The phone in Nikolai's hand buzzed with an incoming message. It was Scott.
'Dude. That was insane last night. Like... really real? Floating boxes? Witches? What is even happening?'
Nikolai felt a quiet satisfaction. Scott was reeling, confused, but believing. This was good. It solidified their position.
He replied, keeping his tone calm and reassuring. 'Yeah, it's real. It's part of what I was trying to tell you. Beacon Hills isn't just a normal town. There are things... currents... below the surface. And what happened to you connected you to them.'
'Currents?? Magic?? Am I gonna start casting spells?'
Nikolai smiled faintly. 'Different kind of connection for you, Scott. Yours is more... raw. Primal. But we can talk. Maybe come over after school again? Mum can explain more.'
'YES. PLEASE. Everything is freaking me out.'
'Conflict 1: Scott's confusion. Status: Addressed. Conflict 2: Peter/Kanima threat. Status: Ongoing/Escalating. Conflict 3: My desire to act. Status: Growing,' Nikolai ran through his mental checklist.
He felt the low, steady hum of Beacon Hills, overlaid with the familiar chaotic pulse of Scott's energy across town. And beneath it, the intermittent, unsettling skittering of the Kanima tremor, and the cold, patient presence of Peter Hale.
School was another exercise in heightened sensing. He could feel the different energetic signatures clearer today – the youthful exuberance, the teenage angst, the low-level stress of exams. He felt the Kanima tremor spike briefly in the distance during chemistry class – a sudden, sharp jolt of cold energy. 'What was that? Did Jackson just… do something?'
He saw Jackson in the hallway, radiating his usual arrogance, but Nikolai could now feel the thin, unnatural layer of Kanima energy beneath it, like a cold veneer over brittle glass. Jackson caught his eye, a faint, almost imperceptible flicker of something unsettling in his gaze before he smirked and looked away.
He also saw Lydia. He focused his sensing on her again. The deep, mournful resonance was still there, a powerful, contained energy. It felt like a constant, low-level psychic noise she was suppressing. 'Banshee? Or something else? Her energy feels tied to emotion, to sound, almost. Different from a warlock, different from a wolf, different from a Kanima.' She remained an intriguing, potentially powerful piece he couldn't quite place yet. He needed to learn more about her.
Sitting in history class, listening to the teacher drone about local history, Nikolai felt a surge of impatience. He was sitting here, passively learning about things that were already happening outside these walls. He had knowledge. He had budding power. He could sense the threats. Why was he just sitting here, waiting for things to happen tothem?
'I know Peter is trying to manipulate Scott. I know Jackson is the Kanima, potentially controlled by someone else. I know where they might be, what they might do, because I've seen it happen,' the thought burned in his mind. 'Sensing and shielding is essential, yes. Building trust with Scott is crucial. But shouldn't I be doing more? Shouldn't I be using this knowledge to get ahead? To intervene?'
The desire to act, to do something, was a growing ache in his chest. He wasn't a bystander anymore. He was a Warlock in a town of monsters. He had the means to influence, to investigate, to potentially even counter these threats. Sitting back and observing felt increasingly wrong, increasingly dangerous. He didn't want to just react to the chaos; he wanted to shape it. To steer the ship before it crashed.
After school, Scott arrived at the house, looking a little less panicked than before, but still visibly anxious. Eleanor greeted him warmly, the wards of the house wrapping around them, creating a bubble of calm.
They sat in the living room again. Scott was full of questions. "The box... how did you do that? Is that what you mean by interacting with energy? Can I do that?"
Eleanor smiled gently. "The ability to manipulate energy directly, like moving objects or influencing natural processes, is tied to a specific lineage, Scott. Our lineage. It's a different connection than the one you have."
"My connection is to... the wild energy?" Scott asked, frowning.
"Precisely," Nikolai chimed in. "It's primal. Tied to transformation, to physical power, to instincts. It's a different kind of strength, Scott. Not better or worse. Just different. But you need to understand that strength, learn to control that energy, before anything else."
"How?" Scott asked, looking lost.
"By learning to feel it," Eleanor said. "To sense its flow within you, and around you. Like Nikolai is learning to sense the different currents of Beacon Hills, you need to learn to sense the current within yourself. And understand how the world affects it."
They moved to the training room. Eleanor had a simple exercise planned. She had a small bowl of water on a table. "Scott," she said, "focus on the water. Use your heightened senses. What do you feel? Smell? Hear, perhaps, the subtle movement of the molecules?"
Scott closed his eyes, breathing deeply. His brow furrowed in concentration. Nikolai watched, sensing Scott's energy – chaotic, searching. He focused his own sensing, trying to feel what Scott was feeling, trying to find resonance with the werewolf energy, however faint.
"It's... cold," Scott murmured. "And it moves... like it has a pattern. I can smell it. And... hear something? Like a tiny buzzing?"
Eleanor nodded. "Good. Now, try to feel your own energy, the energy of the bite, deep inside you. Feel how it resonates with the water, with the room, with the air."
Scott struggled. His energy spiked with frustration. "I can't! It's just... chaos. It feels like I'm going to explode sometimes."
Nikolai stepped forward. "Okay, don't try to control it yet, Scott. Just... sense it. And maybe I can help you feel the edges of it." He held out his hand, not touching Scott, but positioning it a few inches from his arm. He focused his sensing, reaching for Scott's chaotic wolf energy. He felt the overwhelming power, the struggle. He then subtly focused a tiny amount of his own, controlled energy, pushing it gently against the edge of Scott's. Not fighting it, but defining its boundary, making it easier for Scott to perceive where the wildness began and ended.
"Okay," Nikolai said, his voice low. "Now, focus on my hand. Feel the edge of my energy against yours. Feel where yours begins. That's the boundary. Try to feel it from the inside."
Scott closed his eyes again, breathing hard. He flinched slightly, then his expression smoothed out in concentration. Nikolai felt the chaotic energy within Scott shift slightly, focusing inwards.
"I... I feel it," Scott whispered. "There's... a line. Where your energy is. And mine is... inside it. Like a storm... in a box."
'Success,' Nikolai felt a surge of accomplishment. He was using his Warlock abilities to directly help Scott understand his werewolf nature. This was collaboration. This was building the pack, not just observing.
Eleanor watched them, a look of deep concentration on her face. "Excellent, Nikolai. You are using your ability to feel and influence energy to give him a reference point. And excellent, Scott. You are beginning to sense the structure, even within the chaos."
They continued the exercise, Nikolai helping Scott define the 'edges' of his wolf energy. Scott was exhausted by the end, but looked less panicked, more hopeful. He had felt something, understood something, that he hadn't before.
After Scott left, promising to practice focusing on sounds and smells at home, Nikolai sat with Eleanor. The house felt calmer, the hum steady.
"He's learning," Nikolai said, leaning back. "He can sense it now. The boundary of his own power. It's a start."
"A significant start," Eleanor agreed. "Helping a bitten learn control using our abilities... it's something few witches attempt. It requires sensitivity, and trust."
"It's not enough, though, Mum," Nikolai said, the earlier frustration bubbling to the surface. "We're helping him react. We're teaching him to filter the noise, to understand the chaos within him. But what about the chaos outside?"
He stood up, pacing slightly. "I can feel Peter, watching. I can feel that Kanima energy... slithering around. Maybe doing things we don't even know about yet. I know what they're capable of. I know what's coming. Sitting here, just sensing and shielding... it feels like waiting for the storm to hit, knowing exactly when and where it will land, but just putting up a small umbrella."
He turned to face Eleanor, his gaze intense. "I know things, Mum. Things about these threats, about this town. Things no one else here does. Knowing isn't enough if I can't use it. I don't want to just prepare for the hits. I want to dodge them. To disrupt their plans. To intervene."
Eleanor watched him, her expression unreadable for a moment. She saw the burning ambition in his eyes, the strategic mind combined with a growing sense of protectiveness towards Scott, a dawning realization of his own potential.
"Intervention, Nikolai," she said softly, "is dangerous. It attracts attention. It disrupts the natural flow of events, with unpredictable consequences."
"But the 'natural flow'," Nikolai countered, a touch of heat in his voice, "involves people getting hurt. Getting killed. Becoming pawns. I know the potential consequences of inaction. Isn't using our knowledge, using our abilities, to prevent that chaos worth the risk?"
He felt the hum of his own power, still volatile, still not fully controlled, but strong tonight, resonating with his conviction. He wasn't just a kid who had transmigrated into a TV show anymore. He was Nikolai Ashworth, Warlock, with a burning desire to use his unique position to shape the unfolding events.
Eleanor stood up and walked towards him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her touch grounding. "Your desire is understandable, darling. And perhaps... necessary. Your father chose avoidance. I chose preparation. Maybe you are meant to choose... action."
She looked at him, a glimmer of pride in her eyes, mixed with caution. "But action without control is reckless. Your potential is great, Nikolai, but it is still wild. You felt it last night under the moon. You cannot fight an Alpha, or a Kanima Master, if you cannot fully command your own power."
"So teach me," Nikolai urged. "Teach me how to command it. Fast. Because I don't think we have much time before that tremor, or that shadow, decides to make their next move."
Eleanor nodded slowly, a determined look settling on her face. "Alright, Nikolai. We will accelerate your training. We will delve deeper into the Grimoire. Learn not just sensing and shielding, but focusing energy outwards. Interacting with the world, not just observing it. It will be difficult. It will be draining. And it will be dangerous. Because drawing on more power makes you... brighter on the energetic plane. More visible."
'Conflict: Becoming more visible to threats like Peter and the Kanima Master. Status: Imminent risk accepted.'
"I understand the risks," Nikolai said, meeting her gaze. "But I don't want to stand by and watch. I didn't come here to be a spectator. I came here to build something. And you can't build a pack in the shadows forever."
Eleanor smiled, a thin, resolute smile that showed the strength beneath her calm exterior. "No, darling. You can't." She squeezed his shoulders. "Very well. The Grimoire awaits. Let's see what you can truly do."
His desire to intervene wasn't just a fleeting thought anymore. It was a decision. Fuelled by knowledge, potential, and a growing sense of responsibility. Beacon Hills was a stage set for chaos, and Nikolai Ashworth, Warlock, was stepping into the spotlight, ready to play his part.