she   knows   she’s   on   thin   ice  ;      she   always   is.      the   world   isn’t   equipped   to   handle   a   creature   like   her   and      a   wolf   without   a   pack   is   as   good   as   dead.      they   weren’t   meant   to   be   alone   and   echo   is   no   exception      –––      in   fact,   she   might   be   the      epitome.            “      i   know,      ”            she   confirms   quickly,            “      you’ve   got   people   to   protect.      ”            if   he   takes   her   in   and   she   turns   out   to   be   a   threat,   it   is   his   pack   that   will   suffer   for   his   mistake.            “      nothing   i      say      is   going   to   make   you   trust   me  ;      until   you   do,   my   word   means   nothing.      keep   me   at   a   distance   and      watch   me   prove   my   worth.      i’m   smart   and   resourceful   and   i   don’t   need   much.      i   work   hard   and   i’m   strong.      if   you   let   me   into   your   pack,   i   will   protect   it      with   my   life.      ”

she’s quick to reassure him,     but not lie.     he hated liars,      feeling their purpose waxed away after they were caught.     𝐨𝐡,    𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐜𝐞;     she knew it.      she knew how to manipulate the energy around her,      not making herself seem small but rather an ally.     he felt at ease from just a few words that parted through her soft lips.     𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵.     echo was confident and feeble,     a wolf through and through.     he respected that.      bellamy ran his tongue over his lips as he locked eyes with her.     ❛     i expect you to hold to that standard,     ecks.     𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢?    ❜

for the first time in a long time,   the blonde felt like she belonged somewhere.   she knew she had a place   —-   she couldn’t say that about her former pack as she was exiled and left to rot in the darkness all alone.    but his words are comforting,  and lips turn upwards slightly at his words.    she had a long way to go until she’d feel like she deserved any sort of kindness…   this was at the very least   —-   a start.      “  thank you.     for being so welcoming …  it means a lot.   “   she doesn’t know what else to say,   and though a light to those close,   she’s not quite sure how to relay her appreciation.   somehow she’d find a way and until then she’d be nothing but loyal.   selene doubts that it’ll be anything like her former pack.    “  i won’t let you down.   “    i promise.

her smile lit up the field.      it was a beacon of hope,     ensuring that he was doing the right thing.     𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲,      knowing how easily someone wanted to dive a knife in his back since his mother passed.     people were wary of new blood and in confession,     he was too.      but selene was different.     he felt like he could trust her from the moment they met.      𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗿,      𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿.       ❛     only make promises you can keep.       ❜     bellamy told her,      a brow quirking as warmth settled in his cheeks.     he chuckled.     ❛     𝘪’𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺.      we like to be a family here,     and for now,     you’re that family.       ❜

       𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦.

her blonde hair lit the forest in hay-colored strings.     he wondered if anyone had told her how her hair looked in the dark,     𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬.     then again,     he wasn’t sure what her former pack did.      all he knew was that she had a home there in new orleans.     ❛     you didn’t have to do this alone,      but you did.     for that,     i’m proud.    ❜ 

bellamy forced himself to look,     𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣.     did it really have to be her?     he watched the vampire, a glint of fury hidden behind his gaze as he tried to steady his breath.  ❛     𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦.    ❜     he began,      dark eyes rolling towards her silhouette.     he could smell the death that reeked from her feet away   --   𝐨𝐡,     𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.      ❛     what do you want?     if my memory suffices,     you don’t really take wolves as bait,     hm?    ❜

bellamy sighed as he ran a hand over his strained features.  ❛     𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵,     𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?     i need to trust you to let you in and i’m willing.     i don’t like to leave people in the cold,      but you need to tell me 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁.     ❜

her lips knead together at the thought   –   giving up on the only constant force in her life.     though,  she supposes if it is for better,  after all,  as it seems that her mother has never extended the same hand that hal has reached for her.     as she turns back to the wall,  hal runs a hand over her crown to brush hair away from her features,  the emotional turmoil that flips in her stomach.     she remembers when she was trapped inside of her cell in juvie for a week when the staff abandoned everyone,  her mother never coming for her to even see if hal would be alive.     a sigh bites at hal’s throat.

she turns back around to face bellamy,  this time smothering the gaping space that shares between them and lingering close to him.     mocha orbs find security within his own,  breathing in the warmth of him.       ‘    if i stop trying to find her,  then…      ‘     a hitch in her breath,  and she feels almost naked confessing her thoughts to him   –   never being one to open up.        ‘    …i’ll be alone.     all i had was my mom.     without her,  i have no one.     ‘

he tried to be the friend,     𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻.      he wanted to be that chosen family for someone even if he lost his own.     his hand traced over his jaw as he swept it over his features.     once his hand lifted from his jawline,    bellamy reached for hal.     he gripped her arm and hoped to god that she didn’t flinch.     no one was really used to touch anymore.     he reached down and pulled her in,     𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.    bellamy leaned forward,     his lips caressing hers in a gentle swoop.     her lips were soft,    𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.     he pressed a hand against her side,     slowly releasing his grip as they parted.    ❛     you aren’t alone.    𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦,     we all feel the same about the ones missing.      ❜

i need you.     it tears through everything inside of her,  and sends a shiver to dance along her spine.     she looks like a deer caught in the headlights as she listens to him,  the emotions that laden each words that he utters.     there’s no sounds of protests,  but instead a soft hum,  low enough to counteract the sudden silence that spills over her apartment walls after his bleeding concerns.     hal can’t help but swallow thickly at the brimming emotions that is caught within the cage of her throat.     each syllable of his words seeps into her skin and makes a home within her marrow,  echoing within her head.

she’s undeserving of bellamy being here,  standing in her living room,  and talking her down from the destructive mission she has set herself on.        ‘    i’m so close,      ‘     hal croaks out,  stepping past him and pointing to the spots on her wall,  strings looking as if they land nowhere,  and yet everywhere.     but it’s futile,  because hal knows he’s right.     she’s chasing a ghost   –   when she could be serving a better purpose.          ‘     am i supposed to just give up on my mother?     ‘      give up on the woman who seemingly has given up on her before the end of the world   –   give up on hope?     despite hal’s question,  there’s a part of her that knows   (  long ago,  she already gave up  ).

❛     it’s not giving up.     it’s self-preservation.     i would never tell you to give up.      ❜     the gravel in his tone was rough,      sliding against his vocal chords as her mocha eyes held his gaze.    𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿.

@killedwoes​  ,    continuation

she gnaws at the skin in her cheek as she sits on her couch,  facing the wall in front of her that litters with little clues and maps and evidence of where her mom must be.     it looks like a madman’s doing,  she knows,  but perhaps it’s the only thing that is keeping her sane at the end of the world.     a purpose   –   a sense of hope.     there’s sorrow that rests in the bags of her eyes,  in the hollows of her face,  in the crook of her neck.     some days,  hal wonders why she holds on as tight as she does   –    for a woman who never attended the trial of her daughter,  who took the fall for her murder.     a woman who never visited her in juvie.     for a ghost in the whispers of the end.

at his last utterance,  hal winces slightly with her eyelids fluttering close momentarily,  mocha orbs hiding behind lids.     teeth hisses against one another,  and she has to anchor herself as she lifts from the couch to face bellamy.        ‘    i’m being safe,  i promise,     ‘    she reassures,  but looks desperate   –   as if she’s scared he’s going to pull the plug on her.        ‘     when we go outside the walls,  we have more than enough to grab resources.    we don’t all have to stick together.     ‘      there’s a beat before a chuckle bites at her throat.       ‘    they don’t need me.     ‘

his back faced the madman’s fizzled connections,     red string lining the pin points of where her mother might have strayed.     he didn’t look at it in fear of swallowing his own guilt and losing traction.     𝗻𝗼,     𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺.    he couldn’t let his heart take over the conversation,     knowing it would lead him no where good.     her features were ragged,     torn at the thread as she tried to crumble together a response.     𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬.      was this what they were doing now     --     arguing over her safety like it didn’t matter?     irritation stroked his features,     parting the canvas of his strong composure.     concern,     anger,     envy     --     𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘭.

❛     𝐢 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮.      ❜      his words felt twisted on his tongue as he gave her a vague look of concern. this had to be different. he couldn’t help her hold onto the strings, but he could ease her along to something agreeable. 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥.     ❛     these people need you.      they rely on you to get supplies for them because they’re too weak to handle the world for what it is now.     𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆,     but you should act like you care a little more,      𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚.      hallie,     you’re running yourself dry.     how are you going to find anyone like this?      ❜