Maybe I hit my head during the battle with the bat, adding a concussion to my other injuries, because I can’t explain why I’m talking to this beast of a wolf like it’s one of my four. Maybe it’s sheer desperation because I instinctively know I can’t outrun it in my current injured state, and I would never beat it in a fight.
A low rumble rocks the wolf again, and it takes another step.
I lower my arms and draw in a breath, preparing for the final fight for my life.
I find my footing and plant my feet, every muscle primed to react as soon as the beast attacks.
Still, it prowls forward, slowly, carefully…
I tell myself to wait, not to antagonize it.
When the beast’s nose is all but touching my chest, I brace, ready to grab its jaws if I have to, only…
It sniffs along my chest, its nose moving across my torso and down my arm until it reaches my wrist. It pauses momentarily on the rune there before it drifts to a particularly painful spot on my palm where the thorns cut me.
The wolf lingers there before its tongue swipes out across the tears in my outfit, tasting my blood.
No part of me relaxes, despite the fact that I’m stunned the wolf hasn’t attacked yet. The way it sniffs and its tongue darts out seem to indicate that it’s testing my blood, or testing theories in its own mind, but either way, it doesn’t mean that I’m not about to become dinner.
It lifts its purple eyes to mine.
The cold rush of my demon power swirls higher, and I sense the burn that tells me my eyes are the same violet shade as I stare into the depths of the wolf’s gaze. A wolf that, this close, really reminds me of…
“Temple,” I whisper. This wolf reminds me of my only female demon wolf. “Are you female?”
To my shock, the wolf’s huge head dips as she answers my question in a slow affirmative.
“Are you going to kill me?” I hold my breath as I wait for her response, even knowing that the delay will hinder me if I have to fight.
She doesn’t nod.
I wait another beat in case she’s still considering it, but she nudges my injured palm again, the briefest touch, and I take that as ano, I’m not going to kill you.
I try to quell the dangerous hope rising inside me that I’ve found an ally in this wild place—another demon wolf like Temple, who is strong and steadfast, always loyal and looking out for me.
Lifting my hand, the one this powerful wolf just licked, I reach out so slowly that I’m barely moving, inch by careful inch, to place my hand on her head.
I don’t rest it there, or even lower the weight of my palm, but I do take a moment to try to feel for her power.
Only there’s no need to try. Almost immediately, a pure shot of icy energy slams into me hard enough that I stumble back a few steps.
It’s like a jolt of electricity to my heart, a shock that fills me with energy.
Shaking off my surprise, I steady my stance, finding my balance again. Her purple eyes meet mine, and I brush the rune to switch my clothing—this time removing my suit so that, once again, I’m dressed in the purple gown. It’s torn and ragged now, but the dress isn’t my focus. I wrench my gaze to the spot where the wolf licked me, a spot where I was wounded—my skin cut and split, bleeding after trying to free myself from the thorny vines.
My skin is healed.
Instead of wounds, a silver slash decorates my palm.
Did she… mark me?
The mark feels odd, tingly, like an itch I want to scratch, only it isn’t itchy. More like a trickle of power.
“Let it settle.”
The growly voice sounds in my head, freezing me. I gasp a quick breath before exhaling it in a small shriek, trying to control my shock.
I’m familiar with communication through the rune behind my left earlobe, but this is different. Firstly, it’s neither of my sisters’ voices—it’s completely unfamiliar, a deep, rumbling sound. And secondly, this feels far more invasive, as if the owner of the voice could delve into my essence.
