Page 4 of Spirit Island

Serin laughedand left the palace with her friend and her son safe. She neededthem to be safe.

Serin walkedalong and let the greenery reach out to touch her. She didn’t wantto freak out Jane or distract Terro. The little guy was clever andwould probably mimic what he saw.

She could feelevery tree and every leaf around her home, and when she searchedfor Ulo, she found him in the garden.

“Ulo, what areyou doing here?” Serin walked into the light and stared at hisbroad back.

He turnedtoward her, and his eyes were green, solid green. “I have missedyou.”

“I don’t knowyou.”

“You may callme Alar. I am your other half.”

“Why are youwearing an Ulo suit?”

He touched historso. “You once found the body pleasing, so I put myself into it.You don’t find him attractive?”

“Uh, hisactions destroyed the new life inside me. I do not find himattractive.”

A vine wrappedaround her wrist, and he straightened and nodded. “Right. I willfind one that you want to mate with. Just a moment.”

Ulo collapsedand was completely motionless.

She could seehim breathing shallowly and went to get a cup of water. She threwthe water into his face and said, “Get up.”

“What did youdo to me?” He groaned and rubbed his head.

“Nothing.Absolutely nothing. A forest elemental took you over because I usedto find you attractive. He is out getting another body for me rightnow so that I don’t have flashes of anger and disgust when I lookat him.”

Ulo sat up.“Serin, was what I did so bad?”

“You betrayedme, and in withdrawing from our link, you killed our child. Yes,what you did was bad. I was set to be the life of the island, andyou killed it. There have been no children born here in the lastfive years. That is all on you.” She looked at him. “You sterilizedthe Wonder Islands.”

Ulo shook hishead. “No. I heard you had a child with you.”

“My friendJane? She lives in the city. Her son has a father. And if you takeone step toward her son, she will destroy you. She’s a veryprotective mother.”

He blinked.“So, you aren’t lying. We had a child?”

“Yes. I was notparticularly fond of the conception, but it had begun.”

“How did itdie?”

“The link died,and my body wasn’t able to pull enough energy to support theexponential growth, so it left. That is why you rarely see womenalone with an alpha’s baby. When it is us or them, our bodieschoose us. With a mate, I would have been able to pull energy fromyou, and our little one would be close to five by now.” Serinstared at him. “But you had to dive into my sister. You had tobetray me and betray our connection. It was not a great time in mylife.” She inhaled and felt the warm scents of the fruit andflowers that lined her garden. “But I am here to start over. Startnew. Find a mate.”

He stood up. “Ican be your mate.”

He reached forher, and what happened next was so fast, she blinked. Vines shotpast her on all sides. They wrapped around Ulo and squeezed.

Serin turnedand saw a familiar face. “Deno?”

He smiled, andhis eyes flickered green. “The spirit of the island asked me aquestion, and I said yes.”

Serin looked atthe stuntman who had attended any number of video shoots. “Why areyou even here?”

“Ford sentscouts for the next Alphas versus Betas. Someone put the bug in hisear that it should be held on the water.”

“So, where isthe green guy?”

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