I grit my teeth and focus on the sound of the creek ahead. I can’t afford to let him be right, not yet.
We break through the last of the trees, and the sound of rushing water fills the clearing. The creek glitters under the moon, tumbling over smooth stones. Fireflies hover above it, their lights winking like sparks. Rowan inhales softly, her wolf humming just loud enough for me to have the sound thrumming along my skin.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispers.
“It’s also strong,” I add, gesturing toward the water. “Energy runs through places like this. Normally, this isn’t something a wolf shifter would learn, but your makeup isn’t like others. You also need to know how to connect with what’s around you.”
She steps closer to the bank, crouching to dip her fingers in. The moment her skin touches the surface, the air changes—thicker and charged. My wolf rises further up within me, satisfied.
And then we both see it.
Next to the water, half-hidden in the rocks, a flower blooms in slow motion. Midnight petals unfurl, glowingfaintly silver under the moonlight as if the light itself is feeding it. I blink, because I’ve walked this creek a hundred times and never once seen anything like it.
Rowan turns wide eyes on me. “Is that supposed to happen?”
“No.” My voice is low, roughened by something I don’t want to name. “That’s new.”
The petals keep stretching toward her, like the flower recognizes her.
It’s for her,my wolf says reverently.The land is answering her call.
My chest tightens as I watch her reach toward it, the moonlight painting her skin in a shimmering glow. She looks otherworldly, untouchable—and yet she’s mine. Though not how it matters most.
I’ve already taken a step closer before I realize I’m moving. “Careful, Rowan.”
She glances back, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Careful? With a flower? What’s it going to do, bite me?”
Better her bite you,my wolf grumbles.
I ignore him, but I can’t overlook the way the air shifts when her fingers brush the petals. The creek seems to inhale. The flower flares more vibrantly, midnight bleeding into blue, then silver, and Rowan gasps as if something invisible just surged into her veins.
Her aura swells, a low hum building in the air like static before a storm. The fine hairs along my arms stand on end, and through the bond I catch the sharp edge of it—wild, raw power filling her too fast. She doesn’t realize it yet, but I can feel it pressing against my chest, warring with the bond that connects us together.
“Rowan.” My voice roughens with the strain of holding back my own wolf, who’s clawing to get closer. “You’re pulling it in too fast.”
She shudders, biting her lip, her body vibrating faintly under the night’s glow. “It’s—it feels like…lightning. It’s everywhere. I can’t stop it.”
The earth’s energy pulses toward her greedily, but I step forward until my shadow swallows hers, and low enough that my voice rumbles in her ear.
“Listen to me carefully, Rowan.” I place a hand on her shoulder to put a crack in the connection she’s formed. “You’re taking too much on. I don’t know if it’s your Hollowborn energy that has the earth so drawn to you, but if you’re not careful, it’ll keep filling you until you burn from the inside out. You need to let it go.”
She frowns, still crouched by the water, her breaths sharp and uneven. “Let it go where? I don’t exactly see an outlet labeled formystical overflowanywhere around here.”
My first instinct is to yank her back, to sever the link before it swallows her whole, but jerking her away could burn her out faster. My gut twists. I should have been more careful, eased her into this. Now I can only pray I haven’t made a mistake that further hurts her.
I drop beside her, my arm anchoring around her stomach, my other hand wrapping her wrist just above the water’s edge. The creek ripples as her aura vibrates against it, scattering moonlight across the surface like shattered glass. Slowly, carefully, I draw her back into me.
“Do you feel the hum from the dirt beneath us?” Myvoice is harsher than I intend, thanks to my growing panic, but she doesn’t seem to take offense as she shakes her head, jaw locked tight.
“Search harder. It’s there. Listen past the water. Taste the earth, the grit of it. That’s your outlet. Push into it. It might hurt like hell, but it’ll give you the relief you need.”
I don’t actually know all of that from personal experience. Wolves don’t bond with the earth in the sense of drawing power, only healing. Yet, I’d had this idea earlier today that Rowan might need to with the extra energy she seems to have.
Now I might have just caused my mate more harm.
Her entire body trembles against me, heat radiating off her skin like she’s running a fever.
“It’s like fire in my chest,” she chokes out, eyes squeezed shut, lips trembling as if she’s holding back a scream.
