked ever so slightly left and right and then again. Fuck yes, he sighed in relief, eyes closing for just a heartbeat, they were one step closer to his angel.
Fenrir's claws were digging into his palm long before he'd even realized his wolf was gaining control. She was gone, too far for him to sniff out her scent and her absence could only be described as madness. His chest felt sort of hollow at the loss and his normally confident demeanor was reduced to a sheen of sweat on his brow and beneath his arms. This had to work. Rabastan positioned the broom between his legs and waved a hand for the wolf to follow suit. One broom, two large deatheaters and a wild goose chase. No problem? Neither man was terribly comfortable on the contraption and it swayed precariously from side to side on the take off.
"Fuu-uck." Rab cursed, fists wrapping around the broom for dear life as it tipped to the left.
Lilith is worth it, Lilith is worth it, he repeated the mantra over and over as the broom zipped off in pursuit of the wand. The vine was straight as an arrow now, following a steady trail like a bloodhound, not that it helped his roiling stomach. A glance over his shoulder revealed a rather green faced wolf who also had a death grip on their ride. Rab didn't linger long however as the wand took a rather sudden turn to the right, threatening to dump them and he quickly doubled his grip and clenched his thighs for good measure. Slowly the wand and broom climbed a little higher, coasting up near the top of the tree line and the forest floor became a dizzying green and brown blur.
Fenrir had never been particularly fond of flying, so not fond of it that he'd never done it before. A wolf belonged on the ground for gods sake. But despite the bile building up at the back of his throat, the more time that went by the more grateful he was for the lift. Before Azkaban he could have easily made the run, but his worn down body would never have made it now. He was beginning to wonder though just where Lilith had gone, straight back to her home or was she already on the road to her real home in America? It seemed unlikely given their current "status" with the law, but a lot of time had gone by. After the third time the wand changed directions, stopped, hovered for a moment and continued, they were beginning to wonder how many times their witch had apparated. Something must have gone wrong.
Lilith's breath hitched in her chest the very second she heard the branch snap behind her. It wasn't so much that it had snapped but the fact that the world around her had been ethereally silent for what felt like hours. What creature was disturbing the peace and was it friend or foe? She spun around, eyes searching the darkness in the direction the sound had come from but seeing nothing.
"Lumos." she hissed at the stubborn wand.
Lilith hadn't actually expected it to work but it suddenly blared to life, drawing out a gasp and temporarily blinding her. She blinked rapidly against the light, hoping to get a glimpse of a deer or better yet, nothing and for a blissful moment that was all she saw. But then slowly it began to take form right before her eyes, seeming almost to draw its shape from the darkness itself. The blackness floated and writhed, twirled then broke apart before reassembling and folding into and out of itself. It was everything and nothing, simple color and air. Though it had no eyes it seemed to be considering Lilith from where it floated, a mere ten feet away. Even from that distance the witch could feel the cold air rolling off of its shapeless body. The effect was so subtle however that she didn't even realize what was happening at first, but suddenly it was difficult to breathe and her chest felt heavy. One hand clutching her tightening throat, Lilith scrambled backwards and tripped over a tree root, landing flat on her rump, eyes wide with fear and the beginnings of panic. She had no idea what that mass was, only knew that she needed to get as far away from it as possible.
She flipped over onto her knees and clawed her way to her feet, breaths growing more labored as her heart rate kicked up. With one final glance over her shoulder Lilith took off into the unknown with its frigid, undulating form in pursuit.