Page 74 of Wolf Bound

I shrug, not sure of the answer to that question myself. Maybe I'm more in tune with it? Who knows.

"This is a bigger responsibility than I thought it was going to be," Drayton groans playfully. "Are we ready?"

After my mates all agree, I voice my own consent and nod enthusiastically, my body buzzing with the energy. It is a huge responsibility. The magic of our people, the same ones we are getting ready for war, is in our hands. Or more accurately, our souls. This is why we're the beginning, though.

We are the only ones who can give our people what they need to fight against the tyranny of the humans and their god.

With this ceremony, we will truly be the beginning of the end for the ones that dared to oppress us and forced us into hiding.

"It's time to begin."

We take our places, me at the centre and each of my mates on a rune. My mates shift into their wolf forms and take the rune that matches the one on their forehead.

The words that need to be spoken are in front of me, but I no longer need them. They’re imprinted on my mind as if they’ve been there the whole time. I listen to the magic and do what it says, stripping out of my clothes and laying on my rune. My mates shift back, and follow my lead without question.

Once we’re all naked, I recite the words of the ceremony and submit to the whims of the magic.

Aperio tibi per animam magicam

Ego sum vas tuum

Tuus sum aquaeductus

Per me excitabis

Una sumus unum

Simul resurgemus

In deae nomine factum est

The ritual takes three hours to complete. Our bodies, minds, and souls stripped bare to the magic that infused itself with our human and animal sides, binding our souls into an intricate weave that explodes from within us and wraps around every shifter around this world.

It drains us, taking and taking and taking until we're lying on the ground, drenched in sweat and magic. I glance at my mates from where I'm laying, the glow of the runes covers their skin as they shift in and out of wolf form. My peryton made her own appearance a few times, switching in for me when I felt I couldn't take it anymore.

This was by far the hardest thing I've ever done, but as the magic settles and my body reabsorbs it, I feel alive.

Soul bound and exhausted, we’ve done it. Through us the magic of our people lives on. As Adessa’s champion, I have fulfilled my task and become the conduit to her people.

Now it’s time to find the second champion and pass on the torch to her. I think I know exactly how we’re going to do that.

I sit up, my body stiff and sore, and take my time getting dressed. I walk over to Drayton, my other mates groaning and following my path. We sit on the ground, unable to stand up for long.

It feels like hours that we sit here, the exhaustion of the ritual mixed with the overwhelming aura of the new magical sense isdisorienting. I can see all of them if I think about it. The glow and flicker of every shifter’s magic around me and around the world. It’s like a map in my head with glowing dots covering it.

It’ll make it easier to get everyone together, but that will also be a bit in the future. At least the next champion seems to be easy to pinpoint.

“Do you feel her?” I ask softly. “The second champion.”

My men are silent for a moment, then Alaric speaks up from my side. “I feel all of them. Every fucking shifter alive. But yes, I can feel her in particular.”

“She’s fucking bright, similar to you,” Forrester grumbles with a cough. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find her.”

Drayton sighs and pulls me onto his lap. “I need to call Bastien, the leader of the panther pack that couldn’t make it. She’s pretty much in their backyard.”

“How can you tell?” I ask, not able to differentiate the other shifters besides her.

“The gift I had before the ritual seems to be amplified and if I focus enough,” Drayton explains and rubs his forehead. “If I focus on one of the glowing people, I can pull out what drives them and it gives me an idea of who it is. Based on the area and what I know about Bastien, she’s near him.”

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