Page 31 of Empowering the Wolf's Heart

“Nope. I’m staying. You may leave if you’d like.”

“Stubborn she-wolves. Just listen for once in your life. Do you even know what is emerging?”

“Don’t know, don’t need to know.”

“DoesRedtraining not cover nymphs? By the dragon’s teeth, are you that ready to die?” he snarled, but thankfully stopped tugging on my arm. Only when I glanced over did I see it was so he could freely draw two blades.

I rolled my eyes and sat a hand on his forearm. He stood above me as if he were some avenging angel sent to protect me. His muscles—hard as chords of steal—clenched beneath my hand.

“I know what I’m doing. Put those away.”

He stared, his eyes flickering with thoughts too quick for me to catch. Then, to my surprise, he listened. “Do not get us both killed, Little Red,” he said, putting the blades away.

“Don’t plan on it,” I muttered.

“Who comes to my shore?” The voice echoed through the chamber, threaded through my soul, and made my entire being realize what I’d known in my existence was but a rock upon the shore of life’s ocean.

“I’m Alia. This is Shen, and the little one is Fenbutt.”

Shen startled. “Fen—what did you just call the pup?”

“It’s a good name,” I replied, crossing my arms.

Shen sputtered for a moment.

Did you just break the werewolf?Ran asked.

“It means?—”

I cut him off. “Doesn’t it fit?”

Shen stared at me, his mouth ajar and eyebrow twitching. “You are impossible.”

“Takes one to know one,” I said.

Fenbutt pranced up to me with a doggie smile and his tail slapping against his flanks. I reached down and scratched his head. He licked my fingers and then curled up beside Shen’s foot and promptly fell asleep.

A chuckle came from the waters. “Not the usual wish-seekers, you are not. Why have you come seeking me?”

“We’re not here for anything from you, but for you,” I said, gently putting my hand in the waters. “Please, show yourself.”

Shen drew in a sharp breath as a being emerged from the waters. Her hair came first, parting the waters which streamed around her in a mini waterfall. Her hair was the same turquoise as the water, and unlike the nymph children, her hair laid like a normal human. That’s where the similarities ended.

Her forehead was swirled with golden letters in a language I couldn’t discern. Her skin was a soft amber, and her face was angular and striking. I would fear her, had I not been able to feel herneed. Her eyes popped open, and they were topaz. No whites, just like the children, but they had a black pupil.

I bowed my head. “Hello,” I whispered.

Aneedpulsed from her child… She needed to know. And I had a choice to tell. For now, though…

“What do you wish to give me?” Her lilting voice was heightened with puzzlement.

“You were not responsible.”

She jerked back as if stung. “What do you know of this?” Her pupils dilated until there was only a thin ring of blue aroundthem. Her hair lifted. Tiny heads on the ends moved as if with minds of their own.

The water swirled about my feet as I walked out into the placid lake. “I have a Gift and a Curse,” I said. “I can feel your pain, dear one. But it is not yours to bear. The pain you carry is holding you back from the ones who love you in the here and now.”

Her eyes slowly became blue once more, widening more than I thought possible. She was before me in the blink of an eye, her hair moving, almost as if studying my face. I saw the little ends had eyes and slender bodies; they looked like mini electric eels. Then a buzz sparked between two heads and I leaned forward, frankly enchanted by whatever those things were.

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