Page 24 of Spirit Island

She got thegear off the webbing between the pontoons and made herself a safelittle tent where she curled up to hide against the howlingwind.

Belle kept hergaze away from the water. She knew he was in there, waiting. Thewail of the wind shot through the strait, and she covered her ears.MRIs, PET scans, CT scans, and everything she had lived with forthe last few years began to thud in her head. This was going to bea long three hours.

When the worldgot quiet again, she crawled out of her safe spot and leanedagainst the stone nearby, puking up her non-existent breakfast. Shestaggered to the edge of the water and sat down with her head inher hands. “Xo, you can come out now.”

The waterthrashed, and Xo’s huge head rose from the water to rest his jawnear her. She didn’t lift her head. She was very dizzy.

“Are you ill?”He reshaped into a naked male.

“Just dizzy.The sound of the storm reminded me of my last few years. It wasquite the flashback for the last three hours.”

“You lookpale.”

“That isprobably because I am. Congratulations on your observation.”

She felt himtouch her head, and when he tilted her head back, she smacked him.The shock on his face at the impact was something she wouldtreasure.

“I merelywanted to check your appearance.”

“My appearanceis not your concern. Right? You made it clear. My agenda has beensatisfied, and you can go and guard your strait again. Or take asoak.” Dots were sparking behind her eyes, but she had let herdefenses down around him once, and she wasn’t going to be thatvulnerable twice.

“Did you bringfood? I will help you prepare it.”

“Notnecessary.” She lifted her head, and the small motion tipped her tothe side, and she thudded heavily to the sand. “I just need to waita bit and then head back to port. I will try and be as minimallyinvasive as I can.”

“You don’t lookwell.”

She waved herhand slowly. “It doesn’t matter. I will just get back to port andhead to bed.” The world was spinning around her.

Xo sighed andleaned forward to pick her up. “You will get food and rest, andthen, we will discuss things.”

“I am supposedto be in town by tomorrow morning with the boat.”

“You will be,but before that, we will talk. You have your phone?”

She looked atthe plastic pack around her neck. “Yes.”

He stood andwalked back to the water. They moved rapidly on the surface, andshe didn’t know how because he wasn’t walking, but soon, he climbedthe path to his house, and she couldn’t hold herself togetheranymore. She passed out.

Belle woke upcovered with a light blanket on a mat. She went to sit up and thenthudded back onto the raised pillow.

The door slidopen, and Xo walked in with one of his staff. Xo had fabric overone arm, the staff member brought in a tray of food, and the olderman nodded with a smile. He left them alone, and Xo looked at her.“How often have you taken your larger form?”

“Uh, just theonce.”

He nodded. “Youdidn’t compensate for the calorie expenditure of the shift. Youdidn’t even keep any of the fish for extra protein. So, you began acascading deficit that your standard meals could not keep up with.It happens to shifting alphas who take on larger beasts. You havethe largest that I have seen, so it is sensible that you need areplacement for what you have used. Add to that your recentlyweakened state, and you are running on empty.”

She nodded.“That is what it feels like.”

He set thefabric down and came around to pick her up, settling her on hislap, and he smiled. “This was done for me after my first shift. Ofcourse, I wasn’t the right size to be held in the lap of myinstructor, which was fortunate because he was unpleasant-looking.I have been assured that I am easy on the eyes.”

“You arepretty.” She watched as he picked up the first cup.

“Thank you.” Hesmiled and held the cup to her lips.

Miso soup wasthe first thing in then consumed, and it took an hour to get thecomplete first tray into her. The staff member brought a tray ofmore substantial food, and Xo carefully got the offerings intoher.

She waited tofeel full, but it didn’t happen. The third tray was brought in, andit was made entirely of desserts. Belle held the cover and wiggledupward.

---