Page 199 of Gift from the Wing

“I cannot stay long, unfortunately, but I need a word, if you don’t mind.”

They all grow somber and I hate that I have that effect on people. I’m like the deliverer of bad news. Many don’t get excited and stay excited to see me.

“Of course,” she says, smiling at me tightly.

Each of her men gives her a kiss and wave me goodbye, but before they can walk back inside, I call out, “Congratulations, by the way, guys.”

I smirk and wink at their confused stares. They don’t push, knowing the rules, but they’ll find out soon enough.

“What do you have there?” Iris asks as she guides me over to a bench she has built beneath her trees.

“I love what you’ve done with this place,” I say rather than answering, just to annoy her.

She groans, rolling her eyes. “You love dragging out my suspense. As much as I love your company, what little of it I receive, I know you’re here to share something with me. Get on with it.”

My toothy smile fades to nothing more than a pinched grin as I look at her with sincerity in my gaze. “Please do not be mad at me.”

Her playful features melt away, and I bite my tongue as her saddening eyes remind me so much of the girl’s.

“I won’t be. I understand you’re the messenger, CC. I won’t hold you to fault for anything.”

“Thank you…Tell me, what is it you’ve wished for the most in this life, Iris?”

Her face shudders, but she doesn’t shy away or hide the hurt on her face. “To be a mother. To have and be able to raise a child with my loving Nexus. I know I will be a mother, but my dragonfly won’t have me.”

I close my eyes tightly at the nickname.

The girl will most certainly fly.

“Why is it you ask, CC?”

Clearing my throat, I pass over the gift I brought her. “Here.” She looks down at it warily, then back at me with a raised brow. “It’s not going to bite. Just open in.”

She grins and then does as I asked, chuckling as she takes in the stained-glass picture. “Oh my. This is her form, isn’t it?” she says quietly, running her finger across the girl’s dragon form. She doesn’t like to speak much about her, so I’ve never truly been able to grasp her true feelings, but she’s far from a jaded person, so all I can make are assumptions. “You got Sedric’s coloring a little off, though. He’s going to ask why you made him so dark.”

“Is the color of your woven bonds not a sleek black?”

“How did you…Yeah, it is,” she answers rather than finishing her question.

“Your wolf is silver as is your thread. Sedric’s wolf and bond are midnight blue. Kelso, with his ability to speak to animals, I assume gives off a dark green. Allton and his metal manipulation is more than likely a reddish, maybe burgundy color, something darker, and Esben’s extraordinary healing I can see as yellow. Mix them all together, you get the largest and strongest, sleek black wolf.”

“I don’t…I don’t understand the message you’re trying to give me,” she says quietly, looking down once again at the picture and then at me.

“Those are your children. Both of them.”

Her face startles as she stares at me in disbelief, but I hold her gaze and show the seriousness of my words through my eyes as I watch hers begin to well.

“Oh, Elementra…” She gasps, laying her fingers to her lips. “When?”

“Now. Your scent will begin to change within the week.”

“Fuck,” she cries as tears begin to stream down her face. “How could this happen?”

“Well—”

“I don’t need a literal answer,” she snaps, and I shut my mouth. “I mean, how could Elementra do this when we already know what is to happen? I already know my role as well as Willow’s. How could she allow me to bring another child into this realm, knowing I will have to abandon them?”

“Because you have begged for the girl not to be alone as well as your want to experience motherhood. She is answering your prayers. The wolf has a story of his own. One you will know soon enough,” I say as tenderly as I can.

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