Page 96 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Father's shoulders slumped. "I forget you have that empath ability. Do you think they would be mates?" I nodded my head in certainty.

"I really do. It isn't infatuation. The souls call to each other." I gasped. Could I really see if people could be matched or mated without them knowing?I felt a tightening in my chest as I scratched it with an extended claw. "Grah!" I yelled out while I fell to my knees. The pain radiated from my chest through the limbs of my arms. My breathing became rapid growls as I involuntary began to scratch the ground.

"It's happening!" I heard my father yell while pack members surrounded me in the foyer.

"Hades!" I half screamed with a painful growl.

The noises around me began to fade as I felt myself being lifted from the cold marble. The cool fall air felt comforting as someone ran me through the central courtyard of the neighborhood of homes. Howls left my mouth as I felt my bones break. The back was the worst; I felt the vertebrae move into different places as the heat extended to my legs.

"We got this," Elea howled as I felt my body was set in a large pile of leaves. Faces of my family had come to hover around me. Clothes were being torn from my body by my family, and I lay there stark naked, shaking and shivering as small bits of fur started to sprout on my arms.

"It's going to be slow," I heard my father say. "She's a full-grown, adult Wolf; it's going to be a process." I heard elders rushing to my side, one my father kept pleading to give me some sort of healing agent.

"No, no, not for an adult." The words became a dull, harsh whisper as my face started to crack. My cheeks flared with heat, and the pull of my bones to create a maw pulled at my brain. If I thought I had experienced pain at the strip club, this was a whole different kind of pain.

"Make it stop!" I howled as I felt a comforting hand touch my shoulder. "Hades!" I whined as I felt him pet my cheek.

"You can do this, flower, you can do this." His touches made the pain lessen but not enough to stop the screaming. Father was pushing people away as I felt the closeness of my family and Hades' warmth fill me. My empath abilities were also out of control. I didn't know what emotion was coming from where. Sadness, helplessness, guilt, and pain all flowed through me, but the one emotion I felt the most was love. My family loved me, and if I concentrated hard enough, I could push through. I felt Hades' worry and love flow through the blood of my veins. My heart exploded inside me, feeling his undying love for me. His worry and thoughts of taking away all the pain so he could have it to himself touched me.

"You are doing so good, so good." I heard his whispers in my now furry ear.

It turned to listen to his voice as I whispered, "More." I wanted more encouraging words to get through it all. My back cracked again as Hades hovered over me, petting the top of my head.

"You are so strong, my Ember. So strong. You were made for this; you are my Alpha. My Alpha, you can beat this."

The encouraging words melted on my new fur as the breaking started to cease. The bones in my toes were now just small breaks that no longer bothered me. The heavy panting slowed, but I kept my eyes shut. I didn't want to see the large crowd over me as I rolled over to see what audience I had procured.

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