Page 49 of Own To Obsess

Kardos grinned against her lips and then pulled back, but kept his hand on her the inside of her thigh. “The family spent time on all of the islands, then decided to settle on the central one because of its beauty. They built a home and were happy for a while, but then a blizzard hit.”

“The high chief mentioned blizzards,” Shaya said thoughtfully. “It seems they are really bad.”

“They are,” Kardos confirmed. “The blizzards are rated from level five to level ten, and anything between eight and ten is extremely dangerous.”

“What are they like?” Shaya asked, curious. “Like rainstorms but with snow?”

Kardos shook his head. “They’re like nothing you would have experienced in any other Land,” he explained, his voice low. “It’s like a snowstorm, where snow and wind are rampant and wild, but the amount of snow that falls is more than double. It's as though the air is filled completely with snow and it makes it difficult to see or move at any speed. On top of that, spiraling tunnels of wind form all over the Isles and destroy everything in their path. Within them are jagged white bolts of fire, so anything alive nearby dies instantly. And the tunnels can pull in objects from over a hundred feet away, so it's not safe for anybody.”

Shaya was silent. That did sound horrendous.

“When the blizzard appeared, the family didn't know what to expect. They tried their best to protect against it, but their child died.”

Shaya jolted. “There was a child?”

“Yes. It was a family of three.”

“But I didn't know that one of them was a child!” she exclaimed.

“Does it make a difference?” Kardos asked. “They were family, a unit; they learned things together and spent all their time together.”

“But maybe they should have settled somewhere else if they had children?” Shaya suggested. “Maybe it would have been safer for the child?”

Kardos shook his head. “That is not the way of life they respect. They believe that family should be together and experience everything together, the good and the bad. The child was born while they were traveling, and their child gifted them with even more experiences—they never regretted having her.”

“It was a girl?” Shaya asked, a deep sadness creeping into her chest.

Kardos nodded. “They managed to find her body and bury her, although usually in blizzards, many are not found.”

“What happened then, how come they stayed here?” Shaya asked, almost wishing not to know, but she had to.

“After they grieved,” Kardos said, “they studied the weather and ways to survive it, not only for themselves, but for the other people who lived here. They made great improvements with the help the skills they learned from their travels. But of course they never got their daughter back.”

“That is so sad,” Shaya murmured.

“Perhaps,” Kardos said. “But without the death of their child, they would never have influenced the Southern Isles like they have, and through their knowledge generations of Southern Islanders have survived the conditions here.”

“Generations?” Shaya asked, confused. “How could they inspire generations?”

“The man of the couple was an Alpha called Azethos, the woman was an Omega Shraila. They are Az Eshra.”

Shaya took a sharp inhale in. “Az Eshra?” She struggled to find something else to say. “But I thought, I thought…”

“You thought they were spirits? Gods?”

Shaya lifted her shoulders. “Treska didn't have any word for them in the Common Tongue, but she said they were everywhere.”

“Indeed,” Kardos said. “They are everywhere because we honor them everywhere. We honor the loss of their Omega daughter and how much strength they had to remain here. To uncover the secrets of the Isle to make it safer for the people that lived here at the time.” He locked his gaze with hers. “We feel them in everything we do and every time we take a breath, or harvest, or survive another storm. Just like your sister is anywhere that you choose to honor her, not just with your hair. But with everything you are; your strength and your ability to adapt and survive.

Heat blazed through Shaya at the sudden change of topic. For a moment she didn’t know what to say, and then her brain caught up. “I don’t have any of those things.”

“No?” Kardos said, an eyebrow quirking up. “You do not think it is a mark of strength for someone to agree to travel to the unknown, with an unknown people to spare someone they love? You think that just because you suffered punishments that your achievements were not recognized? You think that just because you are here when you didn't plan to be, that it means you don't belong here?”

Shaya opened her mouth to respond, but couldn't find the words.

“You may not think that you have those qualities, but I assure you, you do. It is how I know you would make an excellent chieftess.”

Shaya breathed heavily, unable to believe that it was Kardos saying these things to her. She lifted her eyes to his. “But you were angry when I bit you. Not just in the bond, but you destroyed your bedroom.”

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