*****

*Trent*

I woke up earlier than I would have liked and spent a few minutes staring towards the roof in the moon-lit room while wondering why the hell I woke up so early and did not even feel fatigued by it. I was about to get out of my floor-made bed knowing there was no way I was going to be able to fall asleep again but stopped at the sound of soft whispering.

"Corey," It was Jayden, "Corey! Move your arm!" His voice was a quiet hiss.

"No." Corey replied stubbornly although sounding very sleepy.

"It's around me!" Jayden hissed, he sounded a little weird... Freaked out? I couldn't exactly recognise how he sounded but it didn't seem happy or angry.

"You think I don't know that? It's my arm, Jayden. Now shut up and go back to sleep." My eyes widened slightly and I wanted to laugh but my surprise helped keep me silent.

"But you're-you're naked," Jayden whispered, he didn't sound too happy about that either. He actually sounded a little afraid, or was it just me? Probably just me and my morning ears. Everything sounded a little shaky in the silence surrounding us.

Corey gave a soft chuckle. "I'm not wearing a shirt, I would hardly consider that naked Jayden. What? Am I not hot? I thought you liked me." I was beginning to wonder if it was really Corey I was hearing. Was I still asleep? Why was I dreaming about the two of them then? That would be weird.

"No-no, you're ho... I mean, uh... You're not ho... Well, not-not... Um..." Corey chuckled again as Jayden stumbled over his mumbled words nervously and I smiled at how he sounded.

"Sleep... It won't be like this later." I heard a soft kiss and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets as they shot wide open.

"Then why even bother?" I heard Jayden whisper.

"I don't know... Just for the moment I guess... Just for the feeling... Just pretend right now..." Corey drifted.

"I don't want to pretend..." They were quiet for a few seconds before I heard a soft, defeated sigh, "Fine." Jayden's mumble was followed by some shifting before his voice broke the silence again, "Corey?"

"Mmm?" Corey was already drifting off.

"If you were gay... Or bi... Would you... Would you have accepted me?" Jayden asked softly.

"No." The reply made me hold my breath. If it felt bad for me to hear that, I did not want to know what Jayden felt at that moment. He didn't say anything, and instead, Corey's sleep-hazed voice sounded again, "No more talking. Teddy bears shouldn't talk."

"You-you remember that?" Jayden whispered.

"I was drunk, not hypnotised." Corey mumbled, "Jayden sleeeeep." He dragged out the word.

I smiled hearing Jayden chuckle before they went silent again. To make sure they would not notice my overhearing them, I did not move for a while before sitting up but then chuckled seeing Jayden's face hidden in the crook of Corey's neck, Corey's chin on top of his head.

I might have been spending a little too much time with the girls because I grabbed my phone from the accent table as I got up and silently snapped a picture of them. Corey was going to kill me, the girls were going to love me. Or maybe Corey wouldn't kill me? He seemed pretty cosy with Jayden at that moment. I smirked. I wasn't going to let him live it down.

-----

*Corey*

"Water?" Hayley held out the bottle to me.

"No, thank you. Jay?" I asked.

I heard Trent chuckle and looked at him confused because nothing amusing had happened so the laugh seemed to come out of nowhere. He just smirked at me and once again I was left confused. What the hell was going on in his head? He had had that dumb smirk on his face since we had woken up, all the way through breakfast and it had not left his face for a second as he looked at me.

"No, thank you." Jayden mumbled not glancing at me.

I understood why. I was being a jerk again. During breakfast I had received a call from Ariana, of course I was happy to hear from her and we flirted a little. I had made it clear to Jayden that what happened while everyone was asleep was just for the moment, hadn't I?

Though, watching him make his way through the trees while not once looking back at me, all I wanted was to be back where we were earlier that morning. I sighed shutting my eyes while inhaling a breath of fresh air. No. A few more hours. A day at the most and it would be fixed. I would never think about him again. We would all just forget everything that had happened in the past few days... I hoped. Yet, deep inside I knew it would be impossible. Even after the witch would have done what we were going to ask, I knew I would always feel weird around him...

"I can't hear..." Sean suddenly stopped walking.

"Can't hear what?" Hayley asked.

"Everything. I can't..." He sighed rubbing his ears.

"I-I can't hear anything either. We should still be able to hear cars, we're not that far into the forest." Kaden's voice was a little panicked as he looked around.

Focusing on the sounds around us, I realised that I couldn't hear cars either. Or the treetops as the wind blew through them, the birds high above the trees, or bugs on the leaves that we, as werewolves, would normally have had no trouble hearing. I couldn't smell as well either.

"What's going on?" Izabella asked.

"The forest," I pointed my hand at a branch on the ground and mumbled a short spell that was supposed to set it alight but nothing happened and I sighed looking at my hand, "The forest immobilises any of our power, werewolf and witch. Remember what Marc said? We're completely human out here. I'm guessing we won't be able to shift either."

"Alright, everyone calm down," Sean said. We were in a forest we had never been in before and we couldn't shift. Of course we were all going to freak out. "We have these, right? We'll just have to use them carefully if it comes down to that." Sean said pulling a gun from his waist belt, "Hopefully it doesn't."

Collectively, we had three guns. Sean, Trent and I each held onto one. We might have stolen them from a police station, but we would return it later... So we kind of borrowed it? Without asking, of course. We had had no intention of really using them, it was just a precaution.

"I don't like this place." Izabella mumbled.

"Me neither." Sean took her hand, "We have to keep moving. Hopefully we find her before dark."

"And if we don't? We sleep outside or keep walking?" Jayden asked.

"Neither. We'll have to find a cave and hope that it's empty." Kaden said. "Let's get moving." He said.

We agreed and kept going.

-----

*Izabella*

We had literally been walking for hours and for the first time in our lives we were all completely exhausted and our legs hurt. We had walked through some thorns and Sean, Corey and Kaden were the only ones that had healed slightly fast. Trent took a little longer while Jayden, Hayley and I were still healing. Even with the power boost I had given him, Jayden's wounds seemed to be taking the longest to show any healing progress, but he seemed to be doing alright.

Sean and I were trailing behind everyone else, guarding the group from the back as Corey led the front. Hearing a soft rustle made me turn to look behind us but I froze catching sight of eyes through the trees before they disappeared. My breath caught in my throat as my gaze stuck to where the eyes had been. They weren't those of an animal and I recognised them.

"Izzy, why are you stopping?" Sean tugged my arm gently.

"There-there's someone in the trees." I let his hand go and attempted to walk towards the trees but he grabbed my hand again.

"Stay still, I'll deal with it." His hand automatically moved towards his gun.

"No," I mumbled pushing his hand away from the gun.

"Izabella, we can't shift. Don't go running into the forest." Hayley said.

"But I –" I froze when my eyes met the other pair again. I undoubtedly recognised them.

"What is it?" Sean asked softly.

"Adan..." I whispered.

*****