"Show me."
Chloe knelt again and pressed her palm flat against the earth. She reached down, not physically but through that channel in her blood, and asked. The soil responded immediately, a warm pulse of energy that traveled up through her hand, her arm, her chest.
A shoot of green pushed through the frozen ground between her fingers.
Wendy's breath caught. "You couldn't do that a week ago."
"A week ago I didn't know I could." Chloe watched the tiny shoot unfurl its first leaf, pale and perfect. "I spent so long being afraid of this. Thinking it made me dangerous or broken or wrong. And the whole time, it was just waiting for me to stop running."
"That's what I was trying to tell you." Wendy knelt beside her, touching the new shoot with gentle fingers. "Druid magic isn't something you control. It's something you participate in. A conversation, not a command."
"You could have just said that."
"Would you have listened?"
Chloe considered. "Probably not."
"Exactly." Wendy sat back, her expression shifting to something more serious. "I talked to some people back home. There's a woman in Vermont, a full-blooded druid, who teaches others how to work with land magic. She's willing to mentor you remotely. Video calls, guided exercises, that sort of thing."
"I'd like that."
"I thought you might." Wendy paused. "She also said that what you did at the well, pulling stolen magic out of a siphon and returning it to the earth, that's something she's only read about in texts. Never seen in person."
"It didn't feel special. It just felt right."
"That's what makes it special." Wendy stood, brushing off her knees. "You're going to be something remarkable, Chloe. You already are."
Corin appeared with two mugs of coffee, handing one to each of them. "Wendy. Heading out?"
"Unfortunately." She took the mug, wrapping her hands around it. "Work doesn't stop just because my sister decided to become the most powerful druid in the Blue Ridge Mountains."
"I'm not the most powerful anything."
"Give it time." Wendy sipped her coffee and looked between them, a slow smile spreading across her face. "You two. I can feel the bond from here. It's practically humming."
"Is that normal?" Chloe asked.
"For mates? Yes. For mates where one of them is a druid connected to the land and the other is a bear shifter rooted in the same soil?" Wendy shrugged. "No idea. But it suits you."
Corin's arm settled around Chloe's waist, pulling her against his side. She leaned into him, feeling the bond pulse between them, warm and steady.
"Take care of her," Wendy said to Corin. "Or I'll know about it before you do."
"I don't doubt that."
"And you." Wendy pointed at Chloe. "Call me. Every week. I want updates on the training, the orchard, everything. And if anything feels wrong in the land, even a whisper, you tell me immediately."
"I will."
They walked Wendy to her car, the three of them crunching along the gravel drive while the February sun warmed their faces. It was still cold, still technically winter, but something had shifted in the air. A softness. A promise.
Spring wasn't here yet. But it was close.
Wendy hugged Chloe hard, her arms tight, her face buried in her sister's hair. "I'm proud of you," she whispered. "Mom would be too."
"Don't make me cry. You're about to drive mountain roads."
"I'm a seer. I'll see the turns coming." Wendy pulled back, her eyes bright. "I love you."
