“Are you okay?”It sounded so weak after what we had just endured. How could he be okay? He was exhausted.
“I just need to sleep. Come home when you’re ready.”
I frowned. What did that mean? I was ready now. “I love you.”
“Thank you, princess.”
“Rowen, you’re either coming in or you’re not. Hurry up and decide.”
I stepped into the tent. “I told him I loved him, and he saidthank you.What do you think that—” I dropped onto the ground, and a whoosh of joy swept through me. “Holy…”
The druid smiled. “It’s a rush, isn’t it?”
“What is it?” Tentatively, I placed my hands on the ground.
“Magic.” The druid leaned back on their heels. “Now tell me everything.”
I explained what I’d felt, the voices I heard, the power that filled me. The whole time, the druid sat still, and then when I finished, they stood and got water, then made tea. They never spoke again until we both had a cup of tea, and to my utter astonishment, they offered me a plate of cookies.
“If you tell your husband I have snacks, I will wear your entrails as a scarf.”
“Don’t share this secret that you have snacks. Understood.” I ate my cookie. “So…what happened to me?”
The druid munched their cookie. Drank their tea. And watched me. They refilled their cup and drank it too. When I reached for my third cookie, they spoke.
“You felt the Hollow for the first time yesterday. The threat to the land awakened the power in you.” They put their cup down. “You’re very receptive to it; therefore, the power is strong. As you learned to adapt, our alpha went camping with the Goddess and came down the mountain filled with her heavenly grace. Mix that with someone who is only opening themselves to their magic, and you have potential for a battle of power.”
“It was alpha power,” I mumbled.
They nodded. “Of course, the nearest power source to you was the Hollow and your mate.” They folded their arms. “You blacked out when you rejected the alpha power. Did you grab for it first?”
I blushed. It was everything I’d ever wanted. To be an alpha of this pack. “I did.”
The druid gave me a fond but knowing smile. “And when you held it, you gave it back. Why?”
“It felt wrong. Plus, my mom told me too,” I added ruefully.
“Not your mom,” they corrected. “Luna. I heard her, I just didn’t know why.”
“So, what? I came into my magical awareness, stood too close to Wolfe, tried to steal his power, and then got the power of the Hollow instead?”
The druid picked up another cookie. “That about sums it up, I’d say.”
They were socasualabout it, I didn’t know what to do. “So, what do I do now?”
Their eyes gleamed. “Now you learn how to be my apprentice.”
“Your apprentice?” I should have taken the alpha power when I had the chance. “I… What do you mean?”
“I mean, you will claim your birthright. You will be a druid.”
“We’re at war.”
“Wars will come and go. Druids are why the land still stands,” the druid said regally. They saw my look. “Fine. War first, lesson after.”
“If we survive.”
They rolled their eyes. “Yes, yes, if we survive.” They glared at me. “You’re ruining this moment for me. I hope you’re happy.”
