It was no use, though.I was too small, too weak to effectively make a dent in the large man’s grip.
Terror swept through me as the sound of a blade popping out echoed in the space of the alley.
“Take me instead, just leave him alone!”I fought as the boy from my dreams cried out in pain.
I couldn’t lose him.Not now.Not before we’ve even made it to Jasper Springs...
My heart ached with fear.If I lost him, I’ll be alone.
Alone, miles away from home.I couldn’t go back there, but I knew for certain I couldn’t make it on my own without him, either.
The energy was more than anything I’d ever felt in my entire life.It was warm and bright, but it was also cold, and dark.Both sensations mingled together like a double helix, wrapped around one another, dancing together in a ghostly waltz.
The world around me was bathed in light.
My light,I realized as the dark green fractals danced with black smoke and golden tendrils to create a color so vivid, it almost looked like a prism.
Somewhere in my consciousness, I knew this was what they were after.
This was what theyneeded.
My soul.
My vision was hazy as I focused on the wolf, who whined as he knelt before me.Glancing around me, I could see all the wolves had knelt, their eyes glassy and full of hope and despair.
Endor gazed up at me with awe, clutching his chest.Valory’s arms still encircled me, tightening their grasp as if she too was afraid.
But what would an angel have to fear?
Instinctively, I broke free from her hold, taking one step toward the wolf beside me.
Randy.
I reached out my hand, letting it slide through his fur, and I could seeeverything.
From the moment he was born, to his trials to become alpha, to his love affair with Sarah.All their losses.Five of them.
Her declining health, his broken heart.
His desperation.
I couldfeelit all coursing through my veins as if it were my own.I could feel his love for her, for his pack.
Desperate people do desperate things, Mercedes.My mother’s voice rang in my head.People often feel the ends justify the means, because they have no choice in the matter.But you always have a choice, sweetheart.
I smoothed Randy’s fur as peace flowed through me, and I understood in a way I couldn’t describe, that I couldchooseto punish this creature, or to simplygivehim what he needed.
The choice wasn’t mine, but yet it was.I didn’t know that I’d made my decision until the energy flowed, taking with it my warmth.
The light around us dimmed, and my legs became weak, my eyelids heavy.
Randy nuzzled my hand, just before it fell from his soft fur.My light was diminished as I fell into darkness once more.
CHAPTER2
Valory
There weremoments in life where we realized, without a doubt, we were insignificant.
