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Three days have passed since the Russos' encounter with Malakai, making it two months to the day since they were forced to run from their home.

Justin, having finally joined completely with his wolf spirit, transformed willfully for the first time. And so did Alex.

Max had been surprised by this; as far as he knew, only the men of their mother's family carried the wolf gene. Alex was the first female wolf in the Larkin blood line since, well, ever.

Max smiled as he thought this. You can always trust Alex to break the mold.

He looked over at her now, as she sat close to the fire Ernesto had built; the man was reluctant to stay at another hotel, he didn't want to make it easy for Malakai to find them again.

So they were camping again.

Alex was leaning against a tree, her eyes trained on their uncle, giving him her undivided attention as he recounted his first meeting with Malakai.

It was so strange, watching Alex be so, so...studious. Justin was rubbing off on her.

And that led to a slew of other questions. Alex and Justin were both of age. The only reason to postpone the Wizarding Competition was so they could wait for Max.

But I'm an angel now, and that puts me out of the running. Permanently. Magic runs in the blood. My vessel was born Mortal.

They can't pass their magic onto me anymore. So when one of them wins (and one will have to), that one would have to give up their magic if they were to stay together.

Max was pulled from these thoughts when Justin asked Ernesto a question.

"Why go to all the trouble of sealing him? Why not just kill him?"

Max noticed, with some confusion as to why, that Justin was not sitting next to Alex. The two were usually inseparable, and he was now sitting away from, on the opposite side of the fire. He filed that away for later.

"Because we don't know how to kill him," Ernesto replied.

"Come again?" This came from Alex.

Max jumped in. "Malakai is what we call a meldling," he started. "Someone who has joined his soul with another."

"You mean like us?" Alex asked. Justin flinched, but she didn't notice.

"Yes, like you," Max replied. "But with one, crucial difference. You, Justin, and Ernesto are joined with wolf spirits bound in the service of Heaven. It is a symbiotic joining, and harmless to its host.

"Malakai joined his soul with that of a demon."

"Demons have souls?" Justin asked, intrigued despite himself.

"Barely. If they were true souls, the angel blade wouldn't be able to touch them. Because Malakai is part human, my blade cannot kill him, only harm him.

"Unlike your bonds, Malakai's two souls are fighting for space inside of him. His demonic half gives him enormous power, enhanced healing abilities, and scores of other advantages, but at a cost."

"What cost?" Alex asked.

"The more he invokes his power, the stronger the demon inside becomes, until, eventually, it destroys the other half."

"So, Malakai is turning himself into a demon?"

"Yes...and no. What I just explained is the normal way a joining like his works. But Malakai is not normal. His transformation should have happened already, and I should be able to kill him.

"But it hasn't, so I can't. It's almost as if he's found a way to let the two souls co-exist. I don't know what he is now."

Max's head jerked suddenly. The Winchesters needed him.

"Idiots," he said, smiling softly. "They can't do anything by themselves." With that, Max disappeared.

Alex thought that things were going to be normal again (or at lest somewhat normal) when the mind link returned.

She was wrong.

Justin had been distant these last three days, and she had no idea why. He was blocking his thoughts from her, something he'd never done before.

When she heard his thoughts in her mind, she had been ecstatic. There were connected again, whole again, after months of being torn.

She had been strong for Justin, and part of her enjoyed it. After all, how often was it that she comforted him? That he was the one in trouble and she was the one keeping him protected? Safe?

But Alex would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't scared too. And that was big, coming from her.

But it hadn't mattered. She could be scared, as long as she had Justin, and he knew he had her. As long as they were together.

But it didn't seem like they were together anymore.

He sat away from her at the fire, and had barely talked at all during Uncle Ernesto and Max's explanations. Didn't he want to know more about the guy who wanted to kill him?

So she was the one who paid attention. Not just for him, but because she was interested too. She had wanted to know more about how her connection to the wolf inside her worked, but neither Max nor Ernesto had gone into that.

When Alex transformed the first time, it had been a fluke, out of anger.

The second time she did it, it was because she wanted to.

Transforming was magic to her. It made her feel powerful, like nothing in the world could stop her. It was exhilarating.

It made her feel free.

She needed to find out what was wrong with Justin. She was tired of this strain between them. And since he wasn't telling her, she would have to do it the old-fashioned way.

Through force.

She barged into their tent and roughly shook him awake.

Before he could form a coherent enough protest, Alex delved into his mind, his walls crumbling against her mental battering ram.

She went back to that night, the last time they had shared thoughts.

"Are you okay?"

"Ye-hey!"

"Our mind link is back."

Justin's smile had faded then, as he felt her emotions in that moment. Her feelings of joy, not just because he was safe and because they were whole again, but because she had enjoyed the change. Enjoyed becoming the thing he hated.

He'd given up trying to find a cure. His joining with the spirit made it unbearable, to try and remove a part of himself. He would live with it.

But he didn't like it. It had brought him nothing but trouble.

And she liked it.

Alex came back to reality.

"Alex, what the hell!"

"You listen to me, Justin Russo," Alex told him. "I get that you hate that this happened to you. I get that it tears you up inside. Maybe there's a cure for what we have, maybe there isn't. You shouldn't give up so easily, if being this way hurts you so much.

"You want to cure yourself? Fine. Go ahead and do it. I respect your choice. Please respect mine."

And with that, Alex left the tent.

For the first time in years, Justin and Alex Russo slept completely alone.