Hadley
Sometimes you don’t knowhow strong you are because you’ve never had to use your strength. My actions weren’t an intentional attack so much as me reacting out of fear. When I saw Kohara drop and the death that overtook him, I was immediately transported to a place where I witnessed Essen’s murder.
I hadn’t actually been there. And really, I’m not sure I even have the full truth about how she was killed. I only know that she was, and it was at the hands of Silence. But seeing Kohara murdered when I was standingright herewas something I could just not handle.
Everything building in the sky fell into my hands as I screamed. The only thing I saw clearly was Kohara. No one else. There were voices, other screams, the movement of my men. But I could only see the death of my husband that I hadn’t been able to stop.
The irrationality of me being the one who should have stopped it from happening because I was there this time didn’t matter. There was even a little voice in my head reminding me of that. Oddly enough, it had Reba’s voice. Something I’d have to consider later.
But when Kohara didn’t move, every kilowatt of energy I pulled from the air, I sent back up with a furious pain that rained back down in a lightning storm so ferocious that I melted the trees and everyone around us.
When it cleared, nothing had changed. Kohara was still dead. Tempest was on his way to joining him. Taranis was very injured, and Raiden was trying not to be sick. Bronte was losing his shit and if I hadn’t already been heartbroken, seeing him fall apart would have done me in.
I swayed on my feet; everything in me drained from the lightning I’d just released. Yet, I could still feel it lingering over my skin. Waiting for another command. Wanting to discharge again.
The next hour was a bustle of bright light activity that I only barely understood. Tears ran down my face as Gale wrapped me in a blanket after the Nephilim restored Kohara’s life. I remained in that tight cocoon as they continued to move around my family, touching and soothing and healing as they went.
The rest of the Malaks stood guard around us. Waiting. Expecting something else.
What came was the sound of haunting, threatening howls. When we stilled to listen, those sounds were followed by the loud, heavy thuds of giant paws on the barren mountainside.
I wasn’t sure which beast was more frightening. The enormous wolf with a scared face. The black beast that was part man and wolf. Or the wolf with a faint glow that shimmered through the colors of the rainbow.
However, there were three smaller beasts that suddenly appeared in our midst. One with eight tails, the other two with seven tails apiece.
“Kitsune!” I exclaimed under my breath.
One of them heard me and turned in my direction. I swear, it smiled a foxy grin and gave a damn wink. He turned and slinked through our huddle before hopping up on Bronte’s lap, where he was squished between Notus and Aratiri.
I could hear his strange purr from here as he settled, tucking all his tails around him and looking up at Bronte with his ears back.
“You think you’re cute, do you?” Aratiri asked, raising a brow.
Bronte sighed, relaxing his tension once again and running his fingers through the kitsune’s fur.
“Who is that?” I asked as, before my eyes, the other two kitsune turned into men. It was magical to see. Like they walked out of their fox skin fully formed. I recognized them, though names escaped me.
“Eight tails is Miller,” Gale said, nodding in Miller’s direction. “Sirius. And curled in Bronte’s lap is Lev. They’re good friends.”
I nodded, not sure if he was meaning Lev and Bronte were good friends, or these kitsune in general. Of course, my thoughts stuttered away as the three enormous wolves paused at the perimeter where the Malaks surrounded us.
“What a cute puppy,” one of the angels said, making a clucking sound as he stared at what was obviously an Anubis.
“Puppy,” I scoffed as the Anubis snapped at the angel’s hand.
Raiden chuckled. “That’s Kormak. Fenrir wolf is Edison. And the elemental rainbow pup is Astro.”
Astro’s eyes turned to Raiden, narrowing. Raiden smirked, giving him a wink.
“If you weren’t clearly injured, I’d bite you,” the Astro/dog said.
My eyes widened. Dogs can’t talk!
Whatever expression I held made Astro and my guys, who were wrapped around me, laugh.
“One of my strengths of being in this form is I can still communicate,” Astro said. “Since it takes a while to come out of it once I’m here, it’s convenient.”
“That’s… nice,” I said.
