It was such an unexpected position to see the dragon shifter take, that a fraction of my brain snapped out of my power-induced haze. “You need to bring our quintet back into our essence,” he continued. “Separate out the magic. Let our beasts free.”
The thought that I’d caged them against their will horrified me, and I immediately let all magic slip back inside. It released like an elastic band that had been stretched to fit us all, everything springing right back into place with my wolf standing center of the quintet.
My five mates surrounding me.
Collapsing to my knees, I gasped in air, as if I’d been unable to breathe for many minutes. Slade crouched with me, wrapping himself protectively around my body. “Our beasts burst from you,” he whispered, and I felt the tremor that rocked through him.
My head jerked up so fast I almost headbutted him. “Are you weaker?” I rasped, running my gaze over the parts of him I could see. There was no indication I’d hurt him, the dragon looking as virile and gorgeous as ever. “Did I steal your power and weaken your beast?”
His laughter was low and soothing. “Not even a little. You used our power, and then you released it back to us. I’ve never seen literal spirit animals fight magic the way you just had us fighting it.”
“I never physically changed into my wolf.” It wasn’t a question, as I knew I hadn’t, but for some reason I needed his confirmation.
“No, you stayed in this form.”
My heart was finally starting to calm in his embrace, and with it I gained more clarity. “It was almost too powerful,” I admitted. “I didn’t want to let it go.”
“You’ll do better next time,” Constantine said, snapping us out of our little bubble as he appeared beside us. Slade rumbled at the proximity,already in protective dragon mode. “You will learn to understand and embrace your magic. I wasn’t sure until today that you six would be able to join in such a way. It was quite spectacular to behold.”
“Glad I could be of entertainment,” I murmured, shaking my head. “But it feels like too big of a risk to ever use their energy in such a way again. I can just combine my wolf and magic.”
Slade finally lifted me from the ground, and when he set me on my feet, I found I was more stable than expected. “You will use us,” he ordered in his usual bossy way. “Do not protect us at your own sacrifice, Emmeline.”
Constantine looked nervous as he fidgeted from foot to foot. “I don’t think you have to worry, Emme. Are all of their beasts okay now?”
Focusing internally, I checked in with each of my mates, to find most of them exuding excitement over what I’d done. There was not an ounce of concern about them sharing power, or me possibly draining them into husks.I didn’t even have to shift back, Talon said, already on his way home as he sent more flying images.
Another bout of guilt hit that I could have drawn on his energy while he was in danger.
When I apologized, he growled.Honey, you will take from me any time you need to. What’s mine is yours.
And vice versa, I added.
Hunter’s wolf rumbled.Not a chance, Emmeline. You will take from us… we will never take from you.
Grumbling about their stubborn ways, I was still mostly relieved that everyone felt as strong as ever. “They’re all fine,” I admitted with a sigh. “But since it’s still all an experiment, I won’t be rushing to do that again.”
Slade mulled my words over. “If it makes you feel more comfortable, you can practice with your magic and beast for now, but we can’t ignore the possible strength of our full quintet forever.”
The fact that we even had a “quintet” with six showed that we weremorethan the average pack.
Still, my concerns remained, as my number one priority was to protect my mates.
Constantine dusted himself off, his face impassive. “Next time, we will focus on you just using your beast and magic together.”
I nodded. “Yes, that works for me. Should we try something else with magic now?”
Slade answered with a rumbling growl: “You’re exhausted. Magic is new to you and your beast. You’re no use to anyone if you burn out. You get one more try on your own today, and then you’re done. You can practice anew tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. As much as I wanted to argue with him, he was correct about the fatigue. It wasn’t so much a weakening of my energy, but more the exhaustion that came with learning a new skill.
Slade moved away only a few feet this time, unconcerned by Constantine calling on another spell. My beast and magic swirled in harmony, the merging easier now that we’d fought together as a pack. When the blast of energy slammed against me, they formed enough of a shield to repel the worst of the spell.
No beasts leapt from my skin this time, and Constantine remained on his feet, but it was progress.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Slade said, a note of finality in his voice. “You need to rest.”
“I need to figure out how to track Jewels,” I countered. “If I can learn every facet of my magic, I might be able to help Constantine.” When he eased forward, I focused fully on him. “You mentioned using something of hers to track the witch…?”
