Page 47 of A Forest Witch

My stomach dropped when she did. I did not like this at all. Surprises weren’t my thing and with Autumn I certainly didn’t like anything happening that was out of the ordinary because she had already been through so much and I was likely going to be over protective of her for a very long time to come.

I didn’t want her taking any risks or putting herself in any situations where things could go sideways.

“What’s going on here?” Gunner demanded to know.

Liam shook his head. He had no idea either.

Raven’s mouth was tight but he didn’t say anything. He knew something the rest of us didn't. It made me relax slightly because Raven would never allow any harm to come to her, but I still didn’t like being kept in the dark.

Mason grumbled something under his breath irately and I knew that Raven was going to catch shit from at least him when we were all alone again. The men wouldn’t ever call our leader out in front of anyone outside of our coven members. We wouldn’t embarrass him like that and we would always put on a united front.

Ariel placed her hand on Autumn’s shoulder and I was not surprised to see Romero step up on Autumn’s other side and see him place his hand on her other shoulder as well.

We were witnessing history in the making as the new Council Ariel was building for the witches come together for the first time.

They were lending her their support and their magic if she needed it.

It was heartwarming to witness because I knew she’d never had that kind of support before. It also scared the absolute shit out of me because I knew most of my coven had started falling for her and it would be a devastating blow to all of us if this meant she’d no longer be staying with us as a result.

This girl was either going to be the best thing to happen to our coven or the thing that tore us apart.

I hoped she didn’t completely destroy us.

I didn’t think we'd be able to make it through another female witch bringing us down to our knees, but at least this one wouldn’t be doing it on purpose and was a good person and would not be doing it intentionally. Not that it would really matter in the end if it ended badly.

The ground beneath our feet started to shake before there was a great cracking sound. The ground split where Autumn’s hands were pressed into it and ripped open in front of her in a long line.

Vines and plants of all kinds started coming up out of the tear in the earth.

We all watched in quiet awe as plants and greenery of all kinds spread out all across the earth and the vines climbed their way up the trees.

Beautiful flowers exploded all over the place and it looked like we’d been transported into a scene from a movie and I almost half expected the birds and other small forest animals to start dancing around Autumn while she busted out into some happy song and dance.

It was surreal but the entire forest changed in almost the blink of an eye.

Autumn sat back and she stared around her with wide eyes and almost as if she was shocked to see what she had done.

She stood up shakily and looked around her in wonder as tears streamed down her cheeks.

It was incredible and she’d completely wiped away any and everything that had been left behind by the people who’d inhabited these woods for so many years.

I was very proud of her, without a doubt. She’d turned the place of her nightmares into a place of beauty.

I didn’t know how anyone else felt about it but it didn’t make me want to be here anymore.

Mason leaned ito me and whispered, “It’s still creepy as fuck though. Ya know? I don’t ever want to come back and I really hope she doesn’t want to either because fuck.”

I nodded in agreement. My brother took the words right out of my mouth.

“It’s beautiful, yes,” Liam whispered as he leaned into our huddle. “There’s no denying that. Autumn’s capable of doing anything when it comes to her magic, obviously. Just look around you. The bad juju is all gone but this place still gives me bad vibes. Bad memories, bad vibes, it’s just all bad.”

“Shut the fuck up, all of you.” Raven growled. “I don’t want her to hear you talking any of that shit.”

I grinned at him. Raven was so gone for the girl it wasn’t even funny.

“I’m ready to go home now,” Autumn chirped happily as she skipped over to us.

Home. She’d said home.

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